It's been a great Dressember

Dressember has come to an end. For the past 31 days, I wore dresses wherever I went. For Chicago, that can be a challenge (especially with the blizzard we are currently experiencing.) Some days were harder, like days when I just wanted to wear a hoodie and jeans, or the new pair of jeans sitting in my drawer I bought on November 30. But comparatively, it is really nothing at all, compared to the struggle of millions throughout the world who are victims of modern day slavery. 

It is bigger than a dress though. Because I constantly wore dresses for 31 days and was excited about the project, I was eager to share about the cause. I had SO many conversations with people who were so supportive and wanted to learn more. A large part of this has been just using the dresses as a platform to speak to the larger issue of modern day slavery and what IJM is doing to end slavery.

The second part was fundraising. My goal was to raise $310 in 31 days, that is a dollar for each day. There was a few weeks I felt very discouraged, I was certain I set my goal to high. One day, when I was thinking of lowering my target goal, I received two anonymous donations that brought me to my halfway point. WOW, talk about God's timing. I'd like to thank the two anonymous donors, Lydia, The Cox Family, Sam & Kyle Crawford, Jason, Jino, Brittany and Terry for their donations towards my campaign and for the greater goal of the Dressember campaign. As of January 1, I have raised $380. That is more than my target goal. THANK YOU for your support! As a total campaign, all Dressember participants have raised over $100,000 with almost 700 participants worldwide. All money goes directly to International Justice Mission.

The campaign will be active until January 3, please consider donating, you can reach my page here: https://www.ijmfreedommaker.org/campaign/1866/Dressember-for-IJM/

Finally I ask that you please continue to PRAY and SHARE about this issue of modern day slavery. The more people know and join together, the more it will end.

Now, the last week of dresses:

Dressember 24- Happy Christmas Eve!

Dressember 25- Merry Christmas from the Crawfords!

Dressember 26- A bad cold does not leave me exempt from Dressember, and as we all know, Ice Cream is the only cure for the common cold.

Dressember 27- Still sick. Still DRESSED up.

Dressember 28- Fellow Dressember-er and I at a friends wedding, check out Rachels posts on this blog too!

Dressember 29- Celebrating Christmas with some of my Family at Grandma's house!

Dressember 29

Dressember 31- I really wanted to end Dressember with something big, I wanted to wear the most beautiful dress I owned for my final picture. After perusing through many different floral patterns- I knew the most beautiful dress I owned was still sitting in my closet, hidden, and waiting to be dry cleaned (still.)
I've been looking for ways to re-use my wedding dress, and using it in this campaign was the best way I could think of. Thanks for following me and supporting this month-long Dressember adventure.

Not pictured: The dress I wore actually out on New Years Eve- Floral of course.