We’ve Moved!

Hey Beautiful Friends!

We’ve moved the Rewrite Beautiful blog to our main website:

http://www.RewriteBeautiful.org/Blog

See you there!

http://www.RewriteBeautiful.org/blog

Beautiful Girl of the Week! Natalie: Happy and Health Minded!

Beautiful Girl of the Week is a series of Beautiful Girls who are stand outs for what they contribute to the world through their beautiful actions!  We feature the Beautiful Girl of the Week on the Rewrite Beautiful blog as an attempt to inspire other girls and women to use their own gifts and talents to impact their communities. Our hope is that bringing positive attention to women’s actions will inspire them to embrace their own creative calling!

Natalie is Beautiful!

Natalie is one of those infectious women that you just get enough of! The best way to describe Natalie is sincere, hilarious and wise.  Every time I talk to Natalie I start to think, “Yes! I can do this?” “Who’s the world messin’ with? You best not be messin’ with me world!” Natalie’s energy is a multi-faceted woman; lighthearted, deep, fun and outgoing. I hope you all appreciate the beautiful girl she is as much as I do!

Irvina: What is a fun project you’re currently working on?

Natalie: Currently, I am learning how to live a “greener” life.  With that being said, I am trying to treat the earth and my body with the best possible care.

Irvina: Awe! I’m so happy to hear that! Too many women over work themselves and the whole world suffers for it. It’s awesome to see women advocating for themselves! So, what are you passionate about?

Natalie: I am so passionate about self-care and treating yourself and your environment the best you can! Life is so much more enjoyable when you are nourished, emotionally, spiritually and physically! I also LOVE to run, it’s my time to meditate and think.

Irvina: How funny, I’m the same way with running. I get the most creative ideas while running. It actually makes me run faster to get home and write it down! So, what do you do for fun?

Natalie: For fun, I love to run, do yoga, see movies, plays, lay out at the beach, go out to eat, get frozen yogurt, and read!

Irvina: Yes! I’m such a Yogi and Book Worm too! I also like to call myself a Professional Layer Outer So Natalie, whether it’s a hobby, a job or friendships what do you contribute to the world that you’re most proud of?

"Life is so much more enjoyable when you are nourished, emotionally, spiritually and physically!" - Natalie

Natalie: I contribute positivity to the world. I really want girls and women out there to know that there is life outside of the diet and calorie counting prison.  Life is so fun and it’s so easy to miss it if you are stuck on taking yourself too seriously!  Every woman is beautiful and has something unique to offer the world.  Even just smiling and have a positive attitude goes such a long way! I try to remember I would never try to fit my size 8 foot into a size 5 1/2 shoe size so why would I do that to my body?! It’s just crazy!

Irvina: That shoe size thing is pretty clever. I might have to steal it! So, which action of CREATIVITY, KINDNESS and STRENGTH do you think you most exhibit in your community and WHY?

Natalie: I would say kindness. I offer a sense of encouragement and support to my community of women.  I also try and support local farmer’s markets and the community library.

Irvina: Beautiful! Who is the most beautiful woman you know and why?

Of course I want to say my mother.  My mom is the strongest, dedicated and faithful person I have ever met.  She is never judging and always forgiving.  On the celebrity side, I really admire Kate Middleton and Carrie Underwood.  Both have a killer sense of style and really know how to carry themselves with class and integrity.

Irvina: Strength, faith and class are some of my favorite things in women too! Nice choices! What do you wish young women knew about beauty?

Natalie: I would like young women to remember that just because someone is pretty on the outside doesn’t mean she is pretty on the inside.  Beauty comes when you exude self-esteem and confidence it also has lots of shapes and sizes!

"Life is so fun and it’s so easy to miss it if you are stuck on taking yourself too seriously!" - Natalie

Brand against eating disorders – TMOOH

Before I founded Rewrite Beautiful I did my research. I looked around to see if there were any other company’s or non-profits doing what I wanted to do; eating disorder prevention, art, workshops, speaking engagements.  Nope, not a one! What I did find though were some very inspiring projects. One of which was The Monuments of Our Hearts (TMOOH.)

TMOOH was founded by Brett Clouser.  He started TMOOH because he believed that the fashion industry was in need of positive advocates for healthy body image. Brett says, “Our goal is to expand the definition of beauty. These efforts are revealed through our clothing, new media campaigns, and partnerships with non-profit organizations. We feel so strongly about this issue that we donate a percentage of our revenue to aid non-profits that successfully make an impact in the lives of those struggling with their body image.”

Brett Clouser, TMOOH Founder

TMOOH donates a percentage of their profits to Girl Scouts of America for their work with their Uniquely Me campaign. I think Rewrite Beautiful should get some of that cha-ching too though, don’t you guys? Haha! No pressure Brett! I talked to Brett a couple weeks ago about our two projects and he was very encouraging of all of the work Rewrite Beautiful has done through our workshops, speaking engagements, art shows and outreach (Yeah us!)  I told him that I was incredibly inspired by a clothing company aligning themselves with eating disorder awareness. Eating disorders are still an incredibly taboo subject. It takes advocates like TMOOH and Rewrite Beautiful to educate people about the most DEADLY of all mental illnesses.

I love this! Not only for the eating disorder awareness that is being shared, but I have seen such a shift of entrepreneurs being community minded with their businesses!  Ya’ll know how much I love ever/after who gives 25% of each garment you purchase to the charity of your choice. Now even magazines like Lifestyle + Charity are doing the same!  They have promo parties and online shop around charitable giving. From pajamas , jewelry to magazine every company can incorporate charitable giving into their business. I hope this is not a trend, but simply the new “black.”

Brett was kind enough to send me a free TMOOH shirt!

And I love it! First of all the shirt says “Beauty” across the front,

cause you know I’m a BEAUTY for being so Creative, Kind and Strong! And their logo is an upside down heart.

Brett says “The heart is upside down to play with people’s heads. To question “Is that really a heart?” The same way they would question “Is that really beauty?” All in all I love my new TMOOH shirt and it definitely won’t be the last!

Beautiful Girl of the Week: Jude of Hawk + Lily

Beautiful Girl of the Week is a series of Beautiful Girls who are stand outs for what they contribute to the world through their beautiful actions!  We feature the Beautiful Girl of the Week on the Rewrite Beautiful blog as an attempt to inspire other girls and women to use their own gifts and talents to impact their communities. Our hope is that bringing positive attention to women’s actions will inspire them to embrace their own creative calling!

Jude is Beautiful!

Wellness has always brought Jude and I together! We first met at The Victorian, collaborating how to help women with eating disorders commit to lasting recovery. That was three years ago and soooooooooo much has happened since then! For one I left working as Support Staff at The Victorian and dedicated myself solely to writing and Rewrite Beautiful. Jude has pursued her own adventures as the CEO and Founder of Hawk + Lily, but I’ll let her tell you more about that amazing adventure!

Irvina: Jude thank you for speaking with me today! So tell me what is this non-profit, yoga, wellness project you are working on?

Jude: At the moment, I’m creating the Karma Yoga program for the Soul Center organization — our goal is to bring free yoga, meditation, and energy healing services to underserved populations. By pairing yoga teachers and holistic practitioners with a multitude of non-profit organizations, we’re already inspiring greater health in body, mind, and spirit for those in addiction recovery, at-risk youth, domestic abuse survivors, hospice clients, homeless populations, veterans, cancer patients, and more.

I believe that volunteering is one of those things in your life that you don’t know is missing until you start doing it. It’s a wonderful opportunity to remind ourselves of how blessed we are for all that we DO have (two hands that can hug a friend, ten toes that help us stand tall, a bed to sleep in, a roof over our heads, and a heart that beats strong), rather than all the things we *think* we don’t have.

Best of all, I’ve been lucky enough to experience — as both an instructor and as a student — how moving meditations such as yoga can make a genuine difference in improving one’s life. That’s why I’ve also created a company called Hawk+Lily to inspire everyone to rediscover the joy we were born with!

Hawk+Lily offers workshops rooted in nature that enhance one’s ability to live to our greatest potential by balancing inner and outer strength. The “hawk” represents inner strength and the wisdom within each and every one of us, while the “lily” symbolizes one’s natural beauty and grace. By bringing both elements together, we are more readily able to live abundantly wonderful lives and reach our fullest potential. Most importantly, Hawk+Lily encourages every individual to: “Love life. Thrive!”

Irvina: Wow! I’m kind of blown away right now. You know what a fan I am of connecting with non-profits! Hawk + Lily sounds incredible too! Well done my friend! Well done! So can you tell me what fueled your passion to start this?

Jude: Well, I am most passionate about encouraging every individual to BELIEVE that we can all be greater than we ever imagined possible. In every endeavor I choose to pursue, I believe in supporting each person’s unique journey to live to our fullest potential, and to remember to HAVE FUN in everything we do!

Whatever happens in life, I believe intention and perspective makes all the difference in the world and sometimes, we just need a helping hand to see it from a different point-of-view that fosters growth and love and healing.

Jude is Beautiful!

I hope that each and every individual discovers the opportunity, confidence, and strength to BE and LIVE in ways more amazing than ever believed possible. I believe that one of those ways is through the practice of yoga, meditation, and energy work. By going inward, we connect to that higher self within on an all levels — emotional, physical, and spiritual — to become our best selves and to inspire that light within others.

“Namaste” means “the Divine within me honors and salutes the Divine within you.” In eastern practices, the belief is that we are born divine. We don’t have to seek outside of ourselves for the answer to pure bliss and true wellness. We’re already whole! And, we have all the “right answers” within just waiting to unfold.

Irvina: Amen sister! One of my favorite things about yoga is the reminder to go at your own pace. Life is a journey and we get of course when we pay more attention to other peoples journeys instead of enjoying our own.

So Jude, you’re a busy girl, what do you do for fun?

Jude: EVERYTHING can be fun. But, what brings an instant smile to my face is being around the people I love (even those who are sometimes challenging) and being out in nature. That’s why I surf, rock climb, hike, yoga, and more recently, golf.

I also like to put on soul-movin’ tunes and dance to my heart’s delight in my apartment, listen to thought-provoking audiobooks and podcasts, and play with anything that involves creativity and color, like cooking!

Irvina: I like imagining you soul-movin in your kitchen! Ha! So, what is the craziest thing you have done?

Jude: O, there’s plenty of crazy things I’ve done — whether purposefully or purely by accident. Mostly, I think the craziest and best things I’ve ever done are to listen to — and follow — my heart. Even when hard, it’s always been right. And, in the end, I marvel at how wonderfully things turn out, so that I’ve never been happier!

Irvina: Dang that heart! It’s so hard to listen to, but it’s ALWAYS right! So Jude what do you contribute to the world that you’re most proud of?

Jude: I am proud that my words have brought me around the world www.imalwayswrite.com to experience an array of adventures that keep on coming! And, I’m lucky that to share those memories with friends and family every step of the way.

By combining my passion for writing with teaching yoga and offering Reiki energy, I have also been blessed to inspire incredible transformations with people everywhere I go around the world.

Irvina: I love your website! You’re such a talented writer! So tell me, which action of CREATIVITY, KINDNESS and STRENGTH do you think you most exhibit in your community and WHY?

Teaching yoga and offering Reiki healing services has been a beautifully kind and richly rewarding experience for both the practitioner and the recipient — it’s definitely been one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received and shared!

Through my guided meditations and yoga classes, I encourage every individual to discover the strength that comes not only in movement, but also in building inner awareness through genuine vulnerability. And, because every person is unique, the flow of creativity that is generated throughout one’s practice is amazing to behold.

Irvina: Huh, I never thought of my yoga practice as creative. I’ll have to remember that tonight! So, who is the most beautiful woman you know and why?

Jude: The most beautiful woman I know is the one who embraces everything she is and loves herself entirely — this could be you! There is no limit to the amount of greatness that you can inspire just by being exactly who you are. You can bring strength to the weak, deepen sweetness for those who’ve forgotten what it means to be kind, and bring brilliance to a room that did not know it was dark. The most beautiful woman I know is not someone without imperfections or who does not make mistakes; it is someone who transforms those “flaws” into a wonderfully flawless representation of exactly who she is and creates learning opportunities from the “oops” moments. She is, simply, an amazing woman warrior.

Irvina: I looooooooooooove that! If you combined all my “oops” moments you would have to consider me drop dead gooooogeous! Which I consider I am So my dear, what do you wish young women knew about beauty?

Jude: I wish that every person — woman or man — would know that beauty comes from being true to oneself, from being kind to others, from leading the way rather than simply following paths tried and true. I wish that every individual could recognize that the light within will only shine if given permission to be exactly as we are designed to be, brilliant right to the core. And most of all, that the way we are today is not the way we were yesterday, nor will is the way we’ll be tomorrow, so that in this moment, we are given an opportunity to make the best of what we’ve got and that it can be absolutely fun to do just that!

Is it cray-cray to think Madonna’s too gray-gray to perform at the Super Bowl?

One of my friends was out the other night when a stranger blew bad ju-ju her way. He asked her, “Can you believe they’re having Madonna perform at the Super Bowl half time show this year? What is she like 50 now? Why can’t they get someone younger?”

My friend replied, “She’s one of the world’s most adored performers.”

Bad ju-ju man, “I know, but she’s 50. Why can’t they get Katy Perry?”

My friend went on, “Mick Jagger is still performing and he’s in his 60’s.”

Bad ju-ju man realizes he’s not talking to a girl, he’s talking to a woman. He shuts-up and checks his Blackberry.

In regards to the Super Bowl the only thing I’m excited about are the same 3 same things I’m excited about every year: The chips, the guacamole and the margaritas. However, I will pull my chip out of its dip if I hear anyone trash talk Madonna or any other woman for that matter for her age.  If you feel the same way I have compiled the following,

Irvina’s 3 hand-dandy, sassy, yet still classy responses to someone who is trash talking Madonna on Superbowl Sunday!

#1. “So I guess this means when you turn 50 we can automatically consider you unemployable also.”

Say it with a bright eyed, toothy grin it causes for even more of a dramatic effect.

#2. “Actually, Madonna isn’t 50, the old lady is 53! I guess it takes some time to accomplish:

• Being awarded 20 VMAs from a total of 68 nominations, more than any other artist ever
• Being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as one of the best-known and most influential artists, producer of all time
• Three American Music Awards for Best Female Musician
• A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• Winner of a Golden Globe for Best Actress
• The best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century
• The 2^nd  top-selling female artist of all time in the United States
• Publishing 64 million albums
• Selling more than 300 million records world wide

Oh, but enough about her. What have YOU accomplished?”

#3.) And if you don’t have the energy for either of those you can just say,

“Papa don’t preach! Your being a creep! I’ve made up mind and Madonna’s my baby!” 

Beautiful Girl of the Week: Alli of 31 Bits

Beautiful Girl of the Week is a series of Beautiful Girls who are stand outs for what they contribute to the world through their beautiful actions!  We feature the Beautiful Girl of the Week on the Rewrite Beautiful blog as an attempt to inspire other girls and women to use their own gifts and talents to impact their communities. Our hope is that bringing positive attention to women’s actions will inspire them to embrace their own creative calling!

Alli is Beautiful!

Alli is best known as a local socialite here in the OC. The first time I spotted her she was in a business meeting at Kean Coffee, but abruptly interrupted it to avalanche a friend she spotted with a hug. This friendly gal is the PR and Marketing Manager of 31 Bits a jewelry business designed to give internally displaced women in Northern Uganda an opportunity to counter poverty. 31Bits kindly donated jewelry to the Rewrite Beautiful  TELEIOS Art Show raffle last summer. I’m stoked to be putting my journalism degree to use by giving you an insider look at Alli’s life and her projects with this interview below. Enjoy!

Irvina: Hey! So what is a project you’re currently working on?

Alli: A couple of my closest girl friends and I started a business called 31Bits, in which we work with women in Uganda that design beautiful jewelry out of recycled paper. We started a couple years ago with 6 ladies, and now we employ over 110! It’s only by God’s grace that we’ve gotten this far, and we feel so privileged and honored to play a small part!

31 Bits is empowering women to overcome poverty!

Irvina: That’s so rad! How fun to work with your friends AND help women on the other side of the world! I’ve been hugely inspired by the BITS story myself! So what are you passionate about?

Alli: I’m passionate about people. If I could get paid to go on coffee dates and have long, deep conversations all day long I would! I love hearing about the ways that God is moving and stirring our community. I love hearing how our ladies in Uganda are joining together to dream and plan for their future. I love observing the girls I work with; how they love and care for each other. There is nothing cooler, or more exciting, than to see God at work in the people around me.

Irvina: Awesome another deep convo girl! Yes! Welcome to the club! So what do you do for fun?

Alli: I am addicted to baking. I’m constantly searching Foodgawker.com for the next killer cookie recipe. I also love to go to Disneyland and people watch (not creepy, I promise). And I love to shop. What girl doesn’t?!

Irvina: Yes! I’m right there with you with the baking! What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

Alli: I white water rafted the Nile! Pretty stoked that I survived that one.

Irvina: No way! White Water rafting is on my Bucket List! I can’t wait to do that! So, what do you contribute to the world that you’re most proud of?

Alli: 31 Bits! This organization is my heart! Check out the “Designers” page and read up on some of the women we get to work with. I am SO blessed by these ladies!

Irvina: Oh girl, I’ve already checked it out! I love it! I also love that you’re job allows you to empower other women to find their own gifts and talents. I hope other companies follow in your lead! Kind of like me! Ha! So which action of CREATIVITY, KINDNESS and STRENGTH do you think you most exhibit in your community and WHY?

http://www.31Bits.com

Alli: CREATIVITY. I’m convinced I work with the most talented and creative people on this planet! Our photographer, our graphic designer, our jewelry designer, our stylist. I could go on and on. These people are so visionary and passionate about what they do. Every new look we come out with, whether it’s a special edition Wedding Collection, or our Summer line, keeps getting better.

Irvina: I think it’s so crazy how when we work to help others we are helped 10 fold over!  That’s been my experience with Rewrite Beautiful and it sounds the same with 31 Bits. So who is the most beautiful woman you know and why?

Alli: I’m going to be so cliché and say my mom. Her strong faith and service for the people around her constantly challenges and inspires me. She’s the most selfless person I know. She’s also gorgeous. And she makes some bomb Greek food!

Irvina: Haha! I don’t think that’s cliché at all! So if you could sum it up, what do you think makes a woman beautiful?

Alli: I think that there is nothing more attractive than someone that is following their dreams, loving others and enjoying the life God gave them.

Clips from Rewrite Beautiful’s TV appearance!

In case you missed it Rewrite Beautiful was featured on the TV show, Joy in Our Town! It was an awesome opportunity to get the word out about eating disorders and bring some attention to prevention! A special thanks to the lovely Michelle Smith, LVN the Program Director of  The Victorian, eating disorder treatment center for speaking about the mental and physical components of eating disorders. Also, a super special thanks to our very own Board Member, the remarkable Robyn Baker who gave her eating disorder testimony! These two women made this a well rounded show! I admire both of you for the work you do so other girls and women can also Rewrite Beautiful for themselves. Now we just need to figure out how to get on to Ellen together xoxo!