Dress: H and M (old), similar here/ Sunglasses: Le Specs/ Similar Shoes/ Handbag: Givenchy
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Happy Monday! I hope you guys had an amazing weekend! Ours was jam packed- we hit up a Fall festival, had a date night, went to a really fun party at a friends house (def the highlight!), snuck in a Soul Cycle class and I attended the annual March of Dimes Chefs Gala which was out of this world as usual. I feel like Austin and I are getting to that age where a lot of our friends and family are passionate about causes– usually for very personal reasons too. It may be a political cause, something for their children’s school or sports or a medical charity. It’s hard to decide whom and how much to GIVE to. And I want to give to them all. AND I have major guilt when I don’t or when I donate what I consider to be a little amount. Like I get embarrassed and feel like I owe an explanation. You know what I mean?
Austin and I set aside a charitable or giving amount annually. Some years we spread it thin and donate a little bit to a lot of causes in an effort to try and support everyone. And some years we feel like we want to spend that money on causes that are close to our hearts and have it all go to one or two places. Every year is different. March of Dimes has been one of those causes that is special to me for two years in a row now. Their focus on maternal health and the health of babies resonates with my soul! I’d like our other charitable focus in 2019 to be allergy research and Special Olympics. Allergy research is near and dear to my heart for obvious reasons and The Special Olympics family has been so wonderful to my brother for over two decades now. He is learning disabled and I cannot tell you how much Special Olympics has given him purpose, team building and leadership skills. They’ve empowered him in so many ways!
What is my point here? To not feel weird when you choose not to give to ALL of the things you’re asked to give to. It’s ok to say no. It’s ok to decide to give your hard earned money to causes that mean something to your family and not to those that do not. I’m telling myself this right along with you and hoping I can let go of some of the guilt that sits with me when I don’t click on that Facebook post requesting my financial support or when I do and donate the minimum amount. As my Mom always says, guilt is a useless emotion. But I still feel bad, lol. #oldhabitsdiehard
So speaking of charity…last night was the annual March of Dimes Chef’s Gala. It was such a beautiful evening celebrating a wonderful cause and I was honored to attend on behalf of the San Diego chapter. They do amazing work and their current platform is championing the unspoken stories of thousands of women across the country and their stories of infertility, infant loss, miscarriage and preterm birth. So amazing!
As you know from my stories, I debated between this Yumi Kim dress I wore to Thanksgiving last year and the tiger stripe dress I ended up with. Ultimately, I went with the tiger dress because I thought it would be a little cooler (it was almost 90 here yesterday). I love both dresses SO much but wanted to wear the tiger striped one since I hadn’t worn it before! It sold out right away but I rounded up a bunch of my favorites in this fun print for you below. The world can never have enough animal print in my opinion! As always, thank you so much for following along! xo
