What's in your gym bag?

Spring is officially here and I was motivated to do some cleaning. I use my gym bag daily and I thought it was time to get rid of unnecessary items, disinfect, and freshen up for the season. After getting rid of some junk and clutter, here are the bare essentials left in my gym bag.

Budweiser x Supreme Duffel Bag - A perfectly sized canvas gym bag. Enriqz hooked this up for my birthday and I couldn't be happier.  A Budweiser x Supreme duffel bag definitely turns some heads at the gym.

Nike Free 5.0 - Lightweight, comfortable, and the feel is as close as you can get to running barefoot.  For $85, it's a great deal.

iPod Shuffle - I'm useless at the gym without my music.  My favorite has to be the 2nd generation iPod shuffle.  The built-in clip is what makes this my #1 choice.

Garmin Forerunner 305 - a wireless heartrate monitor and GPS that tracks distance and pace indoors and outdoors. Enough said.

Waist pack - I always have a waist pack to keep my wallet, keys, watch, and wedding ring together.  I hate having to dig through my gym bag like a purse.

Gloves and jumper's knee strap - I hate calluses and I have jumper's knee.  It's an absolute must to have these in the bag.

Equinox membership card - If you enjoy working out, you have to try Equinox at least once in your life. Equinox is the best and the cleanest gym in the US. Hands down.

Katin USA for Apolis Activism Board Shorts

As I’m looking for a fresh pair of board shorts for the upcoming summer season, I came across this Katin USA for Apolis Activism board shorts. I’m going bananas after seeing this collaboration since this is a major double win for me. For one, I am a huge fan of Apolis Activism and their contemporary designs. Secondly, I’ve been a customer and a fan of Kanvas By Katin and their superior quality board shorts for as long as I can remember. I purchased my first ever pair of board shorts from the Katin surf shop off Pacific Coast Highway. Katin was always a stop for me and my childhood friends on our way to surf the Huntington Beach pier. This collaboration takes me back old school 1990’s style when all I ever worried about was getting out of school early enough to catch some waves before sunset. Those were the good ole days. These classic board shorts are now available at Context Clothing.

Wear a good tie. Every day.

There is nothing like a nice tie to complete your wardrobe for any occasion. I'm not required to wear a neck tie daily, so it's never been on top of my shopping list. Especially since a good quality tie can run me a pretty penny these days.  Now thanks to the the people over at The Tie Bar, I can enjoy an economical tie shopping experience without any buyer's remorse. Their selections of ties are endless. Solids, plaids, madras, skinnies, extra long, bow ties, ascots. You name it and they have it in stock. The best part about The Tie Bar is almost everything in their inventory is $15. This would be a great store to purchase neck ties in volume whether it be for work, dressing a wedding party, or stocking up for special events.  Check out The Tie Bar and you're guaranteed to "wear a good tie. Every day".

Lefties.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to the Lefties Showroom opening party this weekend. Lefties currently occupies an amazing showroom located at the Cooper Design Space in Los Angeles. Their roster includes lines such as DAT-TI, Daughters of the Revolution, Kettle Black, Jen's Pirate Booty, Hellz Bellz, and Kima Norway.  More importantly, the beautiful ladies of Lefties know how to throw and host an amazing party.  It was a successful opening filled with music, drinks, and great people.

Melissa Naguiat is 1/2 of the Lefties and also a great friend of ours.

Photo booths are so much fun!

My digs:
Shirt: American Apparel

Bottoms: APC New Standard

Belt: Jil Sander 

Shoes: Red Wing Classic Work Boot

A breath of fresh air

Every morning I shower, brush my teeth, put my clothes on, get coffee, and check my twitter. One of my favorite tweets as of late is of my cousin, @iamkrod. He recently moved to Corona Del Mar and has been taking some breathtaking pictures with his iPhone during his morning runs. I’ve always loved the beach ever since I can remember. The fresh air, sand, wind, and the water. I currently reside closer to Downtown Los Angeles and the beach isn't as accessible. As for my cousin, he is only a few steps away from the beach and I’ll continue to live my mornings vicariously through his amazing tweet photos. You should as well. Enjoy.

Face off

I'm in the market for a new car and I'm torn between staying luxury or going economical.  I thought about a Toyota Prius but I heard the car accelerates instead of braking, so I'll pass.  I've been wanting a wagon for as long as I can remember and I've narrowed down my choices between the BMW 3 series wagon and the Audi A4 Avant.  It's a toss up between these two cars at this point and I don't know what to do.  Both cars serve the same purpose.  Both cars are aesthetically appealing to me.  What should I do? Thoughts?

Home stretch

So we're on day ten of our no-carb diet program. With only four days to go, I must say it's getting harder and harder.  My carb craving is now at a Def Con 5.  I'm losing weight fast, so I know it's working. The biggest downside of the no-carb diet is having no energy in the late afternoons and how all meats and vegetables start to taste the same. Additionally, I've been experiencing some occasional dizzy spells when I go hard at the gym. Not sure if that's related to the diet or I'm simply overexerting myself. I'm hoping all this sacrifice pays off at the end.  No pain, no gain.

As we approach the home stretch, I was craving fruits and anything with starch this morning.  Since I can only dream of them at this point, I lurked on Cupcakes and Cashmere and found these amazing photos.  Yes, I know.  I'm such a masochist.

Photos via Cupcakes and Cashmere

Real people. Real reviews.

So I've been writing reviews on a website called Yelp for years now.  If you're not familiar with Yelp, it's a community of real people who write real testimonial reviews about their experiences in establishments such as restaurants, doctors, gyms, theme parks, night clubs, etc.  Ever since we've been introduced to Yelp, it has made decisions on where to go so much easier.  You might have to filter through a few iffy reviews from time to time but for the most part it's spot on. The community of reviewers active on Yelp is so huge that most establishments in any given area have very informative reviews.  We use it to plan date nights, decide on which movie theater to go to, read on who has the best local pizza, look for a 24 hour urgent care, and even plan locations to visit during our vacations.

So Yelp has a feature called ROTD "Review of the day" where your peers vote for what they feel is a legitimate and helpful review.  Well your man over here got the coveted ROTD for my review of the ARC - Arcadia Rock Climbing.  Click here to read more and check out the snapshot below.  Enjoy!

Carb-less life

So a few of us decided to go on a no carb diet for two weeks. I'm on day 3 and surviving. I enjoy steaks, eggs, hot dogs, chicken, fish, and vegetables but I really love carbs. As I'm starting to crave even more and more, I've noticed that it's the daily carbs I miss the most. Soy milk, bananas, wheat bread, brown rice, etc. It's funny how you miss the little things the minute someone takes it away from you. I'm staying strong for the team and still motivated during this induction phase. I'm shooting for under 10% this summer. And shoot ...... if Kelly Osbourne can do it, I'm sure we can too.

We shall meet again one day, my friend .....