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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Garage Sale

We had a great time at the Great Glebe Garage Sale yesterday!


The weather was perfect, and bargain-seekers were out in full force.





We could not have asked for a better location than the Farm Team Cookhouse and Bar. It was extremely central and we had a steady stream of people picking through our stuff all day long. We also had the opportunity to sample their food and beverages on the patio after a hard day's work, and I would highly recommend both!



We had a lot of stuff for sale, mostly donated by our awesome friends and family and also from us cleaning out our house. This ranged from Sebastien's old magic cards (these sold quickly, geeks love a bargain too), to clothing, an air-conditioner, kitchen items, board games, books and sporting equipment. We also sold quite a few of our earrings (featured in an earlier post).


Thanks to our hard-working, good-looking and personable salespeople - who have an enviable ability to up sell - we were able to raise $662 for our two charities! And yes, I did wear a fanny pack. So unfashionable, but so convenient for giving people change.


We were also located right next to the broadcast booth for the radio station CHUO FM 89.1. Papa Ritchie was playing awesome beats all day long, and he even interviewed us about the Mongol Rally. I'll post info about that later. Be sure to listen to him from 12pm-4pm on Saturdays, it's perfect music to relax on a a summer day!


Thanks again to everyone that donated items, bought stuff, set up, and helped at the sale. We are so lucky to have such supportive friends and family! 

Monday, May 21, 2012

More on the Garage Sale!

The awesome people at the Farm Team Cookhouse and Bar have agreed to let us use some of their parking lot to sell our wares for the Great Glebe Garage Sale!


They have an amazing location at 683 Bank Street (between Clemow and Glebe Ave.), so we are very excited and appreciative that they are allowing us to use some of their space.


In addition to selling a variety of random items (books, clothes, household items etc.) that have been donated to us, we are also selling these cute earrings that we've made! HUGE thanks to Meena, Prasanna, Lesley, Julia and Vani who so happily participated in our sweatshop to make sure we have some inventory for this weekend. They did this without complaining AT ALL because they loved it so much. That's a lie, but they helped anyway and that's what counts.



We have some of these flirty, fun flowers and cameo earrings that are perfect for the summer!


We also have button earrings!! 


They are made from a variety of fabrics - vintage, recycled and donated from Africa  by my friend Leah.




Lots of inventory for you to choose from! Stop by between 8am-4pm on Saturday, May 26 at 683 Bank St!!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Great Glebe Garage Sale

Do you need to do some spring cleaning?

Are you looking to de-crappify your life?

Do you want your trash to be someone else's treasure?

Then donate your junk to us! We will be selling items at the Great Glebe Garage sale, with all profits going to our two charities. Now you can feel good for cleaning your house, AND for helping the less fortunate!

The Great Glebe Garage Sale is on Saturday, May 26 - so we would appreciate all donations by Friday, May 25.

Email me to arrange pickup/dropoff.

Thanks everyone!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Speed-dating! For Charity! May 29


My sister Meena is organizing a speed-dating event to help us with our car costs! The car we purchased will be auctioned off and the funds disbursed to local charities in Mongol. See below for details on this awesome event. As extra endorsement, I will point out that my sister Meena met her husband Adam at a charity speed-dating event we organized!
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People!
heart+people.jpgIt’s hot hot summer time which means it’s time for some hot hot summer lovin’! What better way to find your sweetie than through speed dating? For charity! You get to feel awesome for helping raise money plus find that one – or many – special someone(s)…

So, if you are or you know anyone that is:

* between 27 and 37
* attractive
* fun
* interesting
* educated
* normal 
* single 
* straight

 then sign up because you get 20 dates for $30, great odds, it’s for charity AND at the very least it's an AWESOME story!

and, if you know anyone who would be good for this (relatives, work friends, sports friends, neighbours, etc), send them this email. 

Details
Tuesday, May 29
7:30pm
Shanghai Restaurant
 
It's $30 for 20 dates – but feel free to donate more!


Register/Questions
Email Meena to register with name, email and phone number. 

You must REGISTER and receive a confirmation email in order to attend. There will be a waiting list and we will let you know should any additional spots free up.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Tickets are BOOKED!

Thanks to all the generous people who donated us Aeroplan points, we were able to book our tickets for the Mongol Rally today.


We fly to London direct from Ottawa on the evening of Tuesday, July 11. That gives us some time across the pond to pick up the car, run some errands, have a few pints with some friends and get down to Goodwood for the camping on July 13 and the launch on July 14! 


I was super happy with the fact we could get a direct flight on the way there. 


However, booking a one-way flight back from Ulaanbaatar (on Aeroplan points!!) did not prove to be quite as nice. We have a roughly 35 hour trip on the way back: Ulaanbaatar --> Beijing --> Frankfurt --> London --> Ottawa


I think they threw London in there for shits and giggles because they do have direct flights from Ottawa to Frankfurt. Maybe Air Canada will take pity on us and change our flight path when we get to the airport in August. Here's hoping!


Oh well, I'm sure that after Sebastien and I spend 6 weeks and 10,000 miles driving together we'll be more than happy to spend another 35 hours in a confined space. Really, it will be the lap of luxury -- we won't have to drive ourselves and there will be in-flight entertainment! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!


While the flight back may be a bit painful, my bank account is extremely happy with this Aeroplan point action. We only paid about $1200 in taxes and fees for the two of us for all of our flights.


Considering the one-way flights to London were trending in the vicinity of $1200/ticket per person, I feel really good about it!



Saturday, May 5, 2012

Our funkmobile

One less thing to do for the Rally - we bought a sweet 2003 Suzuki Wagon!


I know, right now you are wondering why you too don't have flowers and butterflies adorning your vehicle!



We had tried bidding on a few cars on ebay, and were foiled at the last minute by people out-bidding us. There were a few more ads we looked into, but by the time we contacted people, the cars were sold.

So, when we saw this lovely vehicle come up on Autotrader, we called the dealership right away!


I chatted quickly with Arif at A Cars in Luton, and he assured me the wagon was in good condition. He also agreed to store it for us until July!

Within a few minutes the deal was done! We'll be united with this beauty in July, and hopefully she'll get us to Ulaanbaatar in one piece.


My friend pointed out to me that cars that have names usually end up running better and lasting longer. With that in mind, we're now taking suggestions for what we should name our blue beauty. Be creative!


This post couldn't end without a big thanks to those who have contributed to raising the funds for our car so we don't have to pay it all out of pocket! 


My sister Meena organized a speed-dating event event in February, and she's organizing another one for this month! 


And my lovely family members David and Sarita also donated a generous chunk of change to help finance our car. In return, they will have a decal on our car with a picture of their family, and reassurances from Sebastien and I that we will do everything that we can to dissuade their children from ever undertaking any kind of adventure as crazy as this one. Thanks guys!!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

72 Days Until the Mongol Rally!

Wow, time flies! It seems like just a little while ago Sebastien and I were entertaining the thought of entering the Mongol Rally, and now it is a mere 72 days away.


I can't believe how many things there are left to do...buy a car, buy plane tickets, plan our route, get 5 more visas, do some more fundraising...the list is endless! 


One of the things we REALLY need to do is download a bunch of music and audiobooks for the 10,000 mile journey. Any suggestions to help us as we embark on the ultimate road trip?