One of my zumbalicious friends who also went to the dancehall master class shared this video with me! It’s one of the routines that was choreographed by Latoya Bufford and Cat Chiemelu!
Dancehall Mash-Up Master Class
I attended my very first zumba master class this weekend! It was two hours of zumba and dancehall fun! The instructors that led the routines were LaToya Bufford and Catherine “Cat” Chiemelu — they were so amazing! It is beautiful just to watch them dance. This event was hosted by the lovely Zumba Kiki (sooo pretty) and she also led the zumba portion during the event. All the sweaty fun took place at Stevenson Park gym located at 17400 Lysander Drive, Carson CA 90746.
Here I am BEFORE I danced my booty off…
Here is a hyperlapse video I put together on my IG (@richmade_m). The song in the background is Jump by RDX. n_n
I can’t wait for my next zumba event!
Salsational Routine: T.O.K – Shuub Out Choreographed by Alejandro Angulo
I love watching Alejandro’s choreography and the talented dancers that are always in his videos. I also love his song choices — especially the ones with dancehall flavor!
Summer Shots | The Heatwave Show #17
I love this mix so much! This is my second time listening to this and I feel like dancing in the Caribbean Islands somewhere. This is a perfect mix of reggae and dancehall and soca and is a total package of summer sounds. 🙂
Pressed Juice Sampler Kit From Pressed Juicery
In the past, I have had some interest in doing a cleanse/juicing but do not think I have the willpower (well, at least not for a 3-5 day cleanse). I stumbled upon Pressed Juicery, California’s leading cold-pressed juice company with 20 locations and local/national delivery options. A couple of hours later, I found myself placing an order for a sampler. Since I wanted to just test out the flavors, I choose to build my own sampler and find some flavors that are interesting to me. Full menu can be seen here.
The sampler arrived at my home in just two days — early in the a.m.
First thing I thought was, “Nice branding.”
My pressed juices were in this compartment with an ice pack so the bottles stay nice and cool.
The six bottle I selected to sample were:
- greens 3 (kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, cucumber, celery, apple, lemon, ginger)
- greens 6 (spinach, honeydew, kiwi, lemongrass, cilantro)
- citrus 2 (pineapple, apple, lemon, mint)
- citrus 4 (cucumber, pineapple, lemon, coconut, h2o, aloe vera)
- roots 3 (beet, apple, lemon, ginger)
- vanilla almond (almonds, dates, vanilla bean, sea salt, filtered water)
I started off with citrus 4, which was very refreshing!
My favorite from the bunch was the roots 3 — I must really like beets! Notably, the most sweetest — containing 20g of sugar per serving — which definitely satisfied my sweet tooth! One shocker for me was greens 3 (kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, cucumber, celery, apple, lemon, ginger) — I was surprised that I liked this one as much as I did! 😀
For anybody who wants to do a cleanse, or maybe just try out juicing, I would highly recommend Pressed Juicery — start off with the sampler ($45) as opposed to the one day cleanse ($72). You will receive the same amount of juices for a much better price. Free local delivery is also available and very convenient!
Gymflow
Having cute workout gear makes me more pumped to get to the gym. Here is one of my outfits I wore for Zumba class and some light weights afterwards…
My gymflow:
- Tank top is from Forever 21
- Leggings are Nike Leg-a-see (you can kind of see my glutes and legs progression)… FYI, the leggings are a bit see-through, so when I dance, I had a light long sleeve shirt tied around my waist.
- Sneakers are Asics GEL-Noosa Tri 8 in Storm/Lightning/Mint
My Weekend Recap
This weekend was filled with some quality time with friends, family and myself! I went to my regular Zumba class on Saturday and met up with friends I’ve known since the 8th grade later on that evening. I hung out at my Mom’s house on Saturday night and stayed over to do my laundry.
My Mom does not hang too many things on her refrigerator, but she does have a few magnets with positive and uplifting messages. Like this one, for example, “Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or what you are… Rich is who you have beside you.” So true… Isn’t it?
On Sunday, I got a good workout in at 24 Hour Fitness in Santa Clarita! This gym was the cleanest 24 I have ever been to (I currently have a sport membership). I did my cardio in the Zumba class and then went to the smith machine for a lot of weighted squats and lunges! Here is a sweaty selfie…
When I came back to my Mom’s house, my sister Chef Banana had a delicious sandwich prepared for me! Tuna with mustard, tomato and cucumber on toasted wheat bread.
Chef Banana and I went to the market and picked up some ingredients for ceviche. I saw something really strange — limes were at the store for $3.49/lb — which is pretty pricy! Apparently, my sister knew that there was a lime shortage and that’s why the prices were so high. Anyway, we grabbed what we needed and she prepared the ceviche.
All fresh ingredients: shrimp, tilapia, tomato, onion, cucumber, cilantro, jalapeño, serrano chile (only one because they are so hot), lemons, limes, salt and pepper…
After the ceviche was chilled in the fridge, it was ready to be served! We had tortilla chips with the ceviche (not pictured).
She also prepared a spring mix salad with sesame oil dressing and croutons.
And for presentation purposes, Chef Banana did practice her plating skills. I like how the ceviche is presented in both the glassware — the martini glass makes it a bit more fancy…
That was my weekend recap — I wish all weekends can be filled with loved ones + sweat + yummy food!
Date Night: Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant
A couple of weeks ago, I had a date night at Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant in Downtown LA. Travelzoo has a lot of local deals and I purchased the $39 — Japanese Dinner w/Striking 21st-Floor Views, Reg. $70 deal a few months ago. We ended up ordering more than the $70-worth of food/drink and had to pay an automatic 20% gratuity of what the original bill would have been (without discount). So the Travelzoo deal was more like a $30 off the total bill.
The atmosphere at the bar was very intimate and sexy…
I think these are wine and sake racks… Towards the entrance of the restaurant.
The beautiful view from the 21st floor where the restaurant is located… I loved it!
My date ordered the Wild Berry Martini — Tantalizing mix of Belvedere Vodka, mixed with Dekuyper Wildeberry liqueur muddled with fresh berries — but replaced the vodka with tequila. I ordered the Lychee Mojito — Nice pour of Bacardi Superior Rum, fresh splash of Hana Lychee Sake finished with fresh mint and lychee fruit… There was even a sugar cane and beautiful flower…
Takami Edamame — Sautéed soy beans in garlic, butter & soy sauce… Cannot really go wrong with garlic + butter + soy sauce…
Spicy Tuna on Crispy Rice — Crispy rice cakes topped with spicy tuna, avocado & jalapeño… We ordered this based on the positive Yelp recommendations.
Seared Yellowtail with Diced Chiles — Yellowtail sashimi topped with diced jalapeño chiles, seared with a ponzu olive oil… This was one of our favorite bites! Mmmm!
21st Roll — Snow crab legs around spicy tuna, king crab & avocado with sweet creamy sauces…
Lemon Albacore Roll — Spicy tuna roll with cucumber wrapped with albacore & lemon slices… Another one of my favorites! This was so refreshing — especially with the thin slices of lemon.
All in all, it was a great date experience. The food was yummy and we did not feel too full when we left… I don’t think we will go back anytime soon just because LA has so many other dining experiences and I’d like to discover them!
Fitness Gifts For My Birthday
My Zumba + Dance Birthday Party
For my Birthday this year, I really wanted a Zumba-themed party. I have been enjoying my Zumba classes SO much that I thought it would be nice to share my love for Zumba + dance with my friends.
I am not a great planner so organizing it stressed me out a little bit. Some stuff that caused me a bit of anxiety… Will my friends come to a Zumba party? Is everybody going to enjoy Zumba? Which instructors will be available? Should I request my favorite songs? Can I find a space? What time should I plan it? etc. etc.
After finding a studio to rent and deciding to hire my two favorite instructors (Kim and Miss Debi), the party was on! We had so much fun! My friends who have never taken a Zumba class participated and did awesome!
The party was broken down into two parts. The first hour was all Zumba taught by Kim — songs I remember dancing to were: Boom Shaka Laka, Crank Dat Soulja Boy, El Merengazo, In the Summertime, La Aguafiesta, Metela Sacala, Salsa Bali, Talk Dirty, Vivir Mi Vida (I special requested this Salsa) and No Wiri Wiri (which might be my newest fave)! Kim had all of us in a good sweat!
After our cool down, we transitioned into some sexy Burlesque style dancing — and that is what the heels were for!
Below is a group photo with Miss Debi + me + Zumba Bunnies (what we call ourselves because we hop around to several Zumba classes in different locations — and I don’t want to be a Zumba rat)!
Miss Debi made us bring our *SEXY* (sexual confidence) out that night.
Too much fun!
richmade 