What to wear while vacationing in paris?

Q. I am a 40-something woman travelling to Paris (pleasure, not business) for the first time in her life. I hear so much about how Parisian women dress and how sloppy appearances are frowned upon. and that Americans can stand out like sore thumbs. What are the so-called sore thumbs? What are the absolute no-no's? What are good basics to have on hand?

help!

A. i worked in a canadian motel before. in my 3 years there, i have found that americans can be the best and the worst clients. canadians go about generally unnoticed minding their own business. quebecois like to tell most outrageous stories, but i never beleive them. europeans/americans are the best conversationalists. you can get a cool chat out of a canadian but you have to work on it. they are more reserved.

some of the best and worst memories of that job are still dealing with you guys. do not be loud and obnoxious. do not demand attention at all times. do not act like you know everything, respect their culture. many americans do, many do not. be one of those courteous americans that i liked as a guest. unfortunatly there is some prejudice, but you could always pass as canadian.

that covers the major no-nos, and now onto the clothes. do you honestly feel that the french care enough to play fashion police? besides, its a city of over 2million, with a 10 million metropolis. dress as you would for work where you have to make yourself publically presentable.you could always pull off the pants/and blouse look. if youre fit, even jeans. keep everything neat. see, you answered your own question. wash and iron your clothes.

leave your baggy hoodies, sagged t-shirts, track pants at hone. bring a nice causual dress. you could always watch some french tv, pick up some fashion tips and learn a bit of the language.

How often should one dry clean work clothes?

Q. Much to my annoyance, most of my work clothes (suits, pants, etc.) must be dry cleaned. How often should they be dry cleaned? How often is too often? The work I do is mostly office work, so it's not like I'm outside playing in the dirt.

A. If you take them off and sponge them down with a damp (not wet) lint-free cloth and air them overnight before returning to closet, you can get multiple wears out of them. You can buy a steamer, which also helps to cleanse the garment as well as eliminate wrinkles.
I generally dry clean twice a year- my winter clothes in spring and my summer clother in late fall. I bring them to a cleaner that does bulk dry-cleaning- by the pound. I have to drive 25 miles but it's worth it. I call two days before and find out how much it costs me and it's never been more than $40.
You should be able to get a dozen or so wears from some garments before cleaning with chemicals. Other more fragile fabrics may need more pampering. Choose sturdier clothes to save money in the long run.
While the data is not definitive because of too many variables, it is well-documented that affluent women have higher rates of breast cancer, and common factors in their case histories include clothes that are frequently dry-cleaned and employing lawn companies tha use chemical pesticides. So you want sturdy items that can hold up to multiple use.
I tend to wear cotton or cotton-blend, or washable woolen tops under my suits. That way, the washable fabrics are absorbing the sweat and odors from my body and environment. You can do the same with cotton sleeveless undies (commonly referred to as "wifebeaters" tho I hate that term.).
Dry-clean as seldom as you can by keeping things aired, steamed and spot-cleaned. Dry clean when they smell of body odor or smoke or other things you don't want, or if they are stained.
Good question, thanks for making me think about how I do this.:)

How can a woman start a farming business?

Q. I know there are business loans and grants for women. How do I go about applying for these? I would like any and all information yall have for me! Thanks :)

A. ! I'm not laughing AT you, I'm laughing at the notion that these business loans and grants actually exist (for the common person).

I am a white woman, and I'm handicapped. Two points for me, being both female, and handicapped (low income too!).

I've known I wanted to be a farmer since I was a six year old girl, so no kidding, I've been learning about farming since I was six. I'm in my 40's now.

Business loans, grants? What was my experience? OK, so I bootstrapped my meat goat business for 10 years, with it growing by more than 100% ever single year!!! Wasn't good enough. I hadn't filed for a farm tax I.D. number, because I was still putting every penny back into the farm, not bringing in an income of any kind. It was all being rolled back in for fencing, shelters, troughs, minerals, hay, ect.

Without a profit, you are not allowed to file taxes on a farm for more than two years in a row. Since I couldn't show a profit, I wasn't filing for the farm tax I.D. number, since I didn't want the IRS to declare my farm ineligible.

Without that tax I.D. number I my 10 years of experience didn't qualify for a hill of beans. I had records and receipts of every purchase, every improvement, every goat born, when it was sold, how much it sold for. My records were beautiful.

Do you want to know how to get a farm business loan, or a grant? Be from a multi generational farming family (with a tax I.D. number), be a handicapped black woman of Native American decent, and own enough assets, and have enough money in the bank to prove you DON'T NEED THE LOAN OR GRANT. Then you'll be approved in a heartbeat. Or you can be an illegal alien, that would help a great deal as well (no, I'm actually not kidding).

Also know that there are lots and lots of grants out there to "help" small farmers, as long as the money paid to the small farmer goes to educate people in inner cities how to eat better, and purchase/cook wholesome, healthy foods. The money MAY NOT be used for ANY permanent improvements on the farm. Zip, zero, nadda. So you could use the money to purchase seeds, to plant a truck garden, and sell that produce in the inner city, as long as you were also providing educational material to folks about how healthy the food was, or how to cook it, but you couldn't use a penny of the money to build a fence to keep the rabbits from coming to eat the vegetables.

The loans and grants are designed to force farmers to help other people, not themselves. Farmers are rich, didn't you know that? We can afford to to anything, we have so much money.

I'm sure you think I'm being rude, or mean, but I'm not. I'm being honest with you. Now if you'll excuse me, this rich farmer has to get back to patching more jeans, and winter coats so we'll have clothes to wear this winter.

~Garnet
Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years
Raising meat goats since 1999

P.S. If you want to farm, you'll have to do it yourself. I started with just three goats.