Rachel Zoe Dress, Burberry Coat, Chanel Handbag, Aquazzura Pumps

New Year’s has never been a significant marker of time for me. To be honest, it’s always been September that has felt like an awakening, the time when I re-evaluate and take stock, make goals for moving forward and reflect back on the year. Ten years is a significant amount of time, and when looking back on the decade as a whole, it almost seems unbelievable that these past ten years have existed in the same lifetime. In January of 2010 I was living in Vancouver completing my fashion degree. I had met some of the most special humans who are still my closet of friends, and days were spent eating at fabulous restaurants, running along the seawall, walking everywhere, going to the theater, throwing parties at my townhouse, and late night fries at Fritz. We moved to Calgary in the summer of 2010, and it feels as though life has continued to evolve and change ever since.

In the past ten years I’ve had the opportunity to travel, to Germany, Austria, New York, France, and Bora Bora, just to name a few. I started this blog, Centre Street Style, in July of 2012 (which I couldn’t have done without the photography skills of my big brother, to whom I will forever be grateful), and traveled to both New York and L.A. for blogger conferences (RIP Lucky Magazine). I continued going to counseling upon returning to Calgary and found the most amazing therapist whom I still see today. There were endless trips to Seattle to cheer on the Seahawks and explore that fabulous city. I ran my first full marathon in Toronto in 2011 with my brother, after being utterly inspired by him running his first marathon. And we ran together again in marathons in Seattle in 2012 and Los Angeles in 2015, with many half marathons inbetween. When I returned to Calgary in 2010 I joined my sister in playing hockey, and am still playing with the girls today. I had my Eloise in 2015, and my Oscar in 2017, two of the biggest highlights in the reel by far. I married my absolute love in a surprise wedding in 2018, surrounded by our family. I hosted fabulous parties for Halloween, Stampede, the Academy Awards, and everything in between. I’ve been blessed to have a decade filled with an abundance of family, friends, good health and love.

This decade has also brought much heartache with it, and more tears than I thought humanly possible to fall. I said farewell to both of my furry babies, Tank and Dozer. My first marriage ended and we got divorced, which is as difficult and heart breaking as everyone says it is. There were losses of spectacular humans that broke my heart. My family was rocked by the economy in Calgary and they all moved out of the city, leaving me wondering where my heart went. I had to move out of a home I loved more than words, leaving me pondering the phrase, home is where the heart is. There were many times I felt lost, I struggled to keep my head above water, I questioned everything, and I got flooded with anxiety. It was a decade of accepting that, life is hard.

But as they often say, the hard times are what shape us, and I have to agree, I’ve discovered so much more about myself during the times of difficulty. If this decade has taught me anything it’s the people in your life that mean the most. So thank you to my friends and family that stuck around when things went sideways, who cried alongside me and picked me up when I had fallen. Heading in to 2020, more than anything, I want to live presently, fearlessly and wholeheartedly. No big declarations or lofty goals, but also not just getting by or barely surviving. So here we go, on to the next, and here’s to the next ten.

Photos by Kiera Schussler