366 Days of Style

It's hard to believe that it's been two months since Camp Mighty, but it has.  I mentioned in one of my recap posts how inspired I was with ideas, and this my friends was one of them.  The idea of a daily year long photo challenge was not a new concept to me, but it was the way Lisa Congdon spoke about hers that clicked with me.  An avid collector, Lisa decided to begin a photo collection of all her collections.  It was so brilliant that it was later turned into a book titled A Collection a Day.  (Lisa also started a new challenge this year - 365 Days of Hand Lettering). 

It was this idea of shooting a specific subject, or category, that struck a chord with me.  See, the idea of taking a photo a day had always appealed to me, but to just take a photo, any photo seemed too overwhelming a task to have to choose.  But to narrow it down to a specific category, that I could accomplish.

And so of course my subject, or category of subjects would naturally be my closet, and maybe even closets of others.  I have always been intrigued by women's style choices, especially when they're things that I may have personally passed on, but when I see them on other women I fall in love with them.  It's seeing style through each women's own lens of uniqueness and creativity that always inspires and excites me.

So for my personal photo challenge I will be taking pictures of many of the items within my own closet; shoes, accessories, pants, jackets, shirts, and talk a little bit about each of them.  Why I chose them, why I love them, even why I hate them and regret making the purchase.  I originally intended to keep this project for my style blog back when I thought it would be launched by January 1st.  When that didn't happen I almost scrapped the idea, but I kept coming back to it and my excitement for the actual project didn't wane, so I'm continuing with it.  When the style blog does launch, I will transfer each entry over there and resume the challenge on the style site only.  In the mean time I'll post weekly recaps here.  I hope you enjoy this fun new project as much as I do.  The first week was fun to hunt through my closet and pick things to shoot.

Day 1 - Carolee Faceted Jet 72 inch necklace - purchased 5 years ago from Nordstrom, this is the best jewelry purchase I've ever made and it's a reminder to not be so cheap when it comes to classic statement pieces.  Last seen here.

Day 2 - St. John cropped boucle 3/4 sleeve jacket - I sold most of my old St. John clothes to consignment but I kept a few pieces including this one.  I remember all the girls in the office had it after Angelina Jolie wore it in an ad.  I think I need to work it back into my wardrobe soon.

Day 3 - Best purchase of the year, hands down.  Last seen here.

Day 4 - My favorite jacket.  Soft leather, beautiful coloring, basic enough to remain a classic, yet updated enough with gold zippers and quilting to still look very current.  Last seen here. 

Day 5 - If there were a competition this year to see who scored the best vintage deal at an estate sale, I would win in a landslide.  Now if only it would rain some more.

Day 6 - Given to me by the Blog Sugar speakers, this scarf quickly became my favorite go-to accessory for many looks, last spotted in the Grand Canyon.

Day 7 - My only regretful purchase of the year.  Things were going swell with me and my Old Navy red jeans until I forgot to not put them in the dryer and BAM!  They retaliated on me and shrunk six ways to Sunday, making me feel like a Vienna sausage trying to squeeze into them, and then once they were on, they made me look like I was waiting for a flood.  In 2012 I vow to not be so cheap and wait till I can buy the pair I want.  They sure were cute while they lasted though...   

Camp Mighty In Pictures

First off, it's not what you think, that picture above.  That nice officer was giving me an introductory class in self defense, something I have on my life list.  It taught me that a) if someone attacks me from behind I am pretty much screwed and to start praying to the Almighty and b) I have a lot of pent up aggression because I took the punching exercise a little too seriously.  The ladies that were standing around in fact looked a little scared and creeped out.  One gal came up to me afterwards and said, "So do you hit things often?"  No, but that shadow boxing class I do almost weekly does seem to in fact work when it comes to teaching form.  Our instructor did indeed say I had good form so +2 points for me :)

A friend read my post yesterday and gathered that overall I didn't love the conference.  I did love it, I'm just a sensitive baby.  I get homesick very easily, I always have, and I take things too personally.  I cry at the drop of a hat, especially when talk involves babies and/or people reaching their dreams, and playing any song by Journey seals the deal if you want to see the waterworks.  And if you look at me cross eyed I'm certain you suddenly dislike me because I did something wrong.  Like I said, I know I need to see a shrink ;)  But anyhoo, I did have a great time and got to do some really fun things, starting with taking some self-defense lessons.  I also learned to saber a champagne bottle, and if you too would like to learn this skill, watch this super awesome video.    

Not seen or captured was learning the fine art of mix tape making, the proper technique of blowing off a fire extinguisher, and making balloon animals.  One detail I didn't really get into was that each attendee was split off into a team.  I was on Team 3 and I can honestly say that I met some of the most amazing people on my team.  God always has a plan and puts you where you need to be, even when you have doubts.  I truly believe that and my team placement was proof of that.  Each team was sponsored by a major corporation, all with a charitable conscious and mission.  Our sponsor was The Ronald McDonald House and it was a pleasure and honor to get to learn more of this awesome charity.

Finally, to end this very long and verbose post, on our last day Jules and I wanted to show Nicole The Parker hotel.  So we ate an over the top decadent breakfast at Norma's and then walked around the grounds geeking out by taking a hundred thousand pictures.  Below are just a few of the ones I snapped.  And after tomorrow's outfit post, I promise I won't ever talk about Camp Mighty again ;)

The Rundown

I'm baaaack!  Thank you to all you very nice, nice people that left me such encouraging and awesome comments on my last post, and that sent me emails and texts offering up encouragement for the weekend away at Camp Mighty. 

The more hours that pass, the more I think back and realize I did enjoy myself.  As of yesterday I was answering anyone who asked me how it was by saying "I liked it a lot, but I didn't love it."  After reflecting a bit I'm starting to love it more and more. 

First, the location, the Ace Hotel, the events, parties and dinners were great and overall well executed.  There were a  few hiccups, but after recently organizing a 1 day blog conference myself, I realize hiccups always happen and the organizers pressed on beautifully.

The speakers were incredible, truly they were.  Lisa Congden and Brian Piotrowicz were my favorite by a mile and I found their talks both inspiring and uplifting.  Lisa managed to reinvent herself at the tender age of 37 and is now an accomplished and amazingly talented artist.  Brian spoke about intentionality, something I try to always keep at the forefront of my mind.

I'll be straight up honest though, it was exhausting at times because the overall vibe of the conference, centered around the life list, was about going forth and making your dreams happen, accomplishing, doing.  Art quickly reminded me last night as I was regurgitating this feeling that it was called Camp Mighty after all.  Touche.  While a talk would rev me up, I also had to center myself several times and remind myself that I quit my job 6 months ago to be with my kids.  To be a more present mother and wife, to in fact be the best wife and mother I could be, and if I could be a good global citizen at the same time, then great.  But this conference was heavy on the doing and light on the chill factor if you know what I mean.  It was also heavy on mixing and networking.

I've always worked in sales and so the networking part didn't scare me and I think overall I fared well.  I walked up to complete strangers and struck up conversations several times and 99% of the time conversations were reciprocated and I got to know some very lovely and awesome people.  There is sadly though always an icky side of networking.  It only happened a couple of times, but that awkward moment did happen when you meet someone, and upon realizing that you are small time and that you in fact probably can't help them with something, they quickly turn on their heels and walk away.  Ickiness.  But network ickiness can happen anywhere, so this conference itself can't be blamed.  Several times when the self doubt snuck in, I reminded myself that back home, I am pretty spectacularly big time.  I am downright freaking awesome and I thought a lot about the post Ashley wrote last week about building a name for herself.  When I read that post last week it hit me in all the right places.  Such a good reminder to us mothers to keep our eyes on the ball.

With all that being said though, I was inspired, more inspired than I've been in a long time.  Without even intending to, I was slammed with a bunch of pretty cool ideas that I want to launch on the new style site.  Yes friends, I am still going forward with the style site but have been patient in deciding on a name, designer, etc.  I finalized a name though and bought the url!  It's a top secret surprise though!  The lovely and talented Tristan from Besotted Brand is helping with the design and if it weren't for her impending nuptials, after this weekend I'd be breaking down her door asking for my design :)   I will be patient though, but eek, I'm excited!

So the takeaway from all this, I loved the conference overall for the simple fact that it was a great reminder of how awesome my family is.  When you're presented with a band and free booze, and you'd still rather be with them, well then you know you have something special ;)  In their eyes, I will always be big time.  But seriously, I had a great time and am so glad I went.  What did you all do when I was away?  Anything fun this past weekend?  I'm tired of blabbing on...

Life List Be Done

As of this morning I barely had just over 40 items on my life list.  I called up Art and asked him to meet me at Peet's to help me brainstorm.  He knows me better than I know myself sometimes, and since many of the things I want to do, I want to do with him, I knew he'd be able to help.

We sat there one by one, adding some amazing things to the list.  All of a sudden I told him one of the things I wanted to add to my list; find the man that murdered my brother.  He immediately said absolutely not, and I knew deep down he was right.  He reminded me that I needed to move forward and suggested instead that I make a promise to visit his grave on a regular basis.

It's been 16 years since my brother was shot and killed in a cheap motel room just blocks away from our parent's house.  We don't know for sure what happened and his killer has never been brought to justice, but we can only assume it had something to do with an old drug related deal gone bad.  Since the day we buried him I've never once visited his grave.  Grief is a strange thing.  It ties you up in knots for days on end and it leaves you feeling wasted and like you never want to visit it again, and then it somehow disappears all together, sometimes for years at a time before you see it again.

I think it's safe to say that I've never properly mourned the passing of my brother.  When someone you love, someone in your immediate family, dies in such a way, there's all sorts of ugliness tied up in the mourning process.  Shame, embarrassment, regret.  Shit loads of regret.  Grief is grief and death is death and all of it is really crappy no matter what the circumstances, but when you hear that your oldest brother was shot and killed in a motel room, it's a bit unconventional.  When someone dies of cancer, or a car accident, or bravely doing a job, there's a sort of socially accepted form of conduct that goes along with the grieving process.  Within weeks of my brother's death, my high school boyfriend's sister also passed, from cancer.  She left a husband and son, and I brought them a chicken dinner, I remember.  I visited their home and gave my condolences and the house was packed with family members grieving for the loss of their daughter. sister, wife, mother.  They were reminiscing about her and talking about how much she was loved and cherished.  I remember thinking "well, things look a bit different here."  Where's the grieving manual titled Mourning the Loss of Your Family Member That Had a Disease and Was a Jerk?

I went away to university and graduated Magna Cum Laude (although it was from UCSB and their standards are a little lower), and I got a fantastic job working at a fancy-schmancy clothing company and I married a good boy from an even better family and made fine upstanding friends.  I went years without even telling a soul about my oldest brother.  Shame, embarrassment, all that ugly tied up in the grieving you know.  And then it really started to eat at me.  The last 2-3 years or so.  I started having reoccurring dreams about my brother.  In them I was always very young, and he was nothing but my big protective brother that nicknamed me Minnie on the day I was born.  There was none of that shame or embarrassment tied up in those dreams.  Every time I woke up crying from one of those dreams though.  I loved him so much and I miss him and I will always miss him because he was my brother and no matter what he did or what happened will ever change that. 

And so no, I guess I don't need to, or want to find my brother's killer.  That's not something I need to accomplish in my life time.  Instead I need to learn to properly mourn his death and remember him, the good and the bad, and I need to visit his grave.  And I need to take my kids to his grave and I need to tell my kids about him one day.  Because right now they don't even know he existed.  And I obviously need to see a shrink to work through some stuff because sometimes, it's screwed up there in this head of mine.  This time I'm going to try and find a Christian therapist to work with though.

So after all that, here's the final Life List.  I suggest you write one too just for fun.  Hopefully it won't bring up all sorts of angsty crap like it did for me ;)  I leave tomorrow.  I'm nervous and excited and I have all sorts of fun outfits planned because, DUH, what better way to deal with crappy childhood stuff than to plan fun things to wear?  Wish me luck.  Thanks for reading too.  You guys are the best.  Honestly, you are.  And really, can I just get some credit for giving it all to you guys here?  Fashion, DIY ideas, recipes, religion, childhood tragedies, I've got it all covered.  Adios amigos!

Andrea's Life List (as of 11/10/11)
Family

Teach my kids how to fish

See my kids graduate from College

See my kids get married & have children

Organize a family reunion

Throw my parents a big party for making it this far

Visit all major museums in the US

View the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from an apartment

Hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with the kids

Take kids to Yellowstone & see Old Faithful

Stay on a ranch/farm

Take the kids zip lining in a rainforest

Teach kids how to snowboard

Teach kids dirt bike riding (Art’s in charge of this one)

Go sledding in White Sands New Mexico with the kids

Make a family movie

Cliff jumping

Teach kids how to drive

Take kids to their first Angels game

Digitize all film & organize footage

Organize all digital photos
Hot air balloon ride 

Spirituality

Read the Bible cover to cover

Go on a Mission trip

Visit the Holy land

Have a 1 on 1 session with a Pastor & ask all the questions I’m afraid to ask in public

Attend Bible study on a regular basis & study all the books of the Bible

Visit my brother’s grave annually

See a shrink to work stuff out

Travel & Adventure

African Safari

Spain

Italy

Greece

Great Britain

France

Canada

Australia

Japan

China

Germany

New Zealand

Swiss Alps

Visit 44 states (the coolest ones - there's 6 I have no desire to visit)

Live in New England for at least a year

Just For Fun

Learn a choreographed dance routine

Participate in a flash mob

Learn to spin records, even digitally

Go to the Winter Olympics

Go to the Summer Olympics

Create a bottle of wine with my name on the label

Attend Sundance Film Festival

Attend Cannes

Get teeth professionally whitened

Go to an NFL game

Own an acre of land, somewhere, anywhere

Watch 100 Best Movies of All Time (AFI’s 10^th Anniversary edition)

Own a 2^nd home for vacationing
Baby Whisperer meet up

Health

Run another half marathon

Become flexible enough to do the splits

Learn self defense

Complete a 1 month detox

Go to a wellness spa

Partnership

Write a screenplay with my husband

Attend a marriage and counseling seminar with husband to have a kick-ass marriage

Renew my vows

Celebrate 50 years of marriage

Go on a romantic vacation just the two of us

Finish that book we’ve had for a long time

Charitable Causes

Donate hair to Locks of Love

Start a Love 146 task force in Orange County/Long Beach area

Dedicate time consistently to a charitable organization

Raise & Donate at least $2000 a year to charitable causes (besides tithing)

Build a house with Habitat for Humanity

Donate money anonymously

Home Ec

Grow flowers from bulbs

Make homemade pasta

Create & maintain organized files/records

Maintain the 20 minute rule

Make authentic Spanish paella from scratch

Make sopapillas like my Grandma used to make

Learn to make Chile Rellenos

Master a basic pie pastry recipe

Create a working office/craft room

DIY an office desk

Invest in a quality sewing machine

Pay off mortgage

Get all ducks in a row for financial investments

Personal/Professional Development

Learn to speak fluent Spanish

Learn to play the piano

Making a living off my blog

Return to the fashion industry within the next 5 years

Take a photography class

Take a graphic design class

Learn Photoshop well enough so I don’t need Art’s help

Read at least 50 of the books on the 100 Classics List of All Times (between the US/UK versions)

Become a certified fitness instructor of some sort

Take an art class

Take an advanced sewing class

Take a jewelry making class
Get paid to do what I love

Lemonade & Gray Skies

This morning as she was getting ready for school, Taylor asked "Hey mom, we usually go to church on the weekends but we didn't, how come?"  Well because we had to walk for diabetes remember?  "Oh yeah, of course!  God would totally understand."  Ya, I think he would.  On top of getting to walk in the JDRF walk this Sunday at Dodger's Stadium, we also crossed something off our summer list, yes, in Fall.  We held a lemonade stand!  All proceeds went to JDRF and Charity: Water.  

Lemonade stands are fun and awkward at the same time don't you think?  You stand on the corner and try to sell your goods and trust that people will a) not be afraid that your lemonade is poisonous and b) trust that you are in fact going to donate the money.  Or maybe I'm just the only cynic out there?  Either way, people came in droves and in 2 short hours we raised almost $80!  See that guy in the picture above?  He's holding a bag full of cookies and yet he's buying one of my sugar cookies.  That's right ;)

Even Grandma and Grandpa came out to help a bit.  Papa was in charge of sign making.

 Taylor poured and poured while people happily stopped and accepted curb side service while in their car

Neighbors came out to climb fences and pull our dog's tail.  And a grumpy old guy even stopped to tell me the damn government was gonna come shut me down because I didn't have a permit!  Damn government.  I appealed to his conservative side and said "that may happen in San Francisco but that ain't happening in Orange County man!"  He seemed to like that, but he still didn't buy any lemonade. 

Sunday was a very rainy gray day yet managed to clear up for a couple of hours so we could walk the two laps around Dodger Stadium and stay dry.  The clouds and gray skies actually made for some really pretty views from the stadium.

I love the look of Downtown LA.  I know it doesn't beat the NYC skyline, but for this native Southern California girl, the downtown skyline will always mean home for me. 

An empty stadium is such a cool site.

The girl we were walking for, Miranda!

Syd is with us, he's just in the bottom part of the stroller.  And I still can't beleive at 4 and 6 my kids still use a stroller.

Although half way through the walk they got tired of sitting and started running down the hill.  I had to do the chasing while Art hung back and laughed, photographing me almost falling (which will not be shown here).  Go Blue! p.s. see the green Hunter boots I'm wearing in the photo below?  I trekked it out to Riverside for Jules' friend Helena's estate sale and I got them for $25 - brand new. 

So our fundraising is done!  $150 raised for JDRF and about $400 raised for Charity:Water!  Thank you to everyone who donated and bought ad space.  Those that bought ad space I will be contacting you shortly to line up guest posts and such.

I leave for Camp Mighty on Thursday!  I'm rooming with Jules and Nicole and I haven't decided what pj's to bring.  PJ's are kinda a big deal for sleepovers no?  I've decided on my Space Party outfit, but I still have to finish my LIFE LIST!  Ahhh!  I only have 40 items on it.  Crap I better get busy!

Oh, and have you heard of the Happy Day Project that Julie and Jeannett are hosting?  I'm taking part in it for a couple of days before I leave but I love the whole flippin concept.  Love those girls and their hearts and focus on giving, be it big or small.  Go on over and check it out, it's not too late to join!

Life List

In less than 3 weeks I'll be leaving for Camp Mighty.  I swear I'm not cool enough for this type of thing, but I'm going anyhow.  Thank goodness Jules will be there.  In less than 3 weeks I have to help my team raise $5000 for Charity Water, so chances are if you know me in real life I may be hitting you up for a donation.  I also have to come prepared with a life list of 100 items, things to do before the end here on Earth.  

I've never done something like this before, as this kind of stuff usually stresses me out.  Makes me realize just how much I haven't done in my life and how much more I still want to do.  I've cooked it up to be a lot of pressure you know?  I remember seeing a bunch of bloggers doing that 35 things to do before I turn 35 list and I thought how crazy that was.  No thanks, I make enough lists in my day-to-day, I don't need to make another one.  But when I started writing it down, it became a lot of fun.  Thinking of both simple, very achievable things all the way to the wild and crazy.  The wild and crazy I haven't really put down yet...still a little hesitant to set those things in writing, but I'll get there.

So this is where I've started.  14 items off the top of my head that came to me without a lot of thought.  Sort of like when someone tells you say the first word that pops into your head.  These are mine.

What would some of yours be?  What are the 3 things that would come to you off the top of your head that you would add to your life list?  I promise it's a lot of fun.  

p.s. the winner of the Cents of Style giveaway is Sherry.  Congratulations!