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So the other morning I spontaneously decided I needed to do something "more active". I was craving a different type of cardio.
I parked the car and walked thru the Marina. It was gorgeous!! Although it was slightly overcast, I walked for about 45 minutes at a fast past (according to my Polar Heart Rate monitor). I averaged a majority of my walk in zone 3, with a little bit in zone 2 and zone 4.
Here's the program I did: Walk 10 minutes to warm up 1 minute traveling lunges 2 minutes walking 1 minute traveling lunges 3 minutes of walking 1 minute of traveling lunges 4 minutes of walking 1 minute of traveling lunges 15 minutes Power walking (long strides swinging arms) 5 minutes slower pace bring heart rate down.
My heart rate average was 160 beats per minute and I burned 479 calories.
I got outside, enjoyed the fresh air, the view of the water, AND had a fun "powerful" walk!
It was great weather on Saturday evening. We were invited to a party hosted by the Bel-Air Beach Club. (The club overlooked the ocean). It was a Mexican-themed party with a ice sculpture for tequila, pinatas hanging everywhere, and maracas on each table. Ali and I tried to "dress up our outfits by adding Sunflowers behind our ears. I guess there is a limit to the size of a flower - if its bigger than your head, then it shouldn't go in your head!
After visiting with some of the other members, we enjoyed a large buffet of numerous Mexican dishes. Here we began making our own music with the maracas! There were unique seafood dishes like a sea bass that was prepared a Mexican style with vegetables and tomatoes, and of course they had a famous nacho bar.
The band played a range of salsa and meringue. We had a blast dancing. That style of dance is all in the hips. We danced for several songs. Even the lead singer found us entertaining as we made up our own twirls and choreography. What naturals!
Unfortunately the night had to come to a close. Although we didn't want to say goodbye, we did. However, Ali took a liking to "Mr. Burro" earlier in the evening, and wouldn't you know it, he snuck home with her!
This week was a great week - I was at a trendy Hollywood Hot Spot restaurant, Kitana, entertaining some clients with my beau. There were 4 of us that were walking towards the bar to order drinks - the other gal, was about 26 and real cute and nice. Well, we order drinks and the bartender looks at me and says, "I need to see your ID". Of course I am flattered and think she is kidding. So I pretend like I am going to pull it out. I gently hit my beau and say, "I just got carded! HA!".
The bartender then comes back, but sets the drinks down next to her. She makes no mistakes or jokes, but she does the hand gesture of "Show me your I.D." So, me of course I gladly pull it out, (my California license hasn't arrived - what a bummer) She looks at it and me, then says thank you. HA - I was carded!! :)
I guess all the cardio, dancing, yoga, weight training, biking, etc, has really paid off!!
So after our amazing dinner at this restaurant we went to another spot, Kress. A party with the Benchwarmer girls. We thought our San Francisco friend would enjoy the scenery. Here's a pic of me with our client and Lauren, Stunt gal and Benchwarmer girl.
This past week was a blast as I had many "new experiences". On Wednesday I went with some friends to "Nic's" on Canon in Beverly Hills. It is a fancy Martini bar. Yes, the owner is Russian and quite friendly. He stopped by our booth to say a hello. Later he invited us to the "vodka Box". It is an ice box where hundreds of different vodka's are kept. It is like a wine cellar, but colder (and full of vodka). Before entering the ice box they have a closet full of leopard fur coats for the ladies and solid black coats for the gentlemen. We also got "fancy" fluffy hats to keep the head warm. It doesn't seem like we would need these hats, but they are essential! We tried a few different tastes of the vodka before exiting the "box".
Thursday was my first time at the Hollywood Bowl enjoying LA Philharmonic "Symphonie Fantastique". The witty conductor Bramwell Tovey explained the music and discussed the instruments before the segments. It was astounding to me. I was dancing in my head all night long!
I even ran into female bodybuilding icon, Cory Everson, with her husband. We chatted for a few moments before I invited her to our store opening! She is looking forward to it!
I have been trying to make Saturday "leisure day" (I know, coming from me that may sound funny - but I am doing pretty well with it.) During my leisure day I attended on of my favorite dance classes taught by Allan. He has a fun hip hop style that gets my heart rate going to excessive heights. According to my Polar Heart Rate Monitor, RS200, my rate can get up as high as 200 beats per minute. Now that is high! The best part is it doesn't really feel like I am going to die, until the end of class - but it sure is fun.
Thanks for kicking my booty in class Allan. When Allan isn't applying make-up to celebrities you can find him teaching at Equinox in West Hollywood and Santa Monica.
Sunday fun day! It was a typical gorgeous sunny southern Cali day, and we enjoyed it with the top down. We visited my Malibu girlfriend Michelle and her hubby Robert and their new twin babies, Reese and Brandy. (She is also the Insurance agent of my LeTip International networking group. The babies are precious with their big blue eyes and smiles. I got to hold Brandy for a little bit, as Reese fell asleep after so many giggles and smiles. Shortly after, we ventured on to a house party that had a majestic view of the mountains, marina, and rolling hills. The day was filled with inspirational views, wonderful friends, and warm sunshine. Aaaahhh, now I am ready for Monday!
There was a lot of celebrating this extended weekend with 4th of July and my dear friend's Jo and Jonsie's birthday.
The first birthday celebrated was Jo, my dear yoga instructor. We celebrated in a group of about 10 at this quaint little tapas restaurant in Playa del Rey. We enjoyed Sea Bass in a lobster sauce, grilled vegetables, grilled salmon with lobster mashed potatoes, and delightful Meritage. In the picture is Jo, Genavive, owner of Yoga Loft (which is around the corner from our new store) and me.
The morning of the 4th I spent training a few of my favorite clients - they had to be my favorite to train them on a holiday right? Then I did a quick Slastix workout. You can check out how great these are to use at home or on the road.
The rest of the weekend was just plain FUN! We spent the 4th with friends down in Manhattan Beach - I even got my first surf lesson - I will need a few more before I join the circuit! Honestly, I was concerned the water was going to be a bit colder than it was. Remember last week I was in Seattle? I didn't go into the water because of the "brisk-ness" of temperature! But its different when you are concentrating on other things than the temperature. Unfortunately I didn't get to stand up on the board (or any photos either). The good news is I should have the next lesson next week. Yes, I will bring the camera for proof! This non-swimmer can surf! Oh, the other tough thing for me was not to laugh in the water or you get a mouth full. Oops! Before we enjoyed the fireworks shows from both the Marina and Redondo, we paused a moment to take in the beautiful sunset.
I even spent some time relaxing - I know it is surprising on a weekend for me to do that. But I did it exceptionally well I must admit! Saturday I slept in, went to our favorite breakfast spot, then relaxed a little more. We decided to go to the movies and saw the new Angelina Jolie movie, "Wanted". It was a good movie (a few holes in the storyline)with great special effects. We did a little shopping then had an extraordinary dinner at La Boheme! One of my favorite places. I enjoyed an extremely well prepared Sea Bass with spinach and vegetables. Delicious!
Sunday was another fun day - well, another relaxing fun day. We celebrated Jonsie's bday at our regular birthday spot - Baja. Jen and I toasted our friend's new year of wisdom she just gained. It was a gorgeous day to be outside, although there was a slightly humid east coast feeling in the air.
Then the day had to come to an end. As I must prepare for a full work week this week. No more days off for me. That's ok, I will just have to add some more time to update you with my daily activities in my blog.
We arrived on Friday night at SeaTac airport about 9pm. We got to visit with family for a little bit first, then stopped at a bonfire party for another few minutes, as it was getting late quickly. We knew we didn't want to miss out of our boating time.
On Saturday we had a terrific "fish and chips" breakfast from Totem House. We brought enough to share with the others on the boat. A group of nine of us set out to water about 1:00pm. It was a perfect day weather wise. There were blue skies and no clouds to be seen anywhere. The temperature was about 83 degrees.
The "yacht" anchored in a calm area where numerous other boats of all sizes, shapes and colors were anchored together. Some of the sunbathers on our boat jumped in the water. ALL of those who jumped in had a look of pure shock at the temperature of the water. To me, that was a sign it was too "brisk" for my liking. I rolled over on the front of the boat and applied more Nutragena's SPF 30 Cooling Spray.
We landed about 7:30 and made our way to dinner with another couple. We had a waterfront view at a restaurant named Water's Edge. It was a gorgeous sunset about 9:45pm. I took in the breath taking view, surrounded by snow-capped mountains in the distance and water near by. Some people were more sensative from the boat, and thought the dock was moving. We joked until the waiter confirmed that we were eating on a floating dock. I guess my years of gymnastics just kept me balanced at dinner!
Sunday morning we woke and returned to the boat for another day of cruising. This time we started out with three people, picked up three more, and then two more. We enjoyed the company and conversation as it was a relaxing Sunday on the water. Although it was relaxing for us, the waters were filled with boaters, water sports activities and people swimming near their boats. The Captain had to be alert when driving us back!
We couldn't have asked for a better weekend in Seattle. The sunny blue skies could have been mistaken for skies in sunny southern Cali. Sigh - back to work now.
He did it! It is official - I finally got to see George Michael in concert at the MGM Hotel's Garden Concert Center on June 21!
He was fantastic. George sang 11 songs ranging from the old school songs from "WHAM!" days to current hits from his latest CD "25". He took a 20 minute intermission which allowed me to run to the front and grab the souvenir photo book. Barbra and I returned to our seats in time for another 5 songs. He came back on stage for two songs and a grand finale. He closed with one of my favorites - "Careless Whisper"!!
It was a concert to remember! Not only did I thoroughly enjoy his singing, but I also thought the digital lighting background was creative and unique. His soulful back up singers had amazing voices. Although it has been sometime since George has been on tour, he did an excellent job. He would sing and then point the mic to us so we could sing his words.
As if one concert with a gorgeous man wasn't enough, look who we got to meet up with. My long time friend Kevin and his co-worker Billy. If you don't recognize them, let me share with you who they are. These are the hotties from the Vegas' own Chippendales. We caught up with them at the Venetian.
All good fun must come to a close. Especially if we turn into pumpkins (near midnight).As much fun as we had laughing, we had to call it a night as Billy was prepping the next morning for his appearance on the View and Kevin was traveling to Ohio to work with the Chippendales there.
But that's not all. Barbra and I decided to stay and enjoy some fun in Las Vegas' newest POOL hot spot known as "Wet Republic", also located at the MGM. There was a DJ through out the day and well known rapper "Florida". (He had a bit of a potty mouth). We soaked up the sun along with the SPF 45.
Barbra and I really enjoyed our time as we were taken care of by our waitress Crystal. Our friend Travis seated us poolside in her section. The sun was hot, the pool was cool, and we enjoyed a fantastic Sunday with ease!
"Basketball is my favorite sport. I like the way they dribble up and down the court. Like Im the king of the microphone. so is Dr. J and Moses Malone...etc" she said in her "rap voice"
Yep - basketball is my favorite but, I really like lots of sports. This was my first time in the Anaheim Angels stadium. It was a perfect night for baseball. The weather was comfortable - no jacket necessary and because we got there early I got a John Lackey Bobble head! (I hope my nephews like it!)
I have only been to 2 other baseball stadiums - the Detroit Tigers - when I was a kid. I got to go with my Dad and Grandpa on a "boys night out". I have also been to a few Atlanta Braves Games. Those were in Turner Field. The stadium that was used for the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Unfortunately, the Angels were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays wore this new navy boring blue and gray uniform. Although the uni's were boring, they scored three homeruns in a row!! Now that is rare! Guess they must have a great Strength training staff!
