Facedown vs Planking

Me planking (or so I thought) as a joke to Mr. Bricks ;D

So what is up with the "Planking" rage all of the sudden? What I can not seem to wrap my noggin around is why on earth people are all of the sudden so excited to lay down - on things?  I was working out one afternoon and I get a text from Mr. Bricks....   "Ava, have you heard about planking?"  I'm thinking... hmmm planking, what the heck is he talking about now...   Mr. Bricks have you been drinking?  I text him back "I'm working out, I'll be done in another hour or so, ttyl" He proceeds to continue to text me like something ~ really important is going on...

So I decided the following weekend to take a photo as a joke of me "Planking" (or so I thought I was planking) in front of my dream car the Bubble Bee Camaro.  So come to find out, I was actually not planking at all, I was "Facedown".  How did I learn this you may be asking yourself?  Well wouldn't you know it, old man Bricks has found the clarification to inform me that I was not planking and I was in fact facedown.  He even sent me the link to the video to prove it....

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/06/15/dnt.facedown.craze.king?eref=igoogledmn_mpvideo

So here I am about a month or so later sitting here asking myself, why on earth does my manager Mr. Bricks know so much about "planking" & "facedown", yet I still do not have a record deal? So now I know what he spends his time doing, that is besides eating McRib sandwiches all dang day long...  He spends his time reading up on things like planking when he is supposed to be getting me a record deal (just sayin). I think I am going to tell Mr. Bricks that I think planking is really cool and that I would love to get a picture of him planking in between my two tour buses when they are parked side by side loading up for my US Tour.  Yeah, that's a good idea. ;D

All joking aside here because we all know I'm all about laughing and having a fun time, but really I do not condone ~ anything ~ that can possibly cause harm to yourself or others.  Life is precious, I do not feel it wise to risk life and limb just to get a "funny" or outrageous photo.  I heard on the news a few weeks ago that someone was even killed falling off of a balcony trying to get a photo of themselves "planking".  So of course have fun, take risks, live your life to the fullest - but do not do anything just for the "shock" value of it.  In this humble Greek Girl's opinion, it is simply not worth it.  (in full disclosure, my "planking/facedown" photo was taken in a parking lot away from any space any car could drive on) :D Be smart blog friends!

Have a beautiful blessed day!

Ava :D xox

Cap'n Crunch Walks the Plank

A breakfast with this is not Greek Girl approved

Have you ever noticed how guys can not just eat one bowl of breakfast cereal? Well, I am going to appoint myself as the Czar of  Breakfast Stuff (BS) and let you know that you should not be listening to those BS commercials.  Otherwise you will have to Leggo the Greek Girl's Eggo, just sayin'.

I know I know I am always harping about "you are what you eat", but really I can not say it enough. It's OK to have a bit of "bad foods" once in a while but really.... Capt'n Crunch for breakfast? Not so much, it is more like a dessert... and like a handful, not a bowl.  Sorry to burst anyone's sugar coated cereal bubble.

You only have one body and it really is a miracle.  What you put into it is really important, that's why for breakfast I'm all about egg whites.  Almost every day I have egg whites and a Thomas Light whole grain English Muffin with smart balance & peanut butter on it (peanut butter is a super food btw).  If I don't have egg whites, I usually have a 0% Fage Greek Yogurt (we talked about this in a blog last week).  Of course I wash it down with a coffee....  BTW are you following my coffee every day on twitter? hmmmmwww.twitter.com/avaaston  @avaaston ;D

I get that kids & even grown ups too like cartoons and all, but I have spent time in the cereal isle, and honestly it is really hard to find even one cereal that is balanced and "good" for you.  It's either too high in sugar, or not enough fiber & protein.... Also the serving size is generally 1/3 of a cup.  We all know that most people do not measure out their cereal before they eat it. So most people are actually eating like 3-4 servings of cereal... this makes for a lot of muckery.  Mood swings, and irritability from not having a balanced breakfast.

So take it from this Rock Chick ~ cereal.... not such a great choice for breakfast.  For me it's all bout being healthy, feeling good and being in shape for performances for my music & acting.  No matter what you do in life, it's important to be the best you can be, and eating a sugary cereal for breakfast is not for champions.  ;D just sayin.  If you absolutely have to have a cereal, best to read the label and make sure it has whole grains & a proper balance of protein, fiber, low sugar, and make sure to measure it.  I use lactose free skim milk, however there are lots of healthy choices for your cereal: almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, whatever floats your cereal boat.  A better choice for a breakfast cereal is steel cut oatmeal, Yummo!

After a Greek Girl approved breakfast you should be all ready to put on your sneakers for a kick butt workout! Go out & have a super spectacular day!

Love & Blessings ~

Ava :D xox

If It Doesn't Kill You, It'll Make You Stronger

Have you ever had to wait for something and that it seemed like whatever you were waiting for would never happen? Perhaps you are waiting for a new job opportunity? Maybe it was waiting for that special someone to ask you out. Maybe you are a couple wanting a child, but it's just not working out right now. Or maybe you just graduated from college and now are trying to find a job to put all of that education to good use. Whatever your situation may be, I feel your pain.  Sometimes the anticipation and pursuit of a certain goal seems unobtainable and that is why after putting up the good fight for a few years some people just give up. In other people, that delay and struggle in obtaining a specific goal makes them more determined to pursue their passion to fruition.

In my Greek noggin I come from the school of thought that sometimes we need the lesson of the journey to be able to fully appreciate what it is we are pursuing.  In my case, the pursuit of becoming an international recording artist. The old wise and worldly Mr. Bricks, who is my manager put it this way to me recently, "Ava, if you drive from New York to Los Angeles by car it will take a lot longer than if you fly, but think what you will miss along the way if you go by airplane. Think of your career as a giant road trip" I think what Mr. Bricks was saying is, "My Greek Grasshoper, the easy way is not always the best way." I get it Mr. Bricks Son, but there is no way I'm stopping off for Diet Coke and Beef Jerky on this Greek girl's musical road trip, just sayin'!

I say, as long as you know what you want to do - hold on tightly and never give up. It is OK to change direction of what you want to do in life, but just make sure it's not because you hit a rough patch. We all have rough patches. It's how you handle the rough patches in your life that matters. There is always something to be learned in everything, so running away from every rough patch is really just taking a road to nowheresville.

The music industry is a tough business and I would love to be much further along in my career, but like Old Man Bricks' has said, think of what I am learning along the way on this road trip. It burns a little in my throat to say this, but he is right. One of life lessons I have learned recently is to include balance in my life, it has helped me when things haven't worked out in certain situations. The balance comes from not putting all of my eggs in my music career basket.  So I try to always keep a nice balance by having plenty of  friends outside of the music business, or as we say in the industry,  "normal friends."  I also try to keep up on my outside interests as well.

I learned that strapping on my sneakers and going for a 5-mile run or a nice long workout helps me from dwelling on a professional disappointment when it happens. I love the feeling my body has after the run and normally by the time I'm done running, I realize the earth did not stop rotating and most likely the sun will come up tomorrow, so it's all good and in God's time.  I truly believe that. What do you do to shake off the funk from disappointments?

In Greece they say, μὴ χεῖρον βέλτιστον. If you have your "Greek On" you know it means, "The least bad choice is the best." In France they suggest, "If you break an egg, make an omelet", and here in America we say, "If life hands you lemons, make lemonade." Simply put in any language, no matter what you are dealing with rest assured you will get through it, and something good is likely to be there as a result of you have to going through it.

In your noggin it may seem like what ever it is, it is "The Worst Case Scenario" of what could have happened. As bleak as it may seem, you need to realize that there is an important lesson for you to learn and you need to go through this rough patch, because remember...if it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger. So, if you can enjoy and learn from your destination the journey is so much sweeter. And as for the difficulties you are currently experiencing, ask yourself the question "Will this matter 10 years from now?" Most likely not, but what does matter is whether or not you learned something from the experience.

Ok, who wants to join me for a glass of lemonade?

Blessings,

Ava

xox