The Great Coloring Book Giveaway!

Win a free autographed copy!

This past week I had a great time with Katy and Emily (pictured on the left), who were in Los Angeles for a short, but lovely visit. They are very dear friends from the old middle school days on Maui, Hawaii. And now we're all grown up, stepping into adulthood together!

Also, Katy just so happens to be an amazing artist by the name of Renee K. Coates, whose Hawaii-influenced artwork can be found at her website here. Among her many creative endeavors, she recently published a coloring book! Isn't that cool? The Road to Hana tells the story of a family who explores the little town of Hana-Maui during their vacation in Hawaii. It is filled with gorgeous illustrations, and makes a perfect gift for anyone! The coloring book is available for purchase at amazon.com here. I am so proud of my friend, and thrilled that our shared background of Hawaiian life and culture is such a foundational part of her art.

Here is the good news for you, readers. Renee wants to give away a free autographed copy to one of you! That's right - you have the opportunity to receive your own copy of The Road to Hana (retailed at $11.99), sent directly from the author. Pretty much as good as winning an actual trip to Hawaii, if you ask me.

So without further ado, The Great Coloring Book Giveaway!

How can you put your name into the running for the prize? Simple! Answer the question below, either in a comment, or via email to larissalmarks (at) gmail (dot) com. Comments will close at 12pm PST on Friday, May 16th. A winner will be chosen at random, and announced here on the blog on Saturday, May 17th. Make sure you leave your name and a way to contact you if you win. And feel free to pass on the word about this, and let others know about the contest!

Here is the contest question (in the spirit of Hawaii), which you may answer however you want:

What would be your ultimate dream vacation? Where would you go, who would you take, what would you do?

Good luck!

I Dedicate This Blog to...

I am intrigued by authors' dedications. Whenever I pick up a book, I immediately turn a few pages, and find those few lines that sum up who the author deems worthy of honoring. It's such a beautiful, timeless way to thank and bless the person or people in one's life.

Though I don't have a book (maybe someday!), I do have this blog. I've been thinking about who was deserving of a dedication of this blog. Who would I thank? Who would I attribute this blog to? The answer came easily. There is one person in my life who has shaped me more than any other thus far. One person who really does embody the characteristics of this blog. So here is my dedication:

To my mother, Terry.
A woman of courage, humility, compassion,
and many other qualities of indefinable worth.

How about you? Who would you honor with a dedication?

Chicken & Shrimp Paella

This weekend was moderately successful, as measured by the goals I set for myself on Friday. I did accomplish 1) watching the Office, and 5) doing some major spring cleaning (it is insane how many opened ketchup bottles were sitting in our fridge). Goals 2-4 were unfortunately not attained. Still no couch for the porch, Steve dominated me at Mario Kart Wii, and I didn't really think at all about my hair this weekend. I blame laziness.

I also blame it on the fact that Steve and I went to see a television taping on Friday night. You can read more about that on my husband's blog here. Suffice it to say, it's a show that involves an 80's superstar with massive biceps, and an event called the Eliminator. Yeah, we go on crazy dates sometimes.

I also did some cooking this weekend, and made paella for the first time. Paella is a Spanish rice dish that gets it's name from the Valencian term for frying pan. Typically, saffron is a key ingredient in paella, but since I didn't have any saffron around, I sort of improvised the spices. It was delicious, and made about a week's worth of meals for us. Try it, and let me know what you think!

Paella
4 cups chicken broth
2 1/2 cups uncooked long grain rice
1 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
1 large green pepper, julienned
3 green onions, sliced
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 cups frozen peas
1/2 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced

In a saucepan, combine broth, rice, onion, half of the garlic, salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, oregano, pepper and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the green pepper, onions, parsley, thyme, hot pepper sauce and remaining garlic in oil for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms. Cook until green pepper is crisp-tender. Add tomatoes and peas; heat through. Discard bay leaf. Add rice mixture to vegetable mixture and kep warm. In a nonstick skillet, cook and stir shrimp in lemon juice for 2 minutes. Add chicken; cook until chicken is no longer pink and shrimp has turned pink, about 3-5 minutes. Add to rice mixture; toss. Serves 10-12.

A Weekend at Home Means...

Before you begin thinking that my upcoming weekend seems like it might be a bit boring, you should know that I have goals for the next few days. Ambitious and noble goals. Said goals include:

1. Watch last night's episode of The Office (thank you, TiVo!).
2. Find a freebie couch on craigslist for our front porch.
   
3. Beat Steve at Mario Kart Wii. We rented it yesterday, and it's everything I dreamed it would be.
4. Decide what the heck to do with my hair. Leave it? Cut it? This is a major decision that has been giving me hours of anxiety, people.
   
5. Clean my closet, the kitchen, the carpet, and my Gmail inbox. I love Spring Cleaning!
   

With lots of perseverance and drive, I believe that I can accomplish these things, and stand victorious.

What are your goals for the weekend?

Extra Extra: Free Ice Cream and Other Little Joys

• Happy Free Ice Cream Day! If you like ice cream and free stuff (and truly, who doesn't?), head on over to your nearest Ben & Jerry's. Today is the annual Customer Appreciation Day at the fabulously hippie ice creamery. Free scoops of cold, creamy goodness for everyone! By the way, while we're talking about Ben & Jerry's, I have a bone to pick with those guys. They used to have a flavor called Pulp Addiction (does anyone else remember that?). It was a delicious blend of creamy orange ice cream and chocolate-orange ice cream with a splash of orange-flavored brandy liqueur. I ate it throughout my freshman year of college, and then it was sadly discontinued. Bring back Pulp Addiction, Ben and Jerry! It tasted far better than that nasty Phish Food ever did!
  

• I received my first ever blog award! In case you haven't realized, bloggers have a wonderful little community in which we love to shower each other with affirmation and accolades - awards like this make a blogger's day. Thank you to Clueless Cat at Twentysomething and Clueless for the award! Stop by her blog and say hello - she's splendid! In return, I present this award to (wait for it...) everyone on my blogroll! Seriously, go peruse the list for yourself. Every single blog there is awesome.

• I also received a Bloggers Choice Award nomination from the crazy, cool (and fellow LA blogger) Margot at marGOt To Bed. She graciously nominated me for Best Food Blog. I feel so honored! Go vote for me here. Maybe I'll end up with more than two (you guessed it...from myself and my husband) votes.

My Healthy Habits

Since many of you asked about how I managed to lose 20 pounds, I decided to post a list of the personal lifestyle changes I have made in the last year. If you read my guest post on Diethack, some of this will seem suspiciously similar, which it is. But here is a more updated version just for you!

In my personal experience, the diet and exercise habits listed below have been the key to my weight loss. However, these habits fit my personality and lifestyle. While I think they are simple, and potentially manageable by anyone, I firmly believe every individual needs to find habits that work for them.

Hopefully my experience will inspire and encourage other people in their journey towards healthier living!

• Eat a good breakfast. Ignoring conventional wisdom, I never used to eat breakfast (mainly out of sheer laziness). Now I make it a priority to eat a healthy and balanced morning meal, and I've experienced major benefits - more energy, less hunger, less desire to overeat later on. My standard breakfast is oatmeal, fruit and a glass of soy milk. Eating a balanced meal helps propel me into making good food choices for the rest of the day.

• Eat smaller portions. This habit took me a while to get used to, since I spent so many years overeating. In our house, there are two sizes of plates: mini and humongous (like wok-size humongous). I decided to only use the mini plates and smaller bowls, utilizing dish-space psychology to my full advantage. I also found these ways to determine healthy food portions to be extremely helpful. Now my body and brain have adapted to healthier portions - I eat one serving on a smaller dish, eat slowly, and allow my body time to feel full.
  

• Choose the healthier foods. I try to stick with whole wheat pasta, soy milk, brown rice, low fat yogurt, multi-grain bread, etc. instead of their counterparts. That way I consume foods with their maximum nutrients. Whenever I go grocery shopping, I try to look for healthier equivalents to our household staples.
  

• Drink lots of water. My reusable plastic water bottle has become the best friend that I bring everywhere. Drinking water has so many health benefits, including curbing the desire to snack between meals.
  

• Enjoy healthy snacks. In between meals, I try to snack on fruit, vegetables or healthy protein. My current favorites are almonds and dried apricots. Apples and oranges are also great to have around, and easy to carry in my purse. It was pretty straightforward - I had to stop eating junk, and reach for something healthy.

• Skip dessert. My real weakness was dessert - I had a habit of eating dessert on most nights. I decided to wean myself off the dessert by committing to eat dessert only one night a week. This habit allows me to indulge a little, and gives me something to look forward to.

• Exercise three times a week. I began this discipline over a year ago, and have been able to sustain it. My weekly schedule includes one hour at the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Some weeks I'm not as disciplined, but I'll simply get back on track the following week. Each session includes both cardio and strength training.
  

• Get physically active in small ways. I love discovering opportunities to be active beyond going to the gym. I try to take the stairs rather than the elevator. I park farther away from my destination so I have to walk. Sometimes I will lift weights or do stomach crunches while watching television. Finding creative ways to get exercise throughout the day can actually be fun!
  

• Join an online support community. I joined PEERtrainer with a few friends - the site is free, and allows me to have accountability with others. There's nothing like the encouragement of other people who have similar goals. It's also a great place to keep a log of meals and workouts, and track my overall progress.
  

• Find inspiration. I subscribe to a Health magazine, and read blogs and websites related to health, weight loss and nutritious recipes. This simple act has done wonders for me. Now I get regular reminders of my health goals, encouragement, new ideas to try, and testimonies of real people who are intentionally living healthy lifestyles - it's inspiring and motivating!
  

Weighty Issues

As of last week, I have reached my weight goal: I have lost over 20 pounds.

About a year ago, I decided to make some lifestyle changes (which you can read more about here in a guest post I wrote for the health site Diethack).

I wanted to be healthier, and to make better choices regarding exercise and food. And yes, I wanted to lose weight.

To be honest, it took me a while to admit that desire to myself (and others). Somehow, wanting to lose weight sounded shallow and misguided. "I don't care about losing weight...what I really want is to just be healthy," I told myself. This was a half truth. While I really did desire to be healthy, I also wanted to simply shed some of the pounds.

When I finally admitted this to myself, it was liberating. I realized that a lot of my self-perception was consumed by thoughts of my weight, that I had never truly liked my body since high school, and that I was tired of it. I was tired of sucking in my stomach every second of the day. I was tired of feeling self-conscious in the majority of my clothes. I was tired of looking at photos of myself, and only being able to see the fat.

And now, over the last year, much of that has changed.

I realize that many other people have lost unbelievable amounts of weight, and might scoff at a moderately overweight person rejoicing over losing a mere 20 pounds. I also believe that there is a danger in becoming preoccupied with one's body image.

But personally, I feel that the new me is something worth celebrating.

The bottom line is that I feel tremendously more healthy than I ever have before. For the first time in my life, I am taking responsibility for my body's condition. I am satisfied with the amount of physical activity I am doing, and with the self-control I now have with food. I am comfortable in my body. And yes, I am glad to see those 20 pounds go.