Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate my big 25 with me!  I feel so loved and special to have over 20 people come out and celebrate with me! :)

Happy 25th Birthday!

Today is the big 25!!! I can't believe that I am a quarter of a century year old!

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful text, messages and presents!!!

Big Bronx 2013

This past weekend marked the 43rd New York City Invitational and my... 11th Big Bronx?!?  WOW, how crazy is that?!

I had a great time meeting all of the new novices and seeing all of the JV & varsity students again!

Housing on Friday was a bit of  a headache as a had a slight error and a few students left without housing... After a few frantic phone calls we got it all resolved and Saturday was less hectic.

I judged 2 PF rounds on Saturday and quite a few outrounds on Sunday (Triples, Doubles, Octos & Semis).

Even with the shorter day today, I am still exhausted!  Hopefully I can sleep it off this weekend!

World Food Day - Watch Hunger Stop

This World Food Day, I joined @MichaelKors to #WatchHungerStop 

Interview with Mario Lopez

Credit: Peshean Zhang

Tonight, October 9, 2013, I had the opportunity to interview Mario Lopez!!! He was hosting the 20th Anniversary Dinner for the Walter Kaitz Foundation, which serves to increase diversity in the cable industry.

You can check out the interview here: http://www.examiner.com/article/mario-lopez-on-diversity

I found out afterward from my friend Peshean, who was photographing and made this event possible, that I made Mario's head turn!

Apparently as we were waiting for him outside his suite, as he turned the corner he looked at me and went "wow" and bypassed the two other women in front of me to meet and shake my hand first!  How cool is that?!

Cruise 2013 in a nutshell

Wow its been quite a whirlwind since I got back from my cruise so I havent had a chance to write about it.

My cruise was awesome!!!  It was well needed vacation and so much fun!  Not only did I make new friends, I made a new family! We hung out a lot with a group of basketball players and two girls from our dinner table.  My dinner table and I became super close - there were 10 people at my table (Table 504), 5 pairs of 2 all from different parts of NY & NJ, mostly around our age - all girls minus 1 pair of guys in their 50's.  We thought they were a couple, but we were so wrong!  We all became good friends and actually went to events together, the guys even joined us in the club on the boat!

Amanda and I were on the 2nd place team at the Carnival Quest - which was a quasi scavenger hunt.

Somehow the theme of Amanda, my friend and cabin-mate for the trip, and I's trip became "Don't Die." Here's why:
Day 1 - I was told "you should be dead" because my heart was beating so fast
Day 2 - Amanda was since all day, so I told her "don't die" as she slept all day and even missed dinner!
Day 3 - "Don't get shot" as we were going to play lazer tag
Day 4 - I got bruised from climbing a wall in Puerto Rico & Senor Frogs
Day 5 - We were just so tired we crashed pretty early (we woke up early because we were docking in St Thomas at 7 AM)
Day 6 - Margaritaville @ Grand Turk
Day 7 - Amanda had a bit too much & almost broke my nose
Day 8 - My dinner table (504) went hard at the Red Carpet

Even though I just got back, I miss the people, beaches and cruise already!

Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos

Turks & Caicos!!!  After 4 years since I first heard about Turks and Caicos at my Bahamian internship, I finally made it to Grand Turk!

Amanda and I decided to take a tour of the city - had to be the biggest waste of money and time...  Our first stop on the tour was the airport... where the bus BROKE DOWN... after a auto truck came and jump started the tour bus, we headed tot he town to see local houses that used to have some historical meaning, when the bus stopped again...  we then made it to our first stop on the bus... a salt house.  Grand Turk used to be a large salt exporter, however not anymore - "no slaves, no salt" the tour guide told us.  There were a few posters to read and a pile of salt.. but we stayed there for 30 minutes... it was actually longer as we waited for another bus to arrive.  

Next stop... Light House where we had a gorgeous view of the city and were only given 10 minutes to stay there. We got to pet and play with a wild donkey and overlook the island, which was gorgeous. THen we proceeded to head back.

We then went to check out the beach, which had a lot of seaweed and was overcrowded with boat people, so we headed to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.  Margaritaville was so awesome - it was a pool-bar, 3 feet deep! It was so much fun and so peaceful - probably my favorite place in Grand Turk! ;)

Good times! :)

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

 

 

Today we docked in St. Thomas.  We had no idea what to do, just that we should check out Meghan's Bay. So after running around and trying to figure out how to get there, we finally made it!  The beach was absolutely GORGEOUS!!!  Amanda and I pretty much spent the day there.

Funny story - I got carded at the beachside bar... keep in mind the drinking age there is 18...

The water at the beach so clear and amazing - I wish we could have spent more time at the beach!

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Today we arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico (from 3 PM - 11 PM).  My friend Amanda and I took a tour of Old and New San Juan.  On our tour saw the cities, government buildings, President Row and even got to check out one of the beaches!

After the tour we got to check out a mini street festival (purely for tourists), where I had a chicken empanada.  After that we had dinner - I got steak & onions w/ plantains, yum!

While we were there 2 people independently told me to go to a restaurant called Raices, too late for dinner, we decided to go for dessert!  At Raices we had "Flan de Pina Colada," which was DELICIOUS!!! :)

After that we went to my favorite, Senor Frogs - reminds me of the Bahamas and it was Amanda's first time there!

Fun times in Puerto Rico!

T-1 Day - Cruise tomorrow!!!

I'm headed on my cruise on the Carnival Spendor tomorrow for 8 days with my friend Amanda!!!  We'll be visiting San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands & Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos!

So excited, now I just have to finish packing!

I know I've been super bad at keeping up with this, but I am going to try to do a better job!

X Games Moves to Texas

This is one of my favorite weekends of the year - X Games Los Angeles Weekend!

It's the last year that the X Games will be in Los Angeles, next year they are moving to Austin, Texas :(

Regardless I'm loving watching all of the action sports madness! :)

7 Pretty Women's New Spokesperson

I am so excited and honored to announce that I have been asked to be a spokesperson for 7 Pretty Women!

Here's a bit more about what they do from their website (http://www.7prettywomen.com):

7prettywomen™ is a women-led company comprised of women just like you, who know that we have traveled a long journey to get to where we are today, to earn what we’re worth and own what we want.  In addition to helping you create a uniquely-you business, if you find yourself seeking more fulfillment in any of the 7 aspects of relationship, health, balance, business, happiness, leadership, or motherhood, we offer you the support to work through, push past, and accomplish whatever goals you set out to achieve. 

With the experience of our heart-centered team of talented experts you’ll not only have all the tools required to build a unique, profitable, leveraged and sustainable business in today’s environment – we’ll literally take the guess work out for you.  Because as a woman, wife, business owner, mom, you have a lot going on.  We’ll make sure you have what you need to remain focus, balanced and vibrant!  Let us help you design a beautiful, self-expressed stamped business so that you can ultimately live tha life you love and reclaim the freedom to do what you love, like spending more time with the ones you love 

“How important it is to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes.” ~ Maya Angelou

We envision a world where women reach their fullest potential, build a community of like-minded women to lead, mentor and create a domino effect that will empower girls and young women for generations to come.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Birthday America!!!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

Jamba Juice FiTrends Expo

Jamba Juice (www.JambaJuice.com) flew me out to Santa Monica, California for the Jamba Juice FiTrends Expo (April 24-25) featuring celebrity athlete Venus Williams!

I always love attending Jamba Juice events and learning about the latest trends and trying their new products.

There were even a few surprise celebrity guest appearances, including Tony Horton of P90x and Biggest Loser Season 11 trainer Brett Hoebel.

At the event we did a series of fitness exercises:

• Blogilates with Cassey Ho (www.blogilates.com)

• Pilates workout integrating today’s top songs and pop music while strengthening the core

• Bokwa with Brian Mavi (www.bokwafitne.com)Innovative dance workout with the hearing impaired in mind, participants learned different choreography and would follow the exercise using letters and numbers to indicate the next move in the workout

• CrossFit with Charles Stumpf (www.crossfit.com)

• An intensive body strengthing workout – this rigorous workout featured sets of burpees, pushups and squats

• Broadway Bodies with Joseph Corella (www.broadwaybodies.com )

• Ballet inspired dance moves to Broadway music, this workout does not require any ballet background

• Piloxing with Courtney Gornall (www.piloxing.com)

• A workout combining pilates and kickboxing

•  Physique 57 with Sarah Pfeifer (www.physique57.com)

• Ballet bar-oriented workout strengthening the core

• La Blast with Jodie Patterson (www.lablastfitness.com)

• Upbeat dance workout with moves from the 90s

Venus closed out the event with a "Keynote Workout," led by Venus and her trainer Samantha Monus. The workout was a tennis oriented workout, without the usage of a tennis racket, strengthening and stretching the body while mimicking tennis movements seen on the court.
Thanks Jamba Juice for having me!

Chinatown Jewelry Week 2013

I was selected to be the celebrity spokesperson for the first ever Chinatown Jewelry Week!  How exciting is that?

Check out the promo video we shot:

Here are some clips from the press conference: