Thursday, December 8, 2011

Marisa Miller's Supermodel-Worthy Ab Workout

Marisa Miller is one of my all time favorite models. She is a former Victoria's Secret gal who surfs and boxes! Too cool right? In her interview with SHAPE magazine she talks about her recent obsession with paddle boarding and the great benefits she gets from it. For those of you who don't live next to the beach, SHAPE and Marisa teamed-up to make this great workout that will give you similar results to her sporty lifestyle.

 
Triple-Delt Duty
Position A:
Hold a dumbbell in each hand out to the sides at shoulder level. Circle arms forward 15 times, then back 15 times. Next, bend elbows 90 degrees. Rotate forearms down so they’re parallel to the floor, then back up. Do 15 reps.


Position B:
Finally, bring elbos together infront of you and then back out. Do 15 reps.


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Plank Progression
Position A:
Get in plank position on forearms on the round side of a Bosu.

 

Position B:Hold for 30 seconds, then turn to the left and balance on right forearm, feet staggered and left arm up. Hold for 30 seconds, return to center, and switch sides to complete series. Repeat entire series once.


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Standing Crunch
Position A:
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand in front of your chest, elbows bent and palms facing each other.




Position B:Pull your abs in and lean forward and to the right, using the same motion as you would when doing a regular crunch. Repeat to the other side to complete 1 rep. Do 15 to 25 reps.


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Burpee
Position A:
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, then squat and put hands on floor in front of feet. Hop feet back, then forward again.



Position B:
Jump up, catching air and raising hands overhead. Continue for 1 minute. (Add a push-up while you're in plank pose for more of a challenge.)


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Balance Squat
Position A:
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart on the flat side of a Bosu (or use the round side if that’s more comfortable for you) and hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides.



Position B:Squat as low as you can, maintaining your balance and keeping your knees aligned with your toes, then rise up and repeat. Do 15 reps, then step onto the floor and do 5 to 8 jump squats.




And...
Just because



Pictures: SHAPE

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

DIY: Wine Bottle Candle Holder


Save your cute wine bottles and turn them into unique candle holders!



Picture:1

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

DIY: Lace Light Bulbs


Spray paint a doily onto a light bulb or use a silver pen and draw your own designs. When the light shines through, it will cast a beautiful pattern on your walls.

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Wedding Dresses

The girls and I have been dress shopping for about 2 weeks now! Here are some dresses and styles that I majorly <3. I print out my "finds" and bring them as examples when we shop around. 
We've been gravitating towards Clara Rosa, Jim Hjelm, Tara Keely by Lazaro Perez, Elie Saab and Anne Barge designs. 

What dresses do you like? I need some help!






Dress made by Emanuelle Junqueira, a Brazilian designer. It's difficult to find information on her dresses but HERE is her contact info.

Erato by Elie Saab for Pronovias





This one has been a bit difficult to track down. The picture was originally taken for Amy Oram who creates her own veils and hair pieces. You can contact her at teeki_@hotmail.com to find more details about the dress in her picture.





Delphine Manivet - Agapan Dress








1900's restored wedding dress from The Vintage wedding dress Company, UK



 




Australian designer Anna Campbell's stunning 2012 Collection.

This dress was hand crafted by Melissa Blackburn. You can contact her here.

This dress is designed by Wanda Borges. You can find more of her work on her website ( unfortunately they don't have an English version... Click on "Noivas" to see the wedding dresses. )
Pictures: Pinterest

If you love these dresses and want to see more, Follow my wedding board on Pinterest.

And pictures of OUR WEDDING and HONEYMOON!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Victoria's Secret Supermodel Miranda Kerr Workout


The last post on VS supermodel workouts was so popular, I thought I should find another one for all you lovely ladies...and because I have been re-motivated to workout after watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show last week. I wonder why? Ha-ha. I found Miranda Kerr's weekly workout on Sharieitfitness. It's no cake-walk. She works hard and eats a healthy balanced diet to achieve her slender amazingnessssss. I've also heard that she is a big fan of Yoga!

Here it is:

Miranda usually spends about 90 minutes in the gym, 4 days a week. If you don’t have time for that, try spreading it out over 6 days. She begins with a 15 minute sprint/jog session to get her heart rate up. She'll jog for 2 minutes then sprint for 30 seconds and repeats the process until 15 minutes are up. After her warm-up she'll jump rope -- 5 minutes of regular jumping, followed by 5 minutes of advanced. Advanced jump roping includes double skips, one-legged jumps, and knee tucks.

Then it's onto the resistance component to her routine. Miranda's trainer has her practice snatches, in ladder form. What this means is she’ll lay out 4 dumbbells in increasing weight. She’ll start with the lightest and do 1 rep, then move on to the next heaviest and so on (weights do not exceed 15 lbs. remember the focus is toning the arms, not bulking-up). Once she’s done all four, she'll start back at the lightest weight and do 2 reps etc. She repeats this process until 10 reps for each weight.  Tip: Move fast during the ladder snatch drill to keep your heart rate up and burn more calories.

From here she will spend 20 minutes focusing on lower body toning with a barbell and a few weights. She combines barbell squats, barbell lunges, barbell reverse lunges, and box jumps to make up her lower body routine. She'll do 3 sets of 12 for each kind.

Miranda repeats her jump rope drills for another 10 minutes at this point. The goal of a circuit training routine is to keep the heart rate high. This burns a massive amount of calories and vastly improves cardiovascular capabilities.

From here it’s back onto the treadmill. Although this time it will be with a steeper incline. Miranda will spend 3 minutes sprinting, 6 minutes walking, and 6 minutes walking backwards.


To recap:
15 minutes: Jog/sprint – sprint 30 seconds, jog 2 minutes, repeat.

10 minutes: Jump rope – 5 minutes regular jumping, 5 minutes advanced jumping technique
20 minutes: Ladder snatches – see above for description

20 minutes: Lower body work – BB squats, BB lunges, BB reverse lunges, box jumps

10 minutes: Jump rope – 5 minutes regular jumping, 5 minutes advanced jumping technique

15 minutes: Inclined treadmill (at LEAST 15 degrees) - 3 minutes sprinting, 6 minutes walking, 6 minutes walking backwards


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Friday, December 2, 2011

My Favorite Foundation!

I was in need of a new foundation for quite some time. Last weekend I went to South Coast Plaza and had the Bare Escentuals Boutique find a mineral foundation for my hard-to-match skin color. They found one and I love it! I would even dare to say that it's the best foundation I've ever used. Great coverage and it's better for your skin than an oil based liquid foundation.

My skin is on the lighter side...
I got Golden Fair Original SPF 15 Foundation for $26. 
Pick your shade and give it a try!
What kind of makeup do you use? What are your favorite cosmetic products?
Give me the scoop ladies!


Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals MATTE SPF 15 Foundation (Select Color)


Thursday, December 1, 2011

Wedding Hairstyles

What do you prefer for wedding hair, an updo, half-do  a no-do a.k.a. down? Does it depend on the dress? What do you think looks best?



















Pictures: Pinterest