Help Haiti!

I’m going to assume that if you’re connected to the internet and reading this post, that you have probably already learned about the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that took place in Haiti yesterday. Sadly, it is suspected that nearly 100,000 perished in the quake while the prime minister mentioned that the death toll may be even higher. The country is in desperate need of hospitals, medicine and doctors to assist with the crisis at present.

Read the whole story here.

With all of this happening to our fellow human beings in Haiti, this is, indeed, a time to step up and help people in need. Courtesy of MSNBC, here is a list of charitable organizations that are active in the nation that you can help:

Action Against Hunger, 877-777-1420
American Red Cross, 800-733-2767
Beyond Borders, 866-424-8403
Direct Relief International, 805-964-4767
Doctors Without Borders, 888-392-0392
Haiti Children, 877-424-8454
Haiti Marycare, 203-675-4770
Haitian Health Foundation, 860-886-4357
Hope for Haiti, 239-434-7183
International Relief Teams, 619-284-7979
Mercy Corps, 888-256-1900
Oxfam, 800-776-9326
Rural Haiti Project, 347-405-5552
World Concern, 800-755-5022
Yele Haiti, 212-352-0552

Also, click here for some information from CNN on how you can Impact Your World.

Let’s make a difference!

Lots of love and prayers going out to the families that have been affected by this tragedy,

Say Thank You to the Troops!

Though it may be considered sacrilegious for me to support Xerox in any way after my long-time affiliation with Konica Minolta, I have to show them some love today! They are doing something really amazing for the holidays and for our troops abroad. The Let’s Say Thanks campaign allows you to send a thank you postcard to a soldier that’s currently abroad. You can pick the design (there are a number of them designed by children all over the US) and pick or write a message to go with it! It takes less than 2 minutes and I’m sure it would mean a lot to the soldiers who are separated from their families during the holidays.

Regardless of your political views, take a minute out of your day and show some love to the people who fight for our freedom every day!

Design a card here!

Lots of love and gratitude,

No Hunger Initiative.

 

On June 19th, the FAO published a report noting that there are more hungry people than ever in the world: over 1 billion. Acute malnutrition affects around 55 million children worldwide and leads to five million childhood deaths each year. The saddest part is that it’s preventable; we can do something to help.

Join Action Against Hunger’s international initiative, No Hunger, and let’s encourage Al Gore to make his next film about global hunger, a crisis that is killing one child every six seconds. This website features a trailer for No Hunger and a petition to the former VP. In the same way that An InconvenientTruth helped generate educated discussion and reshaped perceptions of climate change, No Hunger could help attract  the public support needed to help reach malnourished children.

The No Hunger initiative, which began in Madrid, has already collected more than 64,000 signatures and will be presented to Al Gore in December at the climate change conference in Copenhagen.

Sign the petition!

Unlike cures for many diseases, treatment for sever acute malnutrition isn’t expensive. It costs roughly $50 and prescription drugs aren’t required; instead, it relies on nutrient-dense, ready-to-use food products such as plumpy’nut, that can take a child from the brink of death and restore him or her to health in as little as six weeks.

Check out a video report on plump’nut by Anderson Cooper here.

It only takes a few seconds and it may be able to make a huge difference on the way people view hunger. Let’s help!

Also, I was actually going to post a picture of what a truly malnourished child looks like, but the images were so disturbing that I couldn’t bring myself to actually put them up. Take a moment and see what malnourished children look like; it’s heart-wrenching. 

My Fried Face & The NKF Kidney Walk

Those two things don’t necessarily go together, but I feel like I have to address both topics! First, it has been exactly three days since my glycolic peel and my face still feels awful! I have talked to a number of professionals and the awful feeling is natural apparently, but my face feels horribly sunburned, like I sat in the Mexican sun all day without my handy sunscreen. When I smile, I can feel that tightness in my face (characteristic of a sunburn) and my face is still a bit pinkish (although it is fading — thank God!) To top it off, it feels incredibly scaly to the touch, like at any moment it will all peel off and my new face will be hiding underneath. Due to the superficiality of the peel, however, I don’t think that my face will peel off… I think that it’s just going to slowly flake and the best I can do is moisturize and slather myself in SPF to reduce any chance of ruining my once-nice skin. WHY DID I DO THIS?!! I’m hoping that I’ll be confident about my decision in a couple of days, but as of right now, I am so regretting ever having done this! I have covered my face in petroleum jelly (just as disgusting as it sounds) since that’s the only thing that soothes the chapped feeling (although someone recommended Crisco? Seriously.) Now, although this is semi-sucky, I must tell you guys about a few products that I found that I think will be life savers for me in the coming days/weeks/months:

Bare Minerals New SPF!

Okay, I am already obsessed with this stuff and I’ve only used it once! My normal Bare Minerals foundation carries an SPF 15, while the concealer has an SPF 20. After the peel, however, I am being particularly careful with my skin (don’t want to risk hyper pigmentation!) and wanted something a little stronger. That’s where this stuff comes in — Bare Minerals SFP 30 Natural Sunscreen ($20) in a POWDER FORM! Brilliance, I tell you. For anyone wondering how to get their sunscreen on without having to use greasy liquid, this is IT! Plus (I know, it gets even better) it comes in three different shades, tinted for your skin: fair, medium or deep. Lovely, lovely!

Cetaphil SPF 15

Alright, not quite as obsessed with this, but happy with it. Cetaphil, notoriously famous for their amazing products for sensitive skin, has this daily moisturizer  ($11) that has an SPF 15 in it! Gotta love it; plus it won’t irritate your skin <3.

I’ll keep you posted on my skin — word of advice — really make sure you discuss with your esthetician the effects of a peel and your skin type before going through with it!

Now, onto the Kidney Walk! As many of you already know, we participated in the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Walk in El Dorado Hills! My grandma went through a complimentary kidney health screening and we all enjoyed coffee & breakfast courtesy of Safeway and the NKF! We ended up with a walking team of only 3 (down from 8!) plus my grandma for support, but we did raise $475 for the NKF in memory of my grandpa. Here are a few pics from Paul’s Partners:

Nana, Dad & I with our NKF Banner!

Walkers Unite!

Nana, Chris & I <3.

Hope everyone had an awesome weekend!

Recap of the Week

Man, this week flew by! The fact that it’s Friday already completely blows my mind. This could be due to the fact that I have come to realize that tomorrow is the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Walk, which means I have a banner to finish and a few shirts to make before then. For anyone that doesn’t already know, I am captaining a team for our local Kidney Walk and we’ll be walking in memory of my grandfather who recently passed (on March 5) from renal disease. I began supporting the NKF shortly after and started a team called Paul’s Partners. The fact that three months have passed since then flabbergasts me. Where does the time go?! Sometimes I find that I have to look back at all of the things that I have completed this week to actually feel like my week has been productive, regardless of the fact that it feels like our days are shrinking down to 12 or so hours.

In relation to my impending London excursion, I managed a few loan-related tid bits. Got my Student Aid Report and Master Promissory Notes into the LSE for review last week; they should be done this week and I should have some serious funding in my account in the next couple of weeks to pay for tuition and housing — before the exchange rate goes up any more, hopefully! Additionally, I have been researching UK banks that are international student-friendly and thus far have been focused on NatWest, Barclay’s, Lloyds and HSBC. Unfortunately, despite all of the research, I am unable to come to a decision as of yet. If anyone has any knowledge on this subject, input is more than appreciated! For some ungodly reason, obtaining loans, student visas and opening a bank account are completely ridiculous hardships; you’d think they’d want my money.

Also, on a personal level, I just discovered my first glycolic peel at Mellow Me Out Day Spa with Amber. I didn’t really know what to anticipate going in, but for the minute or so that the glycolic acid was on my face, I’m not quite sure if it warranted the $25 extra… still deciding if I’ll do another one. I’ll probably know better in a couple of days when it’s not so fresh (just got it done last night!) Also, I took TWO pairs of shoes in to get repaired since the rubber heel stoppers have fallen off all four shoes. It’s always a travesty when this happens to my favorite shoes and this actually happened to two of my favorite pairs within a few weeks of each other. As you can imagine, I was less than enthused. In any case, this great little shop in Arden Park repairs them in no time and they’re brand new again for about $10 a pair. Not bad. Better than buying a new pair, I say.

As if all of that weren’t enough, I managed to get in three pretty long sweat sessions at the gym in the past four days and have been preparing and planning my sister’s upcoming birthday bash (which she has no idea about, as of yet!) When her birthday rolls around (20th of June), I’ll make sure to keep you all posted on my amazing surprise (you’ll be jealous that you don’t have an anal party planning sister like me <3.) Also, as I’m sure you guys all noticed, I added a brand new feature to my site — The Scholar’s Shoppe, which has a great selection of items that go to benefit various charities and organizations.

Seriously — if you guys haven’t done so already, you should make a list of everything you’ve done during the week. It definitely makes you feel better about the fact that time flies; at least you’re accomplishing things on your to-do list!

Happy Friday!

Loving the earrings? Check em out at The Scholar’s Shoppe. They benefit the Asia Society.

Shop Shamelessly!

Hello Kiddos!

You may or may not have noticed a new tab on my website. If you didn’t, I can’t hold it against you. It’s brand, spanking new and it’s calling your name! {Please see “The Scholar’s Shoppe“ located above!} After a fair bit of research and checking out the American Institute of Philanthropy’s site, I found a number of websites with super cool (and cute!) products that would make anyone happy! Better yet, these purchases make more than one person happy — when you purchase any of the items listed, a percentage of the proceeds from the item(s) goes back to the given organization to help fund their charitable endeavors. I tried to compile a veritable slew of organizations and items to please a broad range of people with a broad range of tastes. There are shirts, scarves, bags, necklaces… even scented colored pencils! While assembling the list of charities and organizations, I tried to find the cutest products (that I personally love!) that contributed the largest portion of proceeds back to the organization. Many of the products give 50-65% back and some give even more!

Please take a moment to peruse The Scholar’s Shoppe when you have some free time and take a gander at some glorious gifts that give back. If you know of an organization with super fun items that isn’t currently listed, let me know! I’m more than happy to add them to the list if their organization and their products are legit. 

Much love & happy shopping,

charity : water

I have heard of charity : water before, but I had not really taken the time to peruse their website to find out more about the non-profit and their goals. After poking around their site, I couldn’t not write about them! The charity is really an inspiration and a wake-up call to those of us who take water for granted.

A billion people — that’s one in six of the world’s human beings — don’t have access to the water that their body needs. For many of these people, the only source of water that they know is polluted to the point that would repulse our nation’s homeless population. It’s truly hard for us to imagine a world without such a basic necessity — we can drink clean water from a tap, take a shower, brush our teeth, flush a toilet and wash our clothing and dishes in a machine without giving it a second thought. For many men, women and children in developing nations, however, that is not the case. Some have to walk miles and wait hours to find the water necessary to live. 

What’s really amazing:
$20 will give a person water for 20 years.

Absorb the enormity of that. $20 that we spend on a dinner or another useless techy gadget can give a fellow human being water for the next twenty years of their life. Check out pictures and follow the lives of some of these individuals, or, if possible, help out by donating and giving charity : water the ability to build wells for people in need.

For my fellow fashionistas, check this out:

Monique Pean has created these designs for charity : water and they’re absolutely gorgeous! They’re not cheap, the necklaces range from $340 for the “water” necklace to $750ish for the water droplet, but 50% of the profits go directly to the organization to help people in need!

Hope you guys are as inspired as I am!

Lots of love,

Birthday + Wine Tasting = Fun Friday!

So, as if kindness and hard work have finally borne their fruits, I am the recipient of two tickets to the Taste of Fair Oaks Party; a food, wine and microbrew tasting event at Northridge Country Club. After assisting the director with a few things, she was kind enough to comp two tickets to the event!

For anyone that hasn’t heard of this oh-so-exciting event, the Taste of Fair Oaks hosts a number restaurants, wineries and regional micro breweries, giving guests a chance to taste and sample the exhibitors’ food and beverages.  In addition to the sampling of wine, beer, food and desserts, there’s live music, an art show, golf putting contest ($5,000 grand prize), gift raffle and silent auction. Best of all, the ‘Taste’ is the Chamber’s largest fund raising event of the year. The proceeds from the event help the Fair Oaks Chamber support the community of Fair Oaks by offering free events throughout the year. In addition, a portion of the proceeds will benefit VIVA, Volunteers in Victim Assistance, a full service center for victims of violent crime/trauma. 

For anyone interested in joining the fun:

The 16th Annual Food, Wine and Microbrew tasting event will be held on

Friday, June 5, 2009
6P – 10P
at Northridge Country Club
7600 Madison Avenue

Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door!
Get em quick <3.

Disappointment on the Funding Front…

Alright, so let me preface this with the fact that I’m still overjoyed that I was accepted to the LSE. It’s an amazing institution — I’m totally 100% aware of that. Now let me say how disappointed I am to find out that I didn’t get any grant-type funding from the school. I had planned on taking out loans to fund my education, but after finding out that they have a certain amount of money to allocate to students through their Graduate Support Scheme (GSS), I was really, truly hopeful! They state that they grant between 2000 – 10,000 GBP for students with financial need & circumstances that merit grant money. Well, let me say — I definitely could use the funds based on the “financial need” criteria, but I think I may have applied a bit late. The funds are limited and with the economy being as crappy as it is, I know that everyone and their mom is applying for funding. Boo. I re-sent some valuable information with the hopes that I’ll be able to acquire SOME funding (anything!!), but I won’t know for a bit… Cross your fingers for me! $40,000 is a decent chunk to have to pay back in loans…

Anyone know of any scholarships or funding that I can apply for?

Shannon needs MONEY! <3.

Wanna Do Something Smart?

In about five minutes flat I was able to help in donating 200 grains of rice to help end world hunger — and it didn’t cost me anything! Check this out —  FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program in conjunction with Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. The website offers viewers academic questions/trivia in a number of fields to test your smarts: you can choose from art, chemistry, english, geography, languages and math! For each question that you answer right, FreeRice will donate ten grains of rice to the World Food Program to help end hunger!

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide education to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

The figures regarding hunger are really astounding. Being that the majority of us are well-fed, it’s difficult for us to think about 25,000 people dying every day from hunger and related causes. Here are some other things to consider:

– 963 million people don’t have enough to eat: that’s more than the population of the US, Canada and the EU COMBINED
– 907 million people in developing countries are hungry
– Asia and the Pacific region house over half of the world’s population and nearly 2/3 of the hungry people
– More than 60% of hungry people are women
– 65% of the world’s hungry live in just seven countries: Indian, China, the Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.

Additionally, a lot of children are starving and dying every day of malnutrition. So, when you’re bored & hanging out online or if you want to test your vocabulary or foreign language skills, hop on and do something really smart!

Lots of love,