Lessons Learned

August 2, 2016February 20, 2017Leave a comment

Hindsight is always 20/20 and the journey is a big chunk of the fun, however, there are things I wish I had been conscious of when getting started. (I’m not a big should of, could of, would of person.)

There is no way to begin a goal, a challenge, a business without making mistakes and stubbing your toe. The key is: don’t let it deter you, distract you or discourage you beyond keeping going. While every journey is different, there is no question that they all include trial, error and lessons learned.

This is what I wish I would have embraced sooner in my expedition: it’s ok to fail, but it’s even better to keep going – trust the process.

My word/phrase for the first half of this year was keep going. Presently, my word is rally.

Life, endeavors and our day-to-day are full of seasons; seasons of ups, down, sleepless nights, questioning ones ability and ultimately determining what we want our life to be, look like and consist of.

Trust the process – the process that takes us not from point A to point Z, but from point A through Z; the process that teaches us diligence, persistence and dang it, hard work; the process that usually reveals a growth in oneself amidst the chaos.

I look at people I admire and look up to and acknowledge the process they must have endured to get to where they are. Textured, layered and full of stories – my favorite kind of people.

Whatever your goal, dream or challenge – trust the process. Trust the ups, the downs and everything in between. They are helping to shape your path and keep you growing. Keep going. And as they say: embrace the journey.

Welcome

July 24, 2016July 24, 2016Leave a comment

Hi gals and guys! With EB’s new space opened and nearly complete, I thought what better time to introduce you to and let you in on our story, who we are and what we do.

Upon relocating back to Kansas after a five-year stint in Dallas, EB originated in the Riverside neighborhood of Wichita – making use of a small esthetics room in a hair salon. Unsure of the future, I worked an 8-5 day job in addition to taking clients evenings and weekends. Halfway through my lease I knew I needed to decide whether I was going to pursue EB full time or continue juggling multiple gigs. I stumbled upon a 400 sq ft rental in Clifton Square and took the leap of faith – I quit my job and went for it.

This 400 sq ft bungalow was everything I dreamed of and more: quaint, adorable, comfy, cozy, free smells.

It wasn’t until I was selected to join an instructor training course for lash extensions through Bella Lash that I knew I needed more room for teachings and students.

And now here we are – in 1400 sq ft of pure heaven and comfyness within Clifton Square.

We specialize in lash extensions, clean skincare, handcrafted goods and free smells (come in and smell for yourself!). Recently we added a dear friend and artist to our team, Audrey Cotton. She is newly certified in lash extensions and is a master makeup artist. We are honored and thrilled to have her on our team and to add professional makeup application to our service menu. Check her out: AudreyCottonMUA

In addition to esthetic and makeup services we offer a wide variety of organic, natural, gluten-free, vegan and hand-crafted skin care products – home goods – jewelry.

The journey has been fun, entertaining and full of gratitude. Thank you for your continual love + support. Pop in and say hi!

Right Place Right Time

April 14, 2016July 5, 2016Leave a comment

…when the light bulb goes off: I’m right where I’m meant to be.

Today: I spoke freely to a gal and inquisitively asked her story. Her story encompasses hurt, struggle and the pursuit of redemption from decisions gone wrong.

Hardly knowing this person, I shared a piece of my past that flipped a switch for me. We all have them. Our humbling, drop to our knees, “I surrender” seasons. They don’t define us – they piece us together. And thanks to these moments we are textured, layered and multi-dimensional humans. Thank God.

You never know what to expect when you just throw it out there. Hopefully this gal felt peace and encouragement that we are all just like her. Hopefully she felt the love from one imperfect being to another.

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.” Anne Lamott

I Want to Remember…

April 12, 2016July 5, 2016Leave a comment

It’s a Tuesday. It was a cooler morning but what a beautiful day it grew into.

Today I want to remember my client telling me how she adopted her son from China. Her explanation of how he was tiny, with a big head and how he looked different than the pictures she had seen of him. What a description. I hope she wrote that down somewhere to cherish forever. She is trying to raise him speaking both English and Vietnamese but proclaimed his stubbornness. He hugged me tightly before he left – His name is Ian.

Today I want to remember the soulful conversation I had with a woman whom is a client but I can already tell will be a dear friend. The greatest compliment, she gave to me today: I love how you are just, you. Real, honest, gutsy conversations – those are the ones that get me; they feed my soul.

Enjoy your journey.

Until next time.

I Want to Remember…

March 9, 2016March 9, 2016Leave a comment

Today I want to remember the simplicity of a gloomy, drizzly day and how it put a lightness in my step. A March day that mimicked spring; the smells, the cloudiness, the 70 degree temperature. Green, trees and flowers are beginning to sprout at the Arb; birds are sounding through the day. Spring is coming.

Today I want to remember meaningful conversation with a dear friend. We conversed, got real and eventually laughed over a box of Asian fans. Do you ever crave soulful conversations? That’s this friend. She’s full of real-ness and soul. Just what everyone needs.

Today I want to remember the orange Tiger Lily, amid birthday flowers, that opened, eye to the sky, bloomed. Wow. Yesterday she was enveloped but today, flourishing.

“I decided that the single most subversive, revolutionary thing I could do was to show up for my life and not be ashamed.” Anne Lamott

Good day, friends.

Seasons

November 9, 20152 Comments

The month of October had me feeling headless, emotionally strung out & eventually seeking self-evaluation. Me, in general, has always had a lot of work to do. I grew up annoyingly on the defense, outspoken & overly sensitive. I love people. I love people hard. Too hard sometimes. Hard in the sense of wanting to shake people lose of their insecurities, doubts & fears; in the sense of already knowing what they’re capable of; in the sense of knowing what the wind will feel like on their face when they decide to fly. If they will only choose to release & fly.

The key word: choose.

We are all given choices. Pastor Groeschel spoke yesterday on The Time is Now. He spoke about how we come onto moments in our life where something is weighing on our heart, possibly a calling, and rather than acting on it we stumble upon opposition. We possibly choose the “easy wrong” over the “hard right”.

To write is a calling pressed upon my heart. It is the greatest joy for me and yet a discipline as well. It is a discipline because my opposition is T I M E. The easy wrong for me in writing is choosing my cell phone, choosing to sleep the extra hour & not being intentional about designating time.

Time is so sacred. Our choices are equally sacred. The daily choices of whom, what, when, where, how.

I am in a season of intentional sharpening. Daily, I am seeking ways to refine my mind, actions & words; I am looking to point the finger at myself before ever looking around; I am eager to hug people amidst their joys & concerns but rather than wearing the struggles of others allowing God to be God and trusting in the power of prayer versus my own strength, words & actions.

I am in a season of looking at the fall leaves and beyond color, seeing life & transformation. I am in a season of slowing down, absorbing the little things & working on my inner flicker, light & passion.

I am thankful for this season; it is equally inspirational & polishing. It has been a beautiful fall. The winter months will surely uncover its own beauty.

M A Y / 1 2

May 12, 2015May 26, 2015Leave a comment

As we prepared for the Mother’s Day celebration at Bartlett Arboretum we were tidying up, pulling tulips for mums, planting more budding flowers & [my newly found interest] pruning. [the heck?]

“Trim the dead right up to the live tree so it promotes growth. The likelihood of it growing back healthy is increased.” • {tree}

Amidst my therapeutic tree pruning, it unfolded within me that this tree and its lifeless, energy drain limbs is no different from our lives and the baggage we carry or hold on to. Just as the limbs of a tree are cropped, we too can trim the dead, the negativity, the nonsense & the unfulfilling branches in our life; the branches that leave us parched, hurting, seeking fulfillment or approval, running in circles & exhausting beautiful days.

Just as the tree exerts energy in trying to contain the damage & the sickly branches continue to prevent new growth, we too find ourselves stuck & empty due to people, things, circumstances & choices.

Insert: pruning.

I have experienced the difficulty in “trimming the fat” within my own life; I have also experienced the joy that comes from it that I never knew existed.

The initial difficulties in saying no, walking away from a hurtful person, loving someone from a distance rather than closely & full of expectation, making discerning decisions based on acknowledging my worth all lead to growth within me & have since offered me joy, restful nights & alive days.

The tree takes years to grow, flower, stretch, canopy, shake the dead, flourish, spread, rise up — with no end to speak of; what makes us think we are not so peculiar?

I am thankful for my foundation, my heart, my trunk.

I am thankful for my branches that stretch out in many directions seeking light, passion, service & my Maker.

I am also thankful for the deadwood that has been shaken off — among the nonessential has been learning experiences teaching me truth, authenticity, what truly matters in our lives & once shimmied down to my core, it is where I truly uncover myself.

Thank you {Mother Nature} | for being my teacher.

Thank you {Tree} | for helping me to become an enlightened wildflower among the wilderness 🌸

| Hemingway |

April 9, 2015April 9, 20151 Comment

“He had destroyed his talent by not using it, by betrayals of himself and what he believed in, by drinking so much that he blunted the edge of his perceptions, by laziness, by sloth, and by snobbery, by pride and by prejudice, by hook and by crook.

It was a talent all right but instead of using it, he had traded it.

He had traded it for security, for comfort too, there was no denying that…”

[ Excerpt from The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Ernest Hemingway ]

Tapping into the well of these writers from another time & place has been the biggest breath of fresh air. Although a different time, a very prevailing perspective is uncovered.

What talents & gifts have we put on hold, hiatus or have yet to dream up. How many times have we chosen the comfortable route that {f e a r & d o u b t} have placed us on in exchange for the {j o y} our gifts are anticipating to flourish within us.

In this story, Harry is reflecting on his life due to becoming infected with gangrene & assuming his death is near. His passion never attained: writing.

“But he would never do it, because each day of not writing, of comfort, of being that which he despised, dulled his ability and softened his will to work so that, finally, he did not work at all.”

An encouragement & challenge to myself is not becoming discouraged or overwhelmed by the work that’s necessary to watch gifts, passions & big dreams take shape. By reminding myself that I am a work in progress, that my journey will provide laughs & growth [alike] & to remain steadfast in gratitude…I am provided the heart to take on my wandering, one day, one moment at a time.

Thank you Mr. Hemingway — for being my teacher today.

{ p i s c e s }

March 30, 2015March 30, 2015Leave a comment

As the month of March comes to an end, I reflect on how much I love this month, this season.

Mine & my mothers birthdays are on the 1st but that is not the only reason for my adoration. I knew this birthday would be slightly different than those of years 27, 26…& so on. My heart is filled with such gratitude this year that I found this March 1 to hold more emotion compared to others past.

2014 brought me growth, pain, struggle & lessons stemming from poor choice making; all prompting me for strength, courage & emancipation from old parts of myself and delight in my newness.

As March “comes in like a lion & goes out like a lamb”, I am reminded that we all stumble upon our lion-like state of affairs filled with disorder, confusion & uncertainty. But I have learned that it is in those times that our inner lioness is awakened & born; that with a little patience, trust, & courage we can find our footing, direction & purpose once more.

Like the tulips that use the month of March to sprout, grow & bloom…{I} will too. {You} will too. {We} will too.