Week 4- My First Hydrotherapy Experience

For week 4 I decided to try the new hydrotherapy beds at my gym:

I've seen these before at places like airports, but had never gotten around to trying one out. Turns out they're pretty neat! It feels kind of like a full body vibrator and builds in intensity as it rolls up the back of your body. It feels like a bunch of hot tub jets, but with much more pressure (I didnt even get past level 7 of pressure) and the hot jets start at your feet and roll up to your head, shaking you up to whole way. At your legs it feels like it's tickling you and by the time it gets to your head it's much more intense and it sounds like the ocean is about to engulf you. Then it goes slowly back down your body and then back up, etc. It definitely wakes up your chakras and breaks up any stagnant energy. You get to play with the controls on the screen. There were entertainment options, but I felt like the actual table was entertaining enough so I didn't use them:

I did an amazing spiritual workshop last weekend where as part of our "assignment," we were asked to stay in our bodies as much as possible from now on. To do this, we were instructed to use our 5 senses as much as possible all the time, which brings you into your body. So throughout the whole week I'd been focusing on things like tasting the air, feeling my clothes on my body, feeling light touching my skin, hearing background noises, etc. And wow, I've found that for someone who really LOVES her physical body, I really love to leave it a lot and actually felt some initial discomfort with being SO in my body. I was also blown by how strong your senses get after just a few days of focusing on really using them. SO by the time I got on this machine with my newly honed and sensitive senses I was like, "WHOA!!!!!"

I loved it and I'll be doing it a few times a week from now on. But after my workouts because I have no idea how I managed an hour of cardio after the relaxation this machine induced! So this week's fun first was another success.

Aside from my main fun first, I tried another restaurant. I have a friend who owns a restaurant called Cafe Entourage in Hollywood and he always tells me to come check it out and have a nice meal. I finally got around to it. Turns out it's popular and very nice. I ended up going back with a friend the same week after trying it out for the first time. Prettiness:

And his daughter is a vegetarian so they have some DELICIOUS vegetarian options like the amazing Spring Salad:

I tend to love salads that mix greens with berries, so I was very happy. And the hummus and guacamole were also yummy:

The veggie pizza is delicious too, but it was pretty busy at that moment so I didn't want to take a picture of it. I really enjoyed my meal though. And don't meals always taste extra better when they're free? I think it's the extra feelings of gratitude that get mixed into the pallette and just enhances all your senses and experiences.

Well, that's the first 4 weeks of the year!!!! Next up: February!

Week 3- My First Golden Globes Experience

I usually wait until the end of the week to post my First for the week so that I can add any additional Firsts that pop up, or a better main First, but I think this week my main First is pretty set- The Golden Globes. And if more fun Firsts pop up I'll just edit this entry at the end of the week to add.

So Saturday a guy friend asked me if I was free to go to a show Sunday afternoon and I said sure. I assumed it was Cirque du Soleil because he had tried to take me the previous week and we'd missed it, but I was a bit off. Sunday during the day he told me it was actually the Golden Globes award. Which set off a frenzy of me trying to find a dress for this awesome fun first. My mom indulged me in taking pics of me to help me decide:

I had SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun. It was definitely one of the most fun nights I've had. I don't have a tv and I think the Batman movie is the only movie I watched this year (and that was because it was an after-Pranic Healing-class group thing), but I figured I'd appreciate and enjoy the experience. I was shy on the red carpet but snuck one in when it was clear (just to have one for this blog/journaling the 52 Fun Firsts experience):

And the parties were AMAZING. Everyone got their own personal Moet Champagne bottle when they walked through the door of the party and everyone was drinking the champagne straight from their bottle. I snuck in a picture of mine:

Not only did everyone get free bottles and there was free food and an open bar with ridiculous bottles all night, but they garnished my drink with gold. I'm a Leo, so I was mesmerized and it was definitely a First:

It's my new favorite alcoholic drink. My First time having a Jetsetter:

Ha, documenting my 52 Fun Firsts is also busting me out of my "I don't take pictures at cool events" comfort zone. I was trying to sneak them in discreetly where I could. I forgot the name of the person who's party this was, but I was partying with Jennifer Lopez, Diddy, Kobe Bryant, Tarantino, the man who plays Wolverine, Jamie Foxx, Chris Tucker, Benny Medina, Carmen Electra....

One of my favorite things- they had a make up bar where you could go get your make up re-done if you sweated it off while dancing:

And at the make up bar they had all kinds of free Laura Mercier make up that people were encouraged to take!! I brought my mom home a bunch of stuff (she helped me get ready at last minute and I was very appreciative). The free make up jars:

MC Lyte djing:

That's a little bit of my fun First for the week. I'm glad I was able to sneak in pics on my phone to document this fun night. :-)

So, this week it was my First Golden Globes, my First time trying a Jetsetter (or gold), my First time meeting Jennifer Lopez (she was very nice and gorgeous), and my First time experiencing a make up bar at a party. I'm REALLY enjoying this 52 Fun Firsts Challenge and think it's amazing all the cool stuff that can come your way when you open up and set an intention to have a fun journey. Peace and blessings.

Week 2- My First Youtube Video

I'm a day late on Week #2 because yesterday got a little hectic. I actually have Week 2 and 3 ready to go but I'll keep them separate.

During Week #2 my brother decided we should start making informational youtube videos for our law firm and wanted me to do it. That's way out comfort zone because I've learned in the past that for some reason I don't like being on tv at all. And I know that being Cuban, I speak fast and that I say "Um" a lot and am just very authentic and laid back. But because I was doing this 52 Weeks of Firsts, I said okay.

So we shot our first Youtube video in my office. One in English and one in Spanish. It was a lot of information so we couldn't do it multiple times or it would have taken all day so I just surrendered it and trusted that it was okay and what it needed to be.

Our phone has not stopped blowing up since we posted the videos. :-) We're now getting clients calling in from New York, Canada, Oregon, etc. So it was a SUPER busy week at work and I ended up having to work most of Saturday.

So this week's first, my first youtube video, turned out to be really great for business. It was an excellent example of stepping out of your comfort zone and expanding. I'm NOT going to post it because I'm still pretty shy and uncomfortable about it, but now we've also made a second set of Spanish/English videos. :-)

That was my main first this week. Additional firsts were:

1)I went on my first ever green smoothie first date. I appreciated being asked to go drink something that I actually drink. We actually ended up eating a full dinner, but I loved the idea. I think it was also my first time on a date with someone from London.

2) I saw Chris Spencer's comedy stand up live for the first time. I know, I'm super late. But it was hilarious.

3) I went to Harold & Belle's Creole Restaurant for the first time. Again, I know. I'm late. But the veggie gumbo was DELICIOUS.

And that was week 2. No pictures on this simple one, but I will have some for Week 3!

Week 1- A New Year's Eve First

For my first week of fun firsts, I kicked off New Year's Eve with breaking the 30 year tradition of spending New Year's Eve with my family. For the first time ever, I decided to go out and spend New Year's Eve with friends:

We went to Kevin Hart's New Year's Eve Dinner at Katsuya and his New Year's show at Staples Center:

It was a pre-set (free dinner) with an open bar and an abundance of champagne on trays. I had a BLAST! On top of it being my first time spending NYE out with friends, it was my first time seeing Kevin Hart live. We laughed loudly right into 2013. I respected his "put your phones away and be present" rule during his show, so I don't have any pictures of his actual show. Here's him giving a toast at the dinner though:

And it just so happened that Too Short was seated right next to me at dinner, so it was my first time officially meeting him and having fun conversations with him:

I lived in a dorm for 4 years in college surrounded by Oakland people (I started getting confused and thinking I was from Oakland for awhile), so I was excited. And he was very nice and interesting.

So I brought in 2013 with surrounded by fun firsts! :-D I planned to stay home with my mom like always and then ON New Year's Eve one of my girls convinced me to come out instead. I love laughing and my mom insisted that I go enjoy the dinner and show. I opened up and asked for fun firsts so they started coming. I'm very grateful to Kitchie for convincing me to come out and to Claudia for very generously sharing her plus ones with us. I'm also grateful that I've become a much better receiver.

It was a perfect joy-filled start to 2013:

The Kevin Hart Dinner and Show on New Year's was my actual First for this week (or what I'm counting for my 52 week challenge), but now that I'm in that energy and noticing more, there were a few other firsts this week!

1) I got gel nail polish for the first time ever. And I LOVED it. I had held out because back when I used to get acrylic nails, sometimes they would do gel nails and the polish on those would not look great after a couple of days and I had assumed gel nail polish might be the same. I was wrong. My brother's girlfriend got me a gift card to a new salon so I went there and randomly decided to try the gel polish. Awesomeness #1: As soon as the machine turned off I was able to walk out and use my hands without chipping my nail polish (I have a tendency to chip before I leave the parking lot). Awesomeness #2: A week later my nail polish is still bright and shiny and has NOT chipped. Which is a bit of a miracle because since I'm a healer and am always spraying alcohol, my manicures tend to last about 3 days. I will stick to gel polish from now on.

2) I tried Rejuvelac for the first time. Bleh, was my first reaction. It tasted like tart yogurt water, but I feel like I'm already starting to acquire it. I first heard of Rejuvelac about a year and a half ago when I was reading Karyn Calabrese's Soak Your Nuts (raw food detox book). It's one of the staples of her every day diet and it's a raw food staple overall. She swears by it and if she swears by a drink, I'm down to try it (have you all ever seen Karyn? Google her. She does NOT look her age). In her book she describes how to make your own, but after I looked up the process on youtube, I decided to try it somewhere else first (the guy mentioned something about you have to be able to tell when it's gone bad while you're making it and I didn't feel qualified). Anyhow, I've seen it a few times at Mother's Market and this week I decided to reach for a bottle. Some people call it their source of energy and say it gives them life, so it sounded like something to try. I did feel full of energy for the rest of the night. I felt like going jogging at 10pm. So I had some more the next day despite not initially liking the taste.

3) I went to Rush Street restaurant/bar in Culver City for the first time. It was cool. It was also a first date.

4) I've been vegan for 10 days for the first time ever. Past attempts have only lasted 3 days.

5) I tried raw lasagna for the first time ever today. I'm a fan of raw food and raw food restaurants (Cafe Gratitude is my fave), but after an initial yucky experience with raw pizza, my experimenting with the raw equivalent of cooked dishes slowed down a bit. But this raw lasagna at 118 Degrees Community Cafe was really good:

The noodle layers are made of zuchinni, for the sauce we have tomatoes, and the ricotta is made of ground up macademian nuts and spices. Yum!!! I also had a huge green smoothie to go with it.

So that was my first week of fun firsts. For these blog entries, in the interest of updating regularly, I plan to keep it short and simple. But because I'm becoming more aware of all the new things I do every week, I wanted to include the other firsts I noticed.

Happy New Year!!!