Pinkies Up

We loved downtown Main Street living, but we already knew that we would. Our bedroom was literally at the front of our building and at the same level as the street light outside of our boutique but with new blinds and room darkening curtain panels, we got along just fine.

We moved into our flat in August; those not from Oklahoma would think that was a perfect time to move, but it WAS Oklahoma and it was not the most ideal time to move into just 500sq feet or to begin living tiny in a 100year old building with far less amenities than we had the month before. It was 100 something degrees outside and the window air conditioner in the bedroom was working overtime; our building had heating and air but through the boutique downstairs with just a few floor vents upstairs that hadn’t been used in a while, and now…quite frankly, probably full of the plaster dust we had created EVERYWHERE in the last month alone, by knocking it all off to expose the brick walls.

Note to self: Next time, cover the vents before beginning any demolition.

I wasn’t opening the boutique until November; A LOT to do before that door opened for the first time but I loved that I got to go downstairs and “play dress up” by getting things ready for my first customer. Sometimes I just sat at the space that would soon be my checkout and look into the messy 12ft x 35ft that was mine; realizing that I was living my new dream…happy to be in 2,000 less square feet and embrace tiny living and shopping space. I loved heading downstairs each morning to work on more brick exposing or painting of walls or drawing out new ideas for a dressing room; my imagination was in heaven and I couldn’t write down as fast as I was dreaming up. The same friend that gave me the lead and the idea for a boutique space of my own, had kids at a school around the corner from my building and sometimes she would stop by with a Starbucks; dressed in her baggy sweats, messy bun, and oversized sunnies.

Life was good.

But…no matter how good life is…it can always be better, right?

During one of our morning; messy bun, baggy sweats coffee dates in my craziness and promise of a fabulous boutique…it came up that the building just three doors down from me, was also hers. It was a building, that years ago, had been divided in half…just a wall in the middle and a door that was sealed shut but still visible. On the left side of the building was a barber shop; complete with spinning red, white, and blue barber pole just inside the door. Their half of the building was just 12ft wide and 25ft long with a little back room and a simple door; they had started this shop together 40+ years earlier and were STILL there. This is what I thought of when I imagined a business on Main Street. The right side of the building was not any wider but seemed longer because there was no “back room.” There was an open half wall situation where I imagined a serving kitchen but the idea of a party space was thwarted when their idea of a bathroom was just a closet with room for a toilet on one side and a sink directly in front of it; it was so small that there was no room for even a door, but a curtain that drew closed for the smallest bit of privacy.

My friend was not just any friend; she was the friend that encourages your creativity and enables the “anything is possible” vibe within you. She could see my wheels spinning and me imagining what this space could be and said simply, “It’s yours if you want it. If you can get daddy to agree to this, even before you open the boutique, you deserve it.” (P.S. I call my husband daddy and every single one of my friends do too. I don’t even think some of them know his name, which is Robbe by the way; pronounced Rob-A … his family is French Canadian) BUT…she was right; IF I could convince him and IF I could make it happen despite not even having the boutique renovation even finished yet. There were a lot of IFs here but I was willing to give it a go. I even started drawing out ideas as soon as the boutique door closed behind her baggy sweatpants.

C’mon… you knew this was coming before I even started the last paragraph, right?

How hard could it be to have two business on Main Street America? I mean…after all, they were so close to each other and this little town was screaming for a place to host tea parties and events that maxed out at 25 butts right?

Of course they were.

To make a long story short…I talked “daddy” into it and Simply Lyla’s Boutique now had a sister in Simply Parties; a match made in Main Street Heaven.

The designing soon began, in tandem with the boutique, and it was “ready enough” to become a Pop Up Shop for the Christmas shopping season shortly after my boutique openend. It was an open space that I rented to home based businesses that could benefit from the exposure that the Main Street space brought to them but they didn’t have to worry about rent and utilities to reach out to those looking for something special to add to stockings that year.

When my space was complete, I began to book bridal showers and birthday parties, tea parties (Pinkies Up was our slogan) and even hosted a few meetings for those wanting to have a little different environment to “get things done.” There was a big screen TV and surround sound, as well as a serving kitchen, AND daddy even built a bigger bathroom to accommodate the 25 butts that I was able to host.

My favorite event was the invention of “Tiara Tuesday.” The third Tuesday of every month, we hosted this fabulous event where ladies of any age, from 21 to 91, would don their tiaras…or ones I had just lying around (doesn’t everybody?) would get together to celebrate wearing tiaras. We would gather around my 20ft farm table and just visit; talking about everything and nothing at all. I always provided snacks and we voted on which Pandora station to play each month but the women always showed up with a bottle of wine to share. We would attach a tag to each bottle that read simply…their name, and the reason they brought the bottle they did. Some reasons were really great “My daughter had this at her wedding and it always makes me happy.” OR “I’ve always loved the label of this one and never really wanted to try it on my own.” OR my very favorite “I couldn’t pronounce this one and thought it would be fun to hear how others would say it out loud.” Tiara Tuesday was a fun and frivolous night where age and occupation, social status and income tax bracket never mattered. I absolutely loved it most when women would come in and tell me they had never worn a tiara before; I would gasp in the horror and make sure they had one, not only to wear that evening, but to take home and wear while vacuuming or making a casserole…whether it was Tuesday or not. 

The much needed bathroom build; complete with exposed gold pipes

Of course I  had to paint my stripes somewhere. This is the "hallway" to bathroom

Because every serving kitchen needs a piano base turned into sink cabinet, right? 

It's all about the attention to detail in ALL of my projects

The front painted to match the boutique...and even painted the barbershop next door 

So very Alice; a 20ft long farm table that hubby built

All of the chairs started a bit different in style; but all ugly. I remedied that with latex paint.

A bench made from a headboard is the perfect "Head of Table" seating

An 8ft long chalkboard is always the way to add "live art" to a space

Full of life for a perfect tea party

 

Loved our themed Bridal Showers

Baby Showers with backdrops and props

Sex and the City themed Girls Night was a perfect 40th birthday party theme

Sweet Sixteen with friends and family

Loved hosting a girl's day shopping trip and making them feel VIP

Everyday should be Tiara Tuesday

Hosting with friends and not having to do any of the work...Priceless