Carla's Online Web Journal

I AM BAAAACK!!
Got home yesterday morning from Cali on the red eye. It kicked my butt but I feel more "normal" today!!

I loved the west coast! With the exception of the unseasonal cold weather it was so different. There was cool, modern architecture, beautiful plants and blooming flowers, sea and mountain views like nothing I have ever seen!! It was city and beach all rolled up into one with moutains surrounding the whole thing! Pasedena was quaint and pretty with clean streets and cute shops and surrounded by mountains! Venice was honky tonk and bohemian and artsy. Santa Monica was definately upscale beach and Beverly Hills???...well, I have never seen anything so rich in my life! Just the cars alone, there was nothing less expensive than an Infinity. Mostly, Jags, Bently's, BMW's, Benz, Land rovers, Hummers. RIDICULOUS!!!! Me and Nicki were sporting around in a beast of a TAURUS!! What a trip. We drove all up the coast and through Beverly Hills and Hollywood, Santa Monica and Venice.

We did our cardio the first day by walking form the Venice Pier to the Santa Monica Pier seeing all the sites along the way. We also did cardio in the Venice Canals neighborhood. It was beautiful in there! A pleasant surprise.

The Ironman was a great way to kick off the season. The venue was beautiful, accomodations great and expo small but a good warm up for the Arnold. It was super exciting that Dave Henry and Lee Preist were battling it out for first place. My boy, Dave looked unbelieveable; bigger, fuller and tighter than the Olympia (if that is even possible!). He was thrilled with his call out and placing. He and my girl, Nicki, are so happy with each other!! I am so happy for them!! I am not losing my best friend but gaining another one!!
I had a chance to visit with Stacy Kaufman from Protan. He got a banner with all sorts of pro bodybuilder pictures on it with me blown up real big. He is so cute!! We got things all set for the upcoming Arnold Expo!
I was able to see Sweet Mari Asp compete in her power meet on Sunday - she was incredible, besting herself at over 358 lbs. The girl that won benched 403lbs!! Just crazy..and they still look real pretty and feminine!! My boy Toney Freeman looked great. He was disappointed with his call out but he too, bested himself. In this sport, sometimes, that is all you can ask for!! Just stick to it Big T - you will make your point!!! I am sure he will be even tighter for the Arnold. Eventually they won't be able to deny him!

Poor Nicki got sick with an upper respiratory thing and we were pretty low key for the rest of the time we were in Cali. The highlight of my trip was training at the Gold's gym/Venice. What an awesome vibe. The garage doors are open and there are people outside lifting. At any given time Charles Glass and numerous others are in there, pros and trainers alike. It was real cool! We got a chance to talk with Mike Ergas, Tito Raymond, Will Harris. It was cool. And the FIREHOUSE is the best BB resturant I have ever seen. I wished we had one here. I would be at it all the time. There is no excuse not to eat "clean" in Venice! I got into the Max Muscle store but Dave wasn't there! I had a great visit with Colleen. She is a sweety from Australia! Great store Dave has too! I wished I had had a chance to get back there! next time, Dave!

So here I am, back in reality. It is supposed to snow today and be super cold this weekend!! "Home crap home"- that's what me and Nicki say! I guess I am still a bit spacy from the travel. Give me a few days and I will be back in full swing! Gotta go write my newsletter so it gets out before the end of the month!!
Take care and have a great, warm weekend!!
Ciao
C
PS: Big shout out to Matt and Melissa from Golds W.Side. Matt told me he looks forward to read my blog! Imagine, someone interested enough to read this tuff all the time!!!??? Thanks for the interest Matt and, Melissa, really, you gotta eat to lose fat hon!!!