"Red Hat recently scrapped plans for a massive holiday party.
Instead, the Raleigh software company will donate the money it would have spent to a food charity chosen by employees.
The move comes as the slumping economy is hurting philanthropic donations and increasing demand among the needy.
"We felt it was the wrong time to be spending a lot of money on ourselves," said DeLisa Alexander, Red Hat's senior vice president for people and brand.
She declined to say how much money Red Hat will donate, but it's enough to pay for about 800,000 meals at food banks run by Feeding America. In the Triangle, the group runs the Food Bank of Eastern and Central North Carolina and the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle."Click through and read the whole N&O article on how this trend can help unite employees in a cause - a great thing when a slumping economy is always dampening moods - and how other groups are doing some good.
Tomorrow, Sunday - November 30th, Buckhead Saloon will be hosting a special country concert featuring Warner Brothers recording artist Whitney Duncan!
Tickets are only $5.00 and the show is at 9pm... if you're a Carrie Underwood or Faith Hill fan you are going to LOVE Whitney so come join!
Check out her current chart-climbing single, "When I Said I Would":
And one of my personal favorite holiday songs, "All I Want for Christmas": PS - RSVP "attending" to the event on facebook by midnight tonight and I'll enter you to win a pair of free tickets! Not on facebook? Leave a comment and I'll still include you in the drawing :-)
I am so thankful for all the little things in life that can so often be taken for granted. I'm doubly thankful for always being surrounding (in college and out of college) by so many giving individuals, groups, and organizations!
Here are a few ways some of the NCSU Greek Life houses are making local contributions this week:
Pi Beta Phi Our national philanthropy is literacy and the NC Delta chapter is holding a book drive this week to distribute among local partners that are making great strides in improving literacy in our community.
Any and all donations are welcome and will be accepted at the Pi Beta Phi house on Greek Court after this weekend's holiday break. (I'll be glad to pick up any donations from anyone in the area and deliver them, if needed!)
FIJI The brothers of Phi Gamma Delta are holding a first-year event, Fiji's "Kill the Chill" clothing drive" to benefit local homeless shelters. The event will take place Tuesday, December 2nd, in the Brickyard.
Again, I'll be glad to drop any donations by for anyone who can't make it but would like to contribute.Please feel free to send any listings my way you'd like to share, too!
"Don't confuse etiquette and manners. It's bad etiquette to use your dinner fork on your salad. It's bad manners to comment that someone used their dinner fork on their salad. Manners always trumps etiquette." -- The Hyper HomemakerFACT.
I'm really hoping that this site will do the trick... hey, it's worth a shot! My friend Carolina forwarded this to me via email from a daily email tips newsletter from Ideal Bite - "bite-sized ideas for light-green living each weekday".
This is the confirmation I received: "Your request to be removed from Yellow Pages distribution has been forwarded to the Yellow Pages publishers we have on file that serve your area. Lisa, for verification, we have sent you an email. Please click on the link in the email to verify your signature."
Go ahead and put their December event on your calendar now and bring some friends - it'll be a fabulous time:
Wear your favorite holiday skirt and bring your non-perishable food items to 518 West Italian Café on December 16th for skirt!’s holiday bash!
$5 naughtinis and nice-tinis will be available, and at the end of the night we’ll tally up sales and find out if skirt! readers are naughty or nice...The food drive benefits the Inter-faith Food Shuttle - a GREAT local organization!
If you've read this blog for long enough (or happen to know me in real life), it's very easy to notice that I am a puppy lover (and that all dogs of any age, shape, or size are "puppies" to me).
This is a great line of eco-friendly products that my friend Caroline emailed me. This company takes plastic bottles (keeping them out of the landfill!) and turns them into a wide-range of consumer goods... for our furry friends!
Maybe if Nick and I invest in a few of these, Tank will quit stealing my spot in bed! And yes, Tank is a big boy.This is Tank, being his usual lapdog self with Renee.
My college pals and I had the 2nd annual weekend-before-Thanksgiving-shindig-celebration this past weekend and apparently, these drinks were well enjoyed.... especially by the pilot - a new addition to the party this year thanks to Matt and Amanda.
Big hugs and kisses to Joseph for orchestrating this whole thing for two years in a row and to Adrianne for cleaning up after all of us (apple pie shots and all)!
I feel like the latter of the last two suggestions would be a good one to add to the line-up in the future. Maybe in place of the apple pie shots that can go dangerously wrong if you let Joey sprinkle too much ground cinnamon in your mouth (see last year's extremely attractive photographs - below - for example)?
Even though we have a bunch of these on good ol' VHS (and some of the newer on DVD) at Mom and Dad's, there's just something about catching your favorites on TV.
Many thanks to my Aunt Deborah for this great link to pretty much any and all holiday programming you could want to catch on TV.
Ho-ly-cow is all I can say. Over $160K more than last year - bad economy be darned!
I've always said NC people are good people - very good people.
I personally signed up for the $12 x 12 (many thanks to J.J. from QDR for dedicating it to Brittany and Brittany's Battle on-air at 4:30pm yesterday!!) and I want to sincerely thank all of my friends who have done the same. Amber even let me know last night that she passed it all around Carquest Corporate and Lisa S. double-checked to make sure she didn't miss the opportunity to give every month... thank you girls!!
$12/month may not seem like you're doing a lot, but $144/year can help families purchase custom strollers for their children who can't sit up in a standard stroller (one of the stories featured yesterday on-air) and provide for the care and treatment of children who are never turned away based on their family's ability to pay or not pay.
2 - I got into quite a few bidding wars (with mom and dad's financial backing - thanks guys!) last year over some of the great auction items. I would love to go head-to-head with any of you over any of these items.
This is one of the few days of the year I'll have the radio on in my office. Wait, that's not 100% true. I listen to XM (ahem - XM Sirius, or is it Sirius XM now?) because there are no commercials.
Back to the point, many thanks to Bryan for reminding me last night that today is the start to 94.7 WQDR's Childrens Promise Radio-thon, one of the most life-changing things you can ever listen to, visit, and support.
I believe Jason is performing at 3:30pm in the lobby for any locals who want to tune in or go check out the event. Here's the email from WQDR about today's event:If 94.7 QDR sounds a little different today, there's a good reason. For more than 18 hours we'll be broadcasting live from North Carolina Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill. It's our 7th Annual "North Carolina Children's Promise" RadioTelethon; that one day a year when we ask you to pledge just $25 to help sick, injured and disabled North Carolina kids.
Anyway, we thought we'd remind you just in case you'd like to make a donation. The phones will be open from 5:00 AM until 11:30 PM today at 1-866-9NCKIDS. Or you can log on to our website www.947QDR.com or www.NCChildrensPromise.org to make your pledge or to bid on some amazing music and sports collectibles we're auctioning off for the cause. This year, we have almost 50 celebrity auction items, including autographed stuff from Toby Keith, Jewel, Chris Cornell, Kenny Chesney, Coach Roy Williams and many, many more.
Even if you can't give us your money, we'd still love for you to listen. It's great local radio for a wonderful cause, and once again this year you can watch us live on Time-Warner Cable and News 14 Carolina.I will no doubt be crying all over payroll today, especially if Mrs. Coppedge or Jason starts telling Brittany's story, and every time they feature a mom and dad talking about their brave children. (Where are the tissues?!?!)
Which reminds me, I do hope everyone will either check out Brittany's Annual Angel Gala this weekend (I'd love to see you there!) or at least check out the eBay auction and consider supporting Brittany's Battle!
If you are planning to attend our Gala this Sunday and have not yet purchased you tickets, you can do so right now by going to our web site.
You can buy a ticket at the door, but buy early and save the money for bidding!
Also don't forget about our raffle for a week's stay at Shell Island in Wrightsville Beach, NC. The drawing will be at the Gala and you do not need to be present to win! Tickets are $50 each and we are selling no more than 100 of them. Buy yours now!
Attire is business / church appropriate. There will be a full service cash bar available.For those of you not in the area, here's how you can still help!Ok, so you don't live in Raleigh or even NC for that matter ~ You don't have to miss out on the Gala fun! Be sure to check out our auction on ebay! We have some great stuff from the country music community for you to bid on including items from Jason Michael Carroll, Sugarland, Carrie Underwood, Rodney Adkins and many more. There is also some items from the NASCAR community and even something from a Gold Medal Olympian!
The store is now open and there will be a few more items added, so keep checking back! Bidding will end at midnight this Sunday, November 23rd. So visit our ebay store and bid on some great stuff for a good cause!We miss you Brittany!!!
I've been doing some (ok, a lot) of research as to the pricing of holiday cards. I'm personally geared toward the nice 4''x8'' that you mail in envelopes.
Know what I've found? There is a crap ton of variation in pricing.
Here's the best deal I've found so far:
Holiday 4'' x 8'' cards at VistaPrint.com 50 prints for $11.99 (with envelopes included) is around $0.25/card. Not $1.50/card like I've seen some crazy companies charging.
I was a little wary of the $20 additional charge for envelopes when the envelopes are noted as included here when I was doing the instant quote service, then I realized you just have to go back and change the envelope selection to the free choice (tricky tricky).
The only thing that sucks is the shipping and processing fee and lead-time. Shipping and Processing Costs: Rush - $25.19 - 3 Business Days Priority - $13.15 - 7 Days Standard - $9.15 - 14 Days Slow - $5.45 - 21 DaysCall me crazy, but that seems like a really long print delay. Maybe they're just THAT busy. You'll definitely have to plan ahead to if you want to be able to mail them before New Years and not double the cost of your cards with shipping fees!
In all honesty, they seem to be the cheapest for any type of printing (business cards, etc.) I'm ever doing anyway.
I'll be sure to update as this search goes on and post some results later down this holiday road.
PS - Their customer service is very helpful by phone, too.
PS#2 - Walgreens is also a good choice at $9.99 for sets of 20 that you can pick up at the store (ie: no shipping costs), about $0.50/each. I don't think you can create your own design though... you may be restricted to their templates. I'm getting really creative (thanks to iStockPhoto.com and Adobe Photoshop CS3) and making our own design.
PS#3 - Vista Print is offering "Get 50% OFF Holiday Cards offer ends 11/16/2008" currently... now that's a REALLY good deal.
If you are looking for the latest styles in daywear, resortwear, eveningwear, or bridal fashion, look no further than “Altar Ego…An Event All About You.”
Durham-based Tre Bella Bridal, known for exceptional quality bridal gowns, is hosting the fashion show from 6:30-10 p.m., November 22, 2008, at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh.
Pat Nathan, founder of Dress for Success Triangle NC, will emcee the event. The event will feature wedding event ideas, hors d’oeuvres, an open bar, and culminate in a fashion show at 8 pm.
Couture bridal gowns by Angel Sanchez, Junko Yoshioka, Lela Rose, and Manuel Moto will be modeled. Triangle boutiques featured will include Lucky Mi of Chapel Hill, Scout and Molly’s of Raleigh, and Za Za Zsu.
Attendees will be eligible for gifts and swag bags featuring a signature Tre Bella necklace.
I try not to post more than once a day, and Let's Say Thanks is something I've certainly shared before, but I think this is worth the double post.
Happy Veterans Day and many thanks to those who have served and are currently serving!For those of us who get to do whatever it is that we do - because of our veterans - please take a minute to do this: http://www.letssaythanks.com/My deepest thanks and support go out to Jake (Navy), Brian (USAF), Cedric (USMC), Snelling (USMC), Shaun (Army MP), Scott (USMC), and last, but certainly not least - my cousin Henry (USMC - RIP 7/27/06 - You'll always be our hero, thanks for giving us hope!).
Note: I have no idea how we can afford to do this, but I'm not asking questions.
This is the email I just got from Julie, our Sales Manager… and I’m really excited:
“We are going to start doing a crazy weekly drink special trying to boost people's attitudes about the bad economy...therefore we will be having $2 GREY GOOSE drinks all night this Friday! Now you have no reason to sit at home on the couch and say you can't go out because it's too expensive :) This week it's Grey Goose, next week it could be Patron, so stay tuned.”Put your party pants on Raleigh people!
PS – Feel free to forward this to your friends with my contact info, should they need any more info or want to contact me to ask questions, get on the members list so they can skip that step at the door, etc. (NCSULilWolf at Gmail -dot- com).
PS #2- I will have “Be My Guest” passes and can put anyone on the guest list for any Friday and Saturday THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR as a special holiday incentive. Take advantage of this now!
Just please try to let me know before… oh… 11pm when you’re at the front door.
I will be glad to give any of you as many “Be My Guest” passes as you’d like in advance as long as you promise not to waste them! (There are some of you who should just keep them in your purse/wallet at all times.)
It's not really "new" per se, but it's new to me (and clearly wasn't very obviously evident on their site when I did my original G&G post here or I would've Google Reader subscribed then, duh).
People offer up a free preppy item, something monogrammed, etc. on their blog and folks comment from miles away and throw comment counts in to the hundreds.
A Southern Accent, a fellow semi-local blogger, graciously offers to:
Do a little bit of good karma duty today and 1: go comment on her fabulous "give-to" (instead of "give-away") and 2: repost! (If you're not into reposting, that's fine... but at least email friends and family members who might appreciate the gesture!)
So I was just checking out Spoonflower (after a recommendation from Southern) and doing the usual - sharing it on Google Reader, emailing it to people I'm not directly connected to on Google Reader, adding it to my Google Toolbar bookmarks (noticing a trend here?), and registering for the site - all normal stuff.
Then I stumbled upon this:
Activate your new account.
Welcome to Spoonflower!
Your account has been created. To activate it you must open the activation email that has just been sent to you and click on the indicated link. This will bring you straight back to Spoonflower where you can customize your password and start creating beautiful fabric.
Spoonflower gives individuals the power to print their own designs on fabric that they can then use to make quilts, clothes, pillows, blankets, framed textile art and many, many other things that might surprise you.
If you experience problems gaining access to your account...
- the spoonflower teamAre you kidding me? 919?? You KNOOOOOW how I like to keep it local. I'm giving this a try as soon as I can figure out what I'd like to DIY in the next few weeks (ie: when I may actually have time to DIY something).
Whitney Barnes Deal, is this your doing? I can so see this being a project of hers...
11/16/08 Update - Got an email from them today with a Mebane, NC mailing address. Totally thought that was (336) territory, but I could be wrong.
This is something that Brian - the Brewskee-Ball master of Raleighwood has been working on for quite sometime... and I'm REALLY excited about tonight! Any of you locals want to grab a few teammates and come out? It's going to be a lot of fun :-)
Join us TONIGHT at Buckhead Saloon for the kick-off of Brewskeeball - the beer-league skeeball event of the fall season!
What is Brewskee-Ball?
Glad you asked. Check out this brief video:
That's right folks - skeeball, the game we all loved to play at Chuck E. Cheese's and the fair, combined with beer and a little bit of competition and you've got yourselves some Brewskee-Ball!
We'll be opening up Skeeson I registration to the public beginning next week, but we're holding a "V.I.Skee" party this Thursday night (11/6/08) at Buckhead Saloon at 8:00pm. This party will give you a chance to register your team and guarantee a spot in Skeeson I before the rest of Raleigh gets in on the action.
How do you register you team?Three easy steps: 1 - Come up with a clever team name. 2 - Submit skeemates names and email addresses. (3 rollers per team) 3 - Pay the registration fee. Registration fee is $20/person and covers your official Skeeson I Brewskee-Ball t-shirt, trophies, championship glassware, trading cards (yes, I said trading cards), the website, scorecards, etc.That's it! After that you just check the website for the schedule and updated stats!
The lanes will be open all night for FREE SKEE, but be sure to get there at 8! At 8:30 we'll draw random teams for a 2 on 2 tournament. The winners of the tournament will be featured on an inaugural issue of the Raleigh edition of SKEESPN the magazine!
And, as if that wasn't enough, there will be complimentary beer (courtesy of Brewskee-Ball) from 8 - 8:30.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, come one come all for a little game we like to call - BREWSKEE-BALL!
Let the Good Times Roll!
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{January 8th, 2009 Update}: Brewskee-Ball will be played at The Bassment (just under The Pourch) on Glenwood South for the rest of the season. Hope everyone enjoys the change in venue!
Because yes, some of us in Rah-town definitely require a good reason to do so.
UNC's Pi Phi 5K When: Saturday Nov. 15th from 10am-11am Registration is at 8am and the race starts at 10am. Where: UNC Chapel hill What: The Eve Carson Memorial 5k for Education is a race through the UNC campus in memory of former student body president Eve Carson. Proceeds from this event will benefit the following educational causes: The Eve Marie Carson Memorial Junior-Year Merit Scholarship, First Book, Clyde Erwin Elementary School in Onslow County.
Registration is $15 and includes a shirt.
Please visit educationforeve.com for more information!Totally worth the drive. (Even more so if you're already close to Chapel Hill!)
If you're not a walker/runner, they are also holding a book drive! I hope to see some of you there :-)
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