2 Days Until the Big Night

Well friends, here we are again- 2 days until our big night and our last event of the year. Our Project Smile 11th Anniversary Celebration is less than 48 hours away. I can't believe it! So, how are things looking? So far, we are in good shape. I picked up the calendars yesterday and they look awesome. The design and print quality is excellent and of course, the photos look terrific! Today, I picked up the event programs at Staples. All of our bid sheets are now done, live auction items are all set. I went to Party City tonight to select the balloons for the event. I realized I could save a ton of money by buying the latex balloons at Party City and bringing them to the event ourselves- I should have done that years ago. Having balloons delivered is so expensive it's a little ridiculous. I couldn't decide which balloon colors to choose- I was staring at the choices for what felt like forever. Two of the sales associates were a huge help in choosing the balloons. I told them about our event and they even drew up a floor plan to figure out how many balloons we needed and where to put them. They blew up some of the balloons so I could see the colors together. I was so impressed by their help- it made a huge difference. We ordered 48 balloons and it came to a total of $51. Our awesome volunteer Marcy, offered to pay for the balloons which was really nice of her. She is coming on Friday to help set up and help pick up the balloons too.

Our jazz musicians- the Barry Levine Jazz Trio- are confirmed. They are donating their time which is great. Steve Aveson, our guest speaker, has a scheduling conflict and won't be able to attend, but Steve obtained a replacement- Katelyn Flint, a new reporter for NECN. She seems really nice and is enthusiastic about participating. It's a shame not to have Steve there, but it should be fine. I'm picking up our cake tomorrow at Konditor Meister at Braintree- home of the best cakes.

I'm bringing a  lot of stuffed animals with me to the event so I can use them as decorations. I usually bring some anyways, but I want to use a lot more this time. I'm also going to tie the balloons around the beanie babies to anchor them. I do that at the Date Auction and it always looks cute. I have a bunch of beanie babies that I set aside to use as decorations at our events.

Well, that's the latest for tonight. I'm off to get some more things together and make sure that I haven't forgotten anything. Wish me luck friends! Until tomorrow....

Countdown!

Well friends, the countdown is on to our big night! We're just 10 days away from our Project Smile 11th Anniversary Celebration- next Friday, Nov. 7 at the Doubletree Hotel, Milford. I'm really excited for the event and nervous too. We have an awesome jazz trio- the Barry Levine trio, who are donating their time to perform at the event.  You can check them out at: https://sites.google.com/site/bljazzgroup/ 
I've been following up with people who have been invited and working on getting the word out as much as possible.  Everyone who comes to the event has a great time, it's just challenging to make sure that we have a good turn out. You can never take it for granted. Here is the event flyer- please share it and help us get the word out!

Tomorrow, I'm off to Braintree to pick up the autographed sports photos for the silent and live auction. I also have to pick up the sports photos for the silent auctions that we will be doing at Boston Event Guide's beer and wine fest next weekend. We're picking up a total of 50 items! It's our largest amount of items to pick up at one time. It is going to be a busy weekend with our event on Friday, then 2 auctions at Wine Fest on Saturday and two more auctions at Beer Fest on Sunday. It is really nice of Boston Event Guide to let us do auctions at their events. I really appreciate it. 

Well, that's the latest for tonight. I now this is a short blog, but I'm heading off to work on bid sheets. Until tomorrow friends...

Tuesday Happenings

Greetings friends! Blogging 2 days in a row- I've almost forgotten what that's like! So what's happening? Well, here is a photo from our donation yesterday to Boston PD of over 250 stuffed animals, coloring books/crayons and reading books. It was a memorable donation yesterday because my youngest sister drove me. She is taking her driver's license road test next week, so she was practicing her driving by going into Boston with me. It was funny, because she was very concerned about not being able to see out of the rearview mirror- I tried to convince that when I took driver's ed, they turn the review mirror away from you so that you can't use it when on the highway. They want you to use your mirrors. That didn't help her feel better. I told the police sergeant that she was practicing her driving and he was very nice- he stopped 2 lanes of traffic so she could back out of the parking lot easily! I'm happy to say that she is doing very well with her driving.

In other news, I have 2 grants that need worked on. I got good news last week that we will be receiving a $4,000 grant from a local Foundation that has supported us for many years. That was a relief. I always get so anxious about our grants. I'm waiting to hear back from another grant application- keeping my fingers crossed that it is good news too.

Tomorrow, I'm sending another email blast for the Anniversary Celebration and then I'm working on calling everyone who has been invited to the event. We need a good turnout and I have to do everything possible. We're going to be promoting it on the local radio next week. I also should start working on the bid sheets for the auction so we can get that done and out of the way.

Well, that's the latest for tonight. I'm off to eat some of my mom's amazing apple pie. Until tomorrow friends...

Latest and Greatest

Greetings friends! I can't believe it has been almost a month since I last blogged. I don't even know why I haven't blogged in so long- that's awful. Well, it has been a busy time. We had our fall fashion show fundraiser during Boston Fashion Week a couple of weeks ago, our calendar is finally at the printer and our Anniversary Celebration is just a couple of weeks away. I am all wrapped up with that event and trying to get a good attendance for it along with some last minute auction items.

Our Date Auction was in the Boston Globe 3 times which was awesome. Here is a photo from the Names section after the event. It was awesome to get that photo in there!

 This is one of my favorite pictures from the Date Auction- the guys are all bachelors from the auction, along with Michael Winter, our host, Ms. Massachusetts and me! I haven't heard of any love connections yet from the Date Auction this time, but hopefully there will be at least one.

Our fashion show fundraiser, The Show by Smiling Stiletto, went great. It is a small fundraiser for us- we raised approximately $2,000, but it is also important in raising awareness. We received a lot of great feedback from the event. Our event planner, Mauryn Kkira, did an awesome job again with the event execution. The fashions looked great and the models did an awesome job. Our food and dessert vendors were delicious. Special thank you to KitchenSurfing Chef Jon Sargent, Tia's Desserts, Ayana's Loves Cakes and Pastries, Nunzio's Pizza and Voli Vodka. Everyone who was involved donated their time. Here are some photos with our models (courtesy of Clark Linehan)

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There are lots more photos-so please check them out! Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.705819682843377.1073741845.113932798698738&type=1&l=0aa3a558f6

Well, that's it for tonight. I have a few work things that I need to catch up on. There's lot more to update you on, so I will be blogging tomorrow- I still can't believe I've been so dreadful at blogging lately. Until tomorrow friends....

Date Auction Success

Well friends, I'm happy to announce that we had a great Date Auction on Friday! We raised $18,000 and had another awesome turnout! I'm so happy and relieved that it went well. I've been receiving lots of positive feedback from guests, sponsors and the bachelors/ettes. It seemed like everyone had a great time. We had a photo from the event in the Boston Globe's Names section today which is awesome. This event has been in the Globe three times!

Here is the link to the online version.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2014/09/22/project-smile-hosts-date-auction/6E3QIvKadnrE8tuqHRjgYK/story.html?event=event25

I was so impressed with how our hosts did. It isn't an easy job and they did great. We had a terrific group of people being auctioned off too. Everyone looked awesome. Here is a video that Melissa, our co-host took featuring Pete, one of our bachelors who earned the highest bid on Friday. I'm sure you'll know why he did so well when you see it! Check it out!

Post by Melissa OntheRadio.

Well, that's the latest for tonight. I have to head back and work on a grant and the invitation to our fashion show fundraiser during Boston Fashion Week which is just over 2 weeks away. Time is flying! Until tomorrow friends....

Just Days Away

Well friends, here we are- 9 months of work and now the 8th Annual Project Smile Charity Date Auction is only 4 days away. I can't believe we are almost here. My nerves are sky high- there's a huge amount of pressure to have a successful event. The good news is that we are in good shape. Ticket sales are on track and I've been doing everything that I can to ensure another successful event. We were in Friday's Names section of the Globe which was awesome. Boston TweetUp had our event featured in their weekly email newsletter which went out yesterday and they've been tweeting about the event. Melissa and Winter, our hosts, have been promoting it as well. I'm happy with the event marketing- I don't know what else we could do. One of the ladies being auctioned off sent me a FB message today telling me what a great job I've been doing promoting it.

I tested our credit card machine today to make sure it was working properly- it was. I'll test it again on Wednesday just to double check. I'm going to do one more proof of the program and get it to the printers tomorrow. The program is so important, so I like to have that finished early in the week. I have to print our prize drawing signs and do a few small things, but there isn't too much else left to do. All of our bid sheets for the silent auction are done. I picked up the autographed sports pictures on Friday.

It's funny how I feel a connection to all of our bachelors/ettes that are participating. Out of the 43 participating, I only know about 3 of them personally, but over the months, a connection grows. You see their photos, read and edit their profiles, put them in order for the program, email them with all the details and updates, share their pictures on social media- it's a lot of time that's spent. I want them all to enjoy the event. It takes some pluck to get up onstage like that and I'm happy that they chose to be a part of the event. I hope that they do find love connections. At the very least, I hope that they have a blast. 

Well friends, I'm off to take my anxious self back into the office and get some more things taken care of and proof the program once again. Until tomorrow! Please keep wishing us lots and lots of ticket sales....

Welcome September!

Well, we are 4 days into September, so I'm a little late with the welcome! Ah, September, it is a lovely month but also the times of great anxiety. The Date Auction is almost 2 weeks away, fashion show in just over a month and our Anniversary Celebration in 2 months- yikes! It is exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. I'm looking forward to it and so nervous as well. Things are looking good though. I was up until almost 5am last night working, mostly on the Date Auction. I love working late at nights- I've always been a night person. One of the things that I like most about working at night is there are no distractions and no pressure on myself to get things done. It's time that I would be sleeping, so anything that gets accomplished is progress. During the day, I have all these lists and tasks that need to be done, it can get over whelming.

I emailed all our participants today individually to encourage them to keep spreading the word, share the event and help get the word out. I used to do a mass email to the participants, but I think it is better to personalize it for each person. Our bachelors/ettes are a huge part of the success of the event, so we definitely need their help in spreading the word to their friends and connections. We have quite a few people who are well known, so it's great to have their help in particular in getting a great turnout. Our goal is to raise $25,000 this year which I think is doable. We raised 20K last year. I think it is good to let the participants know that we have a particular financial goal- it helps make it real. While it is a fun night for everyone involved, there is a serious need behind it.

Well, I'm going to eat a peach and then head back to work. I have a few things that I need to finalize for the Date Auction program and get it uploaded so that our designer has it. I hold the program for as long as possible before we print it because of last minute changes to the participants. I'm still waiting on 2 bachelors to send over their info and I have one bachelor who might be signing up. There is actually lots more to write about besides the Date Auction, but I'm so caught up with it, I can't think of anything else right now. Until tomorrow friends...keep wishing me more ticket sales!