Okay, that’s misleading.  I’m not in school in the literal sense. It’s more like the school of life––which we are all in. And in a post-Covid world, I’m learning a lot.

So most of you know that, for my COVID project, I built a kick-ass tiny (vacation) home-van-conversion. The plan: to take it on 10-12 trips per year, eight fashion shows and a few other dog events, and to vlog about it. I passionately want to travel to cool places where I meet-up with the people (and their dogs) who I’ve come to love in my social media world.  Then to involve those people in a giving experience, and to party afterwards.

That plan fell off the rails when the dude hosting the fashion week shows basically said I needed to pay an additional $3,000 to $4,000 if I wanted dogs in the shows. WTF?? I’m a dog fashion designer! The people outfits are simply there to amplify the love.  Was this a scam that began in 2019 when the initial agreement was forged, or was it a product of COVID, where the guy spent everyone’s money on his personal survival and now needed more to continue the shows.  Who knows. It’s not a closed chapter. I’ll keep you posted as it develops…  😏

Basically, that complication threw my life into a major windstorm.

I mean a hurricane, a beast of a storm. I’d spent all this time creating human clothes and a vehicle in which to transport them to these shows. And suddenly none of that sat before me.  Well, the clothes are there, the van is there, just no place to take it all, leaving in its wake a storm of sadness. Yes, the lights had gone out. What a creepy human being that man is. Karma will get him.

I rallied. I’m working on booking a few shows at shelters/rescues with galas, really any event that wants the charm of a people / matching pet fashion show to bring smiles to their attendees. In the political ugliness we find ourselves in, dogs are the one thing that brighten our lives, and the act of twinning reminds us of the connection we’ve been starved of by a heinous pandemic that took 700,000 people who once lived, loved and thrived, from our world.  Let that sink in. Seven hundred thousand beloved souls.  Maybe you knew some of those people. Maybe you’re still mourning their loss still. I send my love.

Out of necessity, I have returned to life.  I designed a cute holiday collection.

And I’ve found some fun trips to take the Poochmobile on that will help me do what I so passionately want to do.

The first big trip will be to Florida in January for the Gasparilla Pirate Festival.

I plan to visit friends and plan some other fun things to do while I’m there. Other potential trips take us in May to Tulip Time in Tulip, Michigan, and in August to The Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland, Maine. Maybe we’ll visit Dinosaur Kingdom in Virginia…

Or to the Awakening Sculpture in Missouri.

 

 

The possibilities of unique places to visit are unending––as long as my dog friends will join me. Surviving Covid takes a lot more than not getting sick.  We must learn to live again.

xoxo

Lola & BeaR