13.1 miles, 2 countries and 1 great cause!

A quick update to first thank so many of you for contributing to our charity run for Gilda's Club. This wonderful organization supports people and their families who are affected by cancer. They believe no one should have to fight cancer alone and I hear story after story on how much Gilda's Club was there for people when they were in for the fight of their lives.

By the way, even though the race is over, if you'd still like to donate, you can by going to www.firstgiving.com/janetandlinda

Now a brief update on the race. It was AWESOME. Jess and I ran the Detroit 1/2 marathon and the course went from Detroit into Canada and back into Detroit. Yep, we ran from one country to another and it was a really cool experience. The race began at 7:15am and we hit the ambassador bridge that takes you over to Canada at about 7:45am. As we ascended up the bridge and crossed over to Canada, the sun was peeking over the skyline of Detroit. The city looked breathtaking and it was an image I will not soon forget. And then after our stroll (6 miles) through Canada, we headed back to the US via the tunnel that goes under the Detroit river. Even though it was 40 degrees, the heat that you felt in the tunnel was intense. One of my favorite moments was seeing both country's flags at the center of the tunnel and high-fiving the US flag as I crossed back over to US soil. As soon as we reached the opening of the tunnel, we were greeted by thousands of Detroiters cheering us on. It may have been just a runner's high, but I felt very proud to be an American.

Both Jess and I finished 7 minutes better than our previous half marathon and we could not have been more happy with those results. The weather was perfect and the scenery magical and breathtaking.

After we celebrated with the best chewy granola bar I've ever had, we watched my buddy Joe absolutely destroy the full marathon at a blistering time of 3 hours and 11minutes. With that time, he qualified for the big daddy of them all: The Boston Marathon.

From there, it was back home to rest and recuperate before heading over to Gilda's Club to indulge in some fried chicken while sharing war stories from the day's events.

Thanks again to everyone for your love, support and generosity. Along with our friends Bill Crawford, Julie Pfitzenmaier, Joe Hart and Tim Edwards, we raised over $6,000 for Gilda's Club Metro Detroit. That goes a long way in making sure nobody has to face cancer alone.

big love,

Team Perlman

Gamblin' for a Great Cause!

So our Texas Hold 'em Tourney for Gilda's Club was very entertaining to say the least. We had a good crowd and it was something of a melting pot with friends coming to have a good time and poker players looking to prey on what they call "dead money." I've always laughed at the people who took poker so seriously. Those that believe skill somehow trumped luck. They must have been the same people who couldn't hack it in a skill game like darts, pool or golden tee and decided to try their LUCK in poker. I admit that poker involves some skill, but never does it take the place of good 'ol fashioned luck. And that, my friends, brings us to the inspirational story of a guy from Battle Creek who decided to play Texas Hold 'em for the first time and never looked back. Allow me to introduce you to my friend, the 2008 Gilda's Texas Hold 'em Champion, Bob Herrera.

Bob: I'm still overwhelmed. To all the haters, keep hatin'. And to all my fans, one love.

Corey: Thanks Bob

Let me fill the audience in on how this came to be...

Bob had never played the game before but did, to his credit, read up on the rules prior to coming. He was apprehensive about playing and actually asked me if he could just come and watch. I told him just to play and have fun and that he'd learn along the way. And that's exactly what he did. He kept playing...and kept learning...playing and learning. All the way to the final table. The so called hold 'em pros were getting frustrated at Bob's sporadic play and occasional question about the rules. One guy went as far as to say Bob was "hustling" and that his inexperience was just an act. That was the funniest thing I'd heard all night and actually made me double over in laughter multiple times throughout the night as I thought of Bob methodically planning his "act" weeks in advance for a $50 buy-in charity poker tournament where he only wins half the pot. Who needs sitcoms when you have real life.

What interrupted me from my laughter was when Bob finished that guy off by taking all of his chips with pocket 3's and a 3 on the river. I love this game.

After Bob finished him off, he continued his dominance and won the entire tournament. It was the greatest upset since Giants vs. Pats or project runway season 3 (that was for the ladies in the audience). I was very proud of my boy. He managed to win the tournament on his first ever go at Texas Hold'em.

Bob: I want to thank the little people who got me here. Danny Devito from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and that Dwarf from Willow.

Corey: Thanks again Bob.

Oh, by the way, we raised close to $1000 for Gilda's Club and spread the word about this wonderful organization.

All in a good night!

The Beatles, U2 and Pink Floyd - all under one roof to support Gilda's Club!

So our latest fundraising endeavor took us to Mount Clemens on a Sunday night for an event we called Tribute Fest. It brought together three tribute bands to play for one worthy cause. Now, it's Sunday night, it's in a town way outside of our hometown of Royal Oak and these were tribute bands. I have nothing against tribute bands, I just have never been that excited to hear them. But these bands were playing for free and that made me like them right off the bat.


And then the Beatles tribute band took the stage. They were the Back Beats and they had a dude who was the spitting image of Paul McCartney. And they rocked the house. I couldn't believe how good they were and how authentic they sounded. We were all absolutely blown away and the crowd loved them.









So then the U2tribute band (Zooropa) took the stage. Now, I'm a huge U2 fan and there is only one Bono. So, again, expectations were very mild. Friends, this guy came out and hit "Bloody Sunday" like nothing I've ever heard. The band supplied the power behind the Bono lookalike and I was just wishing more of my U2 friends could have heard these guys too.













Of course, during these two bands, we were also working the Gilda's booth and raffling off an electric guitar signed by the one and only Ted Nugent. Me, not the biggest Ted Nugent fan, but the crowd - HUGE Nugent fans. They were throwing money at us to win this guitar and the winner was this great dad and his son.










Finally, the Pink Floyd band (Echoes of Pink Floyd) came up and they were just as strange and weird as the originals. Although I had only a few drinks, I felt like i was hallucinating when i saw the organ player dancing with a stuffed human on stage. Nope, not hallucinating, just listening to a great Pink Floyd tribute.

So, all in all, it was an awesome event. We'd like to have it at the Royal Oak Music Theater next year and, I guarantee, we would sell the place out.

Thanks to all three bands for playing their hearts out for free. You rocked the house and helped raise a lot of money for Gilda's.

Till next time!


much love,

Jess and Corey

the old man turns 64 in NYC!

So the annual "boys" trip took us to the city that never sleeps, or in our case, the city where all you do is eat- yes, New York City! My father was celebrating his "64 and kickin' ass!" birthday and Jaime and I wanted to make it a memorable one. So our first stop was to devour a pie at his favorite food spot of all time. John's Pizza on Bleeker St. in the village - 'nuff said.













After two huge pies, here's what remained when the dust settled:

And this was just day 1!

The next day, dad and Jaime did some bargain shopping while I went over to Hoboken, NJ for my first meeting with Wiley Publishing. (For info on that news, post below).

When I returned, I had to jump in on the action and we all went home with some new digs. Interesting note: our taste in clothing has actually become more similar as we have gotten older. I think we all bought the same shirt at Jcrew. They should turn that into a commercial.

Anyway, on Friday night, we ate at a fantastic Mexican restaurant with my cousin PETE! and a few of his friends and then we gave dad our 2nd big gift which were fantastic house seats (thanks Christian!) to the Broadway show, South Pacific.

The next day, we took the subway to my father's old stomping grounds, the Bronx! to take in a Yankee game at old Yankee Stadium before it gets torn down. Great seats and a great game -my dad's yanks pulled it out in extra innings.

Here's a view from our seats:

Finally, we had a fantastic dinner at a delicious steakhouse called The Palm. Jaime invited out some great people and, of course, my 64 year-old dad fit right in with the thirty-somethings. He's a special guy - I feel really honored and blessed to have these types of experiences with him.

In true Corey and Jaime fashion, we wanted to absolutely humiliate my father with a rendition of happy birthday that would echo through the streets of Broadway. Luckily, Jaime's friend Bob had just the opera voice we needed to fill my dad's cheeks with a perfect shade of red. And as seen in the pic below, what followed the singing was the most gigantic pieces of cake i had ever seen. Simply put: New York does it big. Their cakes are no exception.

And that wraps up another Perlman boys adventure. Where to next? Only time will tell. But one thing is for sure, I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Till next time,

corey

Some Exciting News!

Most of you know this by now, but I have inked a deal with John Wiley and Sons Publishing Company to publish my book, eBoot Camp! This has been a wild experience and I'm sure it will only get crazier as we lead up to launch time. The book is due out in stores in January, 2009.

I'd like to give a shout out to Raina, Ellie, Jess, Clint, Tara and Jenny - and our dynamic leader, Dale Brill. Together we built a successful workshop that helped thousands of dealership personnel learn how to use the Internet to sell more cars.

I believed this content could work with all small business owners throughout the world. And hopefully, with the valuable eBoot Camp content bottled in a book, it will.

I'll keep you posted and watch out for the eBoot Camp in a Barnes and Noble near you!

all the best,

corey
member, Team Perlman

Oops, I miss spoke

In my post entitled Rich Dad meets Carnegie in the land of the Phoenix Sun, I made a statement that Sharon Lechter was combining the courage and confidence course from Dale Carnegie with the financial literacy material from Rich Dad Poor Dad. I goofed on my wording of that sentence. She was very clear during our meeting that the material Sharon intends to use with the Dale Carnegie couse will be original material and was not part of the Rich Dad materials. I just wanted to clear up any confusion. Thanks!

Corey

Has it been one year already?

Man, how time flies...

Jess and I celebrated our one year anniversary on memorial day weekend. Technically, it was the following Tuesday, but who wants to celebrate an anniversary on a Tuesday? We went back to the scene of the crime - the crime being the restaurant I took Jess to after I proposed and surprised her with friends and family from all over the country. We had another phenomenal meal and enjoyed opening our messages that people wrote at our wedding (see pics below).

We then exchanged gifts and I was the beneficiary of two Buffett tickets -- so she earned huge points for that. I did most of my shopping at Anthropologie, where a man can walk in blindfolded, pick out anything and it will be a winner. Having said that, I spent way too long in that store.

Anyway, we spent the day at the Detroit Zoo and the highlight was being able to spend a few minutes in the habitat of some furry little creatures (see pic).

The grand finale was on Tuesday when I came home to see my beautiful wife watching tv on the couch in her wedding dress. It fit beautifully!

All in all it was a wonderful time. We received lots of phone calls and good wishes and were so thankful to have spent our wedding with so many of you.

much love to you all!

Corey and Jess


(hanging out with the gorillas)



















Check out the prarie dogs...

(corey checking out the prarie dogs view)

(at dinner opening our wedding wishes 1 year later)

exchanging gifts, another infamous shadow box for 2007)

enjoying my wedding dress and the anniversary gifts from our family and friends)

(you thought he was kidding but I enjoyed an episode of the Bachelorette in my wedding dress and loved it!)