A pause from the fashion fodder...

Last week, Lisa and I finally got around to ordering 'business cards' and they arrived!  Nothing fancy, but something to hand out to people when they ask "What's the name of your blog?".  I plan to take pictures of things in Paris next week and write about them, so I thought it would be nice if I had a card to give to a shopkeeper when I ask if I can take a photo.  How do you say 'blogger' in French?

Image from Jennifer Houston.

Finally having 'a card' brings me back to the night where our little blog idea was hatched.  And I realized, we never did share that story, did we?  So, dear readers, this is the story of how W2WW was born.

Back in October, Lisa had RSVP-ed that she would attend an event at Longchamp in Boston, co-hosted by InStyle magazine and Erin Gates, interior stylist and author of the blog, Elements of Style.  I became her plus one.  I put on my rag & bone fuzzy vest, AG Ballad Cords, black, long sleeve t-shirt, black rag & bone booties, ironed my hair, and ran out the door with Lisa.  (And, on my arm, my chocolate, togo leather, 35cm Hermes Birkin.  My treasured 40th birthday present.  I don't really ever talk about it, but it comes up in the story.)

Image from pinterest.com.

So, off we go, to glasses of champagne and neat hors d'oeuvres and a ton of people we don't know.  Fabulous!  The no mommies crowd!  Great people watching, great DJ, more champs!  (Lisa really loves champs by the way.)

So, we're examining the crowd, and notice a women, dressed in a cheetah print dress, checking us out.  She doesn't appear to be anyone we know, but she's definitely checking us out.  We spy Erin Gates (we are huge fans) and make our way over to say 'hi'.  Lisa asks if her husband is there (the champs talking), we make fools of ourselves by gushing over her blog, and go back to find more champagne.

Finally, in need of a real dinner (since we didn't eat with our children at 5pm!), we turn to head out, Lisa heading toward the door first.  The cheetah-dress lady approaches and stops me.  She says she loves my bag, loves my vest, loves my outfit, and who might I be?  I introduce myself, just as little old me, no 'title', no nothing.  She introduces herself.  Who is she?  Connie Anne Phillips, publisher of InStyle magazine.

Gulp!  Who am I?  Emma's mom?!  Um.  Um.  I thank her for the compliment (the best I've ever received in my life!), gush about the magazine, talk about how long I've been a subscriber, etc.  We part, and out the door she goes.  Nothing.  After years of styling people and personal shopping for friends and acquaintances, I had nothing to tell her, give her, hand her.

Lisa, who would have never let her walk out, comes up to a shell-shocked me, and asks who she was.  I tell her, and she practically pushes me out the door of Longchamp after Ms. Phillips.  My mind was racing.  What do I say, what do I do?  In the end, I knew I had nothing 'canned' to capture her attention.  Presumably, she dashed off to catch her flight back to New York.

Still hungry and high on adrenaline, Lisa and I raced off to Tico for some fish tacos and to debrief.  We talked about how we always wanted to do 'something' in styling or fashion together.  There was a period of time when we even tried out styling people, having a pilot client or 2 to style through multiple seasons, did research on how to monetize it, but neither of us had the time to really launch a business with 3 kids between us in 1/2 day Kindergarten.  After some food and thought, we decided we needed to blog.  To build content, to write down our ridiculous conversations on fashion and clothing, to answer our friends' questions of what to wear when...

And so it began.  And now, it seems so official, with just a little business card, and dozens (not yet hundreds, but getting closer) of readers.  Thank you so much for tuning in and reading.  We love to see your comments, field your questions, and do research for your fashion crises.  And if you really like us, please feel free to share our blog with your friends.   Merci beaucoup! ~ JH

Image from Jennifer Houston.