character couture – Terri LaBonte- Reinventing Myself in Retirement

Pixie Dusted

Well, after months of deliberation, I did it. I got bippity-boppitied. I realize that sounds faintly salacious, but if you have been journeying with me, you’ll know that it is kind of the opposite of salacious. If you haven’t been reading along, you might want to check out http://www.terrilabonte.com/2018/08/bippity-bop-or-not/ and http://www.terrilabonte.com/2018/09/bopworthy/.

My pixie posse and I set off to the Grand Floridian Resort, ready for a glitterific adventure. My friends were going to watch while I transformed into Tinker Bell right before their very eyes. After my tinkifying, we planned to monorail our way over to the Magic Kingdom to visit the Princess of Pixie Hollow herself, then have a nice lunch. When we pulled into the parking lot at the Grand Floridian, we knew we were in for a good day. We encountered the Cinderella pumpkin wedding carriage, with its six white horses, carrying a beautiful Disney bride towards the wedding chapel. Sparkle alert, already! How can that not be a great omen?

When we entered the salon, I felt my blood pressure rise a bit. I bleed sparkle and I think my circulatory system was leaping in joy from all the glitter in the atmosphere. My giddiness level increased. I was excited from the top of my short, flat brunette hair to the white pom poms on my green fairy slippers. For someone who struggled so long and hard about whether or not this bippity-boppetying was a good idea, I was all in. I’m not sure how I managed to sit still and not flitter fly all over the salon.

Andrea was my own personal Purveyor of Pixie Dust. She was sparkling so much, she didn’t need a magic wand to complete my makeover! She made me feel special and magical and adorable every minute I was with her. What is even more interesting is that she made me feel like she was having every bit as good a time as I was having. I mean, I realize this is her job and she wasn’t making me a Tinker Bell twin for the sheer fun of it. Still, she certainly acted like having me as a client absolutely made her day. I think I am, by and large, a pretty pleasant person, but I can’t think that there is anything that special about me to inspire such delight. Maybe we were all smoking the pixie dust!

Andrea started with my hair. I was concerned because my hair is pretty short and I couldn’t imagine a Tinker Bell makeover without the Tinker topknot. Andrea brushed aside my worries. All she needed was faith, trust, and pixie dust. However, Andrea didn’t stop with the bun. She had an idea that I could look like Tinker Bell, but with some special Terri pizzazz. Using lots and lots of hairspray, she changed my hair to sculpting material. I ended up with my topknot, but also with curls and tiny Tinker Bell bows all over my head. I can’t even explain all the interesting special effects Andrea crafted from my hair. I said I looked like a combination of Tinker Bell, Cindy Lou Who, and myself. I know such an odd mutation is hard to picture (which is why I am including photos), but trust me when I say it was very effective and fetching. It was exactly what I wanted, but didn’t know it. The final step for my hair was a liberal dusting of glittering pixie dust. For those of you who know the whole Tinker legend, you’ll understand that I was very pleased to see that the sparkle was BLUE pixie dust. For those of you who don’t understand the implication, you can go watch the movie Tinker Bell and The Lost Treasure. Let’s just say that, without blue pixie dust, the world would be a very different place! Or at least my world would.

After the hair came make-up. Andrea turned me away from the mirror, so I could not see what was happening. My pixie posse watched, fascinated, cell phone cameras in hand, as I squirmed in anticipation. They cheered me on, but I wondered if they were just being nice. I heard them cooing all kinds of amazed noises, but “amazed” can be good or bad. People coming to the salon to ask questions, make appointments, or check in for their own treatments stared at me. I kind of stopped conversation. There was one lady at the counter who was so transfixed by what was happening on my face, the receptionist had to keep asking the same questions over and over again before she answered.

There was one debate during the make-up process. Should I have false eyelashes or not? Before coming to the salon, I thought I would skip the eyelashes. I thought they might be a bit over the top (yes, apparently I did think there was such a thing as “over the top” when having a Tinker Bell makeover) and, for some reason, they kind of read “villain” to me. Andrea also seemed to be on the “no eyelash” side of the aisle, as she thought the lashes they had were pretty extreme. However, my pixie posse believed that I might as well do the eyelashes. One pixie partner said they would look good in the pictures. Another reminded me that I probably wasn’t ever going to do this experience again so I should just go the full Monty, as it were. The girl staring at me at the reception desk was also on Team Eyelash. She kept mouthing, “do the lashes” at me. I finally succumbed to peer pressure and I am very glad I did. Andrea found some mid-length lashes for me, which were plenty long enough, believe me. In fact, when I put my glasses on much later in the day, the lashes were pushing them down my nose.

I never knew I had such big eyes. Andrea was able to fit at least four colors on my eyelids. All of the colors sparkled, of course. She picked from a huge palette of eye shadow colors, all of which were brighter than anything ever witnessed in nature. Of course, the highlight of my lids was the sparkly Tinker green that might as well have my name on it from this day forward.

When Andrea turned me around, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was amazed…. In the best possible way. I have never, ever looked that good. Yes, I looked like I belonged in Pixie Hollow. Yes, I looked like I was Tink-inspired. But I also looked like some version of me… a me completely liberated from expectations, care, and responsibility. It was like I was channeling Tinker Bell, as well as looking like her. Yet, I was still very clearly myself.

When we went to visit the original Tinker Bell at the Magic Kingdom, she and I had a wonderful pixie meet-up. I’ve been to see Tinker Bell many times in my life, but I believe we bonded in a new way on the day of my tinkification. Part of me is still with her in Pixie Hollow. My friends and I took pictures with Tink. We enjoyed being childlike, living in the magic.

I loved having this experience. I loved having my friends with me. I can’t imagine doing it without my pixie posse. They encouraged me to immerse myself in the experience and celebrate. We celebrated together. We celebrated our lives, our love of Disney, and friendship. These are some wonderful things to celebrate.

When I went home that night, my heart was still smiling. When I removed the remnants of Tinker Bell, I was a little bit sad… but not too much. Even without the make-up, I still had the pixie dust… on my scalp, on the floor of my bathroom, and, most importantly… in my spirit!

Thanks to Andrea, my pixie duster, for Tinkifying me in a way I never expected. Thanks to my wonderful pixie posse partners, Nancy and Kathy, for being my fairy godmothers.

Pre-tinkification

Tinkification in process!

Those eyelashes

Andrea, the Purveyor of Pixie Dust

The finished product- my Pixie Sister and me!

The pixie posse!

So what do you think of the new me? Do I look like I belong in Pixie Hollow? Should I just grow up? Please share your perspective by leaving a comment. In the alternative, you can email me at terriretirement@gmail.com.

Have a glitterific day!

Terri/Dorry

Bopworthy

As I agonize over whether or not I should do the “character couture” experience at Disney World, my friends have been egging me on. As I mentioned in my prior post, “Bippity Bop or Not”, they are downright giddy over having a designated dufus to play dress-up at our happy place. They are looking forward to seeing a real-life pixie duster magically transform me into Tinker Bell before their very eyes. If I do it, I will provide them with all the entertainment of the experience without the strange looks from the passersby on Main Street, USA.

In an effort to push me over the top and persuade me to commit to the activity, a friend sent me a video published by an internationally-known sophisticated magazine that is named after a cocktail (I’m looking at you, Helen Gurley Brown.) The video described the “Bippity Boppity Boutique for adults” available at some Disney World resort salons. The video showed several “everyday” (if you live in The Valley Of The Dolls) twenty-somethings morphing into princesses at a highly improbable rate of speed.

I responded to my friend that it did look life fun, but asked if she noticed that none of the adult princesses-in-the-making appeared to need their gray roots touched up as part of the makeover. I knew I was getting perilously close to cresting the summit of my indecision and was about to succumb to the magic of the pixie dust. I told my friend that, to push myself over the top of the mountain of my angst, I needed reassurance that I haven’t completely lost touch with reality. Clearly, I don’t mind living in Fantasyland, but I like to at least keep one foot in the real world.

My friend responded by pointing out that one almost never sees a 3X-sized model. I agreed and also pointed out that the magazine in question is especially keen to showcase the beautiful people of the world. I pointed out that the Cocktail Magazine target audience probably thinks every woman self-destructs on her thirty-fifth birthday, if she has the bad manners to live that long. There are some exceptions, of course. Jennifer Aniston and Hallie Berry probably get a pass. Then there is Meryl Streep. She might be granted a 35-and-older dispensation. After all, everyone wants to be her…. granddaughter.

My friend is right that far too few businesses use people remotely resembling an average person to display their wares. Most models need the XS size altered to prevent the garment from slipping off their hipbones. I am always excited and impressed when I see a company, like television shopping channel QVC, use models of all shapes, sizes, and ages. It is an interesting turn of events to be able to visualize what an article of clothing might look like on MY body, not the body of a woman in dire need of a cheeseburger. It is also incredibly heartening to see these multi-dimensional models portrayed as beautiful, desirable, and successful. The shorter…older… plumper… whatever… models seem to be comfortable and happy. They don’t apologize for breathing air or occupying space. They don’t try to hide themselves, hoping nobody notices them. They engage boldly with the world. Their lives seem more than, not less than. They are excellent models.

My friend asserted that everyone is in Fantasyland in their heads and everyone wants to look like a model. She is probably right, but I hope we are beginning to create a culture where the word “model” has a broader (pun intended) connotation than it has traditionally held. The truth is, we are all beautiful. We become even more beautiful when we live in the world believing that we are all beautiful and worthy of creating something wonderful in our lives.

So, despite my age and despite my pudge and despite my short stature, I think I am Bopworthy. It doesn’t even have to be Fantasyland.

I just scheduled my date to be pixie dusted. I’ll let you know how I make out!

What attributes do you think a good “model” should have? Please share your perspective by leaving a comment. In the alternative, you can email me at terriretirement@gmail.com.

Have a model day!

Terri/Dorry 🙂

Bippity-Bop Or Not?

At Disneyland and Disney World, there are magical shops called Bippity-Boppity Boutiques (BBB). These are enchanted places where parents can spend several hundreds of dollars for a Fairy-Godmother-In-Training (FGMIT) to transform their little girls into Disney princesses. The service includes wardrobe, hair, make-up, accessories, and photo shoots.

You can see the results all over the various Disney parks. You can tell when a little girl has been bippity-boppetied. She has the costume, of course. However, many little girls roam the parks in princess regalia purchased from Walmart so you can’t know for sure that a costumed child has visited the BBB. Sometimes the newly-fashioned princess has a pink sash draped across her torso, proudly proclaiming her patronage of the boutique. You don’t need the sash to identify the bippity-boppees, though. It is the hair that usually tells the tale. A fresh bippity-boppety hairdo usually involves an improbably intricate contraption of the child’s hair, wiglets, tiaras, barrettes, and hairspray. Oh, and glitter…lots and lots of glitter.

The glitter doesn’t stop with the hair. Usually the bippity-boppee has glittery pink or purple eye shadow and may have cheeks that glisten with pixie dust.

I always swore that, if I had a daughter or granddaughter, she would be bippiy-boppetied whether she liked it or not. I mean, how could I not? I even checked one time to see if I could book my own session with a FGMIT, but the age limit for such enchantment is twelve. Since I was several multiples past twelve by that time, I was out of luck.

Not anymore. Several spas located in Disney resorts are now offering “character couture” sessions. These sessions are very much like Bippity-Boppity Boutiques for adults.

Oh, there are a few differences. For one thing, the character couture sessions do not include costumes. That isn’t a problem for me, since I have a Disney wardrobe that is the envy of four-year-old girls everywhere. Also, the character couture sessions are a little less expensive than BBB, but don’t include photo shoots. The FGMITs in BBB are not licensed cosmetologists. Their magic involves rocking a costume, wielding a wand, and being good with children. In the character couture experience, the stylists are real cosmetologists. They are hair and make-up experts who are there to customize a unique hair and make-up design for each client. The character inspiration can be any of Disney’s creations- princess or pirate, Minnie or Daisy, Ariel or Ursula, pixie or Pooh- whatever sparkles the client’s fantasy fireworks. The idea is to create a look “inspired” by the client’s favorite character, but to complement the client’s own natural beauty.

When I read about this service, my immediate thought was, “I have to do this!” Then, I started wondering if I really wanted to spend about $100 for a Tinker Bell makeover. After all, I am a grown-up and it does seem a bit extravagant for a few hours fun. I know the service is actually intended for adults, but I’m thinking that, at nearly 59 years old, I am even pushing the boundaries of “adult.” I also can’t imagine even my most Disney-obsessed friends joining me in the transformation and I’m not sure how much fun it would be by myself. Still, I can’t get the idea out of my head.

There is NO WAY I would schedule a character couture until the weather cools down. I don’t expect the makeover to last forever, but I would like to give my transformation a fighting chance of staying pixie-lated beyond the front door of the salon. With the current weather, make-up will melt immediately upon contact with the great outdoors. Pixie-dusted hair and humidity are also kind of mutually exclusive. While the weather is so not “happily ever after,” I have some time to contemplate whether or not I should really do this.

I started polling my friends to get their opinions. Most of my friends were puzzled that I would even ask since they figured an opportunity to channel the Pixie Princess has me written all over it. As I kind of suspected, they were all gung ho for me to do it, but none of them wanted to get in on a makeover of their own. They apparently want me to be the entertainment on a girl’s trip to Disney World. They all want to watch me get Tinkified and then go over to Magic Kingdom to visit the “real” Tinker Bell in Pixie Hollow.

I guess they want me to be the designated doofus to play dress up. I can live with that. What are friends for?

What do you think? Bop or not? Please share your perspective by leaving a comment. In the alternative, you can email me at terriretirement@gmail.com.

Have a glitterific day!

Terri/Dorry 🙂

REMEMBER: You can order your copy of Changing My Mind: Reinventing Myself In Retirement by visiting: https://secure.mybookorders.com/orderpage/2076

Note the Tinker Bell green! All it takes is faith, trust, and pixie dust!