When I was 8, I experienced my first 'girl crush' and met my first fashion inspiration.

Mrs. Adler was my 3rd grade teacher at Bais Yaakov of Baltimore, a yiddishe mama* for sure, and also a modest fashionista. Little did I know that 38 years later, while reading Diane Von Furstenburg's memoir, I would realize that in that year of 1976, the fashion icon of the era was DVF, and the item every fashionable woman was wearing, including Mrs. Adler, was the iconic wrap dress. Thinking back I can envision my teacher in that dress, layered over a turtleneck and worn with a pair of fabulous suede square-heeled boots. It was an outfit so quintessentially 70's, yet classic enough that I would wear an identical version today.

When I was 10, I visited a museum in Washington D.C. with my family and only remember one thing about that trip: The chandelier in the entrance. I decided right then and there that I wanted my house to look like that...chandelier and all.
When I was 16, I knew I wanted to be a famous fashion designer. 80's female designers Carolyne Roehm and Donna Karan were my inspirations. (I achieved that goal several years ago when I created my line, Purple by Sharon which was sold at several boutiques in Lakewood, Brooklyn and Long Island. I wasn't famous, but I was a designer.)

When I was 18,  I wanted to live in New York City and go to F.I.T., but ended up going to Israel and pretty much just having a LOT of fun.

When I was 20, I got married and moved to Lakewood. And that's when it happened to me. At 22 I officially became a yiddeshe mama.

And that was that.

Not that that's a bad thing. It was the beginning of my real life. A life richer and more complex than I would ever imagine. This is clear: There is nothing better than being a wife and mom who invests her life into her family. It is the highest, holiest, and most prestigious job in the world. "The hand that rocks the cradle holds the future."

But...

The craving for fashion and glamour have always pulled at me. Before FOMO was invented by our kids I had it. I had it bad. And I still do.

So I created. I painted and designed and decorated. I volunteered, designed, ran events. And then I started Fashion-isha. All while being a yiddeshe mama.

On a recent flight home from Chicago I saw a wonderful movie called Mom's Night Out. At first it looked a little silly, but its message struck a chord. Even though we often feel unsuccessful and unfulfilled, there is no greater dream than being a wife and mommy . We may never feel like we're enough for ourselves, but we are. "The hand that rocks the cradle holds the future."

And I have been able to see that future. I recently helped my daughter move into her new home. I'm watching her build and raise her own family. I've watched my babies grow into adults and leave on their own journeys. It's all so heartbreaking...and heartwarming. I am often alone now, and my freedom to pursue glamour is at my fingertips. But I am still often consumed with family: babysitting, cooking, cleaning (ha!), face-timing, traveling, shopping, consulting. And in those times the glamour slips away and the FOMO comes right back.

And that's when I have to tell myself, "You are a yiddeshe mama. You are not DVF skiing in Geneva, you are not living in a museum, you are not Donna Karan, you are not living in Manhattan. You're a yiddeshe mama and you are blessed beyond your wildest dreams."
And then I'm ok and I can get creative all over again. I can create my own version of glamour.


*Yiddeshe Mama: Yiddish for Jewish Mother. Although an endearing term, it often brings to mind frumpiness. My goal is to change that association. Right here. Right now.