Sugar High Naked Fun

What a Night? I decided to take some cupcakes last night to the art studio because the classes are being put on hold until April 28. I know Jorge and Lana love cupcakes. Who doesn’t?

I shared the sugar love with Ily, Holland, some old lady and the class monitor (he is about 87 years old). He has a hard time remembering who goes to class, he asked me twice if it was my first time and both times I replied this is my third time. The five of us (Ily, Holland, Jorge, Lana and I) were a bit delirious as we waited for Vesna to arrive.

She was running late due to the rain and we were getting sillier by the minute. Vesna walked in hyperventilating…OMG I loved it! She was Rock n’ Roll. She was rocking her jean jacket; her poor wet hair was pulled back in a pony tail with a pink barrette holding up her frizzy hair. She seemed a bit hippie, but almost all Europeans do. The Vesna I had imagined was someone totally different. She quickly took off her wet clothes and wrapped herself in a big tide dye blanket. I told the monitor we should be listening to Jimmy Hendricks or The Grateful Dead instead of 91.3 the classical radio station. Everyone laughed.

Vesna was in a rush, her body shape was odd but that is the beauty of figure drawing. We hadn’t notice the hair under her arms until she did a one minute pose with her arms up, immediately Jorge and I looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh behind our drawings. She had natural hanging large breast, big shoulders, big back, hairy armpits, no butt, a big belly, hairy punany, and skinny  legs. 

She had a harsh face; Jorge kept complaining that whenever he drew her face it was looking like a man. I quietly whispered “don’t worry, that’s because she does look like a man.”

In one of her breaks I asked her where she was from, she said she was born in Yugoslavia, but Croatian nationality. I felt different when I was drawing her compared to all the other models. I felt as she was posing nude not because she loved it but because she needed the money. I actually thought she was very interesting to draw and can’t wait till she poses again.

I had to leave the class a little early in order to meet up with Javier and a friend of his for dinner. We went to Miss Yips it’s a Chinese restaurant. Delicious!

So it’s tradition to always finish your Fortune Cookie Fortune with the saying “in bed.” So mine read…

”We are very happy together in bed” LOVE IT!

Thanks for dropping by!

 xoxo,

Strawberry Tuesday

 

Do you ever get attracted, lured, or inspired by the weirdest things?

Well I do. I came across these strawberry earrings the other day and I just knew they had to be mine. I love strawberries. I love everything about them…their texture, color, taste, antioxidant, etc.

Fresa (which is Spanish for strawberry) is a slang term often used in Mexico for a cultural stereotype of superficiality to youngsters of whom many come from a high class and educated family. LOL

When I turned 5 my parents threw me a Strawberry Shortcake birthday theme party in Argentina, my cousin Mora made me a spectacular strawberry shortcake cake

In order to stay within my inspiration…ENJOY

Green Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients
• 2 teaspoons strawberry jam
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 pint strawberries, sliced
• 4 to 5 cups chopped romaine or mixed greens of any kind

Directions

Place jam in a medium bowl and whisk in vinegar then extra-virgin olive oil. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. Add the strawberries and greens to bowl and toss to coat evenly in dressing.

My friend Elaine did a similar salad for Valentines; she added some caramelized pecans and feta cheese.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Recipe courtesy Food Network Kitchens

Serves: 1 pound chocolate covered strawberries

Ingredients

• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

• 3 ounces white chocolate, chopped

• 1 pound strawberries with stems (about 20), washed and dried very well

Directions

Put the semisweet and white chocolates into 2 separate heatproof medium bowls. Fill 2 medium saucepans with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat; set the bowls of chocolate over the water to melt. Stir until smooth. (Alternatively, melt the chocolates in a microwave at half power, for 1 minute, stir and then heat for another minute or until melted.)

Once the chocolates are melted and smooth, remove from the heat. Line a sheet pan with parchment or waxed paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the fruit into the dark chocolate, lift and twist slightly, letting any excess chocolate fall back into the bowl. Set strawberries on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries. Dip a fork in the white chocolate and drizzle the white chocolate over the dipped strawberries.

Set the strawberries aside until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes


What are the weird things that inspire or attract you?

Thanks for dropping by!

 xoxo,

The Kreativ Blogger Award

Ily presented me with this awesome Kreativ Blogger Award, I can’t believe she choose me out of all her followers. I'm new to the blog world. Thank You ILY.

In order to accept my award I am supposed to list seven interesting things about myself and then pass on the trophy.

1. I had a maxillofacial jaw surgery in October 2006. I had an under bite, I was never self conscious about it; I had to get surgery no matter what. I was that one in a 100,000 cases that if I didn’t get surgery by the age of 27 I could of gotten a lazy eye or a lazy lip due to not using proper nerves.

2. I’ve gone skydiving but I’m afraid of heights, the older I get the worst it’s getting, I avoid driving in the HOV lane on I-95 because it leads into a bridge in the golden glades exchange.

3. I’m a PC not a MAC, my house has more than 5 MAC computers (and it's just me and my hubby) but I stick to my PC...HP notebook my hubby gave me. I just love the easy filling structure.

4. I’m addicted to Burgers & Cupcakes & Coffee. Honestly, I’m a fat kid at heart. If I’m having a bad day I can fix it by just having a burger, cupcake or delicious hot coffee. My cousin made me burger cupcakes for my birthday!

5. My friends on Facebook know but the blogger world doesn’t know that I’m a NPC National Figure competitor, I just started last year I lost 42lbs in the process, I won my first two competitions and I qualified for Nationals, which I placed 10th.

6. I have little hands, I noticed in high school that my hands were small compare to my stature (LOL) When I was a freshmen in college I was supposed to introduce myself to the swim team and you were suppose to say an interesting fact about yourself so the others will learn your name quicker and I made the mistake of saying that I have small hands...till this day when I go to the alumni meet they still make me say it!

7. I’m the office manager at an international architecture and interior design firm an only 2 employees know that I was an artist or that I’m creative.

Now I'd like to pass the award on to Elena, Contenti Cupcakes, Lou Carv.

Thanks for dropping by!

 xoxo,

Family & Friends Weekend

This weekend was eventful. Friday I helped setup for my best friend’s baby shower which was on Saturday. I helped prep all the food with her sisters and her cousin. The baby shower was a great success, everything looked so beautiful. Karina’s sister Nilza is super creative, artistic and vey organized; she focuses on all the small details making everything perfect (OCD runs in their family). 

I got extremely sick on Saturday due to all the cheese I ate the night before…food prepping (LOL). My body couldn’t take the overload; I hadn’t eaten cheese in over a year. I sucked it up in the morning and finished all my duties in the baby shower as the game organizer. Later that night when I got home I went straight to bed my fever was off the charts.

Finally my mom has learned to text message! She had texted me throughout the night that she was hosting Family Sunday Breakfast at her house and that my cousin Alejandra and her kids were going to join us. I woke up with a slight headache but I was doing much better. I love our Family Sunday Breakfast tradition it brings our family together weekly. My parents usually host it because they have a big house and we all fit with no problems, we rarely change whose house we do at.

Breakfast MUST: Argentinean pastries aka Facturas, Italian espresso coffee aka café con leche, toast with jam, cut fruit   Extras: Alejandra’s granola parfait, scrambled eggs

This weeks family updates: my parents are creating group classes at their personal training gym, Elena swam like a champ; she’s been training for this summer upcoming triathlons, Javo got and electrician to install our dining room chandelier and the extractors for our bathrooms, Alejandra’s cupcake business "Contenti Cupcakes" is ramping up, Dali had her second audition for new world school of the arts for Theatre, and my brother directed his first music video in which the unedited parts we saw were amazing, I can only imagine the final music video

After our family gathering we headed to my best friends family Sunday gathering at their new home. Antonio and Karina are finally moved in; I helped her sister Nilza build her entire baby room furniture and sort through all the gifts that they gave her at the baby shower. I can honestly say I can build any baby room…bring on the challenge. Her furniture is to die for; it’s all from Pottery Barn. The boys cooked the first meal in the new home: Argentinean parrillada mmm it was so good.

Thanks for dropping by!

 xoxo,

Drawing Naked People

My friends and I decided to take a figure drawing class at an open drawing studio at the Art Center on Lincoln Rd on Wednesday nights. Last night was my second time. The studio is small and cozy, and filled with different talents. Everyone uses different types of mediums such as charcoal, pen, markers, pencil, acrylics, color pencils you name it. I haven’t drawn a live model in 10 years; I have a lot of catching up to do. Last night I met another fellow blogger at the class, her name is Ily vist her blog littleredhare.blogspot.com. She and a friend have been attending the open studio classes for 2 years now; they both were super friendly and very talented.

Last week I went with my friends Jorge & Lana, we were so excited to see each other and an anxious to see what our model looked liked. The model was named Kendal he had to be past his 60’s and he looked like an old captain hook…to me. I thought he was a bit boring. For the longer poses he just sat on a stool, instead of using the little stage. (Gosh, I’m making him sound like a stripper) The class monitor had mention that the following week the model was an actual model. So we were all looking forward to the next class.

Last night I went to class with Lana. Jorge wanted the scoop on the model because he couldn’t make it. Ily was kind enough to describe the model before he got there; she said he looked like Prince. I thought to myself at least Prince looks a lot better than Captain Hook. I believe this week’s model was named Alan, I did see the resemblance of Prince but with long dreadlocks.

This drawing has a little embarrassing story behind it. I was inspired by his man jewels aka pipi, and decided I was going to make a focus piece and try a new medium…blue marker. The model froze in his new 20 minute pose and the class immediately was quiet and got in the zone. I think he read my mind because he gave me a money shot. Before the 20 minutes were up…my phone suddenly rings attracting all the eyes in the room to me and last but not least to my drawing. It was my sister in law Elena on the phone; I obviously didn’t pick it up. I was a little embarrassed but I sucked it up and continued with my drawing. Then Jorge decides to text me “So is the model hot this time?” at this point I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. When the model took a break I quickly snapped a picture of my drawing and texted it to both Jorge and Elena. I wrote to Elena “drawing naked guy can’t talk” and I wrote to Jorge “What do you think? lol” They both approved!

(he had a lazy eye)

Can’t wait till next weeks class our model is going to be a heavier lady. I’ll keep you guys in touch.

Thanks for dropping by!
 xoxo,

Protein Pancakes

People always ask me for the recipe of the Protein Pancakes I make before I go to the gym. A lot of people may think this is too much food, but I don’t think so. I’m actually starving by the time I leave the gym. You can either make 2 small pancakes or 1 big one. Enjoy.

Protein Pancakes
Serves 1

Ingredients:

Olive oil spray
¾ cup quick cook oatmeal
6 egg whites
¼ cup blueberries
2 Splendas
Pinch of cinnamon
Sugar-Free syrup 

Lightly butter or mist pan with olive oil spray. Combine in a blender all ingredients

Pour into a small frying pan in pancake form

When sides start to brown, flip. Pancakes will need approximately 3 minutes on each side.

Serve with sugar-free syrup and blueberries or fresh cut strawberries.  WALA

Thanks for dropping by!
 xoxo,

Tuesday night workout over at Brickhouse

My friends over at Brickhouse, founders of and amazing clothing line called Unbreakable have invited me to workout at their gym tonight.  Let me tell you they run a couple of different intense bootcamps in the afternoons, and everyone there was working out hard, no slacking was allowed. I love it! I definitely suggest if you live in the Miami area you should go and check them out.  I went over there to workout with Soolmaz one of the owners of the gym.  She is an NPC National Bikini competitor but hey don't let the title fool you, this girl can lift heavier than some of the guys I know. (I won't mention any names ha ha)  We did my Back workout, but she threw in a couple of different exercises that I've never done before. Such as pull-ups with an assisted band, this was great because it allowed me to isolate,  and she also threw in a one arm cable pulldown in which I still have to work on my form but at the end I really felt it. :)  I will be paying them a visit every now and then to change up my workouts.

Remember get your workout gear at Unbreakablegear.com

Thanks for dropping by!

 xoxo,