Marica Mitchell

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” — Andre Gide We all have our day, days, weeks and even months. Life challenges sometimes allow you to step back, reflect and make changes. At the end of the day, YOU matters and one may not understand YOU because of the shoes YOU walk in daily. My daddy has taught me so much and now that he is no longer here physically, I have found the truth in some aspects of my life. People sometimes misunderstand the misunderstood. I made a personal commitment to focus on 3 things; God – my relationship with Him, ME – embracing my flaws and being the BEST me,  and FINALLY raising my 2 beautiful kids while living life to the fullest. I have created a QUIET space in my new home where I will reflect, meditate and do the things that I truly enjoy. I have been sick the last two weeks so I haven’t been my personal best. I WILL use this space to connect with God and meditate on His words, document life’s journey and heal through therapy – SEWING, DIY, STUDYING and FITNESS.  This place I will use to push myself to be a better person and educator. I will CONTINUE to strive to ensure that each student that I teach, my words of encouragement will make a difference. My inspiration WALL is a daily reminder  that I have a purpose to live. I promise to be a better each day, week, month and year. I commit to live every moment to my fullest potential.  My QUIET corner is still a work in progress but I am loving the outcome so far.  2016, I AM READY to kick ASS fight :-). I am not letting go and I plan to be the best VERSION ME. Have you created your Vision for 2016? Hope your NEW Year started out on the right track. What changes do you plan to make to be a BETTER YOU in 2016?   Here is a great quote to help you get through any tough times you may be facing. “Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”– Marilyn Monroe Please feel free to share or comment below.

Oh how I LOVE my dress!!!  – Arielle For the last few months, I have been yearning to step out of my comfort zone and create amazing other items except skirts. Over the last year, I have made over 40 skirts and have mastered every style. When I was given the opportunity to create a dress using the Mingo and Grace Blake pattern, I jumped at it. I was a little scared and wanted to read as many feedback from other more experience sewist in the pattern test group, as I have not mastered cutting from patterns. At first, I thought about asking a friend who is a designer to guide me, but how will “I” learn? I decided Friday to start the process and it was history. I made a few errors but these errors are great learning experiences. I am super excited as I plan to use the pattern again to create a CHRISTMAS dress and for the upcoming SPRING FASHION show. I have so many ideas brewing and I can’t wait to create and share. Below are some shots of the dress. ENJOY. Front has 3 pleats!!!  Opted to cut a larger size in the event of errors. Side view – pockets which I love so much!!! Back VIEW!! Thanks for stopping BY!!!! Have a GREAT DAY!!!

“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous”    – Coco Chanel Making skirts is my all time favorite especially for my daughter Arielle.  She truly loves when I sew for her and every time she sees something that she likes, her first words are “Mommy can you make this?”  It’s amazing how 1 year of sewing already got my daughter hooked on me creating her OWN unique styles and looks. So my daughter wanted to be Minnie for Halloween and picked out her OWN fabric from JoAnn Fabric and Craft Store.  I first wanted to create a RED tulle skirt but when she came across this perfect fabric, she said this is the one mommy.    Amazingly enough, I had a 60% off coupon and I think it cost under $10 for all the fabric and elastic.  I also visited a local trimmings store in Downtown Miami to obtain ribbons for the bows. We used the pattern from Mingo and Grace ( MG2715) Crop Top Skirt Set. I decided after to create a detachable belt using the smaller PULKA dot fabrics.   Hope to create an entire look soon with the actual crop top very soon.  I made an attempt to create the sleeveless version and did a minor mistake with the arm area. Cant wait to create the BLAKE dress from Mingo and Grace for her BIRTHDAY LOOK!!!!  Go check her out and her amazing photos. Thanks for stopping by and HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!! #DIY #Halloween #MickeyMouse

“Let Tomorrow be your second chance to prove that you are better than today and yesterday.” — Ritu Ghatourey Have you ever missed an event, bus or train and was so upset. Then a few hours later, you heard of a tragedy that occurred at the event, on the bus or train. Isn’t that enough to say, Thank You God for a second chance. Well, I think I have been given so many second chances but most importantly a second chance to live. I have had my scary moments in life. I remember having health issues and felt like Heaven wasn’t ready for me yet so I will fight to live. My life has had its ups and downs but the most touching second chance I believe is giving birth to my son. I took the option that was presented to risk my life while carrying a life. Hospitalized 18 times, while being morphined up throughout the pregnancy was enough to know that my HEALTHY son Aiden is my miracle, my angel on earth and I knew I got pregnant for a reason. I have a purpose on earth and giving birth to 2 beautiful children is my purpose to live again..my SECOND chance. My love life has never been an easy road. After getting 2 divorces (yes) to the same person I  married, I didn’t know if I would ever open my heart up to give love a SECOND chance. I became so engraved in my career and kids that when love came my way, I would never give anyone a chance. I was a rock, a hard shell and refuse to give into all the charming words even if it was from the heart. I played hard to get even though at times I merely wanted to crumble and cry. I didn’t want to get hurt again and vowed to remain single and focus on raising my kids.  It was that special conversation that I decided to open my heart and give love a SECOND chance.  Even though I will still proceed with caution, I am ready to love again and to share my life with someone special. God has been working on me and I have really grown in a positive way and have been able to learn to trust. My children often times share their desires for me to find love as they too deserve to see me happy. Most importantly, I have to put God first in every thing that I do because he has given me so many SECOND chances. 2016 I am ready for you with arms wide open.  I plan to LIVE my dreams and enjoy every single moment. I plan to capture and develop the good times and learn and grow from the bad. I PLEDGE to live and enjoy every single day like it is my very last. I plan to be the best me in so many ways and PUSH on daily. Thanking God in advance for another GREAT CHANCE to live and be ME.

What is Love? Is it the number of likes on a picture? Is Love the words that you utter? Is it the material things you have? Is it a connection that you feel? It is amazing what different people may say about LOVE. Each person may have their own perception, but is there a true definition of LOVE.  One may link LOVE towards feeling, material things, a moment, but how can we truly define the experience of LOVE.  I am a sucker for LOVE stories, romantic endings, fairy tales, you name it. I am so much intertwined with finding what really LOVE is and for me, it is the butterfly feelings that I get in my stomach.  It’s that moment of feeling special and and I just don’t want to stop smiling. I have been thinking about the WORD LOVE the last couple of days. I have been really yearning for that tingling FEELING, reminiscing on the moment when I really felt LOVE. I have been wanting to get that butterfly feelings so bad when I think about that SPECIAL person that I LOVE.  Surprisingly it was a moment I reflected about our last SPECIAL NIGHT one afternoon while driving when I heard my favorite Babyface song playing and romantic memories crossing my mind.  I was smiling with tears of joy and saying to myself that I don’t want this feeling to go away.  Can it, will it last forever? Is it LOVE? We may not know when that LOVE spell hits us but I am glad to say when it does you really feel that tingling sensation in your mind, body and soul. When that special one calls, sends a message or simply SAY “I LOVE YOU”, it is that  FEELING you cannot explain. At that moment, we are intertwined with butterflies and special memories. So today, take the time to reflect on what true LOVE is and means to you. Hope you find everlasting LOVE. Be sure to leave a comment on your definition of what L O V E is to you.

“I tell all of you with certainty, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”  Matthew 17:20 It is so hard being a working mother, worse a SINGLE working mother. It takes faith, patience, strength, determination and guidance to carry SINGLE MOTHERS through our rough days. Many times I felt like giving up, throwing in the towels, but I am reminded of God’s grace, His mercy, His faithfulness and how awesome He is. I am reminded that my bad days is to test my FAITH. With a reflection of the bible verse, Matthew 17 verse 20, I realized how important it is to stay grounded in my FAITH.  I woke up on October 11, at 5:38am crying before my morning meditation and prayer. These tears were tears of joy because I know joy comes in the morning when I am awake. This is a reminder of a NEW DAY, NEW BEGINNINGS, NEW BLESSINGS. I felt so bad going to bed the night before after being a bit over bearing and showing tough love to my son on a Saturday night. I am so determined that my son will not be a statistics as I have seen before my eyes so many single mothers fighting to keep their sons off the streets and out of trouble. I am BLESSED to have children yet a son after being told the chances of having children was 10% due to medical issues. My miracles, my children is a daily reminder of how AWESOME MY GOD is. I almost lost my life carrying him, loosing 50 pounds, unable to walk or eat throughout my pregnancy. My AWESOME God allowed me through and I carried my miracle for 37 weeks and delivered him in 5 minutes. I suffered no complications during delivery after a dreadful pregnancy. My doctor had her team ready as she feared the worse but our FAITH carried us both through the 9 months. My son was delivered a healthy boy within 5 minutes and our FAITH was all WE had. Life has a way of teaching us valuable lessons. We may not know what lesson we are being taught during our time of adversities and troubles. We may not even see any light at the end of the tunnel. We have been taught to have FAITH. How many of us question God? How many of us loose FAITH? I do sometimes and it is during my daily talk with God and reflection of my life I am reminded of HIS faithfulness. So what ever you may be going through today, remember the word FAITH. Cruise on, hold on, because God is faithful and just. He will not leave you nor forsake you. So if you feel like giving up, say a little prayer, press on and hold on to your FAITH. Thanks for reading and feel free to drop a few words of encouragement today for someone who may have lost their FAITH. #Faith #Strength

“Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.” Tori Amos Losing a love one is challenging to accept, especially a parent or a child. My father was my best friend and when he passed away June 25, 2011, a piece of me died inside. His death took a toll on me emotionally and accepting and dealing with him not being around was even worse.  I was a daddy’s girl and my dad and I spoke daily. My faith was all I had and it was through my sewing outlet a year ago that helped. I decided to venture into sewing with a close friend after not sewing for over 25 plus years. We both took a sewing class and were disappointed as we did not complete the garment in 2 days.  I decided that night I was going to create a finish product and I sewed a simple elastic waist skirt for daughter. From that learning experience, I then made several elastic waist skirts until one day I decided to learn how to insert a zipper. My first zipper skirt was wearable and there was NO turning back.  Thus far, I have created clutches, skirts, pillow covers, hair bows, remixed tops and even attempted a top for both myself and my daughter.  I truly enjoy making skirts and have found my niche. I have no intentions to become a designer, but I hope to encourage others to find ways to heal. From this journey, I will start my own Fashion Club at school and plan to launch the school’s first Spring 2016 Runway show.  I am truly excited about this phase of my life and plan to encourage girls to be strong and confident in their skin. Thank you for reading my journey and hope that you find an outlet to heal from the struggles in life that you may be facing. #sewing #Fashion #therapy #ankaraprint #DIY #healing

“Words are powerful. They can create or they can destroy.  So choose your words wisely.” Do you trust the words you see around you?  Do you mediate on the quotes that you see posted on Social Media? Do you read in between the lines? As a sucker for “quotes” and “inspirational words”, I find myself staring, reflecting on the positive words that I see around me. Whether it’s from a fortune cookie, a billboard or the mere frames hanging from a wall, I am in awwww when I read words that truly captivates my eyes. A little less than a year ago, my church decided to create a COFFEE corner with some positive words of inspiration.  This past Sunday, I found myself gazing on these words and reflecting on the first 2 quotes posted above.  I needed a little reassurance after a rough Saturday that everything will be OK.  These words can be a daily reminder that LIFE is so worth living. Don’t take LIFE for granted and remember to share a “few words of encouragement to someone TODAY.” #HealthampBeauty #Quotes #words