Drum roll please

And the winner of the fantastic #halloboobies prize is... *duh da da dum* @millarca!!!!!! Congratulations! Your entries were not only really cool and creative, but we could tell you really wanted to win :)

Picking a favorite proved to be a challenge, so we'll post all three of her entries.

Week 2 entry

Week 3 entry

Week 4 entry

Thanks to everyone else who entered! Especially @KyleeLane and @Susi_Sunshine. You guys are awesome :)


If you didn't win this month, don't worry! There'll be more Boobie Wednesday competitions coming soon, so stay tuned!

Week 4 #HalloBoobies winner is...

Our reigning champ, @millarca! Her Clockwork Orange boobies won the day! Very creative.




And with that announcement our #HalloBoobies comp is officially closed. We'll be posting the winner of the prize here on the blog some time in the next few days, so keep an eye out ;)


We'd also like to make a special mention to @seantaclaus who has very awesomely donated a piece of artwork to us here at Boobie Wednesday.
(This work is copyrighted, do not re-post without express permission of Sean Parrack.)




Cool, huh? We're currently in the process of convincing him to let us use it on a t-shirt ;)


Don't forget to visit the Boobie Wednesday store. All profits go to the NBCF. $100 buys a mammogram for a woman in need.


Cause really, who doesn't like boobies?

When I saw this on the NBCF blog, I though "Hey, that'd make a great blog article." Upon reading it however I don't think I can write it better than they've done themselves, so I'm going to cheat and reproduce it for you here :)

Breast Cancer Myths

Don't let yourself be a victim of misinformation and the myths generated by fear.

BREAST CANCER MYTHS

The Myth

Finding a lump in your breast means you have breast cancer.

The Truth

If you discover a persistent lump in your breast or any changes in breast tissue, it is very important that you see a physician immediately. However, 8 out of 10 breast lumps are benign, or not cancerous. Sometimes women stay away from medical care because they fear what they might find. Take charge of your health by performing routine breast self-exams, establishing ongoing communication with your doctor, and scheduling regular mammograms.

The Myth

Men do not get breast cancer.

The Truth

Quite the contrary. Each year it is estimated that approximately 1,700 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 450 will die. While this percentage is still small, men should also give themselves regular breast self-exams and note any changes to their physicians.

The Myth

A mammogram can cause breast cancer to spread.

The Truth

A mammogram, or X-ray of the breast, is one of the best tools available for the early detection of breast cancer. It CANNOT cause cancer to spread, nor can the pressure put on the breast from the mammogram. Do not let tales of other people's experiences keep you from having a mammogram. Base your decision on your physician's recommendation and be sure to discuss any questions or concerns with your doctor.

The Myth

Having a family history of breast cancer means you will get it.

The Truth

While women who have a family history of breast cancer are in a higher risk group, most women who have breast cancer have no family history. If you have a mother, daughter, sister, or grandmother who had breast cancer, you should have a mammogram five years before the age of their diagnosis, or starting at age 35.

The Myth

Breast cancer is contagious.

The Truth

You cannot catch breast cancer or transfer it to someone else's body. Breast cancer is the result of uncontrolled cell growth in your own body.However, you can protect yourself by being aware of the risk factors and following an early detection plan.

The Myth

Knowing you have changes in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene can help you prevent breast cancer.

The Truth

While alterations in these genes in men and women can predispose an individual to an increased risk of breast cancer, only 5% to 10% of patients actually have this mutation. This is not an absolute correlation. Like your age or having a family history of breast cancer, it's a factor you just can't control. But you can let your physician know, perform regular breast self-exams, and focus on the fact your chances of not having this disease are greater than 90%.

Here is the link to the page.

Another thing you might want to check out on the NBCF site is the Volunteer page. Just give them your info and they'll contact you about volunteer opportunities in your area.

And of course don't forget to visit the Boobie Wednesday Store to help us raise money for the awesomely fantabulous NBCF. $1oo pays for a mammogram, so help us help someone else :)

Because really, who doesn't like boobies?

And the week 3 #HalloBoobies winner is....

~Drumroll~ @Millarca! You are our week 3 winner!

We thought you freddy boobs were totally cool, and you're now in the running to win a #boobiewed bear, and the shirt of your choice. :) Good luck!

(LOL, she also told us on her blog that it was gooey and smelled of peaches)

Don't forget guys, there's one more week left, and we're taking email entries all the time! So, Hallo your Boobies and send 'em in!

Men have boobies too... or is that moobies?

Ok so lets be honest, many of you men came aboard the Boobie Wednesday train for the cleavage, (and that's OK, because that's how we tricked you into paying attention), but did you know that YOU can get breast cancer too? Yep, sorry to break it to you boys, but the moobies aren't safe either.

Research shows that women ARE 100 times more likely to develop breast cancer, but any man can develop breast cancer, and the older you get the higher your chances. In fact most male breast cancer occurs in men aged between 60 and 70.

"The prognosis for male breast cancer is the same as for breast cancer in women. In the past, male breast cancer was often diagnosed at a more advanced stage, which may have led people to believe it had a worse prognosis. Although male breast cancer and breast cancer in women are similar, important distinctions such as breast size and awareness affect early diagnosis and survival in cases of male breast cancer." - MayoClinic

Some of the give away symptoms men develop include:

Skin dimpling or puckering

Development of a new retraction or indentation of the nipple

Changes in the nipple or breast skin, such as scaling or redness

Nipple discharge

(And lets be honest here boys, you should probably go see a doc if any of these things happen anyway)

Now in men, nearly 20% of cases are inherited, as compared to almost half of that in women, so if you have a history of breast cancer in your family you're at greater risk.

But like they say, prevention is the best cure :) Say healthy, avoid drinking like a sailor at every opportunity, and if you notice any difference in the moobies GO SEE A DOCTOR.

Because, hey, they might not be as nice as the puppies, or as talented as this guys

but they're still important. ;)

(And on one final note, don't forget to visit the Boobie Wednesday store and help us raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. We've made pitifully little money this Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

We're also looking for ideas for mens T's so if you have any, email us or leave us a comment. Thanks!)

We got our info from MayoClinic.com

And the week 2 HalloBoobies winner is...

Congratulations @millarca AND @KyleeLane. Yes! We have 2 winners this week. We loved the effort @millarca put in, but we loved @KyleeLane's gore, so you'll both be going into the draw to win a Boobie Wednesday teddy bear, and t-shirt of your choice.

@KyleeLane

@millarca

Don't forget everyone, there's still 2 more weeks of #HalloBoobies on #boobiewed, and we're taking email entrants all the time - boobiewed@yahoo.com

Good luck!

What exactly is breast cancer?

So what IS breast cancer? Well we know it's scary and just about anyone can get it. Even you guys aren't safe from this nasty. But why does it happen and how?

Luckily for you, the Boobie Wednesday girls are here to answer your questions. :)

Well, umm, thanks to the good people at www.breastcancer.org anyway.

Marisa Weiss, M.D. says,

“Just think about the many things that might cause the wear and tear that leads to abnormal cell growth—pollutants, hormones, pesticides, smoking, alcohol use, obesity, stress…. Or maybe your cells just made a mistake one day when they were making new genes to pass on to their baby cells. Perhaps there was a misprint in the genetic instruction manual that said switch growth on instead of growth off. This is a test. ”

To give you the brief rundown:

• Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells.
• The term "breast cancer" refers to a malignant tumor that has developed from cells in the breast.

Here is a very unsexy boobie pic that explains the anatomy of the breast a little further.

Breast profile:

A Ducts
B Lobules
C Dilated section of duct to hold milk
D Nipple
E Fat
F Pectoralis major muscle
G Chest wall/rib cage

Enlargement
A Normal duct cells
B Basement membrane
C Lumen (center of duct)

Cancer in any part of the body is caused by "mutations, or abnormal changes, in the genes responsible for regulating the growth of cells and keeping them healthy". But in the breasts the cancer usually either "begins in the cells of the lobules, which are the milk-producing glands, or the ducts, the passages that drain milk from the lobules to the nipple".

You can get a description of the stages of breast cancer here.

"While there are steps every person can take to help the body stay as healthy as possible (such as eating a balanced diet, not smoking, limiting alcohol, and exercising regularly), breast cancer is never anyone's fault. Feeling guilty, or telling yourself that breast cancer happened because of something you or anyone else did, is not productive."

Basically breast cancer is really scary. Not just because it's life threatening, but it's boobie threatening too. To some that might sound totally superficial, but whether you like it or not, breasts are a symbol of womens sexuality, and who among us would want that stripped away?

So be smart. Stay healthy. Eat well, exercise, and above all do your monthly BSE just like we showed you here.

And when you've done all that, why not donate to help save someone elses boobies too? We recommend NBCF and Komen for the Cure, and of course you can buy something from our very own Boobie Wednesday store where all profits will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Cause really, who doesn't like boobies?

HalloBoobies week one winner is...

Congratulations @Susi_Sunshine and her bat Kurt, you are our first weekly winner and could win a Boobie Wednesday bear and t-shirt! Yay for you!

Don't forget guys, we're taking email entrants all the time, and you can also enter by using the #halloboobies tag next Boobie Wednesday.

Maybe it'll be your name here next Thursday.... ;)

October Rocks!

October totally rocks right?! First, because it's Halloween, and everyone loves Halloween don't they? Halloween is my most favorite time of the year, probably cause it's so dark and pagan, he he, but also cause I like having an excuse to dress up and ask people for candy.

But, October also rocks, because it's Breast Cancer Awareness month! Yes, October is the month of wonderful things! Halloween and boobies! Yay! And because we love these things so much we've decided to put them together to come up with the worlds most fabulous competetion... But more on that later.

Before we get to the really good stuff, I thought I'd give you all a little more info on the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). I'm sure in all our tweets, you've heard us mention them, but it occurs to me I haven't told you anything about them.

This is what they have to say:

The National Breast Cancer Foundation mission is to save lives by increasing awareness of breast cancer through education and by providing mammograms for those in need. NBCF accomplishes this mission through our initiatives, such as the National Mammography Program (NMP), Beyond the Shock educational video, MyNBCF online community, and the Early Detection Plan. NBCF programs provide women help for today and hope for tomorrow

If you ask me, that sounds like a really good plan, so all profits from our Boobie Wednesday store will be donated to the NBCF. You should cruise around their site and see what else there is to see too. We strongly recommend the community section. We even have our own profile there.

If you feel like your bank account is only good for one karma filled donation I'd recommend you check out Boobiethon. Us Boobie Wednesday girls love boobiethon and we're telling you to donate! He he he.

Now back to our competition... Because, as previously stated, we think that Halloween and boobies rock, I've come up with a little competition to combine the two... Introducing... ~drum roll~ HalloBoobies!!

All October I'll be running a HalloBoobie competition. We'll have a weekly winner every Wednesday and on Halloween I'll announce the over-all winner. This person will get the most awesome of prizes! Yes, MOST awesome. The over-all winner will win one Boobie Wednesday bear and a t-shirt of their choice from the Boobie Wednesday store.

I told you it was fabulous. ;)

Now all you have to do to enter is fancy dress your boobies. Yes you heard me right. Your boobies. Paint them, draw on them, put a rat in your cleavage, whatever! Just make it imaginative and Halloween themed.

Then, post your HalloBoobies as your picture on Boobie Wednesday and add a #halloboobies tag.

Or alternatively, email your picture to us at christalwishes@myspace.com or boobiewed@yahoo.com and we'll post the best of our email entrants here on the site.

You can enter as many times as you like, and we'll post the weekly winner on Thursday!

Good luck and have fun!

Yup, I've got boobies

So here in Boobie Wednesday land, we've had some great responses and stories from people. Some sad, some uplifting, some both. I feel I should mention @forceofseven right here, as she's told me her story, and I think she's a very brave and amazing person.

But there was one other story that really moved me too. It was posted on the Life in Monkeyland blog by @UberDorkGirlie, and was brought to my attention because of the special mention @boobiewed, myself (@honey_is_evil), and @shimmer418 got.

At first I expected it to be another "You girls are doing great!" type thing. (Which we are really unbelievably grateful for by the way). But what I found different was that our mention came with a story. A really great, really touching story.

I loved it, and I know you will too. With @UberDorkGirlie's permission, here it is:

They say every family has a black sheep. Well, my aunt Carol was the rainbow colored one. To me she will not only always be my favorite aunt, but one of the best female role models I had and will ever have. Aunt Carol redefined original. You can walk to the beat of your own drum, she had her own five piece band. If Lucille Ball, Betty Page and Audrey Hepburn had a lovechild, maybe, just maybe, you could come kind of close. Funny as hell, yet equally graceful. Ladylike manners when she was telling someone to go to hell (and believe me they had it coming). Dancing forward through life bold and brave, yet always thinking of others first.

She was the oldest of five siblings in a household that saw many rough times. My grandfather died young, barely in his 50’s at the time thanks to the working conditions he was in day in and day out. No matter how bad things were, she always made sure all of her brothers and sisters had a present beneath the tree on Christmas morning and every lovingly wrapped present was from “Santa.” Oh how she loved Christmas. Trips to her house in Minneapolis were my favorite times ever growing up. Second only to their trips down here. Trips, I am very grateful to say, that happened pretty frequently.

Aunt Carol was also my very first official Partner in Crime. Many of you know that I inappropriately grope my coffee mug every morning. What you don’t know is how deep my love of coffee goes. Ever since I can remember, I have loved it. I would bug my parents incessantly when I was little for some. As it would “stunt my growth,” it was off limits. Bless Dannon’s heart though, they made a coffee yogurt that my parents would get me. When we visited aunt Carol, she would sneak it to me. She was so slick about it too. When she made me hot cocoa, she’d use coffee instead of water. We called them “Cocoa Mochoas” and they were our little secret. They were so delish. That’s right, screw you Starbucks. I still make them for myself during the winter. And it still brings tears to my eyes on the first sip.

I have a million great aunt Carol stories. But damn it, I should have a million more. My monkeys should have their own arsenal of great aunt Carol stories forming. OMG she would so love them. And she would so be their favorite. But, Cancer felt otherwise. Fuck you very much Cancer. I swear one day you will wreak the just desserts you deserve. If only it were a person we could torture for decades day in and day out.

It was roughly the late 80’s when she was first diagnosed with Breast Cancer. A time when little was really known about it and old people whispered “Cancer” as though anything louder would summon it like a beast from the deepest bowels of Hades. No one wants to wake that beast. Doctor’s didn’t really do mastectomies. Radiation and chemotherapy were their sole weapons of choice. “It’s not the Cancer that kills you, it’s the treatment” we’d hear over and over. WTF does that mean?? Then why do it?? She beat it over and over again. A tumor would pop up and she’d ride it out until it was gone. Then I guess it got really pissed. It came back with a vengeance and it spread. At one time she had a brain tumor the size of a golf ball on her brain. Oh the grin on her face when she looked back at the baffled doctors when she lived through the treatment for that one and it had completely disappeared. Eventually, the beast decided to devour her entire body at once. No holds barred, spitting in the face of all the prayers and hopes for recovery. The last 3 1/2 months or so of her life, my mother lived there so she could take care of her. Every Friday after school, my dad and I would make the somber trip up. Every Sunday, the dreaded ride home. No matter how bad she felt,, even when she was down to 84 lbs and you could SEE the tumors all over as she lay in her hospital bed, aunt Carol was always smiling. She never once complained, never once screamed “why me?!?” and she always asked how you were doing right at first sight.. Not out of a point of formality, but because she truly cared.

I was 15 when she was taken from us. Her funeral is still vividly etched in my mind. I sat paralyzed at the back of the funeral home at her wake, praying repeatedly that it was just a nightmare and I’d wake up any minute in my own bed, back in Wisconsin. That is until I noticed my grandma alone in her own little corner with the same desperate look on her face. My ever constant personification of strength sat there looking so small and fragile. Like the weathered depiction of heartbreak. It pained me to hear her “no” when I asked her if she’d gone up yet. Everyone was so busy surfing their own overwhelming tide of pain that she got lost in the proverbial shuffle. So, I took a deep breath, grabbed her hand and up we went. Our slow and heavy stride in unison, the closer we got, the tighter our grip to each other. When we got there, both of our breaths were held as we looked down at our own version of an angel knowing each other well enough to know that we wouldn’t be uttering the typical “they did a really nice job on her” or “she looks peaceful” bullshit. Nope. We were both thinking “ fuck you, I want her back.” There is only so much heartbreak even the strongest of people can bear and grandma, though tough as nails, was no different. She lost it. Yup, grandma literally tried to climb into the casket with her. I thought she was just going to hug her goodbye. I should have known better before I saw her little leg hike up over the top of the casket. It’s ok, you can laugh at the image. I can giggle a bit about it now. Knowing I was about to get my ass kicked, I proceeded to pull grandma up off of aunt Carol and the casket. I swear to you she was laughing her ass off up in heaven looking down at the scene. Everyone else stood there dumbfounded. It didn’t sink in until I had struggled/dragged grandma half way to the exit door of the funeral home and by then she was in no mood to be coddled by them. I am proud to say I had the sense to grab her purse on the way out and not just for the possible need for self defense should she try to turn and make a run for the casket again. When we got outside, I shoved a cigarette in her mouth, lit it, did the same (not many can say they smoked their first cigarette with their grandma nor that it was a Pall Mall straight) and said “go ahead and hit me for saying it, but someday, this is all going to be ok. It’s going to hurt like a son of a bitch and that pain will never really go away, but it will be ok.” She took a long deep drag, looked at me and said “You’re right, I do wanna punch you and it does hurt like hell. But, no one loves you more than I do. Thank you Carol Ann.” For months she would repeatedly call me Carol Ann. For years after she would still slip and do it on occasion. You know what, it was the best compliment I have received. That I will ever receive.

So, yesterday I stumbled upon @boobiewed on Twitter. I always support Breast Cancer awareness and the fight to end it day in and day out. This is our month though. What @shimmer418 and @honey_is_evil are doing is amazing, brave and yes, fun. Above all, I found it very liberating. The goal is to show your breasts on Wednesdays across Twitter to raise awareness for Breast Cancer. I’ve seen people bare their breasts for awareness before, but I have never had the courage to do it. I’ve had issues with mine for the better part of my life now. I showed up to fifth grade sporting a b cup on my (then) little frame. My maiden name ends in witz which was changed to “tits” for that whole year. And the damn things just kept growing. Teen years with a D cup was rough. By the time they hit DD, they had turned into an entity of their own to some respects. No matter how hard I tried to hide them, they were ogled. Older people would talk to me like I was stupid because I had big breasts. I know, it’s like the size 4 friend we all have that likes to complain about being fat while we all want to smack the shit out of her. It’s really not my intent. And in all honesty, I don’t have the right. My point is that I’ve got some body issues going on, which every one of us does whether we admit it or not on some level. My tatas just happen to be one of the biggest catalysts for that. No pun intended there. Even though I’ve come to terms with them in some aspects, I still always hide them. Until yesterday. I thought about it, thought about aunt Carol and my grandma and lifted my shirt, snapped a pic and plastered my polka dot bra proudly all over my lil corner of Twitter. And, I will continue to do so. Hell, I submitted it to the @boobiethon today.

I am sure I speak for all those involved when I say that if just one person learns to do regular self exams, one person learns they may be at risk, one person learns about early detection, then by god it is more than worth it. There are some of my sisters out there that have battled Breast Cancer and won that don’t have the luxury of bitching about breast size any longer. They are merely thankful to be alive. So, for them, for my aunt Carol (who was the polka dot bra in the drawer of life), my monkeys and for every woman out there I say “Yup, I have boobies. I am proud of them, I vow to examine them regularly and to remind every woman in my life to be proud of theirs and do the same.”

Please take the time to follow: @boobiewed, @shimmer418, @honey_is_evil and @boobiethon.

Please take the time to visit:

The Official BoobieWed Page

The Official Boobiethon Page

And, pretty please with bra whose underwire never pops out on top, check your breasts monthly, encourage the women and men (yes boys, while you cannot live the dream of staying home and fondling them all day, you are able to get it as well, though much more rare) in your lives to do the same. Get involved, help raise awareness and show us your tatas!