Designer Tale of a Ball Gown Dream Dashed

Since I was a child, my favorite color has been what I call, “highlighter-green” (yes, even though I’m one of the designers for le•top baby with the beautifully soft pinks and blues!). More than anything else in the world, I wanted a highlighter-green ball gown! I’ve even asked Russian Santa for it on several occasions…but, it was understandable that he probably raised an eyebrow in confusion while reading my letters – “highlighter-green gown?!?!?”

As my mom and I strolled through a local mall one day, I saw a rather out-of-place “prom” gown boutique selling what appeared to be replicas of the Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella style gowns! As luck would have it, they had one in highlighter-green! I couldn’t believe that my dream would finally come true! My mom, unfortunately (for her!), does not share my love for neon. She looked at my over-puffed, neon-green tulle, enormous ball of a dress, and said, “Are you kidding?” Thus, my dream of having a neon green ball gown were dashed. Fortunately (for me!), the fashion world has finally caught on! Since I follow and love all things even remotely related to design (and fashion and furnishings!), I’ve noticed neon colors are temporarily in…hopefully they’ll stay “in” (for adults!) a little longer!

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Are we there yet? Traveling during the holidays

The lovely scenic drive of I-5

Not all can be so fortunate to stay home for the holidays and relax with our families. Some of us have to travel to far away places–either by plane, train or the dreaded car ride (Do you want me to turn this car around?!) –and cram the entire family and dog in the van, along with 12 suitcases, casseroles, pies, jackets, pillows, blankets, etc. It was so much fun this year that I can’t wait to do it again next year… Not!

This Thanksgiving, we drove down from the Oakland to San Diego. We usually fly but with the amount of gear we had to bring, driving was the better option. If my husband and I didn’t have kids, we would probably make it there in about 6 hours, maybe 7 with minimal detours. However since we have a 4-year old in tow and I’m pregnant, we had to make numerous stops: potty stops, food stops, and I’m-going-to-go-crazy-if-we-don’t-stop stops.

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