Special guest!

Team Making Lemonade has a very special guest joining us for the MS walk! 

And I want to shout it from the rafters, I'm so excited!

The one and only Dominique Fricot, musician-extraordinaire, will be walking with us!

I have sung his praises before, but will do it again now.  Dominique Fricot is a musician worth listening to.  Worth supporting.  He has that unique, raw talent that doesn't appear often.  He has an unequivocal ability to perform, oozes undeniable charisma, and writes lyrics that hit you right in the heart.

Check out his website here. 

I cannot express how grateful I am to Dominique.  Not only did he donate 3 items to use for my fundraising, but he's made me Christmas cookies, successfully disguised my singing voice while caroling, and now is walking 5 km with my crazy self.

I am still in awe of the support I find in all sorts of places.

Start thinking about your yellow outfit, Dom!

And for all you generous souls out there - you can donate here.  Thank you!

Raffle results!

There are some lucky, lucky people who have donated to the 2015 MS Walk!

Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far - I have raised $1610 and my team has raised $3300!

And we're not done yet!  The raffle may be over, but the walk isn't until May 24th.  Plenty of time to raise more money and awareness for this important cause.

So, without further ado, the winners (with names listed as they publically appear on the walk site), as drawn by me, are:

Finn and Dylan - you've won a signed copy of The Last Hiccup by Christopher Meades!

Anonymous #3 (I kept track of the anonymous donations, don't worry) - you've won a signed copy of If Baby Could Walk by Dominique Fricot!

Penny Slack - you've won a signed copy of Sweet Little Fantasy by Dominique Fricot!

Patricia MacInnes - you've won the custom earrings by Aria Industries!

Pam and Eli - you've won the Haunted by Love t-shirt from Dominique Fricot!

I will be contacting you all to get delivery details.

Congratulations everyone!

And thank you to the generous, talented artists who donated these amazing items.  You've helped me raise money for a cause so, so close to my heart.  I am forever thankful.

Guess what?

No new lesions!

On my brain OR spinal cord!

I saw my Neurologist today to go over my latest MRI and have a check up and medication chat.

Although I am considered "stable diseased" in radiological terms, and still have dozens of brain lesions and one large spinal cord lesion to contend with - there are no new ones!

These injections are in fact helping me. 

That makes me much less resentful of my nightly shot-routine.

I am also now stable enough on Copaxone (2 years now) to try reducing my injections.  This isn't something that is prescribed per se, but since I am having some lipoatrophy in certain injection locations, my doctor was comfortable allowing me to do this.  I can do the injections 3 times a week now - in hopes it will help my skin (ahem... vanity).  Needless to say - I am thrilled!  Maybe I can reduce some of the damage these injections have done.

The icing on today's cake - I've been asked to speak at the Vancouver MS Walk! (Only for a couple minutes, but still...)

It's been a good day.  A very good day.

The swag!

I am itching to give these goodies away!

Remember - I have FIVE items - and anyone who makes ANY donation to the MS Walk will be automatically entered into the raffle.

Click here to make a donation!

Fundraising item - the bling

Who doesn't love jewelry?

And who wouldn't love to own - and wear - something custom designed and hand crafted especially for them?

Seriously, look at these!

These beautiful earrings, named Berenice after the actress who portrayed the femme fatale Sévérine in Skyfall, are as red as red can get.  A bold, dramatic colour, yet also appropriately the colour of MS awareness in Canada.  Made from sterling silver, the teardrop shaped stones are brilliant red rubies and the tiny faceted stones above are red spinels.

The artist-extraordinaire behind these earrings is Aileen Lau, who created Aria Industries to showcase her incredible talent working with silver and gemstones.

Check out Aileen's beautiful blog here and her very tempting Etsy shop here.

I was so touched when Aileen reached out to me, offering to donate a piece of her jewelry.  We've known each other since elementary school, but have partially lost touch over the years.  People move, things change, life gets busy.  Thanks to these earrings, we get to renew our friendship and raise some money at the same time!

Thank you so much Aileen, for reaching out to me and for donating these stunning earrings. 

To win them - and I know you want to - make a donation to my MS Walk page here.

Fundraising items - the music

It was years ago I heard him sing for the first time.

Up on a stage, alone, just him and his guitar.  No amps, no background, no dizzying distractions.

And it was amazing.  Amazing.

The crowd was silent - taking in every ounce of musical genius Dominique Fricot had to offer.

And let me tell you, he pours his soul - his entire being - into his performance.

I've been mesmerized since.

(And even had the opportunity to join Dominique on a skytrain Christmas caroling adventure.  Non-intoxicated, I promise).

So I asked Dom if he'd like to get involved with the Vancouver MS Walk.  Being an all-around awesome guy, he said yes, and I couldn't be more excited!

I have THREE items to offer from Dominique Fricot - two signed CDs (which are both so fantastic) and an incredible t-shirt (which I not-so-secretly want to keep for myself).

Check out his website here and send him some love.  And get tickets to his upcoming video release show!

Huge thanks for donating, Dominique!

You really can't pass this one up, people!  Donate to the MS Walk here to enter the draw!



 

Stay tuned for another announcement about Dominique Fricot and the MS Walk soon!

Fundraising item - the literature

You know those books... the ones that don't end up in your to donate pile.  But permanently live on your bedside shelf?

For me, The Last Hiccup is one of those books.

It's wickedly funny, dark, quirky.

I am in awe of Christopher Meades' ability to create entertaining fiction, complete with exquisite prose and detailed, interesting characters.

This man knows how to write a sentence.  A book.  Many books.

And very deservedly, The Last Hiccup won the 2013 Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction.

Here are the judges' comments:

The Last Hiccup is an episodic novel reminiscent of Chaucer’s Tales or the Decameron. At the heart of the story is a hiccup, or more specifically, a boy with the hiccups… This surrealistic novel takes us through the misadventures of Vladimir and along the way the reader gets a good look at society’s foibles. The writing is exquisite, the language poetic and fresh. Although the story takes place in 1930s Russia, it feels very relevant to our times.

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Thank you, Chris, for donating your book to help raise funds for MS research and treatment.  Not only are you an amazing author, but you're a true friend and a great source of support.

Check out Chris' website here.

Enter the draw by donating to the MS Walk here and you could win a signed copy of The Last Hiccup by Christopher Meades!