My Influencers
As I stretch to become the best version of myself. I’m entrenched in social media where there are influencers. But the influencers who affected me the most and will continue to do so are the Moms in my life growing up!
My “Influencers”
As I stretch to become the best version of myself. I’m entrenched in social media where there are influencers. But the influencers who affected me the most and will continue to do so are the Moms in my life growing up!
This morning it occurred to me I have really become a combination of this marvelous, eclectic group of Moms in my neighborhood and they seem to be still subliminally steering my ship as my new life unfolds.
Each and every one of them was truly amazing in their own way!
(Even amongst themselves they would laugh knowing they were an unusual group of odd couples -even at a glance you’d be like: “these women are friends?”)
And a little bit of each of them stuck with me and I found I have embraced their strongest traits at one time or another in my life.
We are so influenced and imprinted at a young age.
And it wasn’t that my own Mom wasn’t amazing - she absolutely is and was.
But I think i looked around a bit because we most certainly were not clones.
My Mom’s style just wasn’t ME. (“No Amy, you can’t have the multi-ruffled pink dress for Easter- try this on” as I am handed me the navy dress with the simple, white peter-pan collar)
My Mom, Jean, was artsy, incredibly creative and her train of thought was not the usual path taken for sure. She never did house work, why clean when you could be chatting with friends on the phone? Very empathetic; Had a 100 best friends ...Down to earth, no make-up and would wear what is clean and on top of the pile that didn’t need ironing( that is still on the dryer in the basement) Night owl ( that I AM!) And pretty much was going to do what she wanted when she wanted too ( ok, so that is me TOO!😆) (we ate past 8 pm every night because Mom just hadn’t gotten around to it yet!)
Grew up with really no rules per-se but we all so respected our parents it really was never an issue. While other kids had curfews my response to “when do you have to be home by?” “ Uh...whenever I want to go home!”
Casual...she was very casual about 10 years earlier then it was cool to be casual. Unconventional.
Then there is Donna across the street who had lists and schedules for everything! Very organized. Put together. Very controlled. Polished hair up in a bun, ( which I can only imagine was brushed 100 times before going to bed the night before) Perfectly applied lipstick. Stunningly beautiful even if she was planting geraniums in the huge antique crock on her front porch. A woman of incredible faith. Every night of the week had a meat assigned to it. Wednesday night was meatloaf night. (At my house my Mom frequently concocted unknown leftovers we affectionately nicknamed “JUB” looked funny, but tasted fantastic!) At Donna’s Your dinner napkin was in a color coded napkin ring which you promptly folded and put back in the utensil caddy.
When people found out my Mom was very good friends with Donna they would look astonished: “YOU are friends with Donna?” (As in: Donna comes over to YOUR house?” 😆) They laughed so much whenever they were together about it! It surely was the “opposites attract” thing but I am certain that their friendship made Donna looser some how and my Mom the tiniest bit more routinized -for instance my Mom adopted Donna’s very practical Christmas gifting schedule so that each of us offspring would have all the “big things” we needed for college. ( 7 th grade sewing machine, 8 th grade wifi, 9 th grade typewriter, etc)
I so would have loved to be Donna’s daughter!
So when I am in my get-it-done-yesterday mode: making lists and keeping a house cleaning routine in a classic chignon bun- and not in yoga pants- I am surely channeling my inner Donna for SURE! (What color napkin ring would you like to be yours?)
I grew up in the June Clever era. ( LEAVE IT TO BEAVER TV SHOW) And lucky for me (since my own Mom certainly was NOT the June Clever type) we had a JUNE next door. ( Truly! Her name was June!) Blonde with pearls and stirring her dinner over the stove in pumps. But June was not exactly June Clever. More assertive. Like my Mom, she too had studied Art in college but she went by way of the professional Interior Design path. So this June did everything with panache and designer style! Oh, how fun it was to go over and see how June had artfully arranged the furniture or painted a room in a bright, bold color and “wait, are those tiny boxes spray painted and attached to the wall in an abstract design?'“ - You know, THAT kind of clever (how did she ever think of doing that?) June didn’t walk ...she sashayed around looking like Grace Kelly with big cat eye glasses and stylish silk scarf. I enjoyed alot of “ Voila!” transformation moments while living next door to June and since my interest in interior design and home decor continues today I’d say having June next door was very impactful for me! Certainly if you are a dear friend or past client of mine we have done the “ presto-chango” - give me an hour I’ll re-style this room at your home. That’s me. Being JUNE!
Sadly, June (and my best friend Sara) moved away a few years later but then BARB moved in next door. Barb is an absolute sweetheart: gentle, soft spoken. Barb radiated love. Head a bit in the clouds. The roundest, bluest, twinkly eyes. White smocked top or faded denim shirt. Loved anything old and antique and was doing something “ pinteresting” with these relics before it was even fashionable to (“why yes, that IS a vintage antique oxen yoke made in to a chandelier!” - Now called “vintage repurposing”) Barb was ahead of her time. Her kids joked and teased when Barb went off to yoga class twice a week. ( Who’s laughing now?) Barb took out traditional plantings in her garden and planted natural, native prairie grass and a huge rock garden where she planted the funniest looking plants with no flowers that were hard and a bit prickly to the touch (“where did she find these plants? Mars?”) They took off like wildfire. We are all now channeling Barb with our succulent gardens and planter fetish. Although she was from Pennsylvania Barb had a whole lotta California boho-chic going on! Guess where I live now - and have a huge succulent garden!
And then there was Violet, the quintessential lady at every turn. Soft spoken. Elegant, well coiffed, clearly from money. Lived in the charming english Tudor next door . Violet was also an interior designer but a different direction from June. Classic, charming, rich interiors with leather and velvet. Custom. Because it had to be exactly right! I adored Violet! She was older then my other neighbor Moms. But some very valuable take aways. With embracing her “feminine grace” topping the list. Conservative, stand by your man, old fashioned kind of gal yet had a long list of successful clients. Always looked classically polished and used her feminine charm to help her clients see the light! “Every room needs a bit of black and a touch of yellow.” “Every house has possibilities Amy, you just have to use your imagination to see what you need to do!” (Definitely adopted THAT through my 29 years of successfully selling real estate!) I think I can still smell her perfume...when was the last time you wore perfume? #feminine grace
So who am I?
So here I am: a whole lotta of Jean taking art classes, collecting rocks and crystals and making up new dishes from the leftovers in the fridge. Organizing my life and recipes in Donna mode. Cleverly installing a collection of mismatched sunburst mirrors over the bed and assertively instructing the handyman hanging them like June. Regularly going to yoga class’, tending my succulent gardens and looking for ways to transform my antiques into something “pinteresting” like Barb. Living in a town that is like the english country side where I am lavishly dousing myself with perfume and embracing feminine grace like Violet as my former career-girl mode fades away.
To these ladies I so revere: I salute you.
You are so very loved! For being you, wonderful, amazing individuals who allowed a little girl to take it all in and absorb you like a sponge.
[Curtsey] ( the Violet in me)
THANK YOU for being my “Influencers!”
XXXX,
Amy
