Fleur de Cocoa

This may not look very special, but it is. I don't eat sweets often, I mean, it's hard to find one that is really worth the calories and the guilt. But I fell in love with Pain Aux Raisins when I was in Paris!

They may look like this or they may look just like a regular croissant, but they have sweet, caramelized raisins inside, if you always lean towards the chocolate or almond give these a try.

Even my brother didn't think it would be good, and after one bite, he started buying one every morning just like me. Or, as we walked through the city we would stop at all the beautiful pastry shops so we often had more than one a day, and always, always came home with one in our backpack.

As I was reading my local town paper today, the Los Gatos Weekly, I found an article about a small shop called Fleur de Cocoa. It is located in the heart of Los Gatos, on North Santa Cruz Avenue. I live right on the border of San Jose and Los Gatos, so this shop is only 4 miles from my front door! I haven't been in there in ages, but after reading this, I shall make a trip soon.

Fleur de Cocoa, sells the most amazingly beautiful, artistic chocolates and pastries. They also have a small selection of breakfast and lunch items, and of course coffee and hot cocoa.

Chef Pascal Janvier has just recently received the title "Chocolate Ambassador" from the Zurich based Barry Callebaut, the world's largest manufacturer of high-quality chocolate products.

Only 15 chefs in the United States were extended membership and now this exclusive club has only about 100 worldwide!


So, my brain started clicking and thinking about treats in May, after my competition! Forget the Doritos's and Snickers bar! I will have my husband go to Fleur de Cocoa on the day of the competition, before he comes up for the night show and he will bring me goodies!

I am thinking one pain aux raisin, then some caramels covered with dark chocolate.

Followed by dark chocolates with salt

Or maybe a whole box of chocolates!

Actually, I couldn't eat them all and a one pound box will run approximately $52.00, so I will stick with a few. I can actually walk in, pick out two beautiful chocolates and leave, quite happy.

I will go the day before my competition, look at the selection and give them the order, and then my husband can go pick it up in a beautiful box (along with that pain aux raisin), wrapped with a satin ribbon and bring it to me, of course, along with a nice bottle of champagne!

Read the entire article, I highly recommend paying him a visit, maybe have a croque madam for lunch! And if you are in town, stop by and say hi!

I now have a great incentive to stick to my diet!

Article on Fleur de Cocoa

Vacation

The other day a friend asked why I started my diet so early when I can lose body fat in only 5 weeks. I do want to clarify that it was a past trainer who coined the name for me, based on her observations of my dieting skills. In addition, although I can lose the fat quickly, a fast loss is never the best way to go, it's far better to do it slowly. I thought I might explain a bit about the reason though.

So this is what I did on vacation.It all started on Friday evening before I even left town- I went to Henry's Hi-Life and had a martini, bar-b-qued ribs and wine.

Then the bar in the airport in Los Angeles between flights.

Then the plane from Los Angeles to Mexico, I was in first class, so that means all the free alcohol you want, and you know what happens when alcohol is free? You drink more! They served a hot croissant with ham and melted cheese, it was good.  Probably not the best quality, but the last time I had a croissant was in July of 2010 in Paris when I stayed with my brother.

By the time I got to Mexico I had already blown my diet for two days! ha ha



Chaise lounge, sun, sand, water and wine by my side, and a few really good books! All day long.

My only exercise was running on the sand for 20 to 30 minutes everyday, before anyone else was up. Or so I thought. One day a man walks by me and says "how was your run this morning?" Hmmm....THIS morning? Does that mean he has been watching EVERY morning? I wonder....

Yes, it was 10 weeks (or maybe 11) before a competition, but that is why I started a diet earlier than usual. I enjoyed myself, and when you are a competitive athlete in a physique based sport, it is often difficult to do this, you constantly feel you should be depriving yourself.

It really isn't healthy, emotionally speaking that is.

Anyone who competes knows why this is a huge deal, those who don't are thinking I have some major issues..I mean I have 10 or 11 weeks to lose a few pounds- isn't that almost three months?!

Yes it is, like two and a half actually. But, when you diet down to lose fat for a competition, you don't just lose weight to drop scale weight, you need to carefully lose the fat, retain the muscle, and still look healthy and firm.

All this while maintaining a full time job (for most of us) and training just as hard as usual, sometimes twice a day. Once the diet starts, you cannot go on weekend benders or it will show in your physique, you really have no where to hide the flaws when you are standing in stage under bright lights, almost naked to the world. And believe me, the world IS looking at you very, very carefully, scrutinizing everything, even your skin tone!

So while I had a great time, I still struggled to eat properly because I couldn't easily have the small meals with the complex carbohydrates, lean protein and massive amounts of fresh vegetables (plain) that I normally would, so I was hungry quite a bit, I mean trying to get by on 3 meals a day when I usually eat 6 is hard. And if I ate 6 meals at a restaurant, I would be rolling myself along the beach!

Whats a girl to do? TUNA!

Yes, I went to the store and bought several cans of tuna packed in water, and it had pull tops! Unfortunately my wine glasses tended to smell fishy afterward, but that's OK, I love fish!

Beach, sand, sun, water, red wine and tuna, a great combination. The tuna ensured I got the protein I needed, and I wasn't so hungry.

I brought some meal replacement bars, but those were emergency only since all of them, no matter what they tell you are really glorified candy bars with a hefty price tag. I ended up eating 2 only.

Me and David.

Check out the glutes! They are growing at a steady pace and soon will have a life of their own! I read an article where someone was discussing how your glutes grow and he made a very intelligent observation, when training the glute muscles, they will grow out (as in behind you), not sideways, and so many women are afraid to train them heavy as they think they will get big butts.

I am living proof that your butt will keep growing out behind, and stay slim on the sides if you lift right and eat properly, I mean it's almost comical in this picture!

Glory to the butt!

1 in 12 pro sports fans drunk

I drink alcohol, although I don't drink much. In fact, I will go months without a drink if I am dieting, and then when I am not, well, I am finding that I just don't like how it makes me feel these days.

Here is a picture of me and my younger brother in Paris, I went to stay with him last year right after my July competition. We did an awful lot if this! I had a wonderful time, but it was vacation and the most strenuous event was climbing the Eiffel tower.

I don't have much enthusiasm for anything once I have a few glasses of wine, I guess that makes sense because it is a depressant. And I also find it difficult to wake up at 4:00 am and hoist heavy metal over my head several times after having a few glasses of wine.

There certainly are occasions when I love to join friends and have a couple though. Or perhaps when I am laying on the beach on vacation and have nothing to do but read a good book. Or, like in the picture above, stopping at a bar every few feet as I wander through Paris on a hot day in July.

I do notice that after consuming any alcohol, my skin is not as tight as it was, and that doesn't go away for a few days. I am sure there is a logical reason, and it doesn't matter why, I don't care for the effects it has on my body.

I read this article and it was pretty alarming. I think had I ever sat down just to think about how many people get "drunk" at sporting events, I would have guessed this, but what alarms me about it is my son, your son, friends or family could be involved in an accident with any one of these people, just be being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Keep your eyes open for drunks, or better yet, get pay per view!

January 18, 2011By Dawn Rhodes, Tribune reporter


This is for anyone who has ever encountered a drunken fan at a sporting event.
 

University of Minnesota researchers tested the blood alcohol content of 362 people to see how much folks drink when they go to professional baseball and football games.

In their study, released Tuesday, they determined that 40 percent of the participants had some alcohol in their system and 8 percent were drunk, meaning their blood alcohol content was .08 or higher.

"Given the number of attendees at these sporting events, we can be talking about thousands of people leaving a professional sporting event who are legally intoxicated," lead author Darin Erickson said. The study did not address what percentage, if any, of those fans intended to drive.

To collect the data, research staff waited outside 13 Major League Baseball and three National Football League games and randomly approached fans as they left. Those who consented took a breath test and answered questions about when, where and how much they drank on game day.

The study also found that some groups were several times more likely to be drunk after a game, such as fans age 35 or younger and those who had tailgated before the game.

Erickson said more research is needed but that the results warrant a closer look at alcohol-serving policies and police patrols during and after games.


"People just need to be aware of their alcohol consumption," Erickson said. "This is not just an issue where people are putting themselves [at] harm, but it's really an issue where we're putting others at harm too."

Walking

Walking is great exercise! Here I am in Paris, I spent two weeks there with my brother. I was at the Arc de Triomphe trying to catch a glimpse of the riders at the end of the Tour de France, and I am so short that I couldn't see a thing through the crowd so I decided to smile and pose. Actually, my brother was trying to take a photo of the drunk guy wrapped in the Catalan flag behind me.

I never went to a gym that entire time I was there, I only walked and walked and walked. I would have gone to a gym had I been able to find one in the neighborhood! I ate pastries everyday and enjoyed fabulous food and barely noticed a weight change.


Walking isn’t just good for your waistline—it benefits your memory, too. A new study that followed 299 adults for 13 years found that walking six to nine miles a week may stop your brain from shrinking as you age. 

“Exercise increases the amount of blood going to the brain,” says lead study author Kirk Erickson, a University of Pittsburgh professor. “This means that more of the important nutrients necessary for the brain to function are distributed.”

Researchers found that the more participants walked, the more gray matter they retained (though exceeding nine miles a week provided no additional benefits). Those who walked the most had half the risk of developing memory problems as those who walked the least. “Some loss of brain matter is normal with age,” Erickson says. “But with increased exercise, the parts of the brain that support memory function—the prefrontal cortex and the hippo-campus—are spared. The earlier you start exercising, the better, but it’s never too late,” he adds. “Any amount you do will help.”




So if you cannot get to the gym, you can walk, You can walk anywhere, anytime, bring an umbrella if it's raining, weather doesn't matter (OK, I am a California girl, I hear it gets cold in parts of the United States, but I wouldn't know, I was born and raised here and 45 is super cold to me, way too cold in fact!). I understand parts of the world get so cold they have out door tunnels sort of like hamster habitrails!  Walk in the habitrail you have then.

Get out and do something good for yourself everyday.

Shoes

One of my vices in life.

Shoes.

I love shoes, especially high heels. I have around a hundred pair I am guessing, I know it's a sick little hobby.

Thees little beauties are sure to become a favorite, a platform peep toe, black patent, 4 1/2 inch heel.

I was shopping Friday afternoon and had to spend some saving cards at the mall. I am a V.I.B. at Sephora (Very Important Beauty).....so they sent me a card, spend $40.00, get $20.00 off.

Victoria's Secret also sent me a $10.00 off card, and they both expired this weekend, so off I went to "save".

I ended up at Nordstrom Rack somehow and these jumped right out at me.  No, they are not Christian Louboutin. As you can see, the sole is not red, but they are the classic "Very Prive" style you see without the $725.00 price tag. I just cannot bring myself to spend that much money on a pair of shoes.

As a child, Louboutin would regularly sneak out of school, from the age of 12, to watch the showgirls at Paris nightclubs, because he was fascinated by their costumes. He cites this as his main inspiration for becoming a shoe designer: "[The showgirls] influenced me a lot. If you like high heels, it's really the ultimate high heel - it's all about the legs, how they carry themselves, the embellishment of the body. They are the ultimate icons."

Although Louboutin faced much opposition following his decision to leave school so early, he claims that his resolve was strengthened after watching an interview on TV with Sophia Loren in which she introduced her sister, saying she had to leave school when she was only 12 but when she turned 50 she got her degree. "Everybody applauded! And I thought, 'Well, at least if I regret it I'm going to be like the sister of Sophia Loren!"

Louboutin helped bring stilettos back into fashion in the 1990s and 2000s, designing dozens of styles with heel heights of 120mm (4.72 inches) and higher. The designer's professed goal is to “make a woman look sexy, beautiful, to make her legs look as long as [he] can.” While he does offer some lower-heeled styles, Louboutin is generally associated with his dressier eveningwear designs incorporating bejeweled straps, bows, feathers, patent leather and other, similar decorative touches.

In his U.S. trademark application, Louboutin explains the inception of the signature red soles:

"In 1992 I incorporated the red sole into the design of my shoes. This happened by accident as I felt that the shoes lacked energy so I applied red nail polish to the sole of a shoe. This was such a success that it became a permanent fixture."

Louboutin received inspiration for his lethal-looking stilettos from an incident that occurred in his early 20s. He had visited a museum and noticed that there was a sign forbidding women wearing sharp stilettos from entering for fear of damage to the extensive wood flooring. This image stayed in his mind, and he later used this idea in his designs. "I wanted to defy that," Louboutin has said. "I wanted to create something that broke rules and made women feel confident and empowered."

Louboutin has topped The Luxury Institute's annual Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) for three years; the brand's offerings were declared the Most Prestigious Women's Shoes in 2007, 2008, and 2009.

Someday, I will own a pair of Christian Louboutin Very Prive Peep Toe Pumps, in black kid, but for now, I am happy with these. Anyone wants to send a gift, I wear size 9 in these, they tend to run a little small! Bergdorf Goodman has my information and carries all of his shoes.