65 Roses Charity Sports Auction

Happy, happy Monday ya'll!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!!!

Mine was great!

I left off telling you guys that I was attending a charity event last week.

The charity event is called 65 Roses Sports Auction to benefit Cystic Fibrosis.

This year the event was again held in the Sheraton Hotel at Station Square in Pittsburgh. In the past it was held at McFadden's bar (I personally enjoyed that more).

When it was moved to the Sheraton the food was better at first (sit down nice meal of stuffed chicken breast, etc) but now it has declined to less than bar food - LOL! In my humble opinion...

So, I had gone for about four years when it was at McFadden's and it was hosted by the Steelers player Brett Keisel. He always recruited really good, current, 1st string players like Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu, Hines Ward, etc. I have some great footballs from those days!!! Then it was turned over to Cam Heyard to host and now to player Stephan Tuitt and it just keeps going further down hill. This year we only had like two players I have heard of and the rest were alum (from the 1977 and 1979 Steelers and they were not even popular alum).  I am sure this sounds terrible but when you pay $150 donation for the football (and you know how great it used to be) it is a let down when no popular players show up.

Anyway, this was the first year for Tuitt to host it so I thought it may turn around so I attended again this year.  Unfortunately the players that showed were no better than the past few years. Needless to say, it is still a charity donation but I will not go again.

So let me give the down low....

Here is the welcome sign to the event thanking the sponsors...

Here is me and Kathy that I attended with at our lucky 13 table - LOL!!!

And here is the table of Steelers (past and present) lined up to sign the balls...you take your football down the line and get it signed (one at a time) by each player!  It was amazing when it was the popular players!!! That is Stephan Tuitt #91 in the black sweater talking to thew first person in line to be signed. And then down the line was J. Hargrave #79, R. Nix #45, I Nwokeji #64, and T. Matakevich #44...those are the current players. Then there was four alumni..Charlie Batch whom we all know and love (he does soooo much charity throughout Pittsburgh), Robin Cole, Ron Loder and Edmund Nelson.

 Here is the completely signed football...it is going to be a present for a family member so I cannot say who (in case they actually read my blog - LOL!)

After the signing was dinner...I took a little of everything to show you all what the selection was...they had pork and burger sliders, mini pierogies, mac and cheese and green beans. With the exception of the green beans; it was a carb fest! LOL! They called it tailgate food - I guess that is true.

 And dessert...they did have every dessert under the sun!

 After dinner and dessert was a presentation called "A Day in the Life" and it was a sweet little girl that was diagnosed when she was three with CF. She explained all about their life with the disease and what is required daily just to live "normally". So at least our donations help!!

Then was held an auction for so autographed memorabilia and also a silent acution.  Here is an example of the silent auction items...

A signed copy of Madden 2019 (signed by Antonio Brown himself) and an X Box...

And this football signed by JuJu Smith-Schuster....

 Here is the bidding sheet for it when we left....

We did not bid on anything so we left before they collected the silent action items.

It was a fun night out with friends but I would not go again. I have a friend on the board of CF and I have given her this feedback and they do not seem to care enough to change anything so I guess that says it all. I am bummed it has gone downhill rather than grown better.

Here are the past posts I could find...

2013
2014

How was your weekend?!?! What did you do? Anything exciting?!?! Ever get disappointed when an event is not what you are hoping it would be?

Happy Monday ya'll!!!

Cystic Fibrosis 65 Roses Sports Auction

Hi all my bloggy buddies! I hope everyone is having an amazing week! Mine is great! Work is slowing down for year end and after this week it is all parties and luncheons and cookie exchanges! How can that be bad?!??!?

I wanted to show you all the amazing event I got to attend the other evening. It is a little pricey but it is so worth the money. First of all, the money paid to attend the event and the monies raised at the event all go to Cystic Fibrosis!  Its a terrible disease and every penny helps!

The event is called the 65 Roses Sports Auction and it is usually held in December in Pittsburgh, PA. We paid $200 dollars for our ticket. That money includes a football, dinner and admission to the auction portion. You then take your football around and have it signed by the Steelers players that are in attendance (you never know which ones will be there but there are usually ten total). 

Sports Auction due to the fact that we have the most amazing sports teams on the planet here in Pittsburgh - hee hee! No disrespect but I love my teams!!!

 So here we are: Jenna and I waiting to enter the event!

Here are the cookies that were waiting for us at our table!  The event is hosted by Brett Keisel from the Steelers and he is known for growing his beard - hence the beard at the bottom of the cookie!!
These are made at a local chain of family restaurant called Eat n Park  they are know for their smiley cookies and for this they just added the beard!!!!

 Here is Jenna scratching off about 20 lottery tickets. They had a fun game at the auction...you paid $50 and then picked a football from a wall. Each football had a number on the back that coincided with a gift basket on a table. Jenna got $50 worth of scratch off lottery tickets! HA! In the end, she had $8 and about 7 free tickets...not too good :-(

I, on the other hand,  got lucky and got a Hines Ward authentic jersey!!! Can't beat that!! Love it! Only wish it were signed!

Here is our table....soooo cute!

And here is the highlight of my night! The Steelers that ended up signing the balls this night were they were Brett Keisel, Cameron Heyward, Mike Adams, Big Ben, Heath Miller, Cam Thomas, Joe Kruger, David DeCastro, and Ethan Hemer. Yes, you saw right, Ben Roethlisberger! It was great - loved all the players - they were so great and funny too!

And then the auction part of the evening started. This is Brett Keisel with the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting everything...

Another shot of Brett...

All in all, it was an amazing evening!

I cant wait to go again next year!!!!

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Cystic Fibrosis - A Passion for Wine Event

I had the priveledge of voulteering at an amazing event this past weekend! It was called a Passion for Wine and it was to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis.

I was really excited to be able to go help out for a couple reasons. I used to work for a gentleman that has a son with Cystic Fibrosis and I know what a devastating diagnosis that can be.  Also because I got to get really dressed up! I never get to dress up so this was REALLY fun!!! I went out and bought new shoes and a new cocktail dress for the occasion! Sooo fun! I loved every second of dressing up and primping for my beautiful dress.  I could definitely get used to the lifestyle of the rich and famous!!!

Here is the best picture I have of my shoes! Love these babies!!! They were so comfy. They are Calvin Klein and so worth the extra cost!

Here is the classic bedroom shot of the new dress from the full length mirror! This is a size smaller than I was expecting to buy so I was soooo excited!! The dress is here.

Here is a brighter shot in the bathroom mirror after makeup was done.

These were the centerpieces on the tables...so pretty!

Here is a shot of the decor! The event was held in the PPG Wintergarden in Pittsburgh, PA. The building looked amazing~

And this is a shot of the silent auction area. There were so many donated items for auction...really amazing stuff!

This is me and my work friend Kathy that I volunteered with! She is the one that got me connected with CF and their fundraisers. She has been helping them for over TEN years~~!

This is a picture with the women I know from CF. On the left is Carol and Kathy is on the right. Obviously, that leaves me in the middle! HA

Kathy and I were assigned to a wine station. Here is the wine  we were going to be pouring all night. Apparently it was good as we were the first tasting station to run out. Although, if you ask Kathy, shell say it was because I filled the glasses too full! HA

Another shot of Kathy and I presenting our wine!

There were a total of five wines to taste throughout the room (Kathy and I had one). In all, there were six food tasting stations. Obviously a cheese & grape station and also a dessert station. The other four stations were manned by some of Pittsburgh's most award winning local restaurants. My favorite just happened to be right next to me. The sign below is what the restaurant was presenting to patrons to taste.

 This is Chef Kevin Sousa from Superior Motors. He has already started many successful restaurants in Pittsburgh and has now sold them all to start Superior Motors. It will be open in the Spring 2015 hopefully! You can find out all about this amazing restaurant here. It will all be locally sourced, funded, operated and will give back to the struggling community of Braddock, PA. Amazing man - he really is a gentleman with a vision. And an amazing Chef~~~

This is a closeup of his plate! So delicious!

The second restaurant was Seviche. These guys are always amazing! So yummy!

Sonoma had a fantastic tuna dish!

Another favorite is always Nine on Nine. They had an amazing spiced ostrich that everyone was talking about. Seriously so yummy! It is not on the menu yet but due to the crowd reaction, the chef said he may be adding it soon! Check it out - its truly amazing~

I did not get a picture of the cheese station or the dessert station but I did manage to get a few pictures of the delicious pastries and macaroons that were on the dessert station before I ate them of course! HA! The were baked by Gaby et Jules. AMAZING is all I can say!

Had to try one of each...actually I may have had two or three of each! Seriously amazing desserts!

 The night was awesome and so much fun! I loved spending time with Kathy and Carol and we met a new friend MaryBeth that I did not get a pidcture of. I will see her in a month at the next fundraiser and I cannot wait! The event raised $183,00.00 for CF!!! I call that a success!!! Thanks for allowing me the pleasure to volunteer! I can't wait for the next event!!

Do you volunteer? If so, what is the reason and for which charity(ies)?

 

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Hobnobbing with the Rich and Famous

Oh what a night!!

Last night was amazing!

You can access the article that the Steelers wrote about the fundraiser HERE.

Following is MY version of what happened - hee hee!

It really was an amazing night out with a great friend from work (shout of to Kathleen) and a wonderful group of people that support and run the Cystic Fibrosis fundraisers.

This is the view from inside at McFadden's which is where it was held.  This bar/restaurant is located right by both Heinz Field and PNC Park on North Shore Drive in Pittsburgh.

 

This little doosie pulled up as we were waiting for the event to start! It is awesome outside but is even cooler inside!!! 

 

This is a shot of me with the owner inside the bus.  The bus was created and paid for by this private owner and he brings it to all the events and tries to encourage the players to sign it...it is pretty amazing!!!!  Shout out to Jeff!!! Hope to see  ya soon!  He was so much fun to chat and hang out with!

 We had an awesome buffet and the opportunity to bid on a bunch of amazing memorabilia and then it was time to get our balls signed.  Everyone paid $200 entrance fee to get your ball and admission. Then you get to take your ball through the lineup and get every player there to sign it.  AWESOME!!! Below you can see how it was all setup.

This is a shot of all the guys that signed last night... they included Brett Keisel, Troy Polamalu, Cameron Heyward, Heath Miller, Ryan Clark, Maurkice Pouncey, Ziggy Hood, Steve McLenden, Al Woods, Hebron Fangupo and Brian Arnfelt from the practice squad! Awesome night!That is them below in no particular order...

Here is a shot of my completed football - this is going to my brother-in-laws man cave as payment for all the work he does on my car free of charge...thanks Steve!!! At least he will love it and appreciate it (I would just stuff it in a closet and never look at it - HEE).

 Finally, my favorite part of the night...I got to get a picture with Brett Keisel of the Steelers. He was so nice! There were so many people waiting for pictures and he GRACIOUSLY accepted all requests for pictures - he really was so nice about it.  Here is my friend from work, Kathy, and I with Brett.

 And here is just me and Brett...

ANNNNNNNNNND zoomed in as this is my new profile picture...

 I am so grateful to my friend Kathleen for inviting me to this awesome event and as you can see it was an amazing night and time...

TGIF!!! Hope you all have an awesome weekend!!!