The Polish Cafe

THE MOTHER'S DAY BLOWOUT CONTINUES...

MOTHER'S DAY BLOW OUT!!!

Just in time for Mother's day!!! I'm liquidating a lot of my Chloe and Isabel pieces and they are priced to MOVE!!! Only initial earrings left are pictured. Doing porch pickups. A few more pieces to come, but here's the first wave...

As promised at the end of my last Polish Café post in January, here is one final post from my Polish Café page with a link to the FB page of my new business, Scribble Savvy Calligraphy. I'd like to extend an invitation to all to visit my new page- even though there's not much there...yet. I'd be honored if you were so inclined to like and follow Scribble Savvy if you have any interest in pics and posts that highlight my calligraphy freelance work, my student's progress, and learning opportunities for YOU! If that's just not your jam, that's ok, too. Let me take this last opportunity to also thank the 628 people who have liked THIS page and the 573 who have found it interesting enough to have followed it. I cannot thank you enough!!! It's been super fun serving so many of you and entertaining many others with pictures and silly comments about clients and some of the crazy manicures that have walked in and out of my door (you know who you are). Simply put, my clients and supporters were the absolute BEST! EVER. Miss you all and thanks for the amazing memories I will carry with me FOREVER!!!

But please, come see me at my new page, if you will and let's stay in touch!

https://www.facebook.com/Scribble-Savvy-Calligraphy-106122354362165/

www.facebook.com

Happy New Year, Polish Café followers (a day late)! If you feel so inclined, I would appreciate if you would take the time to read this lengthy post, as it will be among my last on my Polish Café page. Many of you know my story, but there are many who do not. For time’s sake, I will simply summarize. Polish Café was birthed from a crisis. Often time crises become the impetus of major life change, and so it was for me. My marriage was ending, and as a result, my status of stay at home mom would soon be changing as well. I had been a licensed technician and industry educator for many years, but I made the decision to lay aside my ambitions as a technician, entrepreneur, and educator shortly after giving birth to my daughter, Sylvie. Years later, when my personal life began to crumble, I blew the dust off of my manicuring license, rolled up my sleeves, and took a job at the Ritz Carlton Spa in Tysons. Maybe two months after my hire, I realized would never have the time and flexibility to be there for my daughter as a single mom while working for someone else and commuting all the way to McLean. Not long after that realization, I envisioned, and then established Polish Café. It took me almost a year of working both at the Ritz spa and my home based nail business before I had acquired enough clients to rely on Polish Café income alone. That was a memorable and profoundly joyful day for me, clocking out at the Ritz for the very last time!

Polish Café began at a time when my world was crashing down around me. It was the summer of 2011, and I was scared. I journaled often at the time and remember God spoke to me on many occasions over the years concerning my newly founded business. Since I’ve begun transitioning into a new career and closing this chapter, I thought I’d share a couple entries I wrote long ago regarding Polish Café.

On September 3, 2011, God said to me:

“Keep seeking, keep growing, Lisa. You need not fear what man can do to you. Fear Me and I will contend with those who contend with you. Fear Me and I will bless your obedience. Fear Me and I will guide your steps, make you wise, and bring you joy and fulfillment.
Fear Me.
Love Me.
Follow Me.
Concerning Polish Café:
Proverbs 16:3 Commit your work to Me and then your plans will succeed.”

God was faithful to make Polish Café a success. Thanks to all of you who supported my small business over the years, I maintained a full schedule of meaningful work, the flexibility to spend quality time with my daughter, and even the ability to keep our home. I have been in business almost 9 years now. I will never be able to sufficiently thank all of you who were a part of sustaining me and my family. My view of my profession may surprise you. It was only my partial goal for you to leave my shop a bit more put together than you were when you walked through the door. The whole of my objective involved more than vain aesthetics. In many ways I viewed my work as a ministry. I also wanted clients to leave feeling lighter. Encouraged. Loved. We laughed together, and Lord knows how many boxes of tissues we went through together in 9 years. Should've bought stock in Kleenex. You will never know how many prayers were being sent up, even while I held your hands and filed your nails, or how many were sent up long after you left my chair. I witnessed hearts broken, babies born, loved ones lost, long awaited engagements, joyful marriages, painful separations and divorces, first days of kindergarten, graduations, nests empty, advanced degrees earned, promotions, layoffs, and glorious retirements. I rejoiced when you rejoiced and mourned when you mourned. I know your husbands, your children, your families, your hopes, your dreams, your heartaches, your fears, your skeletons… and many of you know mine. There is a special bond that is made when you hold someone’s hand across the table week after week for years at a time. I felt honored and trusted that you shared some of the things you shared with me.

This one was not dated, but here is another little something I wrote at some point in the history of Polish Café:

“Polish Café continues to grow and God is blessing me and using me in amazing ways now to touch the lives of my clients. I am beginning to see my manicuring services as only a cover for what I am really called to do, which is reaching the lost with the gospel of grace and exhorting fellow believers. They leave with the added bonus of having beautiful nails and I in turn have a way to pall the bills, but my real work has nothing to do with finger and toenails. God is giving me opportunities every day to pour into the lives and nourish the women He is bringing through my door. I am humbled and amazed that He would choose to use me…sinful, broken ME to minister to others. How ill equipped I feel most days, but it is always He who gives me His words of encouragement. It’s pretty neat to see what He can do through us when we simply give Him full reign over our lives.”

I was blessed to have 25 years in this career, but God has made it clear it is time to sunset this business that took much prayer, blood, sweat, and tears to build, aaaaaaand start all over. It is exciting and scary, but if God is calling, I have learned over the years it’s probably best we listen when He does. I have had a passion for art, specifically calligraphy, for as long as I can remember. I never really thought I would be able to make a living in fine art. The term “starving artist” doesn’t come from nowhere, you know. But because over the years this flicker of hope to pursue art has not yet been snuffed out, I felt led (surprisingly through the encouragement of many of YOU) that now is the time for me to begin laying down one career to chase my lifelong dream of becoming an artist. The older I get, the more I realize I have a finite number of years left to do and become what my heart desires before my brief time on this earth is over. I agonized about making the transition for so long now. How to do it? When to do it? For some, I feel certain the email I sent out to clients several days ago was a less than satisfying way to end a relationship of many years. But I finally had peace that the time was right for me now and that I needed to go ahead and move forward. I sincerely apologize to all of you who felt cheated the courtesy of a conversation in person, but the decision was actually made not long before you received your letter, and truthfully, I didn’t think I could emotionally handle having that face to face conversation over and over again for 2 weeks straight. I hope you will extend grace if you felt I didn’t value you or step down as your manicurist in a manner you deemed appropriate. I assure you, you are greatly valued. This has been more difficult and painful than I could have even imagined, and I knew it wouldn’t be easy. Many tears have been shed and hours of sleep lost over the thought of not doing your nails anymore. Sounds silly, right? Yes. But, no.

May I end with THANK YOU to my community of long and short time faithful clients who have not only been clients, but also supportive friends. Over the past 9 years, I have had the pleasure of serving a little over 600 men and women at either my nail station or in my pedicure chair. I know all most of your favorite colors, your weird rules concerning shimmer, repeating shades, additive usage, nail art, matching fingers and toes (or not), balancing accent nails, and wearing certain shades before certain times of the year. Eye yie yie!!! Some of you are just straight up weirdos and it’s maybe those I will miss the most (not naming names, but you know who you are)! I owe my success first to the faithful God I love and serve and then to each of you who believed in me and trusted me to take care of your hands, feet, and hopefully your hearts over the years. I am grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to serve so many of you and a better person from our time together. You have each made my life a little bit richer. It’s not truly ending because I am taking a part of each of you with me!


If any of you are interested in following my new career, keep your eyes peeled for a final post directing you to my new FB page for Scribble Savvy once I get around to creating it. My Instagram account, , is currently up and running, which several of you have already found. I will be offering classes in calligraphy for all levels and ages, as well as freelance work, and addressing envelopes for special occasions, such as weddings. This summer, Sylvie and I plan to team teach small group calligraphy workshops for kids, so stay tuned for more details. If you are actually still reading this crazy long post, thank you for your time. God richly bless you and your family as we enter into a brand new year. In 2020, may you experience peace, joy, health and the courage to follow your passion and calling in life!

Raquel. Party of 1!!!

Guess I'm allowed to post this now...