A lot has been happening since my last post and I’m super excited to share my exciting last few weeks with you, but I’ve decided to do it chronilogically backwards. Starting with the last (most recent) thing first and then working my way back in time to the beginning of September when I received a HUGE spiritual boost while walking in the Footsteps of Paul as he started churches across the country of Greece (as notated in the book of Acts).
Just. Wow. Can you say inspirational? (And baklava???)
Okay, so as an introduction for today’s post, you first have to know what an INCREDIBLE BFF I have in my longtime friend Julia, who instigated the whole makeover idea. We’ve been girlfriends since 1980 and have loved on each other from afar for 30 of those 40 years (me in FL, her in AL).
I’ve had a speaking event scheduled for her Trinity Church peeps in Opelika, Alabama for several months and as the date approached (it was last Saturday and totally out-of-this-world wonderful … that’ll be the subject of my next post), Julia sprung the idea on me of a Debbie Do-Over Day. Who but a true heart-sister would think of such a bless-your-heart thing?
Well, the good Lord knows I can’t remember the last update on my hair, nails, make-up, and wardrobe, so I was all in from the get-go.
Spouse laughed when I told him and said, “Only Julia could tell you that you needed a new haircut without you getting all snarky.” He’s right. Only the girlfriends whom we know love us and twang our heartstrings regularly are allowed to wipe the lipstick off our teeth and point out what about us needs improvement.
Julia recruited her dear friend Brenda to Debbie Do-Over Day and whadaya know – Brenda (before she retired) was a professional coach for beauty queens, celebrities, and wealthy businesswomen who wanted to improve their image and/or stage presence.
GULP. Although I’ve been speaking publically for 20 years, I’ve never had any formal training. It was time for me to put up or shut up.
Julia treated me to a manicure first thing on Debbie Do-Over Day and having never having had my fingernails done before (can you believe that? I really need to get out more), I had no clue which was better when the nice Asian lady asked me if I wanted gel or regular. I knew that if we were talking knee cortisone injections, I’d opt for gel (I’ve had plenty of experience there!), but I was clueless about nail polish. Julia told me to get the gel, so I did.
Color? the lady asked. Umm – I had no idea – so I said clear. Then another customer sat down beside me and chose a delicate pale pink as her color, so I used the old Harry & Sally restaurant scene line, “I’ll have what she’s having.” (See photo above left.) The customer ended up being an aspiring writer; we had a lovely conversation about Writing World and she was interested in my new devo, Bless Your Heart.
Then as we entered the hair salon, Brenda immediately nixed the hairstyle I had painstakingly chosen, stating that it was too dated. I tried to remind her that I’m old now so dated is acceptable, but she would have none of it. So after a few false starts, the stylist chopped off most of the garish yellow that was my overtreated mop top and I ended up with an updated, shorter version of basically the same do I’ve had since high school. Hey, what can I say? I’m a creature of habit.
Then we started a parade of shoe and clothing stores that lasted many hours. Brenda and Julia filled several carts with potential chic outfits (skirts, blouses, and dresses) and I kept grabbing random sports pieces that didn’t go with anything else in our pile. They both followed me into the changing room (which we usurped until the line waiting on it began to wrap around the building), one constantly bringing me more handsfuls of clothes to try on while the other made trip after trip of rejected items back to the sales floor. We were like a well oiled conveyor belt.
Now those are loyal friends!
Ambicious Brenda was completely dedicated to the idea of updated my wardrobe to the 21st century and became somewhat incendiary when I ended up with two items in the YES pile, three in the MAYBE pile, and 47 in the REJECT pile. I thought she might implode. So I yielded to getting most of the MAYBE’s and even a few of the previous REJECTs. See? Contrary to popular belief, I can be reasonable. Sometimes.
And at the end of the day, I even bought two pairs of shoes to polish off a couple of the new outfits. (I have funky feet that make shoe-shopping extremely difficult so two pairs were pretty incredible!) I was so proud of myself! I expanded my horizons. It’s been a L-O-N-G times since I’ve shopped anywhere but Bealls Outlet.
Then as the final preparation for my speaking gig, Brenda ordered me to do my “stage walk” repeatedly across a room so she could critique it and teach me “how to glide properly.” Well, I gotta tell you – I don’t have “glide” in my wheelhouse. Since my bilateral knee replacements, I have more of a gorilla gait than normal walk, but I somehow managed to stop lurching from side to side long enough for Brenda to give me her stamp of approval.
Then we moved to posture, perpendicular foot placement, and what to do with your hands. Oh. My. Gosh. Brenda instructed me to have “Barbie hands,” not clapsed in front of me (appears insecure) but at my sides (more professional). But I am not now and have never been Barbie. I’m more Skipper. Or Midge. Or maybe even Ken. I never could quite get the Barbie hands thing down, but I cleverly wore Brenda out and she eventually gave up.
So in a nutshell, my Debbie Do-Over Day was makeover magic. But you know what was the most enchanting part? Having friends who care enough to give up their entire day doing something special simply to bless your heart.
Hey, what a great title for a book! Bless Your Heart: Daily Devotions to Warm Your Heart & Feed Your Soul. (Please don’t forget to post a review on your social media sites and Amazon.com!)
I’d love to hear about your favorite experience with makeover magic, dear BFF. Be sure to comment below.