Angela's Angels

Saturday was the gala in Raleigh. It was for a charity called Angela's Angels, and it benefited down syndrome.

Before getting to the great evening, let me tell you one more story about my angel. In fact, that's what I e-mailed to Rob and Kristin on Saturday morning, after Goldie's behavior on Friday, "How's my little angel?"

Rob's response:

"Angelic. Although one quick story: I was walking her last night and not paying very good attention. Goldie spots a mostly-eaten piece of pizza on the sidewalk and tries to eat it. I grab it out of her mouth and throw it to the side a couple of feet away.

Well, I have to tell you that I've never seen a dog her size *pounce* before. But Goldie lunged for that pizza crust like she was a lion going after a zebra. Almost knocked me off my feet. There is simply no denying her when it comes to food. "

That's my girl!

So, Saturday in Raleigh. Gorgeous day. Outside play with the kids, bike ride around the neighborhood, hide and go seek, all the fun stuff. As usual, I can't believe that I was so absorbed in the playing, that I didn't get a single picture of them! I know, I know! What kind of aunt am I?
A bit of beautifying later, Terry, Sara, Mike and I were ready for the gala.




Our plan was to have cocktails on Terry's screened-in porch for a half hour before the limo he scheduled was due to arrive.


It ended up being an hour and a half of cocktails since the limo was an hour late! But here were are on the drive to the gala...

The gala was a lot of fun. Their friends, Robin and Paul, have a son with down syndrome, and Robin is involved with the charity and the event planning. There was a "silent" auction (not so silent, you wrote you name down on a piece of paper to bid and could see everyone else's bid. There was also a live auction with larger prizes, like beach houses and such.

We lost on anything we wanted in the live auction, but walked away with quite a bit from the silent auction. I won a "chef for the day" with Jimmy Reale of Carolina Crossroads, the four star restaurant in the Carolina Inn. So I guess I'll have to go back to Raleigh soon!

And we'll also have to go back for the party Terry and Sara are about to throw. They bid on and won a catered dinner party and a private in-home wine tasting.

Mike also walked away a winner! Besides the big basket of cookies he won, we walked out with two three-liter bottles of wine.

Not names to speak of, but fun nonetheless!

Lots of drinks and dancing later, we were ready to wrap it up. Some final pictures...

It was a great night, and many thanks to Terry and Sara for inviting us!