LSL {Thoughts & Quotes} - Get Real

I thought I would take a different, more serious approach to this post. I don't normally post anything too personal or talk too much about who that "L" is behind LSL. Well, Lauren is my name and blogging is my game. Ok, bad rhyming aside, I thought I would take this time to tell you a little about who I am and what I am really about. Not just a floating head on the web. (Ooops see there I go again.) Warning, this is the longest post to LSL date.

On Look So Lovely's name- I tend to say lovely a lot. And I'm a bit of a people watcher/general looky-loo. So that is where I came up with Look So Lovely. It was by chance, it popped into my head, and happily it was available for the blog taking.

I originally went to school for Psychology and thought, once graduated I would save the world. Really for most of my four years my dream was to have a non-profit of my own and help people, or kids, or animals. I had a lot of causes I wanted to contribute too. And when working while up at school, I again spent most of my four years there, working in a school/after school setting and in the nights at a homeless shelter. It was hands down one of the most rewarding experiences but also one of the hardest. I still think about some of the kids that I connected with. Then when I moved home from school, I got a job at a small women's fashion boutique and it felt like in a short amount of time I got so wrapped up in the material side of fashion that I completely left all my saving the world passions to the waist side. After the boutique I went to a more major fashion house retailer and moved up the line there, ultimately ending in a management roll. And I. hated. it. Don't get my wrong, fashion and style still are a big part of who I am, but seeing some of the underbelly of that business really turns you off. I left after a few years and haven't looked back.

I have one really bum ankle. The friends and family that read this know all about this one. If you were to look at any of my pictures on here (there are only a few) you will see that I never show the bottom half of myself. That's because a cast/cast looking brace aren't very attractive. To me. To give you the short of it, in HS they found a Giant Cell Tumor in my left ankle and removed it right away, (benign, thankfully!) reconstructed it, and I was back and on my way. I stopped all running style sports (good bye soccer and tennis) and started swimming and riding bikes instead. It was sufficient for the time being, but then 10 years later my ankle started deteriorating and I had to get it fixed. Immediately. And the pain. Oh the pain was unbearable. So I had it reconstructed again, this time much more fancy like, (lots of medical jargon to describe what they did) but basically took out a bone, put that bone into another one and fused it all together. I had this done in 2009 and I just celebrated the three year anny of it. It was a lot to get time back to where I am right now, wheelchair for three months, crutches for over a year, a cane for about six more months on top of that. However, I am now walking free of any assistance, except with my permanent brace (for about a year now) and cannot be happier. I still have a road of recovery ahead of me, but I feel much stronger (physically and mentally) than I ever had before. I am very thankful for all the support and especially thankful for the talented team of doctors that put me back together. So, when you see me out and about and I have a funky left foot brace thing on, pay it no mind, it’s hard finding shoes that fit that sucker, let alone cute ones.

There you go

I am a sucker for a bargain. I hate paying full price for anything and usually won't. I can be seen at any sale rack, bargin bin and am kinda cheap about it. I love Target, H&M and I would be friends (if H or M were a person), Nordies Rack, yes please. I can't remember the last time I spent full price on anything. And the steeper the discounts the happier I become. I think it must be the thrill of the hunt.

I love to be crafty and sadly don’t seem to make much time for it anymore. I love making jewelry and get such enjoyment when complimented on something I have created. Most of my family is filled with talented artists, and sadly that gene didn’t pass to me. I cannot seem to draw for the life of me and painting seems to stress me out. But making jewelry is fun and calms me. I hope for this next year to make more time to create and maybe even sell (if I could be so bold).

I am not a writer, nor do I claim to be. And, I know I can be very liberal with my commas. Too liberal. I didn't even minor in English and writing was always a subject that I detested. But as I got out of school and all the mandatory papers that went with it, I started to enjoy it. My BFF and I would write long chapter-style emails back and forth of all our dating woos. We even debated on trying to write a how-to of the 'do's and mostly don'ts of dating.' Between the two of us we have some very entertaining doozies and that's what spurred my 'like' of writing. I still think that it would be fun to try and get the book going again, now that I am enjoying my single life again. And maybe some day I'll share some of the dozies, but that my friends, is for another time.

I’ll end this novel of a post up by saying, thank you. Thank you again, to the ones that read everyday (or every week or month) I really appreciate it and I hope that something in my life can either inspire you or support wherever you are in your own life. I would love feedback. If you would like to see more of something on LSL or less of something (be gentle) please let me know. And as you might have seen on Saturday’s post, I am going to try and take a more personal approach here and write more from my actual life (that is if it’s interesting enough) However, I have realized through this blogging life that I am actually quite shy with talking about myself and also promoting this site. (now if you met me you would know that I am quite the opposite, I usually never stop chatting.) So, I would love if you too would spread the word about LSL and hopefully through the course of this next year I will get some more followers and make some new friends. 

xo,

L