back in action

Thank you for bearing with my social media hiatus as I caught up on sleep, allowed the whirlwind of the last 90 days sink in, had a few, much-needed celebratory moments and attended to a long list of post-project admin details the past few days. I'm still in awe that so many people rallied on behalf of The Global Citizen Project to make it a success with just 7 hours to go). Wow. The funding state of affairs was a little touch and go one week out, but so many people pledged, increased their pledges and put out APB's on behalf of the project. Thank you so much. Your love and enthusiasm is beyond inspiring. It's been a little strange not fundraising 24/7 or being such a round-the-clock slave to social media, but I'll be back in action this week as the real adventure begins. Stay tuned and hang on tight - the journey you helped make possible is just beginning.

Maybe you've been grateful for a social media time out (I know my tweets were getting awfully repetitive there at the end), but I know I've missed you. Here’s what I’ve been up to the past few days:

My inbox was slammed with more than 500 emails upon the successful funding of The Global Citizen Project last Monday afternoon, so I've been slowing working my way through these thoughtful messages and notes of congratulations.

I’ve been a busy bee packing up and mailing backer rewards – more than 100 in total. The BF has been been extremely helpful, wielding a box cutter, packing tape, and whipping up custom-sized shipping boxes for everything from body butter to water bottles. Everything, but coffee and postcards will go out today (a lot has already been shipped). I should have coffee ready to mail by tomorrow, and I want to wait a few days until I'm in a calm, happy place to pen the postcards from Seattle.

On Friday, I swung by Foodista, the cooking encyclopedia everyone can edit, to pick up a One Laptop per Child (OLPC) donation from CEO Barnaby Dorfman. Barnaby volunteered translating at a medical clinic in El Fuerte, Mexico a couple of years ago, where they treated 300-500 people per day. He just set down the OLPC XOs with no instruction and the kids figured 'em out -- I'm excited to do the same with whichever project this OLPC will land. Here are some pictures from Barnaby's trip. Thank you Barnaby for the OLPC XO donation and to everyone at Foodista for being such rockstar cheerleaders.

I enrolled to take a First Aid & CPR Class with the American Red Cross in Seattle. It's probably time. I haven't sucked face with a blow-up doll in the name of safety since high school.

I’m trying to finalize the exact 12 project itinerary ASAP and still need to connect with two one-month sponsors to determine those projects. Otherwise, I have a pretty solid plan and am waiting on final confirmations from the slated projects before moving forward. Excel is my friend.

Tomorrow, I will make an appointment with my travel doctor for in a few weeks (once I have my project itinerary nailed down). I'm slightly scared of what Dr. Dell's reaction will be when I run The Global Citizen Project by her -- she thinks my travels are pretty wacky already and I always leave with a sore arm, balloon animals (I'm an injection wimp) and piles of informational material and health warnings.

Also, now that life has far fewer distractions, I'll get back on Rosetta Stone this week for a Spanish refresher.

Last, but not least, the last round of backer thanks go out to:

• April and Con Williamson
• Bill Dillard
• Cindy Duffer
• Jerome Hodos
• Kathleen Sweeney
• Leah Reimer
• Lindsey Wildman
• Lisa Rogak
• Lola Akinmade (Lola’s pledge put TGCP over the $20,000/funded mark!)
• Marcia Rowland
• Mckenzie Brown
• Sydney Smith Gordon

Big huge thanks and high fives to all 223 people who helped fund The Global Citizen Project. This has been one big collaborative effort and if the success of TGCP doesn't renew your faith in people, I'm really not sure what will. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm so looking forward to getting down to TGCP business this week. XO