My First Swap Experience

When I arrived at the high school where the Schoolhouse Swap was being held, I dropped off my bag as I came in and headed into the gymnasium to check out the vendors and see if anyone I knew was there yet. Right away, I saw Elena from Caffeinerd and noticed we were both rocking shorts with tights. Great minds think alike!

One of the vendors was selling flower headbands for babies, among other things, so I couldn't resist picking up a leopard print one for Bridget. Then, I hung out with Elena, Randi from Not Just Mom, Rachel from Suburban Style Challenge, and later Piper from Chic & Cheap in Chicago, and Megan from Buffalo Hearts until the swap began.

Our hostess, Katy from Modly Chic, came in and chatted with us for a little bit before the festivities began. Before the swap portion of the night kicked off, they gave away a few raffle prizes, and then we lined up outside the doors for the swap. The high school girls were geeking out, which made me feel like I was ready to go into a concert.

When the doors opened, I wandered over to the first couple tables, which were accessories and shoes.  The first thing I grabbed was a yellow necklace that turned out to be Elena's!  Shortly after that, at the sweater table, I pointed out a yellow sweater I dropped off that Elena excitedly picked up.  I'm glad both our yellow items found new homes, haha.  I also ended up with a red sweater of Randi's.

Anyway, so the clothing was divided by type, each on separate round tables.  Then the dresses and coats were hung up on two racks.  When things were winding down, the bloggers started to come together to see what everyone else got.  Elena only had two things, so I encouraged her to check out a Burberry jacket I found in her size.  That led to my convincing her to try on a few more jackets, a couple of which are documented below.

I kept rationalizing, "Why not!  It's free!" and helped her fill her bag the rest of the way. She did take the blue jacket but left the black coat behind.

Then the whole group gathered back in the gym to show off our loot and take a blogger group picture, which I grabbed from Modly Chic.  Here's Katy's recap of the event.

From l to r: Randi, Elena, Megan, me, Rachel, Katy, and Piper

I went into the swap a little hesitant, not knowing if I'd be able to find anything in my size. Turns out, I found plenty! My strategy was to basically grab anything that I kinda liked and looked like it might fit. Because really, it's free. Anything that doesn't work out, I can donate.

I think I got a bunch of good stuff, though!

Besides what's shown above, I also picked up the black lace top and the yellow necklace that I wore in my last post.

Thanks for the great swap, Katy! I look forward to the spring edition. And it was great to meet all you girls!