Sparkles and Sticks

Baggage

Do you have a bucket list?  I do.  It's always in the works, but it's there. And today...

I crossed something off my bucket list.

I wasn't expecting it to happen, but it did.  You might even be able to say that I crossed one and a half things off my list, but I think I'll just stick to the one.  25 is too young to be so forgiving with such a list.

Want to know what I did?

I bought a designer handbag.

I can hear certain friends groaning as they read this.  When they hear "designer bag" they think of a Louis Vuitton knock-off that parades around for the sole purpose of showing off a (faux) L.V. logo.  They see it in the hands of an acrylic french-tip manicure.  They see obvious highlights, orange-tan skin, and a non-fat sugar free vanilla Starbucks.

Well, missy, ya aint looking at my bag.  (The Starbucks might be mine though).

My bag, is a Betsey Johnson bag.  It is red plaid, it has a long strap that makes it look like a school bag, a fleur-de-lis embellishment, a big gold crest with the words "rock on" printed on it, and a patch with pink Betsey lips on it.

My bag rocks.

But what rocks even more is Betsey Johnson herself, and her philosophy towards fashion.

"My rule of thumb is always wear what you want, when you want. That will create your own personal style and that is fashion to me."

I love this quote, and I agree with it, completely. 

But sometimes, when I am choosing yarn or fbric at the store, or making something at home, I sort of forget this philosophy.  I hold myself back from creating the truly gaudy, glitzy, glittery, and pink things that I really want to make.

When I came home (new bag in tow) I started making my entry for the Craft Stylish Tote-ally Crafty Bag Challenge, and I immediately started simplyifying and streamlining my ieas.  I resulted with a plan for a bag that was cute(ish) but not interesting to me at all.  Then, inspired by my Betsey bag, I started planning the tote that I really wanted to make.  I may have to alter my plans as I go, but man.  A simplified version of the bag I have in mind now will be way more fun than that boring one that those conformist little voices were trying to get me to make before.

I can't wait to show you my final result. : )

The Arrivals Gate At Heathrow Airport

"Whenever I get gloomy about the state of the world, I think of the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport." 

This quote, the opening line of Love Actually, is very near and dear to my heart.  Hugh Grant, the actor who speaks these words, is talking about how the arrivals gate at Heathrow is an example as to how the world is still full of love:

"General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

I think of the arrivals gate at Heathrow with a the same reverence, but a somewhat different feeling:

Independence. Freedom.
 
In August 2003, I boarded a Virgin Atlantic flight that whisked me straight away to Heathrow airport.  I was all by myself, I had never been to the UK before, and I didn't know how to get a train or bus to Wales.  But I wasn't scared.  And I did it.  It really wasn't that hard, and even though I thought it was a bit stupid that my new friends kept telling me how brave I was for doing it, I was proud of myself.  After years of High School with various people telling me I couldn't do things: couldn't pass my driver's test, couldn't drive in the city, couldn't afford college, couldn't get that scholarship, couldn't afford to study abroad, I did it.  And I met a whole new group of people who saw me in a totally different light.

So when I start to feel trapped in my world: whether by my own doing or by forces beyond my control, I think of the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport.  I think of the exhilarating feeling of traveling alone.  I think of fulfilling life long goals.  I think of my home away from home.  I think of the delicious, indescribable feeling that simple differences in the UK give me: driving on the left side of the road, accents that make my heart smile, and the way British TV shows look just a little bit different than American ones.

And I feel a little less gloomy.