My Fair Lady

Ah! Yes, the day when class and flawless elegance was born... 85 years ago... on this very day, back on May the 4th, 1929, also happened to be the day that a young girl by the name of Audrey Kathleen Ruston. 

Yes! Audrey. We've all been granted the immediate access to the famed poster of her, posed with a cigarette, the ashen smoke curling from the tip, her hair up in a sophisticated twist, a sparkling tiara as well as strands of pearls and clumps of diamonds around her neck, sporting that unforgettable black dress, black gloves skimming her elbows and her doe-like eyes glittering into the camera, her famous smile softly beaming. I know that's at least the way I came to know and admire the beautiful Miss Audrey Hepburn. 

She was stunning! and the world knew it... but, did she? As a matter of fact, did she ever even dream that one day she'd become such an icon of beauty and elegance? 

Not even the slightest bit! In fact, her perception of this so-called "beauty" that everyone had recognized about her had seemed somewhat foreign to her. 

In fact, she even at one time professed that she in fact, never saw herself as very "beautiful" as the public had so eagerly deemed her, and recollected as well a time in which her mother had called her an "ugly duckling", adding that despite all that, Audrey DID have "a few good features". And did she ever!

 This legend would live a life not only offering happiness to the world by the site of her ethereal beauty and charm but eagerly offering aid to those in need as well through the beauty of her kindness and generosity. 

"As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others." ~ Audrey Hepburn

So, in honor of this beautiful actress and world class humanitarian, this legendary icon, an icon of both inner and outer beauty, I have compiled a list of 10 unknown facts about Miss Hepburn. 

Also, be sure to take a minute to view this biography of her life.

(1.) Was always very self-conscious of her large feet. Her shoe size being a 10. 

(2.) Called her beloved Yorkshire Terrier "Mr. Famous".

(3.) Only seconds after receiving the Academy Award for Best Actress in "Roman Holiday", Audrey misplaced her statue.  Luckily, the statue was later found in the restroom and reunited with her just in time to pose with Miss Hepburn for photos. 

(4.) The little black dress that she wore in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" designed by Hubert De Givenchy sold at a Christie's auction for around $920,000 in 2006, earning it the title of being one of the most expensive pieces of film memorabilia in history. 

(5.) Had been a trained Dental Assistant before becoming an actress.

(6.) After Audrey appeared with the Tabby Cat,"Orangey", in "Breakfast at Tiffany's", animal shelters from all over experienced a growing demand for that breed. 

(7.) After having all of her outfits styled by Givenchy during the filming of "Sabrina", Audrey from then on insisted that he design the attire for ALL of her films. 

(8.) Hepburn was extremely self-conscious about her roll as Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" especially when the author of the book, Truman Capote was on set, as Mr. Capote had been severely disappointed that the film had failed to secure Marilyn Monroe in the role as Holly instead.

(9.) At 5 feet 7 inches was considered too tall for her desired profession of one day becoming a Prima Ballerina.

(10.) Was fluent in 5 languages: English, Spanish, Dutch/Flemish, French and Italian.

So, with all of these unknown and fascinating facts regarding this legendary icon of kindness and beauty, let us all wish her the happiest of Birthdays! Her memory will never fade, it is as glittering as it was all those years ago, and her legend will continue to live on screen forever. 

Happy 85th Birthday, Audrey!! <3 xoxoxo

~ Erin <3 

WORDS

"They feel that it gives them some sort of a privilege to walk up and say anything to you!" ~ Marilyn Monroe

The words of others can be mean, the most painful of all being that they aren't true. They do, the negative ones however somewhat fester inside of one, raging a storm of self doubt. The thing, however, that our accusers, our "labelers" shall we call them are just as much to blame if not more in regards to the things they take pleasure in calling us, titling our character with, as if they have some sort of authority to do so. they don't... but that won't stop them and we all know that far too well. 

The truth is, however, that there are cruel and mean-hearted people out there who WILL endeavor to devour the beauty that every single one of us has. They'll label you with all sorts of horrible names, names that can hurt, terribly... and there's nothing you can do to stop them. 

You can, however, strive to be the best that you be, and although you can't stop people from criticising you, you CAN most certainly learn to ignore it, it's your choice whether you listen to those crippling words from others. You and only YOU can choose whether or not you'll find truth in the words of others.

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent"~ Eleanor Roosevelt

 You can in fact, and I feel that a lot of us forget it, block out all of the bad and choose to listen to only the good. Weed out those people, the ones who do nothing but break you down from your life and surround yourself only with the ones who build you up. Focus on you and your life, focus on helping others, learn to blur out the negative words of others by finding more important things to focus on in life. 

"Everyone needs to be valued. Everyone has potential to give something back"~ Princess Diana

In the end, it's the ones who build us up and hold us together, the ones who comfort us and make us feel a sense of value that we should allow to influence and preoccupy most of our thoughts. Not the ones who cut us down and make us feel low about ourselves. After all, the world has plenty of those sorts of people, why offer them any importance in your own life? They come a dime a dozen and most definitely don't deserve to be given the time of day. 

Make your mark in life, the world WILL try and beat you down, even when you strive to be the best that you can be, they'll still insist that you are falling short no matter how hard you try. So don't worry about the commentators of today but strive to leave behind a memory, a legacy that'll live on until the end of time, the legacy of a beautiful soul, one treasured in the hearts of many. Besides, even if you feel invisible at times, know that at least God is aware of all of your kind deeds and acts of charity. Besides, as none of us make it out of this journey alive, God and eternity IS all that matters. 

As unfortunate as it may be as well, others will only really take note of your remarkability when you're gone. While your alive, as we've seen in the lives of most public figures, people will ridicule you, they'll try to emotionally destroy you. And then, when you're gone... they magically begin to care. 

People are fickle, and like the song "Let her go- Passenger" they'll "only miss the sun when it starts to snow". So be the most radiant drop of sunlight that you can possibly be. Leave a lasting memory that even the haters will grow to miss. Stay beautiful, and never let anyone's words dim your light! 

Love, Erin <3 xoxoxo

To Live or Not To Live

That is the question." ~ William Shakespeare <3

               
                        Ah! Life. What a peculiar thing. A peculiar thing with endless folds of unexpected journeys and unsolved mysteries. A journey that will bring you a variety of emotions. Sadness, melancholy, excitement, joy, bliss, laughter, amusement, excruciating grief, vast and seemingly never-ending confusions. In life, well... you ought not count on making it out alive... we both know that this journey must come to an end at some point in time. We busy ourselves with plans of things that will most likely never happen. We fancy our hearts and minds with fantasies in hopes that someday they'll come true. Yet, in the meantime, we tend to fail to live our life for what it was meant to be, the journey that God has already composed for us. It'll be a beautiful one, one that hardly needs tinkering with. Of course I'm not saying that one ought not dream, set their hopes on shooting stars, imagine that one day find ourselves living our fantasies out, no... I'm not saying that at all!

 
As a matter of fact, it's important to have dreams! To set goals four ourselves in life. Simple things like that are a vital component to our motivation to keep on trudging onward through life's sometimes jagged and winding road.

But then, we ought not distract ourselves from the endless beauty that God is presenting us here and now whilst losing our focus to the future and what we hope to one day make of it. Life is a beautiful thing and one ought not forget to live while allowing themselves to become imprisoned behind what he/she wishes should someday occur. For example, I can waste my time yearning for a meadow vastly blossoming with scarlet and milky white roses instead of taking a moment to appreciate the beauty of the field of vibrant lavender and honey-stained wildflowers that already surrounds me!

 What a waste that would be! So, to sum up my point, I encourage you, my dear reader, to take a moment to truly cherish and savor each passing moment of the day... after all, every day is a gift and once it's passed, you can never get it back... that moment immediately vanishes deep in the midst of the past. Take the time also, to love and appreciate the people in your life... the ones that we all tend to take for granted whilst yearning for the favor of some other individual. Life's short, and before you know it... God will have called that person home and their radiance will become nothing more than a memory. 

~ Erin <3

Our Own Starring Roles

It's a mutual desire that we has humans tend to have. The desire for fame that is. A burning desire for admiration from our piers. But... in the end, the public grows to expect a sort of impossibly attainable image, one inaccesspible to all of mankind. As a matter a fact, this ideal begins to infect our mind, hounding us constantly, influencing us into regarding ourselves as failures should we crumble in the midst of endeavoring to obtain this idealistic image. Of course, we all want to be wonderful...

and well-liked by everyone around us, but... wordly adoration offers nothing but heartache and despair in the end. Fame isn't as glamorous and wonderful as it may seem from afar. 

And of course, one must always keep in mind that the most important admiration comes from none other than, well firstoff and most importantly, God and then ourselves. Yes! In order to succeed and reach all of your highest goals in life, you must first earn a sense of pride and admiraiton from yourself. In the end, other's comments (although they can affect you in both negative and positive aspects at times) won't matter nearly as much as what YOU make of yourself. Don't aspire to do anything with the prime intent of obtaining, fame, you'll end up unhappy and discouraged. Strive to do what you want, and cherish the world's reaction once you've reached your goal in either singing or acting. 

"The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting" ~ Charlie Chaplin

The press will devour you. Faced with fame, it is said that you begin to find yourself gradually growing perceived as somewhat of a machine, a sort of item belonging to the public. 

The public will break you down... if you let them. Of course, I only use fame as an example, not because either of us has ever experienced it, but because we each seem to have our own starring roles. And no matter how big and famous we may be, we still struggle with the viscious observations of our critics. We grow discouraged by the negative words of others when really... we don't have to let ourselves be broken by them. We must keep afloat, strive for our own goals. You'll never obtain anything without having failed at least once in your life. 

                            It's merely up to you how you use critisicm. Whether you choose to improve from it or not. It will break you down if you let it, it is beyond capable of doing so. But you can't, you have to learn to value and celebrate yourself as a person. You must learn the depth of your self worth. 



~ erin <3

Grace's Fashion Evolution

                 

                 "Emancipation of women has made them lose their mystery"~ Grace Kelly 

                The legendary director and "king of suspense" adored her while Monaco's heir to the throne fell deeply in love with her. The world applauded her cool ice blonde persona, often cast as the leading lady in Hitchcock's films. For her generation, Grace differed greatly from many of the other actors that made up most of Hollywood. Although not like the voluptuous blonde bombshells that seemed to rule the era in which she was in, for example the flamboyant blonde screen legends such as your Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grables that Hollywood had been so accustomed to delivering to that silver screen 

Grace seemed to radiate in an entirely different way. Although dignified and classy, your typical good girl as opposed to any girl you'd find at some casino in Vegas, a head full of glossy platinum curls, flashy jewels adorning her and some low-cut and tight-fitted dress, Grace seemed to light up that screen like a firework even in the midst of her subtle and buttoned-up way. Hair pulled back, dress buttoned up and white gloves on each hand, Grace still managed to portray to the public a sense of both glamour and outlandish beauty while keeping it both cool and classy! 

And along with her flawless performances on both Broadway and in film as well as her memorable position of royalty in Monaco, this beautiful movie star/princess has proved to be just as noted for her elegant style. The way she dressed, the subtle elegance of her glossy pearls and slicked back curls, Grace has offered an undoubtedly vital influence in the fashion industry. Her appearance offered a sense of femininity while depicting a sense of both subtleness and mystery. 

So, in the article, I wish to both celebrate as well as commemorate Grace's unforgettable mark in the fashion industry by putting together a couple of the perfect Grace-worthy outfit choices, both outfits especially suitable for spring with their whispers of pastel hues and countless strings of glossy cream pearls. 

First-off we have a very casual yet elegant look. Very feminine, no trousers or comfy tennis, bringing you to the point of being neither underdressed or overdressed. Very subtle yet both elegant and feminine. Very Grace and simply perfect for a nice walk in the park or a simple luncheon with a group of friends!

Debenhams-J by Jasper Conran Designer pearl and crystal navette necklace and earrings: $17.00

Monsoon-Charleston Cutout Peeptoe Shoe in Nude: $84.00

Sephora- Amazing Grace fine perfume: $25.00 

Modcloth-Grape Ice dress: $58.00

And now, here's a formal look that Grace would most undoubtedly approve of. The long and flowing white evening gown seems to offer a flawless sense of pristine elegance, very like the kind that Grace so effortlessly offered and while not being overly gaudy, the accessories seemed to offer the perfect dose of glamour to this formal look!

Raoul- Velda embellished silk-chiffon gown: $312.00

Isabella Collection 18k Gold and Silver 1/4ct TDW Diamond Bracelet: $102.00 @ Overstock.com

Moyna- Beaded Fold-Over Clutch Bag in Light Pink: $95.00

Box Boutique- KALLISTÉ Embellished Pump: $387.03 @ Farfetch.com

And there you are... two Grace-reminiscent outfit choices! Now, before I conclude this post, I must first share with you this hairstyling tutorial for achieving that perfect Grace Kelly-inspired hair look! 

I hope you enjoyed this post and are inspired to incorporate a bit more of Grace's flawless elegance into your own wardrobe! xoxo 

~ Erin <3 xoxoxo

Rediscovering Happiness

Even while caught in the richest storms of gloom, never cease to lift your eyes towards the glistening sky of hope that shrouds the seemingly hopeless world in which you are bound. No matter how seemingly irreversible the pain you may be experiencing may appear to be, there is indeed hope, hope for a new beginning, and the series of unknown possibilities that await you! 

So, wipe away your tears, chin up... look towards the positive in life... and smile! Never stop smiling, laughing, joking... having a good time! It's pointless wasting your time plagued with sadness... after all, how are your tears going to help matters? Of course, I'm not saying that one ought not cry, it's good to cry every now and then... let it all out, but never allow yourself to become imprisoned by sadness!

After these painful storms, lift yourself back up from the ground and begin to relearn the beauty of life, learn to celebrate it, learn to be happy again, learn to let go of all of your obstacles, all of your excruciating heartaches! Try and be happy even when you're sad... eventually the happiness is sure to take over! Replace your ash-dusted lenses with rose-colored ones. Learn to look at the world through rose-colored glasses. Learn to love, to cherish and to savor the beauty of life!

 You can be happy if you want to be... it's up to you and you only!

~ Erin <3 ;) xoxo

Pretty Young Things

The world can be a cruel and frightening place. There are, all around us... vicious and cruel beings with nothing more than evil intent. They'll devour all of your beauty and all of your innocence, leaving nothing but a bruised and battered pile of remains behind. Don't be fooled by the wicked, and don't be careless when it comes to trust. There are horrible people out there who yearn to drain the beauty of a person, especially pretty young girls, like you;) so be cautious. don't give yourself to anyone unless you feel certain that this person wishes you no harm, that no wicked desires lurk inside of them. Preserve your beauty, your innocence... it was a gift from God, now cherish it. Trust is not something you can present to just anyone. People have to earn their trust. Often times, young girls are wooed by comments of flattery from young men and become thus blinded enough to spend their trust on that person, a man masked with kindness but truly nothing more than a scummy and ruthless being underneath it all. A man who'll end up offering you nothing more than heartbreak.

Ah! Yes, and as grim a picture as my words may be painting, the world can indeed prove itself as a very cold and dark place, lingering whispers of wickedness echoing throughout it, sparse remains of safe havens to escape to. But then, just because evil has become exposed to you at times, remember that there are also plenty of wonderful and beautiful souls out there! That the evil you have beheld is not the only means that makes up the universe and learn that it's just a matter of finding the right person to trust and give yourself entirely to that's the difficult part, the rockiest path to score. I find that it is also vital for one to understand that there is undoubtedly hope for achieving that perfect soulmate in the future and that the likeness is indeed very possible as amid the many black souls of the universe, there are plenty pure and magnificent human beings out there as well! I've heard it put oftentimes like this, in regards to seeking one's soulmate that is, and that would be that same scenario of a child in search of the ripest apple.

As tiresome and unfortunate as it may seem, there is a generous amount of effort required in achieving that perfectly ripe apple, a tactic effort that can oftentimes be clouded and hazed by impatience and despair for, in fact, in order to achieve this juicy sphere stained richly in a glossy coat of ruby, you must scale the tallest tree and reach the highest branch. You'll also be forced to face many detours in your climb. You'll most likely inherit plenty of black and blue bruises as well as blood gaping scrapes in the midst of this journey. But, in the end, you'll be nothing but proud of yourself for having settled on nothing more than the very best. It will prove itself worth it. Worth every single ounce of the trouble that you had been forced to face! So, don't let the wolves in disguise get the best of you. Don't settle on just anyone as a soulmate. Don't only settle on a man because he calls you pretty. Don't let the world and all of it's evil get the best of you. Don't let a broken heart cripple you. Keep holding onto the wonderful things in life and allow these many things to keep you afloat in this journey we all call life. Also, don't ever let the shadows of grimness that oftentimes aim to stain your entire being dim your sparkle as well. Keep that youthful beauty and innocence for as long as possible;) Act as if your a beautiful butterfly fleeing front he vicious devour of a hawk and just keep flying, keep flying through even the gravest of winds, all affixed to the idea of tearing you off course.

~ Erin xoxo <3 ;)