Summer Playlist

Just updated my ipod with some new summer radio picks, some oldies, all goodies!
These are my top picks for jammin in the sand (or in the gym!)
Enjoy & Feel free to add to my faves...


White Houses-Vanessa Carlton
Summer Girls-LFO
MMM Bop-Hansen
PYT (Pretty Young Thing) -Michael Jackson
Tonight, Tonight-Hot Chelle Rae
California Gurls-Katy Perry
Peacock-Katy Perry
California-Phantom Planet
Let me Clear my Throat-DJ Kool
Summertime-Will Smith
Don't Stop-Gin Wigmore
All Summer Long-Kid Rock
Doo-Wop (that thing) -Lauryn Hill
Black Betty-Ram Jam
All the Small Things-Blink 182
Party Rock Anthem-LMFAO

Life's a Beach

"The cure for anything is salt water; sweat, tears or the sea." -Isak Dinesen

So, today's workout was pretty chill. After 3 consecutive days of kickboxing, I slept in today and awoke to the feeling that I wanted...no, needed to work out outside!

So, it was off to the beach. I'm lucky enough to live 10 minutes from the sand and sea and no more than an hour from any beach I'd like to go to. This morning, though, it was just enough to do a walk/jog on a 3 mile stretch of pavement and end with a leisurely stroll back on the sand. I love taking my shoes off and just walking in my bare feet on the sand. It's actually a better workout, because the sand offers resistance. And to me, it just feels great, to be near the tide and feel the cool sand between my toes and the combination of the sun and the salty ocean air on my face. 6 miles was nothing when I was feeling this zen.

I remember last summer I barely got to go to the beach at all because I was at my miserable retail management job all the time (no exaggeration there!) and so far this summer, I've been lucky enough to actually enjoy all this beach I've taken for granted in the past. Not just for exercise purposes, of course, but to catch some sun and hang with my friends. Now that's good stuff.

Improvisation & Harry Potter

I've been a little off lately.

I don't really know how else to explain it.

Last summer I was very disciplined in my workouts and this summer, I'm kind of all over the place.
What with injuries and vacations and the random life stuff that tends to get in the way...

But I've decided (wisely, I think) not to stress over it. Summer is a time to be relaxed, so I've let myself relax a little and actually enjoy it all!

My workouts aren't as structured.
My meals are kind of scattered.
My smallest mini skirt is even mini-er

BUT

I have a killer tan.
I see my friends more often.
And I've been laughing a lot more.

I got up early this morning after a not-so-great night of sleep and pushed myself to go to kickboxing at 8:30 a.m. and I'm so glad I did! I worked up a sweat, stretched a lot, and had energy to do a bunch of errands before work.

I did plan on getting a few things done after work, but I was really tired and had have a ridiculous sinus headache. So, I listened to my body and laid down for a few hours, and before I knew it I was popping an Aleve and getting ready to meet some friends to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 2
feeling super excited!

The four of us weren't able to get tickets to the first two available shows so we took what we could get and settled into the sports bar that's actually inside the theater and had a round of cape codders (for those of you not from Boston, that's a vodka-cranberry with lime)

I like mine with a splash of gingerale

Finally we got our seats and I went for a large popcorn with no extra butter and a small diet coke-Dinner!

The movie was so good, and I'm home with a full and happy belly and a smile. Improvising is definitely a good thing...

Day 4

Day 4- Wedding Day / 4th of July 2011

I awoke feeling strangely hungry after last night's pizza party. And after forgoing my workout in favor of a hot coffee in the sun, I indulged in a gigantic gooey coffee roll dripping with icing. And then I went back to sleep!

No workout today! I awoke in time to get zipped into my very tight dress, which didn't feel so good since I had a food baby, but I sucked it up (literally) and went to work on my hair and make-up.

...And just like that, it was time to go! These days have been flying by!
Humming a little "goin to the chapel and we're gonnnnna get married..." Mom, Em and I joined the girls at the casita (a.k.a. the bridal suite) and after getting the bride and the dress into the limo, we were off!

Jess and her 'maids'

La Venta

The wedding location was absolutely breathtaking (and I thought the resort was beautiful!)

The ceremony and reception were both held at the La Venta Inn, located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles. It's actually a restored 1920's villa nestled in the hills of Palos Verdes. The main building has a courtyard entrance leading into two giant rooms with domed ceilings and a massive stone fireplace that opens up onto a veranda and sprawling lawn with panoramic (I mean, postcard-worthy) views of the ocean. The entire building, and it's smaller surrounding villas are designed in Spanish architecture and everything about them was so beautiful! I loved it all--Can you tell?

Night view of La Venta

I snuck around to get a few pictures of the main dining room. The colors were "tiffany" blue and cherry red, punctuated with white. A gorgeous color scheme that also happened to be very patriotic--fitting since it was Independence Day!

check out the centerpieces!

...Then I meandered through the rest of the building to check out some of the beautiful rooms and of course, the gazebo and chairs where the ceremony would be taking place. And the view from there?
There are no words. So, take a look!

I fell in love with this little room!

Can you believe this view?

...I finally made my way back to the room where all of the ladies were putting those finishing touches on. I offered to help where I could. But Jess was ready as could be. And totally cool, calm and collected. No Bridezilla here!

We toasted the bride with (even more) champagne

And then Em and I were called on to take pictures with the boys...

our their pleasure!

The Ceremony

mother and son

best man, maid of honor, and pretty little Cadence (the flower girl)

mom & dad, and of course, the bride!

They both said yes!

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Therrien!

Dinner & Toasts

Father of the Groom

Best Man, Phil

Dinner...All 5 courses!

From the moment the ceremony ended, food was
An impressive raw bar, canapes, an open bar, chilled champagne...

Oh, and then it was time for dinner!

I could literally manage only a bit or two of each course or I'd have had to stop eating altogether...
And I definitely wanted to taste everything on this menu. If you can't see the menu, here's a breakdown:

MENU

1st Course-Heirloom Tomato Soup
2nd Course-Oakleaf Lettuce Salad
                  -Maytag Blue Cheese
                  -Spiced Pecans
                  -Hard Cider Vinegarette
3rd Course-Chilean Sea Bass in a Thai marinade
                 -Asparagus with lemon zest
4th Course-Lemon Sorbet
5th Course-Grilled Filet Mignon (with Jack Daniels Peppercorn Sauce)
                 -Mashed Potatoes
or
                 -Garden Vegetable Ravioli in a Marsala Mushroom Sauce *vegetarian entree=YUM!

And of course, cake!

Two cakes, actually. The wedding cake, and a special Reeses Pieces peanut butter cake for my cousin Brian because he LOVES Reeses!

wedding cake

Brian's cake

After the cake cutting it was time to dance the night away...But not before stealing a few shots of the gorgeous sunset!

All the single ladies!

And finally...Fireworks! I love that the wedding was so beautiful and elegant, but comfortable and casual enough for us to all sit outside and enjoy the 4th of july Fireworks coming from the harbor.

And after the Party...

When we were all dropped off at the resort--Emily and I traveled with the cake-and-liquor limo-- We went to check on Mom, since she'd been not feeling well, then we changed into some cozies and went to the Casita where the party raged on. Fancy dresses, suits and shoes, gone. From 1 a.m. until dawn, it was all about laid back music, chatting, noshing on tortilla chips and drinking Heinekin.

Can you think of a more perfect ending to an already perfect day?

Neither could I!

Congratulations Brian and Jessica!

Day 3

Another early morning workout!

This time I jogged the stairs at the resort...

Since none of were in the wedding party, we didn't have to be at the rehearsal, just the rehearsal lunch. We were so lucky to re-connect with distant cousins and other family members and meet some really awesome people who we all enjoyed so much!

And luckily for us, the rehearsal lunch was at our hotel, so the farthest we had to travel was 4 floors down! It was a such a gorgeous set-up...

Look at the view...

Brian and R.J.

                                                            ...And my handsome cousins!






I'd seen my cousin Brian at the BBQ but was thrilled to see his wife-to-be, my friend, Jess!

Isn't she lovely?

The food was set up buffet style and included everything from spinach salad to sirloin steak and red potato salad to marinated veggies. The big crowd pleasers seemed to be the fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. I had 2 servings. I mean, who doesn't love mac-n-cheese?

This guy does!

The little ones took a shining to Em and she shared all kinds of desserts with them

I definitely took a nap after that feast!

And later that night...

It was off to Catalina Kitchen (also on the 2nd floor of the resort) with the groom and some of our new friends!

Since lunch was so filling, we all snacked on tapas, which were delicious, especially the Mediterranean Platter we spit eight ways. It included fresh pita bread, hummus, baba ganoush. Eventually we did order pizzas (margherita pizza for my mom and me, pepperoni for the groom, meat lovers for the other boys and a super yummy linguini for my sister-I stole a bite or two)

WoW.

What a fun day! We ate, we danced, we laughed...And I scoffed everyone's leftovers.

Day 2

Day 2


Got a great night's sleep and was up and at 'em pretty early.

We had a busy day ahead of us and I was eager to work out before we hit the road again!

I got another long walk in, logging about a mile and a half on my way to the gym, which was pretty easy to do...

See what I mean?

The fitness center itself was pretty great too!

Counting the walk over as my warm-up, I hopped on the elliptical for 10 minutes, treadmill for 10 minutes, stair-climber for 10 minutes for a total of 30 minutes.

I did a lot of stretching with pilates bands and did some ab work on the bosu ball.

Then made a mental note to take an outdoor spin class before leaving LA!

...and I cooled down by walking back to the room!

Actually, I took a detour to the "gift shop" which turned out to be oh-so-much more than that!

Sea Beans Cafe

Sea Beans rocked my breakfast every single day of our visit! I ordered a nonfat cafe au lait with Stevia (yes, they had stevia) and a berry muffin, which was more like a cobbler. And then it was time to shower and get changed for our drive to Tustin, CA for a family BBQ!

The drive was about an hour and forty-five minutes, and my tummy was sick again, but we were so thrilled to see our west coast family, it didn't matter!

Me, my cousin Brian, the groom

Brian and my sister, Em

Dinner was slim pickings (for me) since it was pretty much all meat! But most everyone loved it. It was an impressive spread: ribs, pork and beans, burgers, wings...And for us vegetarians, caesar salad sans chicken and fingerling potato salad. And of course, apple pie a la mode for dessert!

The day/night was filled with swimming, diving, splashing...

Laughing...

Kids...

Ping-Pong...

And a dip in the jacuzzi!


It was so awesome to be with family and to meet a lot of great new people!

When it was time to leave, Em took over driving, and though her iphone GPS

had got us there no problem (which I found pretty impressive, since I don't have a smartphone) we did hit a few unexpected detours trying to get back to the hotel. At 11 p.m. we found ourselves on the entry ramp to the Long Beach Aquarium

Oops!

Very pretty, yes. But not where we were trying to go!

With less than 5% battery life on the iphone, Em managed to stay calm and use her inner navigation system to get us back to the Terranea before midnight!



Em saved the day-er-night, rather, and despite being thoroughly exhausted, I was really hungry!

I decided to indulge and called the all-night room service for some (more) dessert. The guy couldn't have been nicer on the phone and when he said "May I suggest the peanut butter cookies? We have a batch fresh out of the oven." I thought I'd died and gone to sweet-tooth heaven!

May you? Yes!

These bad boys were the size of salad plates and were warm, chewy and exceptionally delicious! I only managed half of one before wrapping them up and calling it a night. But the cookies were a very sweet ending to an already sweet day!