My Timeless Moment Photo Shoot

For my 30th birthday, I wanted to capture the woman I am and have a photo shoot that produced lots of pictures for me to look back on and show my future children and grandchildren. Plus, it was an excuse to get dressed up and have professional make-up done!

Keeping with my "timeless moment" theme, I wanted the photo shoot to be classic with an old Hollywood feel. I looked in my closet and remembered I had a flapper dress I got from Nordstrom Rack for a black-tie event I attended last spring. The dress reminds me of one of my favorite books and movies, "The Great Gatsby." Of course, this was to going to be one of the looks for the shoot! I purchased another dress from Akira on an impulse buy.

The photo shoot was an incredible experience and I'm  really happy I did it. From finding the looks I wanted for my makeup, to practicing my faces (I suck at being sexy and serious) and looking for the right accessories, I had so much fun. Usually, I'm behind-the-scenes and helping guide photo shoots and the subject, but it felt good to be in front of the lens this time. I enlarged my favorite looks. Let me know what you think of the pictures!

Photography: DGM Phototgraphy
Makeup: Kalana of By Faith Makeup Artistry
Hair: Alana of Avlon Industries.
Shoes (grey and black patent leather): BCBG
Shoes (red): Nina Shoes
Location: Renaissance Blackstone

Isn't this flapper dress timeless?

A nude lip +smokey eye + red polish= TIMELESS

This dress had the coolest cut on the hem.

The Renaissance Blackstone was the perfect location
for the timeless feel I wanted

This is my favorite picture because it captures my happiness and confidence.

Hey ya'll!

I think I may get this blown up and hung in my condo.

My attempt to be sexy. I wanted to laugh!

I loved my smokey eyes with my favorite color, purple.

I'm happy I purchased this dress! Thanks Akira!

Being silly

I love contemporary furniture and those shoes!

Mirror, mirror on the wall!

Channeling my inner Michelle Obama. She's my role model!

The timeless shot that I wanted. Love it!

$30 for 30

When you hear the word ”philanthropist,” do you think of a rich person who owns multiple homes and uses a $300 bar of soap? I did! I always thought a philanthropist is someone who can cut big  checks with lots of zeros and multiple commas. That ain't my ministry, YET!

I bet you didn't know that "women generally donate more, are more actively involved in the given charities, demand more proof of effectiveness and prefer somewhat different causes than men."

I work at a women's funding foundation where I've come to learn that philanthropy is actually defined by someone who gives of their time, talents, and money. My job purposefully trains and encourages women about giving and teaches them how to be bold in their donations. 

It appears that I've been a philanthropist for over 20 years and didn't even know it!

Over the next 10 months, in honor of my 30th birthday, I plan to give $30 to 30 organizations. I will make 3 donations a month in honor of my milestone birthday. I’m calling this my “$30 for 30” campaign.

In my 2014 Unraveling, I listed “Defining my philanthropy” as one of the three passions/hobbies that I would like to explore this year. All the organizations that I’m donating $30 to are nonprofits that I support because of their mission, their leadership, and the community they serve. Most of them are organizations that I have a personal tie with, but I’ll be sure to explain all of that.

I'm doing this campaign as a challenge to myself and to you. I am always telling people to get involved, give back to your community, make a difference. Yes, I'm a big cheerleader for social responsibility and civic engagement, but I haven't made a conscious effort to extend that effort with my pocketbook. I already volunteer my time and talents and adding this last piece to my philanthropy will really help me feel like a "philanthropist." 

My first three donations will be made in March. Be on the lookout for details about the organizations here on my blog. I challenge you to set an amount of money to donate to causes you believe in, too. Let me know which ones you choose and why.

Why I decided to blog

My name is Sharonda G. and at work, I do a lot of writing. I write about the issues connected to my job, draft newsletters, draft communications plans, event flows, e-appeals...the list goes on. And I love every minute of it, but sometimes, I just want to be creative. I want to use 100 exclamation points just because it feels good. I want to write in ALL CAPS because you know what, I LIKE IT! I sometimes want to think outside of the box and not have any valid reason for my idea. I just want to do something fun!

When you work under someone else, their preferences outweigh yours and your creativity gets sidelined and sometimes even kicked to the curb entirely. Thank God for the Interwebs! Now, I can talk about my grey hair, my wonderful dating life (insert sarcasm)  AND USE ALL CAPS AND LOTS OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!! SEE!!!!! That's just part of the story. The main reason why I decided to blog is because I'm entering a new chapter of life: my 30s! My 20s were full of events that I wish I had captured better. Like most people, my 20s were an incredible time of growth. I learned very valuable and meaningful lessons on life, love, faith and liberty (I'll explain more later). As was reflecting on my 20s I thought, I want to publicly discuss/capture my 30s and start some conversations. So that's what I hope this blog does, start some conversations.

Deciding on a title for my blog was a bit challenging.  Although my professional work is in integrated marketing communications,  the advertising part has always been my weakness. I'm better at developing strategy which serves as a guide to the creative/designer folks. So I used my professional wits and thought this through. I probably thought too much about the title, but the end product is something I love: "My Timeless Moments."

The title had to be something quirky, yet a reflection of me and the type of content I wanted to share. I also knew I wanted an oxymoron just because those always make me think and laugh.

Merriam-Webster defines "timeless" as "staying beautiful or fashionable as time passes; lasting forever." "Moments" are defined as "a very short period of time; a particular time; a precise point in time." Combined, the phrase "timeless moments" to me means "short periods of events that will last forever because they are beautiful." I believe  my 30s are going to be "timeless moments."

What am I going to discuss on here? EVERYTHING! From pop culture, to politics, to faith, to friendships, to lessons learned, I hope you take time to join the conversation!