Carla's Online Web Journal
Hey all!! Happy HUMP Day!
I am back from Vegas...still feeling the effects of the hard work and Sin City!! Exhaustion would be the word!! I am not sure where to start with the whole Olympia experience! I think it was more exciting than actually competing in my pro debut!!
I got in on Wed before the show after almost missing my 6 am flight!!! I slept through the alarm and if is wasn't for my mom calling to see if I was on my way...I never would have got there!!! I made record time thanks to my mom's Mario Andretti driving and jumped on the plane hoping that I hadn't forgotten anything especially Big Bill Wilmore's food!!!
Upon arrival to Vegas it was a beautiful sunny , hot dry day and I jumped into my rental..an adorable PT Cruiser convertible!! Boy was that fun ride..it was all retro inside and so easy to put the top down. I didn't care if I was melting as I drove around all day cause I was thinking that it was only a matter of time before I will be complaining about the cold nasty New England weather!
I got to the host hotel and Bill had already checked in. We were not able to get a fridg in the room (which sucks!) but I immediately started feeding the machine!! The first 2 days were getting things organized for Protan and feeding Bill, greeting friends and running errands. I was able to get a good work out in on Thursday with Q from Lana's thread and hung out with he and Nida for quite a bit that day! Stacy Kaufman from Protan had also arrived and we met regularly to get things in order for our work with the athletes.
Mary Hobbs was an excellant addition to the Protan team as she was in charge of spray tanning the athletes that had signed up. This was a complimentary service from Protan for these elite athletes. Mary worked her tail off!!! Gustavo and Gunter are big boys!!!!
The press conference was held on Thursday...it was a bit long for the athletes to have to sit up there and answer questions but it was pretty exciting. I was so excited for Colette and Dena (rookies) that I was almost bursting. It realy struck me overall the actual respect and camaraderie between the athletes. The hosts; Dan Solomon and Bob Chick, were trying to get them to talk trash to each other but it was really all done in jest and you could see that the athletes really seemed to respect each other. It was cool! The Meet the Olympians was held that night and was totally packed!! It was fun to visit with the fans and people who had come in that day as well as visit with the athletes! Ronnie and Jay had lines sooo long it was crazy!
Thursday night I was up late painting Toney Freeman who looked incredible too!!! He has such a beautiful physique and is just he nicest guy. Jay Hammet and Kelly his wife were with him...again I wished I had had more time to visit with them!!!!
Friday was a big work day as we had to be at the expo early to get ready for womens' prejudge at 11 am. I made sure Bill had all his food and showed him how to heat it up on the Foreman and took off in the PT cruiser!!
The expo was definately twice the size maybe more of the one last year and real busy. It looked more like the Arnold expo this year! Working with the women backstage was just awesome...I was so inspired. There were Figure, Fitness and BB women. It seemed easy compared to our big national level shows as there were only 20 something women in each class verses 150!! It was real nice to be able to give them individual attention and really take good care of them. It was just unbelievable that we were there!! We have really progressed through this little job into making it a big deal thanks to Stacy!! The women really seemed to appreciate our help and TLC!! Hopefully that will help get us back next year!!
Friday night had us backstage at the Orleans Arena with the men's prejudge and then womens finals! This was just awe inspriring being there with the men.
The entire time Andy and Mike from Stronghold Ministreis were there to pray with the athletes and help us out!! They are the absolute best. I cannot thank them enough, especially Andy for watching over me! They are true angels and I am blessed that God has brought them to me! The criteria for the comparisions was changed and it was very exciting. They never called out more than 4 guys and always in numerical order so you never really knew who was in first or second. You had an idea of the top 4 and then next group but never sure of the exact order. It also made it harder for the athletes as they were on stage working harder and longer. They were beat and needed some attention off stage when their group was done. It was pretty cool that they kept coming right to us for advice and help. It seemd they were comfortable and really trusted us and that was also very cooooool!!!
They women's finals ended up something like this: Figure: Jenny Lynn, Amber Litteljohn, Monica Brant, top 3. Fitness: Adela Garcia, Kim Klien, Jenny Hendershot. BB: Iris Kyle, Dayana Cadeau, Annie Riveccio, Bonnie Priest, Lisa Aukland, Betty Pariso. It was real exciting!!
So Saturday found me in the expo most of the day. I had gotten Bill's food ready again for the day and cooked up or threw out the remaining steak. He hadn't gotten the call outs he would have liked but he looked unbelievable and definately bested himself. Working with Hany again was cool. He and I seem to have a pretty good system now. I so look forward to working with him again next year!!!! Hopefully we can have more clients together.
The expo was packed and many people came up to the booth to visit me; the Lana Familia was all in the house; Sage, Jax, AJ, Doc, Beth, Rick, Lisa, and sooo many more! I didn't get to visit with Luke Wood to much but he was working. (When I got home there were 2 dozen roses waiting for me from him for helping him out in Atlantic City! What a sweetheart.) We sold pretty much everything which was key!!! I was supposed to shoot with Steve Wennerstrom but I missed his call due to the noise in there!! I was disappointed about that. After the expo it was off to the Arena for the finals.
Once again...the excitement was in the air. Taking care of the pros is a really different vibe. They are definately more prepared. Not many had color issues which was a treat. It gave us the opportunity to really take care of everyone. Ronnie wasn't around the pump up area for the night show. He had his own entourage with him. Talk about exciting...Gooness!! Not for nothing..I rewspect ALL the athletes but Jay really was on and I think his win was well deserved. It was crazy excitement when he was called as first! So it went like this: Jay Cutler, Ronnie Coleman, Vic Martinez, Dexter Jackson, Melvin Anthony, Gustavo Badell. All the guys seemed to be pretty on this year. Toney cam in 7th which was totally awesome for his Olympia debut!! He looked incredible. The biggest dissappointment of my night was that Dave Henry did not make the top 15. This is pretty unbeleivable since he brought his best package yet and was totally on!! He has had awesome placings all year and definately deserved better. Big Bill didn't finish in the top 15. He was dissagpppointed but he looked unbelievable and was on stage with the best in the WORLD!!! It's hard to go from winning and being in the top 2 for years to middle or bottom of the pack...Iknow..but we are pros and have to start form the beginning. Unless you are Phil Heath..not many of us can just jump up there and start winning right away. WE all need to have an open mind and realistic mindset now!! By Sunday though big Bill was laughing and joking and jovial as usual! He is a true champion and professional, not to mention an outstanding solid man! I love this guy...he is an awesome and loyal friend!!
OK...so on to the party...the lines for food were so damn long I skipped eating (why not, I didn't eat that weekend anyway cause of no time)and just got ready to go to Lana's party at MIxx. We got there and I have to say I was a bit cranky at first (hungry, tired) but I snapped out of it when I saw all the Mayhem peeps. It was awesome hanging out with everyone! There weren't many industry peeps there as they were at their own parties. That kinda sucked but our group was so much fun that it didn't really matter. We moved onto the Empire where we thought we would have seen everyone else. Big Ron and Alti, Art and his girl, Chris Cormier and his friend were all there. Hany joined the group too. It was a fun time. Sunday was time to crash, get a late check out, pack up the food supplies from Bill;'s room and do a photo shoot!
Yes...I dragged my tired butt out of bed to do a Dessert shoot with Dan Rey. Mary Hobbs came with us and met Paco Gutierrez out there too for a shoot! I was tired but I needed to take advantage of beign in shape and being in the dessert. The pics are awesome and I am now sooo glad I went! Sunday night was low key. I wanted to hook up with Dave and Nicki but they were doing family stuff and I was so tired I just hit the bed!
Monday...it was cardio, pack and out!!!
My Olympia experience was off the chain...the only complaint is that I didn't get to visit with people like I would have liked!!
I will have my web guy post pics as soon as I can!!
Much love
C
Hey all!! Happy HUMP Day!
I am back from Vegas...still feeling the effects of the hard work and Sin City!! Exhaustion would be the word!! I am not sure where to start with the whole Olympia experience! I think it was more exciting than actually competing in my pro debut!!
I got in on Wed before the show after almost missing my 6 am flight!!! I slept through the alarm and if is wasn't for my mom calling to see if I was on my way...I never would have got there!!! I made record time thanks to my mom's Mario Andretti driving and jumped on the plane hoping that I hadn't forgotten anything especially Big Bill Wilmore's food!!!
Upon arrival to Vegas it was a beautiful sunny , hot dry day and I jumped into my rental..an adorable PT Cruiser convertible!! Boy was that fun ride..it was all retro inside and so easy to put the top down. I didn't care if I was melting as I drove around all day cause I was thinking that it was only a matter of time before I will be complaining about the cold nasty New England weather!
I got to the host hotel and Bill had already checked in. We were not able to get a fridg in the room (which sucks!) but I immediately started feeding the machine!! The first 2 days were getting things organized for Protan and feeding Bill, greeting friends and running errands. I was able to get a good work out in on Thursday with Q from Lana's thread and hung out with he and Nida for quite a bit that day! Stacy Kaufman from Protan had also arrived and we met regularly to get things in order for our work with the athletes.
Mary Hobbs was an excellant addition to the Protan team as she was in charge of spray tanning the athletes that had signed up. This was a complimentary service from Protan for these elite athletes. Mary worked her tail off!!! Gustavo and Gunter are big boys!!!!
The press conference was held on Thursday...it was a bit long for the athletes to have to sit up there and answer questions but it was pretty exciting. I was so excited for Colette and Dena (rookies) that I was almost bursting. It realy struck me overall the actual respect and camaraderie between the athletes. The hosts; Dan Solomon and Bob Chick, were trying to get them to talk trash to each other but it was really all done in jest and you could see that the athletes really seemed to respect each other. It was cool! The Meet the Olympians was held that night and was totally packed!! It was fun to visit with the fans and people who had come in that day as well as visit with the athletes! Ronnie and Jay had lines sooo long it was crazy!
Thursday night I was up late painting Toney Freeman who looked incredible too!!! He has such a beautiful physique and is just he nicest guy. Jay Hammet and Kelly his wife were with him...again I wished I had had more time to visit with them!!!!
Friday was a big work day as we had to be at the expo early to get ready for womens' prejudge at 11 am. I made sure Bill had all his food and showed him how to heat it up on the Foreman and took off in the PT cruiser!!
The expo was definately twice the size maybe more of the one last year and real busy. It looked more like the Arnold expo this year! Working with the women backstage was just awesome...I was so inspired. There were Figure, Fitness and BB women. It seemed easy compared to our big national level shows as there were only 20 something women in each class verses 150!! It was real nice to be able to give them individual attention and really take good care of them. It was just unbelievable that we were there!! We have really progressed through this little job into making it a big deal thanks to Stacy!! The women really seemed to appreciate our help and TLC!! Hopefully that will help get us back next year!!
Friday night had us backstage at the Orleans Arena with the men's prejudge and then womens finals! This was just awe inspriring being there with the men.
The entire time Andy and Mike from Stronghold Ministreis were there to pray with the athletes and help us out!! They are the absolute best. I cannot thank them enough, especially Andy for watching over me! They are true angels and I am blessed that God has brought them to me! The criteria for the comparisions was changed and it was very exciting. They never called out more than 4 guys and always in numerical order so you never really knew who was in first or second. You had an idea of the top 4 and then next group but never sure of the exact order. It also made it harder for the athletes as they were on stage working harder and longer. They were beat and needed some attention off stage when their group was done. It was pretty cool that they kept coming right to us for advice and help. It seemd they were comfortable and really trusted us and that was also very cooooool!!!
They women's finals ended up something like this: Figure: Jenny Lynn, Amber Litteljohn, Monica Brant, top 3. Fitness: Adela Garcia, Kim Klien, Jenny Hendershot. BB: Iris Kyle, Dayana Cadeau, Annie Riveccio, Bonnie Priest, Lisa Aukland, Betty Pariso. It was real exciting!!
So Saturday found me in the expo most of the day. I had gotten Bill's food ready again for the day and cooked up or threw out the remaining steak. He hadn't gotten the call outs he would have liked but he looked unbelievable and definately bested himself. Working with Hany again was cool. He and I seem to have a pretty good system now. I so look forward to working with him again next year!!!! Hopefully we can have more clients together.
The expo was packed and many people came up to the booth to visit me; the Lana Familia was all in the house; Sage, Jax, AJ, Doc, Beth, Rick, Lisa, and sooo many more! I didn't get to visit with Luke Wood to much but he was working. (When I got home there were 2 dozen roses waiting for me from him for helping him out in Atlantic City! What a sweetheart.) We sold pretty much everything which was key!!! I was supposed to shoot with Steve Wennerstrom but I missed his call due to the noise in there!! I was disappointed about that. After the expo it was off to the Arena for the finals.
Once again...the excitement was in the air. Taking care of the pros is a really different vibe. They are definately more prepared. Not many had color issues which was a treat. It gave us the opportunity to really take care of everyone. Ronnie wasn't around the pump up area for the night show. He had his own entourage with him. Talk about exciting...Gooness!! Not for nothing..I rewspect ALL the athletes but Jay really was on and I think his win was well deserved. It was crazy excitement when he was called as first! So it went like this: Jay Cutler, Ronnie Coleman, Vic Martinez, Dexter Jackson, Melvin Anthony, Gustavo Badell. All the guys seemed to be pretty on this year. Toney cam in 7th which was totally awesome for his Olympia debut!! He looked incredible. The biggest dissappointment of my night was that Dave Henry did not make the top 15. This is pretty unbeleivable since he brought his best package yet and was totally on!! He has had awesome placings all year and definately deserved better. Big Bill didn't finish in the top 15. He was dissagpppointed but he looked unbelievable and was on stage with the best in the WORLD!!! It's hard to go from winning and being in the top 2 for years to middle or bottom of the pack...Iknow..but we are pros and have to start form the beginning. Unless you are Phil Heath..not many of us can just jump up there and start winning right away. WE all need to have an open mind and realistic mindset now!! By Sunday though big Bill was laughing and joking and jovial as usual! He is a true champion and professional, not to mention an outstanding solid man! I love this guy...he is an awesome and loyal friend!!
OK...so on to the party...the lines for food were so damn long I skipped eating (why not, I didn't eat that weekend anyway cause of no time)and just got ready to go to Lana's party at MIxx. We got there and I have to say I was a bit cranky at first (hungry, tired) but I snapped out of it when I saw all the Mayhem peeps. It was awesome hanging out with everyone! There weren't many industry peeps there as they were at their own parties. That kinda sucked but our group was so much fun that it didn't really matter. We moved onto the Empire where we thought we would have seen everyone else. Big Ron and Alti, Art and his girl, Chris Cormier and his friend were all there. Hany joined the group too. It was a fun time. Sunday was time to crash, get a late check out, pack up the food supplies from Bill;'s room and do a photo shoot!
Yes...I dragged my tired butt out of bed to do a Dessert shoot with Dan Rey. Mary Hobbs came with us and met Paco Gutierrez out there too for a shoot! I was tired but I needed to take advantage of beign in shape and being in the dessert. The pics are awesome and I am now sooo glad I went! Sunday night was low key. I wanted to hook up with Dave and Nicki but they were doing family stuff and I was so tired I just hit the bed!
Monday...it was cardio, pack and out!!!
My Olympia experience was off the chain...the only complaint is that I didn't get to visit with people like I would have liked!!
I will have my web guy post pics as soon as I can!!
Much love
C
posted by Carla at 8:05 AM
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