Archive for December, 2005

Wow…what a trip! I had the privlege of leading a press event for Nike in the UK and then co-leading a 2 day “Rock Star” training with 46 instructors from 24 different countries in Amsterdam. I was away for 6 days and it was a blast!

Here’s a picture of me and Bridget McLean, Nike’s UK PR Manager. We had a fabulous dinner at the Mango Tree, a funky Thai restaurant near Victoria Station.

After London, it was off to Amsterdam. Here I am at dinner with Jane Wake, UK Fitness Guru and Dries from Medico Vision Training Facility in Amsterdam. Jane is a Nike Fitness Consultant and Dries is a former Nike Soccer Athlete.

Here I am with fellow Nike Master Trainer Marc Santa Maria. We’ve been friends for years and Marc was trying desparately to get me to take a good ‘long arm’ picture of us in front of the canals. For some strange reason, my arm only wanted to do the short-close-up version!

This is me with Craig Smith, another Nike MT and one of the most talented dancers I know. He’s danced for Beyonce and sings back-up for Faith Evans. One night after the training, we visited this nightclub called Ministry and before we knew it, Craig and I were involved in a full out dance ‘battle’ with random dancers from Europe!  I haven’t done one of those since I was 16. It was so retro and sooooooo funny! We laughed about it for the rest of the trip. Amsterdam’s dance scene will never be the same!

What an incredible birthday I had! A morning of spontaneous closet and clothing purging, an afternoon filled with great birthday wishes, a mani/pedi, flowers and shopping. Then to top it off, I had a magical dinner with my honey at the Lever House Restaurant.

They really spoiled us with extra tastings from the kitchen and not one, not two, but THREE delicious desserts from my favorite star pastry chef, Deb Snyder. Deb is not only sweet treat genius but she’s also a good friend and mom-to-be.

If you are ever in NYC and in the mood for top-notch food, drinks and dessert, be sure to make your way over to the Lever House. It will be an experience you’ll never forget.

Thanksgiving this year ROCKED! Josh and I headed down to NJ early and spent the night with my brother Ronny and his girlfriend Kelli. They recently got this amazing old english bulldog named Bentley. Here he is with his favorite holiday chew toy.

Then we headed to my parents house for Thanksgiving dinner and a little early birthday party (My real Bday is on December 7th). My mom and dad are the sweetest, dearest parents in the world. They had these balloons and streamers - it was so frickin’ cute it brought a tear to my eye.

Best of all was having my mom’s famous birthday cake. She makes this incredible buttercream frosting that is to die for. She got the top secret recipe from my great uncle Vinny who owns an old school Italian Bakery called Vaccaro’s in North Jersey.