We’re Back!!

Hey Strangers!

It’s been just over a month but Phil and I are finally back on the west coast and getting into the swing of married life! We had an absolutely perfect wedding, blissful honeymoon, and now it’s time for me to figure out this whole wife thing, haha! But seriously, now that we’re home in San Francisco I have taken on a regular teaching schedule and really need to work on building my business. I am thrilled to be teaching at Moxie, both Nob Hill & Mission locations, but am looking to build up a broader private & corporate client base.My amazing husband is supporting me in the pursuit of my dream and it’s up to me to take advantage of the opportunity in front of me! Over the next month or two I will be working on weekly content in the hopes of launching a more functional site in 2016.I will post once a week between now and then with updates on how things are going, what I am thinking in terms of reoccurring content, and little tidbits from the honeymoon, wedding & yoga teaching.

’til next time, keep smiling! 🙂

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Wedding Rings and Yoga Things

Happy Hump Day!

Phil and I went wedding band shopping the other day…totally crazy! I know our wedding is like a month away so it shouldn’t be so surprising BUT there was suddenly this feeling of “WOW, this is really happening!” There was something about putting that band on that made things feel REAL…I can’t wait to be Colleen April! Anyway, we’re working towards the wedding day by day and last week I shared our skin prep secret – Lush face masks, so totally amazing! This week I’m sharing a little about how we’re working towards our wedding ready bods! Coupled with regular yoga (duh!) I am keeping things interesting with different forms of cardio – cycling, interval training, light jogging, and today I’m jumping into The November Project. I am not sure what to expect but I’m looking forward to the adventure!In other news, I have been enjoying teaching yoga in San Francisco and can’t wait to teach more and more. I get so nervous each time I teach – questioning my flows, beating myself up if I stumble over my words, worrying if people hate it – but the more I put myself out there the less I question, beat myself up and worry. Tonight I am teaching my first corporate yoga class and I hope it’s the first of many! I know if I keep putting myself out there and takings steps forward, good things will continue to unfold!As a fun little yogi motivation this month, I’m doing an Instachallenge! Chicago Yoga Lab’s September Splits Bits Info Challenge to be exact…day 1 is in the books and I would love it if you’d follow along this month on my Instagram!!

’till next time, keep smiling!! 🙂

Such a Lush

Happy Hump Day Friends!

Phil and I have about 40 days until we get married and we’re working hard to look our very best! One of the things we are doing is a Lush face mask every other night.

I have tried so many different things for my skincare and I have finally settled on Lush for all my skincare needs – I love it, and so does Phil! All of their products (or most of them anyway) are food grade and 100% natural. Lush never tests it’s products on animals and the company works to make sure the farms/farmers they work with are well treated. I use their face wash, toner, syrum, face lotion, body bar, body conditioner, buffy bar, etc.. and they’re all fabulous, but we’re both obsessed with their face masks!

Whether you’re looking for something to help with breakouts, calm skin after too much fun, even tone, or just need a pick me up…there’s a mask for that! In the photo above Phil is sporting Cosmetic Catastrophe and I have Brazened Honey on my face BUT we are also huge fans of Love Lettuce, BB Seaweed, The Scared Truth and Oatfix (though it smells sooo much like banana bread it’s hard not to eat it off your face!)

We’ll be continuing this little ritual from now until the big day…and maybe beyond!!!

In other news, I taught my first Bay Area yoga class yesterday!! I was definitely very nervous but there was a strong turn out and it went really well! I can’t wait to tackle more classes here in SF.

’til next time, keep smiling! 🙂

Real Talk

Happy Monday Friends!

We’re nearing the end of July and I, for one, have no clue where the time has gone! There are less than 80 days until Phil and I get married…can you believe that?!? We have so much to do but I am happy to say we’ve successfully checked off A LOT: the cake is done, my dresses are ready to go, invitations are going out curtesy of my mother, sister, aunts and other helping hands, the music (for the most part) has been worked out with the band, and we’re figuring out wedding band designs – but trust me, we’ve got much more to accomplish between now and October. One more thing I have started to do is drink more warm apple cider & lemon water first thing each day, I feel like this is my best way to kick start a healthy day! 

I celebrated my bachelorette the other weekend – IT WAS AMAZING! My sister and bridesmaids spoiled me rotten and I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. We did EVERYTHING from relax at the spa to close down the club and had the best time doing it! I was so sad to say goodbye to everyone but glad to see Phil when I got home. 

Speaking of, he and I have been doing lots of little things to prep for the wedding and I can’t wait to share!

’til next time, keep smiling! 🙂

Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays!

Things have been busier than ever this holiday season! With about 38 days until we officially move to San Francisco I have been apartment hunting in between biscotti batches, searching for movers as my cinnamon bun dough rises & planning how to pack as the granola bakes!! I’m totally looking forward to family time Wednesday evening and Thursday, I just have to finish that pesky little shopping thing first!

Now that we’ll be planning our wedding from across the country I am trying get 101015 things done before we leave: get the sketch and my mother’s dress to a seamstress so she can get to work on the redesign (that’s right, I’m wearing my mother’s dress down the aisle), figure out Pre-Cana so we can get married in the church, finalize the room block for the hotel and make sure the venue can schedule a private tasting for us when we come home for Phil’s brother’s wedding in June…

…did I even mention my fiance’s brother got engaged a little while after us and is getting married in June?!?!?! yea, that happened, so its going to be a year full of fun and travel in 2015. 

I’m also doing my best not to fall behind on my 200hr TT with Yoga Medicine. Tiffany was gracious enough to give us a little break this week which means Colleen will be cramming two weeks of Sanskrit lessons into whatever morsels of free time are left. I have been steadily teaching 1-2 times a week which I love & have been taking steps each day to move me in the right direction…every little bit counts!

I know January will need to be well planned to accomplish everything left to do with the wedding, 200hr TT, and move but nothing worth it is ever easy & I’d say this is ALL worth it!

‘Til next time, keep smiling! 🙂

Guess what…

Hey Friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Phil and I had a lot of fun doing Paddle Board Yoga, BBQing with friends and family, and making plans for our wedding…Oh yea, I’M ENGAGED! I’ve been so MIA lately because Phil and I got engaged June 28th & its just been a whirlwind! On top of our exciting news, my sister is pregnant so I am going to be an AUNT! Who is more blessed than me, right?!?!?! I can’t believe I am going to be a wife and an aunt…Holy Moly!

The next year is going to be a busy one with planning a wedding, doing my yoga teacher training, continuing to build my health coaching expertise, working full time, helping my sister & taking care of our new home since Phil and I will be moving into our very own place next month!I promise I will do my best not to talk about weddings all the time but I know I will be adding little tidbits along the way to chronicle my wedding planning process! More exciting is going to be my wedding work out/diet routine. Phil and I have agreed once we move into our place Aug. 1 we go into ‘sweating for the wedding’ mode & getting back to our healthiest selves!

We’ve both been maintaining pretty healthy diet and exercise routines but definitely find excuses to slack on the cardio and indulge in the vino, haha, but that’s life, right?!?! Tomorrow I’ll be sharing my most recent bulubox review & plans for the coming weeks in terms of yoga routine, so until next time…SMILE!

Sweet Sweet Love

There is nothing quite like a wedding to remind you of how deliciously sweet love can be! I am in the throws of many wedding celebrations but this weekend was a huge reminder of the importance of sharing love with family and friends.

While the better, richer, and healthier times don’t test love’s bond quite as much as the worse, poorer nor sick times, supporting each other through everyday challenges is what loves all about!

Whether its the love of a newly married couple or the love of friends and family, never forget how sweet it is!