Don’t Drink and Bid
Steph and I (and this is mainly me) learned that drinking and bidding are not a good match. Unless of course you are the event sponsor - then you definitely want your bidders drunk.
Steph and I attended a fundraiser dinner with our friends on Saturday night at the Bell Conference Center on the waterfront in Seattle. The dinner and auction was put on by the Northwest Epilepsy Foundation. Steph and I weren’t driving so we got busy drinking from the moment we got there.
We spent about 30 minutes scoping out the items in the silent auction bidding on only a few them. I ended up winning a hammock (actually, Sasha was going to win this but I stole the final bid from him - then I gave to him as an early birthday gift). We also won a tour of the KING 5 news studio and a one night stay at the Eagles Crest Inn in Redmond, OR. During the live auction (I think - I was starting to get pretty drunk) we won a ride along with the Seattle Harbor Patrol (very cool - probably my favorite pickup).
This was all small potatoes compared to the final item we won in the live auction. One particular item included a one night’s stay at the Sheraton in Seattle, dinner for 4 at the Dahlia Lounge, and a show at the Paramount Theater. The package was valued at $750 so I figure I was safe with my $650 bid - safe meaning that I probably wouldn’t win but I was doing my job to drive the cost up. Well, we won. 
Overall we had a wonderful evening…plus all of the money is for a great cause. Now to schedule that harbor patrol ride along!
Ironically, we spent a lot more Saturday morning - we bought a new kitchen. Yep, we slapped down a deposit on our new kitchen which will include new cabinets (white beadboard, look here for sample), quartz countertops, slate laminate flooring, and new appliances (stainless steel) to be picked out. We signed up for this kitchen with Kitchen Plus. They were by far the best that we spoke with - they have been very helpful pointing out ideas and things to watch out for. We spent 2 hours at their showroom picking things out. Anyway, we are excited. I spent Friday working out the details on a cash-out refi so we actually have money for this (and some other household projects). The kitchen is slated to be done in July. Stay tuned.