How to get 14 items of clothes for $7

Swap! I'd heard about how awesome swaps are from various sources, and REALLY REALLY wanted to go to one. I signed up for a PDX Swap mailing list, and sure enough, there have been two swaps in the past two months! THAT I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GO TO. One time, I had class all day. The next time, I had a volunteer training all day.

Too sad.

Fast forward to yesterday, when the lovely library coordinator for Bitch Magazine e-mails me to see if she should close the library so that instead of volunteering there, I could go to a swap they were co-hosting with Planned Parenthood. UM, YES PLZ. So, I scampered home--as I'm known to do when greeted with details of an unknown swap--and gathered some old (to me) clothes in a bag. I hopped on my bike, and off I was to a life-changing event.

OK, maybe it wasn't life-changing, but for $7 (and a bag of old clothes), I got cupcakes and other treats, champagne (if I had only remembered my ID!), and a chance to grab tons of stuff. What was nice was that everyone was fairly civil, even nice. I went in expecting the worst--people throwing elbows, spitting on something to claim it, tripping me--and I got the best! A girl even told me "um, you have to take that shirt. Because it'll look cute on you, and if you put it down, I will totally take it." Honesty at its finest!

All in all, I can't wait to go to another swap. Yes, I understand that they're temperamental, but I got quite lucky this time around, and it turns out that I do an OK job of figuring out if something will fit me just by looking at it. That's a skill that's almost as valuable as being able to properly manage your finances, or crack a code to find out where some national treasure is being hidden.