Swap Recap!

Part of the promotion for Your Weight in Gold's The Gold & The Beautiful included a feature in Time Out: Chicago. The girls and I were really excited for the exposure and opportunity to reach a larger audience + Andrew got to take the photos for it!



Unfortunately the copy they ran totally misrepresented us and our cause. They also printed a lot of misinformation about the name, details, and even the time? but... they've since apologized and ran a retraction, so I guess there's that. Nevertheless, this is the issue Rachel and I were in:


As for the swap itself, I spent the entire night sorting through thousands upon thousands of donated clothing items. Like, literally the entire night. We had about 200 ladies (maybe even more??) show up and we were completely whelmed by it. We never anticipated that kind of turnout and though it showed, I think the night was super successful. Everyone was so positive and just plain happy. People walked out with tons of new clothes that fit them and their bodies perfectly.

Rachel greeted our guests at the door while I sorted their clothes into our 4 size groups before going out to the main area for everyone to pick through. This was no small task. Thank GOD for the awesome ladies who helped me!! At certain points throughout the evening the pile of clothes to be sorted was taller than me. I'm 5'4".

I did break for the bathroom and to get some fresh air which allowed me to get some photos snapped with Rachel, Alithea and Jessica. I love them so much!! Lucy Hewett took some nice shots which you can check out on flickr.





After hours and hours of setting up, sorting, swapping, annnd cleaning up I was...

DEAD TIRED.
It was such a great experience and though we've had some negative feedback, I'm extremely proud of what the four of us accomplished in a single month's time. I've never seen so many happy fat women in the same room enjoying themselves and celebrating their bodies, all while making new friends and finding clothes they really love. It still makes me smile when I think about it...

Do you know what today is?

Tony! Toni! Toné! does...


I woke up a text reading "I love you in a special way" + a link to that video. Andrew is the best (obviously)! We've been together for 4 whole years! I love him to pieces.
♥

Extreme Weather

For those of you who live under a rock, or say, Florida, we've been experiencing some EXTREME weather in the world. Chicago got hit by its third largest blizzard and I loved every minute of it. Thankfully we didn't lose power or anything. Walking the dogs was a bit hellish during the actual storm but the day after was AWESOME.





Everyone in Chicago had the day off work because the streets were packed with 20" of super fun times. I was really excited to finally put my hat to good use while playing outside. Muscles LOVED the snow and Princess just looked adorable hopping around in her old age.



After every walk Muscles came in COVERED IN SNOW BALLS! SO creepy cute.

The worst part of the whole ordeal was our crappy back door's inability to keep the snow out. The wind was FIERCE so we had to clean up snow inside our apartment!


It's still snowing & I'm in love with it. It's going to snow tomorrow too! Oh, Chicago ♥

Crocheted Things

My life has totally become one giant crochet party because of winter. Our neighbor David, also known as Torch, saw Andrew throw his cowl on over his head during an excessively cold day. He proclaimed its likeness to "a squirrel being wrapped around his neck" and asked me to make him one! I loved the way he put it, so of course I tweeted about it (duh!) and the wonderful Lexy at BeautyFash requested one too!
She very sweetly blogged about the cowl here; you have to check out her adorable photos + matching nail polish (I love it!!). Once I sent Lexy's cowl off, I focused on making a headband inspired by this ASOS one Lunatepetal tweeted about:

Mine isn't as big, or cream OR KNITTED (obviously), but it's one of the first things I've made my own pattern for which means I'm super excited about it. It's nice and chunky, stretchy, and super warm; in other words, it's perfect.



Want to make one? No problem! I used the trinity stitch to make the headband so if my instructions are unclear just check out one of the many tutorials online, or leave a comment and I'll try to help! **Edit: I forgot to say what size hook! J HOOK!**

Band
Ch 14
R1: SC in 2nd Ch from hook, *insert hook in same st, YO and pull through, (insert hook in next Ch, YO and pull through) twice, YO and pull through 4 loops, Ch 1*; repeat from * across row.
R2: Ch 1, SC in 1st st, *insert hook in same st, YO and pull through, (insert hook in next Ch, YO and pull through) twice, YO and pull through 4 loops, Ch 1*; repeat from * across row.
Repeat R2 until it wraps comfortably around your head. Mine is 50 rows long (but I have a big head). Fasten off and sew seam.

Smaller Band
Ch 8
R1: SC in 2nd Ch from hook, *insert hook in same st, YO and pull through, (insert hook in next Ch, YO and pull through) twice, YO and pull through 4 loops, Ch 1*; repeat from * across row.
R2: Ch 1, SC in 1st st, *insert hook in same st, YO and pull through, (insert hook in next Ch, YO and pull through) twice, YO and pull through 4 loops, Ch 1*; repeat from * across row.
R3-14: Repeat R2.
Fasten off, wrap around the band and sew seam so that it sinches like the photo!

I also made a hat using this pattern from HeadHuggers.org! I think the highlighter yellow/lime color totally makes it:


Reminds me of a latex swimming cap!

I never wear headbands or hats because I don't usually like the way I look in them and they tend to give me headaches (as evidenced by my silly sideways faces (just wearing them for the photos kind of hurt)). But seeing as how the weather's been below zero lately, I figured it's probably time I be an adult and get over myself. Oh, yeah... Did I forget to mention my new bangin' tattoo?? Check out that sweet faux bois crochet hook!!
♥ Hooker Pride ♥