“The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.”

Oh hey friends! What better way to spend Valentine's Day than in my pajamas working on Entrepreneurship homework? I figured I'd take a break to update this ol' blog.

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. Lots to say, not sure how to say it. So I figured I'd give it a shot now and see how it goes.

I finished all of my sewing a few days ahead of BFW. Thank goodness. Then it was preparations and getting myself ready. I drove up to Bham Wednesday and checked into Hotel Highland, which was AMAZING. I highly recommend it. I got ready and headed off to the Kick-Off Party at Gus Mayer just as my parents were arrived. Said a quick hi-bye, then ran off to the party. It was fun. I met some nice people, got a picture with Taylor Hicks and had a nice time. After that we headed over to Pepper Place for model run throughs. Got a chance to ask any last minute questions, then gathered all of my models for one final fitting. Everything fit perfectly except Olivia's top, but it was an easy fix. I went back to the hotel, got my mom, and we ran to Wal-Mart because I had to redo one of my sketches and that was the only place open at 11:30 at night. Oy. Redid the sketch, busted out my sewing machine to fix the top, Fixed Corrinne's hem, and made it to bed by 3. Not too shabby!

Thursday I woke up at 7. Oy. Grabbed a lovely breakfast downstairs then it was off to the tents! We did hair and makeup early early, but it turned out really amazing. I wish I had caught the name of my hair and makeup people because they were wonderful. Spent the morning chatting with Kassi, Megan and Robert. I'm so very glad they were showing on Thursday night as well. At noon I met Kevin for a quick lunch at Cantina, then it was time for rehearsals. Spent a few hours on that, then it was time to get myself changed and dress all of my models.

Can I tell you how amazing my models are? Erin, Corrinne, Caitlin and Olivia are some of the best people I've ever worked with. They were fun, funny and super supportive. Their genuine excitement about wearing my designs was such a confidence boost. After they were ready I helped some of the other designers get girls taped and pinned because hello, I am the mother of every situation. Everyone loved my little sewing kit. It was chaos but we had a lot of fun.

After that we headed for the tents. Stood backstage for 2 hours before the show finally started. Everyone was FREEZING. But I think the show went well. I honestly couldn't tell you because I was backstage the whole time! DJ Coco was AMAZING though. He played Vampire Weekend for my collection, which was SO fun and fit the mood so well. It made me happy.

After all the Emerging Designers went, we sat and waited for the rest of the show to end. I spent most of the time chatting with Robert. I'm so very glad I met him. He is truly an amazing designer and a great person. After the show ended, they announced Top 5. Kassi and Robert made it, but I did not. Honestly, at that point, I was just proud to have finished my collection and made it through the show. I was proud of what I did and that's all.

I met my models back in the changing room, got my garments back and met my parents, Annie and Heather at the car. We said goodbyes and my parents and I headed back to the hotel. We put our stuff up and went to Cosmo's, this sweet pizza place right behind the hotel. It was DELICIOUS. Our waitress was stoned out of her mind, but she was so nice! She let me sample two local beers, both of which were delicious. And we got an awesome pizza with yellow pepper sauce. YUM. After that we went back to the room and passed out.

Friday we came back to Tuscaloosa and spent the rest of the weekend cleaning and bonding.

There are a lot of things from the show that I am frustrated with. I'm not going to go into detail, because it's not my place, but I think a lot of things could have been handled differently. I am still SO grateful for the opportunity to show my collection and for the people I met. The main thing I took away from the show was the friendships I made with fellow designers and some really amazing models.

I'm moving on from this experience with a new outlook on life. I've realized a lot of things about myself and a lot about people in this industry. In the next few months it is going to be really interesting to see where I can carve myself out a life. I'm not trying to fit in where I don't belong and I'm not going to pretend to be something that I'm not. I'm proud of what I do, and I think there are a lot of people who feel the same.

So there's that. We're moving past it, and we're moving on to even bigger and better things!

I got a 98 on my Marketing exam today. WOO. And tomorrow is the first Tuscaloosa dress drive for Operation Prom Dress. I will finally get to meet Quella face to face and hammer out the details of a lot of things. This coming weekend is the CBH finalist visit so I will be absolutely insanely busy. But when am I not? ;)

“Fashion is a social agreement. the result of a consensus of a large group of people.”

I'm sorry friends. I've had no desire to blog lately. Hopefully soon I'll get inspired. Until then, I'll shower you with pictures from Birmingham Fashion Week. You're welcome.

“Friends are God's way of taking care of us.”

Apparently I wrote this Monday:

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I have a terrible habit of staying up too late. Today I woke up too late. I got up, did some sewing, showered, did laundry, went to the store, ran errands, made brownies for my freshmen, went to see them, then Heather came over and we made meatloaf and rice and peas and carrots. YUM! Then we watch more of A Very Potter Musical, then some Leverage, then Clay came over for a while, then more AVPM, and then she left. Noooow I need to go to sleep because I actually have to go to class tomorrow!

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Tuesday I went to class and work, then I came home and sewed for a long while. I think I did something else that night as well. Oh, I think Heather came over again. Didn't she? Who knows. My days blur a lot. Oh yeah. Annie and I went to Yogurt Mountain. Yum. Then Heather came over. I really don't sleep much these days.

Wednesday I got up way too late, went to my meeting, which was very productive, then I think I meant to go sew but I paid my rent instead, then I still wasn't productive. What the heck did I do yesterday? Oh, yup. Went to Kobe with Annie and Clay, then went on a mad search for a new desk chair since mine broke. Didn't find one, ended up at Target getting wine. Yup.

Today I was almost late to Marketing because I am having a REALLY hard time with this whole waking up AND getting out of bed thing. Wake up? Okay fine. Get out of bed? iiiiiii don't think so.

So went to Marketing then went to work for the rest of the day. Trained Paula a bit, called schools for OPD, did budgety things. Went on a treasure hunt to Russell. That was fun. After work went to Caitlin's to borrow a wig in case my models' hair isn't good for the look I'm going for, then went home. Erin came over, we went to Chang's, then came back. I sewed, she watched tv. Superawesomewonderful Kevin got the thread I needed from Joann Fabrics in B-ham, so he stopped by to drop that off. So nice to not have to drive to Birmingham. I of course would not let him in my apartment because it is an utter wreck. One of these days it will be beautiful and clean and happy and I will want to have everyone over. But for now, I will pretend to be a hermit. I continued to sew, Heather came over and she and Erin watched Grey's. After that Heather left, I sewed, then Erin, Julia and I went to see Red Tails. It was awesome, there was literally NO ONE else in the theatre. We could talk as much as we wanted. Wonderful. Also, go see that movie. It is amazing. Just do it.

Soooo yeah. Tomorrow I am sewing all day and my goal is to finish everything. I REALLY hope that happens. If not, then I HAVE to finish it Saturday. No excuses. It has to get done!

And that's that. Still waiting on info on my final model, due to some issues with another one. Don't get me started on that. Other than that, I'm a crazy wreck and I can't wait for Birmingham Fashion Week.