Hey, you all! Before getting any further with this post, I have a small announcement: Corporate Curves is back to a weekly schedule starting this week!

This announcement serves as a great donkey’s bridge (as we would say it in my native tongue Finnish when skipping from one thing to a marginally semi-related thing). The reason why I’m back weekly is my recent six day (was meant to be five days but thanks to AA it was six; JFK Holiday Inn was nice enough but La Guardia airport sucks . . . ) trip to NYC where on Saturday I attended my first ever Big Bust Clothing Swap at Darlene’s house. Big thanks to our hostess for opening her doors, and I fully agree with everything Mia wrote in her Sister Swap post here last week.

Trying on the amazing Bolero Beachwear dresses at the swap. Especially loved how you can control the cleavage.
Trying on the amazing Bolero Beachwear dresses at the swap. Especially loved how you can control the cleavage.

I’d been stuck in a blogging rut and felt quite isolated and not really sure what to write about and what not to write about. I also always feel the need to tread carefully when using the English language as it’s very culturally loaded in the amount of sugarcoating one requires in order to be polite. We Nordics don’t sugarcoat things and saying just thanks is plenty polite enough. Any more and one might seem a little odd. 🙂 But spending the morning before the swap with my fellow writers and the wonderful Patricia from Bolero Beachwear I realized that it’s fine being just me. It was a fun and culturally eye opening experience. And this was even before the whole swap started!

hourglassy writer brunch
Brunch before the swap.

I had banged my arm on the subway door when stopping the already closing door at Grand Central and had a huge bruise forming on my right arm, but hey, ho, that’s life. I would not let that ruin my mood! So there I was headed with directions in my head and two bags of clothes in my hands towards Darlene’s house to meet a bunch of new people.

The dress I bagged from the swap. This dress is so me, and I was lacking a party dress!
The dress I bagged from the swap. This dress is so me, and I was lacking a party dress!
Thanks to the person who brought this glittery piece to the swap. I adore it.
Thanks to the person who brought this glittery piece to the swap. I adore it.

And what a great experience it was. We have such amazing readers, and the only thing I feel sorry about is that I did not have enough time to chat with everyone as much as I would’ve liked. My head was so overwhelmed over how nice everyone was and what a relaxed community feeling there was. Just like what we want this whole blog to be about, an online community.

I was way too Finnish to actually participate in the raffle, even though many of the prizes were super tempting. I also forgot my goody bag after leaving late and in such a hurry, but no worries; the experience alone was a prize for me. It was also a nice surprise to get to speak my native language with Veera at the swap! And thanks everyone for your patience with my accent. I tend to speak very fast despite the accent so it can be a jumblemumble sometimes . . . .

After the swap my friend and I were off for roller coaster fun and a Russian karaoke bar at Coney Island.
After the swap my friend and I were off for roller coaster fun and a Russian karaoke bar at Coney Island.

To come in the coming weeks, reviews of my shopping in NYC + a new happy swimsuit memory. There’s also one more swap item to be reviewed when I’ll write about my first ever jumpsuit (the one I wore at the swap). And sorry reader Patsy, I really wanted to keep it but the Pepperberry denim coat might be available at next year’s swap. 😉

To end this post, I’ll just have to say, women can be amazing.