june foodie pen-pal reveal

Happy Friday! Today is the reveal day for June Foodie Pen-Pals at The Lean Green Bean!

I received an amazing package from Soozcat, blogger at Confessions of a Laundry Faerie.

foodie pen pals june

The package was Seattle-themed and included:
– 2 packages of Sahale almond snacks {cranberries, sesame seeds & honey flavor and parmesan cheese & herbs flavor}
Market Spice cinnamon orange tea
– a package of Summer Berries fruit candy {delicious!!}
– two chocolate bars that I devoured immediately: coconut curry chocolate and orange dark chocolate

Thank you so much, Soozcat!

I sent a care package to my new blogger friend Becca at beesweetsurrender — she’s going to do a guest post recipe on here next week! I’m so excited to introduce you all to her. She is an incredible baker and her blog is a treasure trove of delicious recipes!

Happy weekend! What treats are you loving this month?

year of kindness challenge: week 25

year of kindness button

Hi everyone! Hope your week is off to a great start! And welcome to our new subscribers — so happy to have you joining us! Thank you to everyone for letting my blog be part of your day. It really means a lot to me!

My weekend was filled with wedding craziness — I was a bridesmaid in my dear cousin Amanda’s wedding! Full wedding recap coming tomorrow; for now, here’s a sneak peak picture of me and the beautiful bride just a few minutes before she walked down the aisle:

cuz bride!

Now, on to the kindness! Last week’s Kindness Challenge was do something kind for a senior citizen. This could mean calling or writing a note to a grandparent, offering to carry an elderly person’s groceries to their car, bringing in the mail for an elderly neighbor, visiting people at a nursing home … or whatever inspires you!

I recently connected with a new friend, Jeri, through a local volunteer organization called Caregivers that serves senior citizens. {Longtime blog readers might remember my friend Jewell, who I met in high school while volunteering through Caregivers and whose memory inspired me to bring Christmas cards and cookies to her former nursing home this past holiday season.} Jeri is a friendly, sweet elderly woman who can no longer drive due to health issues and failing eyesight. This past week, I drove her across town to her church, where she taught an hour-long line-dancing class to half a dozen other elderly women, and then I drove her home. I enjoyed visiting with her and listening to her many interesting life stories — she used to own a Dude Ranch! — and it was so inspiring and fun to watch the ladies line dance! They had SO much more rhythm than I do!

The Week 25 Kindness Challenge comes from my lovely blogger friend Ashley at A Happy Lass {if you haven’t checked out her blog, I would highly recommend popping on over! It’s wonderful!} and it is to do something kind for people riding public transportation. Ashley says, “I ride a bus and a train to work and was thinking I could do something for the people there. Maybe I’ll pay the bus fare for the person behind me on my way into work and back home. I’ve done this before and, usually, their faces light up, it seems to brighten their commute.”

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

—————————–

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
– week 21 challenge: visit a cemetery and pay respect
– week 22 challenge: practice a little patience
– week 23 challenge: call 3 loved ones on the phone
week 24 challenge: do something kind for a senior citizen

happy mother’s day!

I feel so blessed that I am able to celebrate my sweet, kind, beautiful, brilliant mama today!

me and mama

We went for a morning walk at the beach, and now are relaxing on the couch. Later I’m making chili & corn muffins for dinner and pb cup brownies for dessert. Oh, and I whipped up some apple-cinnamon-oatmeal muffins for breakfast this week. YUM!

apple oatmeal muffins

I hope it’s a restful, peaceful day for my mom — she deserves it! She works a full-time job managing her department at work, and my whole life she has been a living example that it is possible for women to have fulfilling careers AND be amazing, full-time mothers too! She is not just my mom, she is my best friend. We have shared so many fun memories, from hiking Mt. Whitney together when I was in high school to driving cross-country together when I moved to Indiana for grad school — plus innumerable shopping trips, girl talks, chick flicks, and lunch dates! I know I can call her anytime and she will always be there for me. I love you, Mom!

What are you doing to celebrate the mothers in your life today? Whatever your plans, I hope your day is marvelous!

year of kindness challenge: week 13

year of kindness button

Hi everyone! Sorry I’m a day late posting this — yesterday’s Foodie Pen Pals reveal bumped things back a day. Hope your week is off to a good start!

Last week was very exciting around here, as the Year of Kindness Challenge was featured on the amazing blog Money-Saving Mom! What a true honor! Welcome and thank you to all our new subscribers! 🙂

The Week 12 Kindness Challenge was to deliver something sweet — coffee, cookies, baked goods, etc. — to your local fire station. I baked a pumpkin pie from scratch and delivered it to the local fire station with a handwritten thank-you note:

pumpkin pie

week 12 challenge

thank you note

My dad sent me this note about his act of kindness for the week:

“Instead of the fire station I gave some yummy Limonera gourmet lemon candy chews to a policeman and thanked him for his service. (I did it at my running park as they tend to come in and circle around now and then and I was ready!) I could tell the gesture made his day…”

And here are some wonderful kindness posts by my new blogger friend Pam:

Some good things happened in my world this week:

  • my absolutely wonderful and amazing friend Holly came to visit me
  • another friend surprised me with homemade cookies
  • I received a ton of sweet emails and congratulations about the Steinbeck Fellowship, which I am completely thrilled and beyond words excited to have been awarded for this upcoming school year — I’ll be moving to San Jose in August!!
  • I reconnected with a few good friends, who I will miss dearly after we graduate in May
  • Karen Russell, terrifically talented author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove, came to speak at Purdue and was so insightful, kind, generous and funny. I greatly admire her work and it was a real treat to meet her!

Now, on to this week’s kindness challenge: give someone flowers. This could be a friend, sibling, child, parent, neighbor, coworker, or even a stranger. They could be flowers from the store or from your own garden. You could give them in person or leave them for someone as an anonymous surprise. Spread the springtime AND the kindness this week!

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 great week!
-Dallas

—————————–

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

what I wore on easter

Happy Easter Sunday! I feel so fortunate that my bestie Holly came to visit this weekend. Whenever we are together, we spend all day talking and laughing and drinking tea and watching Nora Ephron movies. She is such a wonderful person and having her as my friend brightens my life in so many ways!

holly and me

Holly and I went to church this morning and had an easy lunch at home before she had to hit the road. She was also sweet enough to snap a picture of my Easter dress to share with you, linked up at Camp Patton!

Camp Patton

easter dress close up

easter dress

Sweater: Nordstrom’s Rack
Dress: Target
Tights: Target
Shoes: American Eagle
Necklace: a gift from a friend

Hope you are having a restful, happy day filled with friends and family!

year of kindness challenge: week 11

year of kindness button

Last week’s kindness challenge was to do something kind for a child. I bought extra tickets at Chuck E. Cheese and gave them to a very sweet little girl who was just beaming with excitement to receive them.

My dad sent me this email about what he did for last week’s kindness challenge:

I bought an extra box of Girl Scout cookies (Peanut butter & chocolate Tagalongs) in front of Albertson’s and gave them to a young boy, maybe 8 years old, who was leaving the store with his mom (she said it was OK)  🙂

The Week 11 Kindness Challenge is to thank someone in a genuine and meaningful way. It might be anyone from your mail delivery person to your neighbor to a colleague to a family member. Write a note, make a phone call, mail a letter, bake cookies — anything that feels to you like a worthy expression of thanks!

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.

-Dallas

—————————–

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

happy birthday holly!

Today is my friend Holly’s 25th birthday! Happy birthday, Holly! ❤ We met our freshman year of college at USC where we lived in the same dorm and quickly bonded over our shared love of Sarah Dessen books, Nora Ephron movies, cheesey rice cakes, giggling, baking, browsing Target, taking long walks {especially in the autumn with hot apple cider from Starbucks!} and listening to Taylor Swift albums on repeat. Holly is one of those people who makes others feel instantly at ease with her warmth and compassion. I admire her for a zillion reasons: her genuine kindness, brave spirit, intelligence, creativity, insightful take on any situation. She is someone I can always call for advice and she will listen thoughtfully and help me come up with solutions when it seemed like there were none. And she is always someone I can count on to make me laugh and find the joy in the everyday moments of life!

Holly is living in Nashville, going to divinity school at Vanderbilt, and I’m bummed I couldn’t celebrate her birthday with her in person. We lived together for our four years of college, but since we graduated our friendship has been “long distance.” I miss her! But we have a little birthday ritual that helps us feel like we get to celebrate together even though we live far apart. It started when Holly baked me a cake on my birthday a couple years ago and sent me a picture. It was such a sweet gesture and I loved thinking of her enjoying some birthday cake on my behalf! We’ve continued baking birthday cakes for each other even though we aren’t together to share them. {I’m hoping one day soon, we will be!}

This year I changed things up a little bit and made Holly some birthday brownies instead of a cake. I used to make brownies all the time in college and I have many fond memories of Friday nights in, eating brownies and watching Friends marathons.

Nom nom nom!

I just used a box mix for these brownies {Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate} but I substituted the oil for applesauce to make them a little healthier and I also mixed in some white chocolate chips for extra chocolate goodness.

And because what goes better with chocolate than strawberries… I sliced up some strawberries and put them on top! Delicious.

Do you have any special birthday rituals? How do you celebrate the birthdays of your friends & family?

Happy weekend!

-Dallas