#BeThereOrBeSquare #ThingsThatMatter #StrongMojoForever
Calling all MAU Women’s Alumni! We are just one month away from our Annual BLR Play It Forward event. Time to register is now!
Click here and get your name in the mix of hometown fun & doing good. We want YOU!
A perfect time of year to be inspired by the Women’s World Cup:
BLR PLay It Forward 2015
July 11th
2pm
Willow Park Fields
Bennington, VT
Be there!
Remember. Celebrate. Live.
#BLRPlayItForward #PlayForwardGiveBack #StrongMojo
Well happy Monday to me to wake up to an email from my 6th grade (and might I add, favorite) teacher of all time, Mr. B this morning:
Diane,
Here is a picture from the front page of today’s Banner. I thought you’d like to see. Nice t-shirt, eh? Good choice for the scholarship. Hope you are well.
And then there was a link to this:
Yay! How proud are we of our July 2013 Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Travel Scholarship Winner, Mercedes Chen?!
We thought she was deserving of our scholarship dollars in 2013, and to find this surprise today in May of 2015? That. Is. Awesome. I love that someone we chose for a winner, who embodies the spirit & zest for life our friends had, continues to do good for the community we grew up in.
High-fives & BLR love to you, Mercedes! Glad you are wearing the BLR colors with pride. Keep doing what you’re doing!
#GreenUp #HometownPride #NeverForgetWhereYouCameFrom
The schedule for our 4th Annual Play It Forward Event has been set! See full details here.
If for some crazy reason you are on the fence about whether or not you will be participating, maybe I’ll inspire you by sharing a photo from each of our first 3 events…
2012:
2013:
2014:
Get on the bus, Gus! We’re doing good things, having fun and we want YOU! Won’t you join us?
Today is the day. What are you waiting for?
#PlayForwardGiveBack #RememberCelebrateLive #LoveHome
We are going to this event tonight; Art, entertainment, and fabulous people- all to benefit Planned Parenthood:
Whoop! Fashion creations made out of condoms by local artists? Awesome.
I’m a huge Planned Parenthood fan.
Years ago, I remember reading a gigantic binder full of thank you letters sent in by girls of all ages when I was in a Planned Parenthood office in Virginia, waiting to have my annual exam. (God those exams are about as fun as never eating chocolate again.) Some of the letters made me smile, some made me cry, mostly they made me thankful that there was a safe place to help girls who had nowhere else to go. When you’re a young woman sitting in a quiet waiting room reading words written by a 15 year old who lived in an abusive home and was always told she’d “get the shit beaten out of her” if she ever came home pregnant, but was fortunate enough to have a place to get birth control pills, or from a 23 year old who was scared out of her mind not knowing how to tell her boyfriend she was pregnant, but was fortunate enough to have somewhere that offered counseling to coach her to have that conversation with a positive result- it makes you stop and think about your own life; That could be me, any of us- and what would I have done if I was in those shoes and had no where to turn?
Thank you, Planned Parenthood.
I believe that every one, every day has a chance and a choice to change their life. I will always be in major support of any organization that offers chances and choices for those who might not have them otherwise. Hat’s off to Planned Parenthood for all their years of education and advocacy to protect and advance women’s health and rights.
If you are in Charlotte, NC tonight- come join us for a fun night with an awesome mission!
How do you support the organizations you believe in?
#SupportYourCommunity #Choices #CLTEvents
I love when friends send me articles like this. (Reference post title the author’s #4.)
Of course the travel & adventure part of this womans’ story are inspiring and invigorating in that I-wanna-go-out-and-do-those-things-right-now, but the best part of this is lesson is that she took action when she had an aha moment. She started really living, and didn’t just crawl under her bed.
We all know life is short, but it seems like we just don’t live like it is. I vote for more of us to wake up with that carpe diem- life is short-let’s do it now attitude, rather than not. Whaddya say?
After wrapping a 3rd Annual BLR Play It Forward Event, I’m more than ever convinced that spending time with people I love like these:
…and doing work that means everything to me:
…(just to share a very few)- is what’s most important. The rest of life- can always be figured out. Read this article, pass it on, then ask yourself; If you could spend time with who you wanted, and do work that really meant something to you- what would you be doing?
Find your Blue Lollipop Road. Today is the day. What are you waiting for?
#Inspiration #BLR #TodayIsTheDay
*Above photos taken in Vermont during my stay for BLR Play It Forward, 2014
Friday kicks off BLR Play It Forward 2014! Another radio interview on WBTN 1370AM Radio at 5:30PM tomorrow (Tuesday 7/12/14) listen on AM radio or online to learn more about the weekend so you can join in the fun! Schedule of Events:
How do you play Forward and give back?
#BLR #Community #PlayForwardGiveBack
Whoop!
It’s been busy behind the scenes of BLR with BLR Play It Forward 2014 planning. We are less than 1 month away now from our 3rd Annual Event in Southern Vermont.
Mark your calendars and join us for Friday & Saturday festivities July 18th & 19th. All are welcome.
Also:
I’ve had several requests to purchase 2014 BLR Play It Forward jerseys:
1.) Yes! I can ship anywhere in the USA, or you can pick up day of Alumni Game (7/19) at Howard Park.
2.) $20 donation gets any size kid or adult shirt. All donations go to the BLR Memorial Travel Scholarship Fund.
3.) Get order in by July 1. Donate online with PayPal.
…and note what size you’d like- or send a check to the Blue Lollipop Road office:
305 W Morehead St.
Charlotte, NC 28202
Any questions? Email me:
Diane(@)bluelollipoproad.com
How do you play it forward?
#BLR #PLayItForward #PlayForwardGiveBack
I do.
Then again- I also believe and agree with the following:
“Good things happen to those who hustle.”
~Anais Nin
Sometimes I feel like I am barking up a bare tree, knocking on empty doors, and shouting from the wrong rooftops with all this…I want Blue Lollipop Road to provide travel scholarships to young people in financial need so they have a chance to see outside their small world into a bigger one for educational, self-empowerment purposes, stuff. I push and push and push, and occasionally I manage to squeeze one drop of blood out of a stone that should be drowning in the red stuff.
I’m frustrated.
Over the years, I’ve felt disappointed and pissed off at people, the world- everything. Then I think of these two girls who’ve been gone nearly 20 years now, that inspire me to be thankful for every day I have, and that trip to Germany I scraped babysitting money together for, in 1994. I think of how that summer rocked my world, changed my life forever, and how I promised to never forget it. I look at this I’ve had branded on my left wrist- that I put there for many reasons, but mostly as an additional reminder of what kind of life I want to live, and legacy I want to leave:
…and all of these above things keep me hustling through these times that feel like there’s nothing but a brick wall in front of me, and that no one out there really gives a shit.
I need help to make The Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship grow. I need help getting people to listen.
Even with my tried and true efforts, I somehow have not hit my stride/done whatever I need to do to be magical/what’s best and smartest to get this all to go boom, but I sure want to and I’m not afraid to work even harder than I already have. I hate asking for help more than anything, but I’m tired of trekking this train alone, scraping by with pennies in the BLR bank account, and being in debt personally, piecing together random work- so I don’t have to take a 9 to 5 gig that on one hand could provide me with steady income, but on the other, suck me dry of energy, hours, and momentum required to make this as big and as awesome as I know it can be.
Maybe “reality” really does, bite- but at almost 36 years old, I’m still hoping not.
The mission of Blue Lollipop Road is to encourage a commitment to an active lifestyle and to support travel for education and self-empowerment. I’m on a mission, people! Can anybody out there help me…please?
#WorkThatMatters #Travel #CryForHelp
As I keep playing with food to make many of my BLR’s for my 365 project, let’s go all the way foodie-foodfest and help me in supporting my very good friend, and former soccer teammate- Chef Ryan Hutmacher for ABC’s The Chew! Yippee! Ryan is part of The search for the weightwatchers chef!
Here we are a few weeks ago when I was in Chicago:
Ryan was busy and hard at work, so our lunch catch up was where else? His studio; Centered Chef.
To say that Ryan has been a good friend and support to me, and all things Blue Lollipop Road over the past few years, is an understatement. He is that positive, but no bs cheerleader. The do the right thing when nobody is watching, honest to goodness, passionate, loyal, smart, driven, talented, sweet, and funny guy we all should be lucky enough to have in our lives to keep us inspired. I have seen few people work harder and be more dedicated than Ryan. Blood, sweat, tears, and more, this guy is the perfect example of stand-up, never stop following your dreams, and do work that matters. I hope anyone reading this will join me and click on this link here and “like” on the Facebook/ABC Chew page to help support Ryan in this competition.
Good luck Ryan! Thank you for your continued support with all my big Blue Lollipop Road goals. You will continue to inspire health, wellness, and that anything really is possible- in all of us.
Here’s to going for it!
#WorkThatMatters #CenteredChef #LiveWell