But It Feels Like It Should Last Forever

This summer I pulled out of storage everything I had packed up from my Scottsdale condo . All the memories of living with Kelly and Jason, the UKAZU parties, studying for the LSATS, and then the nostalgic items that go back even further -- things that go back to childhood days. Then I flew back to Manhattan to clean up my West Village apartment. Four years of living with Brian and Michael, Parsons, the fashion industry, New York City.

I felt like I was cleaning house on old memories -- the good, the bad and the ugly!

It was erie going through my stuff from two very different periods of life within such a short span of each other. It was like rewinding over two different movies at the same time.

I had not been in my Manhattan apartment since June of this summer and when I walked in I was completely overwhelmed! I thought it shouldn't take me more than a day and half to pack up -- come on it's NYC, our place wasn't that big. Ohhh, was I ever wrong. Tackling JUST my room was a nightmare! I had saved every school project, every note ever written to me, and my shoe collection is a bit out of control. I had shoes under my bed, in my closet, in our linen closet, and a long the side of my wall!

But beyond just organizing all my items, I was packing up four years of a fabulous adventure in New York City and unpacking 30 years of a lifetime in Arizona. I had my mother's Lenox China, my dad's old architectural drawings, barbie dolls, old school pictures. Talk about a bit of an emotional roller coaster.

I have had the itch to leave New York for a while, and being back didn't make me change my mind, like all the times in the past. However, it was weird to sink right back into the Manhattan way of life for at least a week. Brian was working from home all week, so I would pack, then we would go and grab lunch at all our old spots and it felt like old times and nothing had changed at all. I definitely got choked up as I hailed a cab and took off for JFK. I do miss our roommate banter and laughing at all of Brian's insane quotes, and having to watch him model outfit after outfit just to go downstairs to get coffee.

As I said goodbye to New York friends and re-connected with Arizona friends, I realized that nothing lasts forever, we are here but for a fleeting moment. Everything passes within a blink of an eye. So enjoy the ride, tomorrow could bring something totally different and new....

iTunes Junkie

I have documented my playlists before, but I have downloaded so much music the past two days, I decided to list it again...it's "iced-coffee" for my ears :-)

LOVE:

Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" - adore this song, but the whole album is fun
Glee's version of Wicked's "Defying Gravity
Glee's version of "Imagine"
Glee's version of "True Colors"
Priscilla Ahn's "Dream"
Sexy Bitch
Chromeo's version of Vampire Weekend's "The Kid's Don't Stand A Chance"
Beyonce's Halo
New Soul
When Love Takes Over
Kelly Clarkson's whole album -- "All I ever Wanted"
Santigold
Dance Remix of "Viva la Vida"

Live your story

I have been in a super reflective state of mind. I guess it makes sense, being that I am packing up my NYC life to make Phoenix my permanent landing spot, at least for this next stage of life. Funny, how time never stands still, and what feels like is going to be a never-ending adventure is really just a short chapter in a much larger book.

Ohh New York City and all the memories and adventures:

Parsons The New School For Design
My crazy classmates
My awesome roomates and getting to be "Grace"
Monday Night Dinners with all the boys + Amanda
Living in the West Village
Incredible school projects
Women's Wear Daily
Riding the subway
Brunch every weekend
Frigid weather almost all of the time!
Oscar de la Renta
Staying out until sunrise
Marc Jacob's Arabian Night Christmas Party
American Eagle Aerie Pre Production
Aeropostale
Boys at the Inn
My 30th birthday at Megu when alot of my AZ friends flew out for the weekend
Henri Bendel's Open See
Launching Jennifer Paige Designs
My Trunk Show at Henri Bendel
Meatpacking dance parties
Manolo Blahniks
Meeting some really incredible people
The chance to experience a completely different life than I had ever imagined...

Proving to myself that I could live and make it in NYC, and that it is okay to say goodbye to an amazing adventure for the chance at a calmer life that includes family and lifestyle that only the West can afford.

"Live your story, FAITH, HOPE AND GLORY, hold to the truth in your heart...if we hold onto together I know our dreams will never die..." -- Diana Ross

The next dream is just beginning.

Trunk Shows

Come check out my trunk shows! Headbands and Hair Clips make great gifts and stocking stuffers. It's time to do some Christmas shopping and I now take credit cards.

DATE: Wednesday, November 18th

TIME: 2-7pm
PLACE: New Way Learning Academy, the school is located at 77th St and McDowell, right off the 101.

I will be in New York, but Brooke & Alexa with Royaltees Clothier will have a booth and they will help to sell my headbands.


DATE: Wednesday, December 2nd
TIME: 4-6:30pm
PLACE: Chestnut Lane Cafe, southside of Camelback & 44th Street near Camelback Florist and Havana Cafe

There will be pink Champagne and delicious treats such as cinnamon rolls and cookies. This adorable little cafe has become my favorite Arcadia spots for coffee.

DATE: Tuesday, December 8th
TIME: 2-8pm
PLACE: Silver Leaf Country Club 18701 North Silverleaf Drive, Scottsdale, 85255

I had a dream

I love music that makes you sit back and be quiet and reflective. I even like when it stirs you to get a bit misty-eyed.

Ashley Bugg set this song to Tracey Martin's Baby Butter photo-shoot that Blake was a model for a few weeks ago. It is the song I journal to. So many thoughts dancing through my head -- my headband business, if I want to make the leap and buy another house, and where I want to be in 10 years. But the thoughts that won't stop lingering is how much I wish I could just see my mom. I may be all grown up, but at the same time I am a "little girl who just misses her mom."

DREAM

By Priscilla Ahn

I was a little girl alone in my little world who dreamed of a little home for me.
I played pretend between the trees, and fed my houseguests bark and leaves, and laughed in my pretty bed of green.

I had a dream
That I could fly from the highest swing.
I had a dream.

Long walks in the dark through woods grown behind the park, I asked God who I'm supposed to be.
The stars smiled down on me, God answered in silent reverie. I said a prayer and fell asleep.

I had a dream
That I could fly from the highest tree.
I had a dream.

Now I'm old and feeling grey. I don't know what's left to say about this life I'm willing to leave.
I lived it full and I lived it well, there's many tales I've lived to tell. I'm ready now, I'm ready now, I'm ready now to fly from the highest wing.

I had a dream

100% Sure

People are constantly asking me if I miss New York City, and if I am happy with my decision to move back home to Arizona. I can say with 100% certainty that I made the right decision to move home. I am soo happy right now, I feel like I am in my element and things are falling into place like I would have never imagined.

I have grappled with the issue of East Coast/West Coast since the day I arrived in New York 4 years ago. New York was an adventure that I always wanted to experience, but it was never home. I am a south-west girl through and through and that never changed while living in Manhattan.

Parsons, working in the fashion industry, the thrill of living in the West Village, my fabulous roomates and celebrity friends was all an absolutely incredible ride. However, deep down inside I knew it would someday need to wrap up because I missed the calm and wholesomeness of Arizona and my old life too much. The four years of living in New York, I never lost touch with my Arizona friends and of course family -- and I constantly felt like I had put my life on "Pause" to experience New York and I was aching to hit "Resume" on my old life.

Earlier this year, as well as a year ago, I wanted to move home, but than I changed my mind and decided to stay in New York because I felt I still had things to accomplish in the big apple, but this time things are different. This time I am no longer on the fence and I have no qualms about leaving the vibrant, sparkling city for something slower paced and not quite as frantic.

Yes, Blake Emery, my adorable niece is a huge factor as to why I moved home. Spending time with her and my wonderful sister is priceless and all the success and splendor of New York could never make up for that. But Arizona also affords a lifestyle that New York could never give me.

I had a lot of email exchanges with my friend Ryan Hyland, as the issue of moving back west started to weigh heavily on my heart. Ryan said something about just having the Faith to follow my heart and to see what unfolded if I just made the leap. And then one of my now fashion mentors, Tracey Martin (Baby Butter Clothing) told me "The Business Is You! Not where you reside!"

Those two ideas stuck in my head. And I am seeing how absolutely true they both are! My business is taking off in ways I could never have imagined and it does not matter where I am, because I am the business, not the city I reside in. And God is faithful when you are faithful to Him. I am surrounded by super creative people and artistic projects ( in the past I was leary of moving home because I was afraid of living a "Vanilla-White-Rice" life as compared to what I had in NYC). And now that is anything but true....God has laced my life with creativity and fantastic people who I couldn't be more happy to collaborate and surround myself with.

I am so happy, so certain and so excited to be back home :-) I'll always remember New York, but the sun has set on that chapter...and of course the sun is still shining in Arizona...as is Blake Emery...

Oh Beautiful Barneys!

The past few weeks my entire focus has been helping Cathy Jahnke with the grand opening of the east wing at Scottsdale Fashion Square. The east wing houses Barneys New York, a 6,000 sq foot H&M, Forever 21, a concept Banana Republic store, and Sam Fox's latest restaurant Modern Steak, among a slew of other stores.

Cathy came up with the concept "The Mannequin Is Our Muse" and we reached out to valley locals (designers, artists, architects, vendors, and merchants) to create mannequins. We ended up with 123 mannequins! Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys did a mannequin, and we even had mannequins flown in from NYC and California artists. The Armani Exchange mannequin had to be flown to Milan for Mr. Armani's final approval!!!!!

I collaborated on a mannequin with my architect friend Bob Wilkinson. We used floor mats from the 99 cent store. There was a bit of controversy with our mannequin, but I'll save that for another post. She is now standing in my kitchen -- she is a bit freaky but I am pleased with our final product.

It took an insane of amount of work to get the project off the ground. But Cathy is amazing, and she always pulls out all the stops and it comes together quite grandly. During the grand opening weekend we had live entertainment, pedestal modeling, and a huge breakfast. I was at the mall everyday from sunrise until way past sunset. Besides just overseeing the mannequins we had to direct the entertainment and models. Valarie Schad, who also worked on the event, and I nicknamed all the male models "CMs" for Couger Meat, they were all quite delectable but probably at least 10 years our junior ;-)

Everybody kept asking what I thought of the new Barneys, and the event was such a circus that I barely had more than two minutes to whip through the store. I loved going to Barneys in NYC. Kealey and I once ran into Cameron Diaz at the NYC Barneys and she even stopped to chat with us. Going to that store was something that I always did with Brian. Brian and I would never miss the Barneys wharehouse sale. He would always hold my bag so I could dig for Prada platforms or Michael Kor boots. It was always a madhouse but we would come away so proud of our purchases. Sigh, I do miss that boy...

So yesterday Jaime , Marleigh, Blake and I went to the mall for brunch and shopping. I love the store! But then again I love well designed products and clever visual merchandise, and Barneys satisfies both those credentials.

And how can stairing at a pair of Christian Loubutins or Giuseppe Zanotti over-the-knee boots ever put you in a bad mood? Oh beautiful Barneys, I am glad you have come to Scottsdale...