pretty plans to pretty reality

So today it finally feels real.

We're expanding!! Up until now it was a pretty plan in my head, I projected the pretty plan into my husband's head and into my staff members' heads.
Step one was give our basement tenants a 4 month notice, so in those 4 months the plans got prettier and prettier. But as with a lot of plans it seemed to just stay a plan.
Then all of a sudden the 4 months were up, and the tenant moved out.
A huge big blank canvas was created when they left and took all their things with them.

How exciting it is to walk down the stairs in the store and see this vast area full of possibilities and imaginary scenery.
Imagine new carpet, imagine new walls, new racks, new desks. Imagine too how organized and grown up we'll feel with an actual beautiful space for our promotional department of the business!

I can hear my husband taking down one more wall as I'm sitting here typing this.
When that last wall is gone we will have almost 2000 square feet to play with.
We can build and create a gorgeous showroom for all our promotional wares. We can even have mannequins dressed in soccer jerseys, or canvas work jackets, or sometimes even gymnastic windsuits! We can have t-shirt ladders, shelves piled high with soft and beautiful coloured hoodies, Racks of bright jerseys, warm winter jackets, fun windbreaker jackets and golfshirts. Shelves with stainless steel mugs and water bottles and all the other items we can do for our customers, a wall full of hats for the guys. Machines purring away contently in the back behind a carefully planned work counter.
All the computers set up just the way we want them, wherever they are handiest and easiest to get to. Staff members bustling around like elves in Santa's shop, creating wonderful embroidery and heatpress work for our customers.
Shelving along the walls, for receiving and sorting shipments of blank garments, and counters for packaging and shipping garments now proudly sporting our customers logos, names or team mascots.

Oh and upstairs on the main floor..... wow, all of a sudden a 1/3 more room for retail. Imagine the pretty plans for that!! A thousand square feet more to fill to the ceiling with fashions and fun. I envision a place where any woman regardless of size, age and taste ,will feel welcome and at ease. Sweaters, tops, dresses, pants, skirts...ahhh sigh!
And purses, purses and more purses, wallets, maybe some journals, some compact mirrors or pillboxes? Which girl doesn't want to open her purse and see beautiful things in it? Funky jewelry, bracelets, earrings and watches. colour coordinated displays with fashions, scarves, belts , purses and jewelry. I can see it now.
Oohhh and shoes and boots!! Such fun we'll have buying to fill the store for this coming winter with boots, leggings, sweaters, dresses and jeans and everything else.
We'll dot some seating areas around here and there, because us girls, we like to sit and rest when we've shopped. And we especially like to sit and watch our friends model the things they took into the much bigger new changerooms we're planning. Display tables, more mannequins?...yeah why not?!

As I hear my wonderfully patient husband hammering down in the basement on a Friday night at 9:30pm of the July Long weekend, it hits me: this is for real! The plans just kicked into action.
A month or six weeks of mess and construction, and the pretty plans will be pretty reality. i can't wait!

When is nice too nice?

I'm an immigrant, I speak with a Dutch accent, so does the rest of my family
My dad has onset Alzheimer's, he repeats himself at times
My brother has Parkinson's he moves akwardly and somtimes without control
I'm overweight, and make my living selling fashions to gorgeous size 8 women
My daughter chose a career in a male dominated field, despite being a tiny little girlie girl
I have a little friend who is so intelligent she has a hard time being accepted by her peers
My son is openly gay in a small prairie town
Among my friends and family there are visible minorities, closet alcoholics, beautiful talented women, individuals with special needs, super intelligent women, and the list goes on.

My question today is, who is the one that decides some of these things are perfectly acceptable to joke about and others are not. And how nice is too nice?
There are lots of jokes about being a raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll world... that is so totally my situation. But had my parents protected me from every fat joke ever made would I be able to cope with life the way it is now? I am a size 16 and that is just fine with me, I can laugh at myself. I would love to be a size 10, but obviously I don't want it that bad, because I'm not doing much about it.
My dad will joke when something crappy happens, He'll say: Well it sucks for you, it's okay for me, I'll forget right away anyhow, I have Alzheimers. If everyone tippy toed around him and never mentioned his situation would he not be sitting there wondering and worrying? Isn't it better that he got used to the cruel world and is able to poke fun at himself?
My daughter choses to play up her girlie girl personality in the middle of an autobody shop, she will wear pink work boots and store her tools in a pink toolbox. She will giggle at herself not being able to lift as much as the 6 ft 230 lbs guys she works with, but will refuse their help. Instead will fabricate herself a jig or a stand to help with her work, preferably painted pink too. If we as parents had stood over her all her life and said be careful, those big boys can say mean things.... would she be able to cope in this world?
My son came out in a small town at the age of 19, without any incident or negative remark. He stood up straight told the world who he was and was proud of it. He beat the rumors and the slander by standing proud. If we as parents had paved his way, shielding him from gay jokes and anti gay opnions, would he have been so brave and prepared for his world?

I think sometimes our nicety-nice society is too much like anti bacterial soap.... the opposite happens of what you want to happen. Anti-bacterial wipes, soap, detergent actually chips away at our immune systems because we cannot produce our own immunity fighters. Does our over protective politically correct society cause individuals to not be able to cope with reality. And does it make the people who make hurtful jokes even sneakier and meaner?

Of course you can!

Im 60 years old, I can't wear leggings
I'm ove a size 16 I can't wear a short skirt
I'm over 50 I can't go sleeveless

We as front runners in the fashion retail, hear these pre-conceived notions and moans out of the changerooms, of what's right and what's wrong in the fashion world each and every day!
Quit listening to Oprah and Stacey and Clinton, I'm a firm believer in "If it makes you happy, Of course you Can!"
There is nothing wrong with a 60 or even 70 year old woman wearing leggings. Naturally you would not wear them with the flimsy little, cut to down there, t-shirt your 16 year old niece wears them with, but you'd pair them with an oversized blazer, or a long and lean belted cardigan. A wear a chunky long sweater and little boots and look spectacular with leggings at any age.
Something not quite suitable for stiletto heels and leggings for a 70 year old, but nothing wrong with a fun pair of flats or sandals.
Have you been in Europe lately? You will see any age wearing leggings with dresses, skirts and long tops. And they look great doing it.
It's not about what you wear it's about how you wear it.

Of couse size 20 can wear short skirts, again you wouldn't wear the tiny little belt sized distressed jean skirt and the racerback tank your size 00 17 yr old friend wears, you'd adapt it so it would play up your curves and made you smile when you look in the mirror. The leggings from the paragraph above, a wonderful solution to make you feel more comfortable in a short skirt. Get a pair of capri or full length leggings and wear them under your skirt for trendy and fun look. Chose a hemline that is a little bit longer than bottom of butt cheek. Pick one that stops about mid thigh, where your leg naturally starts tapering towards your knee.

Over 50 can't go sleeveless? Of course you can! There is a ton of really cute sleeveless blouses, dresses and tops out there that are just fine for you. If you are comfortable with your upper arms, wether they are toned or do the double wave, go for it! Wear a funky necklace or a gauzy scarf around your neck if you want to draw attention away from your bits that you don't neccesarily want people to notice.
Pile some jingly bangle bacelets on your wrists, those are sure to make people look at your gorgeous hands and fingers instead of the jiggle on the upper arm.

Quit worrying about what "they" tell you is right or wrong, who made "them" the boss anyway. You wear what makes you happy, any look can be adapted to any age or any size. When you look in the mirror and you can't help but smile back at yourself, you're on the right track.