"When I grow up . . ." Lots of stories start with that simple phrase. Maybe you aspired to be a ballerina, or an actress, or a doctor. (I will confess here and say that I wanted to be an opera singer when I grew up--but then I never had the voice or the pipes for that.) But I will say that when I found 2Peas, I KNEW that someday I wanted more than anything to be a Garden Girl.

I admired them so much. They were so nice, so talented, so cool--like the popular crowd only way more accessible and so much nicer. And I wanted to be one of those "it" girls so bad! Kristina has an eye for picking designers. They were either winning contests like Hall of Fame or you could guarantee they would be a winner in the next competition. They were off making awesome design books, teaching at conventions, and leading the industry with their innovation and style. And they were just so amazing! I bookmarked their work, stalked their blogs, and gobbled up every bit of work they had published. I developed crushes on certain styles and watched myself grow as a designer as I learned from their example.

And always in the back of my mind was the hope, the dream that someday I would warrant some sort of notice to deserve to be included with them.

So when the day came, that I opened an e-mail from Mellypea my fingers shook and my heart began to race. Frankly, I thought it was regarding a gift certificate that I had won the week before, but in my first browsing I only saw "Garden Girl." I hopped up from my computer. Could it be? No. Sitting back down, I read it again. I reread it and then once more. NO WAY!! They are asking ME to be a Garden Girl?!! And then I lost all sense of composure and started jumping up and down squealing. (No one was home to mock me for my ridiculous behavior--and frankly, that may not have stopped me any way.) Hey, but if you got the e-mail of your dreams how would you react? I highly doubt you would be much more composed than I. ;)

My response read something like "Heck yeah, baby!" (I'm sure I totally impressed Mel.)

I don't know how I get to be so lucky to be included with this awesome set of girls. But I love this site, I love those girls, I admire Kristina and Mel and I'm living my dream.

Somebody pinch me!!