Jamaica Me Crazy

This past weekend, our local American Cancer Society hosted a Jamaica Me Crazy event! We've had great success with this event in the past but changed it over to a formal gala about six years ago. This year, we decided to again switch back to a fun/less formal event and voila...Jamaica Me Crazy returned!

We had a great time planning and setting up for this event!

This backdrop took over an hour to put together. At the end of the night, someone leaned a heavy object against it and it all came crashing down. :( At least it was the end of the night and not the beginning!

Since fire was not allowed inside the building, a "fake" fire of tissue paper was made for the tiki torches! 

One of our fundraising items was this treasure chest with boxes filled with goodies! The contents ranged from area restaurant gift cards to drink tickets or a piece of costume jewelry! Each box also included a raffle ticket for a $100 restaurant gift card at the end of the evening!

 Silent auction

Love my friends! :)

The area that hosted our event even roasted a pig in the spirit of Jamaica...or something like that!

Yummy themed food!

The desserts were even better!

Someone might have gotten a little carried away...

Another fundraiser option included the candles of hope table - candles were lit in honor and/or memory of a loved one battling cancer.

My parents were there, too!

...and now, a message from our sponsors... :)

The Flamethrowers were our evening entertainment. They are a local band who plays all over the place - they were great as always!

The event ended around 10 p.m. and it was super easy cleanup on our part. Thankfully, we were finished by 10:30 ish and were on our way home! I had to wake up early for a run the next morning, of course!

In all, we had a great turnout and really enjoyed this event! Can't wait for next year! :)

Have you ever attended a fundraising event such as this one? Formal or casual events...what's your preference?

American Cancer Society Gala 2014

What a weekend! I am worn out but I wouldn’t trade a minute of it!

On Saturday night, I attended our American Cancer Society’s annual Gala – this year’s theme was Old Hollywood.

I absolutely loved our table centerpieces!

This was one type…

…and this was the other!

We also included a red carpet runway as guests arrived. Our photographer stood at the runway like paparazzi!

My friend Katie – she seriously rocks. Jason had to work and didn’t arrive until later in the evening, so I have no pictures of us together. Sad times.

Finger foods at the “before” party – it was delicious! Actually, ALL of the food was delicious!

A few event revenue enhancers at our event included a photo booth…

…complete with props…

….each person received a printed picture, and they were given the option to post the photo to facebook and/or email it to themselves! Loved it!

This is me with my best friend literally forever…Jane!

Another enhancer was the Candles of Hope table – guests could light a tea light in honor of a survivor or in memory of a loved one who lost their battle with cancer.

Not pictured here (because they all sold super fast) are boxes that were filled with area restaurant gift cards. Included with each box was a ticket which would give you a chance at college football season tickets to our local University!

Our silent auction was located in another corner, but I never got around to it for pictures.

My awesome survivor friend Erin and I were Emcee’s for the evening!

For starters, we accepted awards on behalf of the Academy. It was rather funny if I do say so myself! :D

We also helped our guests see the impact that ACS has made in our area – from not smoking in restaurants (at all) to wigs, transportation, patient assistance programs, etc…

Our guest speaker was a cancer survivor of 10 years – she was diagnosed in 2004 with stage for colo-rectal cancer and is still surviving today! What an amazing story!

To cap off the evening, a local band rocked the house – no really, the are incredible! They are called the Flamethrowers and are the area’s hottest and most sought after band at the moment. I loved them!

Oh yes, I almost forgot about the black and white movie that played on the overhead screen (silent of course)! Nice touch, huh? :)

What do you think of Gala’s? Have you ever attended one? Do you like to get dressed up for fancy events? (I love it!)

Week in Review–8/1

What a week! I can hardly believe it’s already Friday again. I’m super thankful for the weekend because this week went by so fast!

I didn’t have a chance to work out a lot this week (sadly), so I decided to share a Week in Review with you instead.

On Monday, I went for a 3 mile run in my new Run tank from Kohls. Sadly, I knew it would be one of my only chances for a run this week (apart from today and tomorrow).

NSYNC released a new album this week! I received this fb message from my brother the following day….

He thinks he’s funny. Brothers. SMH.

On Tuesday, we celebrated my mom’s birthday. Aren’t her balloons adorable? Her sister bought the Mickey balloon for her (I didn’t know anything about it) and I bought the Minnie balloon! She was so excited to have a pair!

In-between work, I spent most of my extra time on planning the Gleaux Run. Yesterday’s post recaps the process of planning a race and that’s literally what has consumed all of my extra time. I almost had a panic moment on Tuesday over the logo (or lack thereof), but as you can see (thankfully) it all worked out in the end! Crisis averted!

Two weeks and counting!

Wanna know how crazy this week has been? I haven’t had a chance to cook dinner during the week – Jason and I have been finishing up leftovers.

Instead, look at yesterday's lunch.

Someone brought Panera bagels to us and I when I arrived at work on Thursday morning, I tucked a wheat raisin one away for my lunch. Desperate much? Yes, I do say so.

On top of everything else, we also have a Gala for the American Cancer Society on Saturday night. It’s an “Old Hollywood” theme and I’m super excited to attend! I love getting dressed up and attending fun dinners! :0)

Oh yes, and I’m also going for a long run on Saturday morning…but that’s pretty much a given.

How was your week? Are you glad it’s Friday, too? Any plans for the weekend?

2013 American Cancer Society Gala

Saturday night, I attended my 4th American Cancer Society Annual Gala event, and this happened to be my 2nd year as planning committee member.

Gala 2010 – Celebration of Life
Gala 2011 – A Night in Tuscany
Gala 2012 – Candles & Cocktails

Our 2013 theme played off of last year’s Candles and Cocktails theme with the subtitle, A Birthday Under the Big Top!



My husband and I got all spiffed up and really enjoyed our evening!




The ballroom



Bows made out of tickets! Too cute!



One of the most popular parts of the evening – the funnel cake station!



Delicious food!

Of course the main goal of the night was to fundraise for cancer research and have a good time while doing so – mission accomplished!

We also decided to take a few pictures by the photo booth!



My husband is a bit ridiculous at times.



We make quite a crew!



Bottoms Up was our evening entertainment. They are a band from New Orleans and totally rocked the house!

To see more from our evening, check out the video below!

Thanks for watching! 

Have you ever been to a non-profit organization Gala/Ball? What were your thoughts/favorite part of the event?