Tulum 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

Tulum Diary

Happy Hump Day everyone! These cold temperatures are still lingering here in NYC, and it’s making me miss the weather from our trip to Tulum, Mexico. I’m excited to share these photos and a little bit about our adventures down there. It was honestly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Boho hippie chic in style, completely relaxing, but adventures around the corner for those who want to partake. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of the trip sick (from the food I’m guessing? God only knows), so we didn’t get to do as much as originally planned, but we still had an amazing time and at least enjoyed the warm weather! We stayed in Tulum for a week and then ventured to the town of Akumal for three nights. We also explored around to different areas to visit Mayan ruins, cenotes, and Playa del Carmen. The first photo is from the Mayan ruins in Tulum. Simply gorgeous!

This photo is also from our trip to the Tulum ruins.

My little monkey hanging out in the carrier! He is such a good traveler!

Pool at our condo in Tulum. We rented it off airbnb.

This was taken before our private dinner right on the beach at Momo Hoja. Never thought the most romantic dinner of my life with be with a toddler in tow, but this place took the cake!

Doesn’t get any more amazing than this. It’s basically paradise at Papaya Playa Project. They are welcome to outside guests, free parking, and fabulous beds as long as you place an order for food or drinks. Done and done.

Decided to drive out to Coba for the day to explore the Mayan Ruins. I definitely recommend getting a tour guide here as it was extremely helpful to understand what we were looking at and we learned so much about the ancient history, language, and culture of the Mayans. They allow you to climb to the top of one of the pyramids here. I climbed it with a baby in my belly and baby on my back. A little steep and a little scary, but pretty awesome!

Crystal clear blue waters of Tulum = heaven.

Spelunking at Aktun Chen. This was really fun and kid friendly. We toured the spectacular cave, saw lots of animals, and then went swimming in the underground river cenote. Pretty amazing.

Lounging for the day at El Paraiso. Zack also took a boat off the beach here to do a snorkeling tour and had a great time!

Sopes for lunch at the incredible Le Zebra beach club. This place was absolutely gorgeous, and I would recommend people stay here! Fabulous food, rooms, and scenery.

They had BEDS in the restaurant! I meeeean…it doesn’t get any better than this! Haha.

View from our Villa in Akumal – Villas Flamingo

Didn’t get fancy at all in Tulum, so decided to glam it up a bit in Akumal for dinner on the beach.

Day trip to Cenote Azul for some fabulous swimming and snorkeling! What a gorgeous place!

Don’t want to leave!!!

Ahhh, I am craving this warm weather right about now! Take me back!

It’s been a busy week here in NY, working away with fitness challenge groups, freelance writing, and running around with my Nico. We had so much fun over the weekend capturing our gender reveal and we are so pumped for Nico to have a little bro!

Hoping warmer weather is in our future. We are ready to play outside again! How about you? What are you most looking forward to for the spring season?

XO,

Gina

Take Me to Mexico

*Photo via Tulum Vacation Condos*

The time has finally come! Tulum, Mexico!

I have been wanting to travel here for quite some time, and I sort of can’t believe today is the day. Very excited to flee this winter wind, cold, and snow for a retreat to the warm sunshine and sand. We are looking forward to checking out the Mayan ruins, relaxing on the beach, and swimming in cenotes.

We are about to board the plane now, so please wish us luck! It’s quite a challenge flying with a toddler, but we stocked up on new books, stickers, and flashcards (along with some iPad games) to keep our little guy busy, so we are hoping this is enough to do the trick! Honestly, no matter how horrible the plane ride though, it will be worth it!

I should have wifi down there, so I am going to try and post as often as I can while away, but it’s inevitable, I will probably get caught up in vacation magic. Regardless, you can follow me on Instagram for more insta-updates!

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.

Happy New Year!

The past year has been a bit of a roller coaster. My family has suffered a lot of loss, but we have also shared in a lot of joy. There have been changes in my career, trips across the country, exciting wedding celebrations, babies born, and interesting adventures. Watching my son grow this past year has been the most amazing part. He turned one in August with a nautical birthday party, and he has been soaking up knowledge like a sponge. He amazes me every day with the way he communicates and how much he can remember. He is sweet as pie and shows so much love and affection. I feel incredibly blessed and lucky.

I also feel extremely lucky to have so much love and support from all of you. Thanks for sticking by me this past year through the good times and the bad. There were moments when it was tough to find the time or energy to continuing blogging and creating, but this is always a place I love to come back to, and I appreciate you all coming back here as well. Some of your favorite posts from this past year included the beautiful fairytale wedding of Melissa and John, some creative ideas for engagement gifts, and when I tried out these fabulous new hair extensions. I also heard from a lot of you about how I survived the first year of motherhood and the gear that got me through. As always, please let me know what types of posts you would love to see more or less of in the coming year.

I can definitely say I am excited for what 2015 has to offer. I’m going to jump into a P90X program starting TOMORROW, and I am so excited to get back into shape again. I have always been athletic having played soccer and basketball my entire life through college and beyond. After having my child, I have struggled to find the time and the energy to get into a regular workout routine. When I was working outside of the home, I quite frankly hated to spend my free time away from my son. Now that I am home most days, it’s tough to even have free time! I received the P90X DVD program a couple years ago as a Christmas gift. It was on my wish list and also on my bucket list as something I wanted to complete as a challenge to myself. Although the program is still in the shrink wrap, it’s something I have not been able to let go. I despise the feeling of not being in shape anymore, and although I have lost all of my baby weight, I do not feel like my healthy, energetic self anymore. I plan on joining an online challenge group to keep myself motivated on this journey, and I am looking forward to feeling good again and setting a good example for my son. If you are also interested in joining me in my fitness journey, please let me know and I would love to give you more information about the group.

Aside from getting fit and healthy, I am setting my sights on a family vacation to Tulum, Mexico! I have never visited, but I have heard so many amazing things. Our itinerary is completely open, so if you have any ideas or suggestions on where to stay or what to do while we are there, please share!

The photo above is from New Year’s Eve on my friend’s rooftop in Baltimore, MD. We had a blast on our trip, although we are now trying to recover from the yucky sickness we managed to catch while away. Poor lil guy has the croup plus a fever! We have finally unpacked all of our Christmas goodies from the car, took down our tree, and put away all the decorations for the season. I’m always sad when Christmas is over, but I am excited for a fresh start in 2015.

Hope you all had a wonderful year, and I am wishing you all the best for a happy, healthy new year in 2015!

XO,

Gina