Friday, October 26, 2007

Bellydancing and Fitness


Such a beautiful way to celebrate the female body, Bellydance! In speaking with Joharah, owner of BellyUp bellydance studio in Bronte, and exploring her website, I have found that this sensual dance is really an expression of female creativity and sexiness, wonderful! Curves are appreciated, even necessary for this exotic dance, and you move your body in a way that is so new yet so basic.

I recently published an article in a local magazine called "For Her", which is distributed through the Halton Region. It's a quick little blurb about lower body training and a note about personal training. Imagine my pleasure to see Joharah's lovely picture on the opposite page along with her article about bellydance and beautiful bodies. Talk about cross-training! Keep your eyes peeled for this magazine found at doctor's offices, aestheticians & hair salons through the Oakville and Mississauga area to check out both articles.

Please join us on Friday January 21st, 2008 for a Goddess Workshop at BellyUp studio in Bronte. We'll be there from 7-9pm, girlfriends are welcome. It's a girl's night out, everyone is invited! Register with me, Sarah, at sarah@oakvillefitness.com. Only $45 for our workshop, a beverage and a bite to eat, too.

Marrying Friends and Cooking: Paradiso

Who knew that cooking with friends would be such a pleasure? Paradiso Restaurant in Oakville hosted a wonderful cooking class to teach us how to prepare the "Signature Dishes" of Paradiso. While preparing our cornmeal pizza crust, chopping our tomatoes and pureeing our pesto, my group of friends (who are also clients) and I had a laugh and got to know each other.

We arrived early to check out the scene and make friends with our waiter, Richard, who was super! Sharing our stories over a glass of wine was relaxing, it was so nice to unwind and be social. As everyone arrived, we chose our seats and Chef Franco gave us our aprons and we headed into the kitchen. The first lesson of the day was to get in there and feel the food, work with it, enjoy it. Press the pizza crust, don't be shy! "My girls" and I got to know each other a little bit more, we shared lots of laughs and told a couple of stories. We attracted a fair bit of attention (What? There's nothing wrong with that).

I was familiar with our counter-top, stainless steel, the food processor ( I had bought a new one a couple of weeks earlier), the knives, although we did learn a new way to hold it. But I was there to step out of my element, ADD that olive oil, work over the open flame, which isn't the most natural thing for me. I did it, I even volunteered. The real test, though, came after our wonderful meal. The shrimp bisques was amazing, our pizza was very tasty, the Moroccan chicken was excellent...and onto the Creme Brulee. You do know how that's prepared? With a BLOWTORCH! Anyone who knows me has know that I don't do barbeques, I like the taste, but that cylinder of gas freaks me out. But I jumped right in there with Chef Franco to caramelize the double chocolate (of course, my favorite), the caramel and the tiramisu Creme Brulees. I'm not too bad with a blowtorch...My friends were there to give me some courage, the Chef acted like he'd never heard of such a thing, so on I went, not a problem.

Great conversations, stories, laughs with friends who now know each other and who know a different side of me (their trainer). Thank you so much, ladies, that was fun! We will do it again on Thursday January 17th, 2008 and Chef Franco has designed a lovely "Healthy Choices" menu for us that sounds delicious, of course. Spaces are very limited, so please register with Anita@paradisorestaurant.com

Cheers!

Sarah