Since my last blog we had Halloween which was the perfect opportunity for me to do something a little different to help raise awareness and money for my sponsorship. Unfortunately, Halloween didn’t fall on a working day but that wasn’t going to stop me dressing up for the occasion. My boss came up with the brilliant idea of me dressing up at work for the Friday and Saturday prior to Halloween (our last two working days before) and only me being the one to do so. As she suggested, if I was the only one to be dressing up it would get people asking why it was only myself. So I thought long and hard about what I was going to dress up as and I knew I wanted to do something different; something that was most definitely going to draw attention. Once I came up with the idea, my spectacular idea I must say, I decided not to tell anybody at work.
I didn’t want to go down the conventional Halloween route and dress up as a witch or a vampire but what I had chose to dress up as was going to get quite a reaction. I was going to go all out on my costume and a lot of time and effort went into it, plus quite a few British Pounds. How often do you get to dress up at work? I absolutely love fancy dress, especially when maximum effort has gone into every little detail of the costume. I ordered the main part of my costume, the wig which I was going to style myself, the face paint and all the little extras.
It was all coming together but of course there had to be humongous flaws in my plan. The costume I ordered arrived on the Wednesday, two days before I was supposed to be wearing it, and they had sent me the children’s costume. I’m 5’6” and I weigh at least 10½ stone (tell anybody and I will put a hit on you). There is no way I am going to be able to gracefully tuck myself into this little costume. So what did I do? I had everything else but the main part of my costume. How was anybody going to be able to tell what I am without the main part of my costume? Like all adults do when they find themselves in a crisis, I cried to my mummy. Mothers always have the answer and my mother’s answer to my problem was her mother. My Nanny. So Wednesday night we set off to Nanny’s where we spent the remainder of the day and the night cutting up my costume and sewing it onto clothes that actually fit me. I had also spent the last 3 days braiding a cheap wig I had bought from a nearby fancy dress shop only to find that after a mere 10 little braids there was no hair left. I was almost out of time and totally out of funds. I was heroically bailed out by my best friend who purchased a wig online, 3 times the price of the tatty wig, to be delivered at the last minute. Once it arrived my Mum and I sat in front of the telly braiding away. So I cannot take all the credit for the costume. Thank you all. Thank you SO much.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, as they say, and it is for the best they sent me the child’s costume otherwise I would be facing the problem of getting myself out of a onesie to go to the toilet. I drink an awful lot of coffee and water during the day and therefore I go to the lavatory a lot. I’ll be giving up the caffeine, don’t worry all you over opinionated motor-mouths who are preparing to give me another lecture on giving something up. As if you know best.
So I had my costume ready and was more content with the idea that even more effort had gone into it than originally planned and it was more personal. I had braided my wig and added feathers where I felt necessary, my SuperNan and SuperMum had put together a costume to fit my figure and I had emailed the local paper. I was that pleased with the effort that had gone into it that I felt it absolutely vital I let everybody in Wymondham and the surrounding villages know. It was all for a good cause after all. So I was awake at 6am on Friday morning applying masses of face paint and glitter onto my face and my feet. I didn't paint my hands as they would have been washed away during the day. Forward thinking for just a hairdresser, hey? I got into my costume, I slipped my wig on and my other accessories to complete my outfit. I looked like a wolly. An absolutely awesome wolly.
On the drive to work I got the most peculiar looks from people; some laughed and some just stared but I got a reaction all the same. Not a single person who walked past me in those two days didn’t look or make a remark. It was the best feeling ever and it raised more awareness by considerable amount. A photographer from the local paper turned up during my lunch break on Friday to take pictures, along with everyone else who wanted to take a few snaps, and then I was to wait for my article to appear in the paper. I can’t describe how elated I felt for those two days and how much I appreciate everyone who helped and sponsored me. My new total is just under £1,500 and to know I’m that much closer to reaching my target is quite overwhelming. It’s now beginning to sink in what I am doing and as much as I am looking forward to it, I’m enjoying the journey leading up to it. I highly recommended doing some fundraising of your own, if you have never done anything before, because it is the most exciting and rewarding thing you will ever do. I have never done anything like this before and it will not be the last time I do either.
I didn’t want to go down the conventional Halloween route and dress up as a witch or a vampire but what I had chose to dress up as was going to get quite a reaction. I was going to go all out on my costume and a lot of time and effort went into it, plus quite a few British Pounds. How often do you get to dress up at work? I absolutely love fancy dress, especially when maximum effort has gone into every little detail of the costume. I ordered the main part of my costume, the wig which I was going to style myself, the face paint and all the little extras.
It was all coming together but of course there had to be humongous flaws in my plan. The costume I ordered arrived on the Wednesday, two days before I was supposed to be wearing it, and they had sent me the children’s costume. I’m 5’6” and I weigh at least 10½ stone (tell anybody and I will put a hit on you). There is no way I am going to be able to gracefully tuck myself into this little costume. So what did I do? I had everything else but the main part of my costume. How was anybody going to be able to tell what I am without the main part of my costume? Like all adults do when they find themselves in a crisis, I cried to my mummy. Mothers always have the answer and my mother’s answer to my problem was her mother. My Nanny. So Wednesday night we set off to Nanny’s where we spent the remainder of the day and the night cutting up my costume and sewing it onto clothes that actually fit me. I had also spent the last 3 days braiding a cheap wig I had bought from a nearby fancy dress shop only to find that after a mere 10 little braids there was no hair left. I was almost out of time and totally out of funds. I was heroically bailed out by my best friend who purchased a wig online, 3 times the price of the tatty wig, to be delivered at the last minute. Once it arrived my Mum and I sat in front of the telly braiding away. So I cannot take all the credit for the costume. Thank you all. Thank you SO much.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, as they say, and it is for the best they sent me the child’s costume otherwise I would be facing the problem of getting myself out of a onesie to go to the toilet. I drink an awful lot of coffee and water during the day and therefore I go to the lavatory a lot. I’ll be giving up the caffeine, don’t worry all you over opinionated motor-mouths who are preparing to give me another lecture on giving something up. As if you know best.
So I had my costume ready and was more content with the idea that even more effort had gone into it than originally planned and it was more personal. I had braided my wig and added feathers where I felt necessary, my SuperNan and SuperMum had put together a costume to fit my figure and I had emailed the local paper. I was that pleased with the effort that had gone into it that I felt it absolutely vital I let everybody in Wymondham and the surrounding villages know. It was all for a good cause after all. So I was awake at 6am on Friday morning applying masses of face paint and glitter onto my face and my feet. I didn't paint my hands as they would have been washed away during the day. Forward thinking for just a hairdresser, hey? I got into my costume, I slipped my wig on and my other accessories to complete my outfit. I looked like a wolly. An absolutely awesome wolly.
On the drive to work I got the most peculiar looks from people; some laughed and some just stared but I got a reaction all the same. Not a single person who walked past me in those two days didn’t look or make a remark. It was the best feeling ever and it raised more awareness by considerable amount. A photographer from the local paper turned up during my lunch break on Friday to take pictures, along with everyone else who wanted to take a few snaps, and then I was to wait for my article to appear in the paper. I can’t describe how elated I felt for those two days and how much I appreciate everyone who helped and sponsored me. My new total is just under £1,500 and to know I’m that much closer to reaching my target is quite overwhelming. It’s now beginning to sink in what I am doing and as much as I am looking forward to it, I’m enjoying the journey leading up to it. I highly recommended doing some fundraising of your own, if you have never done anything before, because it is the most exciting and rewarding thing you will ever do. I have never done anything like this before and it will not be the last time I do either.
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