Brunch at Busch Stadium for the American Cancer Society! And Some Other Big News!

Hi, everyone! Today I have a special little recap post about a brunch event I attended two weeks ago. maurices, the company I work for, is a huge corporate partner and sponsor for the American Cancer SocietyIn 2012, maurices was actually the recipient of the Corporate Impact Award: Excellence in Philanthropy for donating more than $1 million to the Society, in collaboration with dressbarn, maurice's sister company. And yes, we do spell our names with a lowercase first letter, in case you were wondering! I'm very proud to work for a company that is a leader in keeping community a priority. We donate clothes to the Missing Persons Foundation on a regular basis, and even get to choose local charities to support with our own, store-specific community-driven events. 

If you'd like more information about maurices's Social Responsibility programs, please visit HERE



On March 20th, my fellow assistant manager Kayla and I headed down to Busch Stadium for brunch and the American Cancer Society's kickoff event for the 2014 event season. We got all dressed up in our maurices best to help show off how cute our clothes are! We joined a table full of other maurices ladies from nearby stores, managers and associates alike. It was really fun to see each other outside of our stores, and talk about how our individual teams are doing. Our store in Fenton, MO is rocking this spring season! Because our table was situated so close to the podium at the front of the clubhouse room, we got picked on a whole bunch by the officiants and speakers. That's all right, though, we're proud to support the ACS!  How does maurices stay involved with the ACS, you ask? Many stores in our district do their nearest Relay for Life events. Store managers and associates create teams, and take turns walking at the event. We have approximately 300 teams each year that walk at different Relay days! 

Let's be real for a moment. I've never been the best at being involved in my community. After my senior scout days in Girl Scouts, I stopped volunteering and helping out. Between school, sports, and jobs (many time 3+ jobs, especially during college), I just didn't force myself to find the time to stay actively involved. I do regret it. I know many girls from high school who were supporting all sorts of charities all the time. I did do one breast cancer awareness walk with my friend Emily in high school once to support her mother, who is a survivor, but, let's face it - I could be pretty lazy. So now that I have a great steady job, and a little bit of free time, I know it's my chance to start getting involved. I was so excited to attend the brunch and learn more about the ACS and what I can do to not only support them, but in turn support my company while it supports them. SUPPORTING INCEPTION!

And here is where I decided to go out on a limb. I've been teaching myself to DJ at home, with tips from friends, and many an hour watching YouTube. I'm not "in it" for fame or fortune, but more so because I'm around a bunch of fun DJ pals a lot now. I adore music, and being able to do something that's more seriously involved with it was really a fun idea! So, I begged my boyfriend to lend me his old controller, and I've been playing away at home. I'm currently practicing transitions and hopefully will be able to throw some simple little mixes up on soundcloud.com soon. 

I tracked down one of the contacts that had greeted me at the event, and gave her my information, in case the ACS should ever need a DJ for an event. Lo and behold, just five days later, I received a phone call from Lauren at the ACS offering me a gig for the West County Relay for Life walk. HOLY COW Y'ALL! I'm incredibly excited, and have already been in contact with the chairperson for the event. Here's what's especially awesome - I'm technically an "in-kind sponsor," so although I won't be paid, I might have the chance to have my name/logo on the T-shirts for that day, as well as do a bit of self-promotion at the event. This is real, and it's crazy! I'll even get to do the announcements throughout the day. So, if any of you reading this would like to come dance around the track while I play some tunes, you may find the information on this specific event HERE. Over the next two months, expect to see reminder posts on SOSM about this event. I will be hoping to raise some money myself! 



Anywho! After brunch, hearing more information about the ACS and its mission, and a speaker who shared her story about why she is involved with the ACS (cancer has touched many, many people in her family, and she fights back the best she can), all of the maurices ladies hopped out into the classic red seats for a group photo. If you're curious about some of maurices' spring styles, and how to wear them, look no further for inspiration!

I asked Kayla (who has her own blog over HERE) to take a full-body shot of my outfit before we headed home. I recently snagged these boyfriend jeans off our clearance rack, and I think I wore them more times than is probably acceptable that first week! They're the brand Vigoss, which is one of our premium denim at maurices. They're the perfect amount of slim yet roomy, and just enough destruction. I opted to go full-blown bright color story, too, because that day it was quite lovely and warm out, in addition to being the first official day of Spring! The drape sleeveless top I am wearing was also featured in this post as well. Can you tell I adore it?! This blazer is a couple seasons old now, as it has been hanging around on the clearance racks since I started working at maurices last July. It matches perfectly with the current mint color that's so popular. The lace-up wedges I'm wearing are SO CUTE GUYS, and also absurdly comfortable. I'm able to wear them at work. If you zoom in on this photo, I went super serious business and even painted my toes a bright green to match everything. I'm crazy, what can I say...




On our way out the door, we bumped into Danny Cox, former talented St. Louis Cardinals pitcher! He showed up to say hi and sign some autographs as part of the event. As I described him to my dad later, dad said, "He sounds like a 'good' ole boy,'" which is pretty accurate if you're familiar with that phrase. I had him sign a card for my dad as a early birthday present, and snapped a quick shot with him, too. I think he said he was 6'4". Clearly he's a tall fellow if I'm wearing 3.5" heels here (which puts me at nearly 5'10"). 



Today's weather is more like Spring! After our little tornado scare this week, I'm so ready for clear skies again!



Outfit Details:

Floral/Watercolor Blazer: maurices (old)

Drape Sleeveless Top: maurices (current)
Tank Top: maurices (current)
Vigoss Boyfriend Jeans: maurices (old, but click for current closest style available)
Lucy Lace Up Wedges: maurices (current)
Necklace: maurices (won through promotional challenge at work)
Bracelet: maurices (old)