Monday, April 20, 2009

Carrie'd away

You may recall I announced a Wisconsin blogger's get together awhile back. The event was to be part of a campaign put together by the lovely ladies at Mom it Forward and would raise money for a great charity that helps Kenyan woman start their own coconut oil extraction business. Those oils are then sold to a company that make them into lotions, soaps and other products.

Besides, it'd be a lot of fun, yo.

I've planned a lot of events, and never have the details fallen into place so easily. It was like putting together a preschooler's jig saw puzzle.

Easy peasy.

One great blogger offered to have the event at her house. Another owns a great online store and donated a gift card for our raffle. Early on, I had a lot of people excited that something local was being planned and looked forward to meeting other "imaginary friends" in person.

But somehow when it came time to collect registrations for the event, the numbers, well...trickled in. In the end, only three of us lovely ladies met for dinner this past Saturday.

Boy, did the rest of you miss out!

Carrie S., Carrie C. and myself (an honorary Carrie for the evening) met at Trattoria Stefano in lovely Sheboygan, Wisconsin and laughed ourselves silly.



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It really was a great time. And who would have thought that in a small Wisconsin city, in a teeny little restaurant one could find such GREAT FOOD?!? Honestly, the prices were comparable to that of one of the chain crap restaurants, only Trattoria Stefano featured salads with "organic farm raised Norwegan salmon" and other entres with so many delicious ingredients that our server stood for five minutes at a time reciting them back to us.

(I translated after he left: "A salad with fish, a dish with some meat, and one with noodles, sauce and more meat.")

We sampled the silky and yumma-licious lotions from Basa Body. (And found that despite how delicious it smells, the chocolate mint soap still tastes like soap if you take a bite. Thanks for that, Carrie S.)

And we laughed.

And enjoyed the fact that there were no little short people yelling, "MOOOOOM!"

And then we saw this guy and the night just got *thismuch* better.



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Yes, that's a full grown man in a nice restaurant wearing a Snuggie. (Who rocked because he didn't bat an eye when we took his picture. And then told his wife, "You married THIS!" which was super awesome because we all concurred that was something our husbands would say.)

So, big thanks to the Carries for joining me for a super rad evening. Thanks to Basa Body for the lotion and Mom it Forward for organizing such a great chain of events for a great charity. And huge thanks to Angie of Good for the Kids for the raffle prize.

The rest of you -- well, we hope you'll be able to join us next time!

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Just a few finishing thoughts:

1) Buying a product from Basa Body or donating $20 to The Pope Foundation (the charity that trains Kenyan women to start their own oil extraction businesses) between now and May 12 enters you to win one of three great gift cards, including a $250 Disney Gift Card, a $150 Amazon.com Gift Card or a $100 Target Gift Card! Click here for more info, or visit the Basa Body site or click on the widget in my left side bar to make a donation. You can still win!

2) If you don't have money to donate right now, check out Mom it Forward's "10 Ways to Donate to Charity Without Spending a Cent" article. Good stuff.

3) If you're ever in Sheboygan, I highly recommend Trattoria Stefano or its "sister restaurant" across the street (owned by the same folks). Their menu was impressive and their prices budget friendly. Plus they let us sit and be all loud for nearly three hours and never once gave us the evil stink eye.

4) Come back on Friday - I'll be giving away some of the Basa Body lotion. And, no, it doesn't smell like coconuts.

11 comments:

Denise said...

darn, I wish I still lived in WI, because I totally would have loved to come meet you in person!
Also wish I knew about that restaurant when we used to visit Blue Harbor for our yearly waterpark adventure. Could've used a break from the crappy hotel food : )

Anonymous said...

You make Wisconsin sound like fun.

Aunt Julie said...

Fun times in Sheboygan, you betcha! Next time you do a little "get together," let me know and I'll send Aunt Julie over. She's over in Neenah, and could always use a Leinie or 2!

WeaselMomma said...

I'm glad you had a great time and wish you bigger turnouts in the future.

Unknown said...

Great Party,should have been here earlier. I am ready for a trip to Blue Harbor myself, thanks for sharing..
Now, you are invited to my party complete with fun healthy treats, games and prizes..
Gymathtics LIVE Event is going virtual! - Saturday, April 25, 2009, 2-5pm



Exploramania is having a Gymathtics LIVE Event in Tampa but wants to invite everyone who cannot physically attend to attend virtually through the Internet. There will be games, prizes, demonstrations, and live photos from the event from 2-5pm on April 25th all streaming through the Internet celebrating Math & Exercise with Gymathtics. This is a GREAT family activity for some safe family FUN. Those participating through the Internet will have added perks by utilizing Social Networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Twitter during the event. Even better, everyone can enter for giveaways, including the Gymathtics DVD, starting TODAY! Share this with your friends and family.



For instructions on how to participate online, visit Exploramania’s Blog at www.Exploramania.Blogspot.com.

Unknown said...

Next time I'm puttin' on my snowshoes and headin' North. Even though I'm not a 'Mom'.

Jyl @ MommyGossip said...

Wish I could have been there!!! Next time, right? You're only, what? 3.5 hours away by plane? LOL!

Thanks for supporting Yehu Microfinance and Mom It Forward. This fundraiser would not be a success without all the tremendous people that have banded together in support of this great cause :).

Sincerely, jyl

Anonymous said...

Aw man. (I said that in a really whiny voice) I was stuck hosting a guest all weekend and I totally thought about your party. Dagnabit.

Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] said...

Sorry the turnout was low, but thanks for the shout-out!

Kim H. said...

Sheboygan...I love Sheboygan!

Looks and sounds like you had a great time -- and cute shirt -- Colleen, you always take such cute pictures!

Hugs!

Kim H. said...

Oh, and around here -- we fight over the one snuggie we have here in our house. In fact the other night it was so cold I wore the goofy thing to bed.