Life in NY/Life in LA
#Secret Vacation Dinner At Bottega Napa Valley
I’ve been a little slow with the continuation of the story from my #secretvacation but I apologize (yes, it was urgent to address that Simon Le Bon shaved LeStache, then it was Tunes For Tuesday and Workout Wednesdays so finally, we can get on with the rest of the story…).
If you didn’t hear, I went on a #secretvacation a few weeks ago up the coast of California to surprise my friend Susie for her second 39th birthday in Napa Valley (aka Wine Country!). If you didn’t read about my impromptu 5K run in San Francisco and want evidence that I nearly bumped into Susie and her husband Keith the day before the big birthday surprise in Napa, here you go:
The 2 people I’m NOT supposed to see in San Fran – my friends!
Old School Blogging – The Alphabet Meme (A To Z)
Two of the bloggers I follow, Wendy Nielsen (of wendy-nielsen.com) and Christine (of LoveLifeSurf.com) both participated in Old School Blogging Alphabet Meme (A To Z) from The Miss Elaine-ous Life (who hosts a monthly #OSBlogging meme) recently and I thought it was fun to read so I decided to hop on board too. Hope you enjoy!
Image: Leo Reynolds
The Days Are Long But The Years Are Short – AKA OMG Kindergarten Is Already OVER?!
Sept 2012 – 1st Day of Kindergarten (really Aug)
Help! I’m freaking out because my only (human) child has finished his Kindergarten year! The quote “the days are long but the years are short” definitely […]
Wunda Wednesdays – Go Ahead And Jump!
Welcome to Week 5 of Wunda Wednesdays! From May 1st through July 1st, I’ll be participating in a 60 Day Challenge with WundaBar Pilates. I’ll be taking 3-4 classes per week in exchange for documenting my progress weekly here on the blog.
In the past few weeks, I’ve learned a lot not only about Pilates but about my own potential. I’ve been working hard to reach the goals I set forth for phase 2 of this 60 Day Challenge – like taking more time to fuel and refuel my body properly. WundaBar classes three times a week are intense and I need to ensure that I’m taking in the proper amounts of protein and calories to prevent my body from catabolizing my own muscle! I’m also giving greater focus on exercise form. Utilizing the Jump Board properly has proven to one of my greatest challenges thus far so today we are going to learn a little more about what it’s like in a WundaBar class to JUMP!
If you’re an 80’s music freak like me, you hear David Lee Roth of Van Halen singing “Jump” right now, don’t you? WundaBar Pilates jumping is not the DLR “splits in the air” but it’s a type of pylometric exercise. Plyometric exercises are short, fast explosive movements that encourage muscle elasticity and allow the body to be more efficient when workout intensity increases. Jumping exercises help the body to adapt to harder workouts faster. […]
11 Reasons To Go To A Race Health & Fitness Expo
Even though I knew I wasn’t going to run the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Half this past Sunday, I took a trip down to to San Diego on Friday anyway. It was not only a good excuse to see a friend who flew in from New York to run the race, it was a chance to go to the Health & Fitness Expo.
If you haven’t ever been to an Expo, they’re often free (even for non-racers), educational (I learned about the upcoming trends in the natural product and organic food industry from the Natural Products Expo West that I attended in March) and they’re tons of fun.
I’ve heard it said that many people think of the Health & Fitness Expo that precedes a race as little more than “trick-or-treating for runners” but believe it or not, there’s a lot more to an Expo than just picking up lots of product samples, your bib and a race tee. […]
Remember I Want My MTV? Read This Book Now: VJ
Image: Fred Seibert
Believe it or not, there was a time when MTV actually played music videos and could really be called Music Television! When MTV was born in 1982, I didn’t have cable television but I was obsessed with the idea of seeing the music I loved on screen.
During the hey-day of MTV, I’m lucky that any of my friends wanted to hang out with me. All I ever wanted to do when we’d go to their houses was watch MTV and when we did, I was the crazy person waiting for Duran Duran videos to come on screen. Without MTV, I could not have experienced Live Aid. MTV brought music to life for me and for many others of my generation.
When I heard that the original MTV VJ’s were collaborating on a book there was no doubt that it would become one of my #13in2013 books to read. It took me only one night to practically inhale the history and the stories from VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave.
VJ isn’t your typical biography because it’s about the lives of 5 people, the early days of cable television and a revolution within the music industry. Profound when you think about it but the book is easy reading. The friendly style of early MTV is evident even in the book’s format because as a reader you feel like you’re in the room during a conversation between four friends (Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman and Martha Quinn) just rehashing old times. The 5th original VJ, J.J. Jackson, died of a heart attack in March 2004 but his views were included in the book via excerpts transcribed from videos and books.
Sadly, there aren’t a lot of photos in the book but these pioneers of the video age do a great job of giving readers a visual picture of not only great stories about some of the hottest artists of the 1980’s but it also allows you to know more about the VJ’s as individuals and how they became a part of the creation of a cultural phenomenon during the early days of cable television. […]