Remember November

I’m sitting here, meant to be writing a five-page paper for class that’s due Thursday, and all that comes to mind is the fact that I should be writing this blog post sharing what’s been on my heart for some time now. So with a disclaimer that when you start reading this and think you automatically know about what I'm talking about, please continuing reading...you might be somewhat surprised....you might not.

I find it interesting that so many people know October to be Breast Cancer Awareness month; however, many don't know that November is National Diabetes Month and November 14th is World Diabetes Day. I know that cancer affects many people’s lives, but diabetes equally affects lives all over the world. It has really been on my heart lately to share this information and bring what awareness I can to diabetes. The fact is, I was blind to how much diabetes can affect a person’s life (especially Type 1) and that person’s family’s life until a little over a year ago. It wasn’t until I had a loved one dealing with diabetes that I realized it is a 24/7 job. You get no days off, no holiday breaks, no sick-leave…..diabetes is there to be dealt with every day.  The crazy part is, I know there are people out there that are reading this that think they know what diabetes is. There are some that think it’s curable (and hopefully one day it will be), there are some that think you only get it from eating a ton of sweets, and there are some that think you just can’t eat sweets or you have “the kind” that you get to eat sweets. The list of misunderstandings goes on. Diabetes is a balancing act. In plain words: if someone is Type 1, they constantly have to calculate where their sugar level is and where it is going. That means, if their sugar level is high they must inject a calculated measure of insulin and if it’s low they determine if it’s low enough to eat something with sugar and what they should eat that has the approximate about of sugar that will level it off. Of course it can be much more complex than that, but that’s a general idea of how dealing with Type 1 works.

I’ll conclude by saying this: Diabetes is a big deal and I don’t think many people are aware of the effect it can have on a person’s life or that person’s family. I also believe many don’t truly understand what diabetes is and how it works. Again, I can say this because I too didn’t realize the impact it had on people until faced with someone I love having it. I also know I watched Celebrity Apprentice one season and Lil Jon was playing for his charity (American Diabetes Association) because his mom had diabetes. At one point he mentioned thinking his mom’s diabetes was cured. It wasn’t until his mom passed with diabetes while the show was being filmed that he admitted to not fully understanding diabetes and that he did not realize diabetes is currently incurable.

My note to you is to become aware. I’m so happy there are insulin products on the market to help regulate people with Type 1 diabetes, but I would also LOVE to raise enough awareness to find a cure. There are so many avenues you can use to raise awareness. Donate to one of the diabetes associations, join a walk, or even simply write a blog article like this one. It all helps.

Here are a couple links to get tons more information about symptoms, getting involved, donating, prevention, and other facts.

http://www.idf.org/worlddiabetesday

http://www.diabetes.org/

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

x x Meredith

Swept Away

It feels so great to be back in my environment.

Where there is peace and precious time to just sit, think, and marvel at all God's beauty.

Where the gulf meets the shore and the sun shines a little brighter.

Where the salty breeze brushes your face and the sugary sand glints under the sunlight.

Where everything's a picture and day dreams fade into reality.

x x x

Meredith

Sophistication Inspiration

For those of you who know me, you know I am on the homestretch of getting my degree in fashion merchandising; and for those of you who don't, I know what you're thinking:"It's only fashion. How hard could it really be?" Well it is. To put it simply, it's basically a specialty business degree and there's a lot more than just pairing the right shoes with the perfect clutch. We've learned the ins and outs of buying and retailing and don't even get us started on building a store from the ground up. We've got enough material to develop an entire shopping mall (or open-air mall or power center or outlet mall...or whichever you prefer).
That being said, we've worked really hard to get to this point, and now we're all parting ways for our internships (shout out to my homegirls going to NYC!!)

I am soooo excited and proud of myself and my graduating class for making it this far. I couldn't think of a better representation of this last semester (suits and ties included) than these photos I took of Karolina. We may be stepping out into the scary world of business, but we will always do it in style.

Here's to putting our best oxford forward and to remembering "tight, low, short, no".

We're almost there guys!

x x x
Meredith

my Karolina muse.

check out her blog. http://addictionfixbyk.blogspot.com/

I See London, I See France

....and I may or may not have seen some underpants.

This summer I had the incredible opportunity to study abroad in London. 

It's been a while since the trip, but really?.....it's London. I think any day is a good day to share such a beautiful adventure; but before I get into my sappy little summary, I'd just like to say this was by far the best memory I've ever made in my life. So with that said, here's my story.

       When I got to the Heathrow airport, I was full of anticipation, excitement, drowsiness, and just not sure at all what to expect, what was going on, and really, wasn't super close to any of the girls I knew I would soon be housed with. Nevertheless, I had packed as if I planned on never returning (and secretively, maybe that was the plan all along.) I couldn't even lift my baggage off the conveyer belt. Okay,  I probably could have, but why would you when you have a gentleman of a coast guard to help you with it? When I finally found Christina, we both gasped in relief to see a familiar face. We took the cab to the nearest tube station and from there took the tube to our London campus. Looking back, I have no idea how we managed to not mess up once on our first tube adventure; those things are tricky. Either way, we made it there, found our assigned flat, and discovered we were housed in Heaven, ahem, I mean Camden, and it. was. perfect. It is a hub for eclectic street fashion and food. So, Camden...Heaven...seriously the same thing. We were in London for about a week, got settled in and acquainted with what would be our new home for the next month, then headed off to Paris for five days. We went to various fashion and textile museums and of course the Louvre. Somehow, having Printemp, the Louis Vuitton - Marc Jacobs' exhibition, and the Louvre as our classroom sort of felt like cheating. I witnessed some of the most unbelievable displays of fashion couture I have ever seen in my life. Seriously incredible. Oh, and that little thing called the Eiffel Tower? Yeah, saw that a few times too and it blew me away ev-er-y time. Our last full day in Paris was July 4th! Obviously this isn't their independence day, (and yes, we did realize that) but come on, America is pretty cool and we're fashion majors.... like we're NOT going to bust out a red stripe or two or seven.

      We returned to Camden on the 5th only to leave for Bath and Wales the next day. We spent the weekend taking in the gorgeous scenery and architecture that surrounded us and hanging out at the local Pig in a Blanket at night. My apologies: Pig and Fiddle.  (Don't let the name fool you. This pub was the place to be.) We traveled to the Chepstow castle, the Roman Baths, Stourhead Gardens, Stonehenge, and my personal favorite: Tintern Abbey. After our time in Bath we headed back to London/Camden. It felt so good to finally be "home". We went to concerts, "did that lauuuundry", met up with Big Ben, were mesmerized by the London Eye and went to this place called Buckingham Palace. Have you heard of it?  We were asked out by a couple of the royal guards behind the gate there......yeah,  it's hard for us to believe, too. I still can't believe I got college credit for having the time of my life. Don't get me wrong, studying in a city so beautiful isn't the easiest thing when you need to actually, you know, study; and when they say "study abroad" they really mean no sleep for an entire month. 

....no seriously, sleep is very hard to come by and so is ice water, but all is well by living off of Chicken King and white sauce. Don't even get me started on white sauce. Delicious.

      All of these experiences were beyond incredible, but there's something that was even better than all of the sightseeing, concerts, and adventures combined. I know you're simply dying to know what it could possibly be, but ponder no more. All of those weirdos I now call my friends and the people we met along the way, they are the ones that made my trip a royal gem (Like that 530 carat diamond we saw in the  Crown Jewels). Without them, the London Eye, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, and the O2 would have been absolutely nothing. Okay, that's a lie, but my experience wouldn't have been nearly as meaningful or memorable. I treasure my girls, the people that came along for the ride, and the best souvenir a girl could ask for.....my lovely boyfriend, whom I met the very first day I arrived. I love you guys to London and back. 

This post is for you.

xoxo

Meredithius.

 Cheerio.