Backstage with an L & L Solemate – Andrea Harrison

Welcome to the blog, Andrea!

Tell us a little about you!

Where did you grow up and where do you live now?

I grew up in New York City and lived there for seventy-five percent of my life!  Even though I live in Florida now, I will always be a New Yorker!   A fun fact: When I moved to Florida from New York I brought with me over 100 pairs of my favorite shoes!  Yeah!  I kinda have an affinity to shoes!

 

Mimi and Mommy

 

What can you tell us about your family?

This October will mark 12 years of marriage to a wonderful Jamaican guy who just ‘gets me’!  We have an almost seven year old “ah-mazing” daughter named Madison who inspires me to do more and be more!  As a family we dream together, travel together and enjoy new experiences together.

 

HARRISON FAMILY DEC 2012

 

What are you passionate about? 

I am passionate about creating events and decor that bring a vision to life and presents the ‘wow’ factor to guests!  It’s what I do in my spare time as a hobby and more recently as a side business.  I love to see people smile and wonder, “Wow, how did you even think to do that, furthermore, have the guts to carry it out?”  I guess that describes me in a nutshell!

What is your favorite family tradition?

Whether it’s picking out a nine foot Fraser Fir, sipping traditional Jamaican Christmas Sorrel, enjoying traditional Jamaican black cake or listening to my husband read the Story of Christ’s birth; my favorite family traditions definitely occur during the holidays.  In the Harrison household, we make a big deal about picking out the tree, bringing it home, and decking it out in purple and silver!

If you could travel to any time and place when and where would it be?

If I could travel to any time and place, it would be to the Garden of Eden!  I’d have a long talk with Adam and Eve about how one bite of the forbidden fruit, screwed everything up!

Do you have any secret talents you’d like the world to know about?

Most people know me for being extremely creative and bursting at the seams with ideas, however, many people do not realize that I was once a driver for BMW.   I love cars and have an uncanny ability to identify almost any car (even at night) by make, model and sometimes year!

Where did you first see a pair of Livie  & Lucas and what do you like about them?

The first time I saw your adorable shoes was on the Matilda Jane Clothing ® Facebook page being shared by other mothers!  It was the day I died and went to “Yellow Petal Heaven”!  Those shoes are captivating, classic and comfortable!  It became very popular, very quickly when Matilda Jane featured them in their 2011 Fall Collection – they sold out very quickly!  It was then that I was determined to do something about it.  The Yellow Petals were a HOT item among us Matilda Jane mothers, so I decided to send an email to your very warm and welcoming founder and designer, Mitzi.  Not only did I have the pleasure of playing “match maker’, as Mitzi termed it, introducing her to Matilda Jane Clothing and Denise, MJC’s founder and designer, but it was during that email exchange where Mitzi considered bringing the Yellow Petals back in Spring 2012!  And did she ever bring them back…not only in yellow, but in so many amazing rich colors!  I was so pleased when Livie & Luca then joined Matilda Jane at Art Fair.  It’s been such a pleasure to see the relationship grow…and to think it all started with simple communication!  That shoe has become a staple for our children and symbolic of the love between two brands that totally ROCK!  The fact that you as a company listened and executed, speaks volumes to me about who you are and more importantly, who ‘we’ are to you!

 

Yella and PR

 

What shoes do you like from the fall 2013 season?

I don’t have a son, but if I did, I’d probably make him wear Hungry, until he sized out!  Those shoes are awesome!  They are chic, stylish, playful and so versatile!  I love the fact that you guys are so creative, and you are not afraid to think outside the “shoe”!  You make shoes that children want to wear…it’s like “fun for their feet”.  (Side Note: I also LOVE the Floret boot….of course I do, it’s basically a PETAL all grown up!)

 

Floret1 hungry_lifestyle

 

Is there anything you’d like to see from Livie & Luca in the future?

Petals for Moms!  I’d wear them in a heartbeat!

 

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Thank you for sharing, Andrea! We are always inspired by the stories of all you Solemates! You can wear fabulous shoes, be a driver for BMW, run your own business on the side AND have a beautiful family and strong traditions!


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