Last Wednesday was one of those magical evenings that just kind of came together and could only be described as kismet. After forwarding a half-glanced over mid-week email to my girls from DC Scout...I circled back around to it only after a sangria-induced early evening slumber that had me waking up in the wee hours of the next morning. The sleep was great but the sangria the night before with my girls was even better. :-)
But back to the matter at hand----I generally only glance over the emails from DC Scout--but after last night that will all change FOREVER! I had always assumed from the last few half-glances that many of the events posted on DC Scout (Washington Post) were boutiquey exorbitantly expensive affairs---au contraire! The admission last night was a mere 10 smackers (after a twitter-tip for the 50%off discount) and only after I had purchased my ticket...not being able to pay for anyone else's ticket or knowing that any of my friends would actually be up or interested in going...only after buying my ticket did I find a tweet related to the Swap---a Twitter account (@dcgf aka the DC Goodwill Fashionista, please follow her!) that promised a free pair of tickets to the swap for simply retweeting the information---it only took a simple mouse click so I thought--'Why not.' And with that the cosmic kismet ball was set into motion.
After a long day at work, on my feet, countless customer service issues and a newly acquired aversion to Starbucks I went in search of dinner---but to no avail...my day was NOT looking good until I checked Twitter only to be told that I had won the tickets to the swap! I was #siced (DC slang) to say the least. My day WAS beginning to look up although it was almost over. After a quick call to my girl Sakinah Mae at least one of my comps was spoken for.
That very moment and several more like it remind me of how we all have very different friends for a variety of reasons...I have club night friends who are often VERY different from my chill time, walking around Georgetown on my day off friends. You get the idea, but saying all this to say, the friends I thrift with or who I like to thrift with...I couldn't get ahold of a single one of them...but I knew to hold off on promising the ticket to a complete and total stranger over Twitter, because I knew good and well my roommate, Kham would KILL me....but dammit if she wasn't answering her phone! So with that I headed home and started preparing my belongings, gathering up sweaters, dresses many still with the tags still on them...Sorry Mommy! There were many more things that I had always been meaning to consign but I am STILL in search of the best spot...
I tried to plan out my Thursday evening as best I could---I would be covering a different store the next day, in a mall I had never been to, managing staff I had never met. I knew I could do it but that didn't mean that it wasn't a daunting thought at the very least. And after a rocky start my day picked up when Kham finally got back to me and just as I had thought---she promised bodily harm if I had given away HER ticket. She had already claimed if after retrieving my repeated voicemails from the night before. #ParForTheCourse
I hightailed it from Springfield to Clarendon and met up with Kham and Sakinah Mae and headed over to the Swapaholics shindig at the beautiful Clarendon Ballroom...As far as first impressions go I was struck by how many people were in attendance! And I could definitely tell that these women were pros! They had those freakishly monstrous Ikea shopping bags...(SMART, SMART women). I did heed a few of the Swapaholics' tips for instance, dress in layers...I wore my shapewear bottoms so that I could try on pants, skirts and dresses alike without the fear of flashing everyone and exposing where I work and what I do for a living.
Me with Amy Chase, co-founder of The Swapaholics and one of our hostesses for the evening.
Sakinah Mae
Sister Swappers
I was pleasantly surprised to see so many other black women! :-) It made me very happy actually!
Found it a little odd that food and beverages would be served at an event where speed, agility and discernment were key...just a thought! LOL. Soooo you meant to tell me that you're serving food that might fatten us up and slow us down and wine and drinks that might put us down for the count? ;-) CLEVERRRR!
Early on I was identified as the woman to get ahead of --- one woman told me that I looked like I meant BUSINESS and that she would be jockeying to get as close to me as possible. We were similarly sized and she said she liked my style. I took both as a compliment.
Kham, Sakinah and I were asked to volunteer and got a sneak peek! We sorted pants, denim, skirts, dresses and accessories. Oh what fun!
When everything started we didn't even have to push, pull, tug or shove to get what we wanted, everyone was surprisingly and pleasantly calm, clearheaded and rational! Kham and I found some steals and even a few nice things for Sakinah who was CONVINCED that she wouldn't be able to find a THING in her size..FALSE! We found SEVERAL nice things and even a few things for her sister!
Early in the swap, Kham ran over to show me a dress she had scored that she was in love with. "Hey Vicki! Check this out! Don't you just love it?" My response? "I brought that dress! LOL" To which Kham responded, "The hell?! You mean I coulda just gone in your closet and gotten this? You coulda saved us both some time and just given this to me weeks ago!" LOL.
LOVED this burnt orange dress! And it was my size!
But the lucky lady who scored it already had plans to cut
it down to fit herself :-/
That's what friends are for :-)
She was WORKIN' this jacket, honey!
This mother/daughter team meant business!
Never got their names but these two friends found the MOST AMAZING pieces!
They took NO prisoners and walked away with dresses, shoes and purses that were
TO DIE FOR! And they were both just so doggone ADORABLE! :-)
"Try on this dress, Sakinah Mae" *in my best Ike Turner voice* LOL
Kham LOVED this dress, but we weren't quite sure...
How CUTE is this blue on Sakinah? As soon as we chop off the bottom...
U Street here we come!
Kham, "the Negotiator" trying her best to swipe a bag from another swapper,
she's also a fellow blogger, I'll have to find her info and post it. Although
Kham never got that bag, we did get the name of some great vintage and
consignment shops from her!
This red dress fit her so well! Kham was sick about it,
but we were all in agreement that this dress was made for her!
(photo courtesy of Sew Frugal and Fashionable)
Cute pic, but those shoes?...
Not gonna work! LOL
Kham, or "The Negotiator" as I like to call her was in RARE form last night, she tried her very best to pry a nice tweed-like work purse from a very nice girl who despite Kham's best efforts WASN'T having it. LOL. I'll give my girl an A for effort though because she really did try. Bless her heart! :-) But in the end she ended up getting the best prize of all---a door prize of $50 to go shopping at the Goodwill store of her choice! Lucky Duck! I told her as the one who provided her with the ticket for the evening a 20% finders fee was in order---and I was only half joking ;-)
It's door prize tiiiiime!
Us with @Lisatella
All in all, the evening was a success I was so inspired after meeting so many other bloggers, artists, fashionistas, up-and-coming saleswomen and entrepreneurs. My girls and I had so much fun that we might try and set up our own swap sometime soon! Be on the lookout!
