Ben & Jerry's invites the Lunatic to #ScoopMoovement

Let me just start off by saying I am still pinching myself over this one. I received an email in early June with this in the subject line:

Ben & Jerry's Invites you to Scoop Moovement at NXNE"

I honestly thought it was a joke. One of my fellow bloggers pulling my leg. A family member being funny. An old boyfriend pulling a fast one as some kind of revenge or something. So first I passed out, then I returned the email. I am so glad I did. Let me just say when Ben & Jerry's invites you somewhere you go. Well, except I didn't. I could not make the NXNE, we had previous commitments. I was so bummed. I contacted the media rep from OgilvyOne. She was nice enough to call me so we could discuss things. Her name is Sheryl and she is just the nicest lady you could be lucky enough to meet. We talked about options and she told me they would also be at Bayfest the following month, which is in Sarnia. That's where my hubs is working. We agreed it was a better fit and made plans to connect beforehand. During the next month Sheryl kept in touch and impressed me so much. This was no joke, I was going to Bayfest to meet up with Ben & Jerry's to tour their truck. I'm not going to lie, this was the highlight of my summer. You know Lunie loves some ice cream. So this event was the perfect fit for me.

We made our plans and headed on the road last Thursday. Sarnia is about 2 hours from us. So it was a road trip for me and mini-me. We enjoy road trips and always have fun travelling together. We were super excited to meet the B & J crew, and they were kind enough to give us passes to see all the shows at Bayfest. So this would be our first concert together. Excitement on so many levels. As many of you know my brother was visiting last week so we had to ditch him for a day. He was kind enough to understand. I adore my brother, he's super supportive of my dreams and he knew how exciting this was for me. So he was beyond understanding we'd be gone all day. So thank you to my older brother, dude you rock!

When we arrived we met two reps at the gate. Heather and Laura, and let me just say they were so sweet and welcoming. We could not have asked for better tour guides for the day. When we got to the truck I was blown away by how cool it was. This truck rocked my socks. Then the B & J crew rocked them even more. The whole gang piled out of the truck to say hi and take photos. I think they must be the happiest employees on the face of the planet. Every single one of them was friendly and took the time to meet us. We took a gazillion photos, and had some fun with them. Such a great group that works there.

Then came the moment I'd been waiting for. "Would you like to tour the inside of the scoop truck?" Um, yes please. I would not only like to, but I would LOVE to. We got to a first hand look at what goes on behind the scenes. It's impressive to say the least. It's a well oiled machine back there. A place for everything and everything in its place. We got to read the trivia signs they have inside and see where they keep all the goodies. They taught us how to scoop like pros. It's all in the shoulders people. One long motion. I tend to be a rocker myself so it was cool to learn a new technique. I was stoked to see they use the same ice cream scoop as I do. I'm slightly bummed I didn't think to ask if I could keep my apron cuz its wicked cool. The whole experience was wicked cool. I had a blast, mini-me had a blast and the Ben & Jerry's crew was a riot to get to know.

I went for the Chocolate Fudge Brownie, it's my personal fave! Then I tried out the Chunky Monkey as I've never had it. It was incredible, so full of flavour. I'll be buying that one soon. Mini-me had the cookie dough. She loved it. I would have tried them all but I was trying to make a good impression. Can't be shovelling ice cream by the bucketful when you're trying to look professional. So we made sure to stop back later on after the concert to grab more. That way we didn't look like complete piggies. It was hard but I behaved myself. Well, for the most part.

So I bet you are dying to see some photos right? Right? Okay folks here you are. Enjoy. Remember this is the old camera. Shnazzy new cameras are not allowed at concerts that follow Ben & Jerry's tours. Trust me, the folks behind us at the concert got nailed for it. I was a good girl and brought one that did not have removable lenses as per the Bayfest website recommendations. See, I was totally well-behaved.

See how much fun we had. This was such an amazing adventure. I loved every minute of it. Thank you so much to Sheryl for contacting me. It's been a pleasure working with you. Also a huge thanks to Heather and Laura for making us feel so welcome, as well as the rest of the crew. You made this a very special evening for me and my daughter. That means the world to me.

Make sure you stop by the Ben & Jerry's Canada facebook page. Stop in and tell them a Lunatic sent you. They will be doing two other events. One is Big Valley Jamboree: August 2 - 5 and the other is Crankworx Whistler: August 16 - 19. If you're in either area you should stop by and join the fun. You can also follow them on Twitter and follow #scoopMOOvement there.

Ben & Jerry's graciously provided us tickets to the concerts so make sure you check back on Thursday to see the photos of that. I want to share them separately. For me ice cream trumps music so I wanted to keep this post all about my one true love. Ben & Jerry's I totally love you and you rocked my world. Thank you!

Toodles and smoochies! xx