Summer To-Do List

Now that it's the last week of school and the first full week of summer I have officially got summer fever.  I can't stop thinking about all of the fun things I want to do this summer.  Already it seems that my weekends are filling up.  Here are a few things that I had in mind to make my summer complete:

1.  Multicultural Festival (ate my way through China, India and Sri Lanka)
2.  Volunteer at the Max McKeen Martin Foundation Golf Tournament (to support children with immune disorders)
3.  Tandem bike ride and picnic with my sweetie (no tandem, but a sweet ride to Point Pleasant Park)
4.  Patio hopping(Foggy Goggle, Lower Deck)
5.  Beer Fest
6.  Busker's Festival
7.  Camping (Demon's Point, Fundy National Park)
8.  Al Fresco Film Festo avec Johnny Depp
9.  Lunenburg Craft Festival and Beer Garden (skipped the beer part and just hung out with my BFF)
10.  Beaching,  drifting out to sea on a floatie at least once(Hirtle's, Crystal Crescent,Conrad's).
11.  Break in my new bike
12.  Zip Lining
13.  Rafting
14.  See fireworks (from the deck of a tallship!)
15.  Roast marshmallows and hotdogs
16.  Gardening (aka taming the jungle growing along my walkway)
18.  Try new wines and make delicious cocktail concoctions
19.  Find a friend with a boat and get myself on it (I think this still counts even if you pay to go on a tour of the Halifax Harbour)
20.  Read some absolute brain fluff
21.  Road Trippin' around this beautiful province
22.  Do some geocaching
23.  Girl's night on my patio
24.  Get a vintage inspired bathing suit
25.  Bonfires
26. See a drive in movie

As I complete these things I'll check 'em off and see how many I can get done:) Anything else fabulous that I am forgetting?  What are y'all doing this summer?

The Max Mackeen Martin Foundation 2nd Annual Golf Fundraiser

It's crunch time!  Last night I got home at about 1:15am after spending a long (but satisfyingly, productive) 14 hours with my friend Krystal (and her mom, stepdad and friend Becky) working on things for the second annual Max Mackeen Martin Foundation golf tournament and fundraiser.   I posted about this amazing cause and family a few months back when they appeared in The Chronicle Herald (a local newspaper).

Max 2009

Jude 2011

It's really hard to work on this and not to get emotional thinking about my little buddy Max.  I am in charge of making the slide show that will be played throughout the day and let me tell you I had a few minor meltdowns while going through the thousands of photos of Max and his little brother Jude.  Such adorable, precious boys.  I  must say I am really proud of my friends for their ability to work through their grief and pain and do something postive.  I'm not sure I'd be so strong.

This year's event is going to be awesome.  We've learned a lot since the innagural year and I have a feeling things are going to go very smoothly and a lot of funds will be raised.  Along with golfing there will be a silent and live auction and musical entertainment by the band The Space Age.  I am excited to get my bid on some of these amazing auction items...sports memorabilia (hockey jersey's signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sidney Crosby etc), amazing dinner/entertainment/hotel packages, golf packages, spa packages, gorgeous furniture, the mack daddy of all bbq's...you name it, they've got it! 

I am looking forward to a beautiful day with even more beautiful people, supporting a cause that I care very deeply about!  Maybe I'll even see you there tomorrow:)

Style to the Max

Max Martin this Fashion Friday is a tribute to you. If I was dressing to impress you, this is what I'd pick. I think you'd approve.

DC Shoes logo tee, $20
True Religion distressed boyfriend jeans, 459 EUR
Converse shoes, 39 GBP
Burberry bowler handbag, 1,095 GBP
Michael Kors blue watch, $160
Tarina Tarantino lucite jewelry, $25
Sunglasses aviator sunglass, $450

Raising Awareness About Chronic Granulomatous Disease~For my buddies Max and Jude

This isn't the sort of thing I would normally post on my blog.  Generally I stick to crafty, cute and light-hearted topics. 

Today however, I would like to tell you about Max.

Max was a precious little guy who captured the hearts of anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.  Everyone knew with in a minute of meeting him what a cute, charismatic, kind, and an all round great kid he was.  What no one knew was that Max had a rare immunodeficiency disease which made his body susceptible to bacterial and fungal infections. Max's white blood cells didn’t have the ability to produce hydrogen peroxide, the body’s main weapon against these kinds of infections.

On August 5th, 2009 two of my closest friends in the whole world lost their son to a disease called Chronic Granulomatous Disease.  At the time of Max's passing his mom  was seven months pregnant with her second son Jude.  Jude also has CGD.  To read more about the Martin family (Adam, Krystal, Max and Jude) and CGD please check out the links to the stories "Living in Your Worst Nightmare" and "Exposure to Bacteria Can Kill" as posted in today's Chronicle Herald.

Please spread the word about Chronic Granulomatous Disease.  Also if you are interested in helping this cause please contact me or check out the Facebook page for the Max Mckeen Martin Foundation in which all money raised goes directly to the Immunology department at the Isaac Walton Killam Hospital in Halifax Nova Scotia.