Did someone say Gina Grant?

Three hours in the car with some of the best women I know and having every conversation you can think of. At one point we suggested we start thinking of topics to talk about on the way back because it seemed we covered everything in sight! Where to you ask?....a road trip to Austin, Tx to see Zumba celebrity Gina Grant! To most this seems silly but to a Zumba enthusiast like myself, the drive was all worth it. Three instructors bringing their students to a Masterclass they will never forget. Two hours of Gina Grant... who knows when that will happen again?! It was a class to remember and that we did! We laughed, we screamed and we danced our A$$es off!! No one went home unsatisfied. And here are the pics to prove it.... 

Two hours before the masterclass and the line already circled around the wall... The girls were super early!

VIP style for the Masterclass (still not sure what the VIP was for..lol)

 My Curves & Impact ladies posing before the big event...

A little surprise from Gina... Two Zumba celebrities in one class!

Gina Grant 2013!! 

If you didn't make it out, you have to the next time! Stay tuned for more masterclasses!

XOXO

MARISOL ❤👯

Tic-Toc-Tic-Toc....

At 3:30am I submitted 6 videos, 3 essay questions, 3 recommendation letters, resume, application, ACE Certification, CPR Certification and proof of convention registration to Zumba Fitness. It was a stressful couple of weeks as I debated if I should go through with the audition or not. When I thought about giving up, I thought of my Zumba Students who gave up their Zumba class time to allow me to record. I thought of the people involved as I prepared for this audition and there was no way I could give up. 

I want to thank all those who supported me. My Curves ladies, a big shout out to you for participating in my live classes. I'm sure I got on your nerves each time I asked if we could record a live class. To Yaneth, thank you for being my camera man and for having your brother work on my videos; not to mention the recommendation letter. To Dalila, thanks for introducing me to Zumba Fitness and for always supporting my ideas. The words in your recommendation letter made me smile :) You rock! Roci, thanks for staying until 1:30 in the morning to record my last two videos. I truly appreciate it( I know you were tired!) And to my friend Jennifer who took the time to write a recommendation letter for me even though she has mom duties !! To that special Jammer(you know who u are) who was kind enough to give me advice and guidance... Thank u! Thank u! THANK U!! Last but not least, I want to thank my newest Zumba students from Spring (Jennifer & Lara) who helped by recording my salsa routine... U guys rock! 

So what's next? Now I wait! I wait until June 28th to hear YES or NO! I'm not sure if I'm ready for either answer but I'm glad I did it! Once I get an answer, I will post the videos from the audition for you all to see. Say a little prayer for me, these next couple of weeks will be intense!

XOXO

MARIS☀L

March Madness

I know many of you don't do the social media thing so I hope my blog posts will keep you up to date with things going on in the Zumba world and other news.

Save the ta-tas:
On March 17th, a few of your classmates and my Zumba students (along with myself) danced at the Rocket's half time show with 300 Zumba enthusiasts. The game was 98% sold out and the crowd showed us lots of love. I have to admit, all my students did an amazing job, a few appeared on the big screen and some even got a text saying they were seen on tv...woohoo!!! Looks like I have some celebrities in class. Let's give these ladies a round of applause for having the courage to perform infront of so many people and being a part of such an awesome event.

Patiently waiting for practice to begin....

All ready for our half-time performance

All smiles after a great performance...MY STUDENTS ROCK!

   

Masterclass with Texas Zin Jammers:
   For the first time ever, all of our Texas Zin Jammers (Jammers are instructors who are auditioned by Zumba to teach other instructors choreography) came together to have a HUGE masterclass. The event was a huge turn out, there was not enough space so we had to move the party outside. I don't think they were expecting this big of a crowd but it goes to show how many people LOVE ZUMBA!! Check out the pics of a few of your fellow classmates who attended

Pendragon at their FIRST Zumba event

Izzy gettin' down

Get it ladies

I want to thank all my students for always being so supportive. I can't thank ya'll enough. Thank you for choosing me as your instructor.

What's happening?

I didn't keep my promise...I know, I'm sorry. I said I would blog at least once a week and four months later I'm finally writing my first post of 2013. This year started super busy but I'm not complaining. First things first..... I need to do my "thank you" shout outs!

I want to thank.......
 - The ladies at Impact for attending the Masala Bhangra Masterclass. Thank you so much for being a part of such a great event. I appreciate all the support. Secondly, thank you for being patient with us as we try to find the perfect spot for our Zumba classes. As you all know, our classes will resume this Wednesday, February 20th at 8:00pm. Until our new place is ready, we will have class at 11688 Barker Cypress Cypress, TX 77433. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so patient.

 - My Curves Crew: Thank you for your participation in our Sparkle, Glitter and Bling party. I loved watching all of you participate in making up your own dance. How about those choreo skills??? Looks like ya'll can help me come up with some moves. I know we haven't added it into our routine but I'm trying to use that song for toning so we will be using our toning sticks once again...can I get a woot! woot! I also want to thank the ladies who came out to the Masala Bhangra Masterclass. I hope you enjoyed the class as much as I did. You all know how obsessed I am with the Indian culture so it made me so happy to see ALL(impact and curves) my ladies at this event. Thanks again for all your wonderful support.

Choreographing their own dance while working the stilettos!



Upcoming events: For those of you who will be participating in the halftime performance at the Rockets game..ARE YOU READY?? Another great Zumba event, filled with  over 200 Zumba lovers supporting a great cause. Space is limited so if you haven't registered, be sure you do so soon. I will be having a Sunday practice. I haven't asked Dalila yet if we can use her facility on Sunday but I'm sure it won't be a problem. I'm trying to learn the dance so that I can teach it to ya'll. The event is only a few weeks away ...eek! No worries, I'm not ready either. Worse case scenario, we will all learn it the day of. If we mess up, we'll mess up together :)

 I know I'm constantly inviting ya'll to Zumba events but I try to keep my ladies motivated. I want ya'll to try new things and meet people who are on the same mission as you. I think it's important in life to try new things, at least you can say you tried it ONCE!

Bluebell Run: I announced a few weeks ago about the Bluebell Run in Brenham, Tx. This is a fun run that rewards us with ice cream at the end :) How great is that?  You may register for the 5k or 10k, it's your choice. If you would like to register, here is the link https://bluebellfunrun.com/index.html  We will meet at Memorial Park to practice running or walking. We haven't discussed times yet but if you're interested please email me and I will add you to my "Bluebell run" distribution list.

Okay, I think I covered all the upcoming events. I get invites every day to different master classes. I would post them all except at some point ya'll will disown me. Instead of making money from Zumba,  I spend it on attending trainings or master classes..Ay yay yay!!

Do you ever want to dress like a Zumba rock star? ....Then don't forget to use code (pinksol08) when you check out to receive 10% off your entire purchase. Log on to www.zumba.com to check out the latest styles. I just came from the LA Conference and there will be tons of new things coming out.

So that's the skinny on the latest events. New blogs coming soon. Stay tuned.

Quinoa Pizza Bites

Here is another recipe I tried. I found this on pinterest so I'm not going to take credit for it. However, I did make minor changes....

This is a great way to prep for the week. Make these bites on Sunday night and you have your meals prepared for the week.(or at least for a few days) I find that if I prepare my meals on Sunday it helps me not cheat. Quinoa has great benefits and what better way then to make little pizza bites out of it. :) The recipe calls for a "mini-cupcake pan" but I used the regular size. I wanted this to be a meal instead of a snack. However, this is a great snack to have if you're having a get together or if you're in the mood for a mini snack :)

If you guys can and don't mind, if you make any of the recipes I post, please posts pics or comments of your thoughts. Or if you did something different to tweak the recipe, please let me know! :)

Recipe:

Quinoa Pizza Bites

Makes ~14 (with a regular size cupcake pan)

• 2 cups cooked quinoa - (If you can try to find the "pre-washed" Quinoa to avoid having to spend the time cleaning it.)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup chopped onion (I used a green onion and chopped it extremely fine)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used vegetarian cheese- but the regular kind wont hurt you)
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped (I actually used crushed and it came out the same)
• 1 cup chopped pepperoni slices (~1/2 of a 7 oz bag) (I found turkey pepperoni slices and they were just as great. I chopped these extremely fine as well.)
• 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried crushed oregano
• pizza sauce for dipping

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Mix together all ingredients, except pizza sauce, in a medium mixing bowl.

3.  Distribute mixture into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup to the top (1 heaping Tbs each), and press down gently to compact. 

4.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Nutritional Information for 5 bites per My Fitness Pal: Calories - 175, Fat - 10g, Protein - 9g, Fiber - 2g, Calcium - 10mg, Carbs - 12g

Here is a pic of my quinoa pizza bites. .....

Dinner is served!

 

Eggwhites Omelet Muffin

Helloooo! I know, I've been slacking. I'm trying to post something once a week but my schedule is cray! However, I got something for ya'll this week. I recently tried making two things, eggwhites omelet muffins and quinoa pizza bites. I figured I'd find some recipes that are strictly on portion control(which is the key to dieting). Here is what I tried recently...

I cooked these recipes using a cupcake pan. It's a great portion size and you can have up to two. Yay!

Breakfast:
Eggwhite Omelet Muffins:
1 dozen eggs

1 bag of Jimmy Dean (the mix has potatoes, onions, bell peppers and sausage)
1 bag of vegetarian cheese

Cook the Jimmy Dean bag until sausage browns(I cooked mine till the veggies were soft)

In a separate bowl crack the eggs using only the egg whites. (in a previous post I demonstrated how to take the yoke out)- You can buy a bottle of egg whites if you prefer. I just think its pricey and by me manually doing this I know its all egg whites and not some random thing mixed with it....
In the bowl with the eggwhites, pour the Jimmy dean mix and vegetarian cheese. Mix all together.



Spray the cupcake pan with healthy heart canola oil or whatever type of oil you would like to use. I use this brand because its ZERO everything.
Next pour all the ingredients into the cupcake pan. Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes (or when the muffins start to fluff) at 350 degrees.

This is what I prefer to use

Tadaah! Here are the muffins :)

Zumba Sentao Event

Another successful event with the support of all my ladies. I want to thank all the ladies from Curves and Impact for participating so that we could "Sentao" VIP style. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I know I had a blast. Thanks to you guys, I was able to win a spot in the Houston Rockets half time show to support Breast Cancer Awareness. If you guys didn't know, my mom is a breast cancer survivor so I support this cause 100%. We did this event last year and it was a blast. We got the opportunity to meet amazing survivors and meet Zumba lovers. I hope that everyone has an opportunity to participate this year. Below is the link to be able to purchase your ticket.

Breast Cancer Awareness Zumba® Master Class & Pre Game Performance

~Due to overwhelming excitement of our past Zumba performances,

the Houston Rockets are proud to announce the FIRST of two Zumba Performances for this season.~

BOTH MASTERCLASS AND PERFORMANCE WILL TAKE PLACE ON SAME DAY

SUNDAY OCTOBER 14TH!

When: 

Master Class and Performance Rehearsal:  October 14^th, 2012 @ 8 am. AND GAME October 14^th, 2012 @ Game Performance 1pm with the Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs

Where:  Toyota Center; 1510 Polk Street Houston, TX 77002.

Cost: $20 per person. This is a special Zumba group discount. Family members and guests are also invited to attend and support you for the same reduced price. 

Performance: Zumba Fitness has been invited to perform on court for the pre-game show.  you are getting advanced notice to sign up first! (The number of participants for the performance is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis).  

Requirements: In order to participate, you must attend the master class and performance rehearsal. You must also send an email with your name and any other participants you have paid for to Ingrid Kessler at the below email address to receive the choreography instructions.

Choreography: will be sent within 48 hours of registration.

Attire: ANY party in Pink Zumbawear tops old or new and black workout pants. You may also purchase party in pink tops at www.zumba.com. If not available a PINK top with black workout pants will be ok.

For Zumba performance and choreography questions, CONTACT:

800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Zumba Jammer®  Ingrid Kessler;   ilkessler@peoplepc.com or (281) 660-9142.

TO ORDER:

CLICK ON LINK BELOW OR COPY AND PASTE TO YOUR BROWSER ...USE PROMO CODE  ZUMBA

	http://www.ticketingcentral.com/V2/Home.aspx?&&&I=AQAAAAAAAACBO9KQAQAAAADZ%2fv%2f%2f%2fwD%2f%2f%2f%2f%2fAAD%2f%2f%2f%2f%2f%2f%2f%2f%2f%2fw%3d%3d OR Call:  Josh Randall (Houston Rockets) @ (713) 758-7451 Email: joshr@rocketball.com Once you register Ingrid will email you the choreography and then we will practice in class. I will add it to our Zumba routine until the day of so that we are PERFECT!! Because the ladies I Zumba with are DA BOMB.COM :) Thanks again for all your hard work. For choosing to attend my classes and always being so supportive. I know you can be anywhere else but you chose to be with me. SO THANK YOU, THANK YOU....THANK YOU!!!