fun Archives - Popcorn and Pandas

2015 in Review

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A lot has happened in this past year…

I embarked on a new career as a health & fitness coach last January and I have since been able to help over 120 challengers to reach their goals and 8 coaches to build a business of their own. I am continuing to help those who want to make changes in this brand new year.

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I found out I was pregnant with our second child in January, and we did a fun little photo shoot in Prospect Park to find out we were expecting a BOY!

Baby Notes 2 Announcement

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I felt a little bit tougher this time around during my pregnancy and made my health and fitness a big priority for both myself and my family.

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We took a trip to Tulum, Mexico as a family and it was a crazy fun adventure.

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I rocked a two piece dress during my pregnancy which Lord knows I never thought would happen! I also rocked a bikini.

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I came up with a post all about exercises during pregnancy which many of you read and loved…I call them pregercises.

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I had some fun collaborations with both Stella & Dot and Irresistible Me…I have to say I am obsessed with Stella & Dot jewelry, and I can now FINALLY use a curling iron without butchering my hair!

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Before & After

I surprised my husband with a trip to the NOLA for our 4 year wedding anniversary.

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We had an adorable family maternity photo shoot with my phenomenal cousin and professional photographer Misa Me.

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We took our annual lake trip over the summer…this time we landed in Seneca Lake in the Finger Lake region of Upstate New York.

I also traveled 8 months pregnant to Nashville for the annual Beachbody Summit, and met my fabulous team of coaches in person to share a phenomenal life-changing experience. I also broke it down on the CIZE dance floor. (yes I was the awkward dancing pregnant lady)

My beautiful baby Luca was brought into the world and our world was forever changed for the better. This kid is the smiliest, happiest baby I have ever met and we are so in love.

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My Nico Bonzo turned TWO this year with a TMNT b-day party. He started preschool, has become so independent, is making friends, and having full conversations these days. He astonishes me daily with how much memory he can retain in that little brain of his. I know he is destined for great things.

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I started my own 21 Day Fix journey to get back to my pre-baby, healthy, active self again, and so far things are going really well. I told myself I would not wait so long like I did with my first babe to get back into shape, and I have stuck to my word.

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We have celebrated many beautiful friends getting married this past year and wonderful holidays together with family. We are so very lucky and I am thankful for my blessings each and every day.

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Misa Me Family Christmas

(Photo by Misa Me Photography)

I look forward to what 2016 has to offer, and I am wishing you all a happy, healthy New Year!

XO,

Gina

Turning Two With Turtle Power

We celebrated Nico’s 2nd Birthday a little early this year due to the fact that his birthday is two days away from my due date. So as not to add any additional stress or a possible last minute cancelation, we decided a month in advance would be appropriate to make sure he got to have his cake and eat it too. We settled on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle theme…not because he watches the shows, because to be honest, the only thing he pretty much watches is Sesame Street…but I thought it was cool, and he was really excited about the turtles when I bought him a TMNT t-shirt one time. So there you have it. Two = Turtle Power for the win. He seemed to get into the theme, so I think it worked out well. I had a lot of fun crafting a few things in advance for the party. My husband might disagree as he had the task of crafting 12 turtle masks of out felt, which we then failed to photograph. Sorry, honey. They looked great! And apparently some of the kids are even still wearing them at home, I swear! It was a beautiful day with friends and even some family was able to come up for it (namely Nico’s godfather, which was awesome!) The kids had a pool and a water table to keep them occupied, and the parents had food and supervising children in the pool and at the water table to keep them occupied. The best part is that Nico was in a great mood the entire day, and I could tell he really enjoyed himself having everyone over to celebrate. He even asked us to sing “Happy Birthday” to him again privately later on during the party. It was kind of adorable. We are so grateful to everyone who came out and showered him with love on this special day!

*Cake from Betty Bakery*

Now he still has a couple more weeks until his ACTUAL 2nd Birthday, so pending on my labor schedule, you will probably get a sappier birthday post around then. 😉

Hit the 37 week mark yesterday, and we made tons of headway on the house over the weekend including a new office space for Mama. SCORE! We are pretty much ready for baby’s arrival when he is!

Hope you are all enjoying the week so far. Make it a good one!

XO,

Gina

Introducing Guilty Jean

They’re a little bit girly…a little bit rugged…a little bit dark…a little bit spiritual…and a little bit rock and roll. They are…Guilty Jean! The phenomenal jewelry collaboration by artists Nicole Rivera and Maria Vaspasiano is a personal favorite of mine. Connecticut born and New York City based, these two ladies handcraft each piece of jewelry in their collection. They are extremely talented individuals with a passion for fashion and a love of all things edgy. I was so excited when Nicole and Maria surprised me with these fabulous pieces from their “Sinner & Saint Collection,” and I could not wait to style them. This line has an element of gothic punk mixed with spirituality. It’s flirty, yet edgy at the same time. I love the mix of skulls with religious symbols and bows. If you know designers Nicole and Maria in person, you know this line totally fits their personality. Take a look at some of my favorites from the collection below. I know you will love it just as much as I do!

IMG_7146v2 — Guilty Jean provides detailed write-ups in their packaging about the materials they use to handcraft your jewels.

Stay tuned this week and next for some upcoming posts on how I decided to style this amazing jewelry line. In the meantime, stop by Guilty Jean’s website to browse some of their other pieces. Both the “Sinner & Saint” and “Rockstar Buddha” lines are currently 20% off all designs. And you’ll definitely want to check out their new 2013 Spring/Summer collection called “Love, Gypsy.”

Gentlemen, don’t feel left out! They also have a men’s line which is equally amazing.

Enjoy, and hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

XO,

Gina

Dinner Party

There’s nothing like an impromptu Saturday night dinner party! I broke out the fine china (for only the second time in two years…let’s just say was about time to put those amazing wedding gifts to good use), and whipped up a little Italiano meal for the hubs and my friends Brooke (a new Brooklynite) and Kendel (visiting from Baltimore). Pasta with red sauce, breaded chicken, mixed green salad, and a bottle of red (or maybe two bottles of red). Doesn’t get much better than that huh? Except for maybe the little game of “Flip Coaster” we invented after dinner. Don’t even get me started on how insanely good Brooke is at this game–she put us all to shame. We had so much fun that we completely lost track of time, and the fact that we were supposed to be meeting friends out in Manhattan that night. Zack ended up crashing, but the girls and I rallied for a fun little night at the Back Room on the Lower East Side. The Back Room is a swank little speakeasy that serves cocktails in teacups and beer bottles in paper bags. We had a great time, and I’m thinking we will need to have a repeat date sometime soon!

Photos by: Zack Notes / Edited by: Myself

Dress: Free People (old) – view their current dress collection! / Leather Jacket: Vintage – love this asymmetrical alternative / Tights: Urban Outfitters / Boots: ALDO / Cardigan: Forever 21 (old) / Bag: Chinatown / Scarf: Gift / Necklace: Guilty Jean / Watch: Michael Kors / Bracelet: Baublebar / Lip: Lancome Luxe / China: Lenox Chirp

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was quite relaxing, and I’m looking forward to chilling out this week as well. I’m a bit excited about the extra daylight hour. It reminds me that spring is right around the corner!

Happy Birthday to my twin cousins, Briana and Victoria, today! Love you girls!

XO,

Gina

Monday Musings: Man’s Quest for Leisure Time

I stumbled upon this piece that I wrote a few years ago for a collaborative blog that no one really saw but a few friends. Since I never really shared it before, I thought I would share these thoughts today. I tweaked it a bit to make a a bit more current, but it’s mostly the same…

Man’s Quest for Leisure Time:

As much as I love my life–I have a steady job, a great husband, a wonderful family, amazing friends, and good health–I realized that sometimes I think the grass is still always greener. A few years ago, this became evident to me while embarking on a dinner date with friends. Cruising the Upper East side with “That Vacation Guy”, “Violet of Leisure”, and “Summer Yaffa Dalia” (names have been modified to protect their identities ha), I felt like the loser who couldn’t stay out late because I had work tomorrow. While they could go off galavanting to the next piano bar or Irish pub, I had to go upstairs, vacuum my apartment, and get ready for bed. How fun is that?

I know I should be happy that I have a full time job, so that I have money to pay bills and go on said dinner dates, but don’t you ever feel like you waste half of your life sitting and staring at a computer screen waiting for the time to pass by so you can get back to your “real life?” It’s not that I don’t like my job; I do. I actually enjoy it. But I like not working so much more. I love the freedom of roaming around finding fun adventures to take part in, not having a curfew, waking up whenever I feel like, & enjoying the sunshine outdoors (instead of seeing it shine through my office window).

My 9th grade history teacher once brought up a topic of discussion about “man’s quest for leisure time.” You work hard to make lots of money, until you can afford to pay people to do the work for you, freeing up yourself for more fun adventures in life. In other words: work hard to play hard. Except if you work hard enough, you can eventually just play. This has been evident all through history, and this mentality still exists in a lot of people today.

More and more people I know in our generation don’t want to work for someone else–they want to be entrepreneurs with their own businesses, doing things they enjoy, making their own schedules, still working (because most of us still have to), but working at their leisure, and making sure there is enough time for travel, rest, and fun.

I often wonder what my life would be like as a “freelancer” per say, and what exactly I would even do? Or if I did eventually work so hard that I never had to work again…would I then not appreciate leisure time as much? Would I take it for granted? Would I become bored with it? Would the grass actually be greener–or is that just a fantastic notion? I suppose time will only tell, but for now, I will just continue on my own quest for leisure time–working hard to play hard.

Hope ya’ll have a good week!

XO,

Gina