Majestic Pleasures tank top and alice + olivia pencil skirt from Tootsies
Photoshoots are part of my job these days as a sports + travel + fitness writer here at The Blonde Side, and no matter how incredibly awkward I am behind the camera, I still love it and have a great time doing it.
And I’m super lucky to have an amazing team behind me – for this particular shoot I had a new’ish team, but it was a blast. Since I’m no model, by any stretch of the imagination, just like my sport’s column, it’s always a work in progress.
My photographer this go-round was Oakley Almberg – she’s kind of new to the photography game and does a lot of fun personality shoots (my favorites!) – I’ve seen her work with the gals at lululemon here in Houston so we decided to partner together and have some fun. She definitely brought some good ideas to the table and we had fun attempting to use a hair dryer as a fancy smancy “wind blower” like all the models have on the beaches, haha.
Needless to say it didn’t work out quite as expected, but I’m always up for trying new things.
My hair and makeup was from my trusty and faithful Andrea Simmons over at FaceForward Weddings. I keep telling her that her business name suggests she only does hair and makeup for weddings, but she does all kinds of stuff and is always willing to work in the confines I set forth and always makes me look better than I ever do on my own. It’s definitely an art what she does. Andrea rocks out hair and makeup for any kind of photoshoot or just a special day, definitely look her up.
Heart tank from alice + olivia & Rachel Zoe varsity letterman jacket from Tootsies
Styling was a combo effort with my weirdly sporty style paired with the likes and expertise of the lovely Kim Dunn with Luxe Style Labeling. Kim works on shoots all over Houston and puts together some of the most awesome outfits, but she lets (and suggests) you keep your own style.
I wanted to rock my USA Olympic jacket and she let me – she just paired it with something a little more fancy and added in some jewelry and voila – she made it look better than if I was on the medal stand in Sochi (well, almost). I’m always amazed at how easily Kim can create an outfit that I already owned and would never have thought of and make it look brand new and top of fashion. She’s definitely into layers and jewelry. Thanks to her, I’ve learned those are the two main keys to fashion success.
And the styling helped quite a bit thanks to my favorite Houston store, Tootsies – a full line specialty store in West Ave. They have anything from wedding day fancy to a casual bar night – and I love to take some of their more sporty clothes and dress them up and do the exact opposite with their dressier shirts and take them down a notch by wearing them with a pair of pink chucks.
Trina Turk sleeveless shirt and pink Converse
Check out this heart tank top from alice + olivia – I also wore this to a Rockets game – the red hearts were Rockets colors and it was my subtle and cutesy way of saying “I love the Rockets!”
For the shoot I paired it with an incredibly amazing Rachel Zoe varsity letterman jacket – that pairing was actually thanks to Kim’s suggestion, you know, since that’s her job and all.
Probably my favorite outfit was paired with the simple olive green
Majestic Pleasures tank top and the alice + olivia camel colored pencil skirt (the top picture)- it kind of showed off just how hard I’ve been working out and pumping iron at Sculpt Fitness!
And of course I loved the gold and flowy Trina Turk sleeveless shirt – and the pink chucks just really set it off, just my style.
Thanks to my entire glam-squad for making me feel oh-so-pretty! xoxo to you all!
Find out why U.S. Olympic boxer Marlen Esparza says it’s one of the best decisions she ever made.
It sounds like a nightmare you can’t wake up from: showing up to work completely naked, as a stranger takes photos of you for millions to see. For U.S. Olympic boxer Marlen Esparza, the experience was 100% real.
Last summer, Esparza was asked to pose in the 5th annual edition of ESPN Magazine’s Body Issue (you know… the naked one), but she didn’t immediately jump at the chance. In fact, she was totally freaked out by it. “My first response was ‘no’ and nothing could change my mind,” she says. “I didn’t feel comfortable with being nude in a photo shoot!” Because here’s a hard, uncomfortable truth: Esparza is an amazingly accomplished athlete who kicks ass, wins championships, and spends hours in the gym like it’s, well, her job. But even Olympic athletes can feel anxiety about body image and being judged for not looking “perfect.”
As the first American woman to represent the United States in the 2012 Olympic debut of women’s boxing (where she took home the bronze), confidence came easy to Esparza in the ring. But naked confidence was a different story. “I’m not the type of person to focus a lot on my body,” says Esparza. “I work out for a living so I am fit, but I was very self-conscious about the idea of being nude in front of a camera for pictures the world would see,” she says. She elaborates on her insecurities: “I really like my back, but it doesn’t match up with the rest of my body. I feel like, because of my sport, I am a bit disproportioned. I was more worried about looking odd,” she jokes.
This article originally ran on Women’s Health. Click here to see the full article with more photos and tips from the Olympian.
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/marlen-esparza.jpg479600Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2014-02-07 00:25:162014-11-19 11:49:13Posing Nude in a Boxing Ring
Rachael vs Guy, Season 3 with Herschel Walker and contestants
It’s been more than 15 years since the man retired from the NFL, but to say that Herschel Walker has a lot on his plate these days is a gross understatement. The 2x Pro Bowl and Heisman winner has recently continued his reality television career on a celebrity cooking competition as the largest contestant on Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-off on the Food Network.
Rachael Ray and Guy Fieri returned for their third season this month to mentor and coach eight celebrities including 51-year-old Walker who landed a spot on Team Guy, along with teammates Vanilla Ice, Chris Kattan and ’80s pop-singer Tiffany. “I started out wanting to be on Rachael’s team, then I saw Guy driving that old Camaro and I love old cars, so I decided I wanted to be on Guy’s team,” Walker says.
“When I first heard about the Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off, I thought it was just going to be a cooking demonstration,” he admits, “Until I realized it was a competition and then I got excited because I love competition and I always thought I could cook.”
Walker is notorious as a man of many talents that extend far beyond football — including the U.S. Olympic bobsledding team (which he attributes to his sprinting abilities), MMA, dancing, entrepreneur and businessman, reality TV star, and now cooking. While competitive cooking may be new for Walker, cooking in general is something he’s grown up around.
“Being in the south, my mom has always told the boys to cook. I remember as a little boy we were always in the kitchen with my mom, always making apple or peach tart and she showed me how to do that. All the young kids always knew how to cook. Whenever your parents left, you had to cook for them, so I remember baking biscuits and breads for them. Going on the show I wanted to put that little Southern-style twist in, so I think that helped me out a great deal,” Herschel says of his upbringing in the kitchen, being one of seven kids.
Something else that might surprise you, based on his size and the amount of time he spent in Texas (playing for the Dallas Cowboys), Walker doesn’t eat meat. While he’s not a “full-on vegetarian,” he just doesn’t prefer it. Instead he likes things like black-eyed peas and collard greens — those Southern-style dishes he grew up on.
“It’s funny because I have a chicken company that I’ve had for 14 years,” Walker says, “So it’s kind of hard. I used to eat steak like 20 years ago and today I don’t eat it at all. Being on the show was kind of interesting because a lot of my fans are like ‘how are you going to cook those dishes if you don’t eat them?’ But I know about flavor,” he adds noting the importance.
Walker isn’t the only guy on the show averse to meat — Vanilla Ice is also a vegetarian. “It’s going to freak you out to see the things this guy (Vanilla Ice) can do on a cooking show. This guy, he’s a vegetarian — he doesn’t cook any of that (meat), but he’s very competitive and he can make very good items. I tell you what — he was a ninja with the tofu.”
Herschel Walker is all smiles here
“I fell in love with the guy — I thought man, this guy’s cool. I watched him from afar and always thought he had a lot of talent. Watching how he associates with his fans, I thought, that’s a cool dude right there.” Walker says of his teammate who can do more than rap compelling lyrics.
The Celebrity Cook-Off, though a reality show by the very definition, isn’t the dramatic wreck one associates with that term, but if there was one contestant bringing a little bit of drama, Walker says it was Chris Kattan, actor and comedian from SNL. “He was a funny, funny guy and I tell you what, he was a little bit of drama,” Walker laughs. “As for drama that people will get excited about, we have to go into a grocery store, I was sort of lost; you only had a certain amount of time. That was drama — I don’t shop, I don’t know where to find olives — are they in the freezer, are they on the shelf?”
He even goes as far as to say a grocery store is more stressful than a defensive tackle coming straight for him. “You’re going to laugh, I think going to the grocery store is more stressful. I’m used to that 300-lb. guy. I can get around him, I’m faster, I can out-maneuver him. When you’re in football you have that helmet and big ole pads on, and you’re hiding. When you’re in the grocery store, they can see you stressed out, they see your face.”
Part of winning a show like this is being able to handle those other parts of cooking, like grocery shopping and cleaning up your mess — two things Walker says he’d rather not do. “I’m one of those guys who doesn’t want to clean up in the kitchen. Instead of going back and forth to the pantry, one of the things I’ve learned is to bring everything you need over to your station so you’re not wandering around. Instead, you try to reserve that time,” he says noting how stressful the timed competitions can be.
No stranger to fans cheering him on in any one of the many endeavors he chooses, Walker says his mother has become a big fan of the cooking showdown and is sending him tips along the way. “My mom called me after the shows and said These are the funniest shows I’ve ever seen.’ I said, ‘They are cooking shows, how are they funny?’ She said ‘You just look like you don’t know what you’re doing!’”
Walker admits she’s much more enthusiastic about seeing him on TV like this than she ever was while he was on the football field. “My mom has never been excited about me playing football. She always worried I’d get hurt or hurt someone else. But this here, she sees her son doing something she enjoys, something she taught me to do. She loves seeing this,” Walker says. “She is still teaching me. That is one thing being on this show did for me — this show has taught me to be a better cook. My knife skills have really improved. If Guy hadn’t stopped to show me how to use a knife, I’d probably have already lost my fingers,” he jokes.
But back to Vanilla Ice and his mouth-watering tofu. “I didn’t know tofu could taste so good! But then Vanilla Ice put some kind of sauce on the tofu and you could make a burger, a hotdog with tofu — it shocked me.
“I think cooking is exciting, because you learn something new. I didn’t know how to tone something down when it’s too spicy — I used to think all you had to do was drink a lot of water, but there are things you can use to tone it down. Guy is teaching me those little tips,” he says.
As for competition, it’s no secret the former running back is one of the toughest competitors around, and these culinary challenges are no exception. “I was happy to see Tiffany on my team. She has a lot of good qualities, people know Tiffany with that big voice and she can really sing, but she can really cook too. That’s what she does at home — she has parties all the time, she prepares meals. Seeing Florence Henderson, she’s the Brady Bunch, she got darn six kids, so she gotta be able to cook when you got that many kids — you know Alice ain’t cooking all the time, she’s cooking,” Walker jokes.
“It is so competitive, I’m studying my opponent, seeing where they are strong and where they are weak. I at first thought the weakest one would be Vanilla Ice — no one likes tofu — until the beginning of the competition he made something with tofu and he wanted me to taste it. I didn’t want to taste it but I didn’t want to insult the dude, but that junk was good. I thought oh crap! I was shocked that everyone came into the competition prepared,” he says.
Walker takes his limited amount of time on these six episodes seriously, as he does all his various other talents. “It’s not that I’m good at so many things, it’s just that I try so many things. I’m very open and I tell young kids they should do that. If you can talk it, you gotta be able to walk it. Don’t try to make your kids do one sport, give them an opportunity to do a lot of things — that’s what’s going to make you a better person. Growing up, I was a little bit over weight, and kids always made fun. One thing I decided at that time is that I would always try, no matter what. I would always try and work hard. And when I’m into any one thing, I focus on what I’m doing — I go out and study it, work hard, try to get good at it. I’m not going to say I’m great — whether it’s MMA, football, Olympics, cooking — during the cooking show, you’ll be shocked how many times you see me Googling recipes and pictures and trying to learn. There is always someone else that is better. I gotta get better as well.”
Believe it or not, Walker sees a lot of similarities between football and cooking: the first quarter is where you’re either mixing or chopping and the game is just getting started, but the fourth quarter is the time to step it up and score that final touchdown when the judges taste your food.
As for why you might tune in to this particular reality competition show, Walker puts it simply: “Everyone that watches the Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off, you’ll see me, a big football player, making very delicate things with my hands — turnovers, lettuce wraps, and more. People are going to see that Herschel Walker is more than a football player and just a good-looking face,” he quips.
But does the big guy have what it takes to win it all to join the ranks of past season winners Lou Diamond Philips and Dean McDermott? Tune in to Food Network to find out who takes the cake. Or the tofu.
This article originally ran on CBS Man Cave Daily under the sport’s section. Click here to see the original article including photos.
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/herschel-walker.jpg375500Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2014-02-04 00:14:392014-11-19 11:50:53Herschel Walker Has A Lot On His Plate
The Denver Broncos are headed to their 7th Super Bowl, 3rd most in NFL history, behind only the Steelers and Cowboys, who each have eight appearances under their bedazzled belts. You may think you’re prepared for the Super Bowl with your gluten-free wings and Lime-A-Ritas in tote, but get your manicured foam fingers ready with this helpful Broncos 101:
John Elway Era:
– Former QB John Elway (now Executive VP of the Broncos) led the Broncos to five Super Bowl appearances between 1986 & 1998 – tied with Tom Brady for most by a QB.
– Denver lost their first four Super Bowls, including three in four years (’86, ’87, ’89) with Elway as QB, by a combined score of 163-50.
– Denver lost Super Bowl XXIV to San Francisco 55-10, which is the biggest blowout in the Super Bowl’s 48-year history. This game also holds the SB record for most TDs (8), although only one belonged to the Broncos. *Fun note, this game was also parodied on an episode of the Simpson’s where Homer fantasized about being John Elway.
– The Broncos Super Bowl victory in 1998 was the last game of Elway’s career; he was also named MVP.
Peyton Manning Era:
– Broncos were 0-4 in the Super Bowl until the 1997 season when they changed their logo and uniforms, and have been undefeated in SBs since, proving high fashion helps you score in more ways than one!
– If they weren’t headed to the Super Bowl, five Broncos would have gone to the Pro Bowl: Peyton Manning, Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Matt Prater, Louis Vasquez
– Thunder, the Arabian gelding serving as the Broncos mascot will also be in attendance at MetLife Stadium for the big game. The 900-pound horse will be flown out on a cargo plane in the same manner Olympic horses are transferred.
Although the Broncos overall Super Bowl record is 2-4 (having only beat the Packers in ’98 and the Falcons in ’99), according to pretty much every source in Vegas, they are favored to beat the Seahawks and Manning is already a big favorite to win the MVP.
*And if you’re looking for girly drink recipes, be sure to check out Lime-A-Rita, which is a big Super Bowl drink of
Straw-ber-rita jello shots for the Super Bowl!
choice for women this year (still with 8% alcohol!). Here are some drink recipes to check out.
* Still looking for Super Bowl game day attire? Check out these Junk Food tees specifically for the Super Bowl – it’s a brand sold at Nordstorm and Bloomingldays, very cute and super comfy – my absolute fave game day shirts!
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/1558551_647735131954512_1533803759_n.jpg816612Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2014-02-01 14:50:412014-11-19 11:53:04Manning the Super Bowl