Zion Half Marathon Recap

July 31, 2015

July has been full of celebration! Here is a second birthday post dedicated to my lovely sister Vivian, who ran the Zion Half Marathon with me back in March.

I’m sad we’re so far away but I know the distance doesn’t change a thing! Whether we’re the honey trio in DC or just drinking wine and watching Somm at the Little Bungalow it’s always the same between us. I appreciate all you’ve done for me and love that we live for the same eat, run, eat, repeat lifestyle.

I wish we could be together to celebrate another great year, but I hope you enjoy these memories from Zion instead. I can’t wait for our next adventure, I love you!

Love you!!

Yelp LA Does Vegas

July 18, 2015

It’s been difficult adjusting to the normal lifestyle post Yelp LA Does Vegas. One minute you’re being fed decadent five-course meals at 5 star restaurants and the next you’re heating up frozen dino chicken nuggets. Life is tough right now.

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Just over a week ago I was enjoying the elite world in Las Vegas courtesy of

Yelp LA

and

ARIA

Hotel and Casino, and I got to bring my friend Young. Out of 2,500 applicants only 15 members from the Yelp community were hand selected to experience a jam-packed itinerary of Yelp mingling, fine dining and booze guzzling. This wasn’t your typical Vegas schedule, this was a classy affair.. for the most part ;)

Day 1 started at 10AM sharp with a

Bolt Bus

ride to ARIA. After checking in we had some time to relax in our rooms before a private Q&A session with the cast of Cirque du Soleil’s

Zarkana

cast. Young and I were so enamored with the bottle of champagne, box of macaroons, automatic curtains, and additional box of chocolates that we missed it :( We did however, make it in time for the actual Zarkana showing. I had only previously seen O, which I think I liked better, but was still blown away by the music and talent that night. When the show ended I was ready to feast and we made our way to

Julian Serrano

. You can read my full review on Yelp. We ended the night at

Vice Versa

Vdara

and enjoyed a drink before Young and I left for XS.

Day 2 started with brunch at

BARDOT

. You’ll definitely want to check out my Yelp review because my post would be twice as long if I were to repeat that dining experience. All you need to know if that it was worth every calorie and you need to go! I had a few moments of regret after brunch since pool time was scheduled right after, but YOLO. We had a sweet cabana at the ARIA pool and also got entry and a drink ticket to ARIA’s day club

LIQUID

. I’d only been to one other day club and wasn’t a huge fan, but I had a blast despite some warnings people gave me. Donut floaties for the win! After the pool there was a moment of panic as my friends and I thought we had all of our phones and wallets stolen from the cabana, but it turned out that our other (newly made) friends had taken them for our safety. Thanks girls!! <3

We sadly missed the mixology lesson because we spent some time trying to find our things but made it just in time for dinner at

Sage

. Another amazing and delicious experience followed by a group photo and a limo bus ride to Hakkasan where our bottle service awaited.

Day 3 was a sad day because it was pretty much waking up, packing and checking out. The bus ride back to LA was a quiet one, though I’m not sure if it was out of sadness, lack of sleep, hangover or all three. It was a bittersweet moment as people left one by one. It was sad for the weekend to be over but it was also an incredible experience and I am so grateful for the amazing new friendships I formed from it. So whether Yelp selects us for another trip or not, we should definitely create our own annual reunion… SYOY! :)

Exploring Spring: Rocksbox Wedding

June 21, 2015

Yesterday was my cousin Frank’s wedding at the Bel Air Bay Club in the Pacific Palisades. My running has taken me past this spot many times but this was my first time at the actual venue and it was beautiful. It was the perfect place to celebrate with him and his (now) wife Lauren on their special day, and the sunset was to die for. It's such a wonderful time when you get to reunite with your extended family, and the open bar never hurts either ;) It also helped that I had some sweet bling to rock thanks to Rocksbox!

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As I mentioned in the last post, I was recently invited to join the Rocksbox influencer community! Rocksbox is a membership-based jewelry styling service. As a Shine Insider member you pay a flat rate of only $19 per month to get access to a personalized rotating closet of designer jewelry, sent in sets of three at a time.

A few things to know:

Rocksbox Sets are curated for you based on your style profile
You can keep and wear your Rocksbox pieces for as long as you like
You can return your set anytime, as often as you like, and they’ll send out a new set of three right away
If you love a piece, you can keep it when you return the box and you’ll be billed at the Insiders’ Price shown on the packing list
For more info about the perks of being a Shine Insider, check out their FAQs

If you’re like me and horrible at accessorizing your outfits, this is a really awesome way to solve that. I’m really excited to be an #RBItGirl and want to give you all the chance to give it a try too. If you use my promo code, elleluxoxo you’ll get the first month free to try out their services. What do you have to lose? If you have any questions don’t hesitate to connect!