Pink Bow Gala

Last Friday night we had the opportunity to attend a party for a great cause. Read up on Madelyn's Fund if you get a few minutes.
www.madelynsfund.org

Our connection to Madelyn's Fund, apart from the obvious being a former NICU family, is that one of my closest friends, Corey, is on the committee that runs Madelyn's Fund and she helped to plan this fantastic event, the Pink Bow Gala. 

The event was in Charlotte and held at the CCC. We got a hotel room in the room block at the uptown Charlotte Marriott, which was a very short Uber ride away from the club. We got Fifi and Jerry to travel down from Virginia to stay at our house and watch the boys so we could have a night away. 

We had a BALL! 

Thomas and me on the pink carpet

Everyone was encouraged to wear pink in honor of Madelyn and the room was full of gorgeous pink dresses, jewelry, accessories/accents, bow ties, etc. It was really amazing and fun to see all the pink fashion statements. There were celebrities there - Greg Olson and Coach Ron Rivera from the Carolina Panthers, as well as Andrea Kremer from ESPN and the NFL Network, and of course, Andy Lee from the Panthers, who is Madelyn's dad. I loved the people watching! Hopefully Ben Boulware will be there next year since he's on the Panther's roster now.

We hung out with Carole, Margaret, Beth and Dom, and of course Corey. One of my favorite twin moms/mom idols, Seantel, was there - see her blog here - and we got to see and meet some of Corey's other friends! We even made some new friends and went out with them after the party ended. They were staying at the same hotel as us. 

With Carole

Andy and Rachel Lee

Andrea Kremer

This is me "hanging out" with Greg Olson! LOL

We just went for it and told him to take a pic with us!
Me, Greg, Carole and Margaret

Just some more light stalking...

Party fun selfie

With this amazing lady - Coco

The party was awesome and hearing what Rachel and Andy had to say about their daughter, their experiences, and about Madelyn's Fund was so touching. We got to see a video about one of the families that has benefitted from this organization and we heard from some nurses that work in the NICU. Later, I found those nurses and thanked them for all that they do. It means so much to thank the hands that work with NICU babies. 

We had such a great time - we cried (well, I cried, when hearing the NICU stories), we danced (A LOT!!! Check out Sleeping Booty band), we laughed and just had FUN! I was so sad when the night was coming to an end. We hope to be back for the event next year. I'll have to remember how quickly it sells out and get our tickets early. It's a fun night and a very worthy cause. 

Saturday morning, we got to sleep in.  What a luxury! We had a relaxing morning and then went over to Diane and Justin's to visit and eat lunch before we drove back home to relieve Fifi and Jerry.

It was a great weekend to wrap up our anniversary week and to keep the celebrations going. Next up is Memorial weekend. YAY!!!!