Give & receive: giveaway winner

Not my typical Saturday. I was at work at 8 A.M., watched ladies judge knitted blankets/clothes/caps, was the model for an ugly sweater, moved giant fake cheese/antique kitchenware/fake lemon trees, and cleaned out a moldy refrigerator.

I had a good time though I was exhausted. I powered through the afternoon with a green juice and then came home for a little nap.

Dinner included 2 shrimp spring rolls (with the rice paper not fried) and a taste of Annie's Organic Whole Wheat Shells & White Cheddar that was a gift from my Foodie Penpal.

There's not quite enough sauce for my liking, but it's pretty fantastic for the nutritional value.

Don't worry, I remembered to pick my 1000th post giveaway winner.

Congratulations Jordan! You're getting all this in your mailbox very soon.

Jordan, e-mail me at luong.julieann [at] gmail.com with your address.

If you didn't win, I have another giveaway coming up for my birthday in a week so stay tuned!

I need to take my smelly self to the shower now.

How was your Saturday? Did you work or relax? Tomorrow's my relaxing day! :)

June Foodie Penpal

Don't forget to enter my 1000th post giveaway. Ends tonight, Saturday, June 30th!

My June box was awesome. Perfectly packed. Thanks Esther from D.C.! You're my second D.C. penpal! *I sent my box to Maren over at Maren's Morsels. Go over there and check it out!

Inside the box

• Annie's White Cheddar shells looked amazing. I've been wanting to try them.
• I have no clue where the True North nut clusters went. I ate a few and think my family consumed them all.
• I haven't seen the Eat. Thin. Smile. brand in awhile. I loved the tiny pieces because it let me eat tons without guilt.
• Nori crackers are my cousin's favorite. I'm not a fan though.
• The Go Lean oatmeal was perfect for my trip to Austin. I even bought a box of them for the rest of the trip.
• The Breakfast on the Go! was addictive. I wouldn't buy these for myself because I would overeat.
• Lately I've enjoyed salty chips. I've had so many bags open, I haven't eaten these yet.

• She baked me a semi-healthy snack: The Lean Green Bean's zucchini carrot muffins... maybe with apples. I forget.

• I'm just not a Larabar fan. I don't get it...

Loved the whole package! So many new things for me to try.

Want to join in?
-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

A little more... sun, fun, kick.

I've walked to the gym everyday this week. I love that freedom. Usually, I'm in a hurry to get home for work. Granted, I don't work until 10:30 or 11 during the school year. Still, the classes start at 8:30, end at 9:30, and only gives me 30 minutes to shower and dress for work before driving to work.

My walks take about 20 minutes if I'm uninterrupted. Sometimes it takes longer if I'm on the phone or walk over to TJ Maxx.

 

My meals are less hearty and more cool.

Dinner last night: 2 shrimp spring rolls with avocado.

 

Post-workout meal/lunch after TurboKick and abs today: Trader Joe's brown rice tortilla with 1 egg, 1 egg white, 3 shrimp, hummus, and mini peppers on the side.

 

I had to head over to the gym a little earlier because it gets crazy crowded. I spent 20 minutes on chest presses, tricep extensions lying down, tricep presses, etc.

I decided to relax. My body is tired. Mom got off work early so I headed over so we could go to Costco. I've been waiting to buy these Sahale pomegranate pistachios since someone left a bag of them at work. So good and you can't find this flavor at any other store (or on their website)!

The black pepper gives it a little kick.

Then it was off to dinner. My cousin and I went to Kabuki for happy hour. Both of us chose the Alaskan Roll, a California roll with salmon on top. Mine had brown rice.

My drink of choice: Tokyo cucumber mojito made with sake and shochu?

Catherine got some frozen yogurt while I had samples. :)

Speaking of my cousin, I thought I'd share a picture of her. You see her sometimes on the blog. She's awesome. No one would guess she's 17, but yes, it's true. She had bone marrow cancer when she was born and is extremely lucky to be alive. She is not your average 17-year-old.

I picked up "The Perfect Family" to watch tonight to see how Emily Deschanel is in something besides "Bones."

 

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How do your meals change now that it's summer?
How do you add a little more movement/walking in your daily life?
Have you lived anywhere without sidewalks? That's so strange to me!

How to... (Pinteresting Wednesday)

Don't forget to enter my 1000th post GIVEAWAY!

How to add more fruit: frozen blueberries covered in Greek yogurt. I haven't been eating much Greek yogurt lately.

Source: fluffimama.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

How to add more sweet potatoes:

Source: naturallyella.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: lindawagner.net via Julie on Pinterest

How to eat more good food: I need some brown rice tortillas for these.

Source: acouplecooks.com via Julie on Pinterest

Lately, I've been a pescatarian, and I do love salmon (sliders).

Source: dineanddish.net via Julie on Pinterest

Pizza is always a must especially with added fruit.

Source: howsweeteats.com via Julie on Pinterest

I've always been fascinated with pinwheels.

Source: family.go.com via Julie on Pinterest

I had cinnamon roll French toast at a restaurant. These are cinnamon roll pancakes!

Source: theidearoom.net via Julie on Pinterest

How to cool down this summer:

Source: mommag.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: mynewroots.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: thekitchykitchen.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

How to spend the summer:

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: oldbrandnewblog.com via Julie on Pinterest

Read 'em and watch

Among my things to do today (and yesterday) was to start traffic school online (only on section 2) and go to the library. I've been mooching off mom's library card and decided to finally get my own!

I was at our teeny library for an hour. That's a feat. I picked out 3 books.

After lunch, my cousins and I ran some errands. We got Starbucks with my $20 gift card. I chose the grande green tea soy latte and had half.

We headed to the park to play. I almost did all the monkey bars till my hands hurt. They still do!

The park was okay, but we wanted to go to the beach. We packed towels, sunscreen, and activities. My choice:

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I read most of it in the few hours we were there. Everything resonated with me. I was so hopeful in the beginning of this book till I realized I already know the answers - I just have to implement them better/fully. At least I went out and immediately bought organic apples. I eat so many apples, or did, that I should make sure they're organic.

We also picked up "A Thousand Words" and this new hummus smoothie in tropical mango to dip my mini peppers in. Kind of strange but not bad.

 

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Time to watch the movie and try to get to bed earlier.

Where do you go to relax during the summer?

TV summer addiction

The summer of 2000: "Young Americans." We met Matt Czuchry. It was my "Dawson's Creek" because I wasn't into those guys. James Van Der Beek was not my type. Whose type was he anyways? Sadly, it was a one summer show.

 

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The mix of "Dawson's Creek," "Young Americans," and Nicholas Sparks books must have unconsciously steered me towards North Carolina.

Other shows I was totally into:

• "Making the Band" season 1 with O-Town

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• "MasterChef" season 1 with Sharone Hakman

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• A bunch of the spinoffs of "Flavor of Love" including "I Love New York" but not a "Real Chance of Love"

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• "The Ultimate Fighter" season 5

And let me tell you how into them I was:

• I know all the lyrics to O-Town's "Liquid Dreams" and still do.
• I met Sharone Hakman and bought his BBQ sauce.
• I was Flavor Flav for Halloween one year.
• My roommate and I went to Hooters for fights all the time.

Otherwise, I stick to my usuals like "Bones" or "CSI." Everything else is a one hit wonder.

My show this year is... "Love in the Wild." I didn't see it last year. I'm not one to watch "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette." First, I like the mix of men and women. Second, there are lots of "good" people on the show, as in... kind of normal.

My favorite is definitely the Englishman, Ben. He's so much more attractive when moving and talking than in pictures.

 

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Sometimes I take reality TV a little seriously. I was just watching the after-show on AfterBuzz (live!) and heard some gossip about Ben: he may still be with the Hooters spokesmodel with of course, a huge rack.

 

(via her Twitter)

What TV shows have watched for a long time?
Which new shows are you into?

WIAW: 1000th post GIVEAWAY

Before my vacation, I was coming up on my 1000th post. Exciting isn't it? Though, I used my blog for personal purposes in the beginning. Now I'm participating in the blogging community through Foodie Penpals, Marvelous in My Monday, Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday, and of course, What I Ate Wednesday.

My eats since I've been back home have been meatless. I'm even watching "Forks Over Knives" before work. My reasons are for my digestion, but I'm totally on board for living healthier and losing a pound here or there.

I'm all over the Kashi GoLean Truly Vanilla. Even though it's everywhere, I've never tried the Kashi brand. And it goes perfectly with [a half-consumed packet of] Justin's Vanilla Almond Butter. I'm allowing myself a packet per day since I can't find them here... and it's good portion control.

Yummy Boulder Canyon veggie chips (like SunChips) from Costco.

Alexia sweet potato fries, of course. Plus, they were on sale for $2! Can you eat these frozen? I saw someone else do it and tried it. Not bad.

And while I was at the store buying those $2 fries, I found Talenti gelato for $3!

Spinach with avocados and mini peppers

Sometimes I'll add Trader Joe's vegetable masala burger. Really good flavor though not really a great source of protein.

My schedule is laid out. It looks like I have a lot to do, but it's not very taxing. :) What does your summer schedule look like?

*I should add I missed [Hip Hop] Hustle and am looking at going to Zumba instead. The class is too far and I wanted too much sleep.

Bonus: I bought my uncle a beer and sake for Father's Day. Not sure if either is good, but the Buddha bottle is cool.

Wait, there's more!
In celebration of my 1000th post, I give to you, a fantastic giveaway! I decided to pick items I've mentioned often on the blog, all of which are snacks!

• 4 bags of LoveGrown granola
• Peanut Butter & Co White Chocolate Wonderful
• Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter
• Jif To Go
• 2 boxes of peanut butter Z Clif Bar
• 2 thinkThin bars
• Justin's Peanut chocolate bar

1. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me your favorite nut butter.

2. For an extra entry, tweet about the giveaway then leave a comment saying you did so.

"Julie Goes Healthy 1000th post GIVEAWAY @MsLuong http://bit.ly/NJGPoD"

I will pick one winner on Saturday, June 30th.

*I purchased all the giveaway items with my own $. :)