Needing to know your lemons is not an Illusion.....

International Grand Illusionist Ryan Joyce has sent a personal message to remind everyone just how important it is to squeeze your lemons! Knowing if something feels different could just save your life!

Huge thanks to the truly incredible Ryan Joyce, who has raised over $2,000,000 for charities with his shows and last year alone raised $13,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

I had the pleasure to see Ryan first hand at the 4th Annual Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Volunteer Awards a couple of weeks ago, it was incredible.

When was the last time you squeezed your lemons ?

Incredibly Honoured

On stage accepting the Outstanding Volunteer Award with Canada AM's Beverly Thomson & Vice Chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Ontario Region Board of Directors Christy Teasdale.

This past Sunday April 17th was the 4th Annual Volunteer Awards for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, a 'Mad Hatter' themed tea party held at the beautiful Royal York in Toronto. I am incredibly honoured to share with you that I was nominated for two awards this year. Erin McBride Leadership-Retutning Run Director Award and Outstanding Volunteer Award. I was truly humbled and honoured to receive these nominations, two year ago I received the award for New Run Director at the 2nd Annual Volunteer Awards, so to be recognized again is truly such an honour.

I came home with the Outstanding Volunteer Award. I truly thank those who nominated me, as well as each and every person who helps to make our run site so successful from my fabulous committee, to all the remarkable local sponsors, volunteers, participants and donors. Each of you are making such a huge difference in creating a future without breast cancer.

Congratulations to all of the winners and nominee's. I am honoured and proud to be among you and to be part of this enormous team known as the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, that is helping to create a future without breast cancer.

For details on all of the awards please click here.

Have you made time to squeeze your lemons lately?

I'm excited....

I'm so excited about two books that I have started reading. I was going to wait and blog about them after I finished reading them, but the more I get into them, the more I really want to and feel the need to share them. If you haven't heard of these books or haven't read them, you should!

The first is.....

There's Lead in Your Lipstick: Toxins in Our Everyday Body Care and How to Aviod Them, by a Canadian Author, Gillian Deacon.

Gillian is an award-winning broadcaster, she wrote another book called Green for Life, which was a national bestseller and she is also one of Canada's best-known environmental advocates.

I think it's also important to note that as Gillian was writing this book she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Trust me this is a book you need to read, it's going to make you think twice about buying some products, it's going to make you check labels to see what is in the products you already love, and when you see that pretty packaging sitting on store shelves, before you purchase it, this book it going to make you check to see what's in it.

The second book is....

Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr

I actually heard about this book through a tweet from Gillian Deacon, so I started looking into it. Kris has a few sites I think you really need to check out, Crazy Sexy Life, Crazy Sexy Diet and Crazy Sexy Cancer. Kris was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that isn't treatable and does not have a cure. Her first doctor suggested a triple organ transplant, her second gave her 10 years to live, she keep looking for the best doctor she could find and as Kris puts it, decided to become the CEO of Save My Ass Technology's Inc.

Kris calls the tumour spots in her liver and lungs her "beauty spots", and while she still has her "beauty spots" Kris has been living a very healthy and happy life with cancer for 8 years.

Crazy Sexy Diet is Kris's gift to all of us, 8 years of what she has been learning and practicing in her own life, she is sharing with us in her book.

There's Lead in Your Lipstick is going to make you think about you put on your body, what you lather on, spritz on and soak in, and Crazy Sexy Diet is going to make you think about what you put into your body, grabbing a fast food meal, or actually taking the time to make a healthy meal.

My grandfather died from cancer in 1974, ( I never knew him ) he was just 54 years old, 29 years later my father died from cancer, he was just 4 days shy of his 56th birthday. I truly believe that a cure will come and I hope it's very soon. In the mean time these two books have made me realize that maybe while we help to raise the much needed money for the cure, we should also start looking more and more into how and what we can do ourselves in our own lives to prevent it in the first place. Let me know what you think of the books! Post in the comment section below.

It's important to know your lemons. The best way to get to know them is to squeeze them!

On Sunday October 2nd, Who will you be running for?

On Sunday October 2nd 2011 hundreds of participants will come together at Harbourview Park in Collingwood.

Each will have their own reasons for participating, but ALL will share the same goal!

A future without breast cancer!

On Sunday October 2nd Who will you be running for?

How often do you squeeze your lemons ?

Music in the slideshow is Juke Kartel - Brightest Star you can purchase it on iTunes, and all the photo's taken by Isis Photography.

2011 Registration is 'LIVE'

Click to go to our Collingwood page.

As of Friday April 1st the 2011 Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure website is 'live', you can register now and begin your team recruitment and fundraising.

It's a brand new website with some great new features, including the ability for team captains to now have a co-team captain. Much like last year you can also personalize your own fundraising page. I still believe that, that is one of the most important parts to the fundraising centre on the website, so my advice is after you've registered to spend a few mins on it, upload a photo and write a little message. Everyone shares the same goal ' a future without breast cancer ', but we all have different reasons why on Sunday October 2nd we will be walking, running, volunteering, etc. so personalize your page and share your reason with the people who you are asking to support you!

Don't forget to follow Freshly Squeezed on facebook and twitter, and most importantly, don't forget to squeeze your lemons !