It's true. I love strawberry Special K cereal and home-brewed Dunkin' Donuts coffee and reading books cover to cover. I over-schedule myself only to embrace procrastination with a zeal I otherwise reserve for chai latte or Chipotle burritos. I can be trusted with secrets, but when bored, I am prone to purposefully making bad decisions just to see what will happen... What? Oh yeah, I've made a ton of bad decisions out of ignorance and poor judgment, too. No one gets THAT bored.

Other simple truths:

1) I love my job. One might say it has few opportunities for advancement, and it's certainly not going to make me rich. But journalists get to see the muddled mass of humanity with the bird's eye view few others have. Under certain circumstances I might deny it, but I love the rush of breaking news, negotiating for access, balancing conflicting ideas, struggling with words at break-neck speeds, and really, just watching people. I'm not sure if I've stared pure evil in the face, but I've seen a ton of selfishness, greed, addiction, pain, love, generosity and boring ole life. 


Sometimes I think MY life is passing me by while I'm busy writing about other people's lives -- but after doing a little living of my own, I've concluded that there are worse ways to pass the time than by banging out an article or two.

2) I'd rather be smart than pretty.That might be why I am. Or maybe it was a matter of chasing what was possible. At any rate, unless you're really good at manipulating people, you're better off complimenting my writing or asking my opinion about something. If you tell me you think I'm pretty, I'm likely to think you're 1) drunk; 2) stupid, or 3) don't get out enough to realize how many truly gorgeous women populate the Midwest.

3) For writers, typos are like toilet paper trailing from the bottom of a shoe. If you love someone and somehow she doesn't realize she picked up a little extra paper in the bathroom, OF COURSE YOU TELL HER. If, however, you are that snarky girl who keeps hitting on the guy she likes, you're better off letting someone else point out TP - er, typo. It's not the biggest deal, but she's likely to add it as a mark against you.

4) I sometimes pretend I have a bad cell phone connection just so I can hang up on someone.

5) I have never done that to Maria or my mother. They both actually hang out in places with poor reception.

6) I ache for things that never really quite were. I used to think regrets were wasted sentiments, because we are more often shaped by our struggles than our successes. And then I realized I had no real idea what regret was before I finally experience something regretful. Now, sometimes between sleep and awake, I long for the times when my fiance (now ex-husband) kissed me on the nose and love seemed deep and perfect. Or the time when someone told me I was making a difference in that little town. Or the time I thought an afternoon's walk through a bad public housing project would provide enough truth for a story. 

It was, and it wasn't. It did, and it didn't. I'm not cynical enough to deny all that was, and I'm no longer naive enough to not recognize all that wasn't. But don't we all want to believe in Santa Claus, sometimes?

7) I believe I need to accept people for their faults, forgive them, and limit how much I allow their faults to hurt me. I still have no idea how to actually do this.

8) I really, REALLY want to wear sandals and flip-flops to work every day. I would, only I fear people already don't find me professional, so I only wear sandals two days a week. Or so.

These aren't super-official instructions or anything. I first saw these at a breast cancer walk fundraiser years ago and just bought a bra and played with it until it worked for me. (And no, I have no idea if people actually carry these as purses. I haven't - but I would. I'm pretty sure I would, anyway).

Step one: Go shopping for bras. I usually get a nice, large padded bra, because those seem to keep their shape the easiest and seem the most likely to hold up against keys, etc., being placed inside. I also either look for convertible/strapless bras or bras with cute straps that can easily be made into a purse strap.


Step two: Slice and dice. Once I have a bra, I cut out around the cup, leaving as much of the strap as I want to use for the handle. Then, I cut a slit near the top of the inside of the cup so I can wiggle out the underwire.


Step three: Decorate and sew. Without the underwire, the cup is flexible enough that the cups can be matched up and sewn together. I usually add the embelleshments before I attach the two cups. If I'm using trim or string for a handle, I usually knot the trim and sew it into the top edge of one of the cups before I attach them. When attaching the two cups, I usually glue them together first with a fabric glue and then go back and stitch it together to reinforce it. After I sew, I go over the cut edges of the cup with a fray stop or fray guard to prevent it from unraveling. (If you do this earlier in the process, it can be difficult to sew.) Sometimes I line the inside, and sometimes I don't.




Step four: Don't let anything spill out of your cups. Depending on the shape of the cup, sometimes I use a button or hook and eye in the middle of the open end so the "purse" can close.

Like this exact purse? You can purchase it (via E-bay) here. (Auction ends May 15.)

Need some creative inspiration? This Etsy crafter uses slinkier bras. This one uses lots of color. And this one appreciates fringe.

As soon as I decided the Friday FundRAISER series was coming to an end, I stumbled up tons (OK, a bunch. Not literally tons) of ideas. So I had to share:


* How 'bout them cupcakes? Have a bake sale for breast cancer. Bake cupcakes of various sizes from very small “mini” size to very large. Put 2 cupcakes together and wrap in clear plastic wrap. Sell as cup size “A” cakes, cup size “B” cakes, cup size “DD” cakes, etc. The larger the cup size, the more charged for the pair. Then host a cupcake party for your friends and neighbors. (From 3-Day Coach Kristin Harris in the 3-Day's April news)


* Gift wrapping: Around the holidays, utilize a large space, such as a church basement, for a gift-wrapping service. Donors can bring packages for you to wrap for a donation. Offer a television (or two) and snacks so donors can occupy themselves while their packages are being done. This saves them the time and trouble of wrapping presents out of sight of the kids. (From a new, but loyal, ChaiLattePlease reader)


* Temporary tattoos: A blogger I enjoy reading is having a quirky fundraiser: Donate at least $25 in a specific timeframe, and she'll write your name on her body the day of the event --- and provide photographic evidence! Check it out here.


* Raffles and whatnot: Before you get creative, keep in mind that states and local communities have laws governing many fundraising activities, including raffles, auctions and other promotional activities. Compliance is the responsibility of each participant, and the 3-Day for the Cure cannot render legal or tax advice on these matters. Web sites like http://rafflefaq.com/united-states-raffle-laws/ provide links to raffle laws for each state, to help you with your research. Please also review the 3-Day for the Cure fundraising policies. (From the 3-Day's March news)

Last spring, all I could think about was boobs. And walking. And money.

Much of my spare time went into planning a wine-tasting fundraiser - plotting about food, publicity, raffle prizes, etc. I solicited prize donations from area businesses and strangers on Etsy. I even made a few brassiere purses myself (which I still think are super-cute). Food was a cheese and cracker tray, a fruit tray and a bunch of cute pastries from a local shop.


The event was held at a local wine shop, which charged me $5 a person and allowed me to keep anything above that in ticket sales. The owner was really nice and helpful, and he also donated a portion of the wine sales from that evening to the walk.

On the day of the event, I lived in fear that NO ONE WOULD COME. Except my aunt and (then) boyfriend, who kindly wore a T-shirt I had bought him that said "Real men wear pink." (Is that a relationship test or what?) Anyway, people came. 18 people. Not as many as I would have liked, but at least I wasn't standing there by myself.


In the end, I came home with most of the fruit and cheese and crackers and $465. $50 of that was money I had contributed for change at the door, and I took out another $100 for the food. So, that left $215 to fight breast cancer. Better than nothing, but certainly not as much as I had hoped for after weeks of work.

But, in retrospect, I could have used my resources better. If I were to do it again, here are some things I would keep in mind:

1) Publicity is king. I spread the word through Facebook, work friends and a short blurb in the newspaper. That probably wasn't enough, especially if the event is in a location that doesn't have much traffic. In retrospect, I would suggest using fliers, newspaper resources, church bulletins, friends, etc. at least 6 weeks before the event. Don't spend any significant amount of money on your promotional efforts, but make sure the materials tell people how to donate if they can't make it to the event. And repeat the publicity efforts as much as possible up until the day of the actual event. Publicize until you are sure you are annoying people. (Because, honestly, people are busy. You probably aren't annoying them.)

2) Apparently people buy wine in the fall, not the spring. The shop owner pulled my boyfriend aside half-way through the event last May and mentioned that he gets most of his sales in the fall leading up to the holiday season, when people tend to drink more wine and use it as gifts. So, depending on when your particular 3-Day event is, a wine-tasting might a good option for your first event of the fundraising season in late October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) or early November.

3) Don't go overboard on food. I could have done with half (or less) of the food I had. The food ate into the proceeds, and if I had run out, I'm not sure any of the guests would have been disappointed. They were there for wine and to support breast cancer ... and the wine portions were not so large that I felt people needed to consume food or risk leaving intoxicated.

4) Spend more time on publicity; less time on raffle prizes. I sold raffle tickets, so of course I needed raffle prizes. I ended up having 10 packages - and yes, because I had 18 people come, more than half the people who came won something. You need something for people to look at and talk about, but your time is probably better spent trying to get people in the door that trying to get prizes for the prize tables.


Of course, everyone learns through experience. And most 3-Day walkers do not have business or marketing degrees. My attitude throughout fundraising was to simply to keep at it and avoid putting all my eggs in one proverbial basket. After one fundraiser, I already knew I would be working on another so it was easy to keep the pressure light.

Anyone else have any suggestions on strategies to keep in mind while planning a fundraising event?



P.S. Want to make your own brassiere purse? I made a few more after stumbling upon a clearance rack at Wal-Mart. I'll post some instructions on how I put them together next Friday :)