Last night we had a Big Trade Up team meeting at Hotel Minneapolis to celebrate our 8th trade with Nick Davis. Nick sells commercial insurance with the Hays Companies and while he is a huge fan of Minnesota Wild hockey and enjoys season tickets, he did not look the part of a true Wild fan…until last night that is.

Nick offered to give up a pair of his premium 6th row Minnesota Wild tickets and take a game off to support a great cause and gain the jersey. The tickets are for the Sunday, March 14th, 5:00 p.m. game against the St. Louis Blues and have a face value of $172 (section 102, row 6), so thanks Nick! We are really gaining momentum but we have a long way to go so please spread the word!

If you are interested in the tickets, please make an offer to mytrade@bigtradeup.com.

Thank you for all the thoughtful support!

It was hard to part with the brilliant painting, but we are pleased to announce it was traded to Tom Sampair for an authentic Mikko Koivu #9 Minnesota Wild jersey (XL). For our non-hockey fans, Mikko Koivu is the team Captain of the Minnesota Wild NHL hockey team and this jersey is the real deal.

Last year Tom won the jersey so it had been tucked away in his desk for several months, good as new but more importantly, up to no good. So when Tom and I were talking about our last trade, he had a chance to check out the painting and immediately thought his wife would love it. Being the good husband he is, he thought…. what do I have that I really don’t need — “how about this jersey?”

Now Tom not only has a happy wife but he freed up some space in his office drawer. Not to mention, he joined a great cause and helped move the Big Trade Up one step closer to the goal. So thanks to Tom for the trade and better yet, for just being a good guy. Make an offer for the jersey!

The 6th trade of the Big Trade Up is official and it was made with sisters Katie and Amie Kieffer who traded an original painting that was painted this week by Amie specifically to offer as a trade to support the Big Trade Up. Katie and Amie are business partners and the beautiful canvas painting of a soaring eagle reflects their strong passion for patriotism and conservative commentary on public policy. They also have a big heart for community service and thought this would be a fun way to show their support.

Most importantly though, they both love to golf! So their trade for the $50 gift certificate to Crystal Lake Golf Club came with perfect timing for them to jump in on the Big Trade Up.

A big thanks goes out to Katie and Amie for their thoughtful support of Mind The Future. They are really wonderful people. If you are into conservative politics, you definitely need to check out Katie’s widely popular blog: www.katiekieffer.com

If you have an item that you want to offer for the painting, please email us at mytrade@bigtradeup.com. Thanks!

The much anticipated trade #5 is final as the Café Latte cake came up for trade with perfect timing for Lonnie Provencher. Lonnie and his wife Katie had their baby Claire a little more than a month ago and they were about to buy a cake for her Baptism party when we posted the last trade.

Thinking about what he could trade for the cake, Lonnie remembered the $50 gift card to Crystal Lake Golf Club in Lakeville that had been sitting in his desk for over 2 years now. Lonnie officially gave up golf last year so it was a no brainer for him and another win for the Big Trade Up. We dusted off the card and confirmed that it is still good as cash towards greens fees or merchandise in the pro shop.

It was great getting together with Lonnie, Katie, Jonah and Claire for the trade and it’s nice knowing the cake will be enjoyed on her special day. If you are interested in making a trade, send your offer to mytrade@bigtradeup.com. Thanks!

A big thanks goes out to Darren Gray and KMOJ 89.9 FM “The People’s Station” for having us on the morning show today! Earlier this week I told Darren about the Big Trade Up in passing and he immediately asked if we would come on air. It was a cool experience to see live radio in action, man he is smooth… Darren plugged the Big Trade Up several times throughout the morning show and the interview gave tremendous exposure to the cause.

Audio file of the show – coming soon…

Thanks again to KMOJ and Darren Gray.

Thank you again for all the support. We are truly thankful and excited by all the interest in and support for Trade #4. We also now have 285 members in our Facebook group moving steadily toward our goal of 500 by February 25th.

This most recent trade comes from Bryce Quinn of Café Latte in Saint Paul, who offered us one of their famous cakes in exchange for the haircut from Level Salon in Minneapolis. Today we had lunch at Café Latte to think over our decision and how could we ever resist this cake! Bryce’s mother, Linda Quinn, created all the recipes in the restaurant and these cakes are something special.




Bryce made the trade because he was up for a haircut and also since he saw the Big Trade Up as a good way to contribute to the community while simultaneously announcing Latte’s new delivery service for their cakes and other great fresh items. Café Latte Delivery provides desserts, box lunches and cakes for weddings, corporate meetings and special events so if you or someone you know is engaged, be sure they ask about this expedient new service.

If all this talk of food sounded good to you just now, visit Café Latte at their website, www.cafelatte.com, or in person on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul. We better trade this cake soon before it’s gone!

Thanks again for all of the support. We had 8 items to consider for trade #3 so it was a tough decision. We decided to trade the 2 Wasabi Japanese bowls for a haircut from Matt with Level Salon on Washington Avenue in Minneapolis. Matt heard about the Big Trade Up and was excited to be involved and help the effort move one step closer to the goal.

So if you are in need of a haircut by a great stylist and have something you are willing to trade, please let us know!

On Tuesday, Chad had a bite to eat at Wasabi Fusion Restaurant off Washington Ave, downtown Minneapolis, their “JC Roll” is amazing. Anyway he was telling the bartender Eric about the Big Trade Up and how we had traded the #2 pencil to Vik for the Lund’s eco-friendly, reusable grocery bag. Eric thought the Big Trade Up was a great idea, and had lost his Lund’s bag recently, so he offered to trade two Japanese soup bowls with spoons for the grocery bag.

So if you have something you want to trade for the Japanese bowls, please let us know.

Thanks to Eric and Wasabi!

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