Texas to Paris
I have only ever lived in a 75 mile radius from where I grew up in Fort Worth, Tx. My senior superlative was “Most Likely to Stay in Fort Worth” which has always kind of pissed me off because I have so many cooler things about me above the fact that I went to college and grad school in DFW… clearly still salty about it. But truly I adore Texas, am so proud of where I come from and have not had the desire to be a member of any other state, so I get why the vote stuck. But running hand in hand with my love for my home is a dream for a radically different life.
Tucked away in a cabinet in my childhood bedroom sits a handwritten and illustrated book titled “Penelope in Paris.” The main character Penelope is a fluffy pink poodle with a little black ribbon on the top of each ear. In the story, Penelope is invited to Paris Fashion Week to see the “Paw-da” and “Dooney and Bark” runway shows, even hoping in to walk the stage at the tail end of one. What an icon. I made her up when I was at art camp the summer before I entered fourth grade. How I knew about Paris Fashion Week at this time is anyone’s guess, probably too much MTV. Over the next several years I’d draw Penelope on EVERYTHING, even getting in major trouble with my science teacher for drawing her on the bathroom stall in 5th grade. It was an overreaction, it was done in pencil.
Penelope was my “spirit animal” - a projection of my dreams of being involved in fashion, art, creation, and most importantly - Paris. It would be total overkill to go into detail about the next ten years of trips to Paris, starting my art entrepreneurship, falling in and out of love with different careers, boys, hobbies, and myself. At this point in my life, I have never felt closer to Penelope. I move to Paris in two weeks with a brand new design business, like 11 hand-drawn silk scarves, too many shoes, and a one-way plane ticket. That little pink poodle I doodled at art camp is about to find some substance in this universe through my experiences, though I think she was always already here. Maybe the sequel to Penelope in Paris will be when she meets Saree in Paree.