Look Good, Feel Better

While Breast Cancer Awareness Month may be over (where did October go this year? And half of November, for that matter?!), I always love hearing about organizations that support breast cancer research initiatives, patients and survivors all the year round. Breast cancer is something that has hit my family all too often, and I hope with everything that I have that over the next number of years, a cure can be found.

Look Good, Feel Better is one of those organizations. When I heard about them, I wanted to share the word with each of you!

Ladies, I don't know about you, but on days when I am feeling down and out, doing my make-up and hair can make me feel like a whole new person. It's hard to imagine having to battle not feeling well AND not being able to easily "fix yourself up" with a quick coat of mascara. For women battling cancer, that is the reality, though. Look Good Feel Better is an organization that helps them feel like themselves again.

Here's a little bit about what they are all about: 

For the past two decades, the Personal Care Products Foundation, supported by the cosmetics industry, the American Cancer Society and the Professional Beauty Association, has worked to give confidence to people undergoing cancer treatment through the Look Good Feel Better program.  

Founded more than 23 years ago, the Look Good Feel Better program has helped more than 1.2 million people across the U.S. and in 24 countries around the world regain confidence during cancer treatment by helping them to cope with the appearance side effects of cancer treatment. Workshops are FREE, available in all 50 states, and staffed by local expert volunteers that offer lessons in how to apply cosmetics and hair accessories that help address the changes in skin and hair loss that often accompany cancer treatment, as well as tips on wardrobe/styling to help mask weight changes, surgical alterations, and other changes.  

Look Good Feel Better is dedicated to changing the way people with cancer approach their disease, reminding them that they are beautiful inside AND out. The program helps women regain confidence some normalcy in a life that is by no means normal.

If you are like me, you are sitting here smiling, just thinking about how awesome this organization is! A woman who is battling cancer deserves to feel pretty just like anyone else. This group helps makes that happen.

If you'd like to help the Look Good Feel Better cause, definitely head over and check out their website. However, Elizabeth Arden is also on board to donate on your behalf with just a quick click over on Pinterest! For each repin of an image from Elizabeth Arden’s “Pin It to Give It” Pinterest board, they will donate an eyeliner to the Personal Care Products Council Foundation for use in the kits used in the Look Good Feel Better group workshops. 

Love it! Head on over to their Pinterest board to get pinning. And please, help us spread the word about this awesome organization by sending out a quick tweet or Facebook post!

Look Good Feel Better is dedicated to improving the self-esteem and quality of life of people undergoing treatment for cancer. It is our aim to improve their self-image and appearance through complimentary group, individual, and self-help beauty sessions that create a sense of support, confidence, courage, and community. 

More information on Look Good Feel Better, including a program finder, virtual workshops
and web‐based tips, expert posts on the LGFB Blog and a donation mechanism can be found
at www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org. Find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lookgoodfeelbetter or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LGFB.

#spon: I'm required to disclose a relationship between my site and LGFB. This could include the LGFB providing me w/content, product, access or other forms of payment.

Run ... In Your Undergarments?

This may be the season of making too many plans, but I think there are some plans that you just can't turn down scheduling in. Things with your besties? Check. Work party with your boss and boss's boss? Double check. Fun times with your fam? You know it.

Even better than all of those? Scheduling in an event that isn't happening right away. Because you all know how lame January and February can seem after this whirlwind of a holiday month. Why not pre-plan some fun to happen just when you are feeling the winter blahs?

Enter the Cupid's Undie Run. First of all, I don't think there is a more entertaining name for an event out there. Except maybe an event called "Vodka and Sex and the City." That's a whole different type of event though...

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Cupid's Undie Run is just what it sounds like. People doing a 1+ mile run. In their underwear. The best part though? It's for charity. From their site ...

"It's quite simple, actually. There are children out there suffering from a debilitating genetic disease called neurofibromatosis (NF). NF causes tumor to grow all over the nervous system and can cause blindness, deafness, learning disabilities and severe chronic pain. If these children can be so brave as to deal with the cards they have been dealt, then the least we can do is face our own fears in a manner that raises funds to help find them a cure. 

We're running for the Children's Tumor Foundation (CTF), the world's largest non-government organization dedicated to ending NF through research. Currently, there is no cure for NF and there are frighteningly few treatment options, but with the $75,000 Cupid's Undie Run has raised for CTF to date we are getting close."

I love it. Facing your own fears (um, being ridiculously under-dressed) to help those that are facing REAL fears like these kids are. How amazing. 100% of the funds raised go straight to CTF.

Still have questions? Their FAQ has some helpful tips like these ...

Is Cupid's Undie Run a race? 
The Cupid’s Undie Run is a fun run, not a race. We encourage everyone to run together as a big group (umm, body warmth, duh). If you are competitive at heart, we suggest you put some of that competitiveness to see if you have what it takes to become a top fundraiser!

You really want me to dress up in my undies? 
You know it! We're baring it all to raise awareness for a good cause. We're being brave and facing adversity, just like the children who suffer daily from neurofibromatosis. If you don't want to show too much skin, you are welcome to wear your undies over top of tights and we encourage creativity! 

And my personal favorite, haha...

Is there a restriction on what I can wear? 
Remember, this is a charity event for the kids so no nudity, no thongs and no pasties, please.

Ready to get involved, either in your skivvies or at a donor level? Here are the details. 

Race Day: February 11, 2011 at 2PM
Register: http://hope.cupidsundierun.com/
Earn points- and money-based prizes: http://cupidsundierun.com/atl/race.php
Donate: http://hope.cupidsundierun.com/cur/participants.asp

Thanks, Hannah, for sending this one along! Good luck to everyone who joins in the race!

Shoes for the Cure

Every year around the holidays, our office has a drive for an area cause. Past drives have benefited local shelters and groups looking for toys, clothes and canned goods. I am especially excited this year, because we are coming together to raise items for a new cause -- Shoes for the Cure.

So what is Shoes for the Cure? They are a professional recycling program specializing in collecting new and used footwear. They host shoe drives, placing recycling bins like the one to the right at any location at no cost. All shoes collected are used either as gifts to the less fortunate, or as raw material to be used as surface material for tracks, tennis courts, playgrounds etc.

I even love their tag line: “Have a soul, give a sole, save a soul.” How fantastic!

The best part, though, is that it isn't just our office participating in the name of this great cause. The entire Peachtree Center complex, all seven towers of us in Downtown Atlanta, is helping out!

So while you are busy wrapping gifts and visiting with family over the next week or two, take a look around your closets and your garages, and see if you have a few extra pairs laying around. Let me know if you'd like to donate them to the Peachtree Center shoe drive, and I'd be happy to pick them up from you if you are nearby. Our drive goes through Dec. 15, but of course I know Shoes for the Cure would love to set up a similar bin at a church or school near you, too.