Tag Archives: books

Learning About “Breaking Vegan” (or An Amazing Book Giveaway!)

Posted on December 17, 2015 | 3 comments

I’m so excited to share this amazing book and giveaway with you all! But before I get to that, I wanted to give you a little back story.

I first heard of Jordan Younger when her blog post about ending her vegan diet went viral. She used to blog under the name The Blonde Vegan and changed her name to The Balanced Blonde to reflect her new lifestyle. I heard of her because I know the blogger The Balanced Brunette and someone mentioned the name similarity.

I had read the post about Jordan ending her vegan diet and was very proud of her. She had discovered that from the restrictions of the vegan diet that her food choices became more and more restrictive and ended up turning into orthorexia. There was a lot of backlash from her post including vegans being angry for her eating animal products again and from other people who didn’t believe that orthorexia was a real thing.

I could relate to people not understanding an eating disorder. I had the same issue with my binge eating disorder. At first, it wasn’t recognized as an eating disorder. When I was first diagnosed, it was classified as a non-purging bulimic and there wasn’t any help for me. And people (including some in the medical field) thought that it wasn’t real and that it was just an issue of me liking food too much. So to have a name, a diagnosis, and a treatment plan was a huge relief for me.

Jordan was able to get help for her eating disorder as well. After her post went viral, I started following her on social media and realized that she also works out at Orangetheory! And one day, I noticed her name on the heart rate monitor screen and introduced myself.

Jordan is seriously such an amazing woman and so open about her story. And with all that she learned through the beginning of her journey with her eating disorder, she wrote a book called “Breaking Vegan”.

The Balanced Blonde

Since Jordan knew me through Orangetheory she offered to send me a copy so I could check it out! I got it and started reading it immediately.

Breaking Vegan

What struck me the most (and what has stuck me with so many eating disorder stories) is how similar her story is to mine. Our eating disorders are very different, but so much the same. They start with small choices (both of us started with disordered eating issues as children) and balloon out of control without really realizing it. Jordan’s book is very well written and beautifully laid out. Her story includes photos of her throughout her journey and in the back there are some great recipes for healthy meals (I’ll hopefully be making some of those soon!).

I understand that there is some controversy with the title because not everyone who goes vegan develops an eating disorder. But this story is a personal story of what happened to Jordan and how her discovering a vegan lifestyle helped to make her eating disorder come out. It would be the same as if I said that ice cream created my binge eating disorder (it didn’t, but that’s an example). Of course it’s not the fault of ice cream, but that ice cream led me down the path to the eating disorder that I believe I was genetically at risk for.

I highly recommend this book both to those who have an eating disorder as well as those who don’t. Those who have an eating disorder may find comfort in knowing that you aren’t alone, crazy, or weird. That’s how I felt reading this. And those without an eating disorder can see how easy it is to spiral an eating habit into an eating disorder and get an idea of the mindset of someone with an eating disorder and why it’s so difficult to overcome them.

Of course, I recommend everyone buying the book, but I’m also giving away a copy! You just need to enter through Rafflecopter below and you do as many of the entry options as you want (the tweet option is available every day!). The contest will end at 12am on Christmas Day so I will be playing Jewish Santa and emailing the winner on Christmas!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
I hope that you all enter this giveaway and even if you don’t win you read this book. We should all support Jordan for sharing her story because it is so difficult to do! If more people were open with their eating disorders, I believe that more people would reach out for help and would realize that they don’t have to be alone in this journey.

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“The Wisdom Of Walt” (or Time To Win An Amazing Book!)

Posted on September 17, 2015 | 18 comments

I’ve covered almost everything from the Entertainment New Media Network Conference in my past two posts. But I did skip talking about one of the speakers. And it’s not because I didn’t enjoy it. It’s because it was my favorite speaker of the entire event!

Jeffrey A. Barnes is a professor, an author, and a Disney fanatic. And as a fellow Disney fan, I was super excited to hear what he was going to talk about.

Without giving away a ton of Jeffrey’s story, he had always dreamed about writing a book about Walt Disney and Disneyland. Then he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He put off having surgery for a while because he was teaching a college class on Disneyland (where was that class when I was in school?!?). After having the tumor removed, he had mentioned that he had the life regret of never writing his book. His wife told him that he still had plenty of life to live and encouraged him to write the book he always wanted to.

The book “The Wisdom Of Walt” was written as both a story about the history of Disneyland as well as leadership and self-help through the lessons that Walt Disney went through while building his park.

The Wisdom Of Walt

When Jeffrey was speaking at ENMNCon, he talked about how we needed to be the hero in our own stories. Every story needs a hero who is willing to fail, willing to act, and willing to dream. And to get your dreams accomplished nobody can be that hero except for you.

His talk really connected with me. I try not to be the victim in my story, but sometimes that’s tough. I need to focus as much as possible on being my own hero and making sure that my dreams are my priorities.

Obviously as soon as the conference was done, I bought “The Wisdom of Walt”. To say that I’m devouring the book is an understatement! I’m putting off watching my favorite TV shows to read more and more of the book! I’m getting close to the end of it and I’m already planning on re-reading it because I know that there is so much to absorb in the book.

I love the history of Disneyland parts. I do know a lot of Disney history but I’m still learning new things. And I love the lessons that are in each chapter. The book is such a great mix of learning Disney history and leadership skills with fun facts about the parks.

Why am I sharing this all with you? Because Jeffrey A. Barnes is super amazing and is giving away a copy of “The Wisdom Of Walt” on my blog! Not only is he giving away a copy, the winner will have their copy signed and personalized!

All you have to do is enter at the bottom of this post. There are a bunch of ways to enter including commenting on here, following me on twitter/Facebook/Instagram, and tweeting out the contest (you can do that every day and earn extra entries!). The contest goes until midnight on Thursday September 24th so you have lots of time to enter and earn extra entries!

And if you don’t want to enter (or if you enter but don’t win), Jeffrey has decided to give all readers of Finding My Inner Bombshell $5 off his book if you order it through his website! All the books ordered through his website will be signed (just not personalized) and if you enter the code “blog” in the notes, you will get a $5 refund after purchase! If you would prefer the Kindle version, you can get that on Amazon (but no discount and obviously it won’t be signed).

Good luck to everyone who enters! And I hope that even if you don’t win, you get this book because it is truly amazing!

Please make sure you enter through the Rafflecopter below even if you just enter by writing a comment. I will be selecting the winner randomly from the Rafflecopter entries on Friday the 26th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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A Day Of Allergies (or Book Nerd Fail)

Posted on April 21, 2015 | Comments Off on A Day Of Allergies (or Book Nerd Fail)

This past weekend was the LA Times Festival Of Books. I was so happy to find out that I was going to be getting a media pass again.

LA Times Festival Of Books

I knew that because of my work schedule I couldn’t go for the first few things on Saturday, but I was all set to spend as much time at the event as possible.

Then I got invited to something fun on Saturday evening (more on that tomorrow) so I figured that I would go all day Sunday and maximize my time there with the media pass.

Then Sunday came and I was hit with one of the worst allergy attacks I’ve ever had.

I have no clue what caused this allergy attack (I’m severely allergic to olive trees but I’m not aware of any in my neighborhood) and it didn’t seem like it would be going away on its own. I know that this sounds gross, but I wasn’t able to breathe through my nose and it was running like a non-stop faucet. At times it was hard to catch my breath and I felt like I might throw up. I wanted this feeling go away as soon as possible so I took my allergy meds and hoped that they would kick in quickly so I could still spend the afternoon at the event.

Sadly, I wasn’t feeling better until the afternoon so I ended up missing the entire weekend.

I’m trying not to be too upset by this. None of my friends could go so I wasn’t missing any hang out time. And while there were authors and panels that I was excited to see, there wasn’t an event with one of my favorite authors like last year. And of course, there should be another event next year and hopefully I will be able to make it then. And maybe next year there will be an author that I love speaking there.

But while I was sad about missing the event, I figured that the most fitting way to try to wait out the allergy attack would be by reading. So I got to spend a nice morning and afternoon reading in bed (even though I wasn’t able to breathe through my nose and was sneezing every 2 seconds). And while I haven’t necessarily been tired lately, having a day of doing nothing really did revitalize me.

So maybe this allergy attack was just my body saying that I needed to slow down for a couple of hours and relax. And I did just that and didn’t feel guilty about it at all.

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“Thriving In Hollywood” (or Celebrating The Ms. In The Biz Book Launch!)

Posted on February 11, 2015 | 1 comment

I’ve been writing for Ms. In The Biz for a while now. It’s been so awesome to be a part of a blog that has so many amazing women with incredible stories and advice to share. And a little while back, Helenna (who created Ms. In The Biz) shared with all the writers that she was going to be putting together a book of some of the blog posts we had shared on the site!

The book is called “Thriving in Hollywood: Tenacious Tales and Tactics from Ms. In The Biz”. While none of my posts are featured in the book, I’m still super proud of all the writers who had pieces chosen for the book and that I get to be a part of the same blog!

This week was the official launch party for the book. There was going to be a red carpet and press there, so I decided that I really wanted to look my best.

After my morning workout, I showered and then headed over to The Dry Bar to get my hair done. I normally only go to The Dry Bar on my birthday, but the party was on my half birthday, so it seemed fitting.

The Dry Bar

I had them do my hair in a similar style to how it was done in New York, but lots of curls. As soon as I was done getting my hair done, it was off to makeup!

My friend, Kayla, did my makeup for me. She also did my makeup for the Besame launch party so I knew it would be amazing.

Makeup

And when I was done getting beautified, I loved how I looked!

MITB Party Look

While it feels like a lot of makeup to me since I rarely wear makeup, it just looked like an enhanced version of me. It was perfect!

For my outfit, I wanted to be comfortable because I knew that I would be on my feet all night. As much as I could love to have worn heels, it’s just not something that my hips can deal with now. So I went with leggings, a long sweater, and some cute flats.

MITB Mirror

I know I look a little distorted in that photo. My mirror needs to be replaced because it can not longer hang correctly over a door.

I got to the party and my first stop was the red carpet. I wanted to make sure that my photos were done while my hair and makeup looked fresh.

MITB Red Carpet With Book

After doing my official photos, I wandered around and found a bunch of my friends. It was so much fun catching up with people when we are all dressed up! We don’t normally look like slobs, but everyone looked so fancy that night!

MITB With Helenna MITB With Robert MITB With Nicole

After some catching up, I ran into other members of the team from the Inside Acting Podcast, including the hosts Trevor and AJ (who just got in from New York that morning!). So of course, we gathered for a podcast red carpet photo.

MITB IAP

Before I knew it, it was getting toward the end of the evening. I was exhausted and ready to get into my PJs and watch some TV.

The one thing about having fancy makeup done is that it takes quite a bit to get it all off.

Post MITB Party

I was super happy to have my Spanx and fake lashes off and to have a bare face at the end of the night!

Overall, I have to say that this was a super successful book launch party! I had a blast and everyone else I talked to did so as well!

I highly encourage all of you to get a copy of “Thriving In Hollywood”! I’ve read it and it’s super amazing! And maybe the next time Ms. In The Biz does a book, one of my blog posts will be chosen!

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My Book List (or Putting A Challenge From Facebook On Here)

Posted on September 5, 2014 | Comments Off on My Book List (or Putting A Challenge From Facebook On Here)

I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to write about today, but I was inspired by something I was challenged to do on Facebook.

My friend Daniel (who runs the film festival I work for) challenged me to list the 10 books that have stuck with me the most. I was totally for this challenge, but then I realized how difficult picking 10 books out of a lifetime of reading could be. So I bent the rules a little and picked some series and authors as well.

Most people just listed the books on their list, but I wanted to explain each one. Some of these books (or stories about these authors) have been mentioned before on here. I tried to find those posts and link to them when I could.

So this is my list, copied from Facebook:

1. “Rumpelstilskin”. I remember reading this book as a kid (probably when I was 3 or 4) and it terrified me. But I loved it so much. So I would read the book in bed and then take the book outside my room and leave it there overnight so the book couldn’t scare me while I was sleeping. I was a very early reader (I learned to read at 2), and this is one of my first memories of reading.

2. “The Babysitter’s Club” series. Holy moly I loved these books! I devoured them! My parents still have all the books somewhere in their house and when I eventually have a kid, I know that I’ll be passing them down to them.

3. All of the American Girl books. Another series from my childhood. This was the start of me getting into historical fiction (although I didn’t know that at the time). And yes, I had an American Girl doll too (I had Samantha). My doll and all of my books are being stored by my parents at their house so I can pass those down as well.

4. The Body Movers series by Stephanie Bond. I randomly picked the first book from this series up from the bookstore before going on a trip to Tahoe to see my parents. I totally judge books by their covers and this one really interested me. I remember reading the first book at the condo in Tahoe. I got to the end, which happened to be a cliffhanger, and screamed out loud when I realized that the next book wouldn’t be coming out for a year! This is also an important book and author to me because Stephanie Bond is one of the first authors that I ever connected with via social media. The day she followed me on twitter was so awesome.

5. “Jemima J” by Jane Green. Yes, this is chick-lit. But it was the first chick-lit book I ever read. I never knew that there were fun silly books like this that I would love to read. And it opened an entire new world up for me.

6. Anything by Jennifer Weiner. I started with her book “Good In Bed” because again, the cover looked cool. Since then, I’ve read several of her books and have loved them all. She is another author that I have connected to via twitter and it turns out that she reads my blog! When she tweeted to me about that, I almost passed out.

7. “America’s Women” by Gail Collins. This was one of the first non-fiction books I read that I was able to finish without having to read some “fluff” in between. It’s an amazing book about the history of women in the US and it got me interested in finding more historical books to read.

8. Anything by Danielle Steel. I know they are silly, but some of them are pretty fun to read. And this is one of the only authors that both my mom and I both like. It’s nice to have some books in common to talk about and to recommend to each other.

9. The Hunger Games series. This was my introduction to dystopian future books, which is now one of my favorite genres to read. I started to read them after all the books were out so I didn’t have to wait to find out the result of the cliffhangers between the books. Since then, I’ve read many more dystopian future books, but most of them I’ve had to wait as patiently as possible before the next book comes out.

10. “I Heart NY” and all the other books by Lindsay Kelk. This was another random purchase of mine. I saw it as an e-book and it looked like fun. I got it and after only a few pages, I realized that I loved this book! So I went back online and got all the other ones in the series that had come out so far! I connected with Lindsay over twitter and we met up for lunch in Santa Monica when she was out this way. I was totally geeking out over meeting her. But she was super cool and we found out that we both love Disneyland. So on her next trip to LA, we went to Disneyland together and had a blast! I love that I have a new Disneyland buddy!

I love that a book related challenge is going on around Facebook. I challenged 10 of my friends to do this one as well. And I’d love to see any of your top 10 books lists in the comments! I’m always up for discovering new books that other people love!

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Another Disney Day (or Making Disneyland A Book Nerd’s Dream)

Posted on July 1, 2013 | Comments Off on Another Disney Day (or Making Disneyland A Book Nerd’s Dream)

Despite the crazy heat wave that LA is going through right now, this past Friday I had another outing at Disneyland. But this time was pretty special for a few reasons. First of all, this was pretty much the last time I could go until the summer was over due to my pass having so many blackout days. But the second (and more important) reason why this trip to Disneyland was so special was because of who came with me.

DSCN0143

Do you recognize this person who is over the moon excited to be on It’s A Small World? It’s Lindsey Kelk!! When we had our lunch a while back, we discussed our mutual love of Disneyland. So when she knew she was coming back to LA, we made plans to go down to Anaheim and have an awesome day!

I wore a new Disney shirt to the park that day. I found this one while getting some workout clothes from Old Navy, and it was perfect for a hot day.

DSCN0147

We went on a ton of rides while we were there. Inside the rides was one of the few places that were air-conditioned, so that was pretty nice. The only ride that Lindsey insisted that we go on was It’s A Small World. She had always wanted to go on it, and the only other time she was at Disneyland it was closed. Since I normally don’t go on that ride, the song wasn’t as annoying as you’d think it would be. And again, I was enjoying the air conditioning too much to mind (I actually wouldn’t have hated it if we got stuck inside just to stay cool).

I didn’t bring a hat with me to the park because I really wanted to buy a Disneyland hat. I don’t have one, and even though I don’t wear hats all the time, it’s nice to have a couple of options. At the same hat store, Lindsey bought a few gifts and got herself these really cute Minnie Mouse ear hair clips!

DSCN0150

We also had to get a character picture. Lindsey has a new book coming out this week and her publishers wanted her to take some photos of her book traveling the country. We looked for Mickey, but he was hiding, so we stalked Pluto to get some photos.

DSCN0151

And then I jumped in for one.

DSCN0152

We did make it into California Adventure for a few rides, but only stayed there for about an hour before heading back to LA.

I had an amazing time! Not only was it Disneyland (which I pretty much always love), but I got to hang out with a pretty awesome person as well! And since it was so hot, Lindsey and I have already made plans to go to Disneyland in the winter. It will be a lot cooler then, plus the Haunted Mansion and It’s A Small World will have their holiday overlays on the rides.

I know that I’m totally getting my money’s worth out of my Disneyland pass. It was a good investment for me this year. And I know that I’ll be going a few more times after the summer is over.

Seriously, mixing Disneyland and one of my favorite authors really did make things amazingly awesome! Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I’m so lucky!

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I’m a Book Nerd (or Seriously, I’m a Book Nerd)

Posted on August 24, 2012 | 3 comments

Ok, so update from the dentist quickly in case you didn’t see it on twitter. The visit did not go too smoothly. I’m going to need a crown on one of my teeth, which means two appointments in September, both requiring shots. Not really looking forward to it, but at least it will be fixed now and I won’t need a root canal in the near future.

On to a happier subject: how I am a total book nerd. I’ve loved books my entire life. I learned to read at 2 (a fact that my mom is still proud of). And as a child, I was a voracious reader. It might have been a little ridiculous.

While in middle and high school, my reading wasn’t quite as crazy. I was always reading this book or that book for school and reading for fun wasn’t on the top of my to-do list.

In college, I rediscovered my love for books (and the public library). Even though I had to still read books for school, I found more room in my life for fun books.

And since graduating college, I’ve only become a crazier reader. I have a soft spot for chick lit, but I’ll read almost anything.

Right now, I’m on a dystopian society book kick (thank you Hunger Games). But almost all dystopian society books are young adult books, so that’s where I’ve been finding my books lately.

I’ve read the first 2 books in the Delirium series, the first 2 books in the Divergent series, I’m working through the Uglies series, and I’m still looking for more (recommendations would be appreciated).

And for good measure, here are some of my other favorite authors:

Stephanie Bond (especially her Body Movers series)
Lindsey Kelk (Love her I Heart series)
Jennifer Weiner (Everything she writes is awesome)

Hope some of you will be inspired to read some more, and maybe check out some of my favorite authors!

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