Visit Oprah and Olympians in Chicago

You have a chance to see Oprah and several Olympians in Chicago.
Place: Millennium Park
Time: The park opens at 6 am. Admission to the lawn will be first come first served basis.
Date: Wednesday, September 3rd
For more information and surprises about the event, go to Chicago2016 Channel.

Look Good, Feel Good and Do Good with Soulstice Spa

Delicate tuberose. Zesty grapefruit. Energizing mint. These are just a few of the gorgeous, natural scents found in the Soulstice bodycare collection.

Based in Sausalito, California, Soulstice Spa is an innovative, boutique skincare and cosmetics company merging beauty, science and social responsibility. A portion of company proceeds goes to support social and environmental non-profit organizations. The entire line is vegan, cruelty-free and manufactured in the United States.

The seven piece bodycare line consists of lush body lotions, corrective balms, polishes, shower scrubs and daily cleansers. The Soulstice Nail Colour collection features twenty modern shades of long-wearing color and shine. All of the polishes - plus a clear topcoat treatment - are free of the toxins DBP, formaldehyde and toluene.

Founder, Kayse Gehret, set out to create a high performance line for the body, employing natural botanicals and essential oils along with cutting edge ingredients developed by science. Customers adore these luxurious botanical formulations and embrace the company's goal: "Look good. Feel good. Do good!"

For more information on product by Soulstice Spa, visit the beauty page on Uptown Liz.

Photo caption: Kayse Gehret

Calling All September Babies - Give Up Your Birthday for charity: water

Scott Harrison, the founder of charity: water, is using his birthday to make a difference for the second year in a row. Last year he asked people to donate money toward a well in Kenya instead of buying him gifts. He also called out to others born in September to do the same. The result was $159,000 raised that went toward a water system at three hospitals and one school in Kenya. All donors - no matter the size of the donation - had their name on the well at the Mogotio Health Clinic.

From Scott Harrison's birthday page:

I want my 33rd birthday to make a difference this year, and I need your help.
I recently returned from a trip to Ethiopia, where I visited 33 villages without clean water that you see on the homepage. The people I met there broke my heart. Some walked hours each day, breaking their backs carrying dirty water. Others drank water with leeches in it. I promised to help each and every one of them get clean water. And then to keep going and fight for others - to really make a dent in Ethiopia's water crisis.

I'm asking for your help. I want to raise $1.5 million to build at least 333 wells in Ethiopia. Those wells can give more than 150,000 people clean and safe drinking water. To do that, I'm giving up gifts that I don't want or need, and asking for your donations of $33, $330 or whatever you can give.

100% of all donations go DIRECTLY to build wells that will be proved on Google Earth, and all donations will be matched by a group of compassionate friends and businesses.

So $33 = $66, and $330 = $660.

If we're successful, we'll drill a well live from Ethiopia on September 7th, so you can see exactly what your money will do.

Water Rules at Saks Fifth Avenue

It's not just designer duds coming down the runway at Saks Fifth Avenue - it's clean water as well. The high-end department store hosted their Summer Gala - a fundraiser for charity: water - with 1,000 guests including celebrities Jennifer Connelly, Mischa Barton and Adrien Grenier.

According to their Web site, charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Right now, 1.1 billion people on the planet don't have access to safe, clean drinking water - that's one out of six people. Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Many people in the developing world, usually women and children, walk more than three hours every day to fetch water that is likely to make them sick. Those hours are crucial, preventing many from working or attending school. Additionally, collecting water puts them at greater risk of sexual harassment and assault. Children are especially vulnerable to the consequences of unsafe water; of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and a lack of basic sanitation, 90% are children under 5 years old.

Just $20 can give a person in Africa clean, safe drinking water for 20 years, and the partnership of Saks Fifth Avenue and charity: water have raised more than $500,000, funding over 100 wells in developing nations in a two-month time period.

Brighter Smiles with tarte

What will tarte think of next? Not only are they making their beauty products "green" and good for you, they're on the cutting edge of the cosmetics industry. Their summer 2008 collection: health couture has lip products for even the most avid of collectors. If your bathroom has become a cosmetics lab like mine, you'll only be too happy to make room for these genius innovations.

BriteSmile® and tarte cosmetics have put their heads together to ensure a beautiful smile in one product - enbrightenmint ($26). On one end of this double-ended item you can whiten your teeth and the other apply lipgloss - all on the go. The BriteSmile® formula whitens teeth up to eight shades in just 14 days, and with the minty taste you won't have to worry about offending your smooching partner or ruining your dinner. Both the radiant red and pearly pink shades have blue undertones, which help your teeth look extra white in no time.

Who doesn't want a few choices in their lipgloss, but doesn't have room in the overstuffed bag (never mind the kitchen sink)? No problem with tarte's limited edition lips ahoy ($30) lipgloss set which comes in a nautical pouch and has a water resistant formula. Four mini, double-ended, natural vanilla fragrance glosses come in eight colors: cherry and dallas (gold-tinged coral and shimmery pale pink), allie and noah (shimmery thistle and sheer lilac pink), annie and sam (shimmery pastel pink and gold-tinged apricot), angela and jordan (sheer peach and gold-tinged mauve).

Both of these healthy, chic, on the go lip products are paraben free, phthalate free, sulfate free and mineral oil free. They also have the the tarte t5 super fruit complex™ which is a proprietary blend of the five most active super fruits: goji, acai, maracuja, acerola and pomegranate. The first blend of its kind, the t5 super fruit complex™ is loaded with naturally occurring, antioxidant rich nutrients and vitamins that have been known to deliver refining, anti-aging and skin-restorative benefits with each application.

With the purchase of every tarte product that has their new t5 super fruit complex™, you'll be supporting Sambazon's Sustainable Acai Project (SAP) which is preserving the Amazon Rainforest through forest conservation, improved living conditions and educational opportunities for communities in Brazil.

To purchase these products go to http://www.tartecosmetics.com/, http://www.sephora.com/, http://www.beauty.com/, Henri Bendel or Bergdorf Goodman.

Celebrities Donate Earnings to Heath Ledger's Daughter

At the time of actor Heath Ledger's death, he was filming the movie The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law joined the cast to play different versions of Heath's character.

The three actors decided to donate their earnings from the film to Ledger's daughter, Matilda, when learning he had not updated his will to include her. Please support the work of these generous men by seeing this movie and their future projects. Johnny Depp - The Rum Diary, Dark Shadows, Shantaram, and Public Enemies. Colin Farrell - Dirt Music, Ondine, Triage, and Pride and Glory. Jude Law - Repossession Mambo and Rage.

Gal to Gal Virtual Walk Offers Major Publicity for Companies

Last year the Gal to Gal Foundation - a nonprofit dedicated to helping stage IV breast cancer patients and their families - had great companies sponsoring their first-ever Virtual Walk (Yoplait, FTD.com, Fodors and others). Now it's your turn! Your company can be featured throughout the Walk, the press coverage and all publicity opportunities both on http://www.galtogalwalk.org/ and on http://www.designhergals.com/. This opportunity will give you exposure to thousands of visitors daily. Additionally, they are working on two new PR events - an opening party in New York, and a "Viral Video" with celebrities endorsing the Walk - and they are working on ways to incorporate their sponsors into these events as well.

Please take a moment to look through their Partnership Tiers, which include several levels of sponsorship opportunities, as well as inclusion in celebrity gift bags. Last year during the Virtual Walk:

* They raised more than $200,000 - and used the funds to sponsor education programs and to grant wishes for advanced stage breast cancer patients and their families through Making Memories.
* Over 10,000 walkers participated.
* Nearly 500,000 unique visits to the Web site in 30 days.
* Media and sponsorship reached over 5 million - including national exposure on CBS, ABC, and The Martha Stewart Show - among many other radio, web and print spots.

This year's 2nd Annual Walk in October will include:

* You can walk in "teams" with your friends and associates - even celebrities!
* Your Guy Pals will be able to create their guy walker.
* Several dozen celebrity endorsements.
* Enhanced "reach" - leading companies like FranklinCovey will promote the Walk to their customer base and distribution channels.

If you are interested in being a sponsor - or lending your support in another way - please go to http://www.galtogalwalk.org/ for more information. Ignore the deadline on their sponsorship page. All levels are still open, but spaces are limited.

If you are not interested in being a sponsor, but would still like to support the organization, you can send a donation to: Gal to Gal Foundation, 777 Wall St., Suite 203B, Bend, OR 97701. Click here to make a donation online. If you can’t donate financially – then consider a link out from their Web site to the Walk site? They will have “grab n go” Walk banners available September 1st.

Kelly Ripa and Friends Have a Super Saturday

Kelly Ripa, Molly Sims, Christy Turlington and other celebrities put their shopping skills to the test for a good cause. Super Saturday, an event held in the Hamptons, raises thousands of dollars for The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund every year.

Referred to as the "Rolls Royce of Garage Sales" by The New York Times, the shopping extravaganza has over 200 designers - from Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, Carolina Herrera, Theory, Maxx New York and more - at deeply discounted prices.

According to their Web site, the mission of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund is to fund research to find a method of early detection and ultimately a cure for ovarian cancer. In support of their mission, they help patients and their loved ones understand the disease and its treatment, and provide outreach programs to raise public awareness.

To shop for products on Uptown Liz that support Ovarian Cancer, click here.

Mariska Hargitay Has a Joyful Heart

Mariska Hargitay, star of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, hosted the first annual Joyful Heart Gala which benefited the nonprofit she started to help victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Hargitay and friends such as Hillary Swank, Marcia Gay Harden, Bobby Flay, and Jill Hennessy raised $1.2 million for the foundation.

"I started the Joyful Heart Foundation in 2002 to help survivors of sexual assault heal their minds, bodies and spirits and reclaim their lives. Playing Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit opened my eyes to the epidemic of sexual assault in this country. It wasn't just in the scripts for the show, but in the many emails I received from viewers disclosing their stories of sexual assault for the first time.

I felt a great responsibility to these brave women to let them know that they had been heard and that they could have hope. I studied the subject, trained to become a crisis counselor, and have used my visibility as an actress to become an advocate. The result was The Joyful Heart Foundation, an organization dedicated to providing support and encouragement for survivors of sexual assault.

In creating programs for our members, we quickly realized that everyone heals differently. We provide an extensive network of resources for women and our own groundbreaking retreats that include art therapy, surf camps, swimming with dolphins in the wild, yoga and writing workshops that complement traditional counseling and therapy. When women are abused and assaulted, it is like the doors to their souls slam shut. The goal of Joyful Heart is to let the light, and the life, back in--to banish the darkness and let the healing begin." (From the Joyful Heart Foundation's Web site).

To shop for products on Uptown Liz that support sexual assault victims (and the Joyful Heart Foundation), click here.

Wentworth Miller and Fans Support UNICEF

In a previous blog article, it was mentioned that fans of Wentworth Miller, star of the hit TV show Prison Break, were raising money for UNICEF. The fundraising effort, appropriately named Wentworth Miller Fans For Charity, raised a total of $18,526 ($5,000 of it donated by Miller), for children in need around the world.

According to their Web site, UNICEF is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized. They have the global authority to influence decision-makers, and the variety of partners at grassroots level to turn the most innovative ideas into reality. That makes them unique among world organizations, and unique among those working with the young.

Congratulations to Miller's fans for a job well done!