kaytlyn sanders

my thirty ring

The ring above I purchased the day before my birthday. I was meeting with a client who had flown in from out-of-town and met her and her husband at a local coffee shop. I love meeting all my clients either for the first or tenth time-they are the nicest people!

Being in a good mood afterwards, I hopped into a little shop next to the cafe where we had met. I looked around at the handmade items from local artists and started going through their silver jewelry that looked like it had been reformed from flatware. I can’t say for sure that the ring I found had been flatware prior to this as it wasn’t directly labeled as such, but I suspect it was. I didn’t ask. It was so sweet and simple. Not perfect as part of the design was a little mashed in, but I knew it when I saw it that I wanted something I could wear to remind me every day that I was now going to be thirty.

At first, right after I turned twenty-nine, I started to freak out a bit. It wasn’t the fact that I just turned twenty-nine, but the fact that it as getting that much closer to thirty. Is it all a story of numbers? Do I really feel twenty-nine or is it just the label that I was given.

I think this last year would have been a lot harder if I hadn’t gotten my Style Statement done by Carrie & Danielle last fall. I had been reading their weekly emails for the previous six months and really enjoyed the meaningful topics concerning authenticity, happiness and living your life to the fullest. I knew they had a book coming out and thought I could figure out my Style Statement on my own.

Oh, I tried. I wrote down many words that I thought described me. But I could not for the life of me narrow it down. I kept getting confused with what I wanted to be, but not who I really was. It was too overwhelming. I just got even more panicked.

So when I heard their prices were going up soon after the release of their book, I immediately scheduled a session. It’s expensive, I won’t kid you that. Especially for someone else to tell you who you are. But it was the one of the best things I ever did, especially at that point in my life. I would recommend it for anyone, or at least get the book!

So on a Tuesday morning, Carrie called me up and we had a great chat. She asked me her questions, and I tried to be as honest, authentic and thoughtful as I could be. Lying or not being accurate would not have gotten me anywhere. Answers to colors, favorite things, personal styles, what I enjoyed and what I craved now in my life. Simple questions that I thought I had asked myself, but I actually never had. Finally forced to have the answers was beneficial. Carrie said she would call me back in about fifteen minutes after the questions. As I waited I just hoped that I had said enough. How could someone tell you who you are in that short of time?

She did indeed call me back and had my description ready for me. Simple Treasure (hence the name of my blog). It took me a few moments to really consider it and understand it. Even after I hung up the phone, I just kept saying the words over and over. Was this who I really was? Should I even trust this? Should I trust someone I never met to tell me who I was?

The next day, the answer was yes. It stuck. This is who I am. And a calm came over me. A couple months of worrying, fretting, going through what most other twenty-nine-year-olds go through at this time in their lives; I finally had some of the answers I had been searching for. Sure, I had the words, but my challenge now was applying them. How do I use Simple Treasure and apply it to my life, my work, my home, even my style?

It’s not something that you can apply instantly and follow from day one. Rather, it’s something that whenever you have a decision to make, you can apply it. If you are planning to make a purchase, work with someone, restyle your home—stick with your Style Statement. It makes everything so simple actually. All of those things that you buy and bring home, then regret because they don’t feel like you; they probably wouldn’t be purchased if you applied your Style Statement and really evaluate if they will make you happy.

I still have a way to go, but I have been using it and I have to say that the best part is that it ended my quarter-life freakout. I felt much calmer and was able to really enjoy my twenty-ninth year and actually felt I had already turned thirty. When my thirtieth came along it was no big deal.

Now for all of those who scoff at thirty (maybe because you have been there and are now past that part of your life), I celebrate you. I know I will get there and come to meet forty, fifty, sixty, seventy and I hope eighty (at least!). I have always been ahead of my time, relating to those double my years very easily. Most of my life before this point I have been rushing to be “grown up”—married, own a house, have my own business—and now I am very happy being right where I am.

I am still not ready for kids. Yet. I have been trying to see if I am ready, but I am enjoying where I am so much, I just don’t want to change that yet. Both mothers are waiting to be grandmothers and my husband as said he is ready for kids (no pressure, right?) but I just don’t think I can do it quite yet. Soon, as I know the clock is ticking biologically, but I just need a couple more years. Of course, I have been saying that for the past eight years.