Kick Off Your Heels!Help Soles4Souls with their mission to pro-vide shoes to people in need by celebrating National Barefoot Week, June 1-7. The week-long series of events encourages you to par-ticipate in shoe drives, fun runs, retail trade-ins and more. On Barefoot Saturday and Barefoot Sunday, Soles4Souls is asking congregations to donate and collect shoes for the cause and walk out of worship services barefoot to raise awareness for the more than 1.5 billion people worldwide who do not own a single pair of shoes. For more suggestions on how to help, visit soles4souls.org or barefootweek.com.

A LifesaverJune 14 is World Blood Donor Day. Help counteract the summer blood shortage by donating blood during Nexcare’s “GIVE” campaign, kicking off June 14 and running through June 20. At participating local blood centers, Nexcare will be giving out red, white and blue bandages marked with the word “give,” inspired by Flag Day, which is also June 14. Visit nexcaregive.com to find a blood donation center in your com-munity and share your blood donor stories. Remember: just one pint of blood can save three lives!

By Alicia Brewstermoreformoms

Easy FreezyWho knew coolers could be so cute? IcyBag does, offering a fun, colorful line of small cooler bags perfect for those summer road trips. Avoid the hazards of makeup meltdown by packing your heat-sensitive cosmetics and medications in an IcyBag. Or pack up a few small snacks for those afternoons at the amusement park. Each bag comes with a freezer gel pack (in a TSA-approved 3-ounce size!), which you can slip inside the water-resis-tant storage pouch for an all-day chill. IcyBags retail for $15-$20 at icybag.com.

On the DefensiveAre you living in the yellow? Find out by attending the Women’s Self-Defense & Situational Awareness Seminar, presented by High Intensity Teambuilding’s Terry Vaughan, a former member of the Elite British Royal Marine Commandos. You’ll learn to understand what happens physiologically to your body in response to an attack and how to develop your body’s natural defense tactics. Gather your sisters, moms, teenage daughters and friends, and attend one of the semi-nars, held on Friday, June 11, 6-9:30 p.m. in Alexandria and Saturday, June 12, noon-4 p.m. at DC Dance Collective in Washington, D.C. For pricing, registration and more informa-tion, visit highintensityteambuilding.com.

From Runway to RunwayDitch your boring black carry-on bag for a funky, fashionable one by Project Runway winner Chloe Dao. The Chloe Dao by Nuo Laptop Satchel has plenty of interior and exterior pockets for all your gadgets and travel documents, and the padded laptop compartment will fit most 15.6” screens. The satchel, which sells for $79.99, also has a back pocket that slips easily over your luggage handles for easy transport. Visit kolobags.com to purchase, and be sure to check out their extensive lines of chic bags, luggage and briefcases.

Stick to ItSummer’s here, and that means time to break out the sandals and slides. Avoid the dreaded “heel wedgie” that comes from wearing long pants and shoes with no backs by sticking on Pants Un-heeled. The plastic strips adhere to the inside hem at the back of your pant legs, adding just enough weight to keep them from tucking under your heels when you walk. Each set of 6 pairs of strips is $12.95 at pantsunheeled.com.

64 Washington Parent June 2010