I’m going to compare/review the two most popular wholesale clubs for you!

Right now I have memberships to both places (after switching to Costco and then also wanting my Sam’s back) and I think I can give you some advice on where to join (cause let’s face it, the memberships aren’t that cheap) depending on your preferences as well!  I’m going to go through several things that are probably the most important to most moms.  We recently joined Costco because we saw a special on CNBC and how people were ranting and raving over their brand of stuff, customer service, prices and quality.

So, here we go!

1. Crowd.  Sam’s Club is always very calm and WAY less crowded than Costco (maybe that tells you something, maybe it doesn’t).  I feel like it’s somewhat of a fun place to take my kids because they can get out of the cart and run around a little.  Even though Costco is more crowded, they seem to carry the crowd pretty well (not well enough for me to let my kids run though).  Sam’s Club normally has two or three cash registers open whereas Costco has most open and usually two people manning each register.  Checkout time is usually about the same at both stores.  Getting out the door is not the same.  Sometimes I have to wait five plus minutes for someone to check my receipt at the door at Costco because of the long line.

2.  Food.  Most families join because of the savings on food.  I can say hands down Sam’s Club wins it for me here.  The first time I went to Costco, I immediately missed my whole wheat sandwich rounds for the girls, the 2 pound package of Jimmy Dean sausage, and the good selection of Laughing Cow cheese spread.  All three of these food items are something I bought every time I went there and Costco sells none of them ( well, they sell one kind of Light Laughing Cow).  Sam’s Club prices are also better on food items.  Oh, and their cakes…. Sam’s wins again with their better selection of birthday/grad/all occasion cakes.  They have so many different choices and designs AND COOKIE CAKES.  Did I mention they have a double layer COOKIE CAKE with icing in the middle?  Sorry people, it’s the little things in life.

3.  Stuff besides food. I’m mostly talking about furniture.  You really can’t beat the quality of Costco’s furniture.  However, when saying this, Sam’s also has furniture and they are both priced according to quality.  Costco’s furniture prices are expensive, but they have a right to be because it is good stuff.  Sam’s Club furniture is cheaper, but the quality just isn’t there.

Besides furniture, they both have clothes.  I’ve found much better deals on clothes for my girls at Sam’s Club.  I can’t beat paying $5 and some change for a Carter’s outfit.  There isn’t any brand differentiation here, Sam’s Club just has a better price.

4.  Eating at the store. At our Costco, you have to pay cash unless you go to a different area, pay with cc and then get in the food line.  At Sam’s you can pay with cc at the counter.  Food quality is about the same and priced the same.  Sam’s Club did win my heart with the food bar though because they know my love for Coke Zero.  They have about three times as many soda choices.

5.  Cleanliness/appearance of the store.  I would say that they are both equally clean (I think it might depend on the area that you live).  Both sets of bathrooms where I live (Dulles, VA) have been clean.  I do like that Sam’s has a family bathroom that has a little toilet for my girls.  I’m not sure if all have this, but ours does.

6.  Diapers/Wipes.  This may not be important to some, but with me overlapping with kids in diapers twice, it is important to me!  My big issue is that Costco does not sell Pampers diapers and those (at least for the first couple of stages) have been the best for my girls.  They both sell their own store brand, Luvs and Huggies.  I have tried Sam’s Club diapers and they worked fine for me in the later stages.  I’ve actually never tried Kirkland diapers, but I heard they are amazing and just as good as Huggies.  Well, they better be cause they are the exact same price for the same amount of diapers.  It’s hard for me to ever justify paying the same price for any store brand item.  Sure, call me weird.  Same goes for the wipes.  I’m kind of funny about my wipes.  I did not like store brand Sam’s Club wipes and am very partial to Huggies.  Huggies wipes are much cheaper at Sam’s.  Kirkland wipes are good, however they are priced the same at Costco (for the same amount) as Huggies again.  Call me weird again, but I’m going for the Huggies.

7.  Gas.  Seriously, it seems like people at Costco think the world is going to run out of gas.  Usually you are 4-5 cars back waiting for a pump.  Sam’s Club is drive right up (I think I’ve had to wait once car back like once).  I think the gas is pretty important because you do save a lot, especially me and my HUGE tank.

8.  Credit cards. Costco: check, cash, debit or American Express. Sam’s: check, cash Discover,  or Mastercard

I hope these eight items help you decide which to join.  Of course location is going to play a huge roll in which one you decide.  Mine are less than a mile apart, so it’s basically a choice.  For me, I won’t cheat on Sam’s Club again and get a Costco membership UNLESS I’m looking for furniture and I really fall in love with something at Costco.  In that case, I will keep both.

Am I missing anything?  I know there are a ton of obsessive people over Costco.  Feel free to leave a comment and explain why you like one store better than the other!

Maybe I’m writing this as a “hint” to my husband.  Well, maybe just the ones that I don’t have on this list.  I’m a stay at home mom and I believe that all of these will be of great use to any mom.

1.  My most favorite gift ever is my keurig.  I seriously don’t know what I would do without it anymore.  My coffee is ready in less than a minute.  If you go with this, my husband recently got me for Valentine’s Day these clear glass coffee mugs.  LOVE THEM!  And, of course you could go for k-cups or a refillable filter also.

2.  A nice thoughtful gift would be a big pot with lots of plants in it.  I guess you would know your mom or wife and think if she would like a lot of annuals put together or even a pot of herbs.  These are both so pretty and will for sure make your mom or wife smile!  I recently saw that Costco had big pots already filled for you!

3.  I’m keeping it real by saying this, but I would LOVE a nice sweatsuit.  Of course, once again, you would know you wife or mom’s style and brand of choice, but you can feel cute in a stylish sweatsuit too right?!  The real reason I want one is for the hospital after delivery.  Comfy.

4.  My husband got me these body butters and bath gel also for Valentines Day and I cannot express how much I LOVVVVE them!

5.   Tom’s!  Right now, Tom’s are a big fad and the best part about them is that they are comfortable and serve a good cause.  I just linked to the one’s that I’m in love with, but those might not be everyone’s style of choice.

6. Birchbox.  Husband got me this subscription for Christmas and it feels like Christmas every month when I receive my sample of beauty products.  Basically, that’s what it is.  You get a small package of 5 or so samples of beauty items and you get to try them out and of course you can buy them if you fall so in love.  Such a fun surprise each month!

7.  You can never go wrong with jewelry.  If you’re feeling especially generous, go for a simple piece of Tiffany’s jewelry and if that isn’t in the budget, any cute and trendy jewelry item will work.  Etsy has some adorable handmade Mother’s Day gifts!

8.  Picture canvas or other picture ideas.  Mamas just love pics of their babies, young or old (usually they love their pets too)!

9.  Another thoughtful gift is a stepping stone.  Mom’s and Grandma’s will cherish this forever!  Click on the link and it will give you step by step instructions!

10.  Gift cards.  What woman doesn’t love a good gift card?  Just try getting it somewhere that they like to spend their money.  OR, another option would be to get your wifey a house cleaner for a week.  I remember my friend’s husband gave her a new purse with a wallet in it that had 3 or 4 random gift cards.  One was a restaurant gift card that he told her to take a friend with her to spend.  Talk about awesome!  I recently got this wristlet from Thirty-One that I love.  Perfect little stuffer for gift cards and it can hold your cell phone and lots of credit cards and ID!  Some ideas of gift cards include massages, nails, hair, or her favorite clothing stores.

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 12th!  Let’s not forget our Mom’s and Wifey’s on this day.  It’s always extra special to add a nice and thoughtful card too!

Feel free to leave other ideas in the comment section for people to read and help them out!

We got a phone call two weeks ago from our builder telling us the house will not be ready by our agreed upon closing date after all.  Closing on the house was pushed back until the end of the month.  Boo!

We currently live with my sister and her family of 5 in a two bedroom, one bathroom house while our house is being built.  That is 10 people in said 2 bedroom house.  Yep.

So you can imagine how I was feeling after having the closing date delayed. Ha!  I decided to take a little mommycation for a couple days.  Needed to get out of the house and have a little luxury alone time if you know what I mean!

At first I felt bad about going… who takes a vacation by themselves for no reason?!?!  My husband was really sweet about it though and encouraged me to go and have some fun.    He took over everything with the boys and even babysat my 18 month old nephew for me since I watch him on weekdays for my sister.

I had such a good time!  I got a hotel in Orlando (couple hours from us) and just chilled!  I slept in everyday, got some fresh highlights, got a pedicure, went shopping at the outlets, and sat by the pool to read.  It was AMAZING!

Technically it was was only 2 nights, but I am so glad I did it.  I came home refreshed and motivated.  I think I can make it now…  8 more days until we close!  We have been waiting since August, so what is 8 more days now that I am refreshed and de-stressed!

 

Wow… so the past couple nights have been something else!

My three year old is really giving me crap at bed time.  The other night it took him two hours to go to sleep!  Jumping on the bed, throwing his stuff, trying to go tackle big brother, and just being a total maniac!

First of all let me remind you that we are talking about the kid who just last month, stuck his hand into a wet cement bucket he passed by.  Stuck it right in there and then smeared it all over his pants and legs.  I tossed him in the bath at home and it still didn’t come off him!  We had to wait a few days for it to completely dry out and crumble off his little fingers! No joke!

I feel like I have tried everything! Re-direction, snuggles, taking things away, time outs, positive reinforcement.  I could have written the book on positive discipline after my years of working in childcare, but even this has me stumped!

The same approach never works twice with this kid.  For example, he will hand over his special lovey and tell me its because he is going to do a trick on his bed (he got it taken away for doing this last time).  Or he tells me he can’t wait until he gets to sleep on the floor again (had to do this after continuing to jump on the bed)! Note:  we have also tried letting him earn tv time, treats, and special things as well.

So last night I again exhausted all my efforts…

I began scouring the internet for good ideas!

I found this, “caught ya doing something good” jar on pinterest from wolfelicious.blogspot.com and will be putting this into action very soon.  I used this in the classroom years ago to build class unity and team work, but hadn’t thought of using it for my own three year old.

Basically, you get marbles, cotton balls, or pompoms.  Every time you catch them being good, you reinforce their behavior by putting one of the marbles in the jar.  The idea is to fill it up with marbles to earn something special!    Great way to use positive reinforcement!!!

I haven’t decided what the prize will be after filling up the jar.  Possibly a camping trip, ice cream party, or pizza party.  I want to let them help pick the reward so its something they are really excited about.

I also came come across a daddy blogger  (Jasongood.net) who obviously was trying to interpret the many reasons why his three year old freaks out as well.  It was hilarious.  If nothing else, it did make me feel better!  Turns out, a lot of these three year olds are very similar!

His sock is on wrong.

His lip tastes salty.

His shirt has a tag on it.

The car seat is weird.

He’s hungry, but can’t remember the word “hungry.”

Someone touched his knee.

He’s not allowed in the oven.

I picked out the wrong pants.

His brother looked at him.

His brother didn’t look at him.

His hair is heavy.

We don’t understand what he said.

He doesn’t want to get out of the car.

He wants to get out of the car by himself.

The iPad has a password.

His sleeve is touching his thumb.

He doesn’t understand how popsicles are made.

The inside of his nose stinks.

Chicken is gross.

A balloon he got six months ago is missing.

A puzzle piece won’t fit in upside down.

I gave him the wrong blue crayon.

The gummi vitamin is too firm.

Netflix is slow.

He jumped off the sofa and we weren’t watching.

He’s not allowed to touch fire.

Everything is wrong with his coat.

There’s a dog within a 70 mile radius.

A shoe should fit either foot.

I asked him a question.

His brother is talking.

He can’t lift a pumpkin.

He can’t have my keys.

The cat is in his way.

The cat won’t let him touch its eyeball.

The inside of his cheek feels rough.

Things take too long to cook.

He has too much food in his mouth.

He sneezed.

He doesn’t know how to type.

The DustBuster is going to eat him.

His mom is taking a shower.

Someone knocked over his tower.

He got powdered sugar on his pants.

The yogurt won’t stay on his spoon.

EVERYTHING IS TOO HOT.

 

We bought a short sale.  Should be enough said, right?!  I think some people get magically lucky with short sales and don’t have to put a lot of time, effort and money into them.  Well, we weren’t that lucky.  We did get an amazing deal on the house considering the comps, but we’ve had to do so much to it.  Now, we are remodeling the kitchen.  There is something about the 80s and their love for soffits, big lights, short cabinets and the most narrow and shallow drawers.  SOMETHING HAD TO CHANGE!  For a year, we put a band-aid on it and removed the wall paper, painted, and changed the knobs.  Here’s the original before we moved in:

I must have seen a crazy amount of potential.  Stay tuned for an update of our final hoorah which should be completed this Friday after 3 long, awful, miserable weeks of a completely nonfunctional kitchen.  So, I’m writing this post on some survival tips.

1.  Skip town for a bit if you can.  The girls and I skipped town for the 1st week and went to visit my parents.  Luckily it was Ella’s spring break at school so she didn’t miss any.  Husband stayed home to be with the workers cause he’s so awesome.

2.  Prepare a lot of meals before it happens.  The only appliance we have been able to use is the microwave.  We made like 4 meals to last us almost a full week beforehand.

3.  Buy lots of paper products.  We have small sinks and bath tubs to wash dishes in right now.  Paper products are my best friend.

4.  Find eating out deals.  We are trying our hardest to eat in as much as possible, but every other to every three days we’ve been eating a meal out.  I think it’s partially for my sanity to get out of the house.  Tonight we went to 50 cent wing night at our wing factory.

5.  Sandwiches have to become a favorite.  I have to admit that I’ve have a crazy amount of PB and J sandwiches these past couple of weeks.  They are easy and filling.

6.  Plan your remodel around your type of cooking.  Whether you like to grill or cook in the crock pot, that can help determine when you should remodel your kitchen.

7.  Get out of the house!  I’ve been begging people to hang out with me… Ha.  Please, help me get away from the 2 inches of dust all over my house.

8.  Be realistic with yourself.  Know that this is short term and that you will have a new, beautiful kitchen!

Lastly, maybe you shouldn’t do it when you’re 32 weeks pregnant like me, ha.  Happy remodel!

I love cooking, it’s therapeutic for me. When I worked in a fine dining restaurant I was always looking at what the chefs were doing and asking questions, trying to figure out what they did and what tools they were using. I love trying out fancy recipes. I have grand visions of being the next Tim Love, and opening my own line of restaurants…but then I remember how much I like nights, weekends, and holidays. Now, I may not be able to cook exactly like the pros, but I can get pretty darn close, and I have a few favorite tools that help me get there.

A Microplane Zester/Grater – There is nothing like fresh citrus zest to add a little something extra to a meal. I also love this for grated nutmeg and ginger, and for hard cheeses, it’s perfect. There’s lots of different styles and they’re cheap enough that everyone should have one.

Mandoline – I take this out every chance I get. It makes precision cuts that improve presentation. My particular model has a few different blades that make fries, chips, and juliennes vegetables so easy. The only downside is that you will cut yourself, and it is SHARP. Just be sure not to cut off your entire finger. Again, there are lots of styles and come with varying price tags.

An Immersion Blender – I use this for so much: emulsifying vinaigrettes, sauces, purees, soups, pesto, smoothies. Everything is easily made smoother quickly without having to resort to large blender. Whipped cream is my favorite to make with this. I hate my clunky handheld blender. Immersion blenders are also really easy to clean and many models are dishwasher safe. You can get a nice model for under $40, or splurge and get the deluxe version with all the bells and whistles for $100.

A Pressure Cooker – Now you may be thinking to yourself, “Wait, didn’t Grandma have one of those that exploded?” Maybe, but nowadays pressure cookers are quite safe. And there’s nothing else that can cut down on cooking time as much as this. You can make your own stock with the best flavor imaginable in only 15 minutes. Braising likewise takes far less time. Get a quality, good sized, electronic pressure cooker and it will be worth it’s weight in gold.

Sous-Vide Immersion Circulator – This last one, you may not have heard of. It was developed for labs but brought into kitchens when chefs realized it’s cooking implications. This machine, when placed in water, will circulate the water and keep it at a constant temperature to one tenth of a degree. Foods (mostly meats) are placed in an airtight plastic bag and put in the water where it cooks in it’s own juice creating the most tender and moist food you will ever have. Steaks will be the perfect temperature from edge to edge, and not just in the middle. And because the temperature is constant, you can begin cooking and leave to do whatever else you need with no danger of overcooking. These machines used to be exclusively for restaurants, but home versions like this one have recently been produced and can be purchased for around $200. Granted, a food vacuum sealer (which I recommend with this) will drive up the price, but you can brag to your friends that you were the first to have this.

Note: Huge fan of Tim Love’s Flavor Essentials at Love Bodega.

No, it’s not my baby reveal party.  It is my sisters.  Just had to clarify that before going any further! Ha!  My sister likes to do things old school… she doesn’t like to find out what she is having, she does not like to get induced, and she does not like to have an epidural.  She would love to just stay home and have her baby at home or in the bath tub with her immediate family (she is so much cooler than I am!).

Her family started pressuring her to find out the sex of the baby very early… especially her 9-yr old daughter.  After listening to her kids and husband beg and beg, she finally agreed to having a cake reveal party!

We took the envelope from the doctor in to the bakery and requested blue icing in the center of the cake if it says boy on the card and pink frosting if it says girl.  Of course, my sister being a naturalist didn’t want to trust them alone with the information.  She insisted that my husband take a look at the card as well… just in case the bakery wanted to be funny and make the icing purple! ha!

Anyway, off to the party! We  had a lot of people there and had the party at a park along the inter-coastal.  Beautiful place!  Those guessing it would be a girl got on one side and those guessing boy got on the other.

Here they go… cutting

My cute little nieces face when she first saw the color on the inside of the cake… priceless!!!!!

And it is…

Just in case there was any doubt, the doctor included this picture in the sealed envelope… definitely a boy!

Here’s my sister… she is happy to have a boy, but not especially happy to find out early.  Lucky for us, she is humoring us well!

 

 

 

 

 

I bet you’re all thinking you wish I would make up my dang mind.  I go from sweets to South Beach friendly meals to Paleo/Primal style posts. The overall truth is that I feel like I gained a crap ton of weight with my last child and I did not (quote DID NOT) want to do it again this time.  So (not tooting my horn), this time I’ve got it under control.  Of course I don’t eat perfect, but I’m also not eating McDonalds every time I pass by it like my last pregnancy nor have my feet swelled up this time around.  I also have another friend who had some issues (preclampsia for one) with her last pregnancy and this time she’s golden because she’s also eating more Paleoish.  So because of my diet plan this time, I haven’t gained that crap ton of weight and I feel like I have more energy for my other two kids.

For this post, I’m linking up to some meals and a snack that I’ve tried and that are delicious alternatives to the fatty ways of life.

1.  Mustard Lime Chicken

Click on the link above to get the delicious recipe.  Seriously to.die.for.  We served it with cauliflower mash and parmesan roasted broccoli.  Seriously how can you miss french fries when you have this.

 

2.  Taco Stuffed Poblano Peppers

These were also amazing.  My friend posted a pic of hers on instagram and I immediately started drooling.  She told me that when she made them she boiled the peppers while she was prepping everything else.  I think that was a good idea so they wouldn’t snap when you tried to cut them.  We also added some texas pete.  Yummmmmmmm.

3.  Dark Chocolate Chunk

Okay, need I say more?!  Well, we do add as many nuts as possible and load up on the natural coconut flakes.  So good.  Oh yeah, did you know that Costco has coconut oil??  You can get a huge container for 15 something.  Good deal.

4. Bison Spaghetti

This was seriously yum.  We have the Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Cook Book (totally worth EVERY penny).  We made this from there.  We actually used regular ground beef since we have half a cow (literally).  Very yum!

5.  Fish Tacos With Citrus Dressing

I thought I would hate these.  But, no.  They were so tasty and delish.  The sauce made it to die for.  We actually used salmon because we already had it on hand.  Oh my goodness.  You won’t regret.

 

These are just some of my favs.  They really are so delicious and you won’t even think about the crap you used to eat.  I promise.  Do you have any favs?  Please share!!!

 

I have a 7yr old, 5yr old, and a 3yr old.  We just moved to Florida late August and have slowly been making our way through the different tourist sites and amusement parks here.

We did Disney, Sea World, and the water parks first and we have just now made our way through Universal.  We kept putting off because everyone told us that Universal is best for older kids.  We finally went and I have to say it was an amazing time!  Despite the ages of our young kids, we had plenty to do and it was one of our most enjoyable trips yet!

We broke the trip up into two days since there are two separate Universal parks.  You can get a park hopper pass if you’d rather go between both parks on the same day.  We wanted to take our time and experience everything.  The two parks are Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios.

Universal Island’s of Adventure is more thrill rides and roller coasters.  It has several different themed areas: Jurassic park, Harry Potter World, Dr. Seuss Landing, Marvel Super Hero Island, The Los Continent, and Toon Lagoon.

We loved all of it!  There were only three rides my 7 year could not ride, Incredible Hulk Coaster, Dragon Challenge, and Doctor Doom’s Fearfall.  There was one more coaster (Harry Potter Coaster) that my 7 year old road that my 5 year old could not. Then two more that everyone but our 3 yr old could ride.  There were plenty of things for all of us to do together!

It was really easy to use the parent swap as well.  Ride with everyone tall enough while the other parent waits in the exit lane, then as you exit you switch places.  Parent waiting goes straight on ride while you wait with kids to young.  The best part is that they let the older kids ride again with the other parent so the kids got to ride those rides twice!

My favorite part of the park for my 3yr old and 5 yr old was Dr. Seuss Landing and Camp Jurassic in Jurassic Park Land.  Dr. Seuss landing had a ton of younger kid rides (trains, a flying fish ride, interactive play area, etc..).  Camp Jurassic was this huge park with slides, climbing nets, and caves to explore.  We could have stayed at that one spot all day!

My favorite part for my 5yr old and 7yr old kids would be the 3D Spiderman ride and Harry Potter World!  It was pretty cool!  We also love seeing all the Marvel characters come out riding four wheelers!  My boys are obsessed with the Avengers so they thought this was “so so so AWESOME!!!!!!”

I would highly recommend paying the extra money for the EXPRESS pass at Universal Islands of Adventure if it is a crowded day.  It is worth it when you consider how much time you will have to wait in line.  The express line will move 3 times faster!  I watched them load 3 full coasters from the express line to everyone one coaster from the regular line.  It was killer!

Universal Studios was awesome too!  This park wasn’t thrill rides as much as experiences.  There was one ride only that my 7 year old could not ride.  It was the only big coaster in  the park (Hollywood Rip Ride Rock it).  He was literally a “hair” too short.  Besides that ride,The Revenge of the Mummy was the only other ride my 5 yr old could not ride and only two more rides my 3yr old could not do (Despicable Me and Men in Black).

There was a ton we could all do together and we used the parent swap for everything else.  Fieval’s Playground and Curious George Goes to Town playground are at the top of my list!  Kids loved it and we took a whole hour playing at each of these places!  We pretty much loved everything in this entire park.  Twister and Mummy were awesome and would rate more in the “thrill” area (my 3yr old and 5yr old closed their eyes at several parts).  Distaster was fun, but more of a comedy than thrilling.

The Men in Black ride is a shoot aliens as you ride a 6 person car and see who has the highest score at the end.  It was fun and the kids loved it, but I am still trying to figure out why my 3yr old couldn’t ride.  I wouldn’t recommend taking the younger kids to see the 3D Terminator 2 show.  It is not just the robots getting shot at and some of the robots still look human.

We used this fabulous calendar that tells you what the crowds will be like on any given day.  We went when it said the crowds would be moderate and had a great time and felt like we got to do everything we wanted with the kids riding some of their favorites twice when using the parent swap.

I would highly recommend going to Universal!  Ignore people when they say it isn’t fun for younger kids! We LOVED it!!!!!

MY BEST TIPS

1.  Use the parent swap!  Kids get to ride twice and it is so easy!

2.  Check out the crowds calendar and try to go on a lower crowd day.

3.  Suck it up and by the EXPRESS pass at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.  It is expensive, but when you are already paying so much anyway, it is worth it to pay a little more to shave hours off your total wait times.

4.    Bring food!  You can bring in all the snacks and drinks you want (no glass containers).  Keep the kids full and spend less on food in the parks.

5.  Don’t skip the parades or character greets.  The characters are so much fun and more in this era.  It is worth giving the kids some time to meet and greet!

I just attended my first Easter Seals Benefit last week.  This benefit is a fashion show that benefits children with disabilities in Florida.  My sister’s law firm buys tickets to the event every year and this year I got to go as her guest!  It was so much fun!

First you get all dolled up.  Heels, dresses, the works!  Then show up to the event for makeovers!  They provided lunch catered in by Brio Tuscan Grill.  It was really yummy!  I ate lunch next to one of their male models.  He was very funny and flirtatious as I am sure he was meant to be… the models are in charge of collecting donations!

The male models walk around with trays carrying designer shoes to be auctioned while other models walk the runway wearing designer fashions.  The shoes were all auctioned off for $1,500 to $3,000!

One woman who helped organize the event had bought a pair of the shoes to be auctioned.  As the model walked around with her shoes she kept bidding on them herself.  In the end she won them!  She said she loved them and had to have them for herself.  She essentially bought the same pair of shoes twice!

We also got to meet one of the kids that this benefit is for.  Chase, a 5 year old child with cerebral palsy, came to the benefit last year as well.  This year though, he came and showed everyone how he had learned to walk since he was last there.  It was amazing to see him and his accomplishments.

We also got all these great goodies in our gift bags.  Coupons, gift cards, and samples, were included in our bags!  It even had a $25 gift card to Tory Burch.

A great event serving an even greater purpose!  The three hour event raised $53,000 for disabled children!!!  Hopefully I will be able to attend next year as well!