I'm 30!

We are three weeks into the New Year and my do I seem like a new lady! Just kidding, I really don't, but I am happy to look back at 2018 and see all of the challenges and stress that was endured and really feel like it all was worth it. I have the kindest boyfriend that has stuck with me for two years, a supportive family, wonderful friends and gratefully, an awesome job. Woohoo! Today, I'm 30, (as of the 8th), and my I can't believe it--where did time go? Well, last week while I was celebrating, my boyfriend and I were able to take advantage of a Pilates class courtesy of Logan Square Pilates, sponsored by Monarch Thrift Shop and hot damn it was quite the experience!

A little about Monarch Thrift Shop; Monarch is a second-hand palace (in my opinion) that truly has the best selection of items at a great price. I have purchased SO many cool items from the shop and couldn't be more grateful for their kindness, care and curated collections. Monarch Thrift is an oasis that you can head to to find furniture, books, kitchen supplies, jewelry and even active wear- ooo lala! With that said, my boyfriend and I definitely took advantage of finding some cool-ass pieces from Monarch that we could try out in our first Pilates class. As many of you know, I am a HUGE advocate of second-hand fashion because it reduces your carbon footprint, and how cool is it to have an item that can tell a story? Jared and I both picked up two shirts, pictured below, and I also picked up a third item for future wear, too! My tee from Monarch is Under Armour (one of my favorite active wear brands), and Jared's tee as you can see is Nike. J is a big man so the fact that we found him something that fits but he looks fly as heeelll in is the best!

The Pilates class we took was rather interesting, it was an "equipment" class where we had an amazing instructor that taught us how to use various Pilates Equipment. Next time I think we will do a mat class but this truly was such a cool experience. I love how Pilates gives us varying tools that we can use for strength training, and often time the tools we are using are our own bodies!