Shock Your Body

One of the most frustrating things to body conscious women, especially soon-to-be brides, is the workout plateau. A workout plateau is when your body becomes accustomed to a certain routine and becomes so efficient that your weight loss stagnates. This is why people who are just starting a diet/exercise routine may see results right away, but then get frustrated when those results hit a wall. And when you're looking forward to a big occasion, like a wedding, timing in crucial. So how do you get past the workout plateau and keep the skinny coming? Shock your body!

It's easier for people on the go to develop diet and exercise routines. They're simpler to set up and easier to stick to because they become habit. But they also become habit to our bodies. And since our bodies are marvelous at finding efficient ways to do anything, habitual diet and exercise routines will lead to our body maintaining instead of losing, which creates the all frustrating plateau. So numerous exercise techniques tout mixing up routines on a bi-weekly basis to keep your body guessing and keep the pounds dropping. But if you don't have a personal trainer on hand, how do you keeps designing new routines for yourself every two weeks? The answer may not be in the routine, but in the activities you do. For example, if you go to the gym as your primary source of exercise, you may be limited to the handful of cardio machines, and weight lifting exercises available at your facility. And if you had all the knowledge of a professional trainer, you could find a way to mix and match what's available to really keep your body guessing, but I know I don't have those skills, and I'm guessing you don't either.

Instead of going to the gym five or six times a week, when I really want to shock my body and bust through my weight plateau I find things I've never done before, or haven't done in a really long time. I'm primarily a runner, and my typical workout consists of outdoor or treadmill running, intermixed with a slough of weight training and plyo exercises I've learned over the years. So to shake things up, I've attended bikram yoga classes, a jazz dance class, rock climbing, and spinning, among other things. Some of these are offered at my gym, some at other studios. But since the body shock is short term to get me off my plateau, the cost is relatively small. And it affords me the chance to do things I've always wanted to try.

So what have you always wanted to try? Do you watch shows like So You Think You Can Dance and wish you could have those moves? Then switch up your workout with a dance class. Do you wish you could be more flexible, or just touch your toes? Put in a yoga class to your routine. Anything you can do that your muscles aren't familiar with will help push your metabolism off the edge and keep things going in the right direction. Just be careful that your diet doesn't change too much. A workout shock to your body will make you more hungry because your metabolism with kick into high gear. So just keep your willpower strong and you'll be looking smoking hot in your dress in no time!

Do you diet for your wedding day?

We all want to look our best on our wedding day, right? And I'm thinking most of you went on some sort of 'diet' before your big day. Now I'm not saying that a diet means something unhealthy or crash-worthy or extreme, but rather a diet can mean just being more health conscious and kicking up the ol' workouts. I know I certainly did this. In fact, I hired a personal trainer. I had always wanted someone to literally kick my @ss and tell me to work harder and get that jiggly fat movin'! Ha! And so I did. I signed up for 10 sessions originally but then extended it for the couple weeks just before the wedding. My trainer was a young guy -- 23. He liked to make me feel old. Lame. But he was good and pushed me and made me do things I wouldn't normally want to do (who wants to race up and down the ground ladder with weights in their hand? Not me). Needless to say, he got the job done. And mightily so.

I must digress...whenever I know I want to lose a few pounds, I tend to stuff my face the week prior to starting. Literally stuff my face as if it's my last meals on earth. So that being said, the first couple pounds come off pretty easy for me. It's the last stubborn pounds and change of eating that is hard...oye.

Everyone has different goals for their big day. Pounds lost, inches shrunk, muscles toned, bellies flattened. For me, I just wanted to look long and lean. My pounds lost were about 10 and 5% body fat reduction. Not bad overall.

Gotta admit that I gained most of that back in the 7 days of honeymooning in Puerto Vallarta. What can I say? You can't stop me from my Mexi food =)

Thankfully I've rebounded closer to wedding weight now that the pressure is off!

Make your bridal shower or bach party an Italian one!

If you're looking for something fun and different to do to celebrate your wedding shower or bachelorette party, consider a cooking class! A group of 8 of us did just that last Saturday evening. Nelly Capra (Los Altos Italian chef) at http://ornellacucinaitaliana.com/ will come to your home and teach you how to make pasta! She brings the ingredients, you work with her on a menu that fits your tastes, and together you make one big, delicious mess. To make your mouth water, we made gnocchi with a stewed tomato garlic aioli sauce, chestnut gnocchi with a gorgonzola, rosemary, and ricotta sauce (think gourmet mac'n'cheese!), ricotta herb ravioli with pine nuts, and amaretti squash ravioli with a parmesan butter sauce. Are you drooling yet? It was more than a feast and we even had leftovers as well as some pasta we were able to freeze. The whole evening lasted about 3.5 hours and we all rolled up our sleeves, kneaded some dough, and drank copious amounts of vino. The price is absolutely right and is on par with a nice dinner out.

Kennolyn Hilltop Hacienda Preferred Vendor Event, March 20th, 2010

After our fantastic time at the Byington Winery open house, we were very excited to spread our wings and travel to Santa Cruz to experience Kennolyn and make new friends. With traffic over Hwy 17 lighter than anticipated, we decided to stop off at Hunter Hill Winery for some mid-morning wine tasting before heading up to Kennolyn for the event. And are we glad we did! In addition to a tasty Pinot Noir and a spicy Rock-N-Rhone, we discovered Hunter Hill is in the process of outfitting their beautifully manicured space with a bride-worthy washroom complex, and hope to open the venue up to weddings soon. Their hillside lawn space boasts many blooming flowers with a vinyard background that is the picture of an intimate gathering, complete with wandering ducks and a friendly winery feline. Many thanks to Deana for starting our day off on a high note!

Our day continued up the hill as the road winded up the the Kennolyn Hacienda. Kennolyn awes and amazes with it's views of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Pacific coast in the distance. The sweeping Hacienda offers four distinct spaces that allow for that intimate feel while maintaining the ability to spread out. The vendor event was smartly set up with appetizer and wine sampling surrounding a bubbling fountain in the courtyard, sample table arrangements in the dining area, a ceremony setting on the lawn, and vendors sprinkled throughout. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Santa Cruz area vendors, and their willingness to make the trek "over the hill" to the South Bay. The vendor pricing also seemed quite reasonable compared with the local South Bay vendors. And we did meet many cheery new faces, from Barbara the inter-faith minister, to the ladies of the Buttery with their tasty carrot cake.

Byington Winery Bridal Open House, 7 March 2010

The recently updated interior and already gorgeous view made for a perfect open house opportunity. Vendors from every Norcal area and arena attended the affair, equipped with goodies to promote – and yes, this includes some delectable bundt cakes by “Nothing Bundt Cakes” and fantastic refreshing appetizers from Riverview Farms Catering. Byington Winery is nestled atop the Santa Cruz mountains in a plethora of green. Though the estate is sizeable, there is a genuine feel of intimacy throughout the main building. The upstairs is carefully sectioned into a dining area overlooking giant barrels, a lovely bedroom–turned–bride’s quarters, and a sitting area warmed by a stone fireplace. Outside, the trail to “Wedding Hill” guides you to an ethereal patch of green for your ceremonial vows and a panoramic view.

It was a pleasure spending the day conducting our ‘research’ by wine tasting, cake eating, and most importantly networking with the fabulous people that make up the wedding industry.

Italy Epiphany

Italy is known for it's food, wine, and fashion, but also for it's amazing culture, which involves celebrating passion and taking the time to soak in all the elements of life. So when Shanna and I traveled to Italy in February 2010, we were looking not only for a vacation filled with food, wine, and fashion, but also for an escape from the go go go cubicle wasteland.

Shanna and I are both by trade and education Aerospace engineers. We both attended Stanford and work with the best and brightest in the field. And while Aerospace has an element of glory (we are rocket scientists after all), there was always something missing for us. Certainly there is a lack of femininity in the engineering workplace, but it is also a very left-brained world where logic and analytical thinking dominate. And Shanna and I are blessed to have both very adept left brains, but also very active right brains, constantly yearning for that creative artistic expression that is somewhat lacking in technical fields. We had in the past used fashion as an outlet for our creativity, but we still felt unsatisfied. We were still hungry for... pasta.

So we traveled to Italy on what our husbands called a glorified shopping trip. But while there, immersed in the amazing history and cuisine, we came across the Italian way of life. We learned to embrace a passion for wine and food and fashion as a way of life for two weeks. Each meal was ecstasy, each pair of unique suede boots was buried treasure. Each time the sun came out to warm our cheeks, we both took a deep breath and sighed. Was it the air? The wine? Why did we feel so alive? It was in Venice at a small deli where we purchased olive and cheese filled loaves of bread from an elderly woman that it dawned on us. As she happily filled our order, hobbling around her tiny deli, we came face to face with a woman doing exactly what she wanted to do. She was not worried about retirement, nor was she studying new technologies to expand her business. She wanted to sell cheese and bread, and that's what she'd been doing, for what we guessed, was at least 60 years. And why, Shanna and I asked ourselves, weren't we doing what we wanted? Why were we doing only what brought us a sense of achievement but not satisfaction?

So on our last night in Rome, as we reminisced on our adventures and purchases, we decided upon our return we would start living our lives. We would continue our adventure as partners in a new business, bringing our artistic creativity and analytical thinking, both our left and right brains, to share with others our new found passion for life. We would bring that little bit of sunshine that caused us to pause and sigh, that small morsel of food that lifted us into euphoria, that sip of wine that made us giggle, we would bring those small bits of life and love co-existing, to as many people as possible, on what most consider the most memorable day of their lives... their wedding day.

The week after we returned home, we were already planning the beginnings of our new adventure. Engineered Elegance by S, what had been a possibility before we left, was now becoming a reality. And with each detail we tackle, and each new smiling face we meet, we feel both more alive and more at home.

Shanna's Engagement Story

The Engagement (written in 2008)

How it happened: It started on Valentine's Day this year. Because the holidays and both our birthdays occur right before Vday, we usually exchange cards and make dinner together. This year was no different, although Zach was very eager to give me his card. Right when he came over he said, let's do the cards. I thought it was a little odd because they were just cards, but agreed. He opened his first and it was sweet and mushy and everything it was supposed to be ;) As I opened his card, he apologized for it being homemade (which I actually thought was really cute). On the outside was a note that said he had always wanted to take me to a romantic weekend in a B&B and now that he was starting his job, he could afford to. I opened the folded paper and inside was a collage of pictures from a B&B called Tickle Pink Inn (yes, I know..weird name). It was breathtaking and so touching that he wanted to do that. Zach had purchased the gift certificate for a night there and it was just a matter of finding a good weekend to go.

After a couple weeks, we determined that one of the few free weekends was March 29th so Zach went ahead and booked it.

That morning was normal -- we finished a movie in bed, went to work out at a new gym and lifted weights, got ready separately, got our Starbucks and headed towards Carmel.

As we neared our location, we were already in awe at how beautiful it was (--we feel this way no matter how many times we go down there). We saw our turnoff and winded up the road and literally were laughing at how beautiful it was...we had no words. We turned into the parking lot of this cottage like inn perched atop the cliff side and yes it was pink! Walking into the lobby took our breath away: the view out the window was fantastic. Because we arrived early, we were able to just sit and enjoy the view while checking out local menus to see where we wanted to maybe eat that night.

A short while later, we were able to enter our room. Right as we closed the door, we heard a knock -- we were given complimentary Napa sparkling wine and chocolates! We took in the quaint decorations and nearly 270 degree view from our balcony. It was like a fairytale. We started taking some pictures and were just going to relax until the 430p Wine & Cheese Reception. Zach and I just laid on the chaise lounge soaking in the sun and marveling at the beautiful ocean. After a few moments, Zach said he thought he saw some sea lions by a far out rock. I didn't have my glasses on, meaning no vision, so I just ignored him. He got up and walked to the corner of the balcony (that had the broadest view) and told me I could see them from there. I went and looked, but wouldn't be able to tell a dot from a sea lion at that distance. So instead, we just looked out at the water. He was standing behind me rubbing my back and we were just 'being.' Then he said, "Can you turn around? I want to ask you something" As I started to turn, he was already bending down on one knee. Immediately, my hand flew up to my mouth and my eyes started to tear. Zach was just as emotional since he too started to cry. Sadly, I don't remember all his words because I was in such shock, but they were something to the effect of 'can't imagine spending my life without you...' Neither of us are 100% sure that he actually asked me to marry him (did he?). Nevertheless I said YES and kissed him and hugged him while down on his knee. He had a beautiful small antique box in hand and opened the box revealing a very pretty ring -- I was too overwhelmed to even look at it. We were just hugging and kissing. Before he stood, I asked him to put the ring on me and he did -- not before noting that, although he knows my ring size, it wasn't yet sized so it'd be too big. I put it on and we just kept hugging and kissing and saying I love you. During all this we had a witness -- a seagull! He was watching us intently and as the first person to know became our friend, who we named Howard :-P

Once it set in a bit, I asked him to tell me about my ring. He knew a lot...Zach had done his research! It's an Estate ring, nearly 100 years old, Edwardian in style, meaning all Platinum, a lot of filigree detail and a European cut center stone (which also happened to be the original). And though we had gone ring shopping together a few times, it was not one of the rings I picked out -- it was far more beautiful. It was "the ring" I was in quest of and he managed to find it.

What followed was a lot of tears, shaking, pinching, happiness, hugs, I love yous, kisses, and phone calls to family (by the way Zach called both my Mom and Dad asking for their blessing!). As we were on the phone, we popped open the champagne we had brought back from France last August to toast the best moment in our lives.

The rest of the weekend was perfect and joyous and filled with love. We will forever have fond memories of the Tickle Pink Inn and Carmel...