How Bijou was born...Part One..

Bijou on August 15th, 2007

So much to do, so little time..let's get painting

This is not a story that was planned. Au contraire, it came out of nowhere, when I least expected it...I guess all great things come when you stop looking:)

I was happy enough at my current place, not interested in making any changes (change can be scary and I generally prefer to maintain things status quo) when one day my dear friend (who coincidentally I attended small business classes 4 years prior with) Gloria who owned a small business in town, broke the news to me that she would be closing. She asked me if I was interested in taking over the lease. I quickly (very quickly) replied "Nah, I'm just fine where I'm at!" She asked me if I was sure one more time and then convinced by my conviction, let it go! This was right after the 4Th of July last year.

Now fast forward 2 weeks later...One of my other dear friends, a business owner and former hairdresser, Chris, (she has the best gift shop in town) was in getting her hair done and asked me if I was still looking for a place of my own, I quickly said "Nah, I'm just fine where I'm at!" She did not buy my conviction and challenged me further (she's wonderful for that:) I kept insisting that there was no way, I was a single mother, I didn't have the time, I was fine fine fine where I was presently working after all there were no troubles....she asked me something that made a paradigm shift in my thinking.

She asked me "Why are you always waiting for something to go bad before making a change, why not make a change and do it on your terms with a plan?"...oh boy, she got me...you see I hate change, but I can do it with somewhat of ease...when its in desperate times and I HAVE to, when I am not happy and have put up with too much or when things aren't going so well anymore, I hold on until the string literally breaks....Chris was proposing for me to make a plan, execute it and succeed...hmmmm novel idea. But I was still not hiding behind my excuses...I will be FOREVER grateful to her, she continued to call me out on every single excuse I threw at her...and trust me I had some great excuses!! She is a true friend, one who is not afraid to call your bluff, I am so thankful to have her in my life! (Thank you Chris!)

So after she left, she made me promise that I would call the landlord of the building (I didn't know if it was even still available) She even called me the next day to make sure I would (I had not at the time...she MADE me swear I would)

I did call him...and set up a time for July 27Th to meet with him. I started working on a business plan, as I knew that would be essential for the whole thing to happen. My beloved partner, Thomas, helped me and his belief in me was empowering...after all he is one of the smartest people I know, is blunt with me, telling me his honest opinion at all times. Along the way, I kept giving fate little tests...I would ask everyone that mattered to me, what they thought, vowing that if one single person gave me a negative endorsement, I would back off and listen...well guess what? I could not find one! I even went to who I thought would be my toughest sell, my parents (I was thinking, they don't even think I can drive back home to Chicago by myself, they'll tell me I should not do this) But they were so supportive and told me yes they thought I should do this...at this point, it was all so surreal and I knew this was going to happen.

I have always said, if you don't know what to do, push each door, ever so gently, and the doors that swing open are the right doors to go down...I've stopped pushing for things or forcing things...my life has positively flowed in the right direction ever since I stopped forcing and just let things go naturally. Everything happens for a reason, every experience (even bad ones) we have is essential to our futures! Afterall what does not kill you will only make you stronger!

So I will have to continue this story another time, because the rest is all about shopping...very exciting indeed;)

Here is a glimpse of what the inside of my garage looked like..no room for parking a car here...tons of boxes and still more to come...ooh boy..

Stay tuned for part 2, the shopping and getting me to start buying and what proved to be much harder than I thought it would be!!