The begin again.

I can’t believe that 2020 is halfway over. In many ways it feels like it never actually began, everything shut down and everyone sent home before it could really get fired up. 

I had two resolutions for 2020: make Mermaid Walking Boutique a profitable, sustainable business and finally upgrade my incredible fiancé to husband status. When making these resolutions I was pretty sure I had them both in the bag but for a couple months there—umm the entire first half of 2020 as all gatherings were banned—it wasn’t looking real good for either. You know that saying about God laughing at our plans?

But the world is starting to begin again.

Last month I was blessed to walk down a sandy aisle at my dream wedding to marry the man bigger than my dreams. Everything was perfect! Despite not even knowing if the wedding could happen until two weeks beforehand, beloved family and friends dropping out at the last minute (all completely understandable), and even loosing our wedding coordinator in the ninth inning since our wedding would defy limits, it was an overwhelming success. I might be a little biased but it was basically the greatest wedding of all time, ever! (*insert winking emoji but only so I don’t seem cocky—it was that good.)

Where am I going with this? Well, I’m hoping, despite this unpredictable year, I can still fulfill my second New Year’s resolution to get Mermaid Walking Boutique off the ground. I’m nervous that we’re already halfway through the year and I'm not as far along as I'd like... but I’ve learned some things from throwing a wedding in the midst of the world falling apart that are giving me hope.

1. I still have conflicting data over whether or not this MWB business model can successfully exist... But my wedding was like that, back and forth on the fence, until we were given the slightest green light, crammed in a bunch of work, and quite honestly just forced it to happen/exist.
2. I thought more people would "show up" to MermaidWalkingBoutique.com... But my wedding was like that, people reverting their RSVPs, but the people that did show up were what made it amazing. We didn’t need a ton of people, just a loyal, hearty, bad@ss few.
3. I feel like my ‘best laid plans’ for MWB at the beginning of 2020 all fell through... But my wedding was epic even without the wedding coordinator that helped make the first wedding plans more than a year ago. Maybe all those MWB plans fell through because I’m about to defy the limits, like my wedding.

Basically guys, 2020 is halfway over but still far from done. We're going into the second half and every sports fan knows anything can happen in the second half; you've got to play it even harder than the first. Sometimes a resolution goes through stages of feeling impossible, until you're literally waiting for the announcement to walk into your after party, whispering with your best friend, "Holy $hit we did it!" 

Thank you for sticking with me through the first half of 2020; buckle up for the second! This is the begin again. Despite 2020’s dumpster fire, my resolutions mean so much to me and I’m not leaving either of them undone. I’m rooting for you to attack yours despite any odds, too. Please feel invited to leave a comment on this blog post and let me know what you’re working towards in case I can help and surely to root you on.

Back to business,
Ali Joy XX

PS We have a Mermaid Walking Boutique Community facebook group full of  fiercely supportive bad@$$ women that we'd love for you to join if you want any help accomplishing your goals or just want some girl gang encouragement.