Time For Me To Fly

*Sigh* Fashion show is over and I can finally breathe again! The event started out a bit rocky but ended up being an overall success. The hotel completely dropped the ball, forgot to build a runway, nearly had a music crisis, gave wrong directions to visitors and were rude to me on top of it all. Suffice it to say, I will never use them again for an event. But near meltdown aside, the rest of the day went off without a hitch. I met so many wonderful people, the models were great and the CNY Chapter of AFSP was so friendly and amazing. Overall I think the event was successful, was a great tribute to Talese and will only get better next time! I plan on making the HOPE Is In The Air an annual event and I plan on getting out and networking more while I'm here. I very much look forward to working with everyone again - it's people like THIS (motivated, ambitious & caring people) that can help me change the world. It's people like THIS that I'm going to surround myself with. And it's people like THIS who keep me positive when I'm having bad days. Another big thanks to everyone who contributed in making this the first of many great events. "Be the change you want to see in the world."

In other news, I'm getting involved in yet another business venture that I'm very excited about. Not ready to disclose all the details just yet, but I'm looking forward to working with a close friend and helping people change their lives in other ways I hadn't thought of before. Good things are happening!

I took Dominic to see the Easter Bunny today. He was a wee bit apprehensive about the whole thing. Soon as he got on the bunny's lap he threw up and then immediately started crying. Ah, the joys of having a (nearly) 4 month old. But in all seriousness, it was so damn cute. It's little things like this that make me happy on a daily basis. Even when things go wrong, it's impossible not to be happy being the proud mama of such a perfect baby. My little man is already a little flirt. He had a harem of women around him during the fashion show. What can I say? My kid is damn cute. And smart. And has a hell of a personality already! Can't imagine where he gets that from. He must be going through a growth spurt. I swear I just bought him new clothes about a month ago, and he's just about outgrown them already. Time to go shopping again. It'll be interesting to see how big he's gotten at his 4 month checkup. When the hell did I acquire a 4 month old? Time sure does fly when you're having fun!

It's been great having two of my friends from Utah here the past few days. I'll be sad to see them go this week. Even though we haven't been able to do any of the super fun or touristy stuff, it's been nice having good friends around who have been there for me through everything. As much as being in NY has been helpful to me in many ways and I've loved spending the extra time with my dad, I really really miss Utah. I feel my time in NY coming to an end, and my journey back to Utah coming closer. I think it's just about time for me to fly... :)  

HOPE Is In the Air...

Ahhhh, I finally have a minute to relax and catch my breath. Life just keeps getting busier and busier. Spent 8 hours at a funeral today for my great grandma Lil who passed away last week. I'm glad I was able to get Dominic over to meet her a couple weeks ago before she passed away. It was sad to see her go, but she lived a long happy life. If all good people were lucky enough to live to be 88 years old, then maybe life would make a little more sense. But, when does life ever make sense?

Things sure are turning around though. Thanks to my interns, my 14 hour work days and networking with some amazing people I am starting to see a huge difference in my businesses. Especially TT's Attic. Things are far from perfect or where I envision them to be, but I'm proud of how far I've come thus far. Less than a month now until my "HOPE Is In The Air" fashion show/fundraiser, and I received amazing news yesterday that The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is going to support my event and send the CNY chapter board members to set up a table! I'm beyond excited. After I got off the phone with the area director for AFSP, I literally got the chills - I had a sudden feeling that things were exactly the way they are supposed to be, all thanks to my beautiful best friend. Talese has been my inspiration from day one and always will be. It's easy to get caught up in life sometimes but I try to take at least 5 minutes everyday and think about the reason behind why I do what I do, and think about all the ways she has changed me. If I can make a difference in at least one persons life the way she has mine, all the hard work will be worth it. I hope the show has a good turn out so we can raise money for a great cause. I really feel like this will be the beginning of a great relationship with the AFSP members in the CNY area.  "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."

In other great news, two of my good friends from Utah are coming to visit me at the end of the month and they will be here for the fashion show! I couldn't be more excited. Sometimes I don't feel like me without my entourage around, and it will be nice to have a little bit of "home" around for awhile. This will be their first time meeting Dominic or seeing me with a baby, so it should be interesting!

Dominic keeps getting cuter and smarter everyday - no surprise there. He can hold a bottle (yes, I was just as surprised), grab a rattle, pull on his toys hanging from his carseat, and talk up a storm. I still standby the fact that he's a baby genius. And I can't take him anywhere without random people approaching me and telling me how gorgeous he is, (hey what can I say, he's got a hot mama!) Everyone tells me he's starting to look more like me. I can see it a little, but I'd say overall he's a pretty good combination. But yes, I'm aware he's quite a bit tanner than me. Sometimes I feel like it's the elephant in the room. Yeah, my kid is tan. Yeah, his father is tan. Big deal. To be honest I'm a little jealous ha ha! His new favorite thing is pulling my hair when I hold him and listening to me read him Dr. Seuss stories before bedtime. Sometimes it's hard to pull myself away from him to get my work done. Suffice it to say, I love that little man more than I ever thought I was capable of loving anyone. 

Shitty Parents Beware

I debated on whether or not to get on my so-called "soapbox" and write this post or to refrain. Looks like writing this post won. Before I say anything else, I would just like to say that yes, I am aware that I'm a first time parent and no, I'm not by any means an expert on parenting. But I am entitled to some observations and an opinion. With that being said, I would just like to go on the record as stating how much I loathe, detest and despise shitty parents. By my definition, a shitty parent is anyone who can't or doesn't make time for their kids, anyone who constantly leaves their kids with babysitters to go out and "party", anyone (mainly women) who use their kids as money making machines in order to get child support, anyone who walks around in expensive clothes while their children are dressed in clothes that are dirty and pants 2 inches too short, and most of all anyone who willfully abandons their child. These are children, not puppies, and whatever you do (or don't do) as parents shapes the people they will become. If you can't step it up and set a decent example for your children, keep your damn pants on and stop procreating! Deadbeat parents are the scum of the earth in my book (and yes, I may be a bit biased due to my current situation). Even before I was on the brink of having a child and dealing with my son's sad excuse for a father, I was never able to tolerate bad parents. In fact, I even stopped being friends with certain people because I couldn't bear to stand by and watch the neglectful behavior towards their children. How anyone can stand by and enable/support friends (or even family members) who don't take care of their children is beyond me. Then again, I guess some people choose their friends based on who tells them what they want to hear and who they can go get drunk with. Personally, I prefer to surround myself with quality people who add something to my life - now there's an idea! I was lucky enough to be blessed with THREE wonderful parents, and I can only hope that my parenting skills will rival those of my mom, dad and step-dad. A big thank you to my three parents for raising me to be the person I am today! "Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them."

On another note, I created my team for this years Out of the Darkness Walk for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. My team, "there is always hope", was created in loving memory of my best friend Talese Turner. I really hope to get a good turn out this year and to get some good donations. My team goal for donations is $1500 which I think is very reasonable. I would like to get a team of at least 15 people put together so we can start doing fundraisers leading up to the event in October. I have a few ideas in mind already and I'm excited to see how it will all come together. If you don't already have plans for October 8th and you're in the central NY area, please please please join my team and help us support a great cause. I promise it's more important than sleeping in or anything else you could be doing on a Saturday morning because you could help save a life! Once I have the team members established, I would like to order t-shirts for the event. I'm still in the process of designing a logo for the team, but I have a couple rough drafts worked up. I'll post pictures, suggestions are welcomed :)