A few weeks ago, we asked you to help us give back to our community. By making comments on our blog in celebration of our 200th blog post, you have supported us. In turn, we are donating cans for each comment made during that time. We now have 49 cans (21 pictured- the rest are still in the big box) to give to our Food Bank. These will help people who have had a rough time of it, neighbors who are in need. Thank you so much for helping us help them.

Here’s to a healthy and happy holiday season!

Much love,
Jo & Dave

Here’s how it works… For every new visitor who comes to our blog and leaves a comment – anywhere on our blog- preferably in the deep bowels of our blog- I promise I will find them…. For every person who adds a comment in the next 7 days (you have until Oct. 2 at 11:59 pm EST)- that’s 168 hours, or 10,080 minutes, or 604,800 seconds- we are going to donate a can to our local food bank.

So easy, you put a little note on our blog and we all make a difference in the world.

So go on, do it, do it now, help hungry people! Then spread the word, tell friends and family and they, too, can make a difference. It’s so, so easy.

There were people of all ages, races, styles running. And some with great sense of humor- like this guy- and the guy who wore a hamburger and the girl who had pink bows on her shoes. Anything to keep yourself joyful as you run… And presumably these fun peeps brought joy to all those around them.

Dave and I arrived late- around 4 hours into the run- because I had an appointment. We had hoped to "see" one of our brides who ran the Marathon. Unfortunately we just missed her. She finished in 4 hours! Amazing.

Our wanderings lead us to the 20 mile marker.

This lady has a great smile on her face.

Determination.

The sidelines were probably as interesting as the runners.

These committed volunteers handed out gatorade and water to the athletes. The two in the very front were calling people’s names to get them excited. I can only imagine they were tired from standing and cheering all day long, and I am sure they had water and gatorade thrown on them a few times, as runners rushed to get rid of their cups.

The kids were so cute giving high-5’s to passers-by. And it was always fun to see the runners reach out to one of the kids.

This group of teens was full of energy- cheering on everyone who came by. Love the sign "Happy Thoughts!" I am sure they brought smiles to more than one runner.

This is such a fun sequence. The two ladies in orange- their faces totally lit up when they saw their friend in black.

Then they attacked her with hugs. What must it feel like to be 20 miles done, with 6 still ahead, and see a friendly face?!

Anybody else make it to the Marathon and have fun stories or sightings to share?

If you want to see more, you can check out our photostream on flickr. Or more on Boston.com.

I’ve been wanting to do a hair donation for some time now.  In the past I was either too impatient to let it grow or I was in an office setting where having hair that long just didn’t look professional.  The organization I wanted to donate to, Pantene Beautiful Lengths, requires a minimum of 8″ and you need to leave a little on your head after the fact too so it does take a while to grow out, even for someone like me whose hair grows pretty fast.

I’d already let my hair get pretty long over the last year or so, and after leaving my office job I didn’t have to worry about the professional issue either.  Then came the patience part. It was starting to get annoyingly long but I wanted to make sure I had enough to make a good donation.  My husband measured my ponytail for me recently and he said I had about 8.5-9″ available, leaving the resulting hair at just about or slightly above chin level.  Time for the big chop!

Jo was kind enough to agree to go to the salon with me for moral support and to take some before and after shots.  We had a great time, especially since the stylist, Laurel, was so nice.  She measured my hair again and told me that I had 10″ to donate! Wow, I had no idea.  It was kind of weird watching her cut off the two long ponytails she gathered, but I didn’t regret it for a second.

Now I’m sporting a cute (if I do say so myself ;)) little bob that’s longer in front and shorter in back (it’s about an inch below the very base of my head).

My hair looks so much healthier coming out of the salon. I haven’t had hair this short in a while, but surprisingly it doesn’t feel that weird. And I haven’t even needed to use a scarf yet like I thought I would–I’ve been insulating my neck with my hair on the cold days out here and thought I’d be freezing after the big chop :) The salon is so organized that they’re going to send my donation in for me along with another lady’s donation that was being cut later in the week.

Final note: the reason I chose to donate to PBL rather than the better-known Locks of Love is that PBL focuses on wigs for cancer patients, whereas LoL primarily creates wigs for people suffering from alopecia, which researchers believe is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks its own hair follicles. Alopecia sufferers are often completely bald, including women. While this is also a sad and, I imagine, demoralizing condition I personally wanted to focus on cancer sufferers, hence my decision to go with PBL.

Karen is a guest writer for our blog. She lives in the Boston area and is 2005 Allegro bride. If you would like to make a similar donation, please contact Pantene Beautiful Lengths. If you would like to be a guest writer for our blog, please write a comment to let us know or send an email..

Michael was diagnosed with cancer last February. The strength and courage of the Chase family to perservere, to connect with others, and to remain positive is truly inspiring. I am so thankful that we had this chance to give back.

Get well soon, Michael! We’re pulling for you.

Click here to follow Michael’s progress.