Surprise, Surprise.

After careful and meticulous planning, my dad and I successfully pulled off a surprise visit to see my sister perform in South Dakota, in the show "The Marvelous Wonderettes."

Things lined up perfectly, I must say. I sent timed photos of the cat to my sister (to trick her), and we had this genius meetup at an antique store, where my mom (who was already there) was supposed to meet "someone."

So after the brutal red eye flight, my dad and I snuck into this store, where my sister was in the dressing room trying on clothes, and we simply went "surprise surprise!"

There were tears, of course. Hugs all around and the sensation was priceless cause she hadn't suspected a thing!

From there, we saw not one, but two of her shows, which were thoroughly entertaining.

It was an incredibly short trip where I feel like I spent more hours traveling then actually in Vermillion, but it was well worth it.

To see how much she's grown as a performer brings tears to my eyes! There's my sister, second year in college, in a lead role in a very wonderful production. It brought back memories from when we performed together back in the day, and I was reminded how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to see her in a production, one in which she did so well in.

Truly, what a marvelous and wonderful performance Alyeska...

We've got Mom, Grandma, star "Cindy Lou", myself, and Pops..

What a supportive boyfriend!

And the cast of "The Wondrous Marvelettes"!

The Power of Style.

Growing up, I had always been one of those girls who made sure to stress the importance of style versus fashion. My peers at school would tell me I looked "fashionable" and while I appreciated the compliment, I couldn't help but mentally correct them stylish.

Again and again, I was told that 'no, both style and fashion were one and the same', but of course my fellow Alaskans didn't know that there were monumentally drastic difference between those very two separate words.

I have always been promoting the power of style.

I believe there is something insanely powerful about dressing. Because it's so much more than putting clothes onto your body.

Style editor for the TODAY show Bobbie Thomas quotes in her book: Style is a way we speak to the world without words.

Whether we realize it or not, style is an echo of who we are, and whatever image we align on the outside should perfectly reflect what's on the inside. 

I get told again and again by individuals that they don't care about putting effort into their appearance. There's this belief that it doesn't matter, especially up here, like, who are they trying to impress? (UM. Yourself?) They've essentially succumbed to the mentality that appearance doesn't matter and according to Bobbie Thomas, you've then agreed that your voice doesn't deserve to be heard.

We've unfortunately been programmed to believe that it's selfish to want to take time and effort on our appearance. But in reality, we're just expressing who we are. We're telling the world that we care, that by putting time into how we look, we're strengthening the bond between who we are and how we can best radiate that.

See, the brilliant difference between style and fashion is that fashion gets imposed onto you, whereas style is drawn out of you, because your personal style is your brand. It's your essence, your voice, and gosh danggit, it deserves to be heard. 

Unlike fashion, style doesn't go in and out of favor because it's yours and will stay with you always, changing with you as you grow as an individual. 

Stylish people understand exactly who they are and how to express that, each of them a unique, complete, and brilliant package in which the outside perfectly matches the inside.

So you take the time to make your bed, to clean your dishes, to pick toys up from the floor, right? Because the appearance of your home matters. Why can't we take the time to care of ourselves then? 

Imagine how much stronger we would be, confident and assured individuals, if only we took the time to figure out who we are and how to best reflect it.