The Show Must Go On: SNO 2014

Outfit: Lotus (now available in store), All Jewelry: Custom-Made Celene Stones (both bracelets and earrings) <email Krista at CeleneStones@gmail.com for 15% off your very own>, Shoes: Aldo

Hola Mamacitas!!!!!!! Long time no "see".

I think that's the longest break I have taken from blogging since I started this thing (almost 3 years ago). It's been a busy week and a half for yours truly.

Since I last blogged, hmmm... let's see... well.... Style Night Out happened!!!! Whoop Whoop!!!

For those of you who don't read regularly, SNO is a huge event that happens every year. It is a Charlotte-based fashion show, fundraiser, and all around good time that attracts about 1,000 people. I host the red carpet and open up the show (which means <gulp> getting on stage and talking in front of all of those people). It also means that a hundred pictures get taken of you from as many different angles. Is there anything worse than a picture taken of you when you are not ready??? I mean... look at this outfit. This thing requires a sucked in gut... a hand on the hip at ALL times (you know the skinny arm "trick").... no slouching... no belly breathing... and NO sudden moves. On top of the fact that this outfit is unforgiving (at best), we had some insanely hairy weather.

I showed up to the show like this.... hair straight, make-up on, sucked in, and ready to go. BUT... once I got there I saw that the insane rain storms we had delayed everything. TONS of stuff still needed to be done. SO... I got my workout pants, a tank top, and my sneakers on, wiped off my lipstick and went to WERK. Putting cushions on the chairs of the VIP seats, linen on tables, moving chairs, directing volunteers, setting swag bags out, etc etc. Once everything was alllllllmost done.... the weather radar said it was going to rain again in a few minutes. WHAT?!?!??!?!?!!? THE?!?!?!?!? FUUUUUUUUK!?!??!?!?Pump your damn breaks. Reverse.

We had to get EVERYTHING picked back up... cushions, linens, bags, etc. Get them up and out of the rain, and THEN put BACK on/together/set up. Curtains had fallen down from the wind and weight of the rain, vendors were calling saying they weren't coming, our phones were blowing up with questions from friends and loved ones. "Is the show still on???? Do you know it's raining??? Is there a contingency plan???? AGHHHHHHHHHH. Stress city. My friend, Effie, who is the creator and producer of this show was about to lose her ever-loving shit. This show is her BABY. Not to mention a TON of money, time, blood, sweat, and at this point... legit TEARS had gone into it.

It was 92 degrees. 100% humidity, and we were running our asses off. We were straight up sweating. Bad. Our hair was frizzy, and we smelled TERRIBLE. Funky (with a capital F). We had sweat through our clothes, our hair, and makeup. There was ZERO time for showers. There was hardly time to pee. I washed up in front of a bathroom sink, changed in a toilet stall, and did a brief once over for any spots my spray tan decided to run in.

At the last possible second, Effie had to make a decision. Cancel or go forward???  She hesitatingly decided that the show must go on. We were just going to hope and pray that the rain was over and that people would actually show up, and guess what... it DID and they DID.

It was the best damn Style Night Out Charlotte has ever had. BY FAR. Frizzy, bad hair and all. It was sold out. The music was amazing, the fashion was incredible, the people were gorgeous, and the rain held out. It was a miracle.

I had 6 family members from New York fly in for Style Night Out.  I looked out at them.... my beautiful, selfless family... my BESTEST friends, my gorgeous, supportive, ridiculously amazing manfriend, my loves... my Lotus girls, and realized that this was MUCH MUCH MUCH more than a fashion show. It was a labor of true love and it was a moment in my life that I wasn't going to soon forget. It was a lesson.

That even the biggest, baddest, scariest storms... at the veeeery last second, can change direction... and what was almost an absolute disaster, can turn into pure friggin' MAGIC.