Love

Real life and real love behind the highlight reel

Every month at GNO I talk about the incredible importance of going below our “perfectly curated” social media feeds to the real stories that weave us all together as human sisters. The places behind the filtered scenes where real life happens. On a day like today, where your feed is likely bubbling over the top with perfect pictures of longevity, love, and romance, it leaves me no doubt that you’re likely feeling a little “less than”. Like everyone else has a love story that is surely less messy than yours. You know how I know?

Because I feel it too.

It’s easy to look at the declarations of love and best friendship infiltrating your newsfeed and begin to believe that even if they struggle, it’s not as hard, messy, or difficult as yours. Like somehow they hit the magic lottery. Their kids don’t struggle at school, or ever fight at home. They …

Y’all, this pink heart-shaped box of Old Fashioned sugar cookies is currently on display at The Cookie Rack. Everytime I walk in there, I want to buy it for myself. I want to sit down with it and just relish in all its goodness. I love that it combines the traditional “box of chocolates” idea with this beautiful pink box and the white satin ribbon.

It’s like The Cookie Rack’s Valentine take on “The Little Blue Box”.

I love it because it’s simple, and beautiful without the giant price tag. It has me thinking about all the obligatory, and costly, gift giving that happens on Valentine’s Day. When all the spouses feel pressured to buy all the expensive things, because of a consumer-driven holiday designed to pressure them to buy all the things, in an effort to prove the extent of their love” . . . it just doesn’t feel authentic. It feels like …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Love Love In Action The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

These two don’t look like anyone you’d want to meet in a dark alley. On a dance floor, yes! But anywhere else, you’d surely go running for the hills. This is my friend Regan Frizelle, standing with me at our HeartStories GNO 1st Birthday Bash, which we hosted 80’s Style with the help of Big D Party Rentals. The entire party was an invite for the ladies to get dressed up in their best/worst eighties garb, let their hair down, and have a great time. I was not at all surprised when this beautiful lady showed up rocking stirrup pants and a painted units top, complete with a lovely perm-on-top/straight-on-bottom mullet. It took courage.

And Regan has it, in spades.

But it’s not just the kind of courage you need to take a deep breath and jump off the high dive the first time. Regan practices a very different kind of courage consistently. …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship Loving Others The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

Since the day I met Vanessa Corral, she’s been dreaming up incredible ways to help the women of the HeartStories community feel more beautiful in their own skin. She cares deeply about capturing the unique beauty of each woman. She wants them to see the best version of themselves, not only in their hearts, strengths and accomplishments, but also in the way they look on the outside. While most media tries hard to convince us that we should all look one way, Vanessa pushes back, insisting that physical beauty isn’t about a cookie-cutter stereotype.

One look at her site or social media, and you’ll quickly see that Vanessa fully embraces the incredible beauty in our diversity.

She’s been taking headshots of our beloved HeartStories Members at our annual Holiday Ready GNO for the past three years in a row. But lately, Vanessa has been dreaming specifically, about ways to add value to our treasured HeartStories …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love In Action Loving Others Loving Yourself Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

We had our very first holiday party at our new home over the weekend and it was, by far, favorite party we’ve ever thrown. It was imperfect, don’t get me wrong. I’m sure I unintentionally left people I love off the guest list (I’m so sorry!). I didn’t plan the kids activities very well. Like, I probably should have planned some supervision in the cookie decorating room. . . yikes. (So sorry also for the darling holiday clothes covered in red and green icing and the stomach aches due to ingestion of PURE sugar.) As imperfect as it was, the very best feedback I heard all night was “It was so ‘you’. ” When I asked for clarity about what made it “me”, the answer was that it was such a diverse group of people. Some of them knew one another, but many of them did not. Friends were asking me to …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship Loving Others Our Story Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

This is our “10-year tradition group mirror selfie”. This makes me laugh because when we went to New York ten years ago, “selfies” weren’t really a thing, but we figured out how to get our own picture by arranging ourselves in front of a mirror. So of course this year, we needed a reenactment.

This is where we ended up.

One of the things I loved most about our little mother/sister trip to NYC is the sheer comfort of knowing that when surrounded with my family, I am surrounded by voices I can trust. As I referenced in my blog about walking side by side, it’s not that we all have exactly the same beliefs or do life exactly the same way. It’s about the commitment to love and support that undergirds our relationships. I may not always take their advice, but there isn’t ever a single second of doubt that …

by Crystal Gornto Inspiration Inspirational Women Love in Friendship Loving Yourself Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

Real life and real love behind the highlight reel

Finding your way through, together

Who’s standing beside you?

There’s always more to the story

Life’s very best gifts

Voices you can trust