In my “Shades of Grey” post, I mentioned that I was excited about hosting a Gap Born To Fit party in the near future. The point of the party is to help introduce Gap’s new premium jeans in honor of their 40th anniversary. Well, time flew and quicker than I could put up new window treatments, the date of the party came on Saturday (8/8). I wondered what I would get by putting together a mix of my friends from church, blogging and my offline Mom in the City group. What I received was far more than I could have expected – a full (25 women) house and tons of fun. After everyone finally (yes, I’m talking about you Pam!) left, I couldn’t stop smiling. I have the best friends ev-ah!
The Gap had sent over several goodies to get the party started – snacks, a digital camera, reusable totes and (most importantly!) three styles of jeans in sizes 0-12. There were also gift certificates for jeans for guest who needed special sizes/in case we ran out of jeans in a particular size.
I added the food – knishes and fried chicken from Knish Knosh. The food was a celebration of my new ethnically-mixed neighborhood. I also baked cupcakes with blue frosting (in keeping with the blue/denim theme) to serve at the end of the party.
I had reached out to my friends at Eyes Lips Face (e.l.f.) to add the beauty element. (What’s a fashion-themed party without a fun beauty aspect to it?) Along with their Gap goodies, each of my friends took home a body wash, lip gloss and red nail polish from e.l.f. You should have seen everyone oohing and aahing as they picked their goodies. Women really do get excited over fashion and beauty!
The Gap also provided two $50 gift cards (in addition to the jeans) for me to give away at the party, so I put together two competitions. For the first one, I put 333 blue and white M&Ms in a bowl. The person who guessed the closest number won. For the second one, I put together a list of questions regarding the year “1969”. It was hilarious hearing some of the answers. (Honestly, I would have only answered three of the questions right myself!) Niri won the number game. Linda and Victoria were tied for the 1969 game. To break the tie, I tried to get them to figure out which window treatments I should get for my new apartment. When that didn’t work, I just had them guess the number that I was thinking. (It was seven – it’s always seven.) Victoria won the gift card and as a consolation prize, I gave Linda a thing of Close, a Gap fragrance. On a side note, never say that bloggers aren’t smart – all of the winners just happened to be my blogging buddies!
I had the option of making my party co-ed, but I’m so glad that I didn’t. I just don’t think that girls would feel as free to ask, “Does my butt look big in these?” in mixed company. Sometimes giggles are best shared same-sex.
One of my friends was kind enough to take pictures and video at the party since my hands were full. She’s not a professional, so never mind the chopped off heads – it was all about the jeans. She used my Panasonic DMC-FX37 that I received for being a part of Panasonic’s Living in High Definition program. (For those who are wondering how I became a part of the program…I just applied. I didn’t “suck up” to anyone, as someone wondered. I’m not good at sucking up. I am who I am. What you see is what you get!) For the video, she used my favorite new “toy”, the Kodak Zi8 pocket video camera. I love it! I received it in a gift bag after a Kodak/Breville event a couple of weeks ago. It’s so easy to use. I especially like that you can switch between photo and video mode and that it takes good video even in low light situations. It’s available in September, but you can put your pre-order in now. (One of my friends at the party liked it so much, that she went and ordered one!)
After the party, I kept thinking, “I love my life”! It’s not about the stuff (which is sometimes fun). It’s about the people in my life. As one of my friends tweeted after the party:
madijack Had a great time at @mominthecity Gap Born To Fit party @mominthecity is a magnet for down to earth really beautiful women #Hatesuperficial
I totally agree. My friends are pretty – on the inside and out.
Now, on to you. In the end, I didn’t have anything left – no gift cards, no jeans. They are all gone. (Don’t feel badly, I didn’t even end up with anything – and I hosted the party! Fortunately, dear Justine at Brand About Town is going to send one for me.) Since several Mom in the City members were actually at the party, I shared the wealth. To introduce you to some of my friends’ blogs, I gave six of them gift cards for a free pair of jeans to give out on their sites. I’ll update this post as their contests go live. Meanwhile, please check out their blogs:
-Linda (New York City Single Mom) has her post up here.
-Melissa has her post up on the Real Moms Guide.
-Niri (Mommy Niri): You can find her giveaway post here.
-Onica (Blasian Baby Notes). Her post is here.
-Suzanne (greenbaby-nyc) Her post is actually already up here.
and
Victoria (Veep Veep)
Good luck!
(P.S. You can see more pictures from the party here on Flickr.)