a terrific new book available for pre-order!

Posted on June 4, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

WOODEN & ME:
Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with
Humanitarian and Coach John Wooden to
Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece”

Hi, friends! I have a special post today with some terrific news to share: my amazing dad, who also happens to be an amazing writer, has written a book about his relationship with the legendary coach and humanitarian John Wooden. The book is now available for pre-order on Kickstarter, and he needs your help to make this book’s publication a reality!

Do you ever feel adrift? Are you looking for more purpose, love and strength in your life? Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed by your goals or disappointed by setbacks that inevitably spring up. Or perhaps you are looking for a wise, heart-warming book to read this summer.

If you loved books like Tuesdays With Morrie, The Happiness Project, or Kitchen Table Wisdom, I know you will love WOODEN & ME!

This book would also make a terrific Father’s Day or graduation gift. Do you love basketball or have a basketball lover in your life? This is the book for you!

Here’s how you can help:

1) Pre-order your copy at the Kickstarter campaign at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1138392258/wooden-and-me-book-and-e-book

2) Share the link with your friends and family — and ask them to do the same. Pledged supporters will receive a signed copy of WOODEN & ME this summer upon publication.

3) Join the Facebook event and spread the word! https://www.facebook.com/events/630992526929012/633205676707697/?notif_t=plan_mall_activity

Now I’ll leave you with some words from my dad about the genesis of this project and what your support means to him:

As a longtime newspaper sports columnist in Southern California I am often asked to speak to civic groups – and the person audiences invariably want to hear more about during the Q&A afterward is Coach John Wooden. Listeners at these talks, as well as readers of my columns, over the years have encouraged me to write a book about my experiences with Coach.

Now I have, with the memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece.”

It was in 1987 as a young sports writer and near-newlywed that I met Coach, who soon became a friend and mentor through the births of my two children and their growth into young adulthood; the death of my mother; career decisions; and more. As I note in my completed manuscript: “One did not have to play for Coach Wooden in order to be one of his students, and of this I am a privileged example. I was not one of his basketball players – except for one glorious week at his youth camp in 1975 – but make no mistake, I was his pupil. No coach or teacher or professor has taught me more, or taught me more important things.”

Just as Coach Wooden was beloved and revered by people of all ages and all backgrounds, readers from teens to parents to grandparents, basketball fans and non-fans alike, will find WOODEN & ME enlightening and inspiring.

* * *

“WOODEN & ME is an inspiring combination of Tuesdays With Morrie and Chicken Soup for the Soul” — author Randy Robertson

Order your copy today! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1138392258/wooden-and-me-book-and-e-book

I’ll be back tomorrow with this week’s year of kindness challenge! Have a wonderful day, and thanks in advance for your support!

my favorite. dessert. ever!

Posted on May 31, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Happy Friday, friends! Hope you have something fun planned for this weekend. 🙂 I am getting ready to head to LA this afternoon for my cousin Amanda’s bachelorette party! I am so excited! It will actually be the first bachelorette party I’ve ever attended. I’m looking forward to seeing my cousins and friends and celebrating Amanda’s final days of singledom!

I have a delicious recipe to share with you today! I made this for my dad’s birthday cake on Monday. He loves peanut butter and chocolate, so I took my peanut butter cup brownies and upgraded them to a “brownie-cake” … and the highlight is definitely the homemade peanut butter frosting! This frosting is SO simple to make, and if you like peanut butter, you are in for a treat! I predict you will be licking the bowl. {Or maybe that’s just me!}

I will warn you in advance, I didn’t even try to healthify this dessert … I don’t even want to know how many calories/fat/sugar/etc. is in a slice of this! Sometimes you just have to treat yourself, right? But I did just come across this recipe by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean for healthy sweet potato brownies that I might try using in this recipe in the future! If you try it out, let me know how it goes!

I used my fave boxed brownie mix … Ghiradelli dark chocolate!

I made the batter as directed {if you’re trying to healthify things a little, you could substitute unsweetened applesauce for half of the oil} and poured the batter into a lightly greased 8 x 8 pan. Then I stuck in mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups in a tic-tac-toe pattern.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Once the brownies were cool, I frosted them with homemade peanut butter frosting!

homemade peanut butter frosting
– 1/4 cup butter, softened
– 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
– 3/4 cup powdered sugar
– 2 tbsp milk {to taste … depending on your frosting consistency preferences!}

1. Mix together the butter and peanut butter until well blended.

2. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add milk until it gets to desired consistency.

After frosting the brownies, my final step was sprinkling mini chocolate chips over the frosting layer. Ta da! My favorite dessert ever!

These disappeared from our house in record time!

Thank you also for the sweet birthday wishes! I had a wonderful birthday. My family took me out for dinner and even surprised me with sunflowers! How pretty and happy are these flowers?

Thanks also to everyone who took part in my birthday beauty giveaway, and welcome to all our new subscribers! The two randomly selected winners are:
– Big Beauty Basket: Anna Wang
– Travel Beauty Clutch: Jo Tran

I will email you both to get your mailing addresses to send you the prizes!

Happy weekend, everyone! Eat something yummy and spend time with those you love!

This post is linked up as part of Menu-Plan Monday!

my birthday wish: a kindness chain

Posted on May 29, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Hi, friends! Today is my 26th birthday!

Do you know what would be the best present ever? If you would take a few minutes today to do an act of kindness. Leave a comment below letting me know what you did. I would be so honored if you would form a kindness chain with me!

I’m planning to celebrate today by taking flowers to the local nursing home, paying for someone else’s coffee during a chai latte date with my friend Erica, picking up litter during a run at the park, leaving some kind notes in public places, and visiting the preemies at my local hospital {I was a preemie myself, born three months prematurely, and it is a birthday tradition to visit the parents of preemies in the NICU.} And of course I’m looking forward to spending time with my friends and family, eating yummy food, baking something delicious, and curling up with a good book or one of my favorite chick flicks!

Thank you for celebrating with me! I have a good feeling that it’s going to be one of my most special birthdays yet! 🙂

year of kindness challenge: week 21

Posted on May 28, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Hi, friends! Hope your week is off to a great start! Last week’s kindness challenge, courtesy of Lindsay, amazing blogger at The Lean Green Bean, was to donate blood and/or register online for the bone marrow registry. I had a bit of a cold, so I was unable to donate blood, but I did register to be a bone marrow donor. And I will try to donate blood once I kick this cold to the curb! 🙂

On a side note, time is running out to enter my summer beauty giveaway!! It only takes a few seconds! Here’s the direct link — please spread the word! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/df32660/

Here’s a wonderful story I came across about a stranger’s kind act for a woman and her deployed boyfriend: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/metro-west/10010151015688/vet-leaves-kind-gift-for-woman-deployed-boyfriend/

The Week 21 Kindness Challenge is to visit a cemetery and pay homage to those buried there, particularly war veterans. You could leave flowers or notes, pick up litter, do some light weeding — anything that feels meaningful to you.

As always, blog about your experiences and include your links in the comments section below, or feel free to send me an email at dallaswoodburn <AT> gmail <DOT> com.

Have a wonderful week!
Dallas

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year of kindness archives:
– week 1 challenge: donate items to those in need
– week 2 challenge: leave quarters & note at laundry machine
– week 3 challenge: write & send a kind handwritten note
– week 4 challenge: give hot chocolate to someone outside in the cold
– week 5 challenge: do something kind for a neighbor
– week 6 challenge: deliver valentines to a nursing home
– week 7 challenge: donate to a food pantry
– week 8 challenge: donate toiletries to a shelter
– week 9 challenge: post a kind note in a public place
– week 10 challenge: do something kind for a child
– week 11 challenge: thank someone in a genuine & meaningful way
– week 12 challenge: deliver baked goods to a fire station
– week 13 challenge: give someone flowers
– week 14 challenge: donate books
– week 15 challenge: reach out and spend time with people
– week 16 challenge: smile at everyone you meet
– week 17 challenge: pick up litter/trash
– week 18 challenge: write a kind note to a mom figure in your life
– week 19 challenge: leave an extra-generous tip
– week 20 challenge: donate blood/join bone marrow registry

happy birthday dad! {and happy memorial day, everyone!}

Posted on May 27, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Today is my dear daddy’s birthday! I feel so grateful that I get to be home to celebrate with him! My dad is a truly amazing person. He is my friend and role model, my biggest fan and supporter, and one of the most genuinely kind and caring people I have ever met. He is also hilariously witty, goofy, and fun! I love every minute I get to spend with my dad. I hope he has a fantastic birthday today! I love you, Dad!

On this Memorial Day, I also wanted to take a moment to remember and say thank you to all the brave, selfless men and women who have served our country. Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for your sacrifice and service — not only today, but every day!

We read this poem in church yesterday, and it really struck a chord with me, so I wanted to share it here:

Two Sides of War (All Wars)
by Henry Grantland Rice

All wars are planned by older men
In council rooms apart,
Who call for greater armament
And map the battle chart.

But out along the shattered field
Where golden dreams turn gray,
How very young the faces were
Where all the dead men lay.

Portly and solemn in their pride,
The elders cast their vote
For this or that, or something else,
That sounds the martial note.

But where their sightless eyes stare out
Beyond life’s vanished toys,
I’ve noticed nearly all the dead
Were hardly more than boys.

Please take some time today to remember and give thanks to our veterans! I’ll be back tomorrow with this week’s Year of Kindness Challenge.

guest post on AndreaDekker.com!

Posted on May 24, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Hi everyone! I’m excited to share that my guest post “A Random Acts of Kindness Challenge” is being featured on one of my favorite blogs, AndreaDekker.com! In the post I share five easy, inexpensive kind acts that you can do today to brighten the lives of others.

Read it here: http://andreadekker.com/random-acts-of-kindness-challenge/

Happy Friday! Hope you have a lovely day and enjoy the long weekend!

year of kindness challenge: week 20

Posted on May 20, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Happy Monday, friends! Hope you are doing well and had a great weekend! I had one of those wonderful but lightning-quick weekends — I don’t know how the time flew by so quickly! I ran a bunch of errands with my mom, visited my Gramps, went for a beautiful run in the sunshine, baked more apple cinnamon muffins {I am addicted!} and enjoyed a lovely sermon at church. I also saw my cousin Amanda who was in town working out some final details for her wedding in June — I’m a bridesmaid and am SO excited and happy for her!

Over the weekend I also started planning some details relating to my upcoming birthday — I have an idea that I’m really excited about, which I’ll be sharing in a blog post next week on May 29th. Stay tuned! In the meantime, make sure to enter my summer beauty giveaway — here’s the direct link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/df32660/

The kindness challenge this past week was to leave a big tip. I went out for a chai tea at my favorite local coffee shop and left a $5 bill in the tip jar. It gave me a great feeling that lasted the whole day! I definitely will continue leaving large tips whenever I can afford it.

Speaking of generous tips, check out this story of kindness I came across the other day: a $500 tip a woman left for a $5 check! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2325248/Waitress-gets-500-tip-5-check-breakfast-customer.html

A photo of me and Erica enjoying a visit at our favorite local coffee shop!

The Week 20 Kindness Challenge comes from Lindsay, amazing blogger at The Lean Green Bean, and is to donate blood. She writes, “It’s one of the easiest ways to save lives and help people in need and one of my favorite things to do!” If you are unable to donate blood for whatever reason — or if you want an extra challenge this week! — register online to be a bone marrow donor: http://marrow.org/Join/Join_the_Registry.aspx

As always, blog about your experiences and include your links in the comments section below, or feel free to send me an email at dallaswoodburn <AT> gmail <DOT> com.

Have a wonderful week!
Dallas

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summer beauty GIVEAWAY!!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I’m super excited to announce my first giveaway!!

My birthday is two weeks from today, and I want to celebrate by giving something away to you! Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my blog — it means so much to me that you make my little corner of the Internet part of your day. I am very grateful to be part of such a vibrant, positive and friendly blog community!

For the giveaway, I’ve rounded up some of my favorite beauty products into two prize packages — just in time for summer!

Prize #1: Big Beauty Basket

Prize #2: Travel Beauty Clutch

The giveaway will stay open for two weeks, until my birthday, May 29th. Good luck! And thanks for celebrating with me!

Click on this link to enter: a Rafflecopter giveaway

kitchen tip tuesdays: my favorite {healthy!} chicken salad

Posted on May 14, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Hi, friends! I have a quick, easy and healthy recipe to share with you today as part of Kitchen Tip Tuesdays! I love chicken salad but I don’t like mayonaise very much, so I was on a mission to find a healthier recipe for chicken salad that I could make at home. I think I found a winner!

I like to bake chicken breasts ahead of time during the weekend {see my earlier post about making the most of oven time} so I typically have cooked chicken breasts in a tupperware container in my fridge. Often to save time and extra dishes, I mix up the chicken salad in the tupperware container, and I’m ready to grab and go if need be!

healthier chicken salad
– 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast
– 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt {you could add more or less yogurt as desired}
– 2 tbsp hummus
– 2 stalks celery, chopped
– 1/4 cup dried cranberries
– 1/4 cup slivered almonds
– salt and pepper to taste

1. Stir Greek yogurt and hummus into chicken until fully incorporated.

2. Add chopped celery, dried cranberries, slivered almonds, and mix well.

3. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

It’s a great lunch, especially as the weather continues to warm up! I like serving the chicken salad over a bed of baby spinach.

Have a great day! I’ll be back tomorrow with a post I’m really excited to share with you! 🙂

Till soon,
Dallas

This post is also linked up with Menu-Plan Mondays!

year of kindness challenge: week 19

Posted on May 13, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Last week’s kindness challenge, in honor of Mother’s Day this Sunday, was to write a note to a mother of one of your friends who has had an influence in your life. I wrote a note to my friend Holly‘s mom Susan and my friend Erica‘s mom Darai. Both of them have always been very sweet and supportive of me. I also wrote a letter to my mom’s childhood friend Nanette, who is like an aunt to me. I feel grateful to have so many amazing women to look up to!

I had a wonderful week! One of the highlights was going to a reception for a local writing contest, where three of my former writing campers won awards! I was like a proud Mama bear beaming with pride! Such talented, poised and beautiful young ladies.

I also baked lemon bars for my Gramps, went to an amazing yoga class, and had some wonderful family and friend time.

And I came across and loved this video about kids doing random acts of kindness in schools: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40153870/vp/51795308#51795308

The Week 19 Kindness Challenge is to leave double the tip you normally would if you go out to eat, and/or leave a $5 tip in a tip jar at a coffee shop or cafe.

As always, blog about your experiences and include your links in the comments section below, or feel free to send me an email at dallaswoodburn <AT> gmail <DOT> com.

Have a wonderful week!
Dallas

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