The Glow

This past week I've been working my TAILLL off, and I will be keeping the same pace next week. I'm thankful for the work, but I won't lie it has been extra challenging doing such a physical job while pregnant. Five hours of steaming clothes ain't for sissies! Of course, this has lead my mind to constantly think about how I'm going to juggle mommy-hood with life as a stylist. Though I have many examples in my life of fabulous, creative working moms, I actually don't know a single stylist that is a mom. In fact, when I met with a fashion mentor of mine she said it was definitely a career that would make it hard to have a family.

But if someone tells me I can't do something it just makes me want to do it all of the more. That also may make me totally stupid, but where would we be without those pioneers!? haha! And just when I thought I could be one of the few stylist mommies out there (BTW - Rachel Zoe does NOT count considering her giant entourage) a client send me a link to this amazing blog, The Glow. Of course, the first woman that shows up is famous stylist, Kate Young.

Reading through all of the creative, successful moms out there has given me such a peace about the adventure that awaits. I can't wait for it to begin!

Images via The Glow

Home Improvements - Concrete Floors

Back in December 2011, I wrote a post listing all of my 2012 home improvement goals. I'm pretty much on track with everything except I've done some tasks out of order. But who cares as long as they get done right? 1. My bedroom, office and hallway are now all painted white.

2. Had my doors and windows painted black in my office an kitchen

3. Got new bedding for my master bedroom, click here.

4. Ripped out my carpet in the office and bedroom and stained the concrete!!!

So, I'm happy to report I'm a bit ahead of my plan. Granted, we're having a baby this year, so I think anything after September is pretty much out the window for now. Not to mention, I need to add the baby room to the list! EEK!

But before I begin to start stressing out over everything that needs to be done by September, here are some before and after pictures of our floors!

I guess the concrete in our bedroom was so bad it should have never passed inspection. As you can see in the before picture it wasn't just ugly it was SUPER uneven.

But with a lot of sanding, filling in the cracks and a satin finish it looks awesome. I like the bits of imperfections too!

As you can see our office needed the most TLC. When we started pulling up the carpet we got really excited because there were stained concrete floors already under it. However, little did we realize that they had added onto the office at some point making the concrete lack uniformity. Not to mention, after knocking down a load-bearing wall, it left quite a bit of cracking.

We were first told it couldn't be helped, but we found the right guy for the job! It's not as awesome as the bedroom, but it's much improved and nothing that an area rug and a desk can't help!

Floral Blazers

Not too long ago, I blogged about how floral prints on pants were becoming a hot fashion trend. Well, the same goes for floral blazers. The two items (pants and blazers) that usually remain basic solids are being transformed into outfit focal points. Now, silk tanks and tops are taking a back seat. The only thing is that blazers are often very expensive, so why would you spend your hard earned cash on a floral tailored fit when it's bound to go out of style soon? Well, you may not have to worry about losing too much of your money to cash in on this trend. ZARA and ASOS have it covered. For under $100.00 you can have a blazer of your own.

Okay, so how do you wear this bold statement? Keep the rest simple and classic. The images in this blog post are perfect examples.

What do you think? Is this a trend you want to invest in? Do you prefer floral pants to blazers?

Images: Starbucks & Chanel Bags, Tomboy Style, Wren, unknown, ASOS

We're Having A Baby!

I've been waiting two months to write this blog post, and I can't believe I'm finally pushing the keys on this Mac keyboard to tell you that I'm going to be a mom! Ryan and I are expecting our first little bundle of joy in September, and we couldn't be more excited!!!

There was a moment when we didn't know if we were going to get to share this news. About seven weeks into my pregnancy we thought we were having a miscarriage. Thankfully the loss of blood and continued spotting was due to my growing placenta, and the baby's heartbeat proved to be very strong.

I'll be honest and say that when I first found out I was pregnant I was more scared than anything. I've never been really been confident around kids and babies. Growing up, I also never really fantasized about being a mom or even being married like many of my friends did. When I dreamed about life it was always about my career and the places I would travel to. Boy, how things change! I can't imagine my life without Ryan, and after a moment when I thought I wouldn't get to meet this baby I realized how much I REALLY, REALLY wanted to. Not that I didn't before, but I think my fears about parenthood out weighed my excitement at the time.

I have no idea how things are going to change, but I'm ready for the adventure. In my mind I don't see AVE Styles going anywhere, and I hope I can be a great mom and wife followed by being a successful fashion stylist. I don't know any fashion stylists that are moms except for Rachel Zoe, but I guess that just means there is more room for me. haha!

I'm officially finished with my first trimester as of Saturday. The morning sickness is gone and most of my food aversions have subsided. Chicken and coffee are still vetoed from my house right now. Poor Ryan!

I also am very proud to show off my baby bump these days, and of course I'm already on the prowl for comfortable maternity clothes. I've pretty much decided I only want to live in dresses. Pants are like a torture device to me. Not to mention, if I'm going to be big and pregnant in the flippin' hot months of June, July and August, you bet your bottom dollar I will be in breathable, airy dresses!

Organizational Tools for Stylists

Happy Friday! Today I feel extra happy. The bright sun, soft breeze and the end of a hard work week has left me relaxed and excited for the weekend. Unfortunately, my taxes are still left on my to-do list. Eek! At least I can put everything together while sitting in the sun and drinking lemonade, right? Actually, what is going to ease the pain the most is that I have been using a lot of great organizational tools this past year to keep my expenses, invoices and mileage in order.

Part of running your own business is having to stay SUPER duper organized. All of the tools that help me do that are completely accessible online, so if I ever start traveling a bunch my office is with me wherever I am. So, where can you go buy these magic elves? They are either FREE or have minimal fees. I just wish they had striped tights like real elves. =)

HARVEST I can't say enough about this project management and invoicing program. I'm able to draft estimates, creative invoices and track my hours. It's very similar to Freshbooks, but cheaper! You can add collaborators if you happen to have assistants or other vendors you're working with on a project. You are also able to see the status of all of your sent invoices - whether it has been received, opened or paid. You can use their free trial to see what you think!

GMAIL I'm sure you probably love GMAIL as much as I do, and can't live without it like the rest of the world. One of the things that I enjoy the most about it is the ability to label all of the different types of emails I receive. My business has many aspects to it, and I get emails regarding all of them plus more (blogging, personal styling, closet organization, photo shoots, expenses, general inquiries). By labeling the emails it makes it easier to search through my archives.

OUTRIGHT AHH! This little web application is genius. It's basically like mint.com for your business. Not only does it track money going in and out of your business with the ability to link it to your bank account, harvest account, paypal account, etc. It also shows you spending trends, and gets you ready for tax season. It also has the ability to track mileage. It automatically calculates the cost of mileage to my business using Google Maps. GENIUS!

GOOGLE CALENDAR I would be lost without this thing. Without Google Calendar my husband and I wouldn't even know if we needed to show up to family events or not. By keeping track of all of my client meetings in Google Calendar I have yet another record of my time and mileage expenses. It's better than writing it down with pencil and paper because I can share it with people and invite people to meetings.

PINTEREST This is my visual organizational tool. I put all of my photo shoot inspiration into this baby. If I didn't I would have a BAGILLION folders on my desktop like I used to. Not to mention, with so many creative projects, it's easy to let the visual images blur together.