If I had $1 for every rainy morning I’ve woken up to this month, I’d be able to buy myself a half decent meal at Panera. My preference for fast food dollar equivalence in the weather is generally down in the “fries & a frosty” off the value menu. I’m not even sure that sentence made sense.

So, I had an ultimately positive experience with the GEC this weekend, which I feel the need to share.

TL:DR and want to skip to the top 5? Lululemon messed up on more than one of my online orders, tinkered with prices and my BRAND NEW tights unraveled after 24 hours. I was upset, they refunded me for the trouble. Jump down to the red text, or continue for the full story.

Up until this weekend, I’d always engaged with lululemon directly via DM on Twitter (follow me, maybe?) and things went swimmingly. In October, I ordered a few items from WMTM, a pair of skivvies included. I ordered dragonfly, but I received fresh teal. NBD when it’s something nobody can see, but the point was that I’d ordered A and was shipped B on a final sale order. I reached out, lulu replied quickly asking for my email to look into it and ‘make things right’. I provided said information and never heard back again.

In December, I was part of the large population who ordered a gator green CRB on WMTM that was billed as luon, but arrived all sheeny and luxtremey. I again sent a DM, and also asked about the resolution of the prior mistake (I still have the merch, untouched in its original packaging), and once I saw the read notification….. *crickets*

I was not amused.

Months go by, I still have both orders wrapped and untouched. In my huff last Wednesday, I went and bought the brand new Low Key Tank in store, for $54. On Saturday, shout out to Tad for DMing me on instagram to let me know that lululemon off and dropped the price of the tank to $44, three days after releasing it. I was again unamused.

On Saturday morning, I was back at lululemon with my friend Jen to see if they’d gotten the black grape Pace Rivals in, and after trying and loving the nulux Fast & Free Crop, I figured I’d give the Fast & Free Tights a shot just because she had more things to take into the fitting room than I did.

They had the crops! Yay! But I tried them on and after giving nulux a shot, the luxtreme pace rivals just weren’t doing it for me. My store had a nocturnal teal pair of the Fast & Free Tight kicking around from late last year, and after having tried them on for kicks, I like them better than the Pace Rivals – so I bought the tights, leaving the PRC’s behind.

Fast forward less than 24 hours, I have the new tights on. After getting home from Sunday morning errands, I whip out the camera to take a few photos, and what do I find but a HUGE THREAD on the back, the seam in the rear had unraveled a thread from the crotch all the way up the back. With 2 new and 2 old issues, I finally had it and reached out to the GEC.

After I’d approached them with my laundry list, each issue was resolved 1 x 1.

1. Apparently the nocturnal teal Fast & Frees I got were the last available pair in my size across the country, so it’s either have lulu fix them if they fall apart any further, or exchange for a new color. I love the color, but also don’t want faulty unraveling pants. Unsure if I’m going to exchange them for black grape or not.
2. Without question, lululemon agreed to issue a $10 e-gift card to make up for the price difference on the Low Key Tank.
3. With the incorrect color on the Namastay Put Hipsters I’d received, lulu added on the value of that purchase to the gift card, given that they were only a portion of the order I’d placed that day.
4. On the gator green CRB snafu, I was expecting that refund to come in the form of a gift card, but it was credited back 100% on my Amex this morning.

I could have gotten the “sorry, it’s final sale” runaround, and I also could have been told to hoof it back to the store with my receipt about the tank top, but I wasn’t. For the fact that some of my issues were almost 6 months in the past, lululemon customer service stepped up and not only made things right, I did not even have to return the incorrect items I’d been sent. 3 cheers for Nancy at the GEC for dealing with the pile of “WTF” I’d come to her with on Sunday morning, and for resolving everything so kindly and efficiently. Yay!

Team TL:DR – Pick back up here!

Upload was late last week, so late I went to bed before it went up. This week, it’s early. Yay again! My Garmin watch is telling me to “Move!”. STFU, watch. It’s rest day and I earned it.

5 Faves & a Dud – 4/25/17 Upload

Before I even get into it this week, if you’re the type of woman who is good at spilling red wine on herself while lounging in lulu and watching the Bachelor, the current color offerings are so incredibly up your alley in the name of camouflaging klutziness. Black Grape, black currant, marvel… so much purple.

Favorite #1: Wunder Under Hi-Rise Tight ($98) in adorned emboss wunder under hi-rise black

These pants appeal to me for the same reason the heat wave white black appealed to me in 2015. Straight lines can create some flattering angles. Plus, these are a subtle sort of fun with the black on black on black on black. It’s like old school Wanderlust gear fell into a vat of black dye, and an edgy & flattering pair of tights came out of it.

Favorite #2: Go Lightly Shoulder Bag ($78) in forest green

I bought the black one as a “I’ll probably want/need this some day.” I now use it every. damn. day. If you’re still on the fence, catch my review of the black one, or else, proceed to your shopping cart and grab this baby for all of the earth-toned outfits in your wardrobe this summer!

Favorite #3: Energy Bra ($) in midnight navy

Necessary neutral for all the jewel-toned tanks in your life that you don’t always feel like mixing with basic black.

Favorite #4: Swiftly Tech LS Crew ($78) in black currant

I was thisclose to buying the marvel Swiftly last week, and now I’m wondering if I should bite the bullet on black currant instead. Do I hold out and wait for a black grape one? Or, do I just save my money for now, because the reality is that it’s spring and all of my darker Swiftlies are now on the bottom of the pile, as the brighter ones move into the rotation for the season? Hm.

Favorite #5: Joe’s Kansas City French Fry Seasoning ($3.99)

Wait what?! I haven’t gone rogue on a top 5 in a while, but readers who have been around the block with me know I’m prone to toss in something random when upload isn’t jazzing me.

This week’s upload is back to snooze in the color department (I’m hoping for an exciting drop next week, given that it’s a new month), and the Anew capsule’s tops aren’t much to write home about (see: the Dud). Therefore, I had sweet potato wedges with dinner this evening, and sprinkled some of this seasoning on top and they were magnificent.

Joe’s KC BBQ is one of the best BBQ spots in the nation, and I happened to eat there last time I visited a friend in KC a few years back. All that talk about ribs (damn good) but I loved the fries even more. So much so, I made him buy a bottle of the stuff and mail it to me halfway across the country a few months after my trip. Now it’s available online. Win.

The Dud: Anew Singlet ($54) in magnum

Ultimately, the cut is the real buzzkill for me on this particular tank. With how high the sides are cut, it looks more like a bib with panels flapping in the breeze, than it does a cohesive piece. Plus, I just can’t get with magnum as a color. I’d prefer one of those fancy expensive ice cream bars of the same name.

Stopping for now, because the last 6 straight days of training have got me feeling like:

Tomorrow marks my first day of tempo running for Seawheeze training, and I’m scaaaaared. What should I WEAR?!

Lululemon’s been attempting to get everyone amped for a new bra to drop next week BTW, the Enlite Bra. Is anyone buying anything from this week’s upload, or are we all holding on to our money in hopes that next week’s drop is a dazzler?