Official National Swap Day recovery post

Phew! I'm still reeling over the photos, tweets, etc. etc. from Saturday. There's a survey available for those of you who attended, as it's always good to learn from this experience for the next swap that I hope to plan. If you haven't received an e-mail through EventBrite with the survey information, drop me a line and I'll pass it on.

So far, it looks like we'll be working on the following for the next swap: Having more space, more racks and hangers, and a little more time to sort so that everyone can see what's up for grabs and find the best steals for them.

At the same time, I have to give kudos to the women who had eternal patience during the event. I hope it paid off for all of you!

If you want to take a peek into some of our attendees closets.....
InDCFashion got some work clothes
Jen made some new friends
Think & Grow Chick shares her new designer items
Bibliomomia really made out, and provides an informative how-to

Daisy shows off what she got while volunteering
Volunteer Kaarin has a video and pics
Nicole came by to take some photos, which are on The Feast
Meg writes about her experience

If you blogged about the day or posted pictures of your new outfits, please share!

It wouldn't have been a success without our tireless volunteers, so here's how to get in touch with some of the Swap Day ladies you may have met (they are very connected ladies):
Jackie (Nana!)
@NicoleinDC
@Nici
Daisy/Lanyapi Designs
Kaarin/Closet Caucus

And really, this all came about because of the ladies of Swap.com. Amy and Melissa, originally of The Swapaholics, provided an amazing amount of support, ideas, and calming words.


Oh and hey guys. I made a movie.



See you at the next swap!

♥

#SwapDay photos (full recap to come)

First things first: Thank you to everyone who supported the Exchange Your Ways swap this weekend, especially these ladies who are huge champions of sorting and organizing:

Jacki, Nicole, Nicole, Lori, Katherine, Kaarin, Daisy, and Jackie--you ladies are amazing!

Swap attendee Lily sent along a few photos, including the one above and this one of me looking completely spent:

Until I can get a full recap up, please enjoy these photos taken with my iPhone throughout the day.

Exchange Your Ways is two days away!

If the bags of clothing and shoes stacked up in my bedroom are any indication, the swap on Saturday is going to be a pretty great celebration of the first-ever National Swap Day.

If you already have your tickets, here are a few reminders about how to get the most out of the swap:

-Nana's new location doesn't have fitting rooms built yet. It may behoove you to dress in layers (with leggings and a t-shirt at the most inner layer) so you can try things on in the middle of the store.

-It's every swapper for herself this time around, which means....no coat rack. We understand that bulky winter gear is expected, so here's a potential solution: You're bringing a big reuseable bag anyway to be able to cart off your swap haul, right? Once you get into the store, cram your bag and coat into that bag and try not to whack anyone with it.

-All the leftovers will be picked up by Goodwill of Greater Washington. If you have additional bags of clothing, shoes or accessories that aren't particularly swap-worthy, feel free to bring them and we'll stick 'em in our donation bins for Goodwill.

-If you have a question during the swap, look for a volunteer wearing an orange tag. They're on hand to help!

-Remember to fuel up! There's a great selection of food and drink in the Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights area, so make plans to grab lunch between drop-off and swappage. New Columbia Heights has a reader-developed map of Columbia Heights eateries that's worth a peek. On the west side of 16th St., QL recommends the following locations:

-Dos Gringos (Coffee for a buck all day! Just ask for it!)
-Haydee's (We'll have coupons for each and every one of you)
-Tonic (Brunch!)
-Ercilia's (Pupusas!)
-Mayflower (Fortune cookies!)

Okay that's all I got. If you want to recommend any other eateries, coffee shops, or places you can drink before noon, leave 'em in the comments.

See you Saturday! :)

♥

You're Invited: National Swap Day swap at Nana

If you're anything like me, you got some new clothes over the holidays and now...well, your closet is feeling the pressure. Take a load off by cleaning out and coming to visit us at Nana's new location in Mt. Pleasant. In celebration of the first-ever National Swap Day, we'll be swapping women's clothing, handbags, shoes and accessories. Set of into 2011 with a bit of fashion camaraderie.

Never been to a swap before? Check out the Swapaholics. They'll catch you up right quick.

Get your tickets. Get ready. 

♥

Field Trip: Frugalista

3069 Mt. Pleasant

Washington, DC

202-328-2135

Facebook

I've heard things about Frugalista.  I once had a coworker who raved about the place, but could never recall the name of it. So I never figured out where she got all her cheap, amazing designer clothes. I suspected she didn't want to give away her secret. I finally realized: Frugalista.

The store has apparently recently experienced a transformation from straight-up thrift to something a little more picky. But as a first-timer last weekend, I wasn't disappointed.  It's easy when you're a latecomer.

It went down like this: we had finally launched TBD, we were downright exhausted, and we finally had a day off.  For Julie and me, it was time to go shopping.  Shopping!

Julie wore this dress for a whole weekend before we launched.
It was time for something new.

Shoes are $17 a pair, which will make you think twice before picking up a pair of used kicks—are they really worth buying secondhand? You can get new shoes at Target or Payless for less than $17, but if you find a really nice pair, go for it.

Most of the stuff at Frugalista is going for prices between $5 and $15. There are a few exceptions: the really expensive designer stuff, which is still semi-expensive for any thrift shopper at Frugalista; and the amazing sale stuff.  When we were there, all skirts marked $7 were on sale for $2.  TWO DOLLARS PEOPLE!  That was exciting. Except we didn't find any we liked. Oh well.

We brought MC along for the ride, because a picture may or may not have surfaced that made the women of the world reconsider his wardrobe. Jeezy creezy we were embarrassed. MC did a lot of browsing, a lot of questioning of fabrics and patterns, and a lot of trying on. But everything he liked had a stain, so all he got was a pair of shorts. Oh well. 

Here's what I got for $35: two shirts suitable for work, a strapless dress with pockets, and a really risque yellow dress/top/sheer thing. I wore it that night for an outing that turned into a house party, is all I can say.  Julie was able to locate an exact double of a dress she bought many moons ago and wore so much that it fell apart.  No joke. 

Verdict? Pretty badass.  Worth the wander to Mt. Pleasant. 

♥