To Every Woman: A Love Letter
August 9, 2010
I know I’m a little late for this, but better late than never, right?
To every woman who has ever felt unworthy
To every woman who has ever felt lonely
To every woman who has ever wondered, “Am I beautiful?”
To every woman who has compared herself to another
To every woman who has asked herself, “Why me?”
To every woman who has ever been lied to
To every woman who is struggling
To every woman who is crying
To every woman who is empty
To every woman who is searching for an answer
Take this.
From a woman who has experienced the deepest low and soared at the highest heights
From a woman who has questioned everything
From a woman who has discovered her beauty
From this woman to you.
From inside your heart, beauty blossoms.
From inside your soul, love dwells.
From inside your mind, wisdom emerges.
From the inside, your beauty shines.
Love your body for all it can do, love your body for all it has done.
Never forget how far you have come, and always remember how far you will go.
Click here, pass on the love.
Spreading the Love
July 8, 2010
What’s great to spread? Peanut butter.
But what do I love to spread even more than peanut butter (Gasp! Blasphemy, I know)?
Love!
Have you heard of Operation Beautiful?
The idea is simple: grab some post-its and a sharpie, and write something encouraging or uplifting. Leave it anywhere – the gym, a changing room, a shelf in a store, or anywhere someone else will find it. That’s it. It’s such a simple gesture with a truly giant impact.
When I first chose to overcome my eating disorder, I did two things. First, I got my NEDA tattoo. The red, which is the smaller side, represents my eating disorder, my struggles, my pain. The purple, which is larger, represents overcoming everything that ever brought me down.
I also discovered the joy that Operation Beautiful brought. I was able to brighten someone’s day, give them a smile, and more importantly, maybe even change their attitude with just a little square of paper. What’s better than that? Not peanut butter, that’s for sure.
So go grab your post-it notes and Sharpies and spread the peanut butter love!
And don’t forget…
Technically speaking
June 21, 2010
Technically speaking, I should be doing my summer coursework. It starts on Thursday but I’ve already been assigned an essay, two chapters of reading, and two quizzes. Hey, I did the essay…. it was an “about me” paper. 
Instead of working hard, I hardly worked. I elliptical-ed my heart out and then did this in the gym’s bathroom:
And left this at the gas station:
Technically speaking, it’s probably vandalism. Encouraging, fabulous, wonderful vandalism.
(If you’re wondering what these post-its are, they’re a part of Operation Beautiful and I highly encourage you to visit the site and help spread the love. You know you want to.)
And then, because it’s Father’s Day and all, I did something nice for mi padre and made him epic banana bread. It’s one thing I can make that both he and I will eat. Because technically, he doesn’t know it’s vegan.
The Best Banana Bread You’ll Ever Have
You’ve probably heard that claim before on other recipe sites, but I’ve got the goods to back it up. Trust. This recipe is not only delicious, it’s fat free (the only fats that occur are natural), whole wheat, dairy free, and contains no refined sugars.
Whatcha gonna need!
The wet ingredients:
5 ripe bananas
1/2 cup maple syrup/agave nectar blend
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
The dry ingredients:
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
a sprinkle of cinnamon
Sift all of the dry ingredients together until they’re combined. Or if you don’t wanna dirty up a sifter, because it’s a pain to wash, combine the dry ingredients with a whisk or fork.
In another bowl, take out your anger. Mash up all the wet ingredients. I like it to be a kind of chunky consistency so that you can tell it’s banana bread and not unidentifiable loaf.
Next, combine the wet and dry ingredients together and mix until they are just combined. At this point, you could add in anything else you might want. Chocolate chips, walnuts, blueberries, or even peanut butter would be particularly delicious.
If it’s too thick, add a bit more water to the batter – but not too much. You want it thick like pancake batter. You may also want to add more agave or maple syrup if you like it sweet. I felt a little fruity today so I toped my loaf with another banana that was almost on its way out.
Grease a loaf pan and put yo bread into your oven, which you most definitely didn’t forget to preheat to 375 degrees. Let it bake for an hour, checking occasionally. Use the oven light instead of opening the door.
Once it’s done, you’re gonna wanna bust that bad boy outta the pan immediately, but don’t. Let it cool before you transfer it to a plate. It’s hard to resist chowing down on this sucker straight from the oven…. go for a walk while you wait! Come back and your casa will smell like pure deliciousness.
Worth the wait.
Technically speaking, it’s so good it should be illegal.
Becuase 10 out of 10 non-vegans approve of this message dish, It wins this:
Technically speaking, that was the worst pun ever.
PS – bloggers in CLT, wanna have a meetup sometime soon? 
