Pinned Up

Well, since the wayback machine seems stalled in 2010 anyway, let's rewind to that fateful day during the summer when I had brunch with several of the lovely ladies of Team Atomic. "You know what would be awesome?" I asked them. "If we took off our clothes, or most of them anyway, and did a sexy bike-themed pinup calendar to raise money for Moveable Feast!"

Now, your average group of women would have laughed this off and gone on about their business. They would have raised the standard objections - I know, because I thought of them all. I'm married! I'm a mom! I'm a doctor - I have my professional reputation to consider! I'm too fat, too self-conscious, too lame, too old! I'm over 40, for god's sake!!! Average women would have asked themselves the entirely reasonable question, "Who the hell would pay to look at me in my underwear?"

Fortunately, these are no average women. These are the women of Team Atomic: they are badassed athletes, they have ten times their fair share of attitude and style, they are drop-dead gorgeous, and they will do damned near anything to help their fellow man. So the remainder of the year turned into a frenzy of hunting for photographers, recruiting sponsors and retailers, researching classic pinup poses and fashion, and (best of all) maxing out our credit cards at Frederick's of Hollywood.

We recruited the amazingly talented Mike Lee to shoot our photos. Nikki Veredicchia (NV Salon Collective) gave us stunning hair, and Julia McCabe and Heather Henninger (Kiss-n-Makeup) used makeup to transport us back to the heyday of glamour. We sweet-talked MF staffers Damon and Mike, teammate Bryon, and longtime supporter Benn (Atomic Books) into posing with us, and all we had left to do was strap on our garter belts before we were off to the races!

The shoot took place at MF headquarters, in one aggressively organized yet somehow also aggressively madcap day. Afterwards we spent months selling the damned things, and raised over $5000 in the process. Final results: hundreds of people spent the year ogling us, Team Atomic captain Becky has sworn off all non-garter hosiery, and I am the proud owner of two corsets and five inch stiletto peeptoes. And oh - by the way - several Moveable Feast clients got three nutritious meals per day in 2011. I'd say it was a smashing success!

This is for all my fellow Atomic Bombshells - you are truly the greatest people in the world. You inspire and humble me, and I am honored to be your teammate and friend.

Check out our sassy selves here.