Merry Christmas to All and Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

Merry Christmas my lovelies!!!!

Well technically its 11pm on Christmas Eve when I'm writing this but by the time you read it, Santa will have already visited all you good girls and boys!! It's the most wonderful time of the year because it's CHRISTMAS TIME and it also happens to be my birthday!!!! Yes that's right, I was born on Christmas Day!!!

Now for some time there has been a debate about whether or not having a Christmas birthday is a good thing? I honestly go back and forth with loving the fact that I have a Christmas birthday and hating it.  When I was little I used to think it was so cool that my birthday was on Christmas because I was the only person I knew that had that birthday.  However, as I got older it became more and more difficult to celebrate my birthday because I could never have a physical party on my actual birthday, many of my friends would go away for Christmas, or everyone was busy with shopping or planning their Christmas parties.  As I got older I began to find the fact that I shared a birthday with the big man upstairs pretty hilarious (i.e. this year I dared my mom to ask the bakery to write "Happy Birthday Tori and Jesus! which shockingly they did!!!)  I'm also rocking this great shirt for my Christmas PJ's from lookhuman.com

Now, every time I tell someone my birthday is on Christmas, 9 out of 10 times the first thing they ask is "Do you get ripped off when it comes to presents?" Honestly, I've been fortunate that my parents have always spoiled me rotten when it comes to presents and really go out of their way to make sure that I feel appreciated on my birthday!  To make this day feel super special, I laid down a few guidelines for my family to follow... 1. NO CHRISTMAS/Birthday cards.  I'm sure many of you have never heard of this but the lovely company known as Hallmark actually makes a card that is marketed for those of us that were in fact born on 12/25.  2. Wrap my presents differently.  Now this may not seem like it would be a big deal for people who don't have a birthday that shadowed by a major holiday but for me it makes a huge difference.  I simply ask my family to wrap my Christmas presents in one wrapping paper and my birthday in another so we can distinguish which is which.  3. Opening my presents at different times.  Usually my family will all open all our Christmas presents first then take a little break and later open my bday presents.


For those of you that have the privilege/misfortune of sharing the same birthday as me I wish you A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY and oh yeah, Merry Christmas, or what ever you celebrate!

My next post is probably going to be showing you what I've bought/received for Christmas and my birthday!

My Warby Parker Experience

Hello Lovelies,

Sorry for the delay but I've been busy trying to accomplish my Christmas shopping!  I'm practically done but I feel like I could use a few more little tiny gifts!

Anyhow, the last update I posted showcased the A-M-A-Z-I-N-G  home try on program Warby Parker has to offer.  I did two rounds of home try ons and found that I liked most of the glasses.  I was able to narrow my choices down to two choices: the Nash and the Welty.  Ultimately, I decided on the Nash glasses because I had those in front of me but I can honestly say I don't regret my decision.

I absolutely love these glasses.  The quality of these glasses far surpasses the $95 price tag.  When I went to order these glasses I did experience a bit of a hold up (which I attributed to the busy holiday business) but the lovely customer service representative explained that my prescription actually held up the process.  So aside from that hold up I would definitely, definitely recommend this company!!! I actually visited their showroom in SOHO because my friend wanted to pick out a pair of glasses and loved that experience as well.  I would highly recommend visiting one of their many showrooms because you can try on all the glasses in every color imaginable instead of only getting 5 choices at a time.  They are also able to order your glasses and do any test that may need to be done in house (which is awesome!).

This morning I awakened to the Santa mail man delivering my glasses.  I couldn't wait to open them and try them on because I was wondering if I made the right decision.  Once I opened the package I can honestly confirm that I did make the best decision.  Who knows, maybe I'll even buy another pair in the distant future!

Until Next time.....

* my next post will probably be after Christmas and it will be updating you on what I got for Xmas/birthday.  Hint hint... it may include a new Kate spade bag that I've been eyeing for months!

  

Warby Parker

Hello Lovelies,

Sorry I've been MIA but I've been so busy with work, because its the busiest time for any retail worker....... Black Friday weekend.  But enough about Black Friday, I have a post all about my feelings towards Black Friday, and believe me they haven't changed since I wrote that post.

Anyhow, on to one of my favorite new companies.... WARBY PARKER.  I've recently received the news that my once 20/20 vision isn't what it used to be.  To be fair I can see well during the day but I've noticed that I'm squinting more and more when I drive at night and am having a difficult time reading signs.  I've been told I have night time near sightedness, which means I need glasses when I drive.  I was kind of excited to receive the diagnosis that I needed glasses because I just began picturing all the different choices of glasses  I had.  What I didn't realize when I was daydreaming about glasses is just how expensive frames are and how expensive a prescription is.  My best friend, told me about Warby Parker and their at home try-on program and told me I should check it out.

Warby Parker was founded by 4 friends who wanted to create cute and trendy glasses that didn't cost $250+. "The Warby Parker aesthetic is vintage-inspired with a contemporary twist. Every pair is custom fit with anti-reflective, polycarbonate prescription lenses" that you get for the reasonable price of $95!!!! If the price alone doesn't convince you to try out a pair of Warby Parker pair of glasses, the simple fact that for every pair sold Warby Parker will donate a pair to someone in need through the non-profit VisionSpring.

The only thing I don't like about Warby Parker is that there is no showroom near me.  Sure, I could easily hop on a train and visit one of their 3 NY showrooms, but that just seems annoying to me.  However, before this one little nuisance makes you think you can't get a pair of great glasses, you need to look into the home try-on program.  Warby Parker will allow you to select 5 frames to try at home.  

The HTO program is so simple and is really the best way to try on glasses.  

1. Log on to www.warbyparker.com
2. Select mens/womens optical or sunwear
3. After selecting "optical" you will see all the eyeglasses that Warby Parker offer.
4. Once you click on a pair of glasses you can see alternate views of the glasses and the different colors the frames come in.
5. You'll see on the right hand side that you have the option to click "Add to Home Try-On" or to try on virtually.
6. You are able to pick 5 pairs, however if you don't pick 5 pairs, Warby Parker will pick options that they think will work for you.  
7. Now here's the great part, your HTO is completely free.  Warby Parker does ask for a credit card number and they will charge your account $1, which will be refunded after a few days.  
8. After a few days you'll receive your HTO in a nifty display case.  
9. Now for the fun part, try on your glasses!
10. You have 5 days to try the glasses on, wear them out, take tons of pictures, write a blog post about it.
11. Once you've made a decision or your five days are up, you need to package up the box and attach the prepaid packing label and drop them off at a UPS location.
12. Once Warby Parker receives your package they will email you.  You have the option of ordering a pair, if you found the one! or you can pick 5 more glasses to try-on. 

Photos of the glasses I picked:

Clyde in Blue Marblewood

Wiloughby in Striped Chestnut

Welty in Whiskey Tortoise

Pierce in Oakwood Brown

Chamberlain in Saddle Sage

Currently, the Welty is my favorite pair followed by the Pierce.  I also like the Chamberlain, but I think the frames are a little too big.   I'm not sure I'm 100% sold on any of the pairs so I think I will do one more round of HTO before making a decision.

I will write a follow up post once I decide on the winning pair!

Until Next Time!!!!