today i'd like to share my thoughts on achieving your dreams.  this month marks the third anniversary of the sale of my little store.  i was reflecting this morning on the whole idea that i actually achieved my dream of owning a boutique.  one i had dreamed of for many, many years.  throughout my younger years i day dreamed often of what it would look like, what i would sell, the fun of interacting with customers.  i remember after our opening that my husband said to me, "i can't believe we own a shop!"  he was as excited as i was, and was truly my biggest cheerleader during the entire process.  i often had to pinch myself to make sure it was real.   

{this photo is of the store right after we moved it to its new location. not everything in place yet, but you get the idea}

for a little over five years, i worked my butt off for my dream.  there were days when i would come home drained and totally not in love any more with the dream.  retail is a tough business, especially for small independent owners.  you are everything in the business: sales person, bookkeeper, buyer, manager, marketing dept., and yes, janitor.  i had two wonderful gals that worked for me who were one hundred percent loyal, capable, and fun to be around.  that doesn't often happen, and i know how blessed i was to have them. 

{i think this picture was taken the first day we were opened in our new location.  still working it out}

i opened the store in one location in austin, and moved it two years later to another location in hopes of taking the business to the level at which i had originally imagined.  the move, new location and customer base, brought a flood of new challenges and demands on my time.  during all of this, my husband was building our other business.  we came together each evening exhausted, but full of hope for each of our endeavors.  my son was also growing up during these years, entering middle school and becoming a young man.  times were tough for us for many reasons, and i began to lose sight of the fact that i had achieved my dream.  i began to resent it.  how it tied me down, required my constant attention, left me feeling spent.  what had happened to the blissful pictures i had painted in my day dreams?

{one of the ads i conceived, styled and shot. then put together by a talented graphic designer}

as the months wore on, circumstances beyond our control started to crash my party.  i lost my joy for the store, not because of the store itself or the work in running it, but due to the stress of outside forces.  the husband and i began to discuss letting it go.  it was always completely my decision.  he never insisted i do so.  in fact, he would have done anything to help me continue to make it work.  it quite simply had become a nightmare, no longer a dream. 

so, in march of 2007 i sold my store.  i let go of that dream.  it was at the time, a relief, but so bittersweet.  before opening the store, i truly had never felt that accomplished.  sure, i had graduated from college, become a mother and found the perfect man, but on a deeply personal level, just didn't feel like i had much to show for all my smarts.  the store changed all that.  i now had a tangible statement of success.  or so i thought.  when i let it go, i looked at it as yet another failure, something i just couldn't make work. 

but here is what i've come to realize over the last three years - i was a success.  i achieved my dream. i set my sights on something i wanted, and although it took years to get there, i got there!  and, my dream wasn't taken from me, i let it go voluntarily.   i stepped once again into the unknown, outside my comfort zone.  although i didn't know at the time, i was allowing myself to move forward towards my next dreams.  yes dreams, plural.  for so long i had one dream, to own a boutique.  today, i have many dreams for the life i want to live.  i am completely, with all of my heart grateful for the experience, for the dream that came true.  it is huge part of who i am today and taught me much about where i want to go. about how to achieve that next big dream. 

never give up on the dreams you have.  and once you achieve them, if they someday go away, know that it is the way it should be. that it only means there is now room for more dreams to come true. 

this is totally indulgent, but what self-respecting mother wouldn't post pictures of their child on their blog.  here is my boy zach playing lacrosse.  i'm so proud! :)

plus, i know his granny visits often, so this is a way to share with her.  she's proud too!

{images by wendy thompson}