What I Wore: A Busy Workday

I just got back from vacation on Sunday and as expected this week has been a busy one. I just launched the pre-order for Two Days Off’s spring line which includes 6 new styles!
Wednesday was busy with running errands, shooting content, responding to customer inquiries, and catching up on my books so I knew I needed a power outfit and a long lunch in the park to keep me going.

Outfit details:

Two Days Off Kaneko Dress

ABLE Selam Backpack & Sandals (15% off with GinaStovall15)

What I Wore: Weekend Errands

This weekend I was running about unwinding from a busy past couple of weeks. But at the same time I am traveling next week so there are inevitably last minute errands to be run. This outfit was perfect for a trip to the diner and in and out shops, and to be honest I think it will be my new uniform anytime the weather dips below 65F in LA!

Outfit details:

Jenni Kayne Cotton Fisherman Sweater (get 20% off with code GINAS20)

ABLE Selam Backpack (15% off with GinaStovall15)

Cole Haan Ankle Bootie

10 year old Gap Boyfriend Jeans

Microfiber Accountability

I talk a lot about reducing my single-use plastic waste, but last year I started learning about micro plastics and how they are wreaking havoc on our oceans, food supply, and physical health.

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One thing I didn’t know until last year is that my clothes are shedding microfibers as were wear and wash them. Shedding isn’t much of a problem when it comes to organic fibers (cotton, wool, linen, etc) because they will break down and not release harmful toxins. This is one of the reasons why for my clothing line, Two Days Off, I only use natural fibers. But for synthetics fabrics, they shed fiber often derived from petroleum that breaks down to release harmful toxins.

There are a few easy solutions to capture these microfibers that I have stumbled upon. One are bags to toss your synthetic clothing in like the one from Girlfriend Collective picture above; the guppy bag is another one that has been on the market for quite some time. There are also attachments you can add to your washing machine to capture the shed fibers like this one.
Since I live in an apartment and don’t have an in-unit washer dryer, the bag was the best option for me. I also don’t have much clothing made from synthetic fabrics except for my work out clothes and swim wear so I think just one bag should work for me.

I’m eager to try this out and see what accumulates in the bag! Maybe I’ll share a follow-up if it is interesting.

Plastic Freedom: Cleancult

In my latest foray of de-plasticing my life I have gotten my hands on an array of household cleaners by cleancult.

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Cleancult products are made with clean, all natural ingredients and come in reusable shatter-resistant glass containers that are super cute and feel high-quality. Refills for the products come in plastic-free packaging and every time you place an order they offset the carbon emissions from your shipment! You can see why I am into them, right?

The next question is do the products work? I received a bar of soap, dryer balls, laundry detergent tablets, liquid dish soap, dishwasher tablets, liquid hand soap, and an all purpose cleaner spray in my kit. Thus far I have been happy with all of them, although the bar soap is nothing to write home about. What I think has been one of the most impressive products is the all purpose spray. I was super skeptical of natural all purpose sprays until this one. I love it for cleaning stuck on food on the stove and even soap scum in the tub!

I am looking forward to my first refill shipment so I can analyze the packaging it comes in, maybe I’ll share an update then.

If you are interested in trying out Cleancult for yourself use my code GINA15 for 15% off your first order. And check out my Instagram for a fun time lapse of me using the all purpose cleaner.

2019 Resolutions Report Card

Each year I typically look back on my past year’s resolutions and rate myself on how well I held up. Although I enjoy this process of reflection this year I am not going to grade myself. I’ve been reading this book called The Birth Order Book, and it’s opened my eyes to how self-critical I am. As a firstborn I am a bit of a perfectionist. In the past I wore my perfectionism as a badge of honor but now I understand how unhealthy it actually is. Long story short, I think forgoing the self grading this year is a step in the right direction.

Now onto my resolutions!

This year I wanted to focus on enjoying the process in all aspects of my life, resting more and not just when my body forced me to, and staying grounded in my faith.

Enjoying the process is such a process in itself. I have been working hard to reprogram re way my brain works for a few years now. I’ve always been a results driven person. I love the feeling of setting a goal and then pushing until I reach the finish line, typically sooner than expected. And once I do I immediately move on I the next thing if I haven’t already (chronic multi-tasker over here). As I have gotten older the satisfaction in achievement has waned at times. I even went through a period of nihilism where everything seemed a bit pointless. That’s when I had to step back and think more about the deeper mission of achieving goals I set. I began to realize that no achievement is remarkable without appreciation for the effort that went into it. And even more importantly no end goal is worth Much if all the time spent reaching it is lost as either a blurred or stressful memory. In short, this year I have been actively trying not to begrudge all the steps between me and my objectives. I am trying to reflect each day as I go through the process of learning and growing and it makes those end goals feel less important and all the small wins along the way are the ones I get to cherish.

As for my resting resolution, I definitely need more work in this area. I have decided that the theme of 2020 will be rest for me once again. One great stride I made was in understanding my unhealthy relationship with rest and the guilt I feel when taking it. I began listening to the Stressproof podcast and in one episode the host, Susan Choi, talks about achievement addiction. I immediately realized that I had that. As Susan describes it, a symptom of achievement addiction may be the “your sense of achievement once reaching your goal is short lived, you minimize your achievements to yourself and others and say it’s really no big deal, you never feel at rest and often feel restless, (and more…).” I certainly lean toward feeling restless, minimizing my accomplishments, and chasing the next checkbox. Over the years I have noticed this in myself and I think this is in part where the guilt for resting or spending my time “unproductively has come from.” And while I have somewhat settled the restlessness and checkbox chasing, the inability to rest still remains. All that to say I am going to keep working at it because I know just how important turning off is to the creative mind, spiritual mind, and physical body.

My last big resolution was about faith, and I think that deserves a post on its own so I am going to save my thoughts for another day.

If you liked this resolution report card, check out my others from past years here. And you can see my visual summary of 2019 below with more detail on instagram.

What I Wore: Cozy Cool Weather Day

Outfit Details:

Jenni Kayne Cabin Sweater

Everlane Black Skinny Jeans

Mejuri Lotus Necklace

Jenni Kayne Canyon Boot

What I Wore to the Park

Autumn is finally hitting LA (despite it being 89F earlier this week), and my favorite thing to do is take a walk to the park to decompress. This outfit was me being lazy, but I ended up loving the causal look.

Outfit details:

For Days t-shirt. This tee super cool because I can exchange it for a new one for life and the old one will get recycled! #circularity

Thrifted black tank dress (similar here)

Madewell Sandals (from Poshmark)

Gifts for the Avid Traveler

The holidays are fast approaching and I have already been looking around for gifts for the special people in my life. One of my favorite ways to shop is finding similarities between me and the gift receiver and then basically shop for myself (don’t judge). In this gift guide, I am shopping for my fellow travel lovers.

Some of my most used and loved items include a sturdy and attractive backpack, versatile neck pillow, long-lasting tumbler, packing cubes, noise-canceling headphones, external battery pack, cute passport holder, and a travel journal to record all the memories in.

Books to inspire

The Eileen Edit - What I Wore

Last week I (and four other awesome ladies) had the pleasure of partnering up with Eileen Fisher for a 5 day capsule wardrobe challenge on Instagram called the Eileen Edit. Eileen Fisher and Eileen Fisher Renew gifted me several pieces to mix with my own wardrobe and share how I do more with less. Eileen Fisher Renew was started in 2009 to take back used EF pieces and refresh, repair and resell. Over the 10 years they have been operating they have taken back over 1.2 million garments!

For day one I mixed a new EF cable knit sweater with a EF Renew dress (similar here), my Jenni Kayne bucket bag, and white Muji tennis shoes.

This outfit I call my take on a Canadian tuxedo and it is made up of all secondhand pieces (minus my Everlane Babo shoes). Both the Merino sweater and quilted vest are from EF Renew, while these jeans I thrifted while visiting NC (see them here too).

This Outfit is what I decided to wear on my first day of jury duty, oh yeah that happened last week too. I wore this new EF turtleneck, with my Two Days Off Kyoko pants in surplus (see them here too) and my all time favorite (and most asked about) loafer. This pair are a few years old from Aerosols and no longer sold, but there is a similar pair made by Everlane here.

I think this was my favorite look of the week. I wore this EF Renew mock neck sleeveless top with my super wide black jeans (similar here) and Everlane suede mule (no longer available but here’s a similar style). I also planned to wear that beautiful green wool jacket but it ended up being super hot that day!

Last day and it was a comfy one! I was this plum number is actually a jumpsuit from the Renew collection with that merino sweater from earlier in the week layered over. I paired it with my recycled plastic bottle shoes from Rothy’s that are 2 years old and still going strong!

Plastic Freedom: Mouthwash

The last frequently purchased single-use plastic for dental hygiene item is mouthwash.

1. Mouthwash tablets such as these from Georganics or mine from ByHumankind.

2. Mouthwash in glass bottles, even better if yo can find a place to refill it!

3. DIY solutions (or just warm water and salt!

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Mindful Pours

I have been sharing my morning coffees on Instagram for a few years and recently I took it to a new level with little videos in slo-mo of what I call “mindful pours.”

I have shared before how my coffee routine was one of the very first mindful practices I implemented in my life. It became a consistent time to reflect and take it slow in my day, and starting the day off this way has been invaluable to me.

Last week when I shared one of these slow pours in my Instagram stories I received a message from someone saying how it made them feel happy and also impatient. When I read that I immediately connected with the impatient feeling. I love these short videos, I even feel entranced by them most of the time. But often, especially towards the end I start feeling an urgency for it to end and I have to fight the urge to click through or swipe the video away so I can move on to the next thing. I sit there in a slightly uncomfortable place and think about why I am rushing this experience and then wait out the next few seconds.

I only share this because I find it interesting that something I do specifically out of enjoyment and to take a few moments for myself can be hard for me even still. Depending on what life state I am in I can be more patient or more hurried. And maybe the Hurley will lessen as I strengthen my mindfulness muscle, or maybe it is okay to not to always be in the moment immediately if I am able to quickly recognize when I am not and pull my self back here.

What I Wore on an Overcast Beach Morning

When I started my business, Two Days Off, I stared by making the clothes that filled gaps in my wardrobe. And that’s pretty much how I have continued to design. These pants are 100% an example of this. I have been in need of a tapered pant that is comfortable and can be dressed up and (more importantly) down. Here I wore them with an easy tee and my favorite summer hat for a cool morning on the beach.

Outfit details:

Printed tee from Camp Kayne last week

Two Days Off Kyoko Ciggie Pant in Surplus Green

Nude leather slides

Selah Collection Joss Hat

Vintage straw bag I traded for on Depop some years ago (best trade ever)

Plastic Freedom: Toothpaste

Continuing our theme of “de-plasticing” our dental hygiene routine, this post will look at toothpaste alternatives.

Alternative Products

1. Paste in metal tubes like Davids; most have plastic caps but some are starting to use alternative biodegradable materials like the Goodwell one pictured above. Since Goodwell has updated the packaging to no longer use metal tubes but a recyclable bio-resin from sugarcane packaging.

2. Toothpaste tablets like these, also very convinient for traveling.

3. Or toothpaste in a glass jar like Georganics and Nelson’s Naturals (with metals cap), or Uncle Harry’s (with plastic cap but reusable)

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

What I Wore, Walk to the Cafe

I work from home, and although I am the ultimate homebody, sometimes I need to get out and get a change of scenery. Sunday was one of those times. I dragged my partner out of bed into the misty morning for a 15 minute walk to a nearby cafe. Armed with our iPads and notebooks we enjoyed a quiet walk though our neighborhood and then delicious coffee. This is what I wore, keeping my warm enough for the trek there, but cool enough for the return back as the sun began peaking through the fog.

Outfit details:

Vintage turtleneck sweater my grandma passed down

Thrifted denim (see it here too)

Everlane Babo Mules

Mejuri boyfriend hoops

Plastic Freedom: Toothbrush

Sticking with the theme of metal health, the second regularly purchased (and thrown away) plastic item is my toothbrush. I actually have been using Quip for a few years, but I have novel loved the plastic replacement heads and packaging it comes in. I decided to try out Goodwell’s premium toothbrush that also includes a subscription model and replaceable brush heads, but their heads are actually biodegradable!

Alternative Products

1. Bamboo toothbrushes with biodegradable bristles like Goodwell’s.

2. Brushes made from biodegradable plastic alternative materials or recycled (and re-recyclable) materials.

3. Mechanical or electric toothbrushes with biodegradable replacement heads like Goodwell’s Be Brush (which required no electricity or charging!).