Circle of Red Luncheon

I am a proud member of the Circle of Red for the American Heart Association this year.

We held the Tri-Cities Go Red For Women Luncheon today, and all the members wore a red dress.

My red dress is from Macy's. 

Macy's is committed to raising women's awareness of heart disease and helping them live longer, healthier lives.

Thanks to its customers and associates' generosity, Macy's has contributed more than $55 million to Go Red for Women since 2004. 

It was great to see my young friend Jurnee Carr, Miss Tennessee International. We have shared the runway as models in the past.

Hannah Everhart is our beautiful Miss Johnson City. We have also walked for local fashion shows together.

Those are not my caged shoes, but aren't they awesome?

I am shown below with some of the other Circle of Red Members.

The more a woman knows about heart disease, the better chance she has of beating it. The first facts you need to know are severe: Heart disease and stroke cause 1 in 3 deaths among women each year – more than all cancers combined. Fortunately, we can change that because 80 percent of cardiac and stroke events may be prevented with education and action.

Go Red For Women inspires women to make lifestyle changes, mobilize communities, and shape policies to save lives. United, we are working to improve the health of all women.

Visit https://www.goredforwomen.org/ to learn more about how you can prevent heart disease and also how you can help bring awareness of it to others.

Wear Red Day

I am a proud member of the Go Red for Women Circle of Red. We organized a special presentation for Wear Red Day, which was on February 5th.

Another member showed up with a very similar look. Great minds!

Do you know that 80% of heart disease and stroke events may be prevented by lifestyle changes and education? Heart disease is the number one killer of women. To learn more, go to the American Heart Association's website at Heart.org.

During February, American Heart Month, participating hospitals in East Tennessee and across the country will pass out thousands of little red hats to newborns' parents as a part of the Little Hats, Big Heart's program.

The Little Hats, Big Hearts program raises awareness of heart disease, the No. 1 killer of Americans, and congenital heart defects, the most common type of birth defect.

Volunteers from across Tennessee and four other states have hand knitted over six hundred Little Red hats. In the photo above, our Chair, Maggie Ingram, and I explain the program to Pete Peterson, our city manager, just before the presentation.

The Arctic air has returned to my area, so I wore layers. The red dress worn as a tunic was supplied to me by J.Jill last year. The leggings are by Hue via Dillard's worn over Hanes pantyhose in the color jet. The boots are by Saks via Saks Off 5th. The oversize black and gray animal print knit scarf are old via Nordstrom. The gray quilted bag is from Express.

I only wear this dress as a tunic because of the above the knee length. This would be a good look for a pear or apple-shaped body. Wearing a necklace or scarf brings the focus up to your face. 

The tunic fits nicely above the bust and then relaxes into an A-line, which flows across your body, not accentuating any particular area. I love the fact that it has pockets!

The Circle of Red

I am very proud to be a member of The Circle of Red and Go Red For Women in the Tri-Cities for 2016.

Go Red For Women is doing everything we can to fight heart disease in women. We’re providing life-saving information to women of all ages and ethnicities, we’re increasing gender-focused medical research, and we provide a tight community of like-minded champions who have banded together to form an unstoppable army against heart disease in women.

We held our kick-off meeting last evening. I wore a red tunic sweater from J.Jill with black pants by Loir of Paris from a boutique in Knoxville called The Paris Apartment.

After five or cocktail attire need not mean an uncomfortable slinky dress (you already know I am not a lover of dresses). A fabulous pair of great fitting pants, with a luxurious sweater and sexy shoes, and I am ready for an evening event.

I love the option of a shawl worn across the neck with the ends flowing down the back for an evening wrap, which is ready when you need a bit extra warmth.

My most important message to you is to take care of your body by eating a mostly plant-based diet and get some exercise every day. Heart disease is the number one killer of women; it kills more women than all forms of cancer combined, killing more women than men. Heart disease victims often don’t even know they have it, so they don’t get treated or make healthy lifestyle changes.

Circle of Red

Do you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women?

It is an honor to be in the Tri-Cities Circle of Red 2016. I am pictured below with some of the fabulous women I will be serving with during the coming year. Our mission is to educate and advocate for heart disease prevention.

Knowledge is power, and when you have all of the facts, you can become an activist, advocate, and educator to spread the word and inspire others to make heart health a priority. 

Two of my dear women friends have had heart attacks recently. Neither of them knew they had a problem. Please visit the Go Red For Women website to learn more about living a more healthy lifestyle.

As many of you know, I was not so healthy five years ago. I had several health issues but could reverse them all with a change of diet and increased exercise. Some of you also know that I was homeless about twenty years ago. I started over with almost nothing and worked my way out of that situation to become a homeowner and a successful business owner. I mention these things to inspire you to take care of yourself and believe in yourself. You can do anything you set your mind to. 

When you arrive at your goals, I also believe that it is essential to reach back to lift up those who are still struggling. That is why I write this blog and participate in so many philanthropic organizations in my community. I want to use my voice and do my part to help others' lives better and happier.

The clothing and jewelry I wore to this meeting are all from Chico's. The shoes are from Macy's, which is also a great supporter of Go Red For Women.

Go Red for Women

The 2015 Tri-Cities Go Red for Women Luncheon was held in Kingsport this week.

Go Red for Women's Circle of Red is a powerful, passionate group of people dedicated to making an impact in our community's fight against heart disease.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in women. Yet, only 1 in 5 American women believe that heart disease is her greatest health threat.

Here are more unsettling facts:

Heart disease causes 1 in 3 women's deaths each year, killing approximately one woman every minute.

90 percent of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.

Since 1984, more women than men have died each year from heart disease, and the gap between men and women's survival continues to widen.

The symptoms of heart disease can be different in women vs. men and are often misunderstood.

While 1 in 31 American women dies from breast cancer each year, 1 in 3 dies of heart disease.

Learn more about how to prevent heart disease here.

There are three ways you can help, and committing to even one, you will make a difference: 

Advocate for healthier hearts, starting with your own.

Spread the word by sharing what you know about heart health with other women. 

Support Go Red For Women with your time and resources.