What's Your Culture?

Culture -- 

1. the total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values, and knowledge,which constitute the shared bases of social action
2. the total range of activities and ideas of a group of people with shared traditions, which are transmitted and reinforced by members of the group: the Mayan culture
3.  biology -- a. See also culture medium the experimental growth of microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, in a nutrient substance (culture medium), usually under controlled conditions

Earlier this week I had an opportunity to sit down with Dannon and Mia Hamm at the Treehouse Social Club in Los Angeles with a few other mom bloggers.

Dannon is launching a new campaign aimed at encouraging Californians to live a more active and healthier lifestyle.

Mia Hamm at the Treehouse Social Club

The campaign consists of five key components:

1. Encouraging families to take a pledge to make healthy food choices and include physical activity
2. A partnership with soccer legend Mia Hamm
3. A partnership with and donation to the California State Parks Foundation (CSPF) 
4. The Dannon mobile tour
5. An ongoing, interactive program that provides families with support and rewards for making healthy choices. 

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1 comment California, coupons, Dannon, health, lifestyle, weight loss

Some Real Odd Balls

Usually, my horoscope makes me laugh. Today is no different. Wacko energy is right on, but I think it's because I am trying to find a balance between eating enough to not faint, but still have enough to exercise, actually exercising, stress, and other stuff. The spice I will have to ask the Hunk about.

I'm not attracted to odd balls. They are attracted to me. I think I have the invisible ink thing going on still.

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Mamavation Monday: Supersize Me

192.2lbs. Body fat at 38.1%

Well, Easter Sunday was quite the wake-up for me. Actually it was Saturday night that had me almost crying in the dressing room of my local Target. In four years I have managed to double my size, and it's not a thyroid issue. My doctor has checked often enough since one of my chief complaints is fatigue.

Four years ago at Easter I looked like this:

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4 comments Mamavation, weight loss

Meeting the Cast of Disney's Prom at Macy's

Happy Birthday!

I try to make my kid's birthdays memorable. It gets harder as they get older. My son simply asks for money now. My daughter, I can still surprise and impress.

Last night we attended the PROM cast signing at Macy's in the Glendale Galleria.

At the signing event, Macy’s shoppers can make a girl’s prom dream come true by donating their gently worn prom or formal dresses, which will be given to LA’s Prom Closet, a local DonateMyDress.org chapter.  

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2 comments Aimee Teegarden, Cameron Monaghan, Danielle Campbell, Disney, Janelle Ortiz, Jared Kusnitz, Joe Adler, Jonathan Keltz, Kylie Bunbury, Macys, Nolan Sotillo, Raini Rodriguez, Thomas McDonell, Yin Chang

Mouthwatering Monday: Herb-Roasted Lamb Loin Chops

Herb-Roasted Lamb Loin Chop

Last night I was at a loss as to what to prepare for dinner.  We had these tasty lamb loin chops from F&E that I was saving for Easter dinner, but two people I cook for don't like mint jelly. What's up with that???? Also my daughter was going to be at her Dad's for Easter, and since lamb is a family tradition I opted to make it early.

I present herb-roasted lamb loin chops.  Sides were F&E brand three cheese risotto and steamed broccoli.

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3 comments Easter, Fresh and Easy, Mouthwatering Monday, recipes

Post Production World: Day 1

This is the first year that I have come to NAB before the exhibits open. There is a lot to learn in Post | Production World and Day 1 did not disappoint. I'm actually going back and forth between three tracks : Adobe Creative Suite 5, Producer | Director Workshop, and Social Media Bootcamp. And then there are the exhibits!

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Leave a Comment Adobe, NABShow, project management

MyNABShow app

I have high hopes for the 2011 myNABShow app. It allows you to sync your schedule with the website, add friends, find exhibits, and follow the #NABShow twitter stream.  If you have Twicca you can reply from within the app. These are just the features I use.
However, as of this writing there are still issues syncing your profile, which negates the most useful parts of the app.  It affects your schedule and also affects the 'add friend' function. 
I've redone my profile three times in the last two days, logged out, logged back in,  and right now I'm waiting to hear from support. If you have issues with the app, please email them. I received a very quick response. The more info they have hopefully the faster they can push a fix.
I'll update this as soon as I have a fix.

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Leave a Comment android, apps, NABShow, productivity

Wordless Wednesday: House (music) dog

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Countdown to NAB!

Holy Cow! One week left! I can't believe it. This will be my third year attending and I intend to document it. Maybe, after class (Post | Production World) and all the
partying
networking.

My first year I was picked out of the blue by @NABShow to blog about it and was lucky enough to know someone going who needed an extra set of hands. I'm not cut out to be a gopher. I got to meet some amazing people and hang out in the bookstore (which was fine by me!), check out the content theater, and live tweet. I was too busy doing all that to blog it. I know, shame on me.

Last year I went because the conference co-incided with my unemployment. I also attended the Job Fair (making a return this year). There were some great panels and I met Edwin of PinkSlip Mixers . The information learned at the panels and from the Career Advising Center was invaluable. It may be because the sytlist said I look really good in purple that I wear it more confidently these days. Yes, there is a stylist. First impressions still matter.

Conferences are for networking, right? I got to meet some of the brains and brawn of the NABShow social media team at Tuvel Communications. This year I get to meet the "voice" of @NABShow in person.

If you are still thinking about going, you better grab this free Exhibits Only pass (at the very least check out all the awesome gear and get into some of the after-parties), some great housing, and maybe drive, because the plane tickets aren't cheap anymore.

Vegas or bust!

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• Get Your Content in the Cloud at NAB (sorensonmedia.com)

Leave a Comment 2011, NAB, NABShow

Phoenix Rising

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Phoenix Rising.
Book 1 in the
 Ministry of Peculiar
Occurrences series

Being on a budget I was hoping to get this from NetGalley, but after watching Tee run, then stop and set his watch (excellent editing by the way Tee), trying not to burst into giggles around my coworkers, I have put the book on pre-order. April 26, 2011 can't come soon enough!

Watch the video below the jump.

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Leave a Comment book trailer, Philippa Ballantine, Phoenix Rising, Tee Morris

Mamavation Monday : Skinny B*tch

Yesterday I was scrolling through tweets of friends of friends, looking for new people to follow and generally "eavesdropping" on interesting conversations. I came across a tweet from a woman who seems to exude confidence and attitude. She was complaining about being 5'10", weighing a buck and a quarter, and denying herself some comfort food. PUH-LEAZE!

My first thought was "You're kidding right? Even Liv Tyler told someone to shove it when they wanted her below 130lbs. 135-150lbs is a healthy weight for someone 5'10".

My second thought was "Your boyfriend must like the pre-pubescent boy look," - not kind, I know, but damn,  "no cushion for the pushin'" because every other tweet from this woman was about how much sex she gets. I needed a little snark to offset my third thought -- the inevitable "skinny b*itch". I don't like being jealous. It means I need a reality check.

I can relate to being the skinny bitch.  I used to be 115lbs. I'm 5'8". I was always trying to gain weight. I ate like a horse. Even after giving birth to the Teen I maintained at 120lbs and then went back to almost 110lbs because of stress. My grandmother threatened to put me in the hospital and let me eat a half a sweet potato pie by MYSELF! Practically unheard of in my family. I miss those days.

After moving to Oregon in the late '90s and freezing my butt off my first year, I ate and ate and ate and didn't exercise, it still took me two years to get to 135lbs. I finally had a little cushion. And then my 30s hit and well, stress doesn't make the weight fall off me anymore. But I hit 160lb and was told by all who love me that I didn't look sickly skinny any more, finally had some curves, etc.

I'm paying attention to what I eat now, and so very disappointed in what my body CAN'T do, because I have no strength from not exercising. And I'm overweight, borderline obese. And wanting to get back to 150 like nobody's business. When I was a "skinny bitch" it was because of my metabolism. Not because I was starving myself.

So in the end, she can starve herself, I will want to feed her sweet potato pie (not really), and continue to tell my daughter that she has the body type that is meant to be strong and that she is not skinny like I used to be and how her brother is, and hope that I can show her what it means to be HEALTHY. Not SKINNY. Because real women are strong. And have curves.

3 comments eating disorders, Mamavation, weight loss