Today we’d like to introduce you to Caitlin Sauer.
Caitlin, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have always had a love for beautiful places, things, moments. I can remember even as a child I would experience certain moments and just know I should drink them in and hold on to them. I didn’t discriminate- I loved the beauty of a sunset or a warm breeze as much as I loved rearranging my bedroom for hours or putting together outfits. All of it was happiness to me.
As I grew older, I kept these same passions but noticed they seemed to conflict according to all the messaging I was receiving from the world-at-large. I saw my passions for fashion, home decor and entertaining presented from an extremely materialistic standpoint. I saw my passions for nature, spirituality, presence and gratitude presented from a very woo-woo or “holier than thou” angle. But how conflicting could those ideas be if I held them both inside my heart?
I wanted to help people stay true to themselves by opening up different views on what “luxury” is. To let people, know that living a beautiful life can look good AND feel good. That a key to happiness is appreciating the beauty surrounding us, whether that is a moment in nature or a vintage vase- it is ok for both of these things to bring joy. I started my Instagram to share images of what brought me joy and realized I had so much more I wanted to say than what could fit in an Instagram caption so I started my blog and here we are!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Is anything ever a smooth road? We often picture success as a straight line from A to B, but it’s more like a zig-zaggy up and down squiggle with some circles and standstills along the way. There are the usual challenging suspects like time- working full-time and channeling your limited energy supply into something creative is a struggle.
The last two years were some of the most difficult years of my life; doing so much self-work and overcoming the challenges life was pitching me left and right made it hard to keep pushing with the blog, but it feels so good to look back and see how far it has come despite the fact that it is not at the pace I originally planned.
One of the biggest struggles for me was, and is, the release of it being “perfect”. When you really care about something you can build it up in your head to a point that makes it impossible to take action. When you have such a clear vision for what you want and are falling short of that it can be very discouraging. But knowing that you are not yet as good as your taste must push you to keep going rather than stop you. It is those who make it through this phase of the “gap” that ultimately succeed. This is somewhat paraphrased from one of my favorite quotes on creativity by Ira Glass- well worth a read.
Please tell us about Lost Luxe.
Lost Luxe is a lifestyle blog exploring life’s lost luxuries: living well, dressing well, eating well but MOST importantly: BEING well. We explore fashion, home decor, travel and entertaining through the lens of gratitude, presence and connection- things that have been somewhat lost in this age of technology and social media.
I am known for European elegance meets California cool and telling it like it is. Lost Luxe stands apart from other fashion and lifestyle blogs by focusing on REAL TALK, not just showing the glossy side of life but the truth underneath it. I discuss gratitude and presence as much as fashion trends and styling tips and I don’t apologize for either.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would just lean in and put more out there rather than waiting for it to be “perfect”. I actually started a different blog about 6 years ago and had I stuck with that and just grown to where I am today rather than giving up because it couldn’t immediately match my vision, I would most likely have gotten further along faster. It’s a lesson in grace and consistency.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lostluxela.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @lostluxe
- Facebook: facebook.com/lostluxe
Image Credit:
Nicole Balsamo
WT Fern
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