At least the website is up and running, although not live or advertised yet, with links to all of the resources I could find. It took me weeks and so much research to do it, but I’m very happy with how it turned out. The main page is easy to navigate, the aesthetic is bright and simple, and the menu of resources is fairly extensive. All of the marketing and aesthetics from the website are going to translate here. I’ve had a logo made up that will be made into a sign out front, the same as it sits in pride of place on the website. The crisp color scheme of white, baby blue, and dove grey on the website is going to be mirrored here with the colored accents against a white backdrop.
Fresh Start Initiatives, Inc. is going to hopefully help so many women like me.
The money situation is becoming more and more solid. My diner paychecks and big tips have helped tremendously, but getting approved for the grant from our municipality has been the biggest win in hitting the ground running to get this brick and mortar place ready. There have also been a lot of tremendously generous donations from people who have connected with the non-profit through social media.
Right now, I’m overwhelmed as I stare at a space strewn with boxes of career advice pamphlets, sample resumes, canned and shelf stable food donations, and clothes. Gage, Carlo, and Carlo’s youngest sister Anita file in after me as I hold the door for them, each of them laden with a box.
Anita is a fashion designer who just released her own line in collaboration with the boutique she works in. Shelooks every bit the part in her mauve boatneck cashmere sweater, skinny black pants, and kitten heel mules. Her long dark hair is slicked back in a high ponytail. When Carlo told her about my non-profit, she immediately and wonderfully said she would donate a ton of her designs for the cause. Since Tania is becoming closer and closer to Carlo’s family, she’s brought me into the fold, too.
I had told her today is completely casual and comfortable, so I was flabbergasted when I picked her up earlier and saw what she’s wearing.
“Sweetie, this is comfy and casual for me,” she said with a wink.
“It’s true,” Carlo groaned from next to her in the back seat. “She thinks yoga pants should be illegal.”
“Not illegal,” she protested. “I just don’t like how I look in them at all,” she went on with a sniff.
I could do nothing but shake my head and laugh.
“Love you anyway, even if you hate my yoga pants,” I had teased her, like an older sister would normally tease a younger sister. She’s just a couple of years younger than me. Getting closer to her and the rest of the women in our friend group has been a whole new experience that I’m cherishing.
Me, Tania, Lyra, Gina, Lucia, Anita, Rosa, and Daniella made quite the posse at the eighties themed club just north of us when we all went out for a girls night a couple of days ago. Dressed in neon colors with big bows and fingerless gloves, drinking fishbowl cosmos, dancing our asses off to Madonna, it was girlhood at its finest.
“We’re all going to be sisters!” we’d shouted in unison, arms around each other in a joyful huddle.
It’s true, too. Lyra has all but been officially adopted by the crew through Taran being Carlo’s best friend, Ginais basically Lyra’s sister, Tania is very likely going to become their official sister-in-law, which then brings me into the family. If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be gaining six sisters, and three brothers in Wayne, Carlo, and Taran, I would have laughed my ass off in their face. I’ve not only found the most incredible husband in Gage, but I’ve also gained the big, loving family I’ve always craved. My bio parents may not have chosen me, but these people have. This tight knit crew made up of both blood and found family has welcomed me as if they’ve known me forever, and it means absolutely everything.
The sounds of Carlo and Anita bickering bring me back to the present.
“You can’t just hang the clothes all willy nilly, they need to be sorted by season and color,” Anita is hissing at him, grabbing a few blazers and dresses off of the rack and putting them where she wants them.
“I just want to get them out of the boxes so that they don’t wrinkle too much, you can sort them,” Carlo protests.
The dynamic between the two youngest Hernandez siblings is actually hilarious, and I kind of love it. It’s the loving bickering that is so different from the screaming matches and brawls I knew growing up.
“I’ll get them sorted, you two have done so much already,” I intervene. Anita waves me off and begins hanging things the way she sees fit. Her self-satisfied nod at her work when it’s all to her liking makes me chuckle, I love her passion for clothes.
We all start going through boxes, and putting together the few items of furniture I’ve bought so far. After a couple of hours, we order sandwiches from the place two doors down in the little shopping center we’re in. It fuels us to keep unpacking and sorting as much as we can. Gage andCarlo put together so many shelves in so little time that I’m dumbstruck.
By the time we’re ready to leave, Anita has all of the clothes sorted beautifully on the racks she brought in, the food area is looking like a lovely and well stocked pantry full of cans and other shelf stable items, and the career services area has a table chock full of material. It’s fantastic progress. This dream of mine is taking shape into an absolutely beautiful reality, and it’s all thanks to these wonderful people who treat me like family.
Gage and I decide to go on a dinner date to celebrate making a lot of progress at the non-profit today. He checks in with Iggy about how the bar is looking, getting a glowing report back. It’s been so nice that Gage is able to step back from the day to day running of the bar as the owner, he’s around much more at home.
“I’m learning from my dad’s mistakes and finding balance,” he told me proudly one night when I remarked on it. I love that for him, and it helps that the bar is in fantastic hands. Between Iggy and Diana, things have been running like a well oiled machine. He still works a ton, but it’s more in his home office, and not as much as when we first started living together.
We shower together to wash off the work we did today before our date, taking our time scrubbing each other’s hair and bodies with lingering touches. He watches avidly as I put on some makeup and blowout my hair in my underwear before slipping his arms around me and kissing my neck.
“You are the most beautiful woman on this planet, and I can’t believe you’re my wife,” he murmurs before sucking on my neck a little.
“Keep talking like that and we will not make it out thedoor for our date, and I really want that paella,” I breathe, turning to give him a kiss.
He chuckles.
“We’ll go get the paella, but I’m saving room to have dessert when we get home,” he croons, and I feel his smile on my neck as he buries his face there.
“Deal,” I laugh, shivers dancing down my spine at the wicked promise in his voice.
“How are you feeling now? Any pain?” he asks with a concerned knit to his brow, because he knows I’m about to be on my period.
