Heart to Heart

:: Disclaimer | I had planned and still will post a much lighter piece in the coming days :: 

The last two weeks have been a humbling reminder of how fragile life can be. They have also been a stunning demonstration of love, friendship and family. Nearly a year ago my life began to change. In some ways things have changed for the better, in some ways things have become more challenging.  Some changes were more foreseen than others and some have been downright shocking and painful. 

:: truth ::

Last Sunday my best friend and I had a wonderful evening together. We said good night to one another and I began to get ready to crawl into bed. Then my phone rang, it was him. In an instant my heart sank and I knew he needed me and that I needed to be with him through whatever the coming hours would bring. Ultimately, a patriarch passed away; a husband, a father, a grandfather and one incredible man. It was sudden, unexpected and heartbreaking.  I was fortunate enough to have witnessed Max's incredible love, devotion, affection and kindness. His presence and energy were such that by proximity alone you could feel the warmth, love, and gentle manner of his soul. 

:: my everything ::

I returned from Sunday evening mid-day Monday. Only a few hours later my husband received a phone call from his mom. His cousin had passed away. This was also a sudden and unexpected death, he was only 42. To say that my husband and I felt overwhelmed at this moment does not even begin to touch on the emotions of disbelief, emotional exhaustion and sadness that we both experienced. 

Yesterday we gathered to celebrate the life of an amazing son, brother, uncle, friend and person. Following the funeral we returned to the family home and were surrounded by his closest friends. His brother, sisters, nieces and nephew's all jumped into the pool in his honor. There was laughter, there were tears, wonderful memories and shared stories but above all there was what matters.  

:: love. friendship. family :: 

As I write this I am sitting in the warmth of the incredible sunshine, looking at the deep blue sky and there is an overwhelming sense of peace. My peace is not the result of a perfect life but rather the acknowledgement of a life fulfilled. 

And while some people have come and gone from my life I realize that those who matter remain. And, that through it all there is love, there is friendship and we are all family. 

With incredible gratitude & love, 

Parabal Gurung

A few days ago the Parabal Gurung collection for Target launched. Following the incredible success of the Missoni | Target launch there have been a handful of of designers that have attempted to follow suite. I'm not including the entire Neiman Marcus disaster, I think it's just best if we put that behind us and pretend it never happened. 

Personally, I am not sure if there will ever be another partnership like that with Missoni. To date not a single collection has maintained their brand with the quality and level of design that Missoni clearly invested. Not to mention the Missoni collection was insane with the number of incredibly diverse products they offered. 

I'm not sure if anyone else feels this way, but I've certainly lost a great deal if interest in these pairings. I shop at Target at least a few times a week and so I figure I'll stop in and see the collections when I can. 

I perused the collection online nothing had jumped out at me. Yesterday I stopped by and found two cute items! 

At first I wasn't so sure about this dress. I was initially drawn to the bold colors and thought it could be a cute dress for Spring and Summer. I tried it on and it is cute! It will be great for running errands or having lunch with my girlfriends. The dress is mostly made out of cotton and is sort of like a t-shirt dress except that it has fun ruffles at the bottom. The ruffles are actually another much lighter weight material which gives them a bit of bounce and movement in person. 

My next little discovery was these! I love shoes especially colorful shoes and these fit the bill. They are actually comfy too! I can already see pairing them with jeans, tailored shorts, skirts and dresses. They are a great accent piece for any outfit and since they have nearly every color in them you can choose whichever color you like and they will really make it pop! I even bought my sister a pair for Valentine's Day :)

Overall, I think this collection fell into the rut as well :( Most of the pieces were not well designed and the quality of construction was poor. I think like with most of Target it's really about finding those few pieces that standout from the rest.  What did you think of this latest collection?