Who would like a Spa GC???

I finally set aside some time to temporarily leave my Calgary family (MINI Charlie) and went to visit my family in Mexico. As hard as it was to be away from my beloved MINI, it was about time for me to see my family and friends. I knew that the distance away from him for a whole week was going to be hard, and driving another car just wasn't as fun and it felt sort of...wrong... like Cheating!.

During July Charlie & I had a lot of fun. We did crazy things and cool things, helping kids around the city and we ate a lot of pancakes. He even got a new haircut, hari color and New Tattoos! We made a ton of cool memories together that I cherished while I was away. I just couldn’t wait to get back to jump in my MINI , put the top down and ride topless around the city no matter the weather.





While I was down in Disneyland with my wife enjoying our anniversary, I couldn't stop thinking about him. I even found this cool store down in Downtown Disney District called Ride Makerz and I'm not going to lie, I took a picture of one of their MINI's and looked at it for a while... it made me really excited to come back to Calgary and Jump in on my Charlie to go out for another drive.





When I was away I made sure Charlie had the best care possible. I called his Uncle Matt from MINI Crowfoot and I know they had a lot of fun. I just wanted to make sure he was safe and having a good time. His Uncle Matt took great care of him; he even treated him to a MINI Spa! Charlie and I thought it wasn't fair for him not to share this with you Calgary, so he is still giving you a chance to enter to win 1 of 2 Spa GC's. We made it sooo simple! Just go to adoptamini.ca and enter to win. No catch, No Charge! It's Free!

Tomorrow Friday July 30th we are going to be on Stephen Avenue with some of his friends from MINI Crowfoot. Stop on by and say Hi! He loves being where the party is, loves having his picture taken and would love to meet you.

Taking advantage of the long weekend he invited our friends from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and we'll be handing out some cool swag for you to show your support. Come visit and say Hi! We'll be there until 4.30!

Fore!

"Fore!" is shouted as a warning during a golf game when it appears possible that a golf ball may hit other players or spectators. The mention of the term in an 1881 British Golf Museum indicates that the term was in use at least as early as that period. The term means "look ahead", and it is believed to come from the military "beware before", which was shouted when a battery fired behind friendly troops.

I just thought it would be a nice idea to add that little factoid. This last week MINI Charlie and I went to Nevada Bob’s in Signal Hill and because of Fathers day weekend Charlie, being a guy, wanted to make sure we reminded people of the importance of getting checked for prostate cancer. We had the guys from the Prostate Cancer Center join us with the Man Van to give free PSA testing’s to men over 40. We also held the MINI Putt for Prostate fundraiser where we invited people to join us for their chance to win a Loaded Taylor Made Golf bag valued at over $2,000 dlls! We want to thank everyone that came down and donated their time and money and specially all of those guys that got their test done.



While on location people where asking me if it was possible to even fit loaded golf bag in the MINI.


Oh man did I show them!


But of course if you actually put in the golf bags in the MINI the right way you can fit 2 of them! So you and a friend could be ridding the MINI on the Course! Your own Golf Cart! (please do check with your golf course allows you to take the MINI on the course)

I guess they didn’t hear about my Costco and IKEA trip with my whole family story… that day it’s when I cleared out all mi doubts about how much I can fit in a MINI.

This weekend Charlie and I are going to be at Spruce Meadows cheering for all the riders that are joining the Ride to Conquer Cancer. If you want to help the ride but don’t think that you can make the 200 kilometers ride check out our website and you can also check out the Dilawri's Website to find out more ways you can help the ride. Also if you spot us on site make sure you stop by and say hi. Charlie is very giving and doesn’t like to hold back on any of the stuff he has with him at all times!

If you want to help out the Prostate Cancer Centre please check out their website.

Great party, Good food!

I remember that for my wife’s birthday party we booked the owner’s lounge at our condo building. I wanted to have the authentic Mexican tacos and Salsa’s, but my wife asked me not to do that, she wanted me to have fun and not cook all night for our guests. So I had to come up with a quick and simple plan for food… Best/non-expensive thing I thought of serving was Pizza from Costco! Just heat/bake in the over for 6 minutes and they are done! But, you know pizza has been the hardest thing for me to quit so I had to come up with a plan b for myself. I made myself a whole pizza from the Herbal Magic cook book and before I knew it, people from the party wanted me to let them in on the secret of the Herbal Pizza!

I promised them that I would give them re recipe. So, here it is. You can always tweak it and make it with your own favorite ingredients. I know that this is by far one of my favorite things to make from the cook book. Make it your own and have some fun. That is one of the things I like about Herbal Magic, you get the guidelines and you get to have fun and experiment with your own favorite ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 Flat-Out Wrap
100 gr. Fat Free Deli Meat (Jamón)
1 oz of Cottage Cheese (Queso)
½ cup of Pineapple
1 Cup of Healthy Choice pasta sauce (Salsa de spaguetti marca Healthy Choice)

- Cooking Instructions:

Preheat the over at 400º
Add pasta sauce to your wrap
Slice and then add the deli meat on to the wrap
Slice and then add the pineapple to your wrap
Shred and then add the cheese to your wrap
Slide into oven until the cheese has melted (8 – 10 minutes)

You will enjoy it!

Surprise, Surprise...

On June 9th I wanted to treat my wife to some nice things due to her 28th birthday, her first birthday together since we got married. If you know me, I mean, really know me. You’d know that I'm the worst at keeping a surprise from my wife. I'm the one that gets too excited and I'll end up giving her hints here and there just so she can guess what it is, and if she can't guess what it is, I'll just bluntly tell her what the surprise is before I have to give it to her.

I woke her up by singing Happy Birthday (Las Mañanitas) and giving her a little cake for her that morning. Then I proceeded to give her her actual gift. Then I made breakfast for her. Later that morning I surprised her at work with a flowers from Modern Petals and Mini Cupcakes from Crave for her to share with her girl friends during her lunch break. Later that evening we went for supper to SKY 360 with my in-laws and I left the most exciting surprise of them all for Saturday night. We hosted a birthday party at our condo’s Owners Lounge and she invited all her friends. I made my wife believe I’d forgotten to buy her birthday cake. Little did she know that I ordered her cake 2 months in advance and I managed to keep it a secret from her!

I contacted Rose Sen and asked her to make a giant version of her favorite Crave Cupcake, the Crave-O-Licious and she knew exactly what I was talking about. We met a few times after I placed the order to polish ideas and to make sure we had everything covered for the surprise. She even got the flavor of the cake to match the flavor of the cupcake!



If you have some time to spare at work, you can always check out more of her cakes on her blog. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. Just don't see if you are hungry.

7,447 feet above ground

Have you ever wanted to do something but never actually where able to do so? Over 1 year ago I thought I’ve been hiking before. Man was I wrong! I didn’t realize what I was missing on until a few weekends ago. My in-laws where visiting from Mexico and we went to Banff for the weekend. My wife wanted to take them up the Gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain and we did, I just decided to take the longer way up the mountain. I actually hiked it. It didn’t take me 5 minutes. It took me close to 3 hours but when I got to the top of that mountain, I was actually able to say I did it.



I’ve been doing Herbal Magic weight loss almost 9 months and I’ve lost 116.4 lbs. Not only was I able to do the Sulphur Mountain hike but then we went to Lake Moraine and then Lake Louise and still went swimming at the hotel pool!

Now, I’m only a few lbs away from my goal of loosing 120 lbs and stampede is just around the corner. I wonder how a pair of wranglers would look on me now. I guess we’ll find out in a month!

I wanted to share this picture with you. While hiking around Lake Louise I was jumping on some rocks along the lake. I don’t recall when was the last time I had this much energy. I’m great full I’m able to share these moments with my wife.

Just Chilling

There is nothing better than a nice hot day and a patio; well, MINI Charlie would disagree. He loves having his MINI Spa treatments at MINI Crowfoot. After spending the night before playing out in the rain I had to take him for a MINI Spa day at MINI Crowfoot before we hit up Stephen Ave and chill outside Milestone’s.

As usual, he loved being out in the public. He had tons of people sitting in the driver’s seat and lots more pictures taken. He also had a minute to admire the Calgary Tower.



MINI Charlie wants to remind you that you too can take your picture with him next time we are out and about. This Friday, make sure you join us at Neveda Bob’s in Signal Hill as we are hosting the Putt for Prostate from 10 am – 5 pm for your chance to win a fully loaded Taylor Made Golf bad for your dad on this father’s day.

Being a guy, he knows the importance of getting checked and he wants to make sure we raise awareness about prostate cancer.

From 52” to 36”

When I first started Herbal Magic weight loss back on September 18th 2009, I weighed 340 lbs and my jeans were size 52”. Looking back, I feel sad that I managed to do that to myself. I think that the worst part of it all is that I didn’t want to accept that I was out of control, that I had the solution in my hands and that it wasn’t going to go away on its own. Being overweight didn’t happen overnight. It literally took me all my life until September 18th to get to the point I was. If a healthier, better looking, happier me was going to happen I had to do it on my own and take my time to learn the right steps to get to a point where I felt comfortable looking at myself naked in the mirror.

When I went into Herbal Magic weight loss in September my personal coach told me based on medical charts, age, and height that my ideal weight was anywhere between 170 and 190 lbs; to me, that seemed too much. I have a big frame and I honestly don’t believe I’m supposed to weigh less than 200 lbs. They totally supported my decision and asked me based on the information I was given if I had a number in mind; I decided that 220 was the perfect number for me.

I’ve officially donated all my old clothes to the Diabetes Society except for but one pair of jeans, one shirt, one pair of boxers, and one undershirt. I have nothing else of the OLD CARLOS. I’ve started to do some shopping again and I’m taking advantage of as many sales as I can find. I started a few months back when I discovered I fit into Banana Republic Clothes, then Gap Clothes. At the recommendation of all my friends at the station, I finally bought new pants. I went to Gap Generation in Deerfoot Meadows and bought 2 pairs of jeans that I honestly love. I no longer wear 52” waist size. I bought 36”. That’s a number that I can’t recall when the last time I wore it or bought it for myself. I have one side of the closet taken by my wife and a bunch of empty hangers on my side that I will start stocking back up with time.

I’m happy to share my experience with Herbal Magic weight loss with you. I know that if I’m able to go through all these changes, you are able to also. I’ve said it a bunch of times and I’ll say it again, we can do this, Together.