Less than TWO weeks away!

As many of you may know, I am candidate for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's 2011 Woman of the Year.  It is a 10-week fundraising campaign that allows members of the Minneapolis/St. Paul community to get involved with the organization while competing to see who can raise the most money for LLS.  I use the word competing extremely loosely because one thing I’ve learned since I signed on in January is that there are no losers in this competition.  I’ve already made incredible friends and connections and the official kick-off is still almost two weeks away.


But since the kick-off is right around the corner, I thought now would be a good time to update you on ways to get involved with my campaign.  Donations can be made to my website directly -- I will provide the link when the website becomes live -- or you can attend one of the very cool events I'm currently planning (with the help of the wonderful Reina Leigh and some of my wonderful friends and family).


Here is a list of events currently on the books.


Saturday, April 9th 8pm to 10pm
Come cheer on the Minnesota Twins at Bootlegger's in downtown Minneapolis as they host the Oakland A's down the street -- because let's be honest, you didn't get tickets during the Website Debacle of 2011.  KFAN AM 1130's Meatsauce agreed to host the event with me as long as I promised he could talk to babes IN REAL LIFE that night AND Bootlegger's has given us an awesome deal for the night -- $5 to get in on the beer bash with refills costing only $2.  


Tuesday, April 19th Time: TBD
Bring me out to Bayside! The Twins are out east taking on the Orioles and we'll be watching the game at the wonderful Bayside Grill on Lake Minnetonka.  Kitty, the manager out there, has set up some great drink specials for us and in true baseball fashion, we'll be having a gourmet hot dog bar to munch on!  Drawings, silent auction and live auction items being added daily!


Saturday, May 7th 4pm to 7pm
I will be hosting my first-ever Kentucky Derby Party at Stella's Fish Cafe in downtown Minneapolis.  Tickets and details are still being worked out but I suggest that everyone should start looking for a big hat now -- some of my friends already have theirs.  The afternoon will be centered around good food, good drinks and good friends with a viewing of the race and a live auction to top off the night!


Friday, May 13th 7pm
Join me at Park Tavern for a night of bowling and beer!


Saturday, June 10th 8pm to 10pm
One last night at Bootlegger's before the campaign comes to an end on June 17th!


More events are being worked on and will be added as soon as they are in the books.


If you or someone you know has auction or drawing items you'd like to donate, please contact me at Lindsay.Guentzel@gmail.com.  I've been overwhelmed by the support I've received so far and I can't wait to see what we can gain from here on out!

P.S. This is Ella, our 2011 Girl of the Year.  She is one of the reasons I'm so excited to be working with LLS -- not only to we both love basketball and dancing, she's a big Justin Bieber fan just like me.  Her family has welcomed me with open arms and I can't wait to start raising money for LLS in their honor.

A Quick Update on Life

It's been decided.  I'm awful at keeping up with this thing.

Not to lay out a list of excuses but March has been simply crazy for me.  I spent five days in Indianapolis covering the Big Ten basketball tournament, then drove 12 hours back to Minneapolis and hopped on a plane for Ft. Myers where I spent six days watching the Twins at spring training.  During that time, I celebrated my 25th birthday, mourned the loss of an old friend, interviewed for a new position and tried to smile at the little things whenever I could.  Yes, March has been busy and while some days haven't been easy, I'm so thankful for everything I have -- and get to experience -- in life.

Right now, I'm in Atlanta visiting old friends before heading over to Turner Field to cover the Twins vs. Braves exhibition games on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I've already fallen completely in love with this city, both because of the wonderful things I've seen and experienced but mostly because of the people I've been blessed to spend time with.

I'm so lucky to be able to do what I love and I honestly wouldn't be in the position I am in without the love and support from all of you.  Whether it's encouraging text messages, emails or Twitter posts, the support I've been given has meant so much to me and I am truly, truly blessed.

Stay tuned for a complete website overhaul in the very near future -- I will definitely want to know what everyone thinks as soon as I get it up and running.

Golden Gopher Spirit Squad at the 2011 Big Ten Tournament

My dad and me at Hammond Stadium for Mets vs. Twins.

Some of the minor league pitchers going through warm-ups at Hammond.

Sunset over Marcos Island.

My best friend (and partner-in-crime) and me after arriving in Atlanta.

Updates from Indianapolis

Day Three of the Big Ten Tournament is in the books and let me tell you -- If you like college basketball and you've never been to a tourney, you need to go.


Today I was lucky enough to see Talor Battle stomp all over Michigan State.  While the Penn State senior may have only gone 3 for 18 against Wisconsin, he did post 25 points to help send his team to Sunday's Championship Game.  The senior has never been to the NCAA Tourney and his chances have greatly improved after this weekend.  Excited to see what the Nittany Lions will do tomorrow against the Buckeyes.


I've been updating KFAN AM 1130 throughout the weekend so check out the site and stay up-to-date on everything Gopher -- and Big Ten -- related.


Here's a photo I grabbed of Minnesota sophomore Rodney Williams, who opened up the Gophers-Wildcats rubber match with a crazy dunk.  Unfortunately for the Gophers, it was probably the only highlight from the sloppy loss.