My 4th Dis Diva Girls Trip was GREAT!! Completed 3/29

[WDWJonasGirl]

Red and blue are mine. Now, I want Gumbo

 

[DizNee Luver]

Red and blue are mine. Now, I want Gumbo

Funny how just talking about a certain food makes us crave it instantly!!

 

[Belle Ella]

Aw, I feel like the Meet & Greet theme led to a lot of fun this year. Can't wait to hear about it.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Aw, I feel like the Meet & Greet theme led to a lot of fun this year. Can't wait to hear about it.

It was a really fun theme!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

After getting myself ready for the party, I waited for Michelle to arrive. She showed up not too long after I was done and she then got ready for the party. She went in a vibrant yellow dress.....very pretty! Since we were on Harbor and the party was at the Paradise Pier Hotel, we took Michelle's car and I payed for parking. I really didn't want to walk through the esplanade & DTD in my outfit or worry about having bags, etc at the security tables. We found the room we were in (right beside the lounge area) and went in to start helping set up the Silent Auction items & raffle prizes. These items & our fundraising was being done for the Give Kids the World which is a non-profit resort for kids with life-threatening diseases. The resort focuses on accommodations & access to donated theme park tickets (WDW, SeaWorld, Universal). Families are referred by one of over 250 wish granting organizations, like Make-A-Wish. Our goal was to try & raise $2500 because we had a matching grant of $2500 if we could get that much.

These are the donated items from our giving Diva's for the Silent Auction.

This quilt was made using shirts from all the Diva trips from the beginning to current & also our first day lime green shirt to represent the Disboards.



Japanese Bears and Small World LeSport Sac & Wallet.



Stitch Hood, Japanese Bear & Vera Bradley Wallet/Phone Holder.



Dooney & Burke Disney Sketch Purse & Monster's Inc. LeSport Sac Bag & Cosmetic Bag.



Beautiful Tiara.



Baby blanket & Winnie the Pooh Hood.



Mickey Head Burp Cloths & Fantasia Watch.



Disneyland Paris Tote, Pin & Magnet and Piglet & a $25 Cheesecake Factory Gift Card.



Elvis Stitch, an exclusive from the Las Vegas Fashion Show Mall Store.



Diva Travel Planning Book & Minnie Mouse Watch.



2 Sets of the Collectible Starbucks Mugs (One Disneyland & One California Adventure).



Haunted Mansion Picture & Pins and Lanyard.



An Original Painting and Winnie the Pooh Honey Jar.



Signed Disney Art Piece. (Dave Avanzino)



Olaf Apron & Hand-Painted "Cheers" Glasses.



Hand Stitched Towels and Bowl Warmers.



Elsa Apron & Cinderella Apron.



2013 Food & Wine Mickey Ears, Cookbook & Vinylmation.



4 bottles of wine (one came with the Club 33 Wine Cooler).



One Night Stay at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco & A Sailing Trip for 4 in San Francisco.



Two Private Tours of Los Angeles.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Setting up the Fundraising Table to sell raffle tickets and collect payments after the auction.



This raffle table was random drawings all evening. When your number was called, you could go & pick anything you wanted off this table.





These were what you call a bucket raffle. You put tickets into the buckets of the items you are interested in winning.



The Disney Dollars was the "Grand Prize" in the raffle. $100









The Meet-n-Greet really did a fabulous job in decorating the tables in all the different colors.











I really loved that each of the Meet-n-Greet Committee Members each wore a different color that coordinated with the tables. They sat at the matching table & hosted the Diva's that drew that color table.

 

[DizNee Luver]

The Meet-n-Greet Committee~~So colorful!!









The Fundraising Committee.





Both Committees.





Michelle & I before the party started.





6pm & the guests are let in to check out the raffle & auction items, find their table, greet friends, get a drink & find your exchange person to give them your gift.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Wow!!! I love the theme of the party!! Those auction items look cool, reminds me of the collectors forum at d23 expo. I will have to show my sister them

 

[DizNee Luver]

I drew the Hot Pink Table.....fitting, since this IS my favorite color....lol Beth was our host & I enjoyed getting to catch up with her over dinner.



Dinner was served. We had Chicken with vegetables & potato and salad. The dinner was super tasty!





The dessert was Passion Fruit Creme Brulee. I had specified Gluten Free so some modifications were made to my entree and dessert. The dessert was apples but they had been soaked in something & it tasted NASTY! I always thought Creme Brulee was gluten-free but I guess not??



Here are a few our new Diva's. We had them draw the winners for the bucket raffles.







I won a couple of the random table raffle items. One of my table-mates (Kathy) caught this picture of me with a picture of a train I picked for my hubby.



I also won the kitchen stuff on the bucket raffle. As for the silent auction I got the 2013 Food & Wine Mickey Ears, Cookbook & Vinylmation (so lots of kitchen stuff) and this!!!!



Love, Love, Love this quilt!!

So we far exceeded our goal of $2500.....we raised (with the $2500 matching grant) ~~~ $7003!!!! So happy our Diva's gave so freely for Give Kids the World!!

So my exchange person was Wendy and she collects Winnie the Pooh stuff, so I got her a little art piece statue of Pooh, magnets, tin, rice krispy treat, etc. Jodi (the Diva I flew from Sacramento with) ended up being the person who gave me my gift. She did an awesome job with these goodies!!! Thanks again Jodi!









After the Meet-n-Greet, we picked up and then walked over to the Grand Californian Hotel to stop in at "Club Diva". This was one of the villas that a group of ladies were staying in. Jello shot anyone??





These are a bit blurry, but wanted to show you that it was a popular place.









After walking back over to the PPH parking garage, we made a quick stop at CVS and then back to our motel to call it a day. I will say, getting glittery eyeshadow off is a PAIN!! I had glitter everywhere......lol

 

[DizNee Luver]

Wow!!! I love the theme of the party!! Those auction items look cool, reminds me of the collectors forum at d23 expo. I will have to show my sister them

It was a fun theme and everyone got into dressing in their favorite colors!!

We had some amazing donations for the auction & raffles. One more of the Auction Items that was sold pre-trip on an online site was a trip to Priest Lake in Washington. One of the Diva's owns a cabin up there & she will host a group of Diva's for a weekend up there.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Cool!! My favorite color is red but I don't have any red shoes How did you know what table to sit at?

 

[DizNee Luver]

Cool!! My favorite color is red but I don't have any red shoes How did you know what table to sit at?

I just wore my white sneakers....I wasn't going to go out & buy special shoes for a dinner.

When you came in & got your name tag for the dinner/party, you would draw a slip of paper to see what color table you would sit at. It was just a random draw.

 

[Belle Ella]

When you came in & got your name tag for the dinner/party, you would draw a slip of paper to see what color table you would sit at. It was just a random draw.

That's a nice creative way to do the seating, especially to help the first timers meet people. I remember last years trip and not being sure where to sit and it just stressed me out.

 

[DizNee Luver]

That's a nice creative way to do the seating, especially to help the first timers meet people. I remember last years trip and not being sure where to sit and it just stressed me out.

It's a great way to mix people up. As you know, there are definitely cliques, and doing the seating this way made them break up and meet other people. As a new person I may have been a little apprehensive having to sit away from someone I may have known, but what a great way to meet some new people. I remember the days of being at the Carousel Inn and it just being crowded in there. Hard to hold conversations and everyone sat in their little groups. LOVED this!!

 

[gardengirl2790]

I love the quilt you won, so creative!

 

[DizNee Luver]

I love the quilt you won, so creative!

Me too! It's a great way to display the tee designs from all the years!

 

[DnA2010]

Wow loving your pictures!! What a party and I LOVE your quilt! What a special reminder of your trips!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Wow loving your pictures!! What a party and I LOVE your quilt! What a special reminder of your trips!

Thank you!! It really was a fun evening......love the new venue (since our group has far outgrown the HoJo Conference Room and the Carousel Inn Breakfast Room). Everyone really seemed to get into the festivities. The quilt is just awesome. I have only been 4 of the trips but I was following along on the Disboards long before I got to actually attend. I did meet a small group of them during my anniversary trip in 2009, before my first official Diva trip 2 years later.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Nice!! I love reading about the divas every year

 

[DizNee Luver]

Nice!! I love reading about the divas every year

I'm glad you do!!! Maybe one year you'll join us!