Saturday, November 3, 2012

The Heart Walk and a Huge Thank You!



Two weeks ago, I participated in the Seattle Heart Walk, benefiting the American Heart Association. And thanks to donations and purchases made through the Help a Heart event in addition to my personal donation, we managed to raise a whopping $1,103! Can you believe it? To everyone who participated in any way, whether it was spreading the word, making a purchase/donation, or leaving your lovely notes of encouragement, I want to say thank you so, so much. I definitely would not have surpassed my goal of raising at least $1K this year without you. =)

Before I write more about the Heart Walk, I want to give some specific thanks! Everyone here put time and/or money into Help a Heart and many of the generous ladies listed have blogs (all of which I follow) or super cute shops, so be sure to check them out! THANK YOU to...

The lovely hostesses of the promotional giveaways!
 *Aizzing of Icing and Write
 *Cara of Marvelous Flight of Cara
 *Sammy of The Cookie Button
 *Jessa of Caked Vintage
 *Kate of Scathingly Brilliant
 *Mandy of Miss Indie
Congrats to the lucky winners!

These beautiful bloggers who posted about Help a Heart!
 *Dorien of Bodacious Thought
 *Julie Ann of Julie Ann Art
 *Kaelah of Little Chief Honeybee
 *Susie of Even Sweeter Dreams

All of the generous people who donated and/or purchased pieces from my shops!
 *Pearl and Kelvin my always-supportive parents
 *Peggy, Patty, ValerieRosa, and Mona, my generous aunts/relatives
 *Teresa, one of my best friends, who is always incredibly generous with charities!
 *Lisa L, Sharilyn C, and Cathy G, my coworkers
 *Ashley, owner of Raen Clowds, an adorable crochet accessories shop!
 *Gemma F
 *Laura M, blogger at Tutus and Tiny Hats, an inspiring and sequin-filled blog that I am now following!
 *Karen T
 *Junko, my awesome friend who just passed the NY bar exam (go Junko!!!!)
 *Fiona M
 *Courtney M
 *Lauren W, blogger at Old Red Boots, a fun and colorful blog that I am now following!
 *Davina C
 *Lindsie, Jacob's fun and generous friend
 *Ivy F
 *Melissa O

... and to everyone who shared the event via e-mail, social media, etc!

Please let me know if I missed you (maybe you blogged about it and I was unaware) or if you're on the list but have a link to share (shop, blog, etc.) - I'd love to go check it out!

Now on to the actual Heart Walk. =)

This was my third year participating and it was as busy as ever. My pictures of the crowds didn't really turn out, but you can see a small piece of it here. It starts at the Seattle Center, which is the area surrounding the Space Needle. We arrived at 8:10am on Saturday morning and I actually stopped by the Space Needle first to pick up my medal and goodie bag. I had no idea when I set my goal, but apparently if you raise over $1,000 you're considered a "top walker" and get a bag of treats from the sponsors. You also get invited to breakfast at the Space Needle, which would have been cool... but I had breakfast with my friends after the walk instead!
Booths line the perimeter of the lawn area. The booths belong to the Heart Walk sponsors (including my previous and current employers) and many of them offer healthy freebies and/or helpful information.


Caught up with some friends / former coworkers! Some people brought their dogs along for the walk!

Me, Erin, Olivia, Jas (canine)

 Jared, me

 I used to be a part of this picture each year! But since I joined my current employer's team this year, I took a picture of the team photo instead of being in it. I was in mine, of course... but couldn't really take a picture of myself. =D

Then we went to check out the booths before the walk started. I don't like bananas, free or otherwise, but other people snatched them up!

A few booths had silly heart-themed games.

Stopped by to take a picture at my employer's booth.

They had a band play... yup, that's Seahawks gear they're wearing. I'm sure they're related somehow... maybe the team's band? (I know nothing about football.)

And then the walk began a little after 9am! It was a three mile walk - pretty chilly and windy out, but it wasn't raining. That's always a good thing in my mind. Firefighters created an archway for us to walk through.

I stopped to take pictures of cool things along the walk route.


And that was it! Shortly after the walk ended, one of the current team co-captains for my department at work informed us that she was stepping down next year and asked if anyone wanted to take her place. We do events at work to raise money that gets donated to the general fund for our department's team. For example, we had a soup and salad (and dessert) luncheon - various people made and donated dishes (I made a vegetarian vegetable & orzo soup) and then everyone paid $7 to participate. I love that my work encourages charitable events - I also donate to United Way of King County (a local charity) through a payroll deduction each paycheck set up through the company, which makes it really easy and hassle-free!

Anyway, I digress. So... I signed up to be co-captain for next year. It will take some effort but I think it's worthwhile. I actually thought of Help a Heart fairly last minute this year and it ended up being incredibly stressful - I wouldn't change a thing except that I would start earlier! I loved the result, but it did contribute to my recent burnout. So next year I'll start way earlier and hopefully make this event even more epic and appealing to everyone!

Thanks again to my lovely readers and participants!

18 comments:

  1. That's awesome that you raised so much money! Congratulations! :)

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    1. Thanks, Laura!

      AH I'm an idiot and I was in the middle of linking your blog when I wrote this post but got distracted reading it instead... haha. Sorry! Added your blog link just now! =)

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    2. Haha, that's ok! I'm easily distractable myself, so I totally understand. Thanks for going back to add my blog link! :)

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  2. Wow congrats Kels! Proud of you :D
    You deserve a rest, with a nice book and a cupcake! ;)

    xxx

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Susie!! I might go read now! =)

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  3. Anonymous11/03/2012

    This is awesome! Congratulations lovely one xox

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sammy, and thank you so much for hosting a giveaway!!

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  4. Wish I could've been there! Looks like fun but super cold! What a great way to give back though.

    xo Ashley
    luckylittlebird.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Yep, it was pretty chilly but lots of fun!

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  5. You are a superwoman and everyone involved are just as notable! It's absolutely amazing what you were able to do and just being a part of something so life changing for others. Definitely an inspiration!!

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  6. This is so great! I'm so happy you were able to raise so much money! You did a great thing :)

    Also, I wore your cat necklace on the blog today. I seem to be putting it on every morning. I love it!

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  7. this is so sooo amazing! great to see so many people involved! also, you're so adorable, i love your hair so much!

    hope you're doing well, dear.
    xox, amber

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  8. Congratulations, that's so awesome! Loving your hair right now, we're almost twinsies ;)

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  9. congratulations, kelsea! it's so great to be a part of such a special cause. your awesomely big heart never fails to inspire me. i hope there are more people like you. :)

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  10. This is all such great news! I am so happy for you. Please in the future feel free to contact me for collaborations with things like this. I would totally let you do a guest post on my blog. I am so glad you raised so much money. There is nothing more rewarding in life then fighting for things you believe in. :)

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  11. Anonymous11/11/2012

    Hello sweet, it's me again! I just wanted to let you know that I have changed to Passionfruit for my sponsor spots and I would love to have you on board again! Check out my blog for more details :) xox

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  12. Don't know if you're in this kind of stuff, but i nominated you for a Liebster Award here: http://poutingpenguin.blogspot.be/2012/11/the-lovely-beth-nominated-me-for.html

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