This past Friday was an amazing day that I will never forget for the rest of my life. I participated in the Sati LOVE Flash Mob as well as a 2 hour advanced intenSati class led by Patricia Moreno. Both events were a huge success and brought the Sati community even closer together. The flash mob was the most amazing and powerful 5 minutes and really demonstrated our commitment to spreading peace and love in the world.

I started my day off with an intenSati class at 6:30 a.m. in the morning! This was our last opportunity to practice for the flash mob and I knew it would be fun to start the day off with my usual morning Sati crew. There was so much energy in the room because we were all so excited to finally do the flash mob series that we had been practicing for in every class for the last two weeks!

I especially had a great time in class because my good friend Tiff was there! She recently moved to Arizona but took the red-eye in just for the flash mob! Amazing!

After class, we all walked together to Washington Square Park where the flash mob would take place. This walk was also one of the highlights of my day. Imagine walking around NYC with your entire gym class of 30 people in bright colored clothing. I felt like I was on a field trip! People were staring at us in their business clothes wondering how a group of people could look so happy and energetic at 8:00 a.m. in the morning!  I also felt a little mischievous being a block away from my work since I definitely took the day off for this.

We arrived at the park and saw colorful people everywhere chatting with each other. It kind of felt like a dream since I knew almost every single person but had to pretend like I was just relaxing in the park with a friend! It was really cool to see the live drummers and camera crew getting ready!

Some of us paced back and forth and others pretended to read newspapers. It was so exciting waiting for Patricia to begin the flash mob series!

All of the sudden, the drummers began playing and Patricia started dancing around by herself in the middle of the park. She eventually started the series and one by one, we all joined in. Check this video out!

I was in the front and never looked behind me but heard there were about 200 people there! For 5 minutes, we happily yelled:

“I am the change
I want to see
I am done complaining
I set myself free
I choose love, peace, gratitude and faith
I have all that I need
Already within me
May everyone be happy and free”

After the 5 minutes, we sat down in complete silence and meditated. There were a few cheers and whistles but then the people watching seemed to understand the precious moment of silence and the park got completely quiet. Everyone had been instructed to send a blessing to those they know who are suffering and radiate love and peace for 30 seconds.  This moment was so powerful and also really emotional. Sitting in silence with 200 people I love in a park after doing someting we had spent so much time preparing for was just amazing. We all got up and walked away in different directions and went about our day feeling a powerful shift had been made. Success.

The flash mob already made the news! Check out some more videos below:

Flash Mob Brings Fitness Moves to Washington Square Park

Sati LOVE flash mob video

As soon as I found some of my friends, we all started hugging and felt so proud of each other. Some people headed home, other people headed to Patricia’s dance class at Equinox, while a few of us went out to breakfast before our next workout! While I was very tempted to take dance class, I knew that my body would not appreciate me working out for over 4 hours! I chose breakfast instead! We went to a cute little restaurant called Caffe Reggio.

It was very old fashioned and pretty inside!

I enjoyed a delicious iced coffee and a piece of a cheese pastry (I forget the name!)

I also got the spinach and ricotta cheese omelet with whole wheat bread. Perfect breakfast!

My friends are down for the food blogging so I got to take pictures of everything on the table!

Prosciutto, Mozzarella & Fresh Basil Panini

CREPE REGGIO: buttered spinach and ricotta filling under melted european cheeses

The service was pretty awful but we did not mind too much because we needed some relaxation time! While we were at breakfast, a second flash mob happened in Union Square with Patricia’s dance class!

Love it!

Eventually we all headed over to the next Equinox for our 2 hour Advanced Sati Master class! Let me just say that it was the coolest thing ever to see the drummers and the camera crew all set up inside the fitness studio!

I seriously love being filmed while working out. I always work hard in Patricia’s class but the cameras are extra motivation to give it my all!  I felt like I was going to pass out after the first 10 minutes but the whole point was to get us out of our comfort zones and to practice not complaining. If we found ourselves complaining about something, we were instructed to have a sip of water. This is such a great idea because it will definitely make me more aware of my negative thoughts if I actually have to take action and drink water when complaining. I found myself drinking tons of water during the class, and not just because I was dehydrated. It really was so challenging but also amazing. Having live drummers instead of regular music also added so much to the class. Imagine being told to go all out for one minute while doing mountain climbers and confusion punching combinations. The drummers would start drumming super fast and get louder and louder which really helped keep our energy levels up. I loved them!! They may do more of our events and classes in the future!

Jacquie from The Sweetest Things also came to the class and loved it! I love recruiting blog friends from Twitter! So fun!

The entire day was so amazing and filled with joy and love. I am so happy that the flash mob was a success and can’t wait for the next one! Thank you for reading and have a wonderful weekend!

Related posts:

1. NYC Sati Love Flash Mob Video Debut!
2. Join the LOVE Mob!
3. Saturday Sangria and Sati

Happy summer! Today is definitely my favorite day of the year. I love hot weather and any excuse to drink cocktails outside during the day. I did just that on Saturday for brunch with Marina. We decided to try a restaurant in Astoria called Sandfords. She walks by it all of the time and told me that their menu looked amazing. We made a reservation which was definitely necessary because otherwise it would have been a thirty minute wait. We sat down about five minutes after arriving. We got a cute booth that was half inside and half outside. The brunch menu had so many delicious looking options that we both had a tough time deciding what to order! We both went with the prix-fix menu for $14.00.

The brunch included an alcoholic drink (and a free refill which I totally did not realize until we were leaving!)

It also came with coffee. I enjoyed champagne in one hand and coffee in the other.

I decided to go with the omelet after our server told us that there would be no extra charge for egg whites! This is very rare; at least in my neighborhood of Queens. We were also able to choose up to five toppings! Little things like that make me happy.

I ordered my omelet with broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, and feta cheese. It also came with delicious 7 grain bread and home fries. This seemed like a ton of food for just $14.00! Next time, I plan on trying the whole wheat pancakes with caramelized bananas, crushed pecans, cinnamon,  and caramel maple syrup. Yes please! Sanfords definitely had the best service out of every restaurant we’ve tried in Astoria. We never had to wait for more water or coffee refills. We definitely plan to eat there again soon!

A few other highlights of my weekend:

On Saturday night, I went to my cousin’s engagement party in New Jersey, drank amazing Sangria, and fell in love with his puppies.

I got to hang out with my whole family while enjoying delicious food. Below is my mom, her twin, and their older sister.

For Father’s Day, I took a little day trip to the Jersey Shore with my parents. My mom has a condo in Atlantic City-one more reason I love summer!

I had the best dessert of my life.

You might be wondering what is under the whipped cream, carob chips, chocolate syrup, and pecans?? Banana soft serve! I’ve actually been eating this dessert ever since I was a kid so I thought it was interesting when some bloggers thought they invented banana soft serve. I guess it is good to know I can make a similar dessert at home with my handy dandy Magic Bullet! Anyway, if you are ever in Ocean City, you must have dessert at Bashful Banana.

Good stuff!

How did you celebrate Father’s Day?

Are you a fan of summer? Why?

Now go head over to Dori’s Shiny Blog and donate to her marathon charity auction! You can support Girls on the Run Solemates and maybe even win a Core Fusion 10-pack!

Related posts:

1. Sangria in the Summer
2. Summer Spirit
3. Salsa, Sushi, and Sati Summer

Hello! How is your Saturday? Mine has been great so far! I woke up bright and early for BodySoulSati at Equinox! I am obsessed with this class so it is completely worth it for me to wake up at 7am on a weekend! In case you missed it, check out my review of the class on NBC New York!

After class, I headed to Astoria to meet Marina for brunch! I had plans to take a special intenSati class in Astoria later in the afternoon so we figured it would be a great opportunity for us to try a new brunch place! This time we went with Pomme Cafe & Brasserie.

Pomme Cafe, Astoria, NY [Photo: Harris Graber / Eater National Flickr Pool]

We both went with the prix fixe brunch menu so that we could have some cocktails with our omelettes! I enjoyed a lovely glass of champagne before my second workout!

I also enjoyed a cup of coffee to keep myself awake!

The best part of the brunch menu was the croissants served with a side of Nutella!! Amazing!! Our server was super friendly and kept refilling our basket. Dangerous but they served as the perfect appetizer and dessert.

For my main course, I went with the OMELETTE AU GRUYERE AND ZUCCHINI: served with brussel sprouts, home fries and toast.

I was told that gruyere is similar to swiss cheese so I substituted it for goat cheese. There are two foods that are not allowed to be anywhere near me- swiss cheese and olives. Luckily our server had absolutely no problem with substitutions. He even let us order our omelets with eggs whites for no extra charge.

The omelet was delicious and I loved that the potatoes were filled with grilled vegetables. The atmosphere was really nice and the service was the best we’ve experienced so far in Astoria. We definitely plan to go back there soon.

After brunch, I walked around for a while so that I could digest my food and drinks before intenSati! I may have gotten lost which worked out kind of well since I had an hour to spare. Thank god for my Droid GPS! Eventually I made it to Simply Fit Astoria, a fitness studio with classes like Zumba and Booty Camp. My friend Jolynn taught the first ever intenSati class there so of course I wanted to go support her! It was really fun and may be a great place for me to start teaching in the future!

What workouts have you done this weekend?

Don’t forget to enter my O.N.E Active Coconut Water Giveaway! I am choosing 3 winners on Monday! Have a great night!

Related posts:

1. Saturday Sangria and Sati
2. Mimosas at Noon
3. I Love Summer

Hello! Hope everyone had a nice weekend! I did not do much besides exercise and eat sushi. Some things never change! On Saturday, I woke up bright and early for a new class at Equinox called BodySoulSati. This class was recently created by Patricia Moreno, the founder of intenSati.

Class Description (source):

The BodySoulSati method is a holistic training program that invigorates the body and awakens the soul by infusing a fluid series of standing legwork with heart felt affirmations. 1lb weighted gloves are worn to tone the upper body and engage the core muscles leaving you feeling accomplished and inspired!

I decided on Saturday that I am in love with this class! It is a total body strength workout in which we do all kinds of lunges, squats, and other leg exercises while doing arm exercises while wearing the gloves. I am still so sore days later! I do so much intenSati that it felt nice to slow it down a little while getting an awesome strength workout. I loved that we ended the class with relaxing yoga stretches and a long meditation while laying on the floor. Stay tuned for a more detailed review on Thursday on the NBC Go Healthy NYC blog!

Since I spent an hour on the subway that morning travelling to the gym, I decided to stay for a second class. I was not ready to get back on that awful subway again! The next class, Zen Combat, was a much faster, high cardio workout. I immediately recognized the instructor, Violet Zaki, from a fitness DVD I recently reviewed called Fit in 5: Total Body Tone. Very cool! The class is a very high energy kickboxing and cardio workout that combines martial arts moves with strength moves. The class was pretty similar to intenSati but without the spoken affirmations. One of my favorite things about the class was the fast, trance music.  To me, music can make or break a class. Violet Zaki was an awesome instructor and really made sure everyone’s form was correct. She took the time to explain how we would use each punch or kick in real life. I would definitely take this class again!

I was starving after the two classes so I headed next door to Whole Foods for a giant salad.

Delicious as always! I headed home and passed out for 2 hours! Those classes kicked my butt! Since it was down- pouring when I woke up, I decided it would be the perfect night to order sushi, drink a beer, and watch a movie. I ordered myself a lovely meal from Chikurin. I started off with a salad and ginger dressing.

I was craving some type of tempura so I got a Spider Roll with brown rice. It contained fried soft shell crab, mayo tobiko and cucumber.

I was also craving some sort of protein so I got Beef Negimaki: beef wrapped around scallion. The sauce was delicious and the beef was so juicy.

Perfect rainy night dinner!

On Sunday, I woke up and headed back into the city for intenSati! Sunday intenSati has been amazing lately. Darbi adds in crazy plank and push up sequences at the end of class after we are already dying. I knew almost everyone in class which always makes it twice as fun.

I know…we are so cool.

Later that night, my roommate asked me to go eat sushi with her. I was not about to turn down sushi even though I had it the night before. It was my last chance to have rice and beer before Passover! I enjoyed every last sip of my last beer of the week!

We started off with some edamame.

Chikurin has an entire new menu full of special sushi rolls! It took us forever to decide which ones to try out. We ended up with three amazing rolls.

We tried an Alaska Special roll: salmon, avocado, cucumber with spicy kani and lettuce on top.

This was delicious! I loved the spicy kani on top of the roll.

Next we tried a New York roll: kani, cucumber, avocado inside with spicy tuna and tempura flake on top.

Heaven.

Finally, we went with our usual Eel Avocado roll.

This was definitely the perfect Pre-Passover meal. I already miss rice and beer. The good thing about Passover is that I always end up eating much healthier than usual. My refrigerator is stocked with protein and veggies! In my next post, I will show some of the meals I’ve been eating to avoid bread products. I just made an omelet to bring to work with me!

What is your favorite kind of sushi roll?

If you celebrate Passover, what is your favorite way to eat matzoh?

Don’t forget to enter my Betty Crocker Potato and Cookware Giveaway!

Related posts:

1. Sushi and Saki Triple Date!
2. Michael Season’s Winner, Wine, Run, and Sushi!
3. Sushi Coma!

Hello! It is 4:30am right now and I am half asleep and blogging.  I was planning on waking up at 5:00am for intenSati but happened to pop out of bed at 4:15am. I would have loved those extra 45 minutes of sleep but I just knew there was no way! A little frustrating but at least I can get some blogging done! I have a delicious espresso drink next to me so I am all good. Anyway, hope everyone had a nice weekend! I can sum up my Saturday and Sunday in three words: run, sushi, and alcohol.

On Saturday, I decided to go for a run in Flushing-Corona Park. The weather was perfect and I’ve been trying to get a lot of running in before my 5K in May! I ended up spending over an hour running and walking around the park because it was so relaxing and pretty!

I jogged about one mile to the park and ran another two miles around the track. It was really hard for me and my legs felt super heavy. I ended up walking the rest of the time because I did not want to overdo it. My Nike+ Ipod told me that I was running at a pace of 9:17 for the first mile. I don’t think it is very accurate because I usually run 10 minute miles. If it is correct, it probably explains why I could not run for very long! I have to remember to go slower if I want to last during my 5K!

Later that day, my roommate and I headed to Chikurin for a sushi feast! There is nothing like a cold beer after a run!

I started off with some salad with ginger dressing.

And some edamame.

We decided to try out the Sashimi Deluxe platter. I believe there was salmon, tuna, white fish, yellowtail, and…I’m not too sure what else. This stuff kind of freaks me out but I did love the tuna and salmon!

Much better…

We got a Spicy Tuna roll and an Eel Avocado roll. Much more enjoyable to me than the chunks of raw fish.

After sushi, I headed into the city and met Mari and her boy at the bar for his birthday. After walking around the Village for about an hour trying to find a good spot, we ended up at Fat Black Pussy Cat. Gotta love the name!

I enjoyed three Fat Black Pussy Cat drinks. These things are awesome!

Somehow I managed to wake up bright and early for intenSati on Sunday! I am so happy I went because Darbi’s class was amazing! There was so much energy in the room and I completely forgot how hungover I was once I started working out. I am heading to her class again in about a half hour!

My friend from class had a very smart idea for our lunch date. It involved sushi and a bottle of wine! I figured there really is no better way to cure a hangover than to drink a bottle of wine at 12:00 in the afternoon the next day! We ended up at Edo Sushi in Union Square.

I started with a Crunchy Spicy Tuna roll.

This was very good but my second roll was way better!! I got the “Deep Impact” roll.

Deep Impact: tuna, salmon and avocado roll topped with spicy crabmeat and caviar. They use real crabmeat there and the fish tasted very fresh. We hung out there for about two hours and were the only two people in the restaurant! After a bottle and an extra glass of wine, we stumbled home. No better way to spend a Sunday!

A few hours later, I managed to go on a 20 minute run with my roommate! We are serious about this race! I was feeling a little nauseous from all of the wine but felt much better after a Tower Diner omelet and waffle fries!

My roommate and I seriously live at Chikurin and the Tower Diner. So so good. Tonight we have another run planned since it is going to be 80 degrees out! Can’t wait! I am off to the gym now! Have a great day!

Time to announce the Michael Season’s Kettle Cooked Chip Winner!

The winner of the Michael Season’s chips, tote bag, t-shirt, and chip clip is…..

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

28
Timestamp: 2011-04-11 09:12:32 UTC

28- Melissa: “Cape Cod Salt & Vinger…now I want some….

Congrats Melissa! Please shoot me an email with your address! Thank you to everyone who entered!

Related posts:

1. Equinox Classes and Pre-Passover Sushi
2. Sushi and Saki Triple Date!
3. Michael’s Seasons Contest Winner!