Julie

When I was in Junior High in North Ogden, Utah (shout out) I would lay in bed at night contemplating the Milk commercial where an awkward teen girl facing a mirror would morph into a rockin supermodel with a super hot boyfriend, all because she drank her milk. I was as awkward as they came, my skin was terrible, I was shaped like a toothpick (never did receive that visit from the boob fairy) and I had a haircut that most closely resembled a mushroom cap.

When deep in the throes of self wallow, my mom would console me by telling me that when they were handing out talents and personality traits in heaven I made sure to be first in line for the gift of gab, and thusly had to be in the latter part of the lines for most other things.

You might think it was a crazy hurtful but for me I took great pride in this information. I was blessed with the ability to make friends quickly and to make people feel comfortable around me. I realized that looks were only part of the package and, as cheesy as it sounded, what I looked like wasn’t everything I was. I thrived in my awkwardness! We would be on vacation for barely a day and I would have already made a best friend. I like to think that all the bad skin and plentiful embarrassing moments I had all those years ago instilled resiliency and an ability to laugh at myself and see humor in everything. After a long awkward period which, looking back, lasted long into my sophomore year of college, I have turned into the slightly older version of my younger self.

As I look into the mirror today I am confident in my body and my self. I think my teenage self would be pleased with how I turned out. I am 34, adorable and I know who I am and I thank my mom for it. I am grateful that my daughter is also growing up with a strong sense of self and that by my example she will learn not to judge who she is by her outward appearance.

I loved college; I loved Utah State University so much I stayed for five and half years. My parents thought I would never graduate (Go Aggies). After college I moved to Washington, DC and moved in with a few girls I had never met. I landed a plumb job at The Cosmetic , Toiletry, and Fragrance Association where I (got a lot of swag) and assisted our member companies in exporting their products. A year later I met a handsome gentleman named Jason. The first time we spoke I rattled off a list of words he was not allowed to utter in my presence, and he still wanted to hang out with me. Four months later at the Roosevelt Memorial he asked me to marry him. I said “Yes” before he even finished asking (I tend interrupt; it’s something that I am not proud of and work on daily to correct). Eight years later we are living in Virginia just minutes from the nation’s Capitol in charming neighborhood with our wonderful daughter and mischievous son and a wiener dog named Scout.

I love to sew. To be honest , I love to sew for my daughter; and - in the interest of full disclosure - I love to sew for my daughter, especially if I can finish in less than two hours. I do all of my sewing at night (with minimal profanity). I like to use store-bought patterns to mix and match together to come up with my own designs. I have tried to make my own patterns and when I do, they always end up cutting off some part of her circulation. I like to look at high-end clothes and make them for 10% of the cost of the original. I feel like I don’t have a lot of original ideas but I love to see what others have done and put my own spin on it. I am awesome at buying fabric and starting projects… I am not always awesome at finishing them and I have learned when to call it and just toss it out.