Hey Everybody!! I know, I know, it’s been a a couple months since I’ve really done one of these posts. So here we go! It’s hard for me to believe that 6 months of 2011 have already passed! Wow!! That’s almost hard for me to say. It’s hard because many times I feel like time is flying by and I am not doing things to my fullest potential. I’m not giving my all to my family, my friends, my business. For this reason over the last couple months I’ve taken a step back to analyze my life, my work, and my purpose in life.

As much as I love wedding dresses and all things wedding I felt myself getting too caught up in it and not finding time to truly enjoy my talent and what I do. Since I started this business I  have told myself I want to do it as long as it is my passion  and something I love. If it turns into just work and something I’m not passionate about I need to step back and re-evaluate. That’s what I’ve done. I love what I do. I love meeting new brides and designing their perfect dress. I love sketching, creating, & dreaming, however I feel as though a lot of the pressures of needing to fit in started to get a hold of me.

I have realized more than ever that God has big plans for my life and I MUST let Him lead. I have a hard time giving up control. Even delegating tasks is difficult for me some times. I want to be in control. Well let me tell you. Until you submit your life, relationships, business, and all to God you won’t be happy. Every day I commit my life, my family, my business to God and I ask for His leading. I do not want to do anything out of my own will.

My biggest fear is failure and in a way I have at times in the last few months felt defeated. Why? Because I started to try to do what everybody else is doing. That became overwhelming because I kept comparing myself to what others were doing. I have now realized that the only way I can be authentic and real with my clients is to give them 100% of me. Not 50% me and 50% what others would do. There is nobody else like me out there. God made me in a special way. I have learned to appreciate that a lot more in these past few months. I have learned to accept setbacks and I have learned to be more authentic with myself. I’ve learned that it’s ok to ” fail” because in the end you learn such important lessons.

I’m not going to lie it’s not easy to slow down and focus on what’s important and not listen to or pay attention to what others are doing. However, it has been a true blessing in my life. I’ve stopped looking at social media as much. I’ve blocked some users, I’ve stopped following some on twitter. I don’t want to be distracted. I’ve had a fear of not being successful if I’m not always in the loop. At least for me, I’ve realized that is not a healthy habbit. I don’t have to go to every net working event, be a part of every show, every shoot, every project. In the last months I’ve learned to say “no” and it has been liberating. It has given me more time to focus on what is important.

My family and time with God come first. It is of no success to me if I acheive all the wonderful things in this world and am spiritually unhappy and not in tune with my family. That would be oh so sad.

I am excited for the future of my life and of Chaviano Couture. I’ve got some AMAZING brides I am working with. Each of their gowns is unique and beautiful. I’m pushing myself to be more creative, design better, create gowns that are different. That makes me excited. It is such a huge blessing for me to be a part of a brides special day!

I made the hard decision to not launch another collection at market this October. Yes, that was not easy for me to decide, but i’ve never felt more at peace with a decision. I’m looking at designing something pretty amazing for next year, I just won’t debut it till then. I’ve given myself more time to create and design. I don’t want anything I do to be cookie cutter. So hold on to your seats folks there’s lots coming from me very soon:)

Something coming soon is an accessories collection!! It has been such fun for me to create headpieces, veils, and more. The veils are oh so beautiful and I cannot wait to share!! Below is a little peek. On the left you can see some of the headbands( I have them in a vase at the moment) in the middle is a little peek at my new meeting place for brides, and on the end is a piece of one of my hand sewn beaded appliques for head pieces and belts.

So we’ve got 6 months left in this year. What are you going to do differently? How are you going to change the way you do things to give yourself some you time, some family time, and most of all God time? I encourage you to take a step back and look at what you are doing. Are you happy with your business? Do you feel like you are running a race that is never ending? Set boundries for yourself. Give yourself time to breathe. It’s ok to slow down and prioritize differently. It’s ok to make change. Most of all it’s ok to fail sometimes, it makes you stronger and helps you learn things you never would have otherwise.

I am so eternally grateful to all who have been so incredibally supportive to me throughout my journey. A lot of my MTH family have been of support and encouragement.  THANK YOU! It’s a journey we all take together and I am blessed to read many of your stories of inspiration. God has blessed in such a big way! I have over these past months gone back through all the MTH challenges. I have gotten re fueled and fired up for the future. If you want to get motivated and make change follow the MTH tumblr blog. Take the challenges!

I ask you all to join me in making these next 6 months your most incredible ever! Be authentic. Be true to your values and your work ethic. Don’t let others influence you in a negative way. Dare to be different and think outside of the box. Learn from your mistakes. Give God your heart daily. Don’t be a afraid to step into the unknown. Be yourself! Let’s MAKE THINGS HAPPEN!!

In celebrating this new chapter of 2011 I ask you to leave a comment below telling me what you’re going to do differently in these next 6 months. ( I will pick a random winner and that person will get a Panera gift card) I love giveaways!

Cheers to a happy  rest of 2011!

p.s. If you are someone who works in the wedding industry I would LOVE to interview you for my blog! Send me an e-mail and let’s connect. Info@chavianocouture.com