For those of you participating with TEAM GLITTER for the AIDS WALK, here is what you need to know about meeting up with all of your fellow Glitterites.

LOCATION:
TEAM GLITTER will be meeting at the same place we have met the last four years (if you've participated in past years, you may recall this part and breathe a sigh of relief that we didn't pick a new place to try and confuse you or us as many of us are not morning people!) We will be meeting at the golden GENERAL WILLIAM SHERMAN statue in Grand Army Plaza, which is located on the corner of 59th Street and 5th Avenue, on Central Park South. Across the street from the statue is The Plaza Hotel (or "the artist formerly known as The Plaza Hotel") on one side, with FAO Schwartz and the Apple store on the other. This statue marks one of the openings of Central Park South, where AIDS WALK registration will be taking place.

TIME:
AIDS WALK registration opens at 8:30am, so please try to be at the TEAM GLITTER meeting spot at 8:45am. There has typically been confusion about when to go over and grab your t-shirts or various other fundraising prizes....Last year it seemed to work out with everyone heading over together. It is wicked crowded the closer you get to the starting line... and we don't want any team members getting lost so we decided to try that again. So anyway: remember this: 8:45am, LATEST.

ALL WALKERS MUST BE REGISTERED:
The Glittermods always have a list of who is supposed to be walking. Please make sure if you plan on walking with us or bringing someone to walk with us....this includes Glittermoms, friends, great aunt's cousins sister twice removed that really enjoys body glitter.....they must be registered officially with our team. Please register everyone....forget noone...and no glitter person will be left behind.

If for some reason you will not be making it after you have registered please email Aly as soon as you know at coordinator.glitterstaff@gmail.com. This way we will not be standing around waiting for you to show up and can cross you off our official list.

WHO AM I LOOKING FOR?:
Well, this is an easy one to answer: just look for the peppy (or not so peppy) girls and Dave in various shades of pink (except Dave... no pink on Dave...)! Several of us will be wearing our GLITTER AIDS WALK shirts (either from this year or wearing one from a previous year....we're big into recycling at the Glitter! lol). Look for this collection of people around the base of the statue..... Aly will be the very tall one in an AIDS WALK shirt (of course she's wearing one she designed them for goodness sake), following all of us around offering us various nuts, Dave will be the official glitter boy (he may have an elephant. He often has an elephant), Rhonda will be exuding her usual laid-back fabulousness, PJ will be milling around playing spot the newbie...wearing pink under protest, and Morgan will be the tall blonde also wearing pink but that's because she actually enjoys wearing pink. Cristin will be making a return appearance to the walk this year, so look for a brunette with exceedingly shiny hair, probably rockin' some vintage Glitter wear. Do not look for Janice, Jamie G, Kimmie, or Steph because they will sadly not be there.

HOW LONG IS THE WALK?:
The AIDS Walk is approximately 6.2 miles long, and will take roughly 2-3 hours to complete. We're going to try to keep up a good pace this year, to avoid 2007's "trail of broken dreams,' as Jamie G called it -- we ended up toward the end of the walk due to both starting toward the back and the Longest Bathroom Break Ever (pee before you get there!!!), and missed out on all the free food and drink. It was really depressing.

WHAT DO I WEAR?:
Well, we can't really tell you what to wear, but if you've purchased some nifty TEAM GLITTER AIDS WALK gear from the store, then that's a good place to start. So we're hoping you'll wear that! Not only is our Kristin gear spiffy, but it will make everyone very easy to identify while meeting up and then walking.

Beyond this, you are going to want to wear COMFORTABLE clothes. Trust us on this one. Don't worry about being a fashion plate at the walk--you'll just end up in pain later. We're all going to be dressed in our favorite grubby gym-wear, anyway. So for instance, do NOT wear skirts (just ask poor Christine why....) and do NOT wear jeans, either. Your legs will chafe and sweat in jeans, and you will feel generally disgusting and uncomfortable at the end of the walk. Your best best is to wear either comfortable cotton shorts (not jean shorts) or comfortable, light-weight sweatpants. And of course, wear durable SNEAKERS. Not sandals, not flip-flips, not platforms or stillettos, but SNEAKERS. You may see many a fabulous drag queen walking in platform stilletos and sassy dresses -- those ladies have PRACTICE, you do not. lol BE COMFY!

WHAT DO I BRING?:
The AIDS Walk will march fearlessly on, come rain or come shine, so bring a lightweight hooded sweatshirt if you have one, or a lightweight jacket you can easily tie around your waist. Do NOT bring umbrellas or coats or anything heavy to carry, as you will have to carry these things for 6 miles if it turns out that you don't need them. Also, if you have any outstanding donation checks or money orders, be sure to bring that with you as well.

OTHER STUFF:
While we're not going to be running marathons or doing the high-jump or anything, we WILL be doing a lot of walking, so having your nutrients and energy is SO important! We recommend either eating a GOOD breakfast the morning of the walk, or else bringing something quick and fun to eat while we're all meeting up (I believe, last year, that someone brought donuts, we all had coffee juice water or soda and Aly brought peanuts because... well, Aly reads too many banners on the subway about the nutritional value of peanuts.) You may also bring a bottle of water to start yourself out, but lots and lots of bottles of water will be provided for FREE all along the walk-route at designated rest stations. So you don't need a six-pack of bottled water or anything. You will also want to have a small amount of cash (think $10) on you for our annual cookie and hot dog noshing.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE WALK IS DONE?:
The AIDS Walk ends back in Central Park, after lots of walking and exercise and Glitterite bonding. Anyone who would like to continue the bonding process is more than welcomed to join us for our annual feast of "the best hot dogs in NYC" at GRAY'S PAPAYA on 72nd and Amsterdam, across the street from the 72nd Street subway stop. And the best part of the GRAY'S PAPAYA hot dog experience? It costs about 2 bucks for both the hot dogs AND the drink. Excellent.

For any other questions or concerns, please be sure to shoot Aly an email at coordinator.glitterstaff@gmail.com.

Cristin may very well be wearing a tiara as she has in the past... or a pink baseball cap with a daisy on it. :)