Mercy Corps & Voodoo Doughnuts

Today the kids & I ventured in to downtown Portland to deliver the Bake Sale for Japan donations. $1460 was pledged, but only $1435 was collected. One person keeps promising me her donation, but I think it's probably not coming. I hope she enjoyed her treats & will decide to donate after-all. Mercy Corps headquarters

After the bake sale money was delivered, we walked to nearby Voodoo Doughnuts. Killing time in line.... CUTE!

Almost our turn.....

Finally! Bacon maple goodness times two & a oreo-maple ('dirty old bastard').

Bake Sale for Japan: Final Total!!

This quote from Audrey Hepburn sums up my bake sale. I was hoping to raise $50. My friends & family blew me out of the water!!!!

Our final bake sale total: $1,435.00!!! Thank you so much to everyone who participated!! I appreciate you all so very much!!

Two stories from the bake sale that stand out & both involve the same person: Christina Bonazelli. Christina has been battling an aggressive form of breast cancer since August.

Christina at her last chemo appointment.

I didn't know Christina very well - just as an acquaintance at school events. When I heard that I could help with dinners through Lotsahelpinghands.com, I signed up before Christmas. I have gotten to know Christina little by little. She is an amazing lady! As of her last MRI visit on March 24th, her tumor is GONE! YAY! Power of Prayer!!!

The first day of the bake sale, I was scheduled to deliver dinner to Christina & her family. Christina was so, so kind and gave me $40 for the dinner I delivered!!! I was supposed to be helping her and instead, she helped me!!!

Second story involving Christina: Christina posted a message on her Facebook status announcing my bake sale. An hour after she posted her status, her friend Lisa in CA contacted me. Lisa said she would donate & wanted the baked goods delivered to Christina. I said, "Thanks so much & no problem!" I baked & delivered caramel fudge brownies to Christina. She wasn't home, but I tied her brownies with a gift tag signed from Lisa. Christina was a little confused to say the least. The next thing I know, Christina's FB was updated with this message:

Ok, try to follow this... Lisa L. donated money to Erin's bake sale for Mercy Corps to help the people of Japan, then had Erin deliver the most amazing chocolate carmel brownies to me! That's Stockton to Camas to Portland to Japan. :) Are my friends awesome, or what? ♥ No, Christina - YOU are awesome! Thank you so much for supporting my bake sale. You show me how to be a better person everyday!! PS- Did I mention Christina did a 5K on Saturday? Oh yeah!!

Bake Sale for Japan

These were the most requested items for the bake sale.

Again, thank you so much to the following people who supported my bake sale!! I think you are all WONDERFUL!!!

Christina B., Cheryl W., Anna S., Lisa B., Laurel A., Michelle S., Pooja G., Katie B., Gina T., Dan B., Mansour & Farah Z. Kumiko N., Audrey & Steve B., Arezou Z ., Evan T., Wendy W., Lin K., Kathy Mc., Elizabeth E., Jodie M., Mary L., Jane E., Norann M., Tara O., Renee K., Tammy S., & Chrissy G.

Bake Sale for Japan Update #7

ありがとうございます！ $1,385.00 for Mercy Corps!! Thank you so much for supporting my bake sale for Japan!!

This is the Hands of Hope for Japan wall at Skyridge MS. Every student & staff member made a hand with a message on it.

Photo by Connie Pappas

My favorite pair of hands on the wall.

Origami $$ cranes - so cute! Thank you Norann!!

Bake Sale for Japan Update #6

$1,290 raised for Mercy Corps/Japan!!! My anonymous donors matched the $610 that was raised by 5:00 p.m. today. Two hours later, I received $70 more. Thank you for helping the people of Japan!!!

Bake Sale for Japan Update #5

$610 raised so far!!! Thank you so much!!

Check out my Bake Sale/Mercy Corps link here.

Bake Sale for Japan Update #4

WOW! Today I witnessed the donations for my Bake Sale for Japan rise from $195 t0 $205 to $230 to $280 to $300 to $325 in FIVE HOURS!!! Thank you so much for your donations!!!!!!

Bake Sale for Japan Update #3

$175 raised so far!!! I have great friends & family!!! Thank you so much!!!!

The most adorable donation by far! Thank you Kumiko!!!!

Bake Sale for Japan Update #2

So happy to report that I have now raised $145.00 for Mercy Corps! Yay! I received a very cool text from two donors who wish to remain anonymous. They are going to match whatever is donated, dollar for dollar! Such great news!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING MY BAKE SALE FOR JAPAN!!!

Flat Stanley helped with the bread baking today.

Bake Sale for Japan Update

I am so happy to announce that in two days, I have baked my way to $90 for Mercy Corps. So many wonderful people wanted to donate and I am grateful to each & every one of them! I have 6 orders left to fulfill. Make sure to check back next week to see the final total. Thanks Friends!!

Here are pictures of the most requested items: Joy the Baker's Cinnamon Pull-a-Part Bread. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! I have baked 6 of these already.

Tarts with pastry cream. 3 batches sold.

Only two requests for chocolate & caramel. Those friends get caramel chocolate brownies (with an entire bag of caramels) hidden inside. YUM!

Bake Sale for Japan

I am having a 'made to order' bake sale to benefit Japan. ALL $ raised will be given to Mercy Corps. What do you want me to bake/make for you? White chocolate crunch? White chocoloate popcorn? Cracker Roca? Pirashkis? Butternut squash soup with a kick? Broccoli cheese soup? Gingersnaps? Turtles? Vanilla custard tarts? Pumpkin donut muffins? Persian rice with tahdig? Peanut butter cups? Tomato butter? Biscotti? Mocha Cake Roll? Not sure? I take requests or you can look at the "make this" section of the blog for ideas. Let's help Japan!

I Heart Japan!

Since Thursday's devastating earthquake & tsunami, I can't think about anything but Japan. All these images below are from Reuters News. The photographs are heartbreaking. It's so true that a picture really does say a thousand words. I am speechless when I watch or read the news; all I have are tears.

Omid & I both LOVE Japan and feel the need to do SOMETHING. We have been brainstorming ways to raise money to send to Japan; besides the $10 donation we can send by texting the word HELP to 90999 (Red Cross). The first idea I stole from my sister's friend. Bunco to help Japan. Each player pays $15 to play & all the funds will go to help Japan. The other idea I had was have a 'pay-to-eat' dinner party at my house. Would any of you be willing to pay $15-20 for lots of good food & drink? Again, all the money will go to help Japan. The last idea I had was to have a bake sale. If anyone else has any other ideas, let me know.

Let's fundraise for Japan together! They need our help!!

New! From Japan!

My friend Kumiko came over to visit today. She recently returned from a trip to Japan and brought some goodies for us all. The neatest item was chocolate covered potato chips.

They looked just like Lay's. The chips were good (& I don't care that much for chocolate).

Sweet and salty at the same time.

Quirky Japan (I love it!)

I was looking at our photo album today and remembering our trip to Japan. We left on the first day of school for the kids. I was able to take them to meet their teachers (1st & 4th grade) and then left. My mom and sister took care of the kids for us. It was great not to have to worry about the kids at all. Jackie Chan! (control yourself! he's a cardboard cutout)

Omid feeding a baby black bear some konyaku at an onsen we visited
the onsen (hot springs)

I had always wanted to visit Japan and felt so envious of Omid going there every month. Finally, my chance came and I tagged along on a business trip. I loved it! It was the neatest & cleanest place I have ever visited (with the exception of Finland. Finland is extremely clean).

I found this neat website while researching places I wanted to visit. http://www.quirkyjapan.or.tv/index.htm One of the places I had to visit was the Meguro Parasite Museum. It was creepy! We saw so many tapeworms - gross! One more reason for washing your hands! At the time, Matty was into bugs, etc. We were able to bring back a lot of neat souveniers from that museum.

While at the Onsen (see pix above), I saw a real Yakuza (Japanese Mafia member). He was tattooed from his neck to his toes in beautiful, elaborate tatoos. I was afraid and at the same time excited! I had read all about the Yakuza on the quirky Japan website. Omid and I shared a hot spring with him. There were only about 10 people at the Onsen, it was great!

Before we went into the Onsen, we had the option of paying 50 cents to feed a baby black bear a konyaku (Japanese jello). It was sad to see the baby bear chained up. Omid got a big sticky/slimy kiss from the bear.

It was a great vacation and I can't wait until our next trip to Japan.