Constant Reinvention

Last weekend one of my friends from high school came to visit and meet Abby for the first time. Steph is the perfect "wild child" aunt for Abby! I was SO excited to see her and just hang out for the weekend and let whatever shenanigans we always end up getting into just fall into place. We of course took a trip to the outlets and spiced up our house with a fantastic sale at Yankee Candle. I took a little bit out of my "emergency" fund for candles. Emergency? Absolutely....it's the little things that make you feel better when sometimes you feel like everything is falling apart.
In between the running around moments Steph was able to witness a big change moment for our family. Abby attempted to crawl. Ok, she lifted up her arm from the crawling position and immediately toppled over, but it was a start and incredible cute! More importantly, Kyle went back to school. I have been hinting for a while that there were big changes coming, going on, circling around, and I have been virtually ripping away at the pages to find the best way to talk about it all. We have made the decision to sell the brand that we have built as a custom printing company, and that's about all I can get into with that side of things at the moment. Kyle and "the guys" are working on potentially buying a restaurant and with that Kyle is going to get a culinary degree. I admire his ambition and drive to yet again take on the task of mastering a truly specialized field, and I know that he will be beyond successful in whatever he chooses to do.
Of course, that means more $$ out of our pockets to pay for school. Having Steph here reminded me of how easy we had it in high school. We were essentially care free and finding our footing, ourselves, and dreaming of where we were going to go in life. I would like to think that I still have that dreamer in me, and for better or worse I am constantly reinventing myself. Luckily enough, Kyle is in the same boat with me and we can go through the constant changing together supporting each other. However, it's very different now that we have Abby.
Parenting "forces" you to have a sense of security for your family unit and your child(ren). It creates a sense of selflessness in you that says "no matter what is going on in life and how much I have to sacrifice, my child(ren) will be taken care of". I am blessed enough to have incredibly supportive family, but every day I strive to take care of my own on my own. Maybe I finally know how my parents feel when they tell me they want to make sure I am taken care of, but as a parent I want to be able to provide for my family as my own parent. I guess the days of carefree living are over, but to all the parents, supportive families, and everyone else out there do NOT read that to mean that the days of DREAMING are over.
This blog was started with the idea that we all need a moment every day to make ourselves feel absolutely fabulous, even if it's only in a dream!

Until Next Time
Dabble

A little bit of Louis...

So I just finished a logo design for a client, and they wanted this bronze brown color. When I was finished mt brain kept returning to the classic logo color on Louis Vuitton bags and I allowed myself a 10 minute indulgence while I ate my lunch to browse the Louis Vuitton website. Five years ago my dad did a "terrible" thing and bought me a Louis bag in their classic pattern that was a perfect school/work bag. Two and a half years later, he bestowed my second bag upon me:

The real "wow factor" from this bag came from buying it in Paris at their flagship store shortly after its remodel. I could have spent days in that store drooling over the classic trunks and running my fingers over the clothing, not to mention coveting the shoes that I would have to use every brain cell concentrating to be able to balance in them. I have used this bag almost every day for the last three and a half years and absolutely adore it.
During my online "window shopping" I stumbled across this little gem:

It's a debossed leather, and comes in several colors. We recently had a photo book order at work that requested a leather cover close to this color and I loved it. They also have a deep purple, which might match more of my wardrobe, but beggars can't be choosers. I should note that I think it will be a long time before I add any more Louis pieces or bags to my collection, and I honestly think I would love to buy my next piece for myself; sort of an accomplishment....and I should also mention that even with that, I wouldn't turn away one as a gift. (Just a girl being honest!)

I don't care if it's a thousand dollar bag, a three thousand dollar dress, or something you found at a consignment store that hugs all of the right places. There is something about a piece of clothing or an accessory that has the power to raise your confidence level to where you need it on the rough days, and lets you say "I have my big girl panties on today and I can conquer the world".

I live for days like that!

Until next time....

Dabble