Gift bags get people excited

“Sisters Slaying Cancer” is officially an annual event. We pulled off another successful fundraiser last week at the Alexander Myles Salon and Spa, and it was bigger and better than before.

I have to give credit to my sister, Toni, who pretty much planned the entire event,  along with Tiffany, whom we hired to pull our day of reduced-priced salon and spa services together in style. I came in on the tail end to supervise and manage, which meant I was in charge of pouring mimosas and passing out cupcakes.

Next year, we need teal nail polish!

The turnout was pretty fabulous. Lots of hair getting styled, nails being painted, and backs getting massaged.  All in all, our day of beauty resulted in $2,000 pot. And like last year, we’re donating all the money to ovarian cancer research and the local leukemia-lymphoma foundation.

Toni and I were inspired to raise awareness about the cancers that have touched our lives because we wanted to do something bigger than ourselves. And once we began planning, it seemed as if the universe conspired with us to make it happen.

Posing pretty.

A dozen or so folks volunteered their time, giving up their Sunday to chip in, and a handful of entrepreneurs, advocacy organizations, and corporate businesses donated items for our gift bags. For the second year, L’Oreal sent along makeup bags from its Color of Hope collection, Mizani provided us with loads of professional-grade hair products, and Sacred Vibes Apothecary donated wellness tea.

Before the day was over, we were already planning for next year. We’re thinking a bigger venue and bigger giveaways. But it wouldn’t mean much without our community of supporters, and that goes for those who were there in body and spirit. See ya next year!

I was inspired to adopt the no-shoes-in-the-house policy after attending an event last week in honor of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. At a discussion hosted by L’Oreal’s Color of Hope initiative, nutritional counselor Oz Garcia was one of the featured speakers. During the Q&A afterward, someone in the audience asked Garcia about BPA toxins in plastic, which led to a larger discussion about toxins in general.

It was pretty disturbing. You know, the kind of conversation that exposes information you’d always suspected but decided to ignore anyway, like all those chemicals in the air that we breathe. Well, according to Garcia, who cited a report by President Obama’s Cancer Panel, there are about 80,000 or so, and many of them are known carcinogens. And get this, apparently some other really official and important study, also referenced by Garcia, tested tissue samples from umbilical cords and found that babies are born with more than 200 toxins in their systems.

Way to give our kids a head start. Imagine how many toxins you’d find in the body of the average American adult.

After Garcia dropped the aforementioned gems on us, someone asked him what we should be doing to curb the amount of poisons in our bodies and our environments.

“You can start by taking off your shoes when you come in the house,” he responded. He didn’t have time to elaborate, but I didn’t need him to. I walk around the streets of New York City every day.

In a place that’s home to some 8 million people, filth, grime, dirt, bacteria such as coliform from human and animal waste, and general nastiness abound — and collect on the bottom of your shoes. I hadn’t really thought about it until last week’s event, and now I’m wondering how it is that I never really thought about it until last week’s event.

I wash my hands all the time. I also wipe down the light switches and doorknobs in my apartment and regularly change the sponges in my kitchen. I keep my toothbrush in my medicine cabinet to prevent any extra bathroom germs from taking residence on an instrument that I put in my mouth, and sanitizer and hand wipes have their own special spot in my new designer bag.

But what does it all matter if I’m contaminating my home with the muck and the mire stuck to the bottom of my soles?

Now, it grosses me out to think of what I may be bringing home, something many before me must’ve considered before banning footwear in their houses, too — people like my sometimes employer, domestic goddess Martha Stewart (not to mention the millions of folks who live in parts of East Asia). I’m a little late to the game, I know. But now I get it.

And I’m going to make Martha proud. Near my front door, I plan to set up a boot tray for shoes. And next to it will be a pretty swing-handle basket filled with fresh slippers for all my guests.

As part of the Stand Up to Cancer initiative, my public service announcement with the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance will be airing all week. I’ll be on somewhere in between Lance Armstrong and Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley.

What’s more is that the timing couldn’t be better. September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. And it looks like I’ve got a lot to keep me busy. L’Oreal is hosting several events that I’ll be attending, including an awareness breakfast. Last year, I met and interviewed Kerry Washington. I’m hoping someone equally fabulous shows up this year.

And once again, my sister Toni and I are holding our second annual Sisters Slaying Cancer fundraiser on Sunday, Sept. 26. We’re hosting a spa and salon day at the Alexander Myles Salon & Spa in Wilmington, DE, and donating all of the money to cancer research. Last year’s event was such a success that we had to extend the hours this year just to accommodate everyone. That’s what I’m talking about!

There’s plenty to celebrate this month. My September is filled with eating, spa days, and celebrity interviews — all in the name of fighting cancer. Not bad. Oh, and my national television debut. Holla if you catch me. I’m the one wearing teal.