The 2009 Photos are IN!

We have just finished uploading the 2009 Mardi-Bras photos, courtesy of the amazing Carlos Avalos!

We're thrilled with the pics, hope you enjoy them as much as we did, if you have any you want to share, give us a shout and we'll put them up.

Check 'em out on the MB photo page!

The big number!

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Thanks to your generous support, Mardi-Bras 2009 is pleased to announce the big number!


TA-DAAAAA!

That's right! $2,334.04 raised to benefit Princess Margaret Hospital through the Toronto Weekend To End Breast Cancer!

Keep your eyes on the blog and the site for photo updates, in the meantime, here's the first Mardi-Bras video on YouTube, our own Brynhildr of Boobies, The amazing Patte Rosebank!

Road closures!

According to the Toronto Star, there are several road closures this weekend in Toronto, including Lakeshore Blvd. near the Gladstone, so please don't get caught in traffic and miss the show.

See you tonight!

The "better way" to fight cancer

Wow, just one more sleep!

If you are taking the TTC to the Gladstone, the 29 Dufferin bus - which runs quite frequently - goes right by the venue, taking you to and from the Bloor-Danforth subway line at Dufferin Station. If you are travelling from the east or the west and taking the TTC, the 501 Queen streetcar runs all the way from Neville Park Loop in the east to Long Branch Loop in the west. Double check the TTC website for details. The Gladstone is at the corner of Gladstone Avenue and Queen Street, just east of Dufferin Street.

See you there!

Dressed up like a million-dollar trooper! Super-duper!

The five reasons we're asking people to dress up for Mardi-Bras this Friday:

1. You'll never know who you might lock eyes with that evening and you'll want to look your best.

2. Dressing up lends an air of sophistication to any gathering.

3. Yes, you're fighting breast cancer while attending Mardi-Bras, which will make you feel good on the inside, but dressing up in your Sunday best will help you feel good about your outside too.

4. Fighting breast cancer is serious business.

5. Dressing up is fun -- did you see our Mardi-Bras queen from last year? Hubba-hubba!

Despite the incontestable logic of the above, if you feel you can better fight cancer in your jeans, shorts, bathing suit, Batman costume, whatever, we will certainly not turn you away at the door.

If you have any questions about our event, please go to our FAQ section on the Mardi-Bras website.

A mover and a shaker!

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, we have a fabulous halftime show lined up for Mardi-Bras this coming Friday with belly dancer Kristina Shea, who performs under the name Kaharamana.

However, if entertaining our guests at the halftime show weren't enough, she has also kindly stepped forward to be one our models for the fashion show!

Kaharamana - which is Arabic for blue diamond and pronounced as Sahara - has been a belly dance performer for the past 10 years. She has performed all over, from the Middle East to Las Vegas. She is presently a certified dance instructor in Burlington, Ontario, teaching dance and belly fitness at Cedar Springs Health Club. Kaharamana performs for corporate events, grand openings and ladies' nights, and teaches group and private classes. Her Student Troupe Habibi also performs at various events in the GTA and always is looking for new dancers!

Kaharamana has been so kind, so enthusiastic, so giving with her time and her talents for our event that we had to do another post about her as she's such a wonderful person!

Thanks Kristina Shea!

Say cheese!

This will be a night to remember! As such, we wouldn't want you to forget the second Mardi-Bras show and have enlisted the services of photographer Carlos Avalos to capture the fun this Friday.

Carlos Avalos is a Toronto-based photographer servicing the corporate, private and public sectors. In business for over a decade, Carlos has built a reputation for delivering exceptionally high quality images to his diverse range of clients. His work has been published in various magazines, both here in Canada and in the United States. For a more complete look at his image stock, please visit carlosavalos.com.

Thanks Carlos for working while the rest of us will be having the night of our lives this Friday!

An endless source of inspiration and positive energy

We at Mardi-Bras would like to send out a special thank you to Katrina Carrier.


Katrina was an artist and model for last year's event. Her bra was a lovely chain mail creation, composed of thousands of tiny silver handmade links! Even though she is swamped with work, Katrina has found time in her full schedule to once again contribute another wonderful bra to our fashion show this year.

Katrina is an endless source of inspiration and positive energy, she's super enthusiastic and really generous with her time and talents.

We're delighted to have Katrina Carrier back and just want to say "Thanks!"

Looking good, feeling great, fighting cancer!

We're delighted to unveil the latest donations to Mardi-Bras silent auction.

First on the block is a delightful pink ribbon handbag. This stylish denim tote is lined with a pink ribbon pattern and finished with a pink support ribbon. This lovely creation will look good anywhere!

Next is a wonderful pink bow clutch, handmade and also accented with a pink bow. The perfect accessory for a evening on the town.

Both of these bags are from Cherrylicious Designs. Lisa Farinaccio of Cherrylicious Designs is also the person who kindly set up our Facebook event page for us! What a lovely person!

Our other donation is from Odd Bird Designs, who also kindly donated to our event last year. They have given us several charming domino designs that are sure to become one of your favourite jewellery pieces.

Fighting cancer has never made you look so good and feel so great!

Thanks so much to both Odd Bird Designs and to Cherrylicious Designs!

Celebrating 5 Years Free!

Five years is a big milestone for cancer survivors.

When you hit five years, your risk of recurrence is significantly reduced, and many five-year survivors will also see ten years disease free! Doctors schedule appointments further apart, you're back to a more regular exam schedule and your insurance companies start to lighten up. Life becomes a series of "nexts" as opposed to "ifs".

It's a place of relief and a time for celebration!

Anne Campbell, a good friend of Mardi-Bras has just celebrated her fifth year treatment free!!! Congratulations Anne!

Anne is one of life's exceptional people whose good cheer and humour no doubt steered her into such a wonderful recovery. The sentiment on her anniversary party invitations gave me such a warm fuzzy I had to share it:

A hair prosthetic named Osmond: $800.00
Shawls, wraps and raglan sleeved tops: $75.00
Pink socks and T shirts: $50.00
Registration fee to walk for the cure: $40.00
Friends who helped me through the journey and continue to help me celebrate: Priceless

Congratulations to Anne and all of the 2009 Five-Year Survivors!

Kropserkel - correcting the course of our entire social structure on the planet Earth.

New this year we have the talent and enthusiasm of Kropserkel contributing a bra to the show.

Without giving away the surprise, this one is very topical to some big news at Kropserkel. They've acquired the rights to the very classic Metropolis Robot! (SWEET!)

A Canadian-based creative studio serving the entertainment industry and private clients with physical artifacts, Kropserkel is a creative workshop that designs and fabricates props, costumes, and other curiosities. Their licensed Metropolis Robot, the 'Maschinenmensch' will be completed later this year.

Their rather impressive credits list includes fan favourites like Battlestar Galactica and Resident Evil: Apocalypse!







Thank you so much Kropserkel!

Two more wonderful silent auction donations!

Mardi-Bras has two more wonderful silent auction announcements to make.

Adrian Kuzyk, a wood craftsman, has kindly donated this lovely salad bowl. It's made from maple wood, is hand turned and has a walnut oil finish. The bi-coloured bowl will be perfect for those salad days!

Next, J. Paul Ionine is a ceramic and lithographic artist, who created this lovely white porcelain bustier. It has mother of pearl finished panels and is accented with pink ribbon, and has been plaque mounted and dated.

Plus, ten percent of the final bid for this wonderful one-of-a-kind piece will be matched and donated to the Grimsby Rotary Foundation for World Health Issues!

Thank you to both Adrian Kuzyk and J. Paul Ionine!

That's Incredible!

The Mardi-Bras silent auction has another incredible donation: A signed NFL football from Fran Tarkenton, who is a former professional football player and television personality.

This generous and one-of-a-kind item was kindly donated by Wolf and Monika von Brisinski, who are business partners of Fran Tarkenton.

Fran Tarkenton was a quarterback, who played with the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants. For those non-sports types, you probably know Tarkenton's name from being a co-host of That's Incredible and a commentator on Monday Night Football.

This pigskin is sure to be one that football fans and television fans will want to get their hands on!

Thank you very much to Wolf and Monika von Brisinski!

Parking for Mardi Bras

Follow the link for Green "P" parking info!!!!

Link to parking

Udon Entertainment

For the second year, Mardi-Bras sends a big thank-you to Jim Zubkavich and the many talented people of Udon Entertainment!

They have, very generously, donated a whole pile of great Udon prizes to our raffle and silent auction! Art Books, Comics, some of their new Manga for Kids, and a 3 pack of Resident Evil for Playstation games!

Thank you so much Jim Zubkavich and Udon Entertainment!

Grand Prize Raffle; Oh what a night!

Get your hands on two of the hottest tickets in town! 

Enter the Mardi-Bras Grand Prize Raffle for your chance to win two tickets to see Dancap Productions' Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons! But, if this weren't enough of a reason to open up the piggy bank to get your hands on the winning ticket, we will also include a gift card to Milestones for dinner!

Dinner and a show, what a combo!

The amazing people at Dancap have arranged it so the lucky winner gets to pick the date of the show, which is currently playing at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, until the end of September. A Milestones is close by the theatre and both are within walking distance of the TTC subway line.

Thank you so much to Dancap Productions!