Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 129

ANNOUNCING: my next live chat!

I love chatting with all of you so I’m going to do my best to make it happen at least once a month!

Since summer is almost here I thought we should make May’s live chat all about enjoying the warm weather kind-style: that means dishing about everything from kind BBQ recipes to the best kind sunscreens beauty products beach reading and eco-friendly vacation ideas.

Our live chat will be happening Wednesday May 16 at 5pm PST / 8pm EST so mark your calendars!

What would you like to ask me about having a kind summer? Submit your questions in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them during our live chat!

Related Stories: 

My Live Chat About Pregnancy 
Love Chatting With You All
I Found Some Cool Luggage Tags!
My Favorite Beauty Products and the Best Facial in LA! 

mothers day: english breakfast in bed and more goodies for mom!

This was taken at Coachalla just a few weeks ago.

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Most of these photos were taken when Bear was about six months old and he was chewing on everything—as you can see in the top left photo with the tooth brush in his mouth and the bottom left with the tv remote. The most recent picture is the top middle where Bear is chewing on an icicle taken about two months ago when he was ten months old.

Now that I’m a mom everyday is Mother’s Day! Okay I said that about Valentine’s Day and Earth Day too but seriously not a day goes by that Bear doesn’t do something adorable and sweet and amazing. I love my baby so much!

Of course I have my mom to thank for imparting her kind values to me at an early age with her love of animals and her eco-conscious habits see my post about how she squeezes the last drop out of every beauty product…go Mom!. My mom is also the inspiration for the English brunch recipe on page 198 in The Kind Diet.

Get the recipe here and make your mom breakfast in bed this year!

Here are some kind gift ideas you can give your mom for Mother’s Day: 

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Cookies and Crispy Bars by Pure Sweets

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Vegan Divas Gluten Free Coconut Macaroons and Cookies in a Heart Tin

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Flora Floppy Straw Hat by Greenpacha

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Eco-Functional iPhone Case by Minimalist

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Striped Sweatshirt by Threads 4 Thought

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Hand-crafted Soaps from Estrella

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Lip Balm by Salve Me

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Woven Envelope Clutch by Daydreamer

If you haven’t already be sure to follow me on OpenSky to be the first to find out about more great deals on kind goodies!

Want to give a gift on behalf of your mom? Check out these organizations:

Help the Humane Society shut down puppy mills save animals from natural disasters and fight animal cruelty.
Help to stop all types of animal cruelty.
Help the ASPCA continue to care for and adopt out animals in need.
Support Farm Sanctuary by adopting an animal for Mother’s Day!

And for the mamas-to-be in your life share Ricki Lake’s amazing documentaries The Business of Being Born and More Business of Being Born. I’ve also shared a bunch of great book recommendations for moms-to-be over the last year in our kind book club.

Like every holiday this one is all about spending time with your family and appreciating each other. 

How do you plan to celebrate Mother’s Day?

More stories for kind mamas: 
Kind Book Club: What You Thought of “Diaper Free” by Ingrid Bauer
ANNOUNCING! winners of a signed copy of the kind diet
Link Love: Recapping the Month in Kind
Lil Kind Life: 10 Ways to Help Your Kids Go Green 

kind classes: warren kramer is back in la!

Macrobiotic counselor Warren Kramer is coming to LA in June! You know him from my previous posts about his classes as well as my Q&A series about kind pregnancy with his lovely wife Fatim. If you live in or around LA and would like to know more about going superhero check out Warren's classes! I love them and highly recommend them. They always have very interesting discussions and great information—life changing stuff! Get your butts there! Details below:

VEGAN/MACROBIOTIC CLASSES in LA

Warren Kramer in Los Angeles June 6-10 2012

Wednesday June 6 6:30 – 9:00 pm

Dinner/Lecture: Food and Lifestyle to Stay Young and Vital - The Real Fountain of Youth

45 paid by 5/30; 60 thereafter 

Our modern diet and lifestyle are causing people to age quickly and prematurely. We've become obsessed with our appearance and staying young. There is truly a way to keep our freshness brightness and youthful appearance throughout our life. Warren explains how to use food exercise and lifestyle to stay biologically young.

Thursday June 7 6:00 - 9:00 pm

Cooking Class: How to Satisfy Cravings Through Cooking!

60 paid by 5/30; 75 thereafter

Cravings can be our friend. They are there to help us strike balance with our activity and our environment and they help us find satisfaction. We will look closely at what specific cravings are telling us and how to make the right dishes to satisfy without compromising health.

Friday June 8 6:30 - 9:00 pm

Dinner/Lecture: The Kidneys - Key to Our Vitality

45 paid by 5/30; 60 thereafter

In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is said that the kidneys are "our seat to life".

They are our hereditary bank account. Our teeth bones nails hair quality will physical and sexual vitality are all influenced by the strength and functioning of our kidneys. This essential lecture will focus on how to diagnose your kidneys what harms and helps the kidneys with regard to food remedies and lifestyle.

Lecture: Managing Your Condition to Manage Your Life

One of the goals of a macrobiotic practice is to learn how to guide one's life. To be able to make appropriate choices in diet and lifestyle greatly determine the quality of our life. Warren explores what it really means to manage our condition and how to start making the best choices for us.

To Register contact: Karen

Email: yogarvaol.com Tel: 310-204-4867

Warren will be available for individual health consultations from June 7 to June 10.

Please Note: Your payment holds your reservation for all classes as space is limited.

Wednesday and Friday classes are held in Culver City

Thursday and Saturday's classes and Consultations are held in West LA

Special Discount: Prepay for all classes by May 30 is 220.00

www.macrobioticsnewengland.com

What questions do you have about going superhero?

Related Stories:

My Friend Fatim's Natural Pregnancy
My Friend Fatim's Natural Birth…
Fatim's Superhero Baby!
Superhero Classes: Warren Kramer is Back in LA!

tune in: this week on suburgatory...

Did you guys watch last week's episode of Suburgatory? 

If you missed it you can watch it HERE.

Don't forget to watch tomorrow's episode of Suburgatory on ABC at 8:30/7:30C.

Related Stories: 
Bear on the Set of Suburgatory
Behind the Scenes of Suburgatory
On the Set of “Suburgatory” 
Did You Catch Suburgatory? 

kind cures: kelly banishes eczema

Kind Lifer Kelly recently shared how adopting a kind diet healed her skin. Check it out:

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“After seeing your recent post on Carol the mother who cured her child's eczema by eliminating dairy from her diet I thought I would message you my story to thank you for your inspirational effect in my life.

I spent the first 25 years of my life suffering from intense eczema. My lips and face would react viciously to at times. I would swell up badly and then as the rash would heal I would have flakey dry skin. I have memories of being 2 years old and scratching my arms so badly that they would bleed. As I grew up I would go through periods were the flare-ups were worse than other times but they were always present. My condition sent me all over Southern Calif. to the ‘best’ doctors. I had allergy scratch tests cortizone shots every imaginable topical lotion/cream ointment oral medications photo light therapy at UCLA etc…Any possible solution I was directed there. It wasn't until my last pregnancy when my eczema became embarrassingly unbearable that I began eliminating items from my diet. Within one month of eliminating gluten my skin was 75 clearer. And within the next three months my skin had healed and I no longer had symptoms. My lips once swollen raw and red were clear and comfortable. My hands and back were totally clear.

After I had my daughter I became enamored with the idea of having all of the control over my body. I had been trained all my life to turn to doctors for the answers when they clearly did not have them. I read The Kind Diet after seeing you on “Oprah.” I think I read the book in less than a week and began my journey to eating kinder immediately. I now am a happy and healthy gluten-free vegan. I cannot believe how clear my skin is and how energetic I feel. I wake up in the morning ready to tackle the day. I have three daughters and am a working mother so how I feel throughout the day is priceless. Thank you for sharing your story and encouraging me to change my life!”

Congrats Kelly and thank you for sharing your story.

If any of you kind-lifers have a success story to share private message me or upload your story to your profile and “like” it. I may feature you on the homepage of  The Kind Life!


More Stories About Kind Cures:
Kind Cures: Carol Heals Her Baby's Eczema
Kind Cures: Kayla Gets Back on the Wagon
Kind Cures: Spunky Loses 114 Pounds and Quits Smoking
Kind Cures: Kind Life Inspired Beauty

pics from my date with missi pyle

I know this is a bit late but I wanted to share these pics of me with my friend Missi Pyle! I was her date the night before the Oscars.

I love her she is so funny!

Also check out Missi’s guest blog – what do you think she should blog about next?


More on Missi's Kind Adventures:
Missi Discovers the Dairy Myth 
Missi and Meredith Do Vegan Texas-Style 
Guest Blog: Missi Pyle's Vegan Quest - Day 1
Guest Blog: Missi Pyle's Vegan Adventure!

CONTEST: do you love eco fashion?

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The Kind Life is looking for fashion correspondents! We have one amazing one coming your way but I'm going to keep her a secret for now. So if you love to look for the latest greatest duds that are cute and kind and you also love sharing your great finds with the world I want to hear from you! I’m looking for someone who loves to blog and could contribute a regular column here about the best kind eco-chic items you’ve found lately. You don’t have to have your own blog already although you can – as long as you’re passionate about kind style you can enter to be The Kind Life’s fashion correspondent!

How It Works

To enter all you have to do is upload a photo to your profile and write a caption describing it! You have two choices: your photo can be a picture of you in your favorite eco chic outfit or it can be a Polyvore or Photoshop collage of your favorite eco apparel and accessories. In the caption for your photo write 100-200 words describing what’s in the photo and why you love it. When you’re done paste the link to your photo in the comments below.

The winners chosen to be fashion correspondents will simply be asked to send in a pictures of the great eco fashion items they find telling us where they got it how much it costs and what makes it so kind. They are also invited to write more about the company or the product in a full blog or just send it in bare-bones and we can do the rest!

Bonus!

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I'm giving away this eco-friendly dress from my closet! One winning blogger will get my dress plus a regular featured column on The Kind Life.

The contest closes at midnight PST on May 30. I’ll announce a winner in June so start uploading those photos. I can’t wait to see your entries!

More kind fashion:

Cute Kids Clothes
Where Do You Get Eco Undies and Tanks?
Guest Blog: Nola Singer's Kind Jewelry
Behind the Scenes: Where My Ecotools Collection is Made

kind holidays: 14 cinco de mayo recipes to try this weekend

In honor of Cinco De Mayo I’ve compiled all the yum Mexican food recipes you’ve shared in the kind recipe gallery plus a couple I’ve shared in the past. Enjoy and happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

Wendy’s Best Taco Salad EVER
Holli’s Raw Corn Avocado Salad
Kelly’s Black Bean And Corn Tacos
Peter Marshark’s Chayote Ceviche
Mike’s Mango Salsa
Amanda’s Gourmet Veggie Tacos With Sour Cream
Aubrey’s Taco Chili
Angie’s Bean and Cheese Enchiladas
My Tempeh Tacos
Jennifer’s BBQ Riblet Jalapeno Corn Quesadilla
Ryan’s Black Bean Cakes With Quacamole
Emily’s Amazing Vegan Flour Tortillas
Sammi’s Tempeh Enchaladas
Lindsay’s Low Fat Nacho Cheese

And of course the cheesy oozy guac from The Kind Diet is the best thing ever for a day like Cinco de Mayo.

P.S. Cinco de Mayo is Bear's birthday and he's turning one! My girlfriend's little boy Calhoon is turning 6 so we'll all go to his birthday party this weekend. I found some cool eco gifts for him which I will share later!

What’s your favorite Mexican dish? Share it in the comments below!


More kind yummy food:
Kind Classics: Moroccan Couscous with Saffron
Delicious Sunday Dinners
Party in My Pantry
Kind Chocolate Cake 

kind quickies: vegans take cleveland

A vegan buddy of mine was visiting Cleveland and told me about the Flaming Ice Cube Vegan Café and Shoppe. Here’s a visual sample of what’s on their menu:

Looks yum! If you’re in Cleveland pay them a visit at:

Flaming Ice Cub Vegan Café and Shoppe
140 Public Square
Cleveland OH 44114
T: 216-263-1111

Hours:
Mon-Thur: 7:30am - 9pm
Friday: 7:30am - 10pm
Saturday: 11am - 10pm

You can also find out more on their website. What’s your favorite vegan spot?

Related Stories: 

Kind Quickies: Souen Restaurant for Superhero Food in NYC
My Favorite Restaurants in Detroit
My Delicious Dinner at Jean-Georges
The Best Veggie Burger in LA

kind quickies: 10 tips for curing a cold

I made ume sho kuzu

Sometimes when spring comes around we often get a little sick. Sniffles sneezing…I asked my friend Christina Pirello what's up with that. She explained "According to the principles of Chinese medicine we get colds when the body needs to get rid of excess or change its energy. So in terms of spring colds the body is trying to 'lighten up' after a winter of heavier foods less activity less time outdoors. As the weather warms the body wants to move that warming energy out to make us better able to handle the summer heat and feel comfortable in that heat."

So if you sense a little bug coming along that you are fighting to fend off—maybe feeling extra tired your throat is scratchy or any typical symptom that something awful is around the corner—here is what I do and I hope that it helps you:

Nap ASAP. Take an hour nap as soon as possible. If you're at work consider taking the afternoon off. If you get sick you are going to need to take a lot more time off to recover. It's better to take a few hours to regroup before it gets out of hand.
Clear your calendar. Free your schedule of anything that isn't more important than you getting better--which is almost everything. Sometimes you just can't get out of a work thing or a school thing but try.
Drink. Try ume sho kuzu or my cure all tea. This will help to heal your body and help it flush all of the bad bugs. Christina reminds us to skip the fruit juice as the sugar in them can make the cold last longer.
Go to bed early. And sleep as much as possible. Your body needs energy to fend off the germs. The energy you're using to stay awake can be better spent ridding your body of the nasty sickness.
Go Superhero. Immediately and hard core. Miso soup greens brown rice cure-all tea and ume sho kuzu will all be super healing for your body.
Chew. I mean really chew. I suck at this but even if you have scarfed down most of your food and then suddenly remember to really chew one bite it's beneficial! For every bite you should have about 20-50 chews depending on your cool factor. I'm not that cool but I try hard to remember and when I do I try to at least get past 20.  When you chew the special enzyme in your saliva called ptyalin breaks down complex carbs into glucose. When this glucose travels to your brain you will feel nourished centered and you brain will be free to generate happy thoughts!
Gargle. Make hot kukicha tea with as much salt as you can handle—about one teaspoon Christina says if you try too much more than that you can choke or as close to that as you can-- and gargle that sucker three times a day. Some people swear by apple cider vinegar gargle and you could try that too. Maybe just add a little cider to the kukicha salt concoction. Or if nothing else just do salt and hot water. 
Take echinacea. I used to think echinacea was just for prevention but it's also good for when you're already sick. Take one dropper full five times a day. Keep doing this daily until you feel 100.
Rest rest rest. Let yourself rest. I'm partially talking to myself here because I have a hard time taking a break. I have all of my projects I'm constantly writing blogs in my head and I take care of my munchkin. I'm in love with my life my long lists and my projects so it's hard to rest and do nothing sometimes when I have so much on my plate. When I'm sick I have to and I love it when I do. 
Scrub your body. The hot body scrub in The Kind Diet really makes a world of difference. It increases circulation helps loosen and dissolve trapped fat under your skin opens the pores to release toxins and helps to circulate lymph fluid. If you want to truly stay well and have great skin and feel like a superhero try it! I try to do it every day but in reality only actually do it a few times a month so lame I know!. I'm certain  if I did it every day I would fly.

When I have gone off-track—too much sugar or too much work—I sometimes start to feel a little sick. If I don't take the right steps right away there then is a better chance that I'm going to be full-blown sick.

The great thing about being a veggie superhero is that if I do take these steps right away I rarely get the full-blown sickness—it passes through super quick. With a traditional diet that gunk generally sticks around longer and the sickness is more intense. That's the beauty of our diet.

What other great tricks do you have for knocking out your sickness before it takes hold?

Related:

Nourishing Nishime
Party in My Pantry
Mama & Baby Workouts
My Acupuncture Nightmare!

Photo Credit: Looplane.com