Something else that I've decided to start recently is Yoga ! My mom has been doing yoga for years, and it seems to benefit her in so many ways. Not only has it kept her body in pristine conditions, she says it makes her more flexible, feel happier, and just generally be healthier. 

So after watching her go to Yoga classes daily, and also following the occasional youtube video when I'm feeling stressed, I've decided to join a class. 

I've done hot yoga once with my mom (she does it at Bikrams) and it was... not fun. I honestly didn't really enjoy it. I blame it on my claustrophobia. The room was filled with sweaty bodies and the heat cranked up so high, I felt like I couldn't breathe. SOOOO after that experience, it kind of turned me off the idea for a while. 

And then recently, out of sheer boredom, a friend and I decided to do some yoga for fun. I'm not going to lie, we smoked up a little beforehand, so it made it VERY fun and relaxing, but even after that day, everytime I've done yoga myself at home, I've felt significantly happier and more relaxed afterwards. 

After some research, I found this Yoga studio a couple of blocks away from my house. They've got this introductory membership for newbies that seems pretty appealing. 

The deal is you pay 99 dollars for unlimited yoga for 9 weeks as a trial. Which seems like a pretty good deal if you ask me, since my mother pays 120 a month for Bikrams. 

And then after your 9 week trial period is up, you can choose between two different unlimited memberships or 3 different session pass bundles. 

If I decide I like this whole yoga thing after my trial period , I will probably continue with one of the unlimited monthly bundles since they seem to be the best deal. If you want to check out their prices, the link is http://sh.st/uBb22

My first day : 

I decided to try out the 9:30 am Hatha yoga class for my first day. Early, I know, but I wanted to start getting in the habit of getting up early (my body automatically wakes me up pretty early, but I just stay in bed for another hour or so) and getting my day started.

So I got up bright and early and headed to the yoga studio. It wasn't quite what I expected. When I went to Bikram's with my mom, it was quite a big facility. I walked in and there was the teacher sitting at a desk by the door. So I talked to her for a bit, got signed up, paid for my trial period, and got a little tour. It was pretty much one big room with big open windows, and a very open floor plan. There were two small "rooms". One was where all the equipment was kept, and the other was where the refreshments, tea, snacks and water was kept. 

For equipment they provide you with mats and bolsters and bricks and straps and whatever else you could need. Which I thought was a very nice touch considering usually you'd have to pay a little extra to rent the equipment. 

Because it was my first time, I felt a little out of place. Everyone in the class seemed quite a bit older than me.  It's not like I haven't done yoga before, but I usually do it in the comfort of my own home. So being around all these adults, I was a little intimidated. 

I think I was nervous for no reason though because it's yoga for crying out loud. It's the most chill, meditative, relaxing, worry-less exercise. As soon as the class started, I just focused all my attention to the directions that the teacher was giving me, and just kind of forgot about everything else. 

Overall I had a pretty good first day I would say. My body was definitely not used to being up and going at it that early, and I had to go home and take a little nap after my very relaxing class. But I like that they have classes so early, because being finished with yoga at 10:30 really helps with starting the day positively, and also still gives you loads of time to do whatever you need to do for the rest of the day. 

I'm excited to go again and start making a habit out of it. 

For me personally, I'm going to keep sticking with the 9 / 9:30 classes or the 10 / 10:30 classes. I love that it leaves me with so much time to other stuff, but I still want to give myself sleep in time every once in a while :3

So on those days that I need a little extra TLC in the beauty sleep department, I'll attend the 10 or 10:30 am classes, and start the rest of my day at 11:45. 

overall, I mean it's definitely not this huge company like YYoga or Bikrams, but I really enjoyed my experience at Open Door Yoga. It's really quite a quaint little studio but it gives off that nice "family" vibe. I feel like I would've been even more intimidated going to YYoga due to the sheer popularity and size of their studios. So I'm glad I'm starting my yoga journey here. 

I'll definitely keep you guys updated on how I do. 

If you're in vancouver and thinking about starting yoga, check out Open Door Yoga's website here http://sh.st/u2xaQ

They have 4 different locations to choose from, so I hope you find one close by you (:

More soon,

Wanted to go out for a smoke break half way through my studying and I discovered this cute little message (: Yogi wrote "luv u! (:" on my cig. 

He's a cute one .

Anyways, finally finished my last final today, hip hip hooooray. 

time to do a couple of things. 

1) SLEEP

2) WORK

3) GYM 

4) BOARD

Hoping those four things are exactly what my winter break with consist of. 

Walking along south Granville with my boothang, and we found this cute little shop called West Elm Market. Being the instagram whore that I am, (yes I said it) I've actually seen quite a few pictures of this place but never really thought to check it out. 

The place was beautifully decorated, all stocked with nifty little kitchen supplies and cute decorations. Not to mention the scent of the place when you first walk on... oh man... beauty. It's really quite the delicate little shop and if you haven't already, should most DEFINITELY check it out. 

It's actually got two stores on granville just two shops away from each other. One is a smaller store that contains a cafe inside that serves deliciously made drinks and pastries. The other one, the larger store, just sells home goods and other little deco things. 

Whilst rummaging through all the amazingly packaged and marketed kitchen goods I found this little trophy. Any one else read the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey? Don't deny it, I know you have too. (and loved every second of Ana and Christian's love story). Well FL Fowler here had the great idea of basing an entire cookbook for chicken on the novel. Described as "A young, free-range chicken and a dominating, ravenous chef. A naughty tale of fowl play" how could I have possibly resisted picking this book up and burying my nose in it. But in all honestly though, if you don't mind a little dirty humor and you LOVE cooking (or know someone that fits that description), pick this little dime up for them. Who knows, maybe they'll be so thankful for the hilarious book that you guys get involved in a little foul play yourselves ;) 

Here's one of the signs hung up in the store (: I thought it was absolutely adorable. As you can see the shop is decorated perfectly, with the most holiday themed complimentary colours. It felt so homely and warm and just... nice. It was all just so nice. 

Also picked up some yummy drinks from their cafe. I got the peppermint mocha to celebrate the festive spirit, and yogi got the cafe au lait. I loved my drink, but his was a little bitter for my taste :S he loved it tho apparently (yuck)

 Went to check out their other store afterwards and saw these little gems (: I personally love snowglobes are these are right up my alley. They had some other really cool stuff too like wooden apple keyboards and things made out of mercury glass. If I had the extra cash (and a place to decorate) I would definitely drop by here.

But yeah, that pretty much completes this little adventure (: end you guys off with a picture of beautiful raincity. When we have nice days they're usually absolutely gorgeous. Gotta love this place sometimes.