Did You See My Derby Hat?

It's almost sick how darn proud I am of this hat.

Today and tomorrow, I am participating in a business expo through the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce at Arlington Park. It's Arlington Heights Community Days at the track and also the weekend of the Kentucky Derby.

We were strongly encouraged to decorate our space in a horse and/or Derby theme. I sell Mary Kay. It's not exactly a business that easily lends itself to all things equine. All week I have stressed about how I was going to get into the Derby spirit short of drinking Mint Juleps since breakfast, which I decided was not the way to go.

Luckily, I remembered that Mary Kay has always had roses as one of its symbols and the horses at the Derby "run for the roses." I also remembered that Derby Hats and femininity are all the rage at the Kentucky Derby, and Mary Kay is nothing if not feminine. So I would have roses on the table and wear a festive Derby Hat.

Since I'm not a hat person, I did not want to spend any money on this hat, if possible. So I started my search for a Derby Hat on Freecycle where I came up empty handed and also hit the thrift stores. After many fruitless visits to local thrift stores, I remembered that the Salvation Army was opening a new resale shop in Arlington Heights on Friday. At 11:00 on Friday, I walked into the Salvation Army store and 15 minutes later, I walked out with what would become the perfect Derby Hat for $4. All it needed was some easy embellishments that would come in the form of a hot pink feather boa that I already had, which I'm sure is of no surprise to anyone.

The result is the hat I'm wearing below. The best part was that all day today, many people, including women in much more expensive and fancier hats than mine, stopped to tell me how much they loved my hat!

David Becker (Fast Signs of Arlington Heights), Me, and Aaron Wahl (The Wahls of Wellness)

Me and my Mary Kay teammate Joy Carman