WHAT A WEEK!

Good morning!

You guys are probably thinking I'm about to tell you about how many auctions we have this week, or how crazy our garage sale this past weekend was, or how good our last unit was-- and that's all true.  I do have several updates on all of those things  (we DO have about  26 auctions this week alone, we DID have some non-English speaking Asian man make me re-open our sale at 2pm just to give me 30 cents,  and after we posted the videos of our dig, it's TRUE that we found a knapsack full of jewelry... go figure!)....  but first, I need to tell you about the amazing week that Brian and I have been having personally.

First things first-- the thing you already sort of know about.  I'm going to be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, this Friday, September 30th!   Spa Fantasy Week. You definitely need to watch!  Here's Vanna telling you so herself:

This entire trip was amazing and was very integral to our Storage business as well---  while we were in Los Angeles, home of Storage Wars & Auction Hunters--  we were able to make some pretty cool trips and connections with the guys out there.    I was thrilled that Brian was able to come along for the ride, and he's one of the few people that knows exactly what I won or didn't win (we are not allowed to say or discuss until after the episode airs).     The Wheel of Fortune site now has pictures up from my week and it's starting to hit home that my episode will be happening in just FIVE days!   Here's a picture of what the set looked like:

And finally, here's a picture of what I wore that day, taken on that day, in front of the wall outside the Sony Pictures Studios Wheel of Fortune set.

Here's a closeup:

That's my friend Holly, who lives in LA.  I've known her since elementary school and we re-connected through Facebook.  Am so happy she was able to make the taping!

and finally, here's a picture of Brian and I immediately after my taping:

If you're local and want to come out to a viewing party, comment or send me an e-mail and I'll give you the location.

I'll have a blog that is posted later this week giving even more details about the experience.  It was amazing for sure.

NOW.  Onto Brian.  We were super excited making arrangements for Wheel and my party this week, and we were working hard at garage sales and selling things when we heard an advertisement on the radio for a raffle for Sean Payton's Foundation.  For those of you who don't know who Sean Payton is, shame on you-- he's the Superbowl Champion New Orleans Saints' Head Coach.   He's a great guy.   He rarely ever does signings and he's a very sought after autograph.  Plus, I've always wanted the chance to meet him.  So without even considering that they were raffling off prizes, we went down to Aucoin Hart (a local jewelry store) to buy two $20 tickets to get to meet the coach and get a free foam football with his signature on it.  Plus, it's for his Play It Forward foundation, a great cause!  Here's a picture of the advertisement/ticket for the raffle:

So, we each got a ticket, and marveled at the three prizes.   The signed helmet and ball were awesome, the guitar was pretty cool-- it was a special Superbowl 44 edition (the one we won) and they only made 44 of them.   The ring was magical-- I tried it on my finger (complete with saleslady and security guard present) and actually posted it as a mobile upload to Facebook, stating "look at my new $15,000 ring!"    We talked a little bit about which prize we wanted (Brian wanted the guitar, I wanted the ring, and after I pointed out it's value and one-of-a-kindness he decided he wanted the ring too), and we were on our way.

We returned to the store the day of the raffle/signing, and while waiting in line, I showed off my signed football to Brian, the other people in the line, and the news--- we were excited enough to be there, being on the local news with our signed items was a bonus!

When it was Brian's turn for his autograph, Sean Payton stopped cold and said "what is THIS???" to the 5+ year old newspaper that Brian had brought him.  It was a picture of Sean Payton before anyone really knew who Sean Payton was.  They chatted long enough for me to snap about 10-12 pictures just like this, and Brian as ecstatic that he had gotten to talk to the Coach.

After we got out of the madness (hundreds of people wrapped AROUND the building... couldn't even see how far back/around because we were number 18 and 19 in line)...  we hung around for a few minutes before getting into separate cars talking about how lucky we were to get there early enough to be in the front of the line,  how nice it was that he individually greeted everyone, the fact that Brian almost gave him the old newspaper picture because Payton liked it so much, the great pictures we got, friends we made, the interview for the local news, etc (I'm still trying to find that video-- if anyone has it, please let me know, it was on WVUE Fox 8, which ironically is the same network for Wheel).     It had been a great day and we are just both ecstatic!      We part ways and are going to meet up in a few minutes to go to a food truck festival.  I call Brian to tell him to drive carefully because I was woken up at 5am by a dream where I thought he was calling me to tell me he was in a car accident.  In my dream he frantically says, "Rebecca!  I can't go with you to the festival because..."   I never heard the rest.  I just assumed something bad happened and my dream-like mind I guess figured it was a car accident.     So I tell him on the phone to be careful, he says he will be, and that's that.  No less than twenty minutes later, I get a call "Rebecca!"  (I'm freaking.  He never uses my full name, and especially not on the phone, it's usually just "hey--- wake up"   or "hey-- you need to go to the post office"  or "hey--- let's go to auction" -- you get the idea.    So I'm freaking.  And then it happens.  "Rebecca!  I can't go with you to the festival... because I won the raffle.  I won the ring."

His name had been pulled out of the drum and called (winner need not be present to win... although we were actually contemplating going back there just to watch the raffle drawing)--  and apparently immediately some of our mutual friends who were there started texting him and calling him (shoutout to Christian and Jonathan) and he thought they were joking, but Aucoin Hart called him as well to confirm.

I go to him, we high-tail it back to Aucoin Hart, and it's true.  He won.  He takes a ton of pictures with everyone at the store and for their publicity people:

It is AMAZING.  A ring valued at $14,999 -- and it's beautiful.  And it's black and gold!  It's 18k gold, with 186 diamonds, black, white, and yellow.  Our Saints had an amazing weekend (we were lucky enough to be there to watch in the 3rd row, another lucky part of this week), and this is a perfect display of that!   Here's a close-up of the ring:

Since it doesn't fit almost anyone (it goes up to Brian's pinky knuckle only)  (even on me, it only fits on my pinky finger)...  Brian's wife Lily had to be our beautiful hand model:

As for what the future for the ring--  Brian's still unsure about whether he wants to re-size it and wear it himself,  sell it, put it in a display case in the store, etc...  he'll have plenty of time to make those decisions.   Not as much time as *I* have waiting for my Wheel of Fortune money (sigh), but I digress!  I'm not jealous that he won (no one else deserves it more), just in the quickness of his payout!  Meanwhile,  if anyone wants to make an offer on it, let us know!

So, that's our week.   Pretty amazing, right?   Can't wait to see what next week holds!