February is American Heart Month and February 1 is National Wear Red Day, which raises awareness about women’s risk of heart disease. Say it with me now: Heart disease is the #1 killer of American women, killing more women than the next five causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer.
If you want to participate in heart month, National Wear Red Day, or Go Red for Women, here are some ideas.
Wear Red
Wear red on February 1! And be sure to tell everyone why.
If you wear red, please send me a picture of you at jen (at) mylifeinred.net or post it to the My Life in Red Facebook page and I’ll add it to my Wear Red Day collage. It was so fun and so meaningful to me to receive all your photos last year. I don’t think you can ever know how much it meant to me.
I also have a lot of red dress lapel pins and kids silicone bracelets. If you would like one, let me know in the comments and I’ll send one out to you. You can also check out my Go Red Pinterest board for tons of red fashion inspiration.
See Red
Attend Go Red for Women Day at the Mall of America on February 9 and see yours truly in the red dress fashion show at 11 a.m. and again at 12:30 p.m. in the Rotunda. I get to wear a red dress designed for me by Carly Schoen, a local fashion designer. Sending every single possible body measurement to her wasn’t my favorite thing to do, but wearing a real designer dress that was made for me, with professional hair and makeup, on the runway? Um, yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Totally worth measuring my hips in centimeters.
Also at the Mall of America that day there will be another Go Red for Women Casting Call (that’s how I ended up as spokeswoman for 2013), CPR training, cooking demonstrations by Cooks of Crocus Hill chefs in partnership with YumPower (by HealthPartners), and a kids area with lots of fun movement, including Jump Rope for Heart, the Vikings Cheerleaders, and Zumba. You can also be photographed on the Diva Couch, which I will most definitely be doing — how cute is this?!
Shop Red
If you want some red dress gear to wear on February 1, here’s the Go Red shop. I’ve been known to indulge in a little retail therapy here from time to time. (See above: abundance of red dress pins.)
Macy’s is a national sponsor of Go Red for Women. Wear red while shopping at any Macy’s between Friday, February 1 and Sunday, February 3 and and get 20 percent off most items in the store. If you forget to wear red you can still get the discount by purchasing a red dress pin at any register in Macy’s and the $3 will be donated to Go Red For Women.
Buy lots of red wine! When you buy select red wines at all Lunds/Byerly’s Wine and Spirits stores, a portion of the proceeds will go to Go Red for Women. Look for the Go Red labels from February 2 to March 7. There’s some shopping I can get behind!
Party Red
Get your tickets to the Red Dress Collection fashion show at the Graves 601 Hotel! The Red Dress Collection is produced by MNFashion in partnership with Carly Aplin of The CW Twin Cities. The show pairs local designers with local celebrity models for a one-of-a-kind red runway show. All proceeds will benefit the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women program.
I will be hosting a Go Red for Women party at Hot Mama on Grand Avenue on February 28! Wine, food, friends, personal stylists, and a chance to support research for heart disease in women just by indulging in those perfect jeans. No shopping required, but if you find something, 15 percent of the proceeds will go to Go Red. Watch my Facebook page and the blog as the date gets closer.
Spread the Red
Go red online. Here are some Facebook covers you can use on February 1 or all month. Just right-click and choose Save As, save to your computer, then upload to Facebook.
Tweet about Wear Red Day and include @GoRedforWomen (and me too! @jen_thorson). Add a Heart Truth red dress Twibbon to your Twitter profile picture.
Or tweet or share this post (see those buttons on the left?) and let your friends know how they can go red.
Go red in real life. Would you like to have a Go Red event at work, or your church, book club, or yoga class? I can help you with handouts or other official Go Red materials, suggest messages for your communications, or come share my story in person. I did a Go Red day at my yoga class last year and it was easy and fun and people really asked a lot of questions. It’s amazing to me how little women still know about heart disease, their risk, or the signs and symptoms.
You can also find tons of information and downloadable materials to use for events on the national Go Red website.
Donate Red
I’ve been asked where people can support Go Red for Women through donations, so I’ve created a personal fundraising page and set a goal of $5,000. If you’d like to make a donation, here’s a direct and easy way to do it. And thank you.
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