Monday, September 20, 2010

LACMA Recharge!

Today on a random spur of the moment - I thought hey I could really use some art intake to recharge my creative side!  So I ventured off down the road to LACMA - LA County Museum of Art.  And guess what... they had some fabulous Andy Warhol paintings.  I love that I was greated with the traditional Campbell's soup can.  The 60s... this is where it all started - the break of finally good fashion and freedom of art, and freedom of oh so much more haha!  ;)  Love love love modern/contemporary art, love poppism, love Andy Warhol, love the 60s counter culture movement, love Edie Sedgwick, love Twiggy, love Marilyn Monroe, LOVE Jackie O.  Fabulous stuff!  It's like finally turning on the light and seeing the world after being in the dark for so long.

After the art museum I was inspired to do a little retail therapy at The Grove in West Hollywood.  This might be one of my favorite outdoor malls.  I think I may have even had a Jude Law spotting!  Not a bad way for a gal to spend her afternoon living her life in LA.  The Grove is adorable and fabulous.  There is this street that goes off of the main walkway - the small path is covered in cobble stones with antique looking light posts - makes you feel like you are in Paris for a minor second.

Other than spending my time recovering from finals with art museums and shopping, I have been reading.  I just finished a great book!  It was written by one of my favorites - Tim Gunn (the Project Runway mentor and so much more).  His book is called Gunn's Golden Rules:  Life's Little Lessons for Making It Work.  It was an easy and stimulating read.  I finished it in just a couple of nights.  The book has a good message about truth telling and always taking the high road.  It is humorous in terms of his outting the Divas of the fashion world - namely my least favorite diva Anna Wintour!  He talks about how she infamously never likes to take elevators with others and how at one fashion event she made her body guards carry her down five flights of stairs and then even continue until she was placed in her car.  Disgusting!  It's funny to me that so many in the fashion world worship a woman who could really really REALLY use an updated hairdo!  Haha!  For those of you who don't know Anna Wintour, I'm sure you have seen the movie The Devil Wears Prada.  The woman Meryl Streep plays is supposed to be a knock at Anna Wintour at Vogue.  Need a good book - purchase Tim Gunn's newest!

Very soon I will get to spend some time in Orange County and the beach when my parents come to visit.  Then I will be off to Salt Lake City, Utah to check out a few ideas I have in this creative brain of mine!  It's time to soak it all up before the school whip gets popp'in again!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Elle - Oh - Vee - EEE!

Finals finished.  So happy.  I worked so hard.  Things are really starting to come along.  I can see my design vision taking off.  I can see the picture I want in life starting to develop.  This experience of moving to LA without even knowing a single person and pursuing something I've always dreamed of doing has been so challenging.  I can see now after working so hard, that I will continue to have to work even harder. However, now is the time where I can finally start to taste a little bit of the sweetness.  The reward only comes after the blood, sweat, and tears.  I love fashion.  I love being a fashion designer.  What an amazing experience this is.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

One More to GO!

I am in the midst of finals for design!  Last night equated to no sleep and sewing all hours of the night.  I completed a pair of capri pants with extra large cuffs and a motif draped dress w/lining out of Georgette fabric.  So many times during my night last night of final projects I wanted to quit.  However that didn't happen.  I love this too much.  My weeks have consisted of approximately 80 hr plus weeks - attending classes, projects, and working my side job outside of school.  I have completed four finals and now just one more to go tomorrow night for my computer pattern drafting class.  After tomorrow, I will have one remaining quarter until I am officially a FiDM Fashion Design Professional Designation Graduate!  It's just around the corner.  I want my last quarter to be my best!  I have now fully adapted to being a fashion design student.  I have a whole new view and a tremendous amount of respect for what it really requires to successfully survive a renown fashion design program.  This has been quite the refining experience.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Simple Thought

You know its been said that we just don't recognize the significant moments in our lives while they are happening.  We grow complacent with ideas or things or people and we take them for granted.  It's not usually until that thing is about to be taken away from you that you realize how wrong you've been.  You realize how much you really need it, that you love it!

I love my family.  I love the idea of being able to have a family of my own.  Some days I think I may have forgotten this.  I have become clouded and preoccupied with so many other things such as my career and the voice of the mainstream world.  I almost forgot that this is the most amazing thing to achieve.  The idea of having a family of my own used to be one of my biggest goals, biggest reasons to fight for life!  It still is, but I think I've been hiding it with all the fear that the world brings.  The world can paint a very scary picture when it comes to trusting another, giving your heart away, putting your happiness in another's hands.  I wouldn't change the things I've been blessed to accomplish thus far, those have molded me into the person I am and will help to mold me into the person I will become in my life journey.  I will never stop working toward the goals that I have.  Some days I just need to remind myself of the biggest blessing I really dream of having - more than being a famous fashion designer, more than obtaining "things", some day I dream of having a family of my own.  Family should be the foundation of our society.

Friday, September 3, 2010

A Year and Some Change

A year ago, I didn't even think there was a possibility of me pursuing one of my biggest dreams of going to a prestigious fashion design school.  There was so much weighing me down.  So many many many things clouding my mind where no matter how logically I looked at the picture, it really didn't even seem possible.  I cried thinking I might just have to accept that this dream of mine just didn't make sense and that I might just have to let it go.  My heart finally took over my brain.  I felt like I literally had to push the off button on my brain just long enough to actually make the leap and just get out here to LA, start school, and hope for the best, that everything else would line up so that I could survive and really accomplish this.  I'm here.  I've overcame the worries and barriers I never thought would work out.  Crazy thing is, I still to this day can't really fathom how everything has just worked out for me.  Things seem to fall in the right place.  However there have been many intense struggles.  This has been one of the hardest things I've had to work for.  No matter how hard it's been, no matter how many struggles, every single day of this dream has been soooo worth it!  Now I have finals in two weeks and then just one more quarter left until I graduate from my program.  I wish a year ago I could read what I am writing this very moment.  A year ago I'm not sure I would have believed these words today.  What an amazing faith building experience.