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Hi Darlings, We are currently on our way back home and stopped in Salt Lake City last night to rest up. We left home last Saturday and have been having the most amazing time. If you have not taken a road trip before you really should plan one.  On our way to our destination (Nebraska) to visit my mother in law, and attend her 70th birthday party we drove and visited Arizona, Utah, Colorado and of course Omaha, where we spent 4 days. Now we have started heading back home. There are so many pictures that I think I will just break up the pics into several posts, starting with Arizona and our visit to the Grand Canyon. We should be back home tomorrow morning and then I am back to my usual fab postings! I have missed you guys. click on images to enlarge 2014 Mimi G’s Sewing Fashion & Style Conference Sponsors MICHAEL LEVINE, INC, SIMPLICITY CREATIVE GROUP, SULKY, ROBERT KAUFMAN FABRICS, FISKARS, AURFIL, PRETTY GIRLS SEW #Utah #Nebraska #roadtrip #GrandCanyon #family #Arizona #Colorado

Hi Darlings, Happy 4th of July! I am on my way out the door to enjoy this wonderful day but I wanted to give you something to do this weekend….SEW!! I thought I would give you an incentive by way of a coupon code 😉 All of my tutorials are step by step videos that teaches in beginner terms for all to understand. If you have ever wanted to learn this is how to do it! Have a wonderful day. HEAD TO THE STORE NOW ends monday

Hi Darlings, Happy 4th of July! I am on my way out the door to enjoy this wonderful day but I wanted to give you something to do this weekend….SEW!! I thought I would give you an incentive by way of a coupon code 😉 All of my tutorials are step by step videos that teaches in beginner terms for all to understand. If you have ever wanted to learn this is how to do it! Have a wonderful day. HEAD TO THE STORE NOW

Hi Darlings, I can’t believe that my 3rd Annual Fashion, Sewing & Style Conference is just 17 days away! I am also pleased to say that I have a handful of tickets available for purchase!! When I opened registration in February this year I sold out in less than 24hrs!!! which was amazing. Since then, I have had so many of you email requesting to purchase tickets but I had to wait until now to release the final tickets based on availability, and thanks to the JW Marriott who has been able to accommodate the additional seats. There are only a handful of open seats left so you must register quickly before they are all gone!  HERE is the link to REGISTRATION. For info on the conference you can go HERE I am also thrilled to announce the most recent addition to our  list of sponsors. These are all amazing brands that I have worked with and/or have used their products over the years. I am so excited to have them on board! Please make sure to visit their sites (by clicking the web link) and familiarize yourself if you don’t already know them. SIMPLICITY WEBSITE MICHAEL LEVINE WEBSITE FISKARS WEBSITE ROBERT KAUFMAN FABRICS WEBSITE SULKY BLOG AURIFIL PRETTY GIRLS SEW BLOG #conference #event #SFS2014 #sponsors

Hi Darlings, it is that time again where we get to enjoy post full of knowledge from our very own Cynthia, but before we get to that I wanted to quickly mention that tomorrows post will be a combination of  two things. I will be announcing some of this years special sponsors of the 3rd Annual Mimi G Sewing fashion & Style Conference 2014 and if you missed registration tomorrow is your lucky day. See you tomorrow! xoxo We all know high intensity interval training is the holy grail of calorie burn. The how it works and the why it works has various schools of thought behind it. High-intensity interval training ( HIIT) describes any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of less-intense activity or even complete rest. For example, a good starter workout is running as fast as you can for 1 minute and then walking for 2 minutes. Repeat that 3-minute interval five times for a 15-minute fat blasting workout. When we think HIIT, we think of T25, Insanity, P90X, Bootcamp, Tabata as some of the mainstream HIIT type workouts. But there are many other forms of HIIT type training being done everywhere. For example, I teach a combo resistance training, HIIT cardio class. I call that class FIT HIIT (ok just a name to put in the local Y brochure) but has all the components of HIIT. It sounds simple, sometimes too simple to be very effective but science does not stretch the truth. It works because during the movements you, of course, burn calories, however the extreme exertion kicks your body’s repair cycle into hyper drive. The means you burn more fat and calories in the 24 hours after a HIIT workout than you do, say, after a steady paced cardio class. Most of us are not used to pushing into the anaerobic zone. The anaerobic zone being that “place” during exercise where it is difficult to breath and you feel like your heart is pumping at a gazillion beats per minute. You can’t think, all you can do is try to breath. Remember though that reaching the anaerobic zone is relative to your fitness level, meaning what it takes to get me there may be different than what it takes to get you there. The reality is that you have to push and it is hard it doesn’t feel very good for that 1 minute. But it is only a minute and as my Bootcamp instructor says “you can do anything for 1 minute.” HIIT training cannot be done everyday as the breakdown and the repair of muscles is much to intense to do daily. Two to three times per week is sufficient to sustain results and to give the body time to repair and heal. Your results from doing HIIT type workouts can and will vary from getting faster, stronger, building muscle to losing fat and reducing in inches. If you have been on a diet, you know that it is hard to not lose muscle mass along with fat. While steady state cardio seems to encourage muscle loss, studies show that both weight training and HIIT workouts allow for the preservation of your hard-earned muscles while ensuring most of the weight lost comes from fat stores. Win freaking win – right? Running, sprinting, biking, jump rope, mountain climbers, pushups, burpees (yall remember these right) , plyometric movements and rowing all work great for HIIT. Equipment is not necessary for HIIT to get it done.. High knees, fast feet, or anything plyometric like jumping lunges work just as well to get your heart rate up fast. When equipment like dumbbells or kettlebells are used, they are used during the cycles of “recovery or less intense work” where the focus is bringing the heart rate down a bit before moving on to the next exercise or circuit. In addition to increased fat burning and more muscle preserved, HIIT stimulates production of your human growth hormone (HGH) during the 24 hours after you finish your workout. This is wonderful news since HGH is not only responsible for increased caloric burn but also slows down the aging process, making you younger both inside and out. WARNING: HGH supplements do not give you this same effect. You can do it in a boat, you can do it with a goat, you can do it on a train, and you can do it in a plane. You can do it here or there, you can do it anywhere – Dr. Seuss would have loved HIIT. OK, silliness aside you really can do it anywhere inside or out adapting it to whatever time and space constraints you have. This is not a workout you can do while reading a magazine or chatting with your friend or on your cell (who does that anyway). Because it’s so short, you will be working hard the whole time. The trade-off is this format offers seasoned exercisers a new challenge and new exercisers a quick way to see results. You may be in pain (not bad pain just muscles working beyond what they are accustomed too), you may be sucking wind, but you definitely will not be bored. I encourage you to find a class because hitting that anaerobic zone alone is hard to do – we tend to quit before it gets that difficult. Super-efficient HIIT is the ideal workout for a busy schedule— research shows you can achieve more progress in a mere 15 minutes of interval training (done three times a week) than the girl jogging on the treadmill for an hour. Go into any HIIT type situation with an open mind and you will be surprised at how tough you really are.   This morning as I did Bootcamp, and I love my instructor, I was thinking what makes this class 1) so popular and 2) so successful. This class is super popular as everyone in that class has reached 1, 2 or 3 of the goals they had set. Many of us have been taking the class for years, swear by it. So I see individuals who came in and could not run – can run now and run fast or run miles. Or individuals that could not lift a 5 lb dumbbell now are using 15lbs for some exercises. Or women who could not do 1 push up now do 20 non stop. Or a runner with a 9 minute mile, shave 1 – 2 minutes off that mile time. We are walking billboards of what HIIT can do for you. One lady has lost an entire person, she came obese and is down 100+ pounds (ok that is a guess but she looks like she . So it is popular because the benefits are written all over those of us who take the class. Another reason it is popular is that there are very few injuries because the instructor is serious about proper form and appropriate shoes. This class is super successful because the instructor makes it challenging for everyone. So there are actual athletes who play on sports teams in the class, as well as individuals new to exercise. Oh there are 2 women in the class over age 65 – yes over age 65. The instructor will show the circuit and will show modifications to make a move less intense or more intense, encouraging you to work at a level suitable for you but he always says “don’t short change yourself… if you can do more do it.” Find a HIIT class in your area with an outstanding instructor and go go go for the calorie burn. Remember consistency is key Life is going to happen, live it, love it, embrace it and make a daily workout part of your plan. Until we meet again.. yours in fitness Cynthia #cardio #Cynthia #HIIT #workout

Hi Darlings and happy Monday! We are actually on the road this week having a family vacation of sorts. We love a good road trip, so we headed out on Saturday to my hubby’s home town for his mom’s 70th birthday bash. We live in Cali, as most of you know, and since we are headed to Nebraska we decided to stop at the Grand Canyon on our way out so the kids could experience just how majestic it is. Today we are headed to Colorado so off we go! wish us well and I will update you guys via my IG account . The dress is one I wore on Friday for a breakfast meeting. The dress was inspired from a Pinterest pin I came across (below). If you are a decent pattern maker or “franken-pattern maker” you can figure it using a basic sheath dress and looking at the calculations on the site. I had a sloper which is my go-to sheath, so I just removed the darts and created the white inserts.  My shoes are Steve Madden and I used a Black Double Knit HERE and a White Double Knit HERE for this dress. This is the Pinterest pic that I came across. It took me all of 20 minutes to re-draft my sloper #sheath #black #stevemadden #Dress #white

Hi Darlings, I am happy to share that the “FRONT SLIT MAXI TUTORIAL”  is up! you can purchase the tutorial in the STORE. I also wanted to mention that the original dress had a faux wrap back which was pretty low cut and many of you were hoping for a full more bra friendly option so I obliged. There are two options in the tutorial and you can choose which you’d like to do. Fabric links, tools and more are in the tutorial so make sure to log in after purchase and review the list before getting started. ORDER NOW! ORDER NOW #frontslitmaxi #grey #tutorial #hotpink #maxidress

Hi Darlings, I am super excited to say that tomorrow I will posting the “Front Slit Maxi Tutorial” I had been trying to squeeze in time to film on top of conference stuff, so I feel a sense of relief that manage to do it before the month ended. I also wanted to mention that I have a few tickets to the conference up for grabs, but I will post about it next week. Lastly, if you have not already signed up in the sidebar to get  posting notifications via email you really should, so you don’t miss anything and make sure to check out the new  Mimi G tee’s, your support helps in more ways than you know. Today’s look is pretty casual, one of my favorite things to wear are jeans and white top or tank. It is so classic to me and easy to dress up. for deers just click the links below. Gap Jeans  (similar) HERE/ Steve Madden Heels HERE / Zara Tank  (similar) HERE/ Steve Madden Sunnies / Clutch (old) #clutch #Jeans #tank #gap #stevemadden #zara #heels #neon

Hi Darlings, I am sharing another look at my week in insta-view for two reasons: 1. I am filming a new tutorial today and have little time for posting 2.  I have followers who are not on IG, so this is my way of sharing the more personal side of my life. I will see you guys tomorrow!! I love when I get gifts from brands/shows I work with, especially when the gift is on behalf of “Orange Is The New Black” which is such a great show! Thanks Netflix and OITNB. I had a lot of fun looking through the box and even had a moment of nostalgia remembering my cousins and I eating candy cigarettes, which in retrospect now seems so not appropriate, LOL The tattoos are hilarious and I will be using my sweatshirt and prison sandals. xo If you are not on IG you probably have not noticed my recent #shoefie postings. It’s fun to share the selfie light with my shoes. Here is my GORGEOUS birthday girl. Of course I posted a pic of me and the hubby, it’s what we do 😉 This is the funniest picture, lol. We were at Claire’s and I saw this ponytail headband and had to try it on. Someone on IG said I looked like the little girl in Monsters Inc. Here she is again 😉 I got two pictures in one day! and she smiled! lol Black and white #selfie Side view #selfie Amazing preview of @maisonvalentino resort collection. #musthave#ilovecolor I was at Target and my son says to me “look mom Will Smiths grandma” LOL!! #family #instagram #instaview #recap

Hi Darlings, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I had a grand time with my family this weekend as we celebrated our 11 year old’s birthday. She is such a cutie pie and really shy when it comes to the camera, but I manage to snap a pic or two of her which you can see on my Instagram HERE. I tried to get a little sewing in this weekend so I could have a new dress to wear for church on Sunday, but it just did not happen. Instead I pulled out a dress from last year which I had not worn to church before and off we went to give thanks! In the event that you missed the earlier posting of the NEW Mimi G Swag Tee’s make sure to check it out HERE London Trash Heels HERE / Aldo Nude Patent Leather Clutch HERE / Pattern & Fabric (below) Pattern Description: V8919 View A Pullover dress (close-fitting through bust) has seam detail, and stitched hems. Fabric Used: Textured Crepe Double Knit (similar) HERE, HERE and HERE (use code “mimig1h2014“) Pattern Sizing: I cut the 8 Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done? Yes Were the instructions easy to follow? YES! this is such an easy dress to make. I didn’t need the instructions but I did review them and they were clear. It sews up really fast and is a great beginner pattern for any Vogue pattern virgins. What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I just liked it and when I made it I needed an easy no brainer sewing project and this was perfect. Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: None. I did have to remove a 2” of ease from the waist. Would you sew it again? I might one day, yes. Would you recommend it to others? Yes I would.

Hi Darlings, I am happy to share all new tee’s for Mimi G Style. The profits from the t-shirt sales will be going towards new tutorials and giveaways! If you are attending the conference this year now you can get a conference tee to wear! We are hoping everyone will be rocking a new tee and representing. I love you so much for all the support. Please check out the online shop HERE Also!! now you can subscribe to the blog via email. Look in the sidebar and sign up to receive new Mimi G posting notifications to your email. [Best_Wordpress_Gallery gallery_type=”thumbnails” theme_id=”1″ gallery_id=”4″ sort_by=”order” order_by=”asc” show_search_box=”0″ search_box_width=”180″ image_column_number=”5″ images_per_page=”30″ image_title=”none” image_enable_page=”1″ thumb_width=”280″ thumb_height=”280″ thumb_click_action=”undefined” thumb_link_target=”undefined” popup_fullscreen=”0″ popup_autoplay=”0″ popup_width=”800″ popup_height=”500″ popup_effect=”fade” popup_interval=”5″ popup_enable_filmstrip=”1″ popup_filmstrip_height=”70″ popup_enable_ctrl_btn=”1″ popup_enable_fullscreen=”1″ popup_enable_info=”1″ popup_info_always_show=”0″ popup_enable_rate=”0″ popup_enable_comment=”1″ popup_hit_counter=”0″ popup_enable_facebook=”1″ popup_enable_twitter=”1″ popup_enable_google=”1″ popup_enable_pinterest=”0″ popup_enable_tumblr=”0″ watermark_type=”none” watermark_link=”http://web-dorado.com”] #swag #tshirts

Hi Darlings, It is that time again. My latest DIY sew-along for Michael Levine is up and it is super cute! We are working with a McCall sleepwear pattern, and since I love adding a twist, I added a modification to our romper sew along and made a super cute tank dress. This is an easy and great tutorial for getting the most out of a commercial sleepwear pattern. Head over to the Michael Levine BLOG to watch the tutorial. This romper is probably one of the favorite things I have made for myself. It is beyond comfy and fast to make. I will be adding several of these to my sleepwear attire and depending on the fabric you can make this little romper to wear out and about. I also love how it easily coverts to a cute little dress with my modification. It’s a great example of how you can turn a sleepwear pattern into a fab dress by looking beyond the pattern envelope. #romper #sewalong #tutorial #mccalls #tank #michaellevine #Dress