My name is Veronica Levy, and I am the creative behind the blog LOMBARD & FIFTH. May 2023 will mark 10 years of writing the blog, and it’s been an absolute pleasure getting to share my creative journey with my fellow "extra" gals.

Veronica wears the Katalin Mini in Sangria Pink

When I had started my Instagram page and website, I was working full time in a very corporate environment and my oldest daughter had just turned one. I had zero creative outlet and remember feeling like there was something major missing from my life. One weekend afternoon, while rocking Grace to sleep in her room, I very randomly scrolled onto a blogger’s page in my feed. At the time I was only following my close friends on IG and an occasional flatlay inspo account. I remember fully going down the rabbit hole of style and fashion hashtags and literally starting my page the next day! I had this feeling of “these are my people! This is where I belong!”….or at least where I can wear a big tulle skirt and feel like there’s an occasion for it. And I still feel the same way I did that day. Excited to share pieces I am inspired by and feel my audience would love.

I find a lot of inspiration from other creatives whose style I admire: @Pretanewporter, @Blaireadiebee, @Highlowluxxe, @Krystal_bick to name a few, and my explore page is 99% fashion inspiration, so I am never lacking for a good dose of style when I open my phone. I do also still love browsing actual hard copy fashion publications.

I get messages with this question quite a bit, followed by a “but I’m afraid it’s just too late”. I think you have to first honestly answer the question “why do you want to be in this industry and what is your end goal?” and if the answer is “because I would be doing this every day for free and I can’t imagine not having this outlet in my life” then you go full steam ahead! In my opinion, if you stay true to your own point of view, as well as consistently show up for your audience, your core audience will find you and stick with you. For me, making it a full time career was a very welcomed bonus but not what I aspired to as a marker for success.

Follow Veronica on Instagram @lombardandfifth

I am a first-generation immigrant, so there is definitely a part of me that wants to convey to them that the ability to follow your passion and make it into a successful career is something that is a huge privilege, and one that should not be taken for granted. That being said, in the same vein, as a first-generation immigrant, I am working on teaching them that being in the moment, enjoying the now and finding work life balance is the key to long term growth and happiness. It’s something that doesn’t come naturally to me, so having to model that for my girls helps me tremendously in my own journey.

There are some dreamy collabs I am very excited to share as well as a possible trip to Paris in the spring, for which I am already mentally packing all the beaded bows and statement earrings!

Stay true to your own style, and if they stare, they stare. 

I am a homebody through and through, so whenever possible my happy place is listening to a good podcast and sipping on a cup of coffee while snuggled up with our lab Winnie. Realistically, most weekend day consist of taking the girls to their various activities, squeezing work in and then hopefully a date night with my hubby Eric.

It was love at first sight! I love when you can spot a piece and immediately know the designer, no logos needed and that’s what Mestiza is to me. From the unique embellishment details to the beautiful quality of the pieces, I was truly an instant fan as soon as I discovered the brand.