Tag Archives: Alexandria House

VALENTINE’S VISIT TO ALEXANDRIA HOUSE

The three layer cake for Valentine’s Day
Cookies and Red Velvet Mini Indulgences from Seasons 52
Sweets for the sweet residents at Alexandria House

Mini Indulgences from Seasons 52

Spreading Valentine’s Cheer

Janet number one posing with a mini indulgence, she and Janet 2 as they call each other cooked an amazing dinner for everyone.

The cake was a hit, I was good and did not have any.

Clean up time is all about family teamwork



Good evening to all on this Thursday evening. Last night my friend and co-worker Meagan and I delivered sweets for Valentine’s Day to Alexandria house, a transitional home for women and children in Los Angeles CA.  We stayed for dinner and spent time with the ladies who run the house and the families who live there. It was lovely experience and I am happy I was able to make time to visit. Before dinner everyone gathers and holds hands in prayer and then everyone introduces themselves. Afterwards the children sit at the table and the Mother’s serve them dinner, then everyone else eats. It is a beautiful craftsman home, who amazing woodwork and a beautiful fireplace. It feels like home, and it reminds me of my own childhood home. It is a special place full of hope, happiness and love, a magical place.

We brought a three layer cake, cookies and Seasons 52 donated their award winning mini indulgences, I am so grateful to them for their support and generosity. Dinner was homemade enchiladas, salad, corn bread and kool-aid. I have to admit I was so excited for the kool-aid, one of my favorite childhood indulgences. It was a great experience to stay for dinner, and we also stayed to help clean and chat with the ladies who live at Alexandria House. I truly am humbled to be able to visit and give a little of myself, after all this is their home. I plan on returning in the near future. I am brainstorming, maybe a book drive for the kids who live there and for all of the other children Alexandria House helps. A big thanks to Meagan for joining me on my quest to give back a little.

Tonight was my workout with my trainer Mike at the park. I was rushed for time today and I did not eat enough so my energy was a little lacking but I kept up pretty well. We are really upping the intensity and I am so happy about that. I am really getting stronger and improving. I am only on my way up, I will not slow down or stop. I may struggle but I will not falter. I am determined and enjoying every minute of movement. Tonight I am doing my 25 burpees, I challenged myself to do 25 extra burpees a day along with everything else I am doing.

This weekend I am getting away, woo hoo. James and I are going to La Jolla CA and we are staying right on the water. I am so stoked to use an old California term. I love weekends away, California is the perfect place to get away on little adventures and explore. 

Off for now, I need to eat a salad and then do my burpees and stretching before bed. Wishing you a beautiful evening and sweet dreams.
Namaste’
Rose

VISITING WITH ALEXANDRIA HOUSE TONIGHT

Meagan and I at Seasons 52, on the way to deliver toys to Alexandria House December 23. We are returning tonight with Valentine’s Day sweets and to join our new friends for dinner. 



Good Morning to all on this beautiful Wednesday on the west coast. I feel for everyone else in the country who is dealing with frigid weather. I woke up to a stunning sunrise over the trees beyond my kitchen window. I love the sunrises and sunsets of Southern California, they have hues of magenta, indigo, purple, and gold. Makes me happy to be alive. Last night at the park the sunset was equally mesmerizing, it is enough to make me never want to move from this place ever.

Yesterday was my workout with my trainer Mike at the park. I am really now stepping up my hard work. I told him yesterday the last seven months were just a warm up for me, now the real work begins. We jogged, did the TRX, did stairs with free weights, and some other exercises that are new to me. We did this thing with ropes, you snap the ropes and drop in a semi burpee and jump back up and snap the ropes again. Yea, I was sore hours later, not a day but hours. I know I am working hard when the soreness comes on so soon. My flexibility is really starting to come along. 

After my workout, I had a quick bite and a hello to my hubby James and I went for a walk to the local grocery store to buy sweets for my visit to Alexandria House tonight to share some Valentine’s Day cheer. I thought I would have time to bake, but instead I bought a beautiful three layer cake and some Valentine’s Day cupcakes. Monica, Chef Jessica, Chef Roni, Chef Lee, Ishbak, Laura, Shane;  my management staff of Seasons 52 in Century City are donating their mini indulgences for our visit. Meagan my friend and co-worker is coming with me, and we are staying for dinner. Should be a lovely visit and evening with our new friends.  I really look forward to it. I have decided to do little things of service to the community as I wait, (no pun intended), for my next ten pound weight loss. 

Off for now, I must do some morning stretches before getting ready for my day. Tonight after my visit to Alexandria House I will do my 25 burpees and get on the treadmill for a bit. It will be a hectic day but I can do all of that later when I get home in the early evening. Yesterday I called an Uber Car to take me home from the grocery store since I could not walk with the cake, we love Uber. I told my driver all about my project and he was inspired and in return inspired me. I am so blessed  to be able to do all I am doing, these last seven months have been amazing and I look forward to the next seven months. I have changed so much, and I am very proud of that. I have met the most amazing people along the way, and I am moved beyond belief. Life is so precious, every moment and person a gift. I am incredibly grateful to all who have graced my life.

Love and Light,
Namaste’
Rose

SATURDAY WEIGH IN AND SCALE MUSINGS


Good Saturday Morning to all. I am up early for a weekend, having a light breakfast before getting my cardio in this morning. I am either going to head outdoors and run/walk or head on the treadmill depending on how cool it is when I step outside. I just weighed in, and I lost a half a pound but I am still in the same weight range. It was that time this month, and I admit I ate more sodium than usual and skipped a meal here and there. 

This week I will feed my body the nutrition it needs to get in my five-six days of movement. I have decided to concentrate more on the exercise effort and try not to be such a slave to the scale. I am 175 exactly, and it can be frustrating to have such a slow weigh loss but I know that is ok. Slow is better than not at all, and 175 looks much better to me than 207. This week I will focus on nutrition for fueling my workouts, and strength, flexibility and stamina. I have just challenged myself and I accept and I am raring to go. 

This week was the 30 year anniversary of the death of Karen Carpenter, who passed away from cardiac arrest due to her years of  battling Anorexia Nervosa.  I did not know that earlier this week when I started feeling like I wanted to listen to her melancholy tunes, her haunting melodies are like no other. She had a voice that was one in a million. That made me do a little research about her. When she passed in 1983 little was known about eating disorders. She had suffered from Anorexia for years, and when you see her in photos and live television appearances it is shocking how frail she appears. Now much more is known about the two eating disorders, and sadly her death brought awareness to the diseases. 

When I started dancing at 13, an adult director told me to lose 30 lbs, and that began years of strange dieting and deprivation of food. Ironically enough I began my issues around the same time Karen Carpenter passed away, but I had no idea and that was not what started my battle.

I just wanted to be thin, not realizing I already was thin. I fought my own body type. I am built like Italian women often are, I have curves in my chest and bottom but when I was younger I did not. I did not have breasts, and I thought that was how dancers looked and I continued on with my diligent dieting. Once I starved for four days and took a box of laxatives, I must have been about twenty at the time. When I was 18 a doctor told my Mother I was heading down the dark path of Anorexia, but my weight seemed normal to her for my age and height so it was never addressed. People did not know then what they do now. Now eating disorders are treated similar to problems with addiction. I knew a bulimic girl who attended a 12 step program to help fight her battle.

Here are some younger photos of myself. Note I fought to be in this weight range, my lowest was 100 pounds. I have learned my lessons and now I nurture my temple.

early 20’s

Sister Dona on my left with a friend. I think  was 19, I am totally flat chested, lol.

Mid 20’s too thin and no color at all. The jacket is wearing me, it is all shoulder pads, lol.



Somewhere along the line I stopped the starving rituals, and I really began eating more normally when I met my husband James at the age of 30. I realized I met someone who loved me for who I was, someone who thought I was more beautiful on the inside than the outside. I will never forget the simple moment of going for an ice cream sundae with him in Cleveland, Ohio in 1998. Before he came along I hated eating with someone I was interested in.

Through the years as my weight when up and down I would go back to extreme dieting. I did not starve like I did in my young years, but I would still practice other forms of deprivation and extreme dieting. Now, I have to monitor my potassium. Just the after affects of years of doing that to my body.

Ironically enough I would end up really overweight in 2013. Here I am in 2014, after gaining the most weight ever in 2013 I have lost 33 pounds the sane and healthy way. I am on a path of learning what it feels like to treat my body as a temple, not only for aesthetic reasons but for my health and well being. So, on my weigh in day as I ponder the scale staying almost the same, I will revel in the fact that I am stronger than I was yesterday, and each and every day is a new beginning. With the inspiration of the athletes of the Olympics, and many of my amazing friends I have in my corner I am more motivated now than ever. I will also focus on the gratitude I have for those motivating me as I continue my health and well being journey. I could not go it alone.

Since it is taking some time to get to my next ten pound milestone and my next charity I have decided in the meantime to give more back in between charities. My friend Meagan and I are going back to Alexandria House this coming Wednesday with some delicious goodies for the families who reside there for the Valentines holiday. We are going Wednesday night and staying for dinner. I look forward to the visit and I am thankful again to Seasons 52 for offering to donate mini indulgences to take along with our homemade baked goods. A big thanks to Monica, Chef Jessica, Chef Veronica, Meagan, and all the managers of Seasons 52 in Century City California who have gone beyond to help me give back.

Valentine’s day is all about love.
Off for the day, much love and light to you.
Namaste’
Remember you are a beautiful creature of the universe, just the way you are.
Rose

GOOD WILL TOWARDS MEN



I have been a a little off kilter this week due to Christmas and the holiday season. It has been a wonderful way to end the year, by doing a toy drive and gift drive for the residents at Alexandria House in Los Angeles. Alexandria House is a transitional home for women and children, and it was a home of hope to me. I felt like I had time traveled back to my childhood, to the times before the age of ten when everything seemed so idyllic. I could see the promise of those four walls, and the dedication Judy Vaughan has to keeping the place buzzing with optimism. She is a worker bee, and the nucleus of the home along with all of the other beautiful souls who work so hard to make this house a home for so many that need it. I was so honored to be able to visit and tour the beautiful 1920’s craftsman home and meet the young residents, and I plan on going back to volunteer in 2014.  Within those four walls I felt safe and welcome, it was a magical feeling.

I thank my friend Meagan for the generosity of her time, we had fun.  I would also like to thank everyone at Seasons 52 for their support and generosity, from the management to the staff. No one can go it alone, and I am very grateful for the help they gave to make this gift drive a reality. Thanks to the Management at Seasons 52 in Century City CA. Monica Challingsworth, Isbhak Vasquez, Laura Dennis, Jessica Koine, Veronica Bonnely,Shane Jagow and Lee Velasco. 

To quote my favorite Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life, ” No man is a failure who has friends. 
Happy Holidays to all.
Rose


Here is a little something about Alexandria House, and all of the good they do for the community.

Mission

 Response to the compelling needs of the women and


 children living in the house, as well as the 

 neighborhood needs before us each day, the goal of

 Alexandria House is to be a community-oriented

 transitional house and neighborhood center which is

 intentionally multicultural, antiracist and where the

 needs of women who are economically poor are

 central.

 We are supported by a community of caring


 individuals and groups who share our mission.
 Company Overview

 Founded in 1996, Alexandria House is a non-profit 


 transitional residence and house of hospitality

 providing safe and supportive housing for women and

 children in the process of moving from emergency

 shelter to permanent housing. Located in the densely

 populated and ethnically diverse Mid-Wilshire area,

 Alexandria House also serves its broader 

 neighborhood community by providing educational 

 and enrichment opportunities for residents and

 neighbors alike.

TWENTY POUND CHARITY TOY DRIVE



I am planning my twenty pound charity, and decided to do something that was a perfect fit for December and the season of joy. I decided to do a toy drive for Alexandria House, with the recommendation of a dear friend named Dawn who attends Richard Simmons. I am grateful for her friendship and support. 

Here is some information on Alexandria House below. I am organizing my twenty pound charity at my place of employment, Seasons 52 in Century City, CA. with the help of my amazing management and co workers. I am grateful for the support and everyone who is so kind to give a toy to a child at this time of year. My co-worker and friend Meagan and I are delivering the toys December 23rd. I will post more information later this week. The toys are starting to accumulate, and I am really excited. I am beyond grateful and moved to have such kind people in my corner and thank you to Michele and Judy at Alexandria House.
Namaste’
Happy Monday
Rose




Mission

 Response to the compelling needs of the women and


 children living in the house, as well as the 

 neighborhood needs before us each day, the goal of

 Alexandria House is to be a community-oriented

 transitional house and neighborhood center which is

 intentionally multicultural, antiracist and where the

 needs of women who are economically poor are

 central.

 We are supported by a community of caring


 individuals and groups who share our mission.
 Company Overview

 Founded in 1996, Alexandria House is a non-profit 


 transitional residence and house of hospitality

 providing safe and supportive housing for women and

 children in the process of moving from emergency

 shelter to permanent housing. Located in the densely

 populated and ethnically diverse Mid-Wilshire area,

 Alexandria House also serves its broader 

 neighborhood community by providing educational 

 and enrichment opportunities for residents and

 neighbors alike.