Most of my fitness things are all about Orangetheory. I love my workouts at Orangetheory and they are my main fitness thing. But it’s always awesome when I get to try something different and especially when that involves some of my friends! So when I heard that some of my friends were going to be attending an upcoming Girls Night Out event by New Balance, I knew I had to join in!
This event was being held at the New Balance in Santa Monica, so it was pretty close to my house. And I carpooled with my friend Elizabeth so I wasn’t alone. I’m always nervous going to events like this because I don’t want to be by myself and unable to find my friends. So knowing that Elizabeth and I would arrive together eased my nerves. And then when we arrived we immediately saw my friend Elisa (who is a part of my Pantages group). So I guess I didn’t need to worry at all!
We took a look at everything around the store since we were told that anything we purchased while we were at the event was 20% off. I would love to get some new shoes, but I don’t have the money to spend on them right now. But looking at all the awesome stuff there was fun and hopefully when I need some new shoes there will be a sale or something. There were also a bunch of different food samples out and I tried out some beef jerky and bacon jerky which was pretty good.
The fitness thing of this event was going to be yoga with Elisa Joan. I was reminded by a friend to bring my yoga mat, but I totally forgot. Elizabeth offered to share her mat with me, but I decided to look in my car to see if I had a beach towel or something. I didn’t have one, but I found my big beach blanket so I grabbed that and brought it with me. We were doing yoga outside the store so I didn’t want to have nothing to protect me from the ground. The blanket was a bit slippery, but it was better than the ground.
The class was pretty awesome! There were a few things that I couldn’t do because of my hip, but most of it is stuff that I’ve been doing in my yoga practice at home. It’s nice that so many of the poses are things that I’m feeling more familiar with since it was an unfamiliar situation. But having something feel like I’m used to really helped me out. It was a bit warm doing yoga outside when the sun was in our faces, but it cooled down quickly once the sun dipped behind the buildings.
There was also a live DJ there for the class and that was a new exciting thing. She played some really great songs and I think that it added to how much I enjoyed the class. And Elise is an amazing yoga teacher and really knew how to make everyone at every yoga level feel comfortable and feel like they had options they could use to challenge themselves.
The class was about an hour and when it was done Elizabeth and I got a chance to chat with Elise a bit. She’s such an inspiring person and I loved getting to talk with her! We talked about our mutual love of theme parks (she’s a Universal and Disney person too!) and some of the health struggles that we both have had. It was so nice that she didn’t try to talk down to me like some fitness instructors have done in the past. I’ve been very lucky with not encountering someone who looks at me and assumes I don’t work out, but it’s always a fear that I’ll deal with that again.
We all headed back inside the store where they were doing a raffle for various things. None of my group had won anything, but that’s ok. The only thing I think I would have wanted would have been the shoes, but I don’t need new shoes right now. But it till would have been fun to win. Elizabeth and I were ready to head out after the raffle was done and we were given a bit of swag (a nice fun new water bottle) as we walked out.
I’m so glad that I was able to attend this event and that I was able to go with some friends. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much without having friends with me because I would have been overwhelmed at it all. I need a buddy with me to keep me calm. And I’m so glad I got to meet Elise and I’m hoping that I can do another yoga class with her again soon! I have been a bit on the fence about doing more yoga classes that aren’t at home since I’ve had some not-so-great experiences, but I think I just need to find the right teacher. And someone like Elise would probably be perfect for me!
I guess I’ll have to look more into classes now and keep seeing where Elise might be teaching next!
You Might Also Like
Yoga Fail (or I’m Trying Not To Judge Based on One Class)
The Tale Of Two Fitness Studios (or Knowing Where Your Home Is)
Yoga With The Balanced Blonde (or A Real Yoga Class)
Magic Castle Fun (or Girls Night Out)
Margaritas and Mexican Food (or Girls Night Out!)
FOX Girls’ Night Out (or Getting To Meet Women I Admire)
