ROFL Cafe

I love great tasting healthy food. I love a great atmosphere. I like when I go somewhere and the people are friendly. If you add on business practices and philosophies that are socially conscious or good for our environment, it'll probably become one of my favorites. ROFL Cafe has all these things and they are located on cool and funky Melrose in Hollywood so you can visit them and get your stroll or shop on. I call that a great afternoon. Heck, it could also be a good night. :) Don't be surprised when they pronounce the name Rawful the letters ROFL actually stand for Republic of Laughter although I think it's totally fine to think of it as we all know it (Rolling On The Floor Laughing) because it conjures up a feeling of joy which is exactly what they intend for their guests.

Laughter Love Joy Happiness ROFL Cafe <3 td="td">

The Margherita pizza. It's what I ordered and thoroughly enjoyed. No leftovers for me!

The Pineapple and Pancetta pizza. That was Tony's choice. Also very good. 

Cheers to yummy food, fun people, and uplifting environments!

Hepa for Health

While hiking yesterday morning my girlfriend spoke to me about how bad her allergies are and how recently she had been affected to the point where one side of her face was totally inflamed. This may seem pretty extreme but as an L.A native, I can attest to what it is like living in an area where the air is less than pristine. As a matter of fact, as an L.A. native, the air quality never really bothered me. I was used to it. Until I wasn't...... : /

It seemed that the last straw was broken when I moved to a trendy cool new neighborhood with a roommate that had 2 cats. I also had 2 cats and even though I would vacuum daily, and keep the kitty station stocked and clean, the animals along with the extra dust and pollution from my cool new neighborhood (tons of cars and action going on in the street below) proved to be too much. I started to wake up with pain in my sinuses, stuffy head, feeling drowsy. The point I'm making is that whether your face swells up or not, you may be someone who could benefit from a HEPA filter. I bought one and it turned out to be the best investment ever! I recommended it to my girlfriend yesterday and would like to recommend it to you for the following reasons.

It removes 99.97% of the allergens in your air.
It is quiet, painless, and free of side effects. Can you say the same for allergy medication?
It can prevent allergy symptoms when used. Because, if the air is purified, your allergies won't flare up!
It is verrry cost effective when you factor in what allergy medications and related Doctor's visits could run you. Saving money ROCKS!
Lastly, anytime we can turn to natural instead of pharmaceutical solutions to our problems we are winning!

When I got my Homedics professional HEPA Air Cleaner, I paid around $100 for it. When I researched it for my girlfriend after our hike I found it for $30 less! So, if you are interested, I would recommend you checking it out and considering getting one for yourself. This is perfect for anyone living in situations where there are animals in the home, open windows cause natural pollutants or pollutants from city life like exhaust etc., allergies are present.

What it looks like in the box. I was excited when I got mine, I thought, will this really work? 

Now I know it does work! Here's my HEPA filter in my room  :)

 Cheers to great health! Naturally......

Shooting a Wendy's Commercial

Recently I was blessed with the opportunity to shoot a Wendy's Commercial. It was great to be on location for a night shoot with fun actors and a great crew. Things ran smoothly, it was a good time and the food on set was delicious! There were a couple of things that stood out for me on this shoot. One, was that I had gotten to speak quite extensively with the director and two, this was also my first food commercial experience so what goes into that was exciting and new for me. Sadly, I was unable to obtain a copy of the commercial but I do have a few photos of the experience to share. Hope you like them.

At the fitting before the shoot date.

Set shot.

Last photo #1 before wrap.

Last photo #2 before wrap of the commercial shoot. I really loved the hair and wardrobe I was given. 

I LOVE BEING ON SET!! Gratefully yours...... Tee

Danger Makeup, Skin Deep

Recently I was appalled and shocked to find out that a lot of the products I have purchased and fallen in love with are really bad for my skin, hair, and health. I have been educating myself a lot lately on health, fitness, and nutrition. The things I have been finding have been pretty interesting and at times, totally alarming. 

I had watched a documentary on Netflix called Chemerical which has to do with how our every day cleaning products and toiletries are sometimes highly damaging not just to our environment at large (from the waste they produce, pollutants, toxicity) but to our intimate environments (our homes and bodies.) I learned a lot. I especially took notice of a website that was mentioned briefly in the film that would allow us the every day consumer to look up our products to check their levels of toxicity. 

What happened after that had my head spinning. I threw away a lot of products and am still not done. I found it hard to believe that even though I saw they were highly toxic for me, some stuff, that had become my favorites and I had stock piled still were hard to throw away. But I did it. I had to reassure myself that I really don't need this stuff and I certainly can't justify a product's worth over my health! Can you believe the sunscreen I was putting on my face every day for the past 3- 4 years I found out actually causes my skin to be more sensitive!! There is also an ingredient that has cancer risks in it!! I was so angry.

Realizing the importance of sharing this information, I snapped photos of some of the products I threw away. I couldn't dig the smaller stuff out of the trash cause it was full of coffee grounds and other stuff at that point. Sorry, one of the pictures literally is trashy LOL :P

I just want for everyone out there to know that you have the right to choose what is important to you. You can choose non toxic options. You can choose to spend your money on things that will give you what you want with no surprises. The fact that this information is not given to us infuriated me and I wanted to share it. Man or woman, it doesn't matter. This site also has men's products along with sunscreen, deodorants, cleansers, etc. If you would like to look up your products you can do so here http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/.

Ideally, everything that would be available to us would be with our greatest good in mind. Until that happens at least you can see for yourself and decide from there. 

With love, and the best health wishes. Always....

Filming for Ford in Seattle

A lot of people will say that being an Actor is tough. The rejection, the uncertainty, the constant chasing for affection... do they like me?? Will I get chosen?? Blah....

In life we all have our paths to choose and when it comes to me and Acting, I can only say that I love it. I love the creativity, fun, and "uncertainty" of it all. I get to play. I get to be. I get to do. In my acting career I have been blessed with quite a few opportunities. Some may be judged as bigger or better than others, some less or more important. Each time I have been able to act, be, do, play I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I am always grateful to get to do my thing. 

This time, however was one of the best so far.....

I had gotten hired for a Ford commercial and this commercial required I travel to Seattle, Washington. So not only did I get to experience the professional joy of being on a shoot, I got to experience the personal joy of travel. The entire experience was magical. I was so excited I barely slept the entire time I was out there! Seattle was beautiful and every person I got to work with was fun and cool. Some of the people I met I consider life long friends. Below, I have included a some pictures and if you would like to see the final product, please go to http://youtu.be/OCc58TfsYyk

Airport chillin'... waiting to board.

Yeah! It's go time. Alaska Airlines was great.

First views on way to hotel

My room! Modern decor, bright colors, and a fur throw! I'm home. ;)

Did I mention the views!! I loved looking out my hotel room window. This is view 1.

View 2 from hotel room window... I love that the cloud looks like a heart.

View 3. Every time I came in or out of the room i made sure to appreciate the views. <3

Stoked! Now time to head out to eat with the group.

So lovely

Fellow actor and now my friend Sha-hid.

The group shot :D

I had to take another solo.. ;)

Lovely views, can you believe by this time it's almost 10 at night?

I was marveling at the fact the sun hadn't gone down yet...

Dinner was so good! We had to have seafood. I tried the freshest oysters EVER!

Then before the sun, I had to report to set! Yummy catered breakfast and wardrobe. Yes please!

In the wardrobe trailer. I didn't keep the glasses for the shoot because my "boyfriend" wore glasses. 

So much art. These trees had knitted sweaters! How cool!

Live music was a joy.

Art was everywhere. Loved it.

Yay it was my turn to shoot. Here's a live set shot.

Inside our car...

Then before you know it, it was time to leave. Bright and early our chariot awaited us and took us to the airport.

Peace from the plane!

Thanks for coming with me to Seattle, Washington. I hope you liked the lovely views. It was a real joy to experience this. I am looking forward to more of the same. If you are an Actor, shoot if you are a person, we can all look to the difficult things but I encourage you to look to the light. The best awaits us there no matter what industry we happen to work in. Cheers to the best life has to offer us.

30 Days are UP! I've Arrived at Greatness.

Friends, I am happy to say that I have completed my 30 Days to Greatness fitness challenge. Yesterday and today I continued to follow the P90X lean program. Yesterday was Core Synergistics and today was Kenpo. This is the first time in my adult life that I have been active every day for 30 days in a row and I must say it has been a wonderful, fulfilling journey in which I have learned a lot. I have absolutely cultivated this healthy habit into my life and am looking forward to continuing a fit and healthy lifestyle. Here is what I have discovered so far on this journey...

Some benefits:
Boosted confidence and esteem
Relief from back pain / knots
Increased physical strength
Increased mental strength
Freedom from really painful cramps and fatigue during my period.

The joy of keeping my promise to myself.

The realization of how powerful I am and can be.
*There have been many things to celebrate, this is just some of the list.

Why am I writing this? Because I'm a person just like you:
I owned the P90X DVDs for a couple of years and it wasn't until now that I started using them.
I was previously a member of Bally's and then LA Fitness and like many people would pay for membership a lot more than I would use it.
I believed I didn't have enough time to work out.
I wondered why I would start a fitness regimen totally jazzed and then fizzle out one to two weeks after making a commitment.
I started to believe I would need a personal trainer to change my pattern.
*I think we can all relate to this. But now those days are over. I'm here to tell you if I can do it, you can too.

What changed?
1. DESIRE. For once in my life my desire to cultivate this healthy habit for the rest of my life outweighed any of the previous excuses that used to stand in my way.
2. I also went about it differently. Instead of wondering if I could do it or would do it this time, I made the decision that it had already been done. When you think of yourself as someone fit and healthy, you start acting like it. This helped me keep my promise to myself, not sabotage myself with food, and engage in my workouts with vigor and the knowing I was coming back tomorrow. You know, the marathon vs. the sprint mentality.

Friends, I will continue to post up about fitness, health, and nutrition. My new goal is to continue the P90X Lean Program for a total of 90 Days and then, purchase another workout like the Insanity or Zumba programs. If you have missed my daily posts while on this journey, click below and remember that subscribing and commenting is love. I write about all kinds of goodness on this blog and I'd love for you to be a part of it. Cheers to living our best life! xo

Day's 28 & 29 of 30 Days to Greatness

Day 27 of 30 Days to Greatness

30 Days to Greatness #26

30 Days to Greatness, Day 25.

30 Days to Greatness, Day 24

30 Days to Greatness, 22 and 23

30 Days to Greatness. Days 20 & 21. Let's go!!!

30 Days to Greatness. Day 19, Hitting a Wall...

30 Days to Greatness, Days 17 & 18!

30 Days to Greatness, #16

30 Days to Greatness. I'm Halfway There at Day 15!!!!

30 Days to Greatness Day 12

30 Days to Greatness, Day 11

30 Days to Greatness Day 10

30 Days to Greatness, # 9

30 Days to Greatness, THIS is Day 8.

30 Days to Greatness Day 6

30 Days to Greatness, Day 5

30 Days to Greatness, # 4

30 Days to Greatness, Day 3

30 Days to Greatness, Day 2

30 Days to Greatness

Day's 28 & 29 of 30 Days to Greatness

Hi friends, it is already my 29th day of this challenge. I can tell you that I feel great. I have noticed all kinds of changes and am happy to report I am having the best period in a long time. I usually suffer from bad cramps and fatigue but none of that has happened this month. I am hoping that is due to my new fit lifestyle. I was supposed to change up my workout after the third week and didn't realize it so I am now changing up my workout after my 4th week. I am still following the P90X lean plan and have made the modifications they have specified. Here are today's stats.....

Today's Workout:
P90X Yoga X as directed by their lean plan.

Today's Nutrition:
Breakfast - An egg scramble with tomato, onion, spinach, and an English muffin. 3 cups of coffee.
Lunch post workout - leftover wheat pasta with tomato sauce, tomato, onion, and portobello mushrooms with a garlic toast. Low sodium V8 to drink
Water all day.

Yesterday (day 27) was my rest day but I still enjoyed a wonderfully active time. Myself and Tony went to Descanso Gardens and enjoyed nature by way of plants, flowers, trees, insects, Koi, Turtles, and more. We took photos and had great conversation. We both have pedometer apps on our phones but I was lower than usual on my battery and taking photos with my phone so I asked him (a little late in our stay) to track our progress with the pedometer. Yesterday's outing was approximately 2 miles of walking and a lot of fun. :)

Tip:
1. Don't have a gym membership or workout DVD? Get out and WALK. This is free and can start low impact as you warm up if you have not been doing much activity. This is also very good for your mood as it will get your blood pumping and your mind out and into nature and the world at large. Track your progress with a Pedometer App. I started with this one and now I use this one.
2. Places to walk:
Your neighborhood.
The park.
The mall.
The beach.
To a nearby errand that needs to get done like the store, post office, video rental, dry cleaners, etc.

The best things in life are free! So get out there and enjoy what's waiting for you. You are worth it. your mind and body will thank you for it.

<3