charity
Can you imagine what it’d be like to be stuck in the hospital fighting cancer at 25 instead of in the gym personal training? How about having to pay for all that treatment? That’s the boat Susan’s in right now.
And today, we all get the chance to help her out. The Great Fundraising Act online auction and bake sale is TODAY! Bidding opens at 8am this morning and goes through 4-11p {check item for end time}. All bids start at just $10.
I under-exaggerated before when I mentioned there were over 100 items up for auction- there’s 200!
From online services {including free nutrition counseling from yours truly} to blogger baked goods to fitness products to gift cards oh my!
A few I have my eye on:
Vega Products Gift Basket from Vega
Bob’s Red Mill Gift Bag from Bob’s Red Mill
Love Grown Foods Granola by Love Grown Foods
Kettlebell Coaching from Girl Heroes
Live Well 360 Core Bag from Live Well 360
Lululemon Groove Pant
Perhaps I should narrow down my choices? 
To learn more about how the auction will work visit the official auction page. Updated bids will be available on the meals & moves homepage after bidding has opened.
So what are you waiting for?! {Besides 8am…} Go BID!!!
What do you have your eye on?
charity
The thing that makes blogging different than journal keeping, column writing, or status updating is the community behind it. Each niche and genre has it’s own community backbone of support, and the “healthy living” community is no different. As a matter of fact, it’s pretty exceptional.
I had the pleasure of meeting Susan of The Great Balancing Act last year at HLS. Just recently she received news that absolutely no one wants to hear- she has lymphoma, and it’s taken over 40% of her chest.
Janetha of meals and moves, has leaped up to the plate and both brainstormed and organized The Great Fundraising Act– an online auction to help raise money for Susan’s soaring medical costs.
On Monday July 25th from 8am to 11pm EST well over 100 items will be auctioned off, and you have the chance to bid on them. They’ll be baked goods, services, and products from your favorite companies. All bids start at $10.
Want a sneak peak of some of the companies donating to the online auction? Check ‘em out:
Attune Foods
Bondi Band
Great Harvest
Larabar
Love Grown Foods
Nasoya
NuNaturals
Physique57
Plus some of your favorite homemade blogger baked goods and a slew of services and fun gifts.
If you’re not interested in the auction but still want to support Susan, you can make a direct donation through PayPal. Donate here.
If you’d like to support cancer research and awareness in general, consider donating towards 24 Hours of Booty, a 24 hour bike ride event for Livestrong and other cancer beneficiaries. Donate here.
And last of all, please feel free to spread the word about the auction!! The more people involved, the more money we’ll raise!
Restaurants
I’ve always wanted to eat out during Restaurant Week, but I’m either out of town, forget about it, or find out about it a week too late. This year, thanks to Jackie, it actually happened.
A bunched of us dined at Georges Brasserie, a French-style restaurant in south Charlotte.
Restaurant week means you can order off the regular menu, or you can get 3 courses from a set list for a reduced price. 3 courses meant dessert- you know I was in.
Love the serving dishes for the water and bread. Made me feel like I actually belong in a semi-fancy restaurant.
We were seated next to a giant window with an incredible chandelier above us.
First up, appetizers!
Grilled shrimp served over red pepper risotto. If you think the heads on the shrimp scared the living daylights out of me, you’d be correct. But I was in public and had to pretend to be a mature adult even though I was kicking and screaming inside. Lesson learned.
The main dish: pan seared snapper with lobster & corn basmati topped with herb beurre blanc.
I love eating fish at restaurants because it’s always prepared so much better than I can ever manage at home. This was no exception. The spiciness of the fish was perfectly complemented by the sweetness of the corn.
Last but not least, for the grand finale….
Rustic apple tart with Chantilly cream. The entire dinner was worth it for this. I wasn’t expecting to be blow away, but this was delicious- a sweet, crunchy but chewy crust, filled with a hint of apples and sweet caramel & cream. The best part was the big chunks of sugar on the outside.
It took every ounce of strength I had to wrap some of it up….but it didn’t last long. I miiight have finished it as soon as I got home.
A fabulous dinner was made even better by great company: Brittney, Jaclyn, Caitlin, Kelly, Diana, and Brittany!
Have you ever been to Restaurant Week? What did you think? Apparently Greensboro’s restaurant week was January 6th-16th….but the website still says coming soon. Not really a good sign, I don’t think. 
Thank goodness for Charlotte being nearby {enough}.
