The Walk to End Epilepsy and Oliver's Lemonade Stand

I have literally nothing to muse or mull about today, but the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles did send me the following link to the EndEpilepsy video which features OLIVER!

Check it out:

The Epilepsy Walk at the Rose Bowl and the Disappointing Fate of Ollie's Lemonade Stand

Oliver, his friend Mac and The Husband were up past midnight last night, preparing lemonade and chocolate chip cookies for today's End Epilepsy Walk at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. This morning, they rose at 5:30 to pack up the car and drive over there to set it up:

Henry, Sophie and I joined them a few hours later:

Ollie's Lemonade Stand was in full swing when we got there, and some of my favorite people came to support us and Team Sophalofa:

Here's our team:

Here are some random shots:

Here's the Quarterback of UCLA's Bruins -- very cool guy who brought in a ton of money in honor of his sister who has epilepsy:

Here's Oliver with Henry, a seizure dog, courtesy of a canine therapy group that was founded by a high school classmate of mine in Atlanta, Georgia!

So, all was well -- until the unexpected happened. The Health Department showed up and Shut Ollie's Lemonade Stand DOWN for operating without a permit.

Holy crapola, right? And what the hey and WTF?

Oliver was devastated, to tell you the truth. He and his father had worked so hard, and he had hoped to make many hundreds of dollars, a significant portion of which he intended to donate to the Epilepsy Foundation. Yes, we told him how proud we were of him, how this was sort of a lesson in entrepreneurship, how frustrating these things are (it was difficult not to rant and rave against a bullshit government agency, but we didn't. I think at one point, The Husband who is generally quite the ranter and raver, particularly about America, said that the guy was just doing his job). It looked like the whole day was going to be ruined for him -- Oliver is not one to let things roll off his back, and I steeled myself for gloom and doom and sturm und drang. But do you know what that boy did after moaning and groaning a bit? He proceeded to help the Epilepsy Foundation give out the lemonade and chocolate chip cookies for free. Here he is being interviewed as a sibling of a person with epilepsy. I'm not sure where this footage will appear, but I'll keep you posted.

I was in tears and so proud of him.

So, all in all, the lemonade stand was a success in that Oliver learned about starting a business and dealing with the inevitable frustrations that come with entrepreneurship. They also made a good amount of money before the shut-down, and hundreds of people enjoyed the best lemonade and cookies in Los Angeles.


Thank you Craig and Carmen, Lisa, Bridgette, Bob, and Maccabee for coming out to support us. And thanks to all of you who donated so generously. We love you!

If you'd like to donate to Team Sophalofa, it's not too late. Here's the link to help us to END EPILEPSY.

Cake, Lemonade Stands, Homeschooling and The Walk to End Epilepsy

That's going on: cake baking. Today's order is for a Red Velvet Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. I have to decorate it, too -- a wacky Coupon Diva logo. Later, I'm making an Hallelujah cake for a friend's birthday party. The Big O is working on his lemonade stand that he'll be manning at this Sunday's End Epilepsy walk and 5K at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. He and The Husband are making it into quite a project -- a homeschool project, actually -- with real food and labor costing, profit margins, etc. Oliver has "hired" two friends to help him out, and the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles is providing a booth, table, chairs, tablecloth and, of course, thousands of patrons. I believe there will be lemonade and cookies (home-made of course) for sale for hundreds and when they're out, they're out. A significant portion of the proceeds will benefit the work to End Epilepsy.

In case you aren't around to have some of the best lemonade in town, you can still contribute to the walk by going to our Team Sophalofa page and making a donation. Any amount is welcome -- our local affiliate -- the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles -- is a terrific one whose director and other employees work incredibly hard in responding to those of us in the community. They even, most recently, have attended informational conferences regarding this whole medical marijuana thing and are organizing efforts to find out more. Given how top heavy many non-profits are, and how so much money goes to schmoozing and administrative costs, it's so refreshing and encouraging that the EFGLA is so responsive to its members. The walk is at the beautiful Rose Bowl in Pasadena, something that we look forward to each year.

Join the Walk to End Epilepsy, Drink Lemonade from Ollie's Lemonade Stand and Eat Cookies!

Team Sophie and the Walk to End Epilepsy!

The sky was a brilliant blue and the Pasadena sun relentless, but TEAM SOPHIE gathered at the BRAIN NOW bus at the Rose Bowl to walk together to help END EPILEPSY.

Here's our STAR: Gretchen  of Second Blooming who RAN a 5K for Team Sophie and raised more than $500! I adore her. Thank you, Gretchen!

Here's our INSPIRATION, Sophie in front of the Brain Bus. Those teams who raised the most money got their names on the bus. Thank you, everyone who donated!

Here's one of my best friends -- Cara -- who with her husband and girls triumphantly completed the 1K Stroll with us!

She has always been Sophie's and my biggest supporter, and I adore her, too.

Thank you, Cara!

Here's the whole TEAM SOPHIE -- friends, relatives and Sophie's caregiver, my friend Carmen with her entire family!Thank you to each of you. 

I'm not sure how much you realize what it meant to us to have you there, walking alongside Henry, Oliver, Michael, Sophie and me.

I just loved these ladies and their hilarious tee-shirts. As you all know, it's incredibly difficult to

keep calm during a seizure, and those of us in the trenches, dealing with it daily just want epilepsy to END.

 See you next year! 

If you missed donating, you still can! Visit Team Sophie on the End Epilepsy Walk page here.

Bumper Sticker Thoughts

See you tomorrow at the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles' END EPILEPSY walk. We're meeting all members of Team Sophie at the giant brain by the Epilepsy Brain Bus.

Thank you for all your donations and your support. If you haven't had time to donate, that's all right because there's still time. Just click here and join us as we indefatigably work for relief from this devastating disease.

As for the MAKE DINNER NOT WAR bumper sticker, I had the pleasure of meeting Jenny Rosenstrach, the author of the wonderful cookbook Dinner: A Love Story and blog of the same name.  She was at Chevalier's, my favorite independent bookstore in Los Angeles, signing her books. We chatted for quite a bit, and I can honestly say that I feel like I've known her forever! If you don't know her blog or haven't gotten her book, I highly recommend its incredibly family-friendly recipes. Jenny and her husband write beautifully and with much banter and wit about their life with their children. I have used the recipes on her blog and in her book over and over and can attest for their ease and deliciousness!

Team Sophie the Mermaid and the Epilepsy Run/Walk

After a year-long sabbatical where I wanted nothing to do with epilepsy and raising money to end epilepsy, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps (Republicans, love me!) and signed up to be Team Captain for this year's End Epilepsy Walk/Run. I'm forming my team now -- and some of you have already gotten notified and have generously donated -- but I'll provide links to it at a later date.

Today, I want to highlight one of my dearest blogger friends, artist Kim from Art in Red Wagons and Words On Paper Scraps. Kim has graciously created a special section in her etsy shop called Team Sophie and is donating a portion of her proceeds to our cause!

If you haven't visited Kim before and want to see some extraordinary drawing, painting and crafting, as well as beautiful writing and over-the-top gorgeous photography of the Pacific Northwest, you need to hop on over there. If you're so inclined, purchase one of those darling shells with the mermaids, keep it in your purse or pocket and help Sophie and all those like her.

Here's the link to the shop:  Etsy Team Sophie
Here's the link to join our team and/or make a donation: