Happy Thanksgiving!

I just arrived at Los Angeles International Airport to fly home to Utah for Thanksgiving. In LA, you never know what the traffic will be like on the 405, so my policy has always been to arrive super early rather than take the chance of missing my flight. Much to my dismay, there were probably 10 people in the baggage line. I made it through security in less than 15 minutes! Normally, I would be so happy, but now I have 3 HOURS to kill! So, I figure it would be appropriate to spend some time thinking about the people who have helped me succeed at Mirabella. I wouldn't be who I am today without the influence of several key people.

First and foremost, thank you to Christy Thurston, Founder of Mirabella, who started me out on the path of makeup. Christy is such a beautiful, inspiring woman, and I wish you all had the opportunity to meet her. I adopted many elements of Christy's personal style that still influence me today. Christy taught me about work ethic...that great things can happen if you believe and work hard enough to make them happen. She taught me never to settle for less than perfection. I can't say that my standard will ever be as high as Christy's...but it is pretty high:). This reminds me of our very first holiday collection that we launched after partnering with Maly's West. It was called Merry Mirabella and was packaged in a monochromatic purple striped box with orange ribbon. Christy's philosophy was that everything looks better with ribbon...which I totally agree...most of the time. However, I can positively say that the Mirabella employees that tied hundreds of ribbons for Merry Mirabella would never do it again! There were a few seconds of mutiny when she wanted to flame the ends of the ribbons. That did NOT happen:).

When I first moved to LA...it was a VERY difficult transition for me. It was the first time I lived away from home and I had no family or friends. I think back to that time, and I still feel anxiety when I think of how difficult it really was. I had never even seen a real warehouse, so let's just say that my eyes were opened real fast! I floundered for the first six months or so until Mike Seiser, COO of Maly's West at the time, took me under his wing. Mike Seiser was an interesting guy...super tough to people on the outside, but very helpful to those few that made it to his inner circle. I was lucky enough to be one of those people for a year or so. I am thankful to Mike because he taught me about streamlining operations in a warehouse. He gave me my first lessons on inventory levels and purchasing. He taught me to be a stronger person...that I wasn't in this business to have everyone like me. A lesson that has been super beneficial over the years. Since I didn't have many friends, I would bake on the weekends. Mike ate hundreds of chocolate chip cookies over that year just to make me happy! But most of all, he taught me how to maintain a balance in my life between work and home. That is the lesson that I value the most. He encouraged me to get interests outside of Mirabella which totally helped me create a life in California.

The next person who really influenced me was Adrienne Kramer. She came to Mirabella after Christy left and she really taught me to dream and think big. At the time, I would want to create something but would immediately think of all of the limitations and reasons that it wouldn't work. Adrienne changed that. She told me to decide on what I wanted and then map out the steps that would help me accomplish my dream. Adrienne was instrumental in helping me be a better negotiator and really helped me to understand how product development really works. I wouldn't be the Creative Director at Mirabella had I not listened and learned from Adrienne.

Now I have the opportunity to work daily with John Maly. He consistently amazes me how calm he stays in all aspects of business. His philosophy is that he will give you a long rope and you can either run with it or hang yourself. So far...I am running with it! This allows for so much creativity. John allows us to try new ideas. Not only allows it, but expects it...which always keeps me on my toes. But most of all, John has created a nice environment to work in. I enjoy going to work each day and he always treats me with respect. Thank you, John.

And finally, I have to throw in a quick note for my BFF, Lyndie. Lyndie is such an amazing friend. It is such a great opportunity to work with your best friend. She knows me inside and out and always builds up my confidence. She is a truly loyal friend and I love her for it.

These 10 years at Mirabella have been a great growth experience. I am truly grateful for my job and love cosmetics. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Style

For the past week, I have spent a lot of time looking at beautiful images trying to create inspiration boards for next year. Thank you Pinterest for making it easy to categorize beautiful images. It makes large projects like this SO much easier. No more tearing out magazine shots and putting them in folders. No more glue sticks. No more hanging file folders with images you never really look at again after you cut them out. Seriously, so much easier. If you haven't dived in, it can be super fun!

Since I have planned so many different promotional themes and classes over the years for Mirabella, I never really stop to think about what my own personal style really is. I know that I always lean toward more classic styles, but after this past week, I KNOW that my style is pretty one dimensional. We were creating bridal boards and looking at thousands of bridal images attempting to categorize them. It was really difficult for me to look past my own personal style and taste to get images that were inspirational across all different brides. Interesting! I have never really understood just how much my personal taste really affects Mirabella in general until now. I am sure that this helps keep things consistent since I do not jump all over the board, but it is very important to have people you can trust with different view points to help put some perspective on everything. You just cannot do it alone. Thank you, Jamie Richards, for always being a willing partner in crime. I have to say that our bridal inspiration boards really turned out stunning. I can't wait for next year! So many fabulous ideas on the table:).

So, the day after I spent hours with Pinterest, I came to the office to find the Nordstrom holiday catalog on my desk. Can I just say that I LOVE Nordstrom catalogs! I immediately starting flipping through and realized again that my style is very classic. Take a look at the images I found inspiring.

Oh my gosh! LOVE this bag. So pretty. LOVE the snowflake Chanel branded zipper pull. LOVE the shape, LOVE the glosses. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

These shoes are AMAZING! Why can I not afford them? Rgh!

I totally want a statement ring. Either of these would be lovely!

I think this Nars gift set is super creative. LOVE the pots and brush. Not sure how functional...but very cool.

Both these pics were an actual spread in the catalog, and it really took my breath away when I flipped the page. LOVE the monochromatic feeling.














Now I just need a boyfriend who will buy me these things...ha, ha! I can only dream:). What is on your holiday wish list?