My Favorite Fitness Gifts to Give!

Today I've compiled my selection of my favorites gifts for the holiday season! There's something for everyone in this list at every price! Click on the links to get one for yourself to give our simply enjoy on your own! :)

The Fitness Gal:

  a) Fitness tone ball!! These bouncy balls are great for home workouts or even any workout at the park, beach, hotel room, etc! The places are endless! This is a great idea for a fitness girl especially if going to a gym or fitness facility isn't convenient. These balls are great for core workouts, balance training and yoga/pilates series! Personally, I always incorporate this piece of equipment into my workouts! Best thing too is it isn't expensive at all!

Here's a wonderful, reliable and good priced ball: Tone Fitness 65cm Anti-burst Stability Ball

  b) Yogi Gifts! Yoga and pilates themed gifts are great options for the women in your life! Listed below are some of my favorite place to get yoga and pilates gifts for myself and others! :)

• Splits59 Apparel- its comfortable, great to workout in (no matter what type of workout), and it looks awesome so you can go from work to workout without changing! 
• Wai Lana Yogi Bars- Delicious so good for you bars that have an awesome zen vibe to them!
• Toe Soxs- NOT JUST ORDINARY TOE SOX these are awareness toesox which is always so so so much better! These socks are perfect for pilates as they have little rubber dots on the soles of the socks making foot work and reformer work more effective and less slipy slidey! 

For both Men and Women: 

Hot Body Pilates DVD! Buy this Pilates based workout on DVD by Hot body pilates and you'll get to workout with head instructor Kloey Hanson as she shows you how to get that Hot Body! RJ and I tried out the DVD and we're not only hooked on it, but sore and sweaty every time we do this revolutionary, one of a kind workout! Get it here on amazon or go to the Hot Body Website! 

The Fitness Guy:

  a) Water-proof Headphones! These "mi sport" headphones are almost too good to be true! They're super hi-tech, waterproof headphones that resist sweat and you can even swim in them! Click on the link to see these amazing headphones!

  b) Vapur water! This is a new concept of drinking bottle. Its no so much a bottle, more like a flat bag/pouch! It stores way more convenient and you're helping the environment! They come in all different sizes and the brand even is helping the UNICEF tap project! Sounds like a good deal to me! Click on the link to see this new concept!

c) Leather Jump Rope! A take anywhere you go, anytime workout equipment that is not only one of the best cardio exercises to do but also can be done anywhere! There's several types out there even ones with weights in the handles! Try walmart, target or any sports store and you'll find a variety at all sorts of prices! Click on the link to go to Everlast's leather weighted jump rope!

For the Equestrian Athlete:

The classic GPA

  a) The GPA Helmet! My own choice for a helmet, this gift says to your equestrian athlete "I care about you safety". One of the safest, most reliable and best looking helmet- the GPA is sold in every tack shop and online store for a reason!  Its a great gift for the equestrian athlete in your life! My favorite design is the titanium but the speed air is a great one too!  Here is a link to where it's sold in San diego, CA----> Mary's Tack

The Titanium

The GPA Speed Air

b) Equestrian Themed Gifts! Back in the Saddle is a great website for finding the cutest gifts for equestrians! Check it out here!

Some new pics of me from work!

Photographer: Jeff Gotlieb!

More to come! :)

Photographer: Dove Shore

A delicious and successful dinner it was!

Well what a wonderful weekend I had! :) Spent the entire Friday whipping up some delicious thanksgiving recipes for the Fundraising dinner friday night! Cooked several dishes and had such a blast doing so!

Yes there was a little drama though- when we tried to transfer the food to the event room we were unpleasantly surprised by the fact that management had locked the room!! They forgot to tell late night maintenance! :( Luckily... I managed to track down emergency maintenance and phew he had the magic key to open the doors!! Thank the lord! I wasn't sure how I could fit the amount of people into my own living/dining room! :S

Anyway... here are some pictures I managed to take of the food! Could only take a couple coz people were diving in so fast into the food!!! Scroll down to see some of the favorite dishes of the night and the recipes (as a lot of people have requested them)!

Thanks to all who attended and made the night so wonderful! Also thank you to all who donated to St Germaine Childrens Charity- you have made some San Diego children extremely happy and thankful! Will be going out there again soon and will take some photos! :)

Thanks!!

So in this picture you see the pumpkin spice cupcakes w/ cream cheese frosting, pumpkin pie (courtesy of Michael Fox), the stuffing cups and mac & cheese cups, there are the yams, cranberry sauce, and gooey pumpkin pie butter cake bars! :)

In this picture to the right you see the cornbread muffins in a basket, the honey glazed turkey, the gravy, the sides tray (cream corn, mac & cheese, whiskey glazed carrots), next to that is the orange honey glazed ham, the rosemary sage stuffing, then theres the favorite bacon chives mash potatoes, and finally the gravy! :)

The Cupcakes get their close up! :P











RECIPES

Bacon Chives Mashed Potatoes (4-6 servings)

What you need!
- 4 golden yukon potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
- 1 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 heavy cream
- 4 tbsp sweet cream butter
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 8 slices of bacon cooked really crispy and then crumbled by crunchy them in a paper towel in your hands (draws excess oils and fat)
- 1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese
- handful of gruyere cheese
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

What to do!
- Place potatoes and salt in heavy 4-quart sauce pan and cover with water by 1-inch. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, cook until potatoes are tender when touched by a fork. (about 20 minutes.) Drain and return to cooking pot. Add the cream, butter, remaining salt, pepper and place pan over medium low heat and mash with a masher to incorporate ingredients beware not to over mash- be gentle, you want a light fluffy texture.  Add the bacon, cheese, sour cream and chives and stir thoroughly until nicely combined. Season to taste with italian herbs, paprika or some garlic powder! (I used all of those! :P) Serve warmed and enjoy!!

More recipes to come of the TURKEY and an easy, extremely quick version of the pumpkin spice babycakes!! :)

busy busy bee

Hey everyone! So asides trying to cope with the crash of work that my University has bombarded us with, Ive been shooting quite a bit too!! :)

Here is a behind the scene picture from Wunder Management's shoot with Jan Kaar! :) Make up by the beautiful Nikki Star :P

Also! The next day was more excitement! Shot for BVIKA Swimwear and Runway Icon's feature spread! Dont have all the pictures yet but check out these!! Photo:Runway Icon!

Some new pics!

Some new pics! Fantastic Photographer: Ben Duarte. Make Up & Hair: Jodi (I absolutely loved the make up she did!)

Hope you all like these :)