I'm very excited about an event I have been invited to attend for tonight because it is an invite only event that is specifically for MWIN (Midwest Influencers). It's like when you were a kid and you got picked when they were picking teams, ok not exactly the same but you get the gist. The event is the MWIN Style Lounge that is held every year during St Louis Fashion Week and from what I can see it is a an amazing networking opportunity from vendors to other bloggers with free cocktails. It's not NYC or Paris but it is a step, a step towards creating something and it all began out of getting RSD. 5 years ago I was devastated, no longer able to work and over the years I keep losing more of my health to this stupid RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Disorder or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, just a new name for RSD) that has been resistant to treatment and keeps spreading. I was broken physically and emotionally feeling like my life was over.

Dreams are for the young, you can't go back and change it not after 40. What are you going to do start from the bottom again? As you get older you have obligations, a mortgage to pay and tuition to college for your children so it's ridiculous to think about starting over. Honestly, I wouldn't have started this blog if I hadn't been forced to quit working. It's scary to take that kind of risk when you have so much to lose and so many people relying on you. So here I am, unable to work with difficulty in driving or even going out and the truth is I had nothing to lose by starting this. I had some mental hurdles to overcome like my age, fashion especially fashion blogging or blogging in general is for younger people. Top it off with I am basically illiterate when it comes to computers, apps or basically technology of any kind. As you know if you read this my writing skills are lacking, my spelling is atrocious and I obviously do not proof read before I post but I am slowly finding my voice.

Although it isn't Paris or NYFW it is exciting and I am so honored that I was even invited to attend. Here I am a 40something Style Blogger with horrible writing skills and in just one year I have gone from nothing to over 5k visitors a month. I was given front row media seats at Style Week over the summer, asked to work on collaborations with several more established younger bloggers and a few new fashion apps and tomorrow my first MWIN event. It is more then I had 5 years ago when I thought I lost everything including who I was so what is the moral of this story? There is always a lesson, well I never lost who I was. I lost a lot when I lost my health but I never lost the core of who I am. As I am always telling my daughter 'it is not the fall that defines us but how we get back up' so when you feel you have been beaten instead of lying there get up. You may need to find a new path but no one, no one event can take anything from you that you refuse to give it. It's never too late to start all over again.