Recently, with so much joy, I watched a dear friend of mine turn forty. Forty. Such a milestone! I picture forty as standing on a precipice of Mont Blanc, as you look back you see all the pages of the life you have lived, the little mistakes, the big victories, all the dalliances, pains and joys that have softened your hard edges and just somehow made you softer, wiser, and perhaps nicer than you were at twenty. Hopefully we all become a little less opinionated and a little more forgiving because all we have lived will create the enlightened us of forty. And women always seem more in tune with themselves, more loving and somehow at their most beautiful at forty. Don’t you think?

As the woman of forty turns her view opposite, forward, she will see all the blank pages of her life story yet to be lived, experienced and written. She will intertwine the lessons, the histories, of the first forty years and in the second forty weave it into a more colorful, gorgeous tapestry of a life, a tapestry befitting royalty, a life, a love of those around them, a dedication written in the hearts of all those they have touched. You have already lovingly touched a soft piece of my heart, etched your name deeply, permanently there, my dear friend Mila. I am honored to see the beautiful you of forty, and will be equally honored to travel a few more steps with you as you live your history, as you continue to write your pages, my words dispersed in small snippets through your wonderful pages, I am honored to know I have had a small place there, even if only for the brief moments of letters written on the sand to be erased by the tides of the sea. One day, I may have washed away but at some point, even if only for the waxing and waning of a moon, I am here, I am with you, and I feel joy. Happy Birthday Mila! I hope you like the picture my darling Skip Staheli has made of the *SoliDea FoliEs* “40” dress you so kindly gave to us for your birthday.

On to business. I know this is what my dragon, Draakje Dailey, calls “Cao’s version of “Word and Peace.”” The International Model Agency is having a “Sydney Fashion Week’” beginning August 17th 2012 through August 22nd, 2012. *SoliDea FoliEs* will be having a show on August 19th, 2012 at 5AM SLT. Above is the gorgeously colorful, unique offering created by Mila Tatham exclusively for this event. It has so much of the exquisite colors and feel of a native aboriginal costume, I just had to have it! Isn’t it divine?

I hope you get the chance to support these hard working models by attending the shows. I know I will pop into a few just to see the exclusive apparel these wonderful designers have made! I hope you will too! Have a wonderful weekend!

Look One:
Dress: *SoliDea FoliEs* “40″
Hairs: Tuty’s, “wet look”
Hat: Miamai, “Memento Boreal”
Makeup: LovelyMi Makeups, “Aphrodite”
Tights: Peqe, “Unicef”