If you haven’t, here is the low-down.

Inspired by the survivorship story of its Assistant General Manager, Marion Burch, Memorial City Mall has kicked off a month-long initiative to raise funds and awareness for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF). Yesterday marked the beginning of the mall’s  “Paint the Town Teal” event and it will continue until September 30. Teal is the color that symbolizes ovarian cancer and the mall is going to great measures to promote awareness. They’ve even painted teal ribbons on the ice skating rink!!

Here is where you come in. The mall is selling “Paint the Town Teal” bags stuff with amazing offers from various mall merchants; including Metropark, Radio Shack AND Chick-fil-a. The bags are adorable and sell for only $15, with proceeds benefiting the OCRF. If you live or work near MCM, stop buy Guest Services and buy one of your own.

The bags have many uses including, but not limited to:

• Environmentally friendly grocery shopping bag
• Tote for all of the random things you bring to work every day
• For the boys, they would make a great gift for your significant other or mom

Why is a mall going above and beyond to promote awareness of ovarian cancer? Ovarian cancer is a very silent and very deadly breed of cancer… in many women, it’s caught way too late for a total cure. Awareness of the disease is key to discovering it, because it doesn’t show up in your normal well-woman exam.

Marion was diagnosed with Stage IIIC ovarian cancer in August 2007 and continues chemotherapy to remain stable. She recently had her 37th round of treatment. She says, “We want to raise awareness so more women will recognize the symptoms and get diagnosed early. The main signs are easy to ignore — bloating, eating less and feeling fuller, abdominal pain, or trouble with your bladder — but, if they occur persistently for weeks, go to the doctor! Experts say that when caught in the initial stages, ovarian cancer has a much better chance of being cured.”

I am proud and humbled to have clients that do such amazing things.

I am an absolute sucker for charities and before the Shell Houston Open became one of my clients, I had no idea how much good the tournament has done for charity in our city. Since 1992, the tournament has raised almost 50 million dollars for Houston charities. Yeah. You read that right. 50 million. The love affair started right there.

Since the Shell Houston Open is one of my clients, I was lucky enough to be the bearer of a media pass and had permission to take photos. The pass got me access to everything from the Shell Skybox to the media room. The view from the Skybox was amazing and there was a never-ending supply of treats. I loved working out of the media building but let me tell you. Those golf reporters are super serious. Snort when you laugh and they will all look at you like you are a crazy person… but I’m pretty used to that.

According to Culture Map, the Shell Houston Open is the nicest stop on the PGA Tour. And while I have never been to another golf tournament, I can attest to the fact that all of the volunteers are super friendly… one even let me stand in front of him on hole 10 while I was taking pictures because “Come here honey, you know you want to take a picture of Adam Scott. Girls think he is a cutie!!”

Maintaining my silence and NOT snorting at this point was almost impossible but I managed.

I could not have had more fun that with the people I was with… Fellow MMIers Melissa, Sarah and Amanda came out on alternate days and two of my favorite people in Houston, my other half Monica and the hilarious Chris Pitre, joined us as SHO social media ambassadors. Special surprise additions to the fun were Paul from the Loop Scoop and James, the fiery famous guy.

Over the course of the tournament, I got a chance to hang out with Mike and Mike from ESPN, get autographs from both Emmitt Smith and Adam Scott, and high-five the President of Shell, Marvin Odum. Have I mentioned lately how much I really and truly love my job? Without MMI, I never would have had this opportunity.

If you didn’t get a chance to come out this year, you missed out and you better be there next year! Why wouldn’t you want to hang out in the sun with a frosty beverage… all for the chance to help out Houston children?

And since I know this post has convinced you that you MUST be at the tournament, here are some things to remember before you head out to the course:

1. When everyone is silent, “That’s what she said jokes” sound a lot louder.
2. People who wear jeans to golf tournaments are just asking to be shunned.
3. But eople who wear purple pants to golf tournaments are awesome.
4. It’s Phil Mickelson. Not Paul.

And because this post wouldn’t be complete without pictures…

Adam Scott:

Adam Scott’s Signature:

View from the Skybox:

The awesome purple pants:

Ready… set… donate! Help MommyMac raise awareness for Hearing Loss!! (while she walks it out).

As many of you know, my dear sweet Mom is an audiologist for a non-profit.  Over the past 20 years (or so?) she has changed the lives of many deaf adults and children by guiding them on their path to hearing again and she absolutely LOVES her job. I would say that it is probably this love and devotion to her life’s work that makes MommyMac so amazing at what she does.

Not everyone understands or is aware of how many people are actually affected by hearing loss. On November 1, MommyMac is going to be participating in the Hearing Loss Association’s Walk4Hearing and she asked me if I could help her raise money for this great cause. Check out her ChipIn page!! The goal of the walk is twofold: to increase awareness about the causes and consequences of hearing loss and to raise funds to provide info and support for people with hearing loss.

Nearly 55 million Americans suffer from hearing loss and many of them have no idea where to turn. My mom has dedicated her life to helping people who are affected, and I figured I would, in turn, reach out to all of you for help. MommyMac’s goal is to raise $1000 and she won’t be able to do it without rawkin peeps like you!

When I was a little girl, I LOVED going to work with my mother. I loved “helping” out in the office and watching this amazing bunch of ladies bustle around. There was ALWAYS laughter at the Houston Ear Research Foundation. So here I go again… Maybe now that I’m a little older I can do more that just pretend to help

Wanna help out MommyMac? Check out her ChipIn Page!! No amount is too small (or too large, for that matter!)