Charm Bracelets and The Ladies Room

 

Jessica, from Living La Vida Holoka, and I have been brainstorming a series of posts that we wanted to cover and have dubbed it "The Ladies Room."  Here we cover everything from our day-to-day lives being someone who runs the world (Queen Beyonce y'all) to issues that affect women on a global scale.  Sometimes the posts will be incredibly entertaining, other times just simply informative. 

Either way I'm really excited about this project and having the opportunity to get to know other ladies out there a little bit better.  If you're interested in writing something along these lines, let us know and we can send you the graphic, plus help spread the word :)

To top it all off, we have a unique swap opportunity that was inspired by Kelle Hampton, author of the blog, Enjoying the Small Things, and the book, Bloom.  In her book, for her birthday she had all of her lady friends celebrate the lives of women by bringing a charm to her birthday party to swap.  

So, a couple weeks ago, Heidi made plans and called our friend who owns a restaurant while I sent out an e-mail and asked The Net to come. I asked each woman to bring a charm--something that would be given to another woman that night. Any charm that represented the celebration and power of women--a favorite memory, a word of advice, a symbol of strength. It was a stretch, sure, and could damn near head down the cheesy "Wind Beneath my Wings" road, but maybe...just maybe...it would be magic.

There was laughter and bruschetta and peach fizzy drinks named after my girl. There was wild, good energy that wafted through the room like the first spring breeze that sweeps through open windows. And slowly, chairs gathered. First a few, then a few more. Bodies crowded, quilts spread out, and soon, there it was...one beautiful circle. No Wind Beneath my Wings cue or all-call to prick fingers and share blood. It happened, just like that.

"Look, it's happening," Heidi says.

"I know...it's just like I imagined," I replied.

And the rest of the night was magic. The Net at its finest.

We shared, until 2 in the morning, our pains, our joys, our challenges. We cheered each other on. We cried and hugged and thanked each other for being there. We said "this is incredible" and "how come we don't do this more often?" and inside we knew it was really special, meant to be saved for moments like this.

There is no way to really explain what happened in that room. The way each woman told her story. The way everyone listened. The way it seemed every charm was hand-picked for its recipient. The way I didn't want the night to end.

They drew names out of a hat and shared why they chose a specific charm to represent their life.  Each woman carried a sentimental part of a woman's life, symbolized in those charms.  I absolutely love this idea and wanted to bring it to the blogging community.  Therefore sign-ups to be a part of this beautiful moment will start Monday, July 15th.  We're going to have two-three writing challenges of sorts that you can choose to be a part of, but don't feel obligated to and the swap will consist of a charm under $20 (most are like $5) and a card.  Jessica and I are looking forward to seeing how this develops and perhaps we can turn this into a continuing project so that folks can add to their bracelets. I am so excited about this and I hope that if you're reading this, you are too!