Coming [back] Soon!

#GetYourPurpleOn

Greetings, Purple Peeps! 

No, I am not addressing you as if you were an easter marshmallow snack, but as a participant of this month's celebration! All of us TnT-ers and LLS supporters celebrate big time during September, since this is the Blood Cancers Awareness Month.

Now, how exactly do we celebrate this? Easy: Purple Day! 

Move over, Barney! It's LLS Time!

The traditional celebration out here is on the last Friday of September, and what we do is spread the awareness by wearing purple. Our awesome team got to spread the purpleness in various participating companies and schools, so don't be surprised if you see this shirt around.

On my neck of the woods, I celebrated Purple Day with my students. They were challenged to bring the most awesome and creative purple accessories to school, and the girls did not disappoint!

On my part, I got to wear my purple glitter nail polish, my epic Miami Marathon Tutu, along with my New Orleans/ Mardi Gras plumes, and my lucky jersey. Needless to say I caught the eye of several parents and coworkers!

This girl is stronger than oak!

The highlights of this event started with the announcement of the event last week. I got to have a little #TBT moment by playing "Eye of the Tiger" and use my special "PA Voice" to pump up the girls for the event. I had the support of some seriously amazing students who helped plan this event, and it was a success. Another highlight was being able to acknowledge one of our students who is a blood cancer survivor, and whose mom is a Team in Training alumna.

For the grand finale, at the end of the school day, the girls were not only congratulated for their participation and the purpose and results of their participation for the LLS, but we had two big winners:

1) The Most Spirited Class Award: 9th Grade
2) The Purple Award (for the most spirited student): An 11th grader.

Purple Day 2014 

Cancer-beating... Like. A. BOSS. 

This means that they not only get points for their volunteer work commitment, but they also get cupcakes. (Purple ones, if you're wondering)

Also, joining our Purple Day celebration: The woman who inspired it all! Check out Joelle's Purple Day selfie, rocking her LLS-TNT jersey.

(Needless to point out how GREAT she looks, and how much she'll be celebrating her first cancer-beating birthday pretty soon!!!!)

So Congrats + THANK YOU to all the participants -both in school and around the US/PR, 

and have a Happy Purple Day!!! 

Much love,
B

On your marks...

"Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the Winter Season Extravaganza!" [announcer voice] 

Hello, everyone... We are BACK!

I am so excited that the new season has begun. Our Kickoff event was a total hit, and now we've made it back to the tracks. There are new faces in the team, including an amazing young Blue Lady (it's our high school title) who is joining us this season after kicking some blood cancer's butt. She'd be the third girl from my high school to beat cancer, (the other two cancer warriors are from my class) and she happens to be my HS chemistry teacher's kid. How incredible, huh?! She's our honorary patient for this season, and she'll be doing the Disney Marathon come January 2015.

If you have an extra minute, go cheer her on her Fan Page! 

Our theme this season is Super Heroes, and we've worked our hearts out to make everything amazing. We're inspired by the true super heroes in our community, and the realization that we are joining other teams across the nation to reach one goal is mind-blowing. There is one thing for sure: When people get together and work with love, they are unstoppable.

On the Super Heroes side, we have Mrs. #JoelleStrong doing pretty awesome, growing some fire-hot red hair (with curls!), doing Relay for Life Survivor Laps, and showing the world that she can pretty much handle anything like a boss. She's now doing the Light The Night Walk event, so make sure to send her some support! Her baby (who is growing up too fast!) keeps being the most adorable kid in California, and the video clips of her singing and wearing mommy's lipstick will be famous one day.

On the other hand, #TeamRhaiza has been doing well! Although sometimes the battle seems long, we must remember the tortoise's style: slowly but steady. With all the love she gets from her beautiful boys, she'll be over and done with her treatment in no time! (Make sure to keep sending her your prayers)

As for me, The Little Purple Shop has been my project this year. I'll be working to raise funds for my TnT campaign, and to raise awareness about the importance of early detection of any cancer (we sell goodies, but donations are welcome!), as well as giving customers something to toast about!

A big GO TEAM goes out to all of you, and until next time!

Cheers!
-B