Fundraising, training, and more: 24 weeks out...crafty chicks style!

Pam L, Lauren, and I walking in Gettysburg

So for the 2011 DC walk we are officially at the 24 week mark!  How very exciting!  And it's starting to get warm (FINALLY) so we can start training outside in the beautiful sun.  And this year we have 4 entirely different areas that we are walking in, and different routes in those different towns.  So we are hoping to keep the boredom that set in for me last year doing the same ol' walks away.  And it keeps it fair too, since we are all taking turns walking not too far from our homes.

So, you may ask, how exactly is wearing a wig going???  Well, not as bad as I'd feared, yet not easy either.  Since I am always cold at work, I don't have the problem with getting to hot from wearing it.  That's definitely a plus.  And since I have my own hair protecting my head, I don't have a big problem with getting itchy, that only starts to bother me around hour 10, and it's not too bad.  My biggest problem is that where I pin the wig and cap underneath to my real hair, it starts to hurt a little by that 10th hour, and I start thinking maybe I should be a rebel and just pull it off...  LOL!  And I have one problem I didn't think of too much beforehand:  People that I see but I don't really talk to much or at all are starting to wonder if I'm sick!  If they ask someone that works on my floor, they get straightened out and told the real story of my pink hair challenge.  But then how many people don't ask, and then think I have cancer...  So on weekends when I work I've started wearing a pink ribbon scrub cap, like the people that work in the OR wear.  And I make sure some of my hair that is not pink is out in the back, so people can see I still have hair.  But boy do I look ridiculous wearing that all day!  On the bright side of that though is on weekends I'm a lot more comfortable.

So much is going on in this month of April, I am having a hard time finding time to write!  We have 5 fundraisers this month!!!  And new to this year, we've made a whole lot of things to sell at our fundraisers, and it's taken off in a BIG way!  We are a group of crafty chicks this year, and I believe that we will more than meet our minimums to walk, which is totally exciting.  Just a month ago I feared how we were going to raise the $11,500 our team needs to walk; now I'm a little more confident.  So at our first of five fundraiser, we did at the mall in our town.  We set up a treadmill that a friend of mine lent us for the day (Big thanks Gina!) to walk 20 miles in the  mall, and set up a table to sell all of our wares next to it.  We also had a second table with ribbons on it for people to write names of loved ones that have or are battling cancer on for us to carry on our 3 day journey.  We enjoyed ourselves, got some exercise, sold some stuff and got some donations, and got some publicity.  So I would say it was a success.  But we have discussed this after the fact, and because of the high cost of the insurance we needed to purchase in order to do this fundraiser at the mall, we don't think we would do it again.  We would do a treadmill fundraiser somewhere that didn't require insurance though, it definitely attracted attention to us and to our cause.  And it made it more fun for us as well!

Pam L, Pam N, Lauren, and I at the mall fundraiser!

So what crafts have we crafty chicks come up with to sell this year you ask?  Well, Pam L's area of expertise is making breast cancer awareness bracelets.  They are gorgeous, sparkly, and bringing in some serious donation money!!  They have truly just taken off!  We liked her design from the get-go; we knew they would sell.  But what we didn't know is that only a few weeks and 1 fundraiser into our sales we would sell out and need to order more supplies already!  And that before the shipment has even arrived, we have so many people that have put in an order we have to order a 2nd shipment!!!  This is amazing!  And Lauren I'm learning has always made crafts, so this is nothing new to her.  She is our t-shirt maker this year!  We were able to get 30 pink t-shirts donated, and she adds the designs/sayings to them.  So far she has made team shirts that have "Me and The Girls" on them, "Save 2nd Base" shirts, and "Treasure Your Chest" shirts.  And we can sell them for relatively inexpensive prices, since it doesn't cost much at all for her to make them!  It's a wonderful fundraiser!  And what, you ask, is my craft?  I make pink ribbon clips and black headbands with little pink ribbons on them.  The pink ribbon clips are nice and inexpensive, and the headbands I've just started making so we don't know how well they will be received yet, though my team mates and I love them and have each purchased one already!  And we have finally made a bank account so that we can split all our fundraising money easier, since people can just make out checks to Me and The Girls now.  Really happy about all we have going for us right now!!!

Our beautiful pink table at our fundraiser at the mall!

So now for the month of April we still have a dine out night at Texas Road House, a bake sale in front of Smokey's Restaurant, and 2 other fundraisers where we get a table to sell our crafty chick stuff.  I am hoping to be done with my fundraising by the end of the month!!!  Woohoo!  Then all I have to worry about (and I'm not all that worried anymore) is getting the minimums for my team mates!  Yay go Team Me and The Girls!!!

The Great Pink Hair Challenge of 2011...the conclusion...

I know I know.  I've been slacking.  But at least know that I am doing so much I just haven't had a chance to write!  So I'm not slacking in everything, just not balancing it out as well these past few weeks...

So what happened in your pink hair challenge this year you ask?  Well here's how it went:  (read the Feb. blog about the Pink Hair Challenge if you haven't yet to know what I'm talking about!)

Me in my wig!!!

I was able to get a short blond wig from my mom, who kept one of the one's she used while she was going through chemo for "just in case."  Now, while a part of me wanted to scream "no more just in case!!!" at her, the other part of me was really happy, since getting a wig that I could wear to work over my "illegal" pink hair was obstacle #1 for me if I wanted to get permanent pink highlights.

Next, there was a woman that saw what I wanted to do and what I needed on my team page on facebook.  She  works at a salon in town and came to me, writing to me on facebook that she would be willing to do the pink highlights for me, and she would ask the salon owner if she would be willing to donate the hair dye!  I was blown away by her generosity, seeing that we didn't even know each other!  She wrote back to me in a few days time and told me her salon, The Aura Salon and Spa would definitely be willing to donate the whole package for my pink hair challenge.  What a wonderful thing; I am always amazed anew at the generous spirit that people have.  Just another wonderful thing you learn when you experience the 3 Day for the Cure!

And lastly, I had to convince my husband.  This wasn't too hard, since he told me last year when I did the wash out streaks in my hair with the Streekers dye that he actually kind of like my pink hair.  So he was ok with them being permanent highlights.

So it all came together 2 weeks before the challenge was to begin, and I put out my "Great Hair Challenge of 2011...plus an upgrade!" letter via email and facebook, "selling" each streak for a $35 or more donation, and it would run for 3 weeks.  Then at the end of 3 weeks I would tally up how many streaks I had, and if I made it over my $1000 milestone I would make them permanent highlights this year, instead of using the washout dye.  I actually immediately received a donation for my first pink streak!  That was a terrific start!!  And so when the start date of my challenge arrived, I had 3 streaks already "purchased" in my hair.  Yay!!!

Week one was a little bit of a disappointment, and I was a little worried because at the end of this week I still only had 3 pink streaks purchased.  But by week 2 things picked up... a lot!  I also made a special deal with an old friend who it sadly turns out is currently battling ovarian cancer.  She told me she would purchase a streak in my hair, but would I make one a teal (teal is the ovarian cancer ribbon color) streak for her?  So I immediately asked Casey from the salon if teal was an option.  She told me yes, so then I made the deal, that if I got over my $1000 milestone (I hadn't yet) I would make one teal for her!   And at the beginning of week 3, I had done it.  I had reached my $1000 milestone and it was official, I would make them permanent!!  Woohoo!

By the end of week 3, I had 13 pink and 1 teal streak "purchased" in my hair, and I had raised over $900 with my pink hair challenge.  I was elated!!  But also nervous, I really did have to make my hair pink and teal, permanently, and wear a wig to work for 3 12 hr shifts per week...

So I took a team mate for moral support and went to the Aura Salon and Spa to meet Casey and get my highlights.  I was blown away once again.  First she dyed all of my blond hair a medium brown and put in light blond highlights.  She said this would really make the pink stand out.  Then she put in the teal and pink highlights over the blond highlighted pieces.  This wonderful woman worked for 3 1/2 hrs on making my hair a masterpiece, all for free!!  And I can't thank her enough, it's absolutely gorgeous!!!!  I wish very much that I could have my hair like this permanently.  She did a phenomenal job.  Now I just have to take care of my hair as much as possible, to make them last as long as I can.  Casey even offered to help by touching it up once for me to help keep them just a few weeks longer!  And I wore my wig to work for the first time yesterday, and boy did I get a lot of comments and giggles and stares!!  It really got people talking!

Me and my beautiful new hair!!!

So that is the conclusion of my pink hair challenge.  Was it worth it?  Definite yes.  Will I do it again next year?  Absolutely.  Now I have 1 year to come up with a different twist for 2012...