I need some advice

I've finished the body of the kata shrug. Now, I like fitted clothes more than bulky ones. As you can see on the picture below (which I've stolen from Pureknits), the sleeves seem to be monkey-sleeves. The body isn't as far down on my arms as it is in the picture, but still, I think this might be devestating for my new year's resolution.

So now I'm thinking of how I could possibly modify this. First choice is simply not to pick up as many sts as the pattern says, but this will lead to that I'll make decreases according to my own liking. An other idea I have is to pick up the right number of sts, not make any decreases and have the cuffs in elbow-hight and make puffy sleeves. Puffy sleeves are trendy now, and they always lok better than monkey sleeves. What do you think? Or is it beyond rescue? Am I defeated? Should I f**g this?