Well, well, well....my first blog post. Nice. This is Liz typing, by the way. Very...verbatim. Anyway, 2017. I was experiencing probably one of the most difficult, overworked, exhausting times of my life. Went through my third traumatic event of the year, and I said, "screw it" and I packed a bag and drove from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Jacksonville, FL without a care in the world, happily scream singing "Wide Open Spaces" by the Dixie Chicks. Ask Rory (my 10-year-old black cat), he was there. 

In brief, since its relevant but not to trauma dump on you lol, I wasn't exactly dealt the easiest cards in my early life. You go from being a ward of the state, not having the best home life, living in deep poverty while trying not to drop out of school juggling two jobs to support your people, in a totally chaotic relationship that you couldn't quite leave, yearning for nothing but freedom - a change of pace and new scenery with a sprinkle of a 10 hour distance is exactly what I needed.

It truly was a breath of the freshest air. And it's led to the biggest reason I believe in the invisible string theory. Luckily one of my jobs- as a Domino's manager + delivery driver transferred so easily, I was working the very next day after I moved. Changing scenery didn't quite change my totally unreliable car, though.

Three days after I moved, I find myself smiling in the sunshine, driving with the sunroof open, delivering a huge order of pizzas... I go to change gears and something?? snaps, I swerve out of the road but hit a curb and then pop a tire! Do I have a spare? No- I do not! Whatever had happened to the car created a safety issue where the motor wouldn't turn over, and in that car, the sunroof wouldn't close unless the engine is running. So, here I am, on the side of the road (again....the car was the absolute worst...total dumpster-fire-hunk-of-junk hahahaha can laugh about it now) anyway...side of the road, popped irreplaceable tire, broken something??, sunroof left open...and if you know how unpredictable Florida weather is, of course it starts pouring. 

So, I'm sitting in the hunk-of-junkyard-metal, sobbing. "I'm brand new here, this is so embarrassing, these pizzas are totally undeliverable, this. stupid. car!!" Sure enough, this tall, rough-around-the-edges Marine dude with a limp and a goofy barracks fade haircut walks up and says, smoothly, "Ya okay?" 

"No! Absolutely not!" And then I made fun of his "I love Texas" T-shirt. Ha. (I still have that T-shirt, in our memory box)

 I met my best friend in that moment, three days after I moved so impulsively. It was the weirdest, most electrifying experience I've ever known. Felt like lightning had hit me right in the chest. I knew the second I met him, he was mine. Felt like I'd known him my entire life. I was so unopen to anything remotely romantic after everything I'd recently moved away from, but sometimes, truly, when you know you know.

The rest is history. We got married THREE WEEKS LATER. Yes, you read that right (and yes, I know that's wild). I have never, in my life, had support like I did once Austin was in my life. I had told him he was nuts the first time he mentioned marriage, I think the third time we met...but we were walking St. Augustine having a regular chat when I knew marrying him was, safe. He is truly a gift and I'm so grateful for the life he provides for me and our beautiful children. We still have the most fun, all the time.  

My granddaddy (who is actually my great granddaddy, and my greatest friend...how lucky am I to still have him at 28 years old?? He's 98, and I'm so grateful for all of the wisdom he has taught me throughout my life.) Anyway, granddaddy encouraged our marriage, I always looked up to his own. He married Grandma (She passed when I was 12 from Alzheimer's. We were very close. May she rest in peace) shortly after they met back in the late 40's when they were just kids. They were such a wonderful example to look up to. Granddaddy always supported Grandma. He was a kind and present husband and father to 6 girls; I'm the 7th adopted one. Quite the age difference. My nana (a saint of a woman, the strongest person I've ever known) was my legal guardian growing up, and Granddaddy and Grandma are her parents, and my great grands. 

 Remember earlier when I mentioned the invisible string theory?? Apart from all of my tangents...my brain goes a million miles a minute, what can I say, anyway----

Turns out he was stationed right where I was, back in VA, for a year! He frequented the Barnes and Noble in the mall, just like I did. I wonder how many times we've walked right past each other before we met in FL. Invisible string!!

So, in closing, it was only right to name the store "Augustine", I knew in my heart Austin was made for me during that chat along the beach. And, many of my colorways are inspired by my memories. I experience this cool thing called color synesthesia, where I see colors associated with words, sounds etc. Color has brought me great comfort and art has been an outlet since I was a young girl.

You'll notice two colorways, inspired by Granddaddy and Grandma. Firstly,

"Goodnight Moon"- a pale periwinkle blue with the tiniest deep lavender speckle. "Mister moon, moon, bright and shiny moon, won't you please shine down on me". It's been 25 years since my grandma has rocked me to sleep, singing that song, but her voice still sings in my head when I think of it. I miss her so much.  

"Ocean View Girls"- my granddaddy was there when they tore down the iconic Ocean View rollercoaster in 1979, he brought home pieces of it and made a frame out of it, which you can see behind him and my Aunt Jackie and the kids, in this photo I'll add. Pastel "itsy-bitsy-teenie-weenie-yellow-polka-dot-bikini" yellow with a sunkissed freckle, like us girls basking in the golden sun. He still has one of the original, also ICONIC, yellow bikinis that were so taboo back in the day...proudly worn by Grandma. 

I hope you enjoyed reading...its 2 am and I have a big smile from recalling all of these memories. Chat soon xx Liz