XiaolinMama

Mom taking the Gatorade Sports Pledge

2011-11-20T22:52:50-08:00

I am THE soccer mom - have chair + coolerwill travel. I am constantly battling the stench of soccer cleats and dirty socks. We wake up early on Saturday, and often on Sunday to get to games. We spend the weekend at soccer tournaments and are on the field 4 nights a week. Life is hectic, but we are a sports family. It is what we do.

Some folks think we are crazy, but I have seen first hand the high my kids get when they score. I have watched them get pushed and push back. I have seen them mature on the field as athletes and more importantly, as people. It is all about supporting them to be the best they can be.

The fine folks at Gatorade are partnering with the Women's Sports Foundation and mobilizing parents to pledge support young athletes. For everyone who signs up to pledge $10 is donated to the Women's Sports Foundation. It takes 30 seconds, and gave me some new perspective on what being a soccer mom means.

Disclaimer: I was not paid by Gatorade to promote this campaign. I was featured in this Gatorade sports mom video, but was not compensated.

Project Healthy: Losing weight!

2011-10-06T22:14:00-07:00

The Cambiati Cleanse has taught me that I really know nothing about good nutrition. No really- I pretty much didn't read any labels at all. I used to go to Whole Foods and and had NO idea what half the stuff was and was stunned by how much folks paid for stuff there. BUT I get it now! I still can't afford it, but I GET it.

After 14 days, I have lost 11 pounds! But more importantly, I feel great. I have more energy than I have had in quite a while. There is no feeling bloated after a meal, or the desire to eat random snacks at midnight. I get that I need to balance my meals better, that is, have vegetables be the vast majority of items on the plate with proteins and starch being smaller - WAY smaller than I am used to.

I am even working on this with the food I serve the kids now. They are in denial and are counting the days they get white rice back. I hate to break it to them - quinoa and brown rice are becoming staples kids! Get used to it.

RIP Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T21:58:26-07:00

Life has been challenging to say the least recently. Steve Jobs' words have meant the world to me this week. Inspiring me to reprioritize, to be courageous and to stick to my guns. RIP Steve Jobs the world will never be the same.

Project Healthy: QUINOA or otherwise known as KEEN-WAH

2011-09-22T02:36:41-07:00

I am learning a whole bunch of new stuff on this cleanse, liek how to prnounce the word "QUINOA". It's KEEN-WAH! I've seen it at the grocery store, but never knew what would possess anyone to try it, especially when it is right next to the boxes of Mac and Cheese. It's a gluten free, low carb grain, that is pretty delish! Who knew?

A huge push is eating whole foods and whatever "CaveMen" did - that is to say, 8-10 servings of vegetables a day and less proten, nothing prepackaged or with added sugar. But hey, you HAVE to admit that any self respecting caveman would drive thru MCDonald's after soccer practice too if they had one right on the way home, right? Sigh.

Regardless, Day 3 and I have lost just about 4 pounds. Not bad! I am feeling pretty good and even went for a walk today. Seriously.

I made this nifty little salad with my new friend Quinoa. I;d even eat this when I am NOT on the cleanse. Yum! Maybe I am forming healthy habits - woot!

Turkey Quinoa salad

Cubed Diestel Turkey

Cup of cold quinoa

cucumbers

cilantro

green onions

tomatoes

Mix up with dressing and put over bed of spinach.

Dressing: 3 tbls Grape seed oil, 1 tblsp lemon juice and salt/pepper to taste.

Project Healthy: Cambiati Cleanse

2011-09-19T23:14:26-07:00

I turned 40 this weekend. Deep breath. I turned 40 this weekend!!! I have been looking forwrd to this decade beacuse its gonna be the decade that I kick arse! Right? Oh I've got a list of things I am gonna do this decade, but that is a post for another day. First things first - GET HEALTHY.

I travel alot and have been sick alot. I eat poorly when on the road and uh okay, I pretty much eat poorly when at home. I have a weakness for all things dessert, oh and cocktails. COCKTAILS! But all that is gonna change. Well not exactly, BUT...I have not gone crazy, but I am kicking of my 40s with a cleanse. 28 days of clean living - no alcohol, caffeine, sugar, carbs or fast food. HOLD ME. I am sure this is gonna be a good idea.

Me and my hubby, by default , are taking on the Cambiati Cleanse. I need to learn how to eat better and need to clean place to start. Hey if I lose some weight, even better!

Wish us luck, we'll need it.

So here is my lunch on Day One:

Taco Salad

Lettuce
cilantro
tomatoes
beans, lots of beans
lemon juice

16 oz of Detox Tea

+ another 10 glasses of liquid throughout the day. I see how you get healthy - you drown your fat cells in water and vegetable broth. Gah!

Maui and the Blogging Angels

2011-08-15T12:11:49-07:00

Yup, you guessed it - I'm on vacation! On the idyllic island of Maui, recovering from a summer of blog related travel. Sigh. Life is good.

I'm practicing my Vlog - so brace yourself for short videos of me and my bathing suit. Oh my eyes!

BTW- Check out the latest edition of the Blogging Angels Podcast. While at Blogher, one of my partners, Cat Lincoln aka @dearbadkitty had the honor of chatting with these brilliant gals about our lil company, Clever Girls Collective and paying bloggers! These gals are a hoot. Cat and I coulda chatted ALL day.

Camp Galileo Inspiring the Artist Inside

2011-08-15T11:45:34-07:00

Camp Galileo was one of my 8 year old's summer highlights! We have been to dozens of summer camps over the years. Some are better than others, some you can't wait for it to be over. Camp Galileo challenged my precocious gal and left her deciding that she'd like to be a scientist/artist when she grows up! Well worth the price of admission in my opinion.

Here are some highlights from my interview of said camper and her reflections, with a few comments from her dear old mama:

What did you like about Camp Galileo?

Art and science were my favorites. I liked making clay hands, like the artist Rodin. I loved facepainting and the different theme days.

Me: She knows who Rodin is? Be still my heart!

My favorite project in science was making grappling hooks and launchers. There was a mini- Eiffel tower that my teacher built. We'd shoot the Grappling hooks at the tower so that the Lego men could climb up the grappling hooks. I want to make one for my older brother and attach one to his go-cart.

Who did you hang out with all week? Did you know anyone?

I made three friends. I hung out with them all week. They were funny.

Me: My sweet girl is fairly outgoing, so I am not usually worried about her finding someone to play with. But she was really worried when we drove up the first day that NO ONE would sit with her at lunch. Fear was unwarranted! Whew.

Three words to describe camp: Awesome, terrfical and creative!

Overall as a parent, I look for programs that will give my children experience that they are no going to get during the school year. At 8 years old, my child needs something than arts and crafts. Camp Galileo offered quality arts education and coupled that seemlessly with science lessons. They constructed grappling hooks and complex Rube Gold machines - all in a fun environment. The key messages at camp were to: innovate, learn and envision. In Silicon Valley, those lessons are essential to any successful venture, so its perfect to have our kids learn these here.

The staff also paid attention to building skills outside of the activities. For example, Kiley won a Leadership award for being a good example and teamwork. Sweet, right? For my daughter, it meant the world.

It was a great week and we can't wait to sign up again next year!

Disclosure: Camp Galileo sponsored my daughter's week at camp. All opinions about our experience were her's and mine alone.

Galileo Summer Quest - A tween mom's review

2011-08-15T11:02:12-07:00

Galileo Summer Quest is hands down one of the best summer programs in the Bay Area for tweens. My son is 11 and if you know anything about middle school boys, you know that convincing one to go to "science camp" is no small feat. But after the two week experience my son was ready to sign up for the next session. Seriously.

Out of the Box Experiences
We looked at the camp offering and were surprised by the breadth of classes- video game making, go-cart creation and chefology. Those didn't sound like science to me or him. (Score one for mom!). He chose Go Cart Makers and also signed up for Improvision class and the Hip Hop session. If you know my little athlete, you know this is a huge departure from his comfort zone. I wouldn't let him sign up for the sports sections, so he HAD to find something else that would be challenging and teach him something new. These two classes fit the bill!

As I watched the last day of camp performance I was surprised by how excited my child was to perform his hip hop routine. This was HUGE for a boy who hates to be on a dance floor and was one of two boys in the class. He happily practiced his "tut-ing" and showed of his "sic" moves all week. Amazing!

Learning planning skills

Caden made a Go Cart. And I mean from the ground up! They gave him access to a saw, hammer and wire cutters. I was quite leery about that at first, but with supervision and training the boys proved quite talented.

Galileo staff orchestrated an easy to digest planning process that worked-resulting in each kid having a working go cart. Caden won an award for creativity for his Flinstones inspired creation. Caden tried to drill holes to put feet through. While that didn't work out according to plan, it was a great lesson in "adjusting" plans as need.

The camp curriculum created opportunities for parents to get involved and understand what they did all day by sending home "Extend a Lesson" sheets. These featured questions, discussion prompts and some background infor on the science behind each lesson, so that even if I didn't completely "get" what they did that day, I could ask a smart question. For a mom of a tween, asking a question better than "Did you have fun today?" is key. Who wants to sound like a dope?

Excellent Staff
My son is by nature- shy. He was a little uneasy about not knowing anyone attending camp. The staff made him feel comfortable. They encouraged him to try new things and get out of his comfort zone. They helped him him feel accomplished and most importantly, duped him into learning science.

At about $1000 for the two weeks, this camp is pricey. But for my son it was well worth it. Next year, we plan to be there again and will forgo other camps to make sure we can do it. The camp succeeded at duping my son into learning some science. Goal!

As a mom of a tween, it is hard to find ANYTHING to challenge, inspire and be fun. it can be exasperating looking at the summer camp landscape and find our options limited to "sports" or "arts and crafts". Many kids are ust "over it" and would rather just be home and dropped off at the mall. My son does sports ALL year long and I wanted something different. I wanted something that would challenge him to excercise a new part of his brain, and be WAY better than playing his XBOX all summer. We hit a homerun with Galileo Summer Quest. Camp provided an experience he would never get in the classroom and inspired him to launch his new "improv" career! God help us all.

Disclosure: Camp Galileo sponsored my child's camp experience. All opinions about camp were all his and mine.

Reflections on Blogging + Turning 40

2011-07-06T21:55:31-07:00

I started this blog when I was 35 as a place to figure out what to do next career wise to chronicle my life with my children and to find a community. I had no idea what I was doing. No one made any real money blogging, but I did find a great group of gals who welcomed me in with open arms. Five years later, I've amazed by what the blogosphere has given me - friendships, an abundance of stories and a whole new career.

I am turning 40 this year - whoa! I have been thinking about how much I have grown personally and professionally, and am damn proud. I've got two great kids, started a thriving business and am happy. Tired, but happy. While I could definitely use more vacation time in Hawaii, I could not be happier with the way things have unfolded over the last few years.

The blogosphere has changed dramatically in the last few year. Mommy blogger drama ebbs and flows - but what remains is a tight knit community I am happy to be a member of. We've stood up for friends online and off, we've cried together due to loss of children, sicknesses and other tragedies and laughed together from joy and celebration. I've found people who get it.

I'm not a prolific writer or a talented photographer, but I have become more sure of who I am and want to be. This clarity has come from my online and IRL community and for that I am grateful. This blog has been dusty - oh so dusty! And I have been looking for new inspiration to shape the direction of this blog - so I am redesigning and refocusing and hope you'll all join me for the big new unveil in the coming weeks.

I've missed blogging regularly and I'm ready to start over. Wish me luck.

Reviewer's Retreat

2011-05-15T09:21:47-07:00

This weekend I am off to the romantic Poconos, PA to speak at the Reviewer's Retreat - Nuts and Bolts of Review blogging. A while back I met the two powerhouse founders, Cecilia and Bridgette founders of Double Duty Divas and conference organizers. They immediately impressed me with their professionalism and their keen eye on a growing and important sector in the blogosphere - Review blogs.

What are Review blogs? I have been writing product reviews for quite a while - everything from laundry detergent to iphone apps to theme parks. I love doing them. I feel honored when someone asks, but I generally turn down a product I know that is not a fit for me or my family. But not all reviews are crated equal.

In the couple of years, more and more blogs are popping up that are created solely for reviews. While some blogs unfortunately are simply a place for a product press release cut and paste job, the vast majority of these new sites are filled with original content from writers who spend a lot of time and effort testing and reviewing products couched in the story of their lives. Honestly, before I buy most things, I look it up on google and see what pops up. But I weigh each review based on the following questions: Is there a review from someone I know? Is the reveiwer credible and thoughtful in their write up? Was the review balanced?

I am looking forward to the conference to learn more about this genre. Tips for making my reviews better and to meet some of the amazing women who make my shopping easier!