sweat & tears

top of the morning monday to you m'loves.

how did miss weekend treat your tender hearts?

i popped back and forth across the emotional ping-pong table of my precious aunt's latest hospital stay.

we yo-yo'ed between tears of hysterics, like on friday when we listened for hours to patient, in bed #4, hold the nurses hostage with her "diaper" in exchange for more oxycontin; to sunday where tears of frustration poured over her white blood cell count.

i pity the yoga mat, spin bike, and in this weekend's case, the water rower, who bared the brunt of my unleashed sadness.

led by master trainers, jay blahnik and josh crosby, yesterday i took the fantastic teacher training for indo-row, a crazy-fun, group fitness class that gives you a killer cardio workout AND strength and flexibility training. you can't say the same for spinning, treadmill classes, etc.

it's a team spirit atmosphere, building community and camaraderie; which i think we can all use in these divisive times, no?

it was definitely a new fitness experience for me and challenged me to the point where i hadn't gone to in a long, long time. i had scary flashes back to running "the apple" in junior high, coming in last, looking silly, etc. indo-row is NOT like that, yet it does inspire a youthful, competitive spirit. that post race feeling with my team felt exhilarating, and the longest stretches of hard work never lasted more than 90 seconds.....if that. you can bet each paddle, each stroke was for my aunt charla.

i'm so excited indo-row is coming to my club.

tell me, m'loves, what gave you goosebumps this weekend?

drummer down

as i type this i have an ice pack in pretty much every nook & cranny of my person.

tuesday i got pound™-ed, and hard.

a new fitness class, using just 1lb drum sticks {ripstix™} and your own body weight, pound™ is a total body workout, designed to "put the fun back into fitness."

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/23228621 w=640 h=400]

the music, loud and heart-thumping, kicks you into a doable choreographed routine of banging floors, rapping ripstix™, shaking your bum, and oh yes.....lunging, squatting, bridging, twisting, and jumping {hello hamstrings!!!}.

created by drummers and fitness aficionados, kirsten potenza and cristina peerenboom, pound™ is a high energy, kick-ass class where you truly unleash your inner rock star. give the girl a set a sticks and our typically, yogic, bambi-eyed instructor, angela leigh, morphed into a rockin', groovin' gwen stefani looking for bambi's mother!

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/16084054 w=640 h=400]

i'm not lying. ten minutes into class, i was sheila-effing-E, glamorous life'ing all OVER that gym floor.

mmm. hmm. snap, SNAP bitches.

although today i feel more like sheila e's crippled grandmother. i'm not very big on the cross-training. spin, yoga, pilates, coreplay™,  a little run here and there....those are my go-to's. pound™ definitely taught me i need to branch out of my exercise bucket.

 pound™  is offered at the west hollywood equinox and starting this month will debut at the newport beach equinox.

the class will soon spread throughout the country.

keep updated on their happenings here.

thursday happy m'loves.

beauty school dropout

if you looked in my bathroom drawers, you'd think i'd be a wizard at the sun-kissed face, the glossy lip and the come hither eye.

but i have neither the skills nor time to keep a post hotel du cap summer flush, or nights in black satin stare.

i could open a mini-sephora with the potions and lotions and serums i possess. parabens and free radicals be gone...if only i remembered to apply.

and for the locks? oh my.

such the sucker for fancy, if it smells like catalina and promises to take the japanese straight and stubborn out of my hair, i'm slammin' that amex down.

but to be honest my home hair products {shampoo included} haven't been touched in over a year.

i've come to rely on my gym for my hair needs. their locker room product is kiehls. which is probably higher brow than the stuff  i have under the sink anyway.

hunkiest, sweet as he is, is always encouraging me to take an hour or two to lady it up at a spa; get pretty and pampered.

i'd take him up on it:

a) if i had the time

b) if i didn't get so antsy pantsy

the last time i had a spa day i became so anxious {with all the calm and quiet} i got sick from emotionally eating all the dried apricots in the meditation room.

i always forget: a dried apricot is AN apricot; just because they're tiny doesn't mean too many won't make you vomit.

my nails are shorty short, like a nervous 3rd grader's. when i paint them using colors from my paint box of acquired polishes, it looks like i let my beast priscilla hold the brush.

{actually i may let her, she is quite deft when i comes to certain things: reeses peanut butter cups, pillows, pink sweaters}

i go to the nail salon where i am always taken to task for my lack of length. i have girlish shaped hands, but apparently mannish sized nail beds.

i don't bite my nails, i just prefer them super short. less room for dirt, germs, or hurt.

my town is brim full of just blown out, peaches & cream complected, coral lipped, matching coral nailed beauties.

most of them, at the gym, looking like this, on stairmasters, as i type.

not overdone, not cartoon-bravo tv types either.

these lovelies are A+ students in the everyday school of beauty.

always doing their homework, never missing a class or chance for extra credit {bright lips for spring}, they are always flawless faced, hair'd, fingered and toe'd.

as for me, i enroll every new semester, buy my books and syllabi creams and lipsticks, but then drop the class two weeks in.

i'm a lazy student. i have the melasma and short nail beds for proof. i wear my silly hats and sunscreen and giant tom ford's which practically cover me down to my chin. that's where it ends.

tell me m'loves which category do you fall into?