No Limits-International Women's Day

I thought it would be the perfect time to launch one of my new long-lasting high shine lip glosses to celebrate International Women’s Day. “No Limits” is a bold hot vivid pink fuchsia. I wanted a lip gloss that was bold enough but yet still approachable for every woman looking for a little pick-me-up and to make a statement with their beauty.

I understand that International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. Still, I wanted to highlight women that have made a positive impact in my life through my journey to gray hair, rebooting my spirituality, and getting through IVF. I love that I had strong, powerful women as role models before I even knew how I was going to handle my gray hair situation and IVF at the SAME TIME.

Let’s start with Chelsea Richie. I don’t even know how I found her on Social Media, but she touched me with her strong Christian faith (something I got away from over the years) and how she shined and brought so much positivity to her account. As I followed her and read her daily posts about BSF (Bible Study Fellowship, something I had been a part of back when I was twenty), I felt a calling to find a local bible study to help build back my relationship with God and get through IVF. As fate would have it, we met in San Francisco in September of 2016. I was invited along with five other fantastic infertility bloggers to San Francisco with FertilityIQ for a weekend Base Camp. We all came together to see how we could help our infertility community. We met on the campus of Facebook, had meetings with Instagram, and toured a state of the art fertility clinic at Stanford Medical University. The connections before actually meeting in person run so deep.

On the same trip was another woman that helped me from a random Pinterest post 30 Days of Prayer Through Infertility, her blog is named the Amateur Nester. Lisa is behind this lovely and powerful Christian blog helping women with their faith and infertility. I owe so much to these strong women for their content and inspiration. I will never forget meeting them both in person and sharing our love of Christ and our trials through infertility.

As most of you know, I went through five rounds of IVF and was going gray at the same time. Not exactly the best situation to be in at thirty-eight. I am fighting with doctors labeling me as “advanced maternal aging” because all they want to do is look at a textbook and take the easy way out #keepitreal. An excerpt in my book “Beauty Reinvented” that I wrote talks about strolling my French Bulldog in a doggie stroller to one of my IVF appointments in Colorado with massive gray roots and thinking “Oh my gosh, am I doing this?” and my answer was HELL YES!!!!! BRING IT!

At this time, I was on round four over Thanksgiving in Colorado. Nothing like trying to start a family and being away from your family literally on holiday. I had plenty of time to research women that allowed their gray hair to come out in their thirties. Unfortunately, I came up with no inspiration—hours upon hours of research on Pinterest, Google, YouTube, nothing, nada, zilch. I was so discouraged, and NO ONE IS GOING GRAY YOUNG? Come on; people throw me a bone already. Then finally, I came upon a picture of a young woman with white hair and black eyebrows. She was young, beautiful, and there was something about her smile, it was peaceful, happy, content. I thought 1. I love that shes in the middle of Times Square and wearing an Oscar de la Renta sweater and 2. If she can do it, I can do it.

This woman would pop up on my Pinterest feed now and again, and I would recognize her from that very first photo I saw of her as my inspiration. I did a little research, and her name is Cordelia.

I posted a picture to Instagram on November 26th, 2018, of my husband and me on our last IVF egg retrieval in Colorado. The post was about the second anniversary of our last IVF egg retrieval yada yada, and she posted a comment on that picture. She also had been through the grueling emotional and physical torment of IVF. I couldn’t believe it not only were we Silver Sisters but also IVF Sisters. Remember, this is the woman I randomly found on Pinterest that gave me the guts to go for it with my gray hair. Flash forward to November 5th, 2019, I was in New York City for a job, and I reached out to Cordelia via Instagram to let her know I would be in town and would love to meet. We met for cocktails and dinner and shut down the restaurant. Our waitress said goodbye to us, and we pretended not to hear and tried ordering another delicious muddled cucumber melon martini.

It’s not just International Women’s Day that makes me think about all the women in my life that have helped me move the needle; it’s every day. It’s easy to judge women, to be caddy, to say passive-aggressive things, and to gossip. You are raising your standard by not doing those things just mentioned. It’s about love, acceptance, empathy, support, understanding, and a real connection with another woman. It’s important to remember that we are all going through life challenges, so think before you start throwing judgment.

I am so thankful for every one of you that comments on my YouTube videos, Instagram, emails, etc. You keep me going, and the support is incredible. I feel so blessed to be in the company of so many fabulous, smart, supportive women.

Thank you for being YOU today and every day. We are changing the world one smile, one compliment, one kind word that we speak to another woman. Thank you again for lifting me up when the chips were down.