Entourage Party in Hollywood

Last night I attended a very fun industry party for the show Entourage. I met some amazing people from a very prestigious fashion designer to music producers to the next potential governor of California to the original Entourage cast. I had a great night with a couple awesome friends that attended with me.

I love networking and meeting new, fun, fascinating people. You have to have a solid network and good connections to make it any where in the business world.

LA is never dull. There is always always always something exciting going on. Good times LA!

"Why do you try so hard to fit in, when you were born to stand out!"

Today I wrote in my creative journal about balance. Feeling balanced and actually being balanced are so important. It may not happen every second of every day, but it's important to always work at it. Design and creativity is the ultimate "balancer" for me. It pairs so well with anything else I choose to let into my life. Design gives me power and because I love it, I'm a happy person. Design allows me control and expression of my feelings and emotions.

I have such a fun life. This is something I have always wanted to do. I love going to school at FiDM. I'm learning so much as well as being extremely challenged.

The journey to get here has been a learning experience, it has given me the strength and foundation I need to walk this path that I now walk.

A little excerpt that describes my journey to get here:

And Hansel said to Gretel, let us drop these bread crumbs, so that together we can find our way home. Because losing our way would be the most cruel of things. This year I lost my way.

And losing your way on the journey is unfortunate, but losing your reason for the journey is a fate more cruel.

The journey lasted five years. Sometimes I traveled alone, sometimes there were others who took the wheel and took my heart. But when the destination was reached, it wasn't me who had arrived, it wasn't me at all.

And once you lose yourself, you have two choices. Find the person you used to be, or lose that person completely.

Because sometimes you have to step outside of the person you have been and remember the person you are meant to be. The person you wanted to be. THE PERSON YOU ARE.

SURVIVAL.

It's called survival [period]. This is a description of my finals week to end my quarter at FiDM. I'm not used to being so heavily challenged, I have had several sleepless nights to finish all of my projects. I'm still not done, two more days. Monday I have two more and then I will officially be finished. I feel like I'm running a marathon, I'm on the last two miles... gotta keep on going. My studio is a mess, fabric everywhere, papers everywhere, sketches everywhere, books everywhere. Once I am finished, first thing will be to clean my studio, second thing will be to go to the ocean and relax/regroup.

I have learned so much and my skills are improving drastically. I am also really enjoying my job serving at the Daily Grill. I work with a great group of people and the guests are of the business/professional type. The guests remind me of the business world I used to work in. My job is a nice balance which allows me to step out of my "creative space" in my studio and network and interact.

Almost there, keep cheering me on, I need your support! Definitely can't do this alone.

A Big Bolt of Fabric

I was quite the spectacle in dowtown LA about twenty mins ago. I got an amazing deal on some fabric that I felt inspired by, so I made the purchase and had to carry a bolt of denim as well as a huge bag filled with other cut fabric and notions. Literally I was carrying approx 40lbs! Little me walking with that load (in high heels of course) was quite the experience. But I love what I do and I'm excited to start making some of my design ideas over my break after I finish finals this week!!

I have done such a fabulous job of keeping my thoughts positive in getting everything done this quarter. I work 5-6 days a week, last week I actually worked seven days!! Yesterday I worked two different jobs... but here I am feeling calm and collected and excited to start my next project for finals. However, the next two days are going to be the most productive days of my life. I also have to go to work and due to Day Light Savings time, I lose an hour tonight! Oh dear (;

Here we go!!! I'm going to do my best work and love the process. Positive thoughts will carry me even farther!

Leader of beauty and life of a tortured artist!

Breathe in and out.... ahhhh... this is finals time.

I never expected to feel so happy yet so challenged in fashion design school. From the outside it just looks like a world full of "plastics", girls with lots of hot style but no brains. FiDM definitely has a way of weeding out the weak, the weak fall aside, only the strong remain. I wonder what the numbers are for those who start the program to those who put the blood, sweat, and tears in to finish - because it really takes that. You will never really get it, unless you yourself are sitting in the driver's seat. The outside world looking in, definitely doesn't get it. But that's ok, cuz when the survivors survive, we will be the ones who rise to the top, be able to make the so called "big bucks" but not have to fully sell our souls like the cubicle-land people. This is my dream. Now just putting one foot in front of the other to get there!

They call me Elle!

It's funny, in every city I live in I have a different nickname. In DC, it was Marilyn because I wore my hair curly and resembled Marilyn Monroe. Now in LA, it's Elle, somewhat short for Elena. I know where someone knows me from by what nickname they call me. I have various nicknames from soccer, cheerleading/college, high school...

I pulled an all nighter last night - working on tech flats, specs, fashion figure sketches, fabric swatches, sewing an organza skirt... then I woke up and went to an early morning class then onto work. The awesome thing about this whole event is I actually had a smile on my face after going through all of this and it honestly hasn't felt like a big deal. I am tired, but still so jazzed to be doing what I'm doing.

It will be interesting to see where I decide to live once I finish my Fashion Design program at FiDM - either stay in LA or go to NYC or perhaps London... who knows... but I will find the path that I need to be on or stay on!

Oh and if you want to consider me a close friend, feel free to call me Elle as well (;

My thought for today - What should you wear??? I recommend a SMILE (:

xoxo,
Elle