Friday, October 1, 2010

My Life Is An Open Book


Happy Friday, lovelies! Today I am so thrilled to be taking part in Hello, Splendor's Blog Crawl. I've really been loving following the crawl along and getting to find out so much more about the lovely bloggers participating.

Thank you so much to Haydee from Happenstance for passing the torch on over to me.

For those of you not familiar with the blog crawl, this first ever crawl concept is "My Life is an Open Book" and we are supposed to discuss our lives in a story format.

So without further adieu, here's my story...

The Author


The Setting


Set in fabulous NYC, my amazing hometown, the city that never sleeps

I grew up 35 minutes away from the city and always dreamed about escaping there. Once college came I ran so fast right off Long Island and never turned back!
Fast forward 20 years later and I'm still here.

{Hence the reason for me calling NYC my hometown and not where I lived the first 18 years of my life :)
}

The Characters

Dawn
The creative one, cosmetic product developer extraordinaire
{I'm going big since this is my story told by me :)},
blogger & wife and lover of all things beautiful

J
Wife extraordinaire, the smart one, the writer and editor {and I'm the one with a blog, go figure}, the neutral party in every situation, aka Switzerland, and the one with the heart of gold

The Sibs

My other greatest loves

The Friends

Life is not worth living without

The Plot

This is the story of a shy girl who always dreamed big. Loved J, beauty, fashion and illustration more than anything in this world and always knew she would one day break out of her shell and realize all of her dreams.

Dawn always had a passion for fashion, beauty and art but never knew what kind of a career could possibly come of it. As a young adult and teen she spent countless hours hiding out in her room reading endless amounts of domestic & international fashion magazines, making grand collages and scrapbooks, watching Style with Elsa Klench {that was one of the only places a girl could actually see a fashion show in motion}, and in turn illustrating all of the fashions she saw on the runways and in the pages of magazines.

At that time her ultimate dream was to become a fashion stylist or fashion illustrator. There really wasn't any information available at the time about how one actually becomes a fashion stylist {it was just something she saw on Style with Elsa Klench and it sounded like the ultimate dream job. Someone actually pays you to shop, scout locations, models and hair and makeup artists, and put outfits together??? She was sold!}. And her father convinced her that she would never be able to support herself with a career in fashion illustration so she decided to go to the Fashion Institute of Technology for business degrees in Fashion, Buying and Merchandising and Cosmetics & Fragrance Marketing. And that's where her luck turned. Straight out of college she landed a great internship in the Marketing department at Revlon which soon later turned into a position in {wait for it, wait for it.....}

Product Development!
{Hear the heavens sing}

Product Development was her true dream job. Combining all of her passions in one. Beauty, fashion and art all rolled up into one perfect gem of a career.


The other part of the story is no less important. Enter J, Dawn's best friend since grammar school that turned into something magical when they were in high school. J has always been Dawn's rock, greatest supporter and eternal love. She is the backdrop of this entire story. The true wind beneath her wings. They've been a couple for 24 years now and people always refer to them as The Lucky Ones. So although this story is a girlie, chick lit book chock full of style it's also at the heart one of the greatest love stories of all time.


The Twist
While planning her wedding, for months Dawn obsessively scoured over gorgeous inspirational wedding, design and style blogs and being the visual girl she is, eventually decided to start one herself. Reminder, this is the girl who used to maniacally cut out pictures of magazines and arrange them into artful collages. And that girl still did tear way too many pictures out of magazines for that exact same reason up until last year. Can you say unhappy wife, unhappy life? What better way to arrange her favorite ideas and things while cleaning the clutter out of her life! All is good these days :)


Since then this little blog that she started on a whim a has turned into a full time passion fueling a whole other side of creativity while at the same time allowing her to meet so many great new friends.

Well there you have it. My life in a nutshell.

Thanks so much Beth for hosting the fabulous Blog Crawl! I just loved being part of it!

And friends, be sure to visit the lovely Anna @ In Honor Of Design on Monday to hear her story.

Have a wonderful weekend!
xoxo

46 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh I love this - very fun to hear about your life in story form :) Following you on here and Twitter!

Helena - A Diary of Lovely said...

oh I left a comment and didn't come up (I think) I was saying how much I loved this post Dawn, so sweet and beautiful, and love your photo with J, so cute!! Thanks for sharing!! xoxo

Aspiring Kennedy said...

so glad you posted this! i actually learned a lot about you! i love this blog crawl- i feel like i'm getting the inside scoop on all my blogger friends. :)

have a great weekend, dawn!

SabinePsynopsis said...

Oh Dawn, I LOVED your life in a nutshell. Not only are you truly the lucky one(s), it sounds like cosmetic product development is the perfect job for you. And the pictures are so wonderful! xoxo

this free bird said...

Oh Dawn!! Thanks so much for sharing - I loved learning more about you seeing all your sweet pics. You've got such a story girl!

xoxo,
Carrie

lorenabr said...

It was great fun reading about you. Lovely story!

Anonymous said...

Your story is wonderful! I can feel your genuine love for your family & friends. Oh, you get to be around make up all day.... that is a dream job!!
Beautiful pics. xo

k said...

such a great story!!! ;)

Signe said...

Very fun to read, great story :)

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous story! I loved reading this post, thanks!!!

Unknown said...

To say that I LOVED this story would be an understatement! And LOOK at your gorgeous self...not to mention your whole beautiful family!
Have a great weekend!
xx

Unknown said...

ok how frigin' CUTE is this - LOVE reading about people!!!

*kiss kiss*
Erika @ ~TiptoeButterfly~
LOVE for you to enter my Give-Away Here: ~TiptoeButterfly Give-Away~

Ashley Hasty said...

I love this blog crawl! Thanks so much for sharing!

ashleyanderic.blogspot.com

SMK said...

thanks for sharing!! This was so fun to read and get a nutshell glimpse :) and 24 years! That's simply amazing and something to be so proud of - love it!

Stacey said...

I really enjoyed reading and learning more about you! Beautiful post and beautiful pictures too! xx

Copious Couture said...

Great Post!!!! This is such a great post!!!! Great learning more about you Dawn!!!! Have a great weekend!




Carissa
http://copiouscouture.blogspot.com

Jude said...

Oh, I *loved* learning more about you! Thanks so much for this sweet, sweet story and gorgeous post (sniff, I became ever so slightly emotional reading about your 24 years together with J)! I've officially had my morning non-caffeinated uplift :) Hope your Friday is going great! xo

Nikki said...

l Loved this!!!
So great learning more about you!!!
have a great weekend Dawn!


xx
Nikki

P.S.. that would be AMAZING if your boss got you the YSL platforms. My fingers are crossed for you!!

VM Creation Atelier said...

What an enjoyable post,sweetheart Dawn:-)*

It's absolutely amazing that you can SO incredible good write and show about you life,my beautiful,beautiful girlfriend from these magic world!!!
You amazed me with all things with all little details wich do make you a very special person,darling:-)))*

enjoy you weekend,
Love,
***Violetta***

Sandy at Ooh La Frou Frou said...

Love your story, Dawn!! Love how you did it in story form -- and a story with pictures is the very best story of all! (still a kid at heart, you know!) You guys make a lovely couple -- thank you for sharing the very special story of your life with us! xo

Connie @ SogniESorrisi said...

Such a great post, Dawn! You and J seem like such an amazing couple. I hope you have an amazing weekend xo

Marie-Ève said...

Wonderful, wonderful post! Have a good weekend!

_ffyona said...

How darling! I enjoyed your story, Dawn! :)

Splenderosa said...

What a lovely story, Dawnie. I am so happy I know you because I always smile when I think of you. xx's

coolkids said...

thanks for sharing your wonderful story! My cousin just moved to NYC and works in the perfume industry...she goes to the coolest places! She is in Morocco now!

Taylor said...

You are absolutely ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love how you described your childhood and clipping magazines...I was the same way!!! Just wish my 'career' allowed me to be a little more passionate about what I was doing...hopefully I can learn from you!

Marcie said...

So great to read about you and that awesome career of yours. You are so pretty, Dawn!! Thanks for opening up.

Have a fabulous weekend!
Marcie

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

Meg is my J. Aren't we lucky?

Anonymous said...

oh, what a lovely story! i love the crawl idea :) so fun!

Tanvi said...

This was such a great story format! Loved a little peek into your life. God Bless! *touchwood* Your life is beautiful.

The October Issue said...

this is so cute & its a good way to learn more about you :)

Lilacandgrey said...

LOVED reading your story Dawn! Have a great weekend doll!

Poppies and Sunshine said...

I am loving seeing this Blog Crawl today in blog land! So great to read your story, Dawn! I loved how you wrote it!
Have a wonderful weekend!!

Anonymous said...

i love this idea of the blog crawl as it certainly gives bloggers (from around the world) the chance to share with others a snippet of their lives. yours is definitely a very interesting read and i can't wait to read about others too!

coming back to your story, i believe that many of us had turned this decision to start a blog on a whim into something more substantial. blogging has now certainly become a part of our lives :)

Nell said...

That is awesome! So cool, and such a good read! Your pictures are gorgeous too xx

stylenuggets said...

What a great post and told straight from the heart. I'm so glad I logged in today. Happy weekend Dawn!

The Backseat Stylers said...

Thank you so much for sharing your life in a nutshell! There's so much love in your post...it brought a smile to my face.

jules @ The Diversion Project said...

totally undone I am. fabulous post to the power of gazillion. love it an you big time treasure! jxx

Diana Mieczan said...

That is such a beautiful story sweetie...Its so lovely to learn more about you and your life:)...Awww I love this so much:)...Kisses,darling
Have a happy Sunday

Sarah said...

What a lovely story! So much happiness and love and accomplishment! Inspiring!

Draffin Bears said...

Hi Dawn,

What a beautiful story and photos of you and your friends.
It was great to learn more about you and your interesting life.

Wishing you a great week ahead,
Hugs
Carolyn

Lila said...

What an ispiring story. And what a fabulous career! Love learning more about you and your amazing life story. Great Fun.

ag. said...

this was so well written. so loved reading all about you! :) thanks for sharing!

Christina Elaine said...

Loved reading about you...

xxx
ceo

Oh, My Darling said...

Aw, love your take on this fun project!

shopgirl said...

So glad to get to know you a lot better in this blog crawl Dawn.

I love your best friend love story too.

xoxo