inching ever closer to that goal

yay for mani/pedi fundraisers!

of course, it was during one of the hottest days of the freaking year.  blech.  running around trying to get everything done was slightly on the miserable side, with the sun blazing down on us and the temperature hovering over 100.  but it all came together and ended up being a really fun afternoon.

i'd done a trader joe's run for a fun variety of dips and chips and their yummy sparkling pink lemonade, ordered some balloons, and hit up the dollar store (my BFF when it comes to parties and things like this) for a bunch of disposable things for serving and eating.  then i threw together the ingredients for my favorite chocolate cake to make some mini cupcakes.  it's an easy recipe, and i was able to turn out about six dozen of these in no time.

they look pretty good, right?  except that when i went to taste-test one, it hit me like a ton of bricks:  i'd forgotten to put sugar in the batter.  UGH.  i was moving too fast and trying to do too many things all at once, and it backfired on me in a big way.

so i mixed up a second round of batter, making sure to slow down and get every step right.  and this time, i got it right.  just to make sure, i tried one out of the first pan i pulled out of the oven, and it was much yummier.  phew.

the next morning, i frosted them - because i couldn't decide whether to go mint chocolate or peanut butter chocolate, i went with both.  well, of course.

after a whirlwind of a morning - including taking the bean to hip-hop class, getting the goody bags put together, making a list for the hub to pick up last-minute stuff at costco, and then packing everything up - we finally made it to pasadena.  we'd dropped off a bunch of stuff the day before at bellacures, which helped out a lot, and although i was sweating my ass off in my kate spade dress (courtesy of rent the runway, who'd timed a free rental offer perfectly), we got everything set up just in time.

it was such a busy afternoon, between trying to make sure the food stayed out of the sun and trying to carve out time to socialize with everyone who came.  i'm so sad that i didn't get to take too many pictures.  oh, well.

a handful of friends who couldn't make it had bought tickets for our "opportunity drawing" (since apparently, it's illegal to do a "raffle"), so i sat the teen down with my list to manage those tickets and get them in the bowls for the prizes.

there were displays from gigi hill and stella & dot there (the latter was provided by my friend roxygirl, who's a far better stylist than i ever was).  they were donating a portion of sales to us as well, and we were really appreciative of their efforts.

we actually had so many friends present at one point that a few of them had to wait a little while for a nail technician to become available for their mani/pedi services.  but we all had a great time chatting and munching that it was okay.

mini cee was bummed to see that the bean wasn't present, but she settled for having her tootsies worked on.  

we'd brought champagne, but because i am lame, i had to call for backup in opening one of the bottles. luckily my buddy tater was willing to help.

the time went by pretty quickly, and about a half hour before we wrapped it up, we did the drawings for the prizes.  we asked the little girls who came with their moms to pull a ticket out of each bowl, and the teen got to announce the last one.  the photo shoot from my friend courtney was the most popular item, with a crapload of tickets to pick from.  

after we packed everything back up into the car and got ready to drag our tired asses home, i remembered to get the teen to snap a quick picture of me in my kate spade dress.  when it arrived in the mail the day before and i tried it on, i realized how...patriotic it looked.  probably better suited for a fourth of july party or something, but it was comfy and it had pockets - two winning qualities for a dress to run around in.

and all of the planning and work was totally worth it.  we had a great turnout, and along with the tickets we'd sold pre-party, we managed to raise close to $600!  

we're so grateful to everyone for their support.  there's definitely a bright light at the end of this fundraising tunnel at last, with our goal now just $600ish away.  i'd call that a smashing success, wouldn't you?