Claire's Army

Charlotte friends and everyone else, let me introduce you to Claire's Army!

Claire's Army was founded last year by a family in Charlotte who experienced childhood cancer rear it's ugly head and knew that their little girl could change the face of cancer. They can't do it alone, like the name says, it takes an Army!

Claire's Army is holding a fundraising night with the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday, March 15th @7pm at the Time Warner Cable Arena! Each ticket is $20 and when you purchase the tickets through Claire's Army using the code 'claire' $10 of each ticket sale is donated to Claire's Army and helping families dealing with childhood cancer! I want to see some Charlotte bloggers at this game, I want to see some support for such an amazing cause! If you want to help out but can't attend the game, buy tickets anyways and they will donate the tickets to families at Hemby Children's Hospital!

You can buy tickets HERE and make sure you use the code 'claire'!
OR
You can purchase tickets by contacting Rebecca Brooks at rms1025@gmail.com if you don't want to deal with online purchasing or you would like to donate tickets to a family!

You can read all about Claire's Story and discover for yourself why this is such an amazing thing for children and families living with childhood cancer. I get to witness the benefits and love of Claire's Army at my hospital and I cannot even begin to explain how much these families need Claire's Army and how thankful they are for it! 

"Claire’s Army strives to act as God’s hands and feet by providing support for families fighting childhood cancer. Through an established network of resources we will support the families’ daily responsibilities, allowing them to put their time and focus on their child."

JDRF Hope Gala 2014

This past weekend was the annual JDRF Hope Gala. This was my fifth or sixth gala and my third with Jeremy, this year topped them all! 

 If some of you don't know, I met Jeremy the night of the gala 3 years ago! I would always go every year but it's so special to know the gala is kind of how we met! 

I was so obsessed with the decor this year, They kind of captured the look I want for my wedding and they were selling the balls at the end of the night!

After the silent auctions, live suctions and dinner there is "Fund a Cure," where you just take your bid card and donate to JDRF and finding a cure. Rachel and I are both Type 1 Diabetics and we funded a cure this year! 

 We always end the evening with dancing and more drinks! We danced so hard this year, I think at one point I was the ONLY person cutting' a rug out there!

The JDRF Triad Chapter Gala raised $1.2 million last night towards finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes! I am so proud to be a part of such an amazing organization and group of people. What connects us may not be the best thing to have but what connects us is special and I am so glad to have that. 

Outfit Details: c/o Molly Suzanne Necklace | BCBG Max & Cleo Dress (found in outlet) | Petal Boutique Shoes | Revlon 'True Red' Lips

You can read about past galas:

2013

2012

2010/2011

Day Dreaming

Nothing like a North Carolina winter, high of 30 last Wednesday and high of 72 this week! This weather is just dangling Spring and Summer right in front of me and it's not fair! I've had all my Spring and Summer clothes packed away in a plastic bin to take to my moms for storage, but now I'm second guessing that idea! 

Who else is dreaming of warmer days and sunshine on your face? This girl could not be more ready for Summer!

Wedding Wednesday: The Vendors

Monday was a huge day for this bride and I am more than ready for my big day! Our venue is pretty remote and distant from any city or area, therefore they kind of have an "all-inclusive" type deal. Every detail, rental, bite and snap of a camera is taken care of by them! All we have had to do is literally show-up places! 

We were able to book our caterer and as I thought, this was a difficult decision!  We ate so much food all day long I seriously wasn't even hungry the day after! We both wanted an italian dinner served at the wedding, I love lasagna and a good italian salad is always perfect! We ate so much amazing food that we still can't decide on just two entrees, can we have four?

 

I think the number one thing I have been worried about was the photographer, I have seen way too many friends and fellow bloggers end up with lousy photos! The first photographer we met with I instantly clicked with, I loved her personality, she was young and got my "vision" for everything. 

 Surprisingly, our hardest decision was picking out a DJ! I have never wanted a DJ at my wedding, I always wanted a live band. After not wanting to shell out more money for a band I decided to give the DJ a shot. We loved both of them so much and I almost had someone else make the decision for me it was so difficult! I can't wait to party the night away now!

After the 7 hours of eating, talking and finally a cake tasting we decided to make it a 9 hour day and plan every seat in the house! I loved that we were able to customize everything about our reception, we have so much planned out and I feel so much better now! 

Monday was an amazing and exhausting day but I am so excited for our wedding! Getting to picture every second of our wedding was wonderful and I just can't wait to marry my best friend!

A LOVEly Weekend

Whoa, it's Tuesday? Where did this weekend go?!? Friday evening Jeremy & I jumped in the car and headed to my moms house, after having a really off week we needed some relaxation! Even though it was Valentine's Day we decided to celebrate next week for our anniversary and we knew my mom would show us plenty of love! 

Or at least we thought she would... Somehow we got the family joke of being "loving pieces of sh*t"

She made up for it with the heart pizzas!

and mama sent me flowers at work, such a loving woman!

 Saturday was full of snuggles and food and oddly enough, errands! We did a few things for the wedding and booked a rehearsal dinner venue. It was SO cold Saturday that I slipped on my Uggs to run to my car and ended up never switching into my leather boots, such an odd look! 

Saturday evening my mom & set-dad had en event to go to so Jeremy & I went to see Emily & Brian and their new pup!

We were all dressed and ready to go out but we ended up having a big 'ol sleepover! Sometimes wine and pizza are all you need to have fun!

Sunday was literally a day full of snuggles! We watched Church on TV in our pi's, drank three bottles of champagne in our PJ's and almost went to dinner in our PJ's! When we finally ventured out of the house we tried a different mexican place in our town and all I know is, the drinks were good & huge!

Monday was the big day, interview day at our wedding venue! We had a 9 hour day ahead of us, interviewing caterers, photographers, DJ's, tasting cakes and planning our reception! More on this tomorrow! 

5 on Friday!

1. This snow sucks, I want it to melt like asap. That is all.

2. Speaking of snow, I have to sleep at the hospital because of the snow and not being able to get to work. Thanks goodness I have great roomies!

 3. Thanks goodness other nurses were in the same situation, we all had a sleepover, and we went to a restaurant near us for some pre-sleep libations. 

4. I'm going back home this weekend for much needed mama-take-care-of-me-time, this weeks trip was cut short due to the snow storm. I love my moms house, she's so amazing and cooks wonderful food and fills our wine glasses up! 

5. Good news, no camel in the way... it's Friday y'all!!

A Southern Snow Storm

A southern snow storm, not something I have ever been a part of and not so sure I want to be again! Charlotte has record setting snow falling as I type and wow y'all, it's insane! 

If any of y'all are in the south right now then you understand, those of you who aren't, the south can't handle this weather. We don't know what to do and the city of Charlotte has literally shut down. I had to cut my trip short at my moms this week and rush home yesterday morning to avoid getting snowed in. If I would have left 30 minutes later I wouldn't have made it into Charlotte, they started closing highways and blocking off exits right after I got home. The 277 loop of highway has been closed down and many other major roads. The city made a statement that if you are on the road and you aren't an essential employee you will face a fine! Basically Charlotte is a snowy scene from The Walking Dead, stranded cars and not a person in sight! Considering I am an "essential" employee I will be walking to the hospital tonight to sleepover and work my shift tomorrow, yay nurse sleepover! 

This was Wednesday around 3pm...

and this is Thursday at 10am...

My sister got caught in the panic of the storm driving home from Raleigh and my step-dad had to go find her on the highway and make sure she was ok. A 1.5 hour trip took her over 5 hours! My mom snapped a pic once they both got home, we were both so worried about them! 

I started charging everything we owned once the ice started in case we lost power, I then realized we wouldn't have wifi. At least my phone would work! 

We decided to brave the storm and walk to a bar in our neighborhood. It was the only thing open and well worth the trip!  

We ended up dragging all our friends to the bar too, a bar snow party! 

 After the bar Jeremy just had to snowboard in our neighborhood, he was like a kid on Christmas!

At this point it was sleeting and freezing bad, I was a popsicle but it was fun!

Sorry to bore everyone with snow pics but I just can't believe we are getting this much snow! I hope everyone is safe and warm! Say a prayer for me walking to work this afternoon!!!