The preamp to what lead to the Marilyn Denis Show…
I must confess, I am an avid viewer of the Marilyn Denis Show… I blame 2 maternity leaves, live morning television, and post pregnancy hormones! This was my “me time”, to get my connection to the real world of all things “beauty”, while getting the update of all the top trends from décor to landscaping, to travelling, to parenting tips! On top of that, I would often catch myself sobbing over all the wonderful, well-deserved make-overs, with these super-humans that would be completely overwhelmed and made to feel beyond beautiful.
Fast forward to years later, after I continue to fit the show in when I can, and continue to still be a big supporter. Marilyn (I treat her like she’s a friend of mine ;), had popped into my mind one night after watching the show, and they had JUST featured a makeover to a well deserving mama that just made it through a very challenging few years… This is all while I was multi-tasking and doing some “Simply Green Mums” work on the computer and texting back and forth to my green partner in crime, Samantha. In that moment, I thought to myself; “Sam is one of those people that just needs a win her life right now, and I think Marilyn could help her”. I pulled up Marilyn’s website, and started browsing through what current contests and calls they had for “Be on the show”. I fell upon “Nominate your friend for a makeover”…. PERFECT! It was all-perfect until I clicked on the link to see what I had to submit (insert eyes bugging out of my head)! There was NO way I was going to be successful at getting her shoe size, dress size, full body picture, waist, bust and hip measurements!?!? This girl barely shows her ankles, let alone tell me her measurements! However, I still pre-filmed my little video on why I thought Sam deserved a makeover, filled in what I guessed her measurements might be, and set out on determination to get the real details on my own.
Get ready to snicker a little… So Sam and I, were travelling to Toronto for a “green event”, gabbing in the GO train station parking lot, sitting in her car. I told her I just had a few questions I had to write down, so we could start looking into purchasing a “10 Tree” sweatshirt for us both…which was truly a business plan we had. I asked her to get out of the car; I had to take some measurements. She grudgingly agreed. I had a trusty, travel sized measuring tape that I quickly zipped around her bust, waist, hips and height…. It really was going so smoothly, up until I said I also needed her dress size and shoe size. Ha! She knew something was up and did threaten to kill me…Totally in a loving friend kind of way ;) I knew she was sceptical, but she went along anyway! I submitted all the information I needed, directly to the website, along with my video testimonial on why I believe Samantha Kowalczyk deserved this make over…argh, it was so hard to summarize and tell the true story of why I knew in the bottom of my heart, that Sam DESERVED and NEEDED this makeover! I pressed send….and off it went!
It was approximately 4 months later that we received an email reply back. I say “we” , because for some reason, the reply came to our “Simply Green Mums” joint account…eek… Cat was out of the bag! Sam had read the reply from the Marilyn Denis Show, asking for more details about the nomination!! Dang!! So, I had to come clean, and tell her simply that I had nominated her for a makeover because she needed some new clothes, or I couldn’t continue to be seen in public with her! Ha! Joking aside… there is some truth to that statement... The last time she bought new clothes for herself, was while she was on her first maternity leave and bought maternity clothing (which she still wore to that day!!). Her oldest just turned 5! She’s always put her family first and not putting any worth or value into buying new clothes for herself…One part of our green journey and “biz”, we recently just took on a big family challenge of buying nothing new for an entire year. So, that didn’t help the fact that her wardrobe needed a SEVERE makeover too! Something in my mind told me that Sam would get that makeover because someone out there, would feel that she was the one who warranted it. She has been such rock for her family, I really don’t know how she gets out of bed every morning and takes care of anyone, including herself. She has the weight of the world on her shoulders. I feel like anyone in her situation would have run up credit card bills, and continued living life like she did when there was two incomes in the family…. She continuously re-evaluates their income and adjusts their budget accordingly, to make sure they can remain in the “just making ends meet” zone. She is constantly stressing about how she’s going to make it from month to month with bills, monthly payments, and heaven forbid there be a surprise expense! She is a hero in my eyes and I commend her for her continuous strength and courage to keep putting her family ahead of her. I admit, I sure did do one serious ugly cry, when I saw her up there on the Marilyn Denis stage looking like the hottest mama in that room! It was the feeling of the experience that she was able to be lifted up by so many kind people, that had the power and love in them to make her feel special and deserving, that made it the best experience for her! Even if it was only for a moment in time, she felt on top of the world, it made it all worth it. I am so happy that Sam could take a break from her reality and be the one that the attention was on. I hope she can keep in her mind on the darkest of days; that she is loved, and she is beautiful, from the inside out!
Love you my friend!