Editor's Thoughts: The Essence of a Beautiful Life

I was just organizing some products this morning when I was thinking about how much my life has changed over the past three years. Many of you wouldn't know this about me, but FSB is dream-turned-reality, a journey into the person that I'd wanted to be my entire life but had somehow never allowed myself to be.

Working corporate jobs since college graduation, I buried my dreams of writing about fashion and beauty underneath a lot of purchases (many of them caused the "WTF was I thinking?" question later), a considerable amount of body weight and put my soul to sleep. I read magazines and followed the writers like most people follow celebrities, wishing I could do that instead of what I was doing. This continued until one day I woke up in an apartment filled with things I didn't need in a life I really didn't want as someone I didn't even recognize. I decided to get rid of almost everything I owned, packed my things and took a chance on a move to New York City to become a writer.

Three years later, I'm preparing to attend New York Fashion Week on my own merits as the Editor of this publication. The funny thing is, if you ask me about all of the "things" I had to give up to get here, I don't honestly remember them. They belonged to another woman as far as I can tell and she is thankfully at rest. After a considerable amount of purging and donations, almost everything in my presence right now is something that makes my heart sing. Well, with the exception of a pair of Louboutins, but I'm working on that.

I write this note to you this Friday morning to encourage you to find your own style of living and unapologetically surround yourself with only the people and items that truly make you happy. A well-curated closet is one thing but a well-curated life is, in my opinion, the basis for all things fashion, the essence of real style, and the foundation for a truly beautiful life.

The Breakover Diaries: The Beginning of Feeling Beautiful

For those of you know know me personally (and for those who don't), I'm currently going through a break-up. As in, the end of a relationship. It sucks, it hurts and everyone who's ever endured such a thing knows exactly where I am.

You're thinking, what does this have to do with fashion, style or beauty? Plenty. How many of us have ever gone through a breakup to look at ourselves in the mirror and see someone staring back at us that we don't really recognize? When you spend time invested so deeply in the happiness of another person, you can begin to neglect your own needs. Some people call them "happy pounds" where you gain weight, others sort of fall apart on grooming when the breakup happens. If you could walk around all day in oversize dark sunglasses and Chapstick until you feel like you could put yourself back together there wouldn't be a need for a series of posts like this, but unfortunately most of us who've been through a breakup know that this doesn't necessarily fly in staff meetings...or out at night...or anywhere else outside of a paparazzi shot heading to your car in LA.

This is why I decided to document my own personal recovery from what I thought would be the most significant, forever-and-ever relationship of my life as a journey to the most fabulous, beautiful version of myself. I've got some added pressure for this endeavor because not only am I surviving the end of the "I-really-thought-this-was-going-somewhere" relationship, but I have to prepare to hit Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in less than six weeks. They say that when you're healing a broken heart it helps to have a goal. Folks, arriving at the tents as the EIC of this publication looking nothing less than drop dead glamorous is one Hell of a motivator.

My friend Ted Gibson, the amazing hairstylist, calls this a "breakover." It's where you want a fresh new start; a newer, hotter version of yourself that not only in theory should cause whoever broke your heart to regret ever letting you go, but a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis of pain that truly astonishes with new, vibrant color.

I'm going to chronicle all of the fashion advice, style tips, workout advice and beauty tricks that I'm using to come out of my own breakup looking brilliant and I hope they inspire you to make any necessary changes in your own lives. It doesn't matter if you're going through a breakup, or you NEED to shake things up in your life. Inspire yourself to be the best you can be. Be your own hero.

These diaries will never delve into the details of who I was dating or what happened. This isn't about him. This is about ME and what I need to be runway ready for the catwalk that will be the rest of my life.

My time is now. This is the beginning of feeling truly beautiful. It's time for the outside to match the inside. Watch out, world: I'm coming through.