The Inspiration
Sweet & Sauer
There once was a beautiful woman by the name of Mallory. She was on a trajectory to stardom before an evil strike of cancer took her life at only 28 years old. Not only was Mallory one of the strongest individuals that has ever graced the planet, but she was also my older sister, my best friend, and the only sibling I had.
Our bond was exceptionally unique. She and I would have weekly brother-sister date nights that usually consisted of dinner, adult beverages, and some form of reality television (I know more about million dollar listings and home remolding than I ever thought I would). These date nights were some of my favorite memories with her because it was just the two of us, no one else, and we would simply enjoy one another, talking about everything under the sun from relationships, to jobs, family, friends, you name it.
Mallory was ALWAYS a huge fashionista, from the time she was young, and I'll never forget one date night where she told me that she was interested in doing a fashion blog. At this time she already had a great job working in the fashion/apparel industry, but she always had dreams of something bigger, whether that was opening her own clothing store, starting her own clothing line, or something else within the industry.
During the date night - which likely consisted of tacos and margaritas - I mentioned to her that I was also thinking of starting a blog at some point, and calling it Sweet & Sauer. At the time I didn't have an idea for what I wanted to do, I just had the name picked out, and Mallory loved it! Being the kind person that she was, Mallory didn't want to steal the name from me in case I wanted to use it later on down the road.
What I told her was that she was more worthy to use the name because she actually had ideas in mind with a passion to move forward and take action. Over the next several years, leading up to her death, I did everything I possibly could to help out and get her to the level of stardom that I knew she was capable of. Seeing her work so hard on the site, seeing her overcome the fear of rejection, seeing the love and passion she had for the project - that was the inspiration I called upon to finally get started on this site.
Before she passed away my sister was also an OUTSTANDING dancer, and over the course of our relationship one of the key elements that brought us closer was our shared love for music. As a dancer she was always surrounded by music, and while we may not have agreed on every single song, I can't tell you how many times we would go back and forth on the latest tunes we had found. As I was trying to determine what to do for this site, it became clear to me that music should be a focal point because that is what bonded us together, but music is also a powerful force that I believe unites people together as a whole.
After she passed, The Ray of Hope Cancer Foundation set up a fund in Mallory's name to assist families who are struggling financially from various cancer related circumstances (TAKE A LOOK HERE). Her story and life has had such an immeasurable impact on hundreds of people from all over the world, so I encourage you to check out her work through the link below (especially the section on health stories), and see for yourself what made her such a special human. No matter how hard things would get, even on her darkest days, she still strived to remain upbeat - and on some of these days she was still taking time to update her blog. That sort of courage inspired the positivity section of this site, where I highlight stories and individuals that deserve the same recognition as Mallory does.