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Clothing Exchange

I have a really bad habit of saying I’m gonna do something “tomorrow”. Now I’m not as bad as Scarlett O’Hara, but I still have a long list of procrastinations. That list includes:

-getting my abs as fit as that girl on my workout video

-doing all the crafts I have stored on my Pinterest board.

(While we’re at it, let’s add organizing my Pinterest boards. Ha!)

-become fluent in Spanish

-stop eating so much sugar…I’m addicted!!!

-read all my magazines (they’re piling up!)

–host a “favorites party” 🙂

As ridiculous as procrastinating some of these things are, one thing I never put off is hosting a clothing exchange with my friends.

Once or twice a year, I call up my friends and they gather all of their clothes/shoes/accessories that they don’t want or use anymore and head over to my house, where we “exchange” (duh) our clothes. This is the best and cheapest way to recycle and get new items to add to your wardrobe.

You can get very technical and gather & organize the items ahead of time, but my friends and I are such busy people that we throw it together last minute and it always works out.

Plus, my friends and I aren’t anywhere near the same sizes, but I always walk away with something new and am so pleased to be able to give new life to some of my “old” clothes and see the joy it brings my friends.

Here’s some steps to organize a clothing exchange:

1. Call/Text/Email your friends to set a date.

2. Go through your clothes and take out anything that doesn’t fit perfectly or you haven’t worn in awhile.

3. Set your clothes out in any fashion that your friends can see it. (We only have about five people involved in our clothing exchanges, so we just take turns pulling our stuff out of our bags and we shout/raise our hands if we’re interested in it.)

4. Try it on to make sure it fits.

5. Flip a coin/barter off your first born/duke it out if two people want the same item.

6. Offer snacks. (Food should be involved in every life event because it just makes everything better.)

7. When you’re finished, gather everything left over and drive it over to Goodwill and do some shopping.

8. Enjoy your new wardrobe items and tell everyone how “green” you are. 😉

Happy Friday!

Acceptance

When I was younger, these dolls were banned from my house. My dad was afraid that I would develop an eating disorder and body issues. I mean, look at them…they are perfect. Each one has long, glossy hair, perfect boobs, a tiny waist, curvy hips with a tight butt and incredibly slender legs. Who wouldn’t be jealous of their bodies, even if they are practically impossible to attain and simply unreal?

So instead I played with…

And who knows if it was the absence of a perfect standard to live up to (Thank you, Dad, for your incredible foresight.) or just by sheer luck, but I have come through life with an amazing amount of self-confidence.

Don’t get me wrong…there have definitely been times that I wasn’t too happy with my body. When an 8th grader wakes up one morning and all of a sudden has birthing hips and is forced to shop in the women’s section, where her only options are pleated pants, life isn’t too optimistic.

But I have grown and changed and thankfully there are A LOT more clothing options for curvy women. It makes me so sad to hear women, especially my friends, say cruel things about themselves. Especially since these things are grossly untrue. My friends are GORGEOUS! But they complain about their boobs being too small/butts too big/cellulite/arms too flabby/no jawline/torso too short or too long/legs too short, etc.

Let’s put a stop to this. Let’s celebrate who we are and what we like about ourselves. I encourage you to write down three things (or more) that you like about your body. For me, I wrote:

1. I like my strong, runner calves.

2. I love my hair.

3. I love my freckles.

Force yourself to see the positive and hopefully this will change our views on ourselves. Because, let’s face it, none of us are Barbie, but we are ALL beautiful in our own special ways. 🙂