A Season of NEW: Transitioning into a Lifestyle Blog

In a lot of ways it seems bittersweet for us to write this, as it marks the end of an incredibly fulfilling chapter while also launching us into a chapter of brand new adventures. After almost a year of prayer and planning, we have decided to officially close our company doors of ShopBellaC and transition our platform into a full time Lifestyle blog, Merritt and Style. For some it may come as a shock and for others it probably answers some recent questions you started having while following us. So for everyone that has followed us the last seven years we want to give you an explanation for our decision. Though it’s a little lengthy (it’s hard to bottle up 7 years in to one post) we decided to bare it all, because we want to be as transparent as possible with you and hopefully help shed some light on, and share in the excitement of, what this next chapter will bring!

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Laura’s Outfit Details

White Ruffle Top (runs true to size) | Red H&M Trouser Pants (fell in love with the easy fit of these! They do run big so I suggest going a size down!) Similar Style | Tassel Earrings  {c/o  Betsy Pittard Designs} Available in 3 colors! | Shoes, Similar Style |  Purse (Grey color in store exclusive but comes in 2 other colors here! Similar Style |Sunglasses: Prada (sold out everywhere but found them here!) Similar Style, //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=merrittandsty-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00REL53QE&asins=B00REL53QE&linkId=4f9696bceb94c7b727de54f66286bc9b&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=true&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Similar Style |

David Yurman Bracelets: Mini Buckle Cable Bracelet,  Medium Buckle Cable Bracelet, Cable Classic Bracelet | Miamsai Gold Hook Bracelet ( ON SUPER SALE RIGHT NOW! 70%OFF! ) | Watch is Ulysse Nardin, Similar Style, Similar Style

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Cristie’s Outfit Details

Jumpsuit (also available in black for fall! This is my go-to outfit when it comes to weddings just add earrings and go!), Similar Style, Similar Style | Earrings are an H&M in store exclusive! Available in 5 colors only $13.99– we may have bought 4 of the 5 because they are THAT great :), Similar Style | Shoes : //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=merrittandsty-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B06XH846X8&asins=B06XH846X8&linkId=0b004ad9c648d23e79b6e5febda69554&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=true&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Similar Style | David Yurman Bracelets:  Mini Buckle Cable Bracelet,  Medium Buckle Cable Bracelet, Cable Classic Bracelet, Citrine Stone Cable Bracelet | Silver Horseshoe Clasp Bracelet (ON SALE! 50% OFF) | Watch is Rolex Oyster Perpetual, //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=merrittandsty-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00944CZB0&asins=B00944CZB0&linkId=bbeb8197c81a67c7d879506088878d04&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=true&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Similar Style | Bracelet: Style Collection (ON SALE!) | Bag: LV Wristlet

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As we start we want to first say a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone for these last seven years. Whether you shopped with us, followed us, worked with us, or collaborated with us – we thank you and feel so blessed to have been worthy of your support. You helped us fulfill a dream that we understand doesn’t happen for most. We took an idea we had in college and you allowed us to accomplish goals we never could have imagined.

So here it goes….

We are exhausted. Those three words have been some of the hardest to admit to ourselves and each other but, after seven years of retail and tons of life changes, it’s just time. We love the hustle and that’s what SBC was for so long. We thrived in the late nights at the store and the constant need to keep the retail wheels turning, but honestly our lives are very different than when we started. We started as two sisters, one single and in college, the other newly married, both with nothing but time on our hands. Now we are both married, Laura has two beautiful boys, and we’re both currently living in Dallas near family. One of the main things we loved about the ‘idea’ of starting our own boutique was that we could continue it while we both fulfilled our dreams of growing our families. For the last 4 years we did just that, but realized that with anything you have to make sure your priorities are in the right order. This last year and a half has really been a great lesson of that for us. Life has an incredible way of revealing what your priorities are and helped remind us of the verse Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. For us, where we put our time we also put our treasures. We realized through a series of loss in our family, the miracle of baby number 2, Chamberlain James, and celebrating the marriage of Cristie and Garrett, that we wanted our life to be centered more around that. We felt the way we were constantly running SBC no longer aligned with the priorities of the future we wanted to create for ourselves and our families.

The most important thing to us in this world is our faith and our family. It is time for us to refocus and spend less time away and more time with our loved ones.

Dreams Change. Yes, of course it would be safer to just stay in the lane we have already paved. That exact thought made us feel guilty of not being content with what we accomplished. But, we realized it’s okay for our dreams to evolve and to take new risks. It’s exciting to light a new fire under us as we create our next set of challenges. Challenges make you grow and for us we had to understand that even though we owned our own company, it shouldn’t make us feel like we have to be tied to that one dream the rest of our careers. We finally realized there is a beautiful gift in being grateful for past accomplishments but ready to challenge ourselves in a new endeavor.

We want to offer more. WE LOVE FASHION, but we also love the idea of not being tied down to one category. We also want to show the lifestyle that goes far beyond clothes. We love accessorizing outfits but we are very excited to share other fulfilling things in life. We want to share our journeys and things that have helped us grow as women. We want to share our world with you and hopefully have the opportunity to share a part of your world as well.

What to expect moving forward. To our current followers and shoppers we understand you may still be thinking “Okay, but what should I expect now moving forward?” Expect more great clothing and accessory option posts, but now from even more great brands for us to spotlight to you! We will still post daily on Instagram with info & links on how to buy the outfit but on Monday, Wednesday, Fridays will also be writing a blog for more details! You will find other categories we will post about as well, like travel/lifestyle, beauty, home decor and the one we are really excited about, our “weekly inspo” tab. This tab will be weekly entries on all different topics of faith and inspiration that we would love to share with you! It will change weekly so we would love for you to follow along. Feel free to suggest a topic you are interested in having a discussion on!

To our Staff and Managers. We have been blown away by our AMAZING ShopbellaC family, which consisted of our SBC babes. *cue the tears* You ladies are truly the hardest working, most determined, fun-loving, talented, intelligent, hilarious, energy-filled, ultimate hype girls in the world! You are what girl gang dreams are made of. You made our dreams your own and the memories we have created have become a highlight reel in our lives. We want to thank you with all of our hearts for helping make ShopbellaC such an incredible success. What we accomplished together soared far beyond our wildest dreams and will forever be memories we cherish. We will always love you guys and continue to cheer you all on in the dreams your lives lead you to pursue.

We will be giving everyone until September 30th to use all gifts cards and SBC credits. Please feel free to email us with any questions you may have. Use promo-code: BLOGLAUNCH for 70% OFF EVERYTHING online.  Happy shopping!