Hi kids and pups!

First thing’s first — the Venus Week Giveaway Contest Winner!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

10

Timestamp: 2009-04-28 13:28:53 UTC

And the winner, lucky number 10 is…. Gillian from a creative blog I enjoy very much, One Gillian Reasons! Gillian, you will receive Always Infinity pads, total body exercise bands, Omega-3 Vitamins, Dark chocolate treat by Godiva, and Gourmet cinnamon almonds all packaged in an Envirosax reusable tote.

It was very interesting reading what you all want to do to make your Venus Week last all month. The most common responses were cutting back on refined sugar and getting more sleep — both FANTASTIC choices! I’d like to work on those myself. Congratulations, Gillian!

Let’s get back to Basics. And by that I mean Core Fusion Basic. That is where I went on Saturday.  I had already tried Core Fusion Sport, Physique 57 and Transfigure. I have yet to try The Body (going on Saturday!) and the Nalini Method.

But what I am most looking forward to now is Core Fusion Open.

That’s right. I am more interested in going back to the same place I have been twice. My experience on Saturday was probably one that Exhale would like all Basic level students to have. The kind that leaves you wanting more — and wanting harder.

I was happy to use a 10% off coupon that Exhale emailed me to thank me for attending my first (free) class last week. Buy the DVD kids, it is cheaper than a class yet it comes with a FREE class. That means you get a DVD and a class for around $13. If you plan on trying the studio it would be silly not to!

But I digress. There were maybe 7 of us in the class. The first thing I noticed was that many body types were represented. This made me happy. Also, there were a couple of much older women. During my two visits to Physique 57, I did not encounter either.

The teacher reminded me a lot of my friend Emily (both professional dancers). Her body was petite and insanely toned and her hair was a gorgeous mass of curls that weren’t very long but stood out as if they were.

She asked if anyone was new and I told her I was. She asked about any injuries and I told her about my knee (I have had patella femoral syndrome for years). She, like the instructor I had in Core Fusion Sport, told me she would help me with any exercised that might bother my knees and  advised me not to squat down as far when doing those. The class started as all these classes do with the leg/arm lifts.

And then, the plank. I knew this was coming. When I take Transfigure we always start with a plank. But I enjoyed the plank in Core Fusion basic much more. Why? It was short — just 45 seconds! Yes, I loved it. Yes, I know I need to hold the position for longer to challenge myself. Yes, I know I CAN hold it for longer. I also know that I can hold it for longer while alternating raising each arm off the floor. But at the time, I wasn’t thinking those things. I was thinking about how nice it was that the plank lasted for such a short amount of time.

We did some pushups, but not many, which I also liked. Then arms with weights. I decided to only take 3 lbs and not take 2 lbs. This is a big challenge for me, but based on my second class at Physique I felt I could do it.  We did LOTS of arm exercises. It was tough and challenging. I loved it.

We moved on to thighs which burned, but didn’t last nearly as long as the thighs section at Physique 57– and I was grateful for that. But — my thighs were SO sore from when I went to Physique two days earlier that the moves were even more challenging. We used eksusize balls here as well, but did not engage in any “thigh dancing.” The instructor was so sweet and told me she could tell I was really pushing myself and corrected me whenever I needed it. Pushups were interspersed throughout. And then we did butt, and when we did an eksusize that entailed keeping my right foot on the floor, knee slightly bent and left leg up behind me, my right leg was shaking so intensely that I simply could not do the moves! I am sure that I would have had more endurance for it if I hadn’t gone nuts at Physique a couple days before. But that is good, it means it is working!

Instead of going right to abs we did some twisting  moves on the floor that I was unfamiliar with. The purpose was to show us how to move our bodies while keeping our core in place. It was interesting but not exactly tough. Then we went on to abs, and while it was very challenging and effective, I have to say I preferred the abs section at Physique 57. At Core Fusion Basic, we spent a lot of time curled up (not against a wall) and that position for too long hurts my back. At the Physique 57 beginner class, there seemed to be a bit more variation in the abs moves.

The best part of Core Fusion is the relaxing at the end. I love the soothing music they use and I love stretching out with the strap. I also greatly prefer the atmosphere of Exhale to Physique 57, since Exhale is a spa with a beautiful locker room, free locks and a peaceful environment. I also prefer the classroom, which is much more spacious and has a gorgeous super high pointy ceiling with windows. The feeling in the room is airy and freeing.

I left Core Fusion Basic feeling so happy that I went — but thinking that this workout wasn’t nearly as challenging or fast paced as its Physique 57 Beginner counterpart. As I discussed this with a girl in the locker room, she informed me that the Open level Core Fusion classes are EXTREMELY fast paced, much like Physique. And then it hit me — Transfigure (the instructor comes from Exhale) must be exactly like Core Fusion Open. Transfigure is specifically stated to be for “Intermediate to Advanced fitness levels” — that’s it! I HAVE taken Core Fusion Open, and now I am SO excited to go back to Exhale to confirm this with certainty. I can’t wait!

The big difference between Core Fusion Basic and Physique 57 Beginner is that Core Fusion’s really IS a beginner class. It is designed to teach you the basics, while Physique 57 throws you right in to the nitty gritty. Both are good ways to acquaint students with the classes, and I now understand why Core Fusion offers so few Basic classes. They really are just a learning point to move on to Open.

So the next day, I went to Transfigure. We did the plank and held it for longer than I was able. We moved our arms off the mat during the plank. We did side planks. We did lots of tough moves that pushed me to my limits. We did variations of abs that didn’t kill my back, including some creative eksusizes that involved lying on the floor with our strap wrapped twice around the bar and holding it for support. I used 3 lb weights for the arms, which was harder than ever because my triceps were SO sore from Physique 57 and Core Fusion Basic — but I was able to do it. Thighs were at the bar and very tough. Butt was done on the floor, also very tough. We “thigh danced.” If this is what Core Fusion Open is, and I believe it is very similar, then I will know which of the two big players I prefer…

I will give my official word once I take the Open level class, but based on what I know I believe I would say I prefer Core Fusion to Physique 57. I like the studio better (although I haven’t visited their Upper East Side or Downtown locations). I like the atmosphere better — it is much more serene. I like the variations of people who take the class. I like the non-competitiveness of the class (Physique has a bit of a competitive air). I liked the instructors in both places, but I felt like I got much more personalized attention at Core Fusion. Core Fusion classes aren’t packed to capacity — there is room to move and breathe. The instructors at Core Fusion payed more attention to my knee injury.

Again, I need to take an official Open level class, but my experience thus far — two classes at Exhale, two at Physique and a bunch at my gym with an Exhale instructor all lead me to believe that I prefer Core Fusion. And, the location is more convenient for me.

 Tonight I have hour long spin – Rev Up For Summer. I am excited, but can’t help obsessing about how good regular Core Fusion would be for me. I have always had a tight lower back, despite 12 years of dance. I am not at all flexible. I am weak. My body hurts too much to run (more on that later this week). Plus, I love the way I feel in the days following a class. I feel overall stonger. And I’d get so toned! Need to think more…

Fusha West
On Sunday night, the boy and I walked around in the gorgeous weather trying to find a new place to eat. We stumbled upon Fusha. My apartment is a couple blocks from the East Side location, but the West Side location was new. The outside seating was packed with people, including a few the boy knew! We chose to sit inside since we didn’t want to wait.

The boy ordered Pad Thai and steamed broccoli. I ordered a Hawaiian Roll (salmon and pineapple wrapped with avocado and topped with spicy mayo). We ordered sweet potato fries to share. I also got the coolest drink, a Strawberry Fields. It included strawberry vodka and strawberry nectar and came in a long thin cup (not sure what it is called). It had some carbonation which I believe was champagne. It was light and delicious!

Eventually the Pad Thai and sweet potato fries come out. The Pad Thai, I might add, is made with fettuccini noodles. Strange. Also, not good. The boy did not like. He LOVES the Pad Thai from Amber, which is owned by the same people as Fusha. The sweet potato fries didn’t look like sweet potato fries — they looked like regular french fries! I confirmed with the person who brought them over (not our waitress) that they were, in fact, sweet potato. He said they were, and when I tasted it I realized he was right! Have you ever heard of yellow/white sweet potato fries? They were delicious and came with duck sauce to dip! The guy asked what we were waiting for and we told him steamed broccoli and a Hawaiian Roll.

I told the boy he didn’t have to wait for me since I knew he was very hungry. I didn’t plan on having many fries, but my Hawaiian roll didn’t come out yet and I was hungry too. I was surprised that the Pad Thai took less time than the Hawaiian Roll. I continued to eat the fries. I had a few tastes of Pad Thai. My food still didn’t come. My waitress had not come to our section in a long time, so I told another waitress that the boy’s food came out a long time ago but mine still didn’t. She said she would tell our waitress.

The boy finished his Pad Thai. I finished the fries. Still no broccoli, still no Hawaiian Roll. Finally, our waitress comes over and I tell her we are waiting for our food. She apologizes and says they are out of broccoli. An Asian restaurant is out of broccoli??  The boy didn’t want anything to replace it since he ALREADY FINISHED HIS MEAL. Had the waitress come and told him as soon as she learned that there was no broccoli, perhaps he would have selected another vegetable or side to order. He wasn’t given that opportunity.

As for my roll — my ENTREE — she apologized for that as well and assured us it would be comped and that it would come out shortly.

We waited and waited. Finally my roll came out. Keep in mind the ingredient list consisted of rice, salmon, pineapple and avocado. Not so difficult. When she brought it she told us that the roll had come out earlier, but another server took it. Uhhh… okay.

I ate it and I must say it was delicious. We were ready to leave and the boy got up to ask the waitress for the check, since we had no idea when or if she would approach our section again. He came back and we waited. And waited. The other waitress saw us and asked if we wanted our check. “YES,” we said. She brought our check immediately. A little later, our waitress came with our check as well and was surprised to see we had already gotten one. Ha.

The boy looked at it and saw that my “comped” Hawaiian Roll was still on there. Our waitress came by and we told her that she had said it would be comped. Suddenly her story changed. “Well, you see, you know, the thing is… we would have to pay for it. I would have to pay for it and I can’t do that.”

“Ummm.. okay. But you told us it would be comped.”

“Well, no, you see, we would have to pay for it in that case…”

“Okay, but then why did you tell us it would be comped?”

“Well, I asked my manager, and he said I would have to pay for it.”

So basically, the waitress told us my roll — which didn’t come out until well AFTER the boy finished eating his meal — would be comped without asking her manager first if she has the authority to do so. She asked him after she ALREADY TOLD US, and he said no.

“But we took off your broccoli! The broccoli’s not on the check!,” exclaimed the waitress as if she were doing us a huge favor by removing a charge for a food we didn’t eat. “Uhh.. well yeah,” the boy said. “That’s because you didn’t have it. Of course it wouldn’t be on the bill.”

She didn’t seem to get it. “Well, we took it off for you,” she said. The boy and I just looked at each other and decided to let it go.

Can you believe that they didn’t bring out my entree until after the boy finished his, they were out of broccoli but decided not to bother telling us in time to order something else, they offered to comp my entree because it came out so late but reneged on the offer, and then acted like they did us a favor by not charging us for the broccoli they didn’t have??

Let’s just say her tip was not the most generous.

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