Note from the universe

 Can I give you some advice that you won't take the wrong way? 

How did I know you'd say yes?

Buy something special for yourself. Be proud. Flaunt your style. Love yourself. Daydream, wonder, and make a few mistakes. Stay up too late every so often and sleep in too long. Sometimes wake up crazy early to doodle or journal or go for a walk. Play loud music. Celebrate everything. And when no one is looking, as often as you can remember, kiss the back of each of your hands in quick succession.

Happy love affair, gorgeous...

The Universe

*

So how did Tut, who sends notes from the universe to my email every weekday morning, know that I am in the midst of getting a makeover this week? It's true. In my year-long weight loss wellness program, a personal shopper is coming to speak to the groups about dressing for the journey, including how to select clothes that compliment our body shapes, and basically, how to "be proud, flaunt your style, love yourself, daydream, wonder," and yes, make a few mistakes!

The personal shopper asked for volunteers, one man and one woman, to be made over during a session with him. The session would be complementary, but we'd purchase the garments we chose. The two volunteers would then wear their makeover clothes to the presentation where they would talk about what the experience had been like for them. So many people volunteered that the director of the program decided to use a random number generator to pick the winners. Guess who the randomness of the universe chose as one of the two volunteers! This lucky duck!

Two weeks ago when the email came in informing me that I had been selected, coincidentally while I was watching Project Runway, my heart skipped. I was thrilled and petrified! Oh God, I thought, he won't know what to do with me! This response was to be expected from the girl who growing up could never find anything in the store to fit her. All my clothes had to be hand sewn by a seamstress friend of my mother's. The only thing I hated more than clothes shopping was being turned 360 degrees and tape measured and the endless trips to check for fit. And my custom clothes never seemed as trendy and cool as the outfits my skinny friends wore.

Today, I avoid shopping in clothes stores altogether. I basically have multiple pairs of black pants and several black silk tanks, which is the uniform over which I don jackets, blouses, and floaty things in many colors, most of which I order online. Very often the over piece is also black. I live in New York City. Everybody wears black so I can get away with it. Still, I somehow knew that the only answer to the director's question about whether I wanted to accept the opportunity to be made over, was yes. So I screwed up my courage and jumped with both feet.

I had to fill out a style questionnaire, and then talk to the shopper by phone and then we made an appointment. I had looked him up online. He was an impossibly handsome and sleek man of African and Portuguese descent with gorgeous chestnut brown skin and impeccable style. Hoo boy, I thought, wait till he sees me. But he was absolutely lovely on the phone, and managed to put me somewhat at ease. Besides, I had already resolved that this was one of those "say yes and figure it out later" situations.

Our appointment was yesterday. It was fantastic! David (the personal shopper) is just the most beautiful soul, and remarkably, everything he picked out for me fit! I had feared it would be a disheartening session of, Oops, sorry, too small, but instead it was more like, Oh, I love this! And not only am I definitely going to have an ongoing relationship with him, I've already decided that my Christmas present to my daughter will be a session with him to get a fancy outfit for her sparkly fundraisers (I already told her). And when my family asks me what I want for Christmas,  maybe I'll simply tell them, "Go see David." He has already set aside pieces for me that we both loved, but including them in yesterday's purchase would have busted the budget I set for myself. 

I had decided I would buy one complete outfit, and I did that, plus an extra pair of pants in a color other than black. I can wear either pair of pants with the creamy colored shell and this awesome lightweight Eileen Fisher shawl jacket that I would never have looked at for myself, but which I think could become my new wear-everywhere piece. And the pants: As I picked them up I thought, Oh this will never fit me; the silhouette is way too narrow. And yet they kept going up, managing my abundance, and creating a much less bulky profile that my usual wear. I had no idea I could wear pants like those, but now I realize the secret is to select quality material. We were having so much fun we forgot to take an after picture, but perhaps I'll be brave enough to take one at the session on Thursday evening and share it here.

I'm tempted to say, this sort of thing never happens to me, but look, it happened! Thank you, universe!