Ah, it has been a full day here in bargain shopping land. Marti and I had lunch with Mertis but somehow we finished out meal and still felt like something was missing...something like...shopping.
But we don't need a thing. Between my coupon shopping and free bargain dealing, there just wasn't anything we needed, leaving us only the option of browsing Kohls, filling up our carts with deals and then "Unshopping" everything and leaving.
It's not landing the deal sometimes, it's the pursuit.
So, there we are, minding our own business in the jewelry department when I notice these two other women. Two other women about our age, dressed in funky dresses and hats, palling around just as we were. It was like seeing ourselves from the other dimension.
Frankly, Marti and I are just different. There aren't a whole lot of us wandering around...but there they were.
So, the one in the black hat stops, looks at me and says "That is a beautiful jacket! Did you get it here?"
This one is clearly the extrovert of the two, as you will see later.
I am wearing the most funky, multicolored jacket over a black velvet skirt.
"Here?" I say. "Oh, no way!"
The woman smiles indulgently. "No, I didn't mean here in Kohls. I meant here, in town!"
Duh! Of course.
So we talk for a second and go our separate ways. Later Marti and I agree if we don't pee, we'll explode. So we head for the ladies' room by customer service, and there they are again. They're just sitting in chairs between the ladies' room and the customer service counter.
There are three chairs and they are taking up two, with a purse in the third chair.
Now Marti and I have a dilemma. We hate Kohls' bulky carts, so our arms are loaded with bras and sweaters and miscellaneous do-dads we have yet to "unshop," and we have nowhere to put them whilst we tend to business.
So Marti, clearly the extrovert of our duo, says "Is anyone sitting there?" Which of course they are not. A pocketbook is sitting there. The black hat perks up, picks up the purse and says, "Oh,no. Do you want to sit down?"
I feel like we're at a ladies' tea.
Marti allows as how, no, we just have to go and have nowhere to leave our goodies.
Thus our new friendship began.
We return from the ladies room and Marti complements their outfits. And we all talk about how much we love to dress up, how important it is to celebrate our juicy, sexy, creative, wonderful selves...especially as we dance around the rim of menopause.
And that's when we find out who they are and what they do.
These two cool chicks call themselves "Joie de Vivre."
"Our mission is to unleash the creative spirit in everyone through the power of dress. It is through creativity that we can restore our souls, ignite our passions and leave the world a better place."
They sponsor Hat Attacks for cancer patients: "Adorn your beautiful bald head!" They use scarves, hats, ribbons, crowns, whatever it takes to celebrate the beauty that is our naked head. "Nourish the soul and pamper the body!" they say. There are hand massages, aromatherapy, scarf-tying workshops...it's so wonderful!
Marti and I will be volunteering soon.
They also do the Summer Solstice here in Greensboro...
"It is important we gather to give thanks for our beautiful earth. Without gratitude there is no joy! Please join our mission to keep the Solstice going... We would like the "Summer Solstice" to always remain free for our community...this year over 4000 happy souls attended. This is just one small way we can bring joy and peace to a world that needs much of that!"
These two are living all that Marti and I have been puzzling out for ourselves this past few months and they are doing it with an open-hearted generosity that pulls others into its radius and warms every spirit it touches.
Go check these chicks out!
Damn! Aren't we lucky to have true Goddess examples living amongst us?!
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