ONE DAY WITHOUT SHOES

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED SUPPORT ME!

There were so many amazing things that came out of this event. I have grown so much and learned so much along the way. The first thing that I did when I found out my internship challenge with TOMS Shoes was call my mom. She helped me get a lot of ideas to promote the event. The event was promoted in the paper on Thursday morning (the day of the event)! I had one girl come up to me and ask if I was Devon Luke...she read about the TOMS event in the paper! It was really cool to see the impact that I was making (http://www.coloradodaily.com/news/2009/apr/15/one-day-without-shoes-cu-colorado-toms-boulder/). I was also on the radio! The local Boulder community radio had me come into the studio for the interview (the recording of the interview is below). My Aussi cousin, Margie Warrell, who wrote the book "Find Your Courage!", was nice enough to put the event and my promotion code in her newsletter. Also, my sorority counted the event as a community service opportunity, which was awesome! On Wednesday, two of the TOMS campus reps and I had a table set up telling people about the event, handing out fliers, and selling the shirts that I hand made (the first picture). 

I think the task that I most proud of achieving was getting the event approved. On Thursday (the week prior to the event), I went into the events and scheduling office and talked to the woman in charge of all events. She discouraged me by telling me that I had to get 10 different people's approvals. She also said that it would take THREE WEEKS! The first thing that I told her was, if I want it to happen, it will happen! And it did. I got all 10 approvals in 4 DAYS! When I went into her office the day before the event to get the final approval she looked at me and told me that she was extremely impressed and she has never seen someone get approvals so fast. 

The day of the event was finally here and I was just glad that everything was done and I promoted the event in every way that I thought possible. It was gorgeous and sunny on Wednesday, but of course, the bipolar weather of Boulder decided that it should be 40 degrees and RAINING! Being a dedicated TOMS potential intern...I WENT BAREFOOT...for the majority of the day. Let me tell you, I appreciate my shoes more than anyone I know. The turnout for the walk was not so great. The weather turned down a lot of the confirmed walkers on facebook (96 people were confirmed to join the cause to raise awareness). But, there was nothing that I could do about the weather. There were about 10 people on the walk and we got asked by a lot of people, "Why aren't you wearing shoes!!!!????". So, I guess even though there weren't a lot of people we still did out job of raising awareness. 

My promo code is still open and TOMS is still looking to see how my sales are going. So, if you feel compelled to support the cause, please visit www.tomsshoes.com and enter odwssaP1HR3Z2ES when you are checking out! I still need all of the help that I can get! You can also read more about the cause and the TOMS story on the website above.

My Birthday Weekend Extravaganza!

Roomie! -Saturday night!
Dinner at Ai Sushi
Caitlan Martinez - Santa Margarita alumni who introduced me to Theta and convinced me to join!
My big sis - Jenna Villatoro 
My date to Theta Formal - Kevin Anderson

It was definitely different to not be home for my birthday this year. My friends really made me feel special and we had so much fun! On Thursday night, my friends and I went to a house party and the celebration started at midnight! Friday was pretty mellow, I had two classes and most of my friends had class all day. I had made reservations at a restaurant called Ai Sushi for 7:30. Unfortunately, we had to wait an hour and a half for our chef to come and cook hamachi for us. Being poor college students ahaha, we complained and got a 15% discount, our drinks taken care of, and an AMAZING sushi tower roll! After dinner we walked outside to pouring rain! It NEVER rains in Boulder, so that was odd, and no one would go out in the rain, so Lauren and I went back to our room. We watched a movie and went to bed. I told my mom that I was literally taking a "rain check". Saturday was Theta's Spring Formal. I took my friend Kevin Anderson as my date. He went to the public high school (Tesoro) right next to Santa Margarita. He was a really fun date! We left the dance early, at around 10:00, and I met up with my friends so that we could re-celebrate my birthday. It was a really fun weekend! Thanks to everyone who sent me a birthday wish!

Spring Break

It was soooo nice to come home, even though it was just for a week. I went to 2 of Bennett's St. Edward's volleyball games, and I will say that I was very impressed by the coaching staff (...Joan Luke ;) ).  I also ventured up to my Alma Mater, Santa Margarita to watch Dante's swim meet and Braxton's volleyball game. It was fun to go back and say hi to my coaches and teachers and catch up on all the new things that were happening with the school. Braxton has grown so much!!! It makes me sad that I have to reach up to hug him. It was awesome to see him play volleyball. He has improved soooo much and he is really coming into his own. George Bailey was happy to see me and it made me miss sleeping with him every night. I got to see some of my friends, but most of them had different spring breaks, so not a lot of people were home. One of the highlights of my trip was running with my mom on the beach trail right before the sunset. I was sooo lucky to have amazing weather while I was home. I even went to the beach...which was extremely needed, considering my dad told me that "I had a nice shade of Boulder on me"...aka WHITEEEE. I was lucky enough to celebrate the American citizenship of Tess Jonas! Liz took me out to lunch, at my favorite restaurant Antoines!!! It's always fun to catch up with her; it brought back memories of New York, when she chaperoned Christine and I for half of the trip. Lastly, my family celebrated my birthday early, since I wasn't going to be home. We had the Newton's over and had dinner and cake. It was a great way to end the break. It's crazy to think that I will be FINISHED with my freshman year in a MONTH!!!!!

Santa Barbara

While attending CU, I have come across many small world situations. One in particular: one of my best friends Bree told me that he friend was coming out to visit her (this was during first semester). When her friend got here, I met her and went back to my room. Bree and Chealsie went to Pearl Street (an outdoor mall, down the street) to look for an outfit for an 80's party. When they came back, Chealsie threw my door open and asked me if I had a sister named Dante and a an Uncle Mike Luke???!!!! I realized that when I would go to my Uncle Mike's house in Carlsbad his neighbor had 2 daughters that Dante and I would always play with. It was Chealsie!!!! 

The first weekend of my spring break I took the train up to Santa Barbara to celebrate Chealsie's birthday with Bree and my other friends from CU at SBCC (Santa Barbara City College). It was really cool to experience a different school in a different location. We had a really fun time and it was cool to be able to celebrate a childhood friends birthday with my new best friends at college.

St. Patrick's Day

Every holiday in Boulder is ALWAYS celebrated...its "Go BIG, or GO HOME!!!"...so of course St. Patrick's Day was a day to be celebrated. Lucky for me I only had one class, that was cancelled. Lauren and I went to Target the night before and bought shirts and cut them to look like dresses. We were matching and it was precious! haha. We started the party at our friends house. Everyone was decked out in their green apparel. Later in the afternoon, we went to a bigger party where a lot of out friends were. After an entire day of events we all went back to the house that we started at and ordered COSMO's Pizza, the best pizza in Boulder! My Aunt Kappa was all dressed up with green hair extentions, green clothes, a green watch, and even GREEN TOES!!!! 

...pictures will be up soon.