My Story
Welcome to my world of beauty, fashion and all things glam. My name is Erin and I am based in Miami, Florida by way of Nashville, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana. Living in three states in less than two years has meant lots of boxes, big trucks, and goodbyes but finally, I think we’ll stay a while… I like the sunshine. I created this blog as a place to share inspiration from my daily life and to connect with other ‘glamthusiasts’ like myself. I was born and raised in Tampa, Florida where I worshiped the sun, spending as much time as possible by the beach. Although my style has changed a lot since my old Florida days, sandals and sundresses will always feel like home. Before leaving Tampa, I spent two seasons as a Tampa Bay Lightning Girl and I loved every second of it. It didn’t take long for the adventure itch to set in and so I accepted my very first job as a news anchor/reporter in Lafayette, Louisiana.
At the time I took the job, I couldn’t have pointed Lafayette out on a map. After two years of living in that sweetly southern, LSU tiger loving, creole cooking, cajun speaking cultural gumbo of a place… It’s my honest belief that anyone who doesn’t visit Lafayette and spend some amount of time there in their life is truly missing out on something special. That being said, there’s no place on earth like New Orleans. After working at KLFY for two years, I moved to the “big city.” If home really is ‘where the heart is’, then Nola will forever be my home. This is the place that I consider the biggest influence on my life so far. There is a heartbeat and pulse to south Louisiana that you can feel, smell, touch and taste. It also doesn’t hurt that when you live in New Orleans you are surrounded by artists, musicians, chefs, psychics, ghosts whisperers, storytellers and the most unique and interesting people to ever exist. Too many smart and sophisticated statements have been made about New Orleans that it would be completely pointless to try to top them, so I’ll leave it at this… ‘I know what it means….’ and if you understand that statement, then you probably do too.
Fast Forward to June of 2015 when the unthinkable happened, I let a man convince me to leave New Orleans for Nashville, Tennessee. Not only was this a giant moment in my life geographically speaking but it was also monumental for my career. In NOLA, I was a news anchor for WGNO the local ABC affiliate. Once I moved north, I had no such luck getting my foot in the door. By some otherworldly, higher-power induced twist of fate I eventually landed the perfect position with Chanel Beauty as Counter Manager. For a self-taught makeup artist and beauty blogger, the opportunity to be trained by Chanel professionals and to play with high-end beauty products for a living was kind of like winning the lottery. In so many ways, it was a blessing in disguise. I spent a lot of sad months, job searching, soul-searching and really just searching…for everything including the grocery store. That’s one of the things I used to overlook about moving to a new city that I no longer take for granted. You count on missing your friends, but you don’t count on how much you’ll miss the familiar. It doesn’t help that Nashville never really felt like home. There’s a beautiful and quiet, almost haunting feeling you get driving through the misty rolling hills of Tennessee that I appreciate but I never felt connected to. Maybe that’s to blame on New Orleans. The spiritual connection, the inner peace, the family of friends that I left behind were always in the back on my mind.
Life is funny. When I left Florida six years ago I had no intention of ever returning. I didn’t intend not to, I just didn’t have many expectations… my mind and my heart were open to any and all opportunities and changes. I guess that’s what happens when you trust the process and say ‘yes’ to what’s possible, you end up exactly where you’re meant to be. For now, that’s Miami, Florida and man it feels good to walk outside in January with shorts on. I feel that life has come full circle and I am doing what I’m meant to do in life. Making women and men feel good about themselves is my favorite part of makeup artistry and skin care. Currently, I’m a freelance makeup artist with CHANEL. I’m still not sure how I ended up getting paid to play with makeup but I’m seriously grateful. Since fashion and beauty go hand in hand, it’s become my favorite hobby to share my style through this blog.
I hope that you enjoy reading these posts and seeing these pictures as much as I love creating them. Thank you for the support and I look forward to getting to know each other.
With Love,
Erin