Using my shopping addiction for good

Well hello hello hello friends! Happy Tuesday :)

Soooooo I literally had a nightmare about going to the barre class this morning. I'm not lying. It wasn't specifically the clas that was nightmarish, it was getting there. I won't go into detail (and it's one of those dreams where you know it was not fun but can't really remember exactly what happened) but I took it as a sign I shouldn't go. I'm not supersticious or anything super crazy, but I woke up with a bad feeling about getting in my car at that time. Call me crazy. I'll do it soon.

I DID however go for a run again. My Nike app decided to start working which was nice. I did 1.38 miles in 19:33. My average pace was 14:10. Definitely not good but it's the 2nd time I've run in almost 2 months, and my pace was actually better than the last run I went on back in April (I was able to see it when the app started working). Not by much, but it's improvement. I'm going to try to run the next three mornings as well since I don't have to be at work until noon. Then I'll add a second loop around part of the neighborhood once my muscles start getting used to running again (they're hurting haha), and hopefully I'll be able to not come in last place o nthe 4th of July.

Speaking of, I just ordered a special Brady Band to wear for that 5k! I read SkinnyMeg's post about the story behind Brady Bands and was so touched. Go read it. Then I went to the site to find they're half the price of BicBands I've bought in the past, same concept, but the proceeds go to a cause much more near and dear to my heart. Which I'll get to in a minute. First, check out this headband I ordered:

And since they were only $6 SIX BUCKS A PIECE, I ordered one more...


Yes, it says camo diva.

So after shipping I spent $15. That's the same price as one Bic Band. Whether or not they're the same quality I guess I will find out soon.

So I've been thinking a lot about getting involved in volunteer work here in San Diego, since I was so involved in Memphis. I've said before how I was the VP-Community Service for my sorority, and part of my job was to organize the entire chapter's community service efforts, plan events with local Girl Scout troops, and plan an annual fundraising event to benefit Prevent Child Abuse America. I have a special place in my heart for PCAA because the PCATennessee Executive Director was just SO WONDERFUL when I worked with her. She was so gracious and thankful to me and my chapter for what we did (the year I was in charge was raised $7000 and collected lotssss of toys and other necessities and the next year I was an old senior but helped the new VPCS organize everything because we changed the event concept and we raised $11000), and I've kept in touch with her. I also had my internship in college at a non-profit organization in Memphis called the Exceptional Foundation, which was a day program for kids and adults with special needs. To top it all off, I also volunteered for a year at St. Jude. It. Was. Life. Changing.

My first semester at St. Jude I worked in the Grizzlies House. It was a newly-built hotel on the St. Jude campus specifically for patients in town for under 7 days, that didn't need to be kept in the hospital (St. Jude only has about 70 inpatient rooms because, well, what kid wants to spend the night in a hospital?). So now they have the Ronald McDonald house for long-term patients in town for treatment, and the Grizzlies House for ones who don't need to be there that long. Which was actually much easier on my psyche as a volunteer because most of the kids I encountered were in remission. Then my second semester I got moved to the inpatient facility. It was heartbreaking going from room to room, asking kids hooked up to IVs and exhausted from a round of treatments if they wanted to come out and play games. It made me realize how blessed I was to have my health, and I pray that I never have to go through what those families go through every day. So if I can buy a cute headband and donate money to funding children's cancer research, I'll be glad to do so.

I honestly really thought about going into non-profit work when I graduated, and one day maybe I will, but for now I'm just feeling a void of not doing anything for the community around me. So I've been looking into volunteering at Rady Children's Hospital here in San Diego. At St. Jude, obviously the kids I worked with had catostrophic diseases, where at Rady it's much more wide-ranging what the kids might be there for, so I'm not sure what I'd be in for but I think I'm going to do it.

Do any of you partake in community service in your adult lives? What do you do?

Alright, that's all I got for today.