Generosity :)

Yesterday I posted my fund raising page for my Team in Training fund raising campaign for the Marine Corps Marathon. Since then, I have received $437 in donations! That is just crazy to me, I am so excited for how much I can potentially raise for this organization in the next five months!

So I was thinking about interesting things that I could do to raise money, and after browsing through TNT's tips and talking to some co-workers, here are some ideas:

• Partner with local restaurants to have a TNT night where a percentage of the profits goes towards my campaign (usually about 10%)
• Hold a "dessert-a-thon" where I invite a ton of people over for all you can eat desserts in exchange for a "cover charge" (I would like to do this in multiple locations, like once at my moms house with her friends and maybe once here)
• Seek company sponsorships, both locally and with companies I have connections with outside of Charleston
• Hook up with local sports teams to see how I could either get a portion of the night's profits, or work a booth to raise money

I'm sure there are tons more, but these are the first few that piqued my interest. Y'all let me know if you can think of any more!

Also I have been greatly surprised by those who have donated so far whom I only know through Twitter or the blog! How crazy is that?? Oh, the power of the internet! (And of course, a big THANK YOU to those of you who have donated! You know who you are :)

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As far as training goes, I officially have 30 weeks until my next marathon. Wayyy more time than I had to train for my first, plus since I already have one under my belt I should be set. Our Team in Training kick-off meeting is next Tuesday, but unfortunately, I will be out of town for business so I will have to miss it! I'm kind of mad about that, but I think that our first group run should be next Sunday...so that's exciting!

I have a meeting tonight so I can't run, plus it's pretty bad weather here today, so I'm going to do some yoga at home. I have a TON of studying to do before I go out of town next week so I will have my nose in a book basically from now until Monday morning. Blah.

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For some color, I thought I would post today about our three-year anniversary dinner at S.N.O.B. here in Charleston a few weeks back.

S.N.O.B. stands for "Slightly North of Broad" because the restaurant is right above the famed Broad Street in historic downtown Charleston. I had heard nothing but good things about this place, so I was pumped to try it out! Matt was too, and was in a pretty good mood once we got there :)

We had scoped out the menu online before we went, so we knew we wanted to try the cheese plate as an appetizer. Check this baby out!! Three different types of cheese (changed daily), plus strawberries, grapes, pineapple, walnuts, almonds, dried fruits and toasted bread. YUM!

When I asked Matt if I could take a picture of this, he said, "Yes. If you hurry." Gotta love a hungry man :) (Check out the top of the pic, he's ready, knife in hand!) The cheeses were fresh and creamy and oh so good. They also brought us out some white bread and cornbread squares. What more could a girl want?

This girl wanted fresh veggies, so I decided to order the Vegetable Plate when our server told me it had 12 different local veggies!

Oh man, this did NOT disappoint. Let me see if I can remember everything on this gigantic plate of food. Summer squash, okra, eggplant, zucchini, roasted tomato, green beans, asparagus, broccoli, scalloped potatoes, tofu, some sort of weirdo mushrooms, white corn, and even some southern grits with a sweet chutney. That's actually 13!

After eating the cheese plate, the bread they brought out, and tackling this, I had about 1/2 of it leftover to take home. (Matt's stuffed flounder came with sweet potato mash and mushrooms, which he promptly gave to me...needless to say I had a lot of food!)

So I transformed it into my lunch the next day.

All I added was some whole grains with a little leftover Kashi Pilaf and tomatoes. (I find that pilaf to be pretty bland on its own even after cooking in low sodium chicken broth, so I add a can of no salt added diced tomatoes, juice and all.)

What I loved most about this entree, was that it was cooked with minimal oils and sauces, and everything was cooked differently. Some were steamed, some baked, some grilled. It was delicious for sure! If you're ever in Charleston (you better call me up) I would definitely recommend S.N.O.B.

Ok guys, I've got to finish up a few things and then I am off to my Habitat for Humanity meeting! Don't forget...if you want some good karma, donate a lil bit to my Leukemia and Lymphoma fundraising campaign!