Bear Tie Ball

Last week, Magnum told me that, thanks to a case he has been working, we were going to be attending a black tie event.  It was called the Bear Tie Ball.  It is an annual event for the Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation. 

We had such a wonderful evening!  We definitely are NOT "black tie event" people.  And, this was a very "froo froo, shoo shoo" event (yes, that IS the technical term, thank you very much!)  which we would never be able to afford on our own.  Thank you, Crazy Client, for funding our awesome night!!

It was really fun to get all dressed up.  Magnum commented that the last time we got to get dressed up like this was our wedding. =)  The event was held at the gorgeous Union Station here in ChiTown.  It was simply beautiful.

Because we don't get to get this dressed up often, Magnum was all about snapping pictures.  We have a bunch of bad iPhone photos from that night.  I played around and made them black and white, just to class 'em up a little. :P  (My dress was actually navy blue.  More on that in a minute...)

Ok, I'm sorry, but all I see here are my boobs!

Check out Magnum's shoes!!  He LOVED them, and got a ton of compliments that night. =)

Here's a really BAD selfie Magnum tried to take of us to send to his buddy.

We had such an amazing time that before we even left, Magnum said he would love for us to start socking away a little money each week so that we can attend again next year. I think it's a wonderful idea!! Maybe we can sock away enough to actually bid on something this time!

Ok, quick note about my dress...
I may have mentioned at some point in the 8 years I've been here that my brother was supposed to get married back in 2000, and called it off just weeks before the wedding.  Of course, by then, our bridesmaid dresses were purchased, altered, and ready to go.  15 years ago, I paid $350 for that damn dress, and then it never came out of the damn bag!  When Magnum told me we were going to this event, I immediately freaked out because I had NO idea what I was going to wear.  Guys have it easy, he just went and rented a tux.

I spent a half a day just stressing out before I remembered that dress, which had been hanging in the closet for 15 years, along with the damn shoes (which were another $100!!)  I pulled it out, tried it on, and hey!  It fit!  Well, there were definitely a few more lumps and bumps than there were 15 years ago, but it wasn't anything some great shapewear couldn't handle.  The only problem was with the jacket.  The sleeves were long, and for some reason, too long for me.  What the hell, did my arms shrink since I bought the dress?!  I spent another day trying to come up with an alternative, even calling one of my good friends to see about the dress she wore to her sister's wedding.  Finally, on Thursday, I figured I'd better get the dress cleaned, just in case I ended up wearing it.  When I went to the dry cleaners, it suddenly occurred to me that I should see if they could shorten the sleeves.  I knew it was a long shot, since it was already Thursday, but I figured the worst they could say is "no," right?  I asked the seamstress about making them 3/4 length sleeves.  Then, I got REALLY bold, and asked if she could have it ready the next day (Friday).  And, thank the sweet Lord, she said yes!  I figured, this way, if I still didn't like it, I Friday night, and all day Saturday to look for something else.

Well, clearly the jacket turned out great.  I'm so glad I finally got to wear the dress, as it really was pretty.  And looking at those pictures made me remember just how far I've come from this:

I've been beating myself up lately because I've "fallen off the wagon," which is probably evident in those first pictures.  But, I'm saving that for another post.  In the meantime, I'm going to try and remind myself to be proud of where I am right now.

Got a minute?

I know I've been absent from the Blogosphere for quite a while now.  There has just been so much going on around here, I probably could never really catch you up on it all.

Sadly, one of the things going on is that one of my very best friends' husband is battling very aggressive cancer.  Actually, some of you may remember him, as he was the friend who did the remodeling in my basement. 

Anyway, I had no idea there was a GoFundMe page set up for him until about 5 minutes ago.  I really wish I had known so I could have shared it sooner.  If you have a few moments to spare today, please go check it out.  Hopefully, you'll find a few dollars to donate, as well.

There is a benefit being held this afternoon for him and his family.  I'm looking forward to seeing him, and my friend.  At the same time, I'm almost afraid to see him.  It's been a couple months since I've last seen him.  He has since stopped all treatment, and has decided to just make the most of whatever time he has left.  He has had hospice care for a while now, so I just pray they've been keeping him comfortable.

If you are a prayer, feel free to send some their way.

It's that time of year again...

Stud will be participating, once again, in the annual St. Baldrick's Day Event at his high school. And, once again, he will be honoring Katie, the daughter of Karen and Gregg, and the sister of David.

It seems that this year, the school is trying something new. Click on the link above for details. I'm still waiting to find out if they will be completely eliminating the in-school event. I hope not, since the boys love doing it so much. I will keep you updated.

In the meantime, please take a moment to click HERE to read about the St. Baldricks Foundation is all about. Then, click HERE to make a donation on Stud's behalf. When you open his page, you'll be able to see a picture of Katie, and read a beautiful poem that she wrote during her treatment.

If you're a new(er) reader, you can click on the "St. Baldrick's" label below to read past posts about this awesome event.

My Bloggy Buddies have been a HUGE support in this event the past two years, and for that, we both thank you. If you can help again this year, please do. It's such an incredibly important cause.

I'm going to leave you with the before and after photos from the past two years. (Mostly cuz I can never get enough of that face!!!)

2009 Before

After2010 Before

AfterThis year's Before
Stay tuned for the After....

Email of the Day

Email of the Day

Did you guys know about this? Cuz, I certainly didn't. I thought it was too important not to share.

Cleaning for a Reason

If you know any woman currently undergoing chemo, please pass the word to her that there is a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning - 1 time per month for 4 months while she is in treatment. All she has to do is sign up and have her doctor fax a note confirming the treatment. Cleaning for a Reason will have a participating maid service in her zip code area arrange for the service. This organization serves the entire USA and currently has 547 partners to help these women. It’s our job to pass the word and let them knowthat there are people out there that care. Be a blessing to someone and pass this informationalong.
www.cleaningforareason.org

It's St. Baldrick's time again!! Woo hoo!

Once again, Stud Muffin will be participating in the St. Baldrick's event at his school. Like last year, he will be shaving his head in honor of Katie Gerstenberger. You can read more about Katie on her mom's blog, Gberger.

Go here to read the post from last year, which explains more about St. Baldrick's.

I know times are tough for everyone, but please, give what you can. This is such a worthy cause. I'm fairly certain that every one of my readers has been touched by cancer in some way. Let's do what we can to help find a cure.

Stud's goal this year is $2,000. We may actually be upping that later, as he raised more than that last year. (Last year, we started with a goal of $1,000, and in the first 2 days, he was able to raise $500, so we changed it to $2,000) I believe he raised around $2,300 last year, and was the top fund-raiser at his school. He's hoping to do that again. And, I know with the help of my Bloggy Buddies, he will! (I will be putting a Shout Out list up again this year. Hope to see you there!)

You can click HERE to make a donation on-line (or click on the link on my sidebar.) You can also download and print a paper form if you'd rather donate that way.

Thank you, in advance, for your help and generosity!

A little more video...

...but not of Stud Muffin. I checked back on the Fox News website, and came across this video, which prominently features "the girl!" Her name is Clare, and she's in the beginning of the video.

Pictures!

7:00 am We started our day nice and early! I don't know why I'm always so surprised when I see a picture of Stud Muffin and his best friend. You'd think I'd be used to the size difference by now! They've been best friends since kindergarten, and they've always looked like father & son!

There were SO many boys there early, before school started, that Studly had to come back during his lunch period to get shaved. (The boys weren't allowed to miss class to participate.) I think he had a sudden case of nerves when they finally put him in a chair!

To see what happened in between, check out the boring video! I asked the shaver to go to the skin, but she must not have heard me. Most boys were given a choice of having it shaved to a 1 (what Stud has) or a 0, which is basically to the skin. I think she should have given him a 0. He's still not too sure about the new do...

He got over it pretty quickly, though! (I LOVE this picture of him, his face is so damn cute!!)

I love that they had this set up for photo ops!For some reason, all his friends felt the need to rub his head for luck. It was actually kinda cute.

The boys who participated received a T-shirt, ski cap, button, and some pencils. He likes his hat.

His best bud joined in on the fun. I was going to take a picture of them together, but my battery died!!

Here's Stud Muffin with the local celeb, Pat Elwood. (Go to the previous post to watch some video from Fox News)

Stud looks so much like CSJ now, that it's making me sick to my stomach >:( Especially in this picture. CSJ normally wears a flat-top, but for the 6 months that he was in the police academy, he kept his hair exactly like this. I think I mentioned once before that I used to hold a study group at our apartment every Sunday while he was in the academy, and after it was over, I would shave his and his friend's heads. Every week!

I was able to take some video of the actual shaving, but let me warn you now, it's kinda long and boring. I'm just posting it because I took it!

While Stud was getting shaved, the video clip from the previous post was being filmed. When you hear the crowd start to roar, it's because Pat Elwood was broadcasting and getting his head shaved.

I found out today that Stud Muffin can continue to collect donations for up to a year after the event, so you can still help the cause. Yay! You can click on the link to the right and donate when the time is right for you :) I don't know what the final results were at school as far as who the top fundraiser was. Nonetheless, Stud Muffin had a wonderful total. At last check, it was $2,165!! Thanks so much to all my generous friends out in Blogistan!

Fundraiser Update

Hi Bloggy Buddies!! I wanted to give you an update on Stud Muffin's fundraising efforts. At the time of this post, he's raised $1,065! He's half-way to his goal of $2,000! There's still a few weeks before the big event, so please consider making a donation to this very worthwhile cause.

Another thing that was updated is that Katie is finally being honored on his page! Yay! If you've never checked out Karen's blog, you should do it right now. Then go to Stud Muffin's page, click on "Children Honored" at the top, and you'll see Katie's info, and her gorgeous picture.

Go on, go! What are you waiting for?!

I need your bloggy love...

(**I'm going to keep this post at the top until the fundraiser, so check under it for new posts)
My beautiful son (aka Stud Muffin!) is doing a fund raiser at school next month, and I couldn't be prouder! Some of you may have heard of the St. Baldrick's Day event. If you haven't, you can find out more info when you click on the link below. Basically, participants sign up to have their heads shaved (oh, yes, SHAVED!) in order to raise money for cancer research. Specifically, it's for children's cancer research. I'm so proud of my baby for doing this. My "real" friends, and some long-time readers, know a little bit about how cancer has touched my family. I had no idea of the impact it's had on him. Anyone who knows my baby knows he ADORES his hair! For him to SHAVE IT OFF is huge.
H-U-G-E!! I'm still a bit surprised that he's doing this.

OK, so click on the link below, get the scoop on the St. Baldrick Foundation, and help Stud Muffin reach his donation goal. Right now it's $1,000, but I have a feeling we'll be raising it soon, cuz my Bloggy Friends are ultra generous! Thanks in advance for all your support! Oh, of course, feel free to pass this on to all your friends ;-) Thanks!

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.php?ParticipantKey=2009-61423#

*** Update: We have now raised his goal to $2,000. Thanks to the generosity of my family and friends, he was able to raise $500 in the first two days! I just checked the total right now, and I see my brother made a freakin' $250 pledge! Thanks, Brother!

What a waste...

...of IMAX tickets. With less than 24 hours notice, we weren't able to make it to Navy Pier tonight to see the movie I won tickets to. Bummer! But, we did spend the evening at my parents' house visiting with them. My aunt (mom's sister) and my brother & his girlfriend also stopped by, so it was nice spending time together. For anyone who may be out of the loop, my mom just returned from 4 months at her villa in Italy. Yeah, rough, right? Unfortunately for her, she spent the day at the hospital today undergoing a battery of tests. She'll be seeing her oncologist in a couple of weeks for the results of today's tests. This is the longest she's gone between tests, because she was in Italy, so of course we're all a little worried. But, we're trying to keep only positive thoughts on the forefront!!

I had bought my mom a game called Wineopoly (yes, Monopoly with wine) as a Welcome Home gift, so we played that for a while. Really cute version of Monopoly, I must say. The playing pieces were a cork, a carafe, a wine bottle, a goblet, a wedge of cheese and a bunch of grapes. We didn't realize until we were putting it away that all the "property" cards had tons of info on the back about the kind of wine that was on the card. (Instead of properties, you buy wines - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, etc.) We'll have to read them the next time we bring the game out.

Today was an OK day at school. The highlight - there was a Subway fundraiser today, so I had a yummy tuna salad sandwich and Sunchips for lunch. Yay! Apparently, we're going to do this every two weeks. What a great idea! The meal (sandwich, chips and a drink) costs $5, and $1 goes right back to the school. My friend who runs an outside program within the school brought these people in, so kudos to Mr. C.! It was VERY popular with the kids, so it's a win-win situation for everyone. Another highlight of the day - Big Cheese was out! tee hee! Ok, I shouldn't be like that. He's actually being pretty decent this year. I'd better not press my luck with the universe by putting out negative vibes, right?

I just sat down...

...to write a proper post, and turned the TV on, only to be surprised by Stand Up to Cancer. I'm sure I'm the only person on the planet that didn't hear anything about this program/fund raiser. Just in case one of you has also been under a rock lately, this program is being aired on ABC, CBS and NBC simultaneously. It's chock full of celebs, and is a fund raiser for all types of cancer. So far, I've already been reduced to tears by the most adorable little girl who has cancer and it's only 16 minutes into the program. I'm going to watch the rest and come back later.