friendship Archives - Popcorn and Pandas

Feeling Like Fall

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Top: J. Crew Factory – sold out but other colors here / Hat: J. Crew Factory / Denim: AG Jeans / Booties: Target / Lip: MAC Rebel

Friday night post whoooo! Maybe some of you are as lame as me and able to read this tonight…maybe not 😉 Either way, hopefully you get a chance to check it out at some point over the weekend haha.

I took these photos last weekend when it was truly starting to feel like fall and then we had a week of 80 degree weather!!!! LOL! Go figure! I scored this J. Crew top and hat over at the Factory outlet on summer vacation, and was excited to finally bust them out.

You may have gotten a glimpse of my crazy week over on Facebook, but things are looking up and trying to focus on the positive. Last weekend we had good friends in town and took them up to Bear Mountain for an awesome fall hike. We made it to the top, and I was incredibly impressed that my 3 year old did 95% of the hike himself! I carried the baby on my back which was an extra workout, and we had a great time catching up while enjoying the great outdoors. Tomorrow we are on the road to Maryland to reunite and celebrate a dear friend who has a baby on the way.

In other news, I have the BIGGEST popcorn and pandas giveaway of the YEAR coming up which I will announce here on MONDAY!!!! So make sure you come on back to see what it’s all about! 🙂

Happy Weekend!

XO,

Gina

P.S. I need a haircut. Any good ideas? Throw them my way! 😉

Dare to Dream

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When you look at this photo here, you see a smiling, happy, fun-loving, positive, fitness crazy group of friends.

But what you don’t see in this photo:

-One of these women suffered from eating disorder in her past
-One rarely sees her husband because he is in the military
-One never had a group of close girlfriends growing up
-One always felt like a social outcast
-One recently struggled through divorce
-One is struggling financially to get her family back on their feet
-One was drowning in the day to day of motherhood
-One was overweight and lost over 80 pounds to get healthy
-One struggles with a chronic illness
-One has a stressful full time job

People often comment or tell me that what I am doing is amazing, but they don’t have that kind of motivation, or they don’t have the dedication that I do. I think sometimes they believe I am this fitness machine and that this is just easy for me. But I am human. All of these women here are human. We have our struggles. We have our past. We have the daily grind of life that can sometimes be difficult.

But the difference here is that this group of women have made a DECISION. They have decided that THEY are in CHARGE of their own lives. That their circumstances will not define them. That they are WORTH it. That they will work toward a life they have always wanted, and won’t let anything stand in their way.

This is the type of job where you determine your own destiny. Especially in a country right now where women are still underpaid compared to men…this company has given everyone an equal opportunity to succeed. There is no cap to your potential…as long as you are willing to put in the work. If you believe in other people…in helping other people…that is the key. The ladies here are not in this business for a quick rise to the top or some get rich quick scheme. That’s just not real life. But they are here to help people, to grow and enrich themselves, to learn, to FACE their daily struggles, to conquer them, and to go after what they truly deserve.

I am hosting a “What is Coaching?” Happy Hour online THIS Thursday night at 8:30pm ET to give you an inside scoop on what it REALLY means to be a coach and how you can start to face those fears and go after those dreams in your life. Everyone has the potential to be the best person you can be. It’s all about making that decision. So if nothing else other than pure curiosity, I would love to see you there on Thursday for this info-only event! No pressure to join in this opportunity…only the information to see if just maybe this is the thing you’ve been waiting for.

COMMENT, drop me an email, or fill out this application below, and I can’t wait to chat more on Thurs!!!

https://pandpfitness.wufoo.com/forms/team-spark/

Make it a great day everyone!

XO,

Gina

{30} Lately…

*Just a note on this photo. My boys spent the day together at the grocery store on Sunday so I could get some work done. I received this text message while they were gone! Nothing better than knowing my baby is happy and smiling while he is away from me 🙂 Okay, now onto the rest of the post…

Lately I’ve been…

reading The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. Great for any entrepreneur or entrepreneur in the making.

writing Down my goals for 2015. 1) Get fit and stay healthy. 2) Start a successful business as a Beachbody Fitness Coach. What’s this, you ask? We basically motivate and help others achieve their fitness goals. Happy to share more information with whoever is interested. Please feel free to e-mail or message me! 3) Travel more. So far I have been keeping up with my workouts and doing my best to motivate the challengers I have in my groups thus far. I also have a trip to Tulum, Mexico on the books, so here we go 2015! Bring it on!

listening I’m still singing Christmas music in my head. Is that weird?

thinking As I sit here in my neighborhood cafe working, I have run into three moms I know, and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful community here.

smelling Not much right now. It seems my cold has returned and I’m currently stuffy and drinking loads of hot tea.

watching Maleficent. As an avid Disney fan, this was a must see for me! I was very much impressed with the animation and graphics, and I enjoyed the switch on the storyline from the traditional Sleeping Beauty! It reminded me of the show Wicked in that regard.

wishing Upon a star.

hoping For warmer weather. Oh wait, it’s only January…sigh.

wearing My new Panda sweater. Unfortunately this one is sold out, but this vintage sweater from the 80’s is pretty darn amazing. I’m also wearing a heavy scarf, because this coffee shop I’m in is FREEZING.

loving My new snow boots from my mother-in-law. Thank God for them, because I have already needed to wear them twice this year.

laughing At these doorbell notes from Moms. I can’t believe I haven’t resorted to one of these notes yet! This is real life!

wanting A massage. These workouts are no joke!

needing To go through photos from Nico’s first year and pull out his monthly chair photos to put in a frame. This has been on my to-do list since he turned 1 (he’s now 16.5 months old), and I still haven’t gotten to it. This week is the week!

feeling Sick at the moment. And a bit tired. But happy I still got my workout in this morning.

craving Caffeine.

clicking Through photos of Tulum, Mexico and dreaming of our paradise vacation that is only 43 days away.

What have you been up to lately?

XO,

Gina

***I was inspired by Tina of Like Ordinary Life to create this post, and she was inspired by Lauren of siddathornton, who started The Sunday Currently.

{29} Lately…

Lately I’ve been…

reading Just started The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and so far it has my attention.

writing I have been writing a ton lately. A few opportunities have arisen lately in the writing world, and it’s all very exciting! I’m not quite ready to share yet, but keep a look out in the next month!

listening Love this song, Stay, by tyDi featuring Dia Frampton (Frank Pole Remix)

thinking We had a lovely Friendsgiving dinner at our house the other night. We decided to do a sit down and all write things we are thankful for about each other. We also had a new addition to the crew this year as my friend brought her newborn baby. I am very thankful for my NYC Upper East side loves.

smelling (and eating) lots of pumpkin pie! Mmmm.

watching The hubby and I watched 12 Years A Slave over the weekend. It was an incredible film, and also extremely heartbreaking. I was pretty much in tears the entire time.

wishing Everyone safe travels and a Happy Thanksgiving!

hoping That all my little soccer students enjoyed our session! We had our last class of the season yesterday. It was a lot of fun, and it was definitely a learning experience coaching such young children (ages 2-5) !

wearing Lots of plaid and aztec prints this fall.

loving At how quickly Nico is picking up new words. He is like a little parrot right now just copying everything we say. It’s super adorable, but I realize I also need to start watching my potty mouth!

laughing At Weird Things All BFFs do.

wanting To find some time to edit my personal photos. I am super back-logged! Maybe I will get a chance over the break, although that is probably wishful thinking.

needing To get packing. We are heading back to Maryland for the holiday, and excited to see family and friends.

feeling Motivated.

craving What else? Thankgiving food. Turkey, stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. All the essentials.

clicking Through family photos to try and pick one for the holiday card this year.

What have you been up to lately?

Hope you all enjoy the holiday week!

XO,

Gina

***I was inspired by Tina of Like Ordinary Life to create this post, and she was inspired by Lauren of siddathornton, who started The Sunday Currently.

{28} Lately…

Lately I’ve been…

reading I Am Hutterite by Mary Ann Kirby. An inside peek into the life into a Hutterite community (similar to Amish), leaving the community, adapting to the English world, and trying to reclaim a heritage.

writing A practice schedule for today’s soccer class this afternoon. Since I have some free time on my hands these days and there was desire for a soccer class in the neighborhood, I have spent the last few weeks obtaining a permit from the Prospect Park office, and my class is now ready to go! We had our first one last week, and seemed to go well, so my assistant, Nico, and I are looking forward to the next 8 weeks of soccer fun.

listening To a lot of kid’s music. Luckily, we have amazing bands like The Dad Beats around here which makes listening to kid’s music (somewhat) bearable.

thinking About the next steps I want to take career-wise. Soccer class is great, my Poshmark closet is selling well, and I love spending time with my little Nico, but still craving something a little more creative in my life on the job front (that – full disclosure – can also bring in a little more cash for the family). I have a few ideas in mind, but still researching and will see what might come about.

smelling I can still smell those apple cider donuts in my mind that we ate at Stakey’s Farm on Sunday. Mmmmazing.

watching I FINALLY watched The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I was a big fan of the series, but wasn’t able to get to the movie theatre when this one was released. It was everything I thought it would be.

wishing Congratulations to Nico’s former nanny who just presented the world with a brand new baby girl last night! So happy for her, and can’t wait to meet that baby!

hoping To find some time to carve the amazing pumpkins we got from the patch. I always say I want to carve, and then I rarely get around to it.

wearing My new custom made Guilty Jean bracelet given to me as a gift from a dear friend. The coordinates are from the place where we originally met. Love love love it!

loving The fact that our neighborhood is currently the set of the newest Steven Spielberg movie starring Tom Hanks. He’s pretty much my favorite actor. And I got to see him on set yesterday which was pretty damn amazing. The film is also starring a friend of mine who I met on an airplane, who at the time was a soap opera actor and asked me to rehearse lines with him on the plane. Although, I was incredibly embarrassed, I obliged because he was so nice. He’s now making movies with Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Way to make it big Billy Magnussen! Can’t wait to see you rock out this film.

laughing At how my son continuously manages to outsmart me.

wanting A date night for the hubby and I in the near future. It’s been too long!

needing To figure out what I am going to be wearing to the black-tie optional wedding we are invited to this weekend! And needing to figure out what Nico will be wearing as well. Looking forward to seeing my cousin walk down that aisle!

feeling So proud of my little guy who took his first steps this weekend! He took even more yesterday, and this mama is going to be in big trouble soon!

craving Candy corn. I’m still wondering why we only eat this one month out of the year.

clicking Away on career research. Thinking of making a switch up. We shall see!

What have you been up to lately?

Hope you are all having a fantastic week!

XO,

Gina

***I was inspired by Tina of Like Ordinary Life to create this post, and she was inspired by Lauren of siddathornton, who started The Sunday Currently.

{25} Lately…

Lately I’ve been…

reading #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso, founder and CEO of Nasty Gal. Incredible story and extremely inspirational. Would recommend to anyone, not just the ladies.

writing In Nico’s baby book. I have a few months of catching up to do with all his new milestones!

listening “Talk Dirty” by Jason DeRulo. As a former sax player, I had to give a shout out to the awesome solo work in this song.

thinking It’s been a bit of a crazy few weeks for me and my family. We lost my beloved Granny recently, and although she was 93 years old, it was sudden and a bit of a shock for all of us. After losing my Uncle earlier this year, it’s been rough for everyone, especially my Mom. I cannot imagine losing my own mother, and I know this has got to be incredibly difficult for her. My Granny was the sweetest lady, and I miss her dearly. I am comforted in the fact that I was able to be by her side in her last week along with the rest of our family, and that she was comfortable and knew we were all with her at the end. I truly appreciate all of the love, prayers, cards, and support that people have given us during this time.

smelling The great outdoors. Spent Zack’s 1st Father’s Day Weekend hiking Bear Mountain on Saturday, and Sunday was spent smelling the sweet salt air at Rockaway Beach. I would definitely recommend the Perkins Memorial 3.9 mile trail loop. Amazing views and a challenging, fun hike. I impressed myself by doing a few rock scrambles with a baby on my back as well, and we were able to introduce Nico to his first ride…the carousel! Onto the beach…if my fellow New Yorkers make it to Rockaway this summer, you must go to 106th street for arepas at Caracas. I insist! P.S. Nico LOVED the beach. That’s my boy!

watching Watched the throwback movie Big for the first time with one of my favorite actors of all time, Tom Hanks. Although the method of getting “bigger” was a tad cheesy, I really enjoyed the movie and would recommend it.

wishing For the weekend to get here! We are heading to Cape May for the first time for a family vacation with the hubby’s side. Looking forward to snuggling that little nephew of ours, and spending time with the entire fam. Have any of you been to Cape May before? Would love some suggestions on what to do/where to eat/where to shop, etc.!

hoping That Nico feels less pain when the rest of his teeth come in…yes, you heard right…Nico got his first tooth this weekend! My boy is getting big.

wearing This new vintage style bathing suit I purchased from Grey Dog Boutique. Discovered this shop from Bonnie over at Flashes of Style. Go say hi!

loving The the line-up of summer travel we have on the horizon. While driving long distances can sometimes be draining, Zack and I are always up for an adventure, and this summer will be no different even with a little one in tow. We started off the summer in New Hampshire with good friends, enjoyed upstate NY last weekend, and have Cape May to round out the month of June. July we will be heading to Rehobeth Beach (DE), North Fork (Long Island), Deep Creek Lake (MD), and celebrating my 30th (eek!). Ending the summer will be a trip to the Outer Banks (NC) and celebrating Nico’s 1st birthday. Some may call us crazy, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

laughing I’m not a cat person, but this kitten jam had me rolling!

wanting This shocking coral lip color for the season.

needing Some more time with girlfriends. I’ve been loving the family life without a doubt, and I love my boys to death, but sometimes a girl needs some quality time with her girlfriends too! Hoping to set up a few “girl-dates” while the weather is nice and warm.

feeling A second needle injection into my thumb this morning. OUCH. My thumb has definitely gotten a lot better since the first shot, but it’s still not completely back to normal, and as the doc said “I am too young to have this problem!” Not to mention how impossible it is to “rest your thumb.” I really do hope this one will curb me from having to undergo surgery, but worst case scenario, I have heard it’s a fairly simple procedure.

craving More time to work on this blog and other personal endeavors/passion projects. My creativity is bursting at the seams with very little time to act! I’ve always been great with time management, but juggling work, caring for a baby, and our social/travel calendar have made things a bit more tricky. I know it’s tough to “have it all,” but I’m determined to come up with a way to make things work without sacrificing my family time.

clicking Nico is pulling himself up to a standing position, and I think it’s time for some functional shoes for summer. I’ve been searching around online, but does anyone have any favorites they love for their little one?

What have you been up to lately?

Happy Hump Day!

Love,

Gina

***I was inspired by Tina of Like Ordinary Life to create this post, and she was inspired by Lauren of siddathornton, who started The Sunday Currently.

A Summer Shower

Recently, the matrons of honor along with the bridesmaids (myself included) and close family threw a beautiful wedding shower for our dear friend Teri that was all about the details. Starting with the “guestbook” above made out of a Jenga game, the delicious mimosa bar with fresh fruit, customized “Rome” (her future new last name) gift bags for the guests, handcrafted custom made gifts, and carefully designed centerpieces, this shower definitely showed both creativity and care in every aspect of the event. All of the bridesmaids are currently married, and Teri was involved with each one of our weddings. This was truly our chance to give back to her and show her how much we appreciate having her in our lives. A custom slide show was designed with photos of her and her fiancé and their loved ones, and we also played a little game where we interviewed her fiancé, Charlie, on camera to see how many questions they could answer the same. It was a great time, and we hope that Teri enjoyed being showered with love on her special day. The countdown to the wedding in October is getting close, and I am definitely getting excited to see these two tie the knot!

IMG_9951_Layers_v1 — This was one of my favorite gifts that she was given, handcrafted by a guest on canvas.

IMG_9952_Layers_v1 — This cool handcrafted water container was first personalized with puffy paint, and then painted over with chalkboard paint, so you can actually write on the outside! So great!

Hope you enjoyed the photos from the shower!

The weather has been beautiful in NY so far this week. I have been super busy both with work and life. Just trying to find a moment to breathe…

Enjoy your Wednesday!

XO,

Gina

Tucson Reunion

You may recall, two years ago, when I met my pen pal, Angela, in person for the first time. Yes, that’s right…I said pen pal! I wonder if kids even know what those are these days? Crazy as it may be, we met on my wedding day after 18 years of writing and keeping in touch with each other. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, and I grew up in Maryland, eventually moving to New York City. While, it was absolutely amazing she flew all the way out to the East Coast for my wedding day, I wished that we had gotten more than 10 minutes to speak to each other. So now, two years after our first brief meeting, and 20 years after we first started writing, Zack and I headed out to Arizona for the first time to stay with Angela and her boyfriend, Leon, in their Tucson home.

Angela’s entire family blocked off their Friday night to welcome us with a wonderful homemade Mexican feast at her Nana’s home on their family ranch. Back in the day, they hosted roping competitions and rodeos here, and there are still many folks who keep their horses on their stable grounds. It was so awesome to finally hang out with Angela, meet her entire family (minus one sister who wasn’t in town…we missed you!) and see the place and land where she grew up and wrote from all these years.

Saturday, they gave us the grand tour of Tucson starting off with the Sonoran Desert Museum. I must have repeated a million times “I’ve never seen anything like this!” mostly in regard to the huge giant cactus, err saguaros, that littered the desert. In the museum, we also saw tons of other flora, fauna, and animals. My favorites were the coyotes and the prairie dogs…so cute! After the museum we stopped at The Mission, which is the first Catholic Church in Arizona, and also the oldest European structure in the state. It was extremely beautiful and special to see. For more info on the history of the Mission, click here. We grabbed lunch in South Tucson at El Torero, a yummy Mexican local hotspot, and then headed downtown to do some exploring. The city is extremely artsy and many of the shops displayed a “Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead” theme. Angela, actually had one of her paintings displayed in a gallery downtown which was really cool to see. I am so proud! We drove past Angela’s elementary school, St. John’s, where she wrote me my first letter. It was really interesting to see how different the architecture was from my grade school, St. Mary’s. Saturday night, we attended a Live Theatre Workshop, which turned out to be a hilarious performance, and we ended the night with a fab dinner.

Sunday, we were sad to leave, but also excited to continue on to Phoenix on our state-wide tour. We had such a blast in Tucson, and it was so much fun getting to know Angela in person. She is exactly how I thought she would be from her letters over the years, and we all got along wonderfully. I am so grateful to her and Leon (as well as her entire family) for being such amazing hosts, and I look forward to having them come out to visit us in Brooklyn sometime!

IMG_8283_Layers_v1 — Angela and I on her Grandparent’s Ranch

IMG_8438_Layers_v1 — From left to right: Me, the hubby Zack, Angela, Leon, Angela’s parents

Angelas House — The sun shining down on Angela and Leon’s house

Four of Us — The four of us at breakfast on our last day in Tucson

After our 10 day hiatus, Zack and I are now back in New York, and I am completely overwhelmed by the amount of photos I need to go through! I have so many updates for you regarding our trip to Arizona, and this is only the beginning. Stay tuned through this week and next for photos and stories of our travels, outfit posts, and more.

In other news, Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary to my amazing husband! Can’t believe we were saying our “I do’s” two years ago. Tomorrow also marks 8.5 years that we have been together. I am so very lucky to have him in my life, and I am excited for what this upcoming year will bring for us. We have embarked on so many journeys together so far, and I can’t think of a more exciting and important one than parenthood.

Have a great week everyone!

XO,

Gina

Tucson on Dwellable

{9} Lately…

Lately I’ve been…

reading Just finished The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg which I strongly recommend to everyone. Currently reading The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. It’s decent so far.

writing A birthday card for a special someone.

listening I’ve got a Mumford & Sons station on Pandora at the moment. Fun tunes from Passion Pit, Cold War Kids, MGMT and the likes.

thinking About the fact that Tissycole and Lisa are coming to visit tomorrow!!! Super excited!

smelling The rain. Is it weird that I could smell it before it even started coming down?

watching The always fabulous Rachel Zoe Project. Dying over the fashion weekly. Also just started watching the Real World Portland. Yes, I still watch the Real World.

wishing For sunshine. We were so spoiled at the beginning of the week with warm temperatures, and I’m wishing for them back this weekend!

hoping That the laundry will do itself. No? Not possible? Oh well, I tried.

wearing My “Amaze” sweater from ASOS (now on sale!) with an Old Navy poly button-down underneath. Black skinny jeans from Motherhood. Leopard print rain boots similar to these. Red Haute lip from Lancome.

loving I never realized how much you can love someone you have never even met. So excited for my baby boy to get here in September, and so in love already.

laughing At the fact I actually tried to straighten my hair this morning. The hair in the photo above lasted all of 2 minutes as I stepped out into the wind and rain this morning. You know those days where your umbrella decides to flip itself out over and over again? Did wonders for my hair today.

wanting To finish the friendship bracelet I started making over a month ago. My 4th grade skills just aren’t where they used to be…

needing To paint my nails tonight. They are in dire need of some Essie love.

feeling Excited for the girls to get here this weekend! Can’t wait for a weekend of shopping, photographing and girl talk.

craving Strangely enough, I am not getting any weird pregnancy cravings. I mean, I want ice cream…but I always want ice cream. Nothing new. I haven’t started liking condiments, so I think my appetite is relatively the same.

clicking Through fashion blogs of expecting mamas. Trying to figure out some tricks to looking chic while prego.

What have you been up to lately?

Happy Friday!

Love,

Gina

***I was inspired by Tina of Like Ordinary Life to create this post, and she was inspired by Lauren of siddathornton, who started The Sunday Currently.