Hello Monday ... Hello Gratitude

I woke up this morning with a happy heart

and 

excited to write my favorite kinds of post

Hello Monday ... Hello Gratitude

They are simple posts

just taking the time to focus 

on all of the good in my life.

If you have been following my blog 

during this last year 

you know it's been a tough one for me.

But I finally feel like I'm turning a corner.

That I am coming back into myself.

That I can once again feel joy

and 

excitement for my future.

I am realizing 

that often when times are tough

it is too easy

to self identify with the pain.

It feels as though it moves in to your soul

to take up residence

blocking out so much of the light and good.

In a way

that changes your personal lens

as to how you see life.

I want to break out of that mindset

to get back

 into the one that I know to be true.

One of 

Gratitude and Joy.

Realizing 

Life is Always 

Peaks and Valleys

but

 we can choose 

daily Joy.

I am choosing today

to lay my wounds down.

Grateful

for what I have learned from them.

Taking all the gifts they gave me in 

growing my soul.

All the while knowing

I do not have to 

self identify with my wounds.

I am not my wounds.

I do not have to continue 

to do life 

as a wounded soul.

I can choose to see myself differently.

To recognize the

 strength 

and 

courage

I gained

from my wounds.

To lift my head and my heart

with self respect.

To recognize how much my heart has once again grown

through the pain.

A heart that is now so much softer to 

the pain of others.

Life is hard on us all 

at one time or another

that's why community matters ever so much.

And

 I am ever so 

Grateful

to all of you here.

Your comments and support

have meant the world to me.

Sending out much love

this Monday!!

xoxo

As always my friends

I wish you love and joy 

as you style your life

FierceCon 2018

I didn't really want to go to 

FierceCon

 this year.

FierceCon is a conference
for the members of the
Forever Fierce Revolution HERE
It is  a group of women committed to
redefining what it means to be middle age.
To Rewire and Inspire

I was hesitant to go
 not
 because I didn't think it would be great

but

because 

I have been in a personal slump recently.

Truth be told

it's been more like grappling with trying to keep depression at bay 

on the daily.

Going to a conference seemed way too much for me.

I decided not to go several times

but a little voice in me kept saying

Just Go.

I did go

as soon as I realized

it wasn't even depression 

keeping me from going

it was really only

Fear.

I spent the  entire day before 

 FierceCon

putting outfits together.

I usually style outfits

two weeks out when I'm on my A game.

This time I was trying really hard to 

get to maybe a C+ game.

I had put all of my time the month before

into a 

Reveal Party 

for our son and his beautiful wife
who is expecting.

You can read about the party HERE

My personal style

was feeling a bit off for my liking.

I definitely prefer

going to conferences 

feeling my best about myself

so I have more to give to others.

This time I was definitely going to the conferecnce

not to inspire

but 

desperately 

seeking 

Inspiration!

I decided Jeff and I could 

most likely make a lovely weekend out of our 

travel to beautiful

Redondo Beach

and

I knew I could find some 

inspiration at

FierceCon
Rewire and Inspire!
I just had to me brave enough
to show up!

This was our second time staying in 

Redondo Beach.

We were here last year for 

the original conference.

It's a lovely place for a weekend getaway

with marinas, piers

and 

beautiful beaches.

The first event of the weekend

was an evening party.

I was amazed at the amount of work

that was put into the decorations

for the event!

Catherine and her people did an amazing job.

Catherine is the spearhead and creator  behind
not only
FierceCon
but the
Forever Fierce Revolution
as well!

You can find her fabulous blog HERE

Besides my search for inspiration

I came to 

FierceCon

with wanting to give one dear friend a real hug.

I was able to do that.

So for me the evening was a success.

I still felt so much more awkward

than I usually do at events.
But I kept pushing through.

I think pretty much the whole weekend

I battled with 

just wanting to go home.
I felt so overwhelmed.

I told myself

just look to one event at a time.

So Jeff and I had a lovely morning on the beach.

After our morning walk

we enjoyed a beautiful brunch.

Then it was time to get back to the hotel

to change.

This picture pretty much sums up

how frazzled I felt  at this conference.

I usually can not wait to wear outfits

I've styled for occasions.

This time things just felt off!

I had styled outfits that were too specific
and

not even realizing the temperature that weeked

would be pushing the high 80's.

I reworked some outfits 

and 

off I went to the event 

I was really looking forward to!

It was a panel discussion with some of my favorite bloggers!

My friends

if you get a chance to go next year

I absolutely recommend

FierceCon

for this alone!

Of course there are so many other reasons to go

but

to hear all of these women's stories

as to how they started blogging

was just incredible.

I was so glad I was sitting in the back

because 

I was so touched by each story
I think I was crying the whole time!

It really is so remarkable

how we all have our own stories 

by this age.

And I have never been so proud

to be a part

of such an inspiring group of women.

I wasn't inspired by just the women 

with 

highly successful blogs

or

social media numbers.

I was just as inspired 

by women

who ventured out on their own

to attend 

FierceCon!

Because I know first hand

how hard that can be to put yourself out there!

We all have a story by this age.

We all have a choice to make this time 

in our life

the best time.

There is so much to be said for getting up each morning

and 

looking for the very best in life.

To claim our age.

To claim our ability to be 

Resilient!

To inspire where we can.

And to be open and vulnerable

in our need  

to 

Be Inspired.

I have never been 

a 'joiner'

in my life.

But I am realizing

maybe it's time I was.

Because we are all so much 

better together!

So I will definitely be back at 

FierceCon 

next year.

And I have a few notes 

to myself to make it easier on myself next year!

Because this year was 

a hard one attending.
But I am so proud of myself for
showing up
even though!

Next year I will  ....

~ Remember not to compare.

There are so many women doing so many great things

it was too easy to think 

oh I want to do that too!

So I have to remind myself

there is only so much time in a day.

If I want something else big

I need to let go of something 

I already love in my life.

~ I will put more time in before the conference

connecting with people going.

I neglected to do that this year

so I too often  felt I was walking into a new classroom.

You know the feeling

where it feels like everyone else is already 

best friends

and 

you're outside the circle.

I know for a fact that's not how it really was

but I also know how easy it is for 

old memories

to flood in 

when

you're feeling nervous and overwhelmed.

~ I will do a better job packing.

Which means I need to have an organized wardrobe

to start with!

Packing this time made me realize

I need to edit so much out of my closets.

Since I have been back from the conference

I have been culling all of my closets

and 

making a list of what I need to add.

Going to conferences

and 

even just traveling

is hard enough

there shouldn't  be  melt downs 

in just the packing stage.

I am determined to make it a smoother 

calmer process.

And 

when I do 

you know I am 

A Good Girlfriend

and

 will share.

I leave for 

Boston in two weeks

so I am already

in packing prep mode!

I'm definitely refining my packing process!

If you are interested in attending

FierceCon

next year

and 

I highly recommend it!

you can find out all about it

 here.

If you do come 

and

 are feeling nervous

come find me!

I will be more than happy to help 

introduce you to some

 absolutely amazing women.

And just know

if 

You are there

You are Amazing Too!

As always my friends

I wish you love and joy

as you style your life

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star ... Gender Reveal

Big news here at the
Beardsley Home

Jeff and I will be expecting our very first 

Grandbaby!!

People have been asking me for years

if I was anxious for Grandkids

now that my three are grown and flown

and 

two of them married.

I always replied

no

I wasn't excited.

I was still getting used to our empty nest

and 

this life transition.

But a couple of months ago

that feeling

mysteriously began to change..

Maybe it was a softening of my heart.

Maybe it was following along with my dear friend

Trina

(you can find her beautiful blog HERE)

as she embraced and celebrated

her own gorgeous Grandchildren

and 

love of family!

But for the first time ever

I was at Roger's Garden

in their new children's boutique

and 

it came over me like a mist

maybe

I would like to have Grand babies in the family.

It actually sounded good to me for the first time ever.

I moved from not really wanting any 

Grandbabies anytime soon

to

I hope I have some 

before I am too old to interact with them.

Noticed I said Grandbabies

not that I wanted to be 

a Grandmother.

It's quite funny how some words are trigger words.

I could definitely embrace for the first time

having 

Grandkids.

But that second noun

would definitely need some work.

Two weeks after this 

I can remember it so vividly

I was walking through 

a hall in our home

and 

it came over me that there was 

A New Soul

on it's way .

I was for the first time in a long time

overcome with a sense of purpose.

I had no idea at the time

which of my three

would be on their way to becoming parents

or

even how soon.

Just that there was someone on their way 

to our family.

Guess who it was?

These two newlyweds 

Hunter and Megan!

After dealing with so much this last year

It was ever so lovely

to have

 happy 

family news!

Hunter and Megan

announced 

their big news 

a couple of weeks ago on Instagram

with this adorable image!

So with this big news

I knew 

A Gender Reveal Party

would be a fun way to celebrate

and 

Witness a Life Moment.

Megan and Hunter

wanted to learn the gender of their baby

with 

their family and dear friends!

To me

that was a wonderful, generous gift to us all!

In the beginning of the party ideation

I was thinking 

simply cake and champagne in the backyard

to celebrate a moment.

But as so happens when my daughter Ellis

 and I do a party

it grew into 

a full on concept party

complete with adorable invites!

TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR

HOW I WONDER WHAT YOU 

was our theme for the evening.

These sweet invites are from

Minted

We have used this company for most all of our invites of late.

I highly recommend them!

They are easy to work with

and 

always deliver quality invites

in a timely manner.

I love a lined envelope always

and they have a multitude of choices always!

Another huge party perk

you can order the envelopes 

already addressed!

And how sweet are the addition of twinkle stars 

that came on the front!

I just adore adding in all the little details.

An invite always sets a tone for an event!

And snail mail does it best!

I like to think of an invitiation

as a little gift in the mail!

Since I have big clothes and accessory love

I wanted two gender outfits

in complementary  form

with of course

complementary head wear.

How absolutely adorable is this infant trucker cap for him

and 

a felt succulent crown for her!

I built the whole tablescape around these for my  centerpiece.

I hung them on . a vintage screen

and 

started building the tablescape from there.

I knew I wanted to do off hues of the typical blue and pink.

I wanted to have the party leaning to the side of elegant.

I used a minimal of blue and pink

adding in woods, golds and lots of twinkle lights and candles

since it was an evening party.

 I ordered the blocks from Anthropologie

I was so happy to find their nursery items!

As well as these sweet lights with moons and stars.

I had champagne glasses with star charms

to further carry out our twinkle theme.

The cake was store bought, without detail

so I could finish if off with a bouquet of gold glitter stars

and 

babies breath.

We brought the party theme all the way home

with a gold glitter 

Twinkle banner.

The table cloth was my usual drop cloth

finished with macrame garland all around.

You can see how each added element

finishes off the tablescape.

My darling daughter Ellis

really finished things off with 

lovely signage.

Not only explaining each station

but adding words that once again tied in the party theme.

To keep the party interactive

we added in a game.

Everyone was invited to put there name in a jar

depending if they thought the gender was going to be

a boy or a girl.

Once it was revealed

we drew a name from the winning jar.

The winner received a gorgeous gold Voluspa candle!

How fun is this 

Sparkle Station!

Another chance for party interaction!

Our photo backdrop was dressed as well in gold stars.

This deck and backdrop

made for the perfect 'stage'

for the reveal!

And speaking of adorable

how cute is our little Momma to be!

With so many different ways 

to actually do the 'Reveal'

we chose the dramatic balloon pop!

It ended up to be a wonderful choice

but I must admit I was a bit apprehensive about it popping before hand!

We ordered this one from Anthropologie as well.

I knew I was more than happy to pay a little more

for a quality I could trust.

At the party none of us new the gender before hand at all.

Jeff printed off the information

without reading it

placed it in an envelope

that was given to the manager at our local party store.

The balloon was then filled with the corresponding gender color.

When the balloon was popped 

the color would 

Reveal the Gender.

They had no idea the gender here.

At the party there was an overwhelming leaning it would be a boy!

Hunter needle in hand 

ready for the awaited

POP!

It's a Girl!!!

It's one lucky child

to have these two wonderful souls as parents!!

Cheers to New Beginnings

and 

welcoming this new soul into the world!

As always my friends

I wish you love and joy

as you style your life