Bali 2.0

I am SO thankful I got to visit Bali again!  I decided to go on another yoga retreat, and everything aligned perfectly.  

One Saturday I decided to take a yoga class and dance class back to back.  Dance was first, and I was met by a young fiery exotic presence (the teacher).  I met Nikki Baksh for the first time and I was impressed.  Dance was so wild, so good, so free, and next up was hot yoga to stretch it all out.  Little did I know Nikki was also the yoga teacher!  WOAH.  This hip hop infused beauty with yoga talk and feels.  I think I have met who I've always wanted to be!  

After class Nikki mentioned she had two spots left on her Bali retreat.....  I was OVERDUE for a proper vacation, and little did I also know this Bali retreat would be just that.  

9 random souls met at Hotel Komune in Bali, Feb 15th, 2018. All strangers, yet all friends of Nikki. The week was set with excursions, a cooking class, sunrise hike, holy water temple visit. Umm yes, please. Yoga was held at an outside shala, where the deck overlooked the ocean waves. Every morning class was filled with incense and a nice breeze. Namaste for real.

#Rutherforddoesyoga too :)

Between yoga we lounged at the pool, and with 3 meals a day included (with a juice) we did not miss one. One of my favorites was the super club sandwich!

The excursions were spectacular.  My favorite was the sunrise hike of Mount Batur!  I've never done anything like that!  We left the hotel at 3am, and it was a two hour hike up - one way!  I must say it was pretty tough, but totally worth it.  The way up we all had flashlights so all you saw was a twinkling line of stars moving up the mountain.  When the sun came up, the monkeys came out to play, or take our food rather. 

Visiting Tirta Empul was also very special.  It's a holy water temple.  I went the first time I was in Bali but this time we actually submerged ourselves in the water for the water blessings! 

   

We also visited this coffee plantation in Ubud that makes coffee from cat poop?  Some tried it, but I'm good.  I already have a cat and am way too familiar with their litter box situation.  Ugh.  But at this coffee plantation was this really cool swing!  The surroundings were lush green rice patties and the swing went SO high.  It was cool.  You were strapped in, but with how hard the guys were pushing you my butt would almost slide off the swing every push!  Talk about exhilarating.

   

Bali is a special place.  I highly recommend Hotel Komune if you're looking for a place to stay in Bali.  It's not close to the hot spots like Kuta or Seminyak.  But is a nice chill place where you feel like a local, there's great surfing, and great accommodations and food for a reasonable price.  Oh and did I mention its on a black sand beach!!  They have two pools and two restaurants, and a cute surf shack with snacks.  The staff is also exceptionally nice.

HAPPY AND SAFE TRAVELING! :)

Nine Days Until Bali!

I never thought I would be this excited to visit Bali again!  My first trip to Bali was three and a half years ago when I decided to quit my job and travel the world!  I had no plans other than to not come back.

I came home after 3 months.

Bali was actually the last stop on my Southeast Asia tour, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and then Bali.  By the end, I was tired.  Tired of what exactly I wasn't sure.  But I knew I needed a new direction.  I needed to go home, get back to work, make a plan, and execute on it.  I had a house in Bali paid for the month and I left one week early to fly back to the states.  My original experience of Bali sounds sour, but I was in such a transitional space it took away from the beauty I did see but didn't register at that time.  Fast forward and it's interesting to see yourself grow.  :)  Now I'm living my BEST life in NYC and thankful I get another chance to experience Bali!

The universe aligned me to retreat with a bad ass human, a bomb ass dancer and energetic yoga teacher who stopped me in my tracks the first time I met her.  Stay tuned, no doubt our combined vibrations of 5,000 gazillion will make for a magical trip.  !!!!!

WOW What a Year! 2017 Rocked!

So many life changes and new explorations, 2017 has been a record year for me! And with flying almost 100,000 air miles in 2017, this may have been my craziest year yet!  

I know I haven't posted a lot lately and I hate that.  I'll try to get back on a more regularly scheduled program.  :)  But let's check out where I've been this year, and you'll see I haven't had much down time!

I shook things up immediately at the top of 2017, in January I took a major risk and not only changed jobs but changed my career, slightly. I went from the familiar regulated corporate banking environment to the cool new and shiny fin-tech space (which is short for financial technology). This was especially risky because I had only been in New York City for a year and a half.  I'm a risk taker, but I will admit I was a little nervous if things took a turn for the worst I could be out of living in this cool new city I still very much enjoyed. Thankfully everything has worked out, but let me back up and take you through my coolest year to date, 2017! 

Ok so we covered January - starting a new job and career! Now luckily in February before I was too deep into my new job I took a quick trip, a pre-planned vacation that was very special, the bachelorette party of one of my best friends! We rented a cool place in Asheville, NC, went to a salt rock cave and a brewery. We had so much fun!

March was pretty much back to normal, back to work and settling into my new job. But what was approaching at the end of April was MOVING. My apartment lease would be up so I had to find a new (bigger) apartment and (more) furniture. I was finally moving from a studio to a one bedroom, the little things in life! But before I moved I flew down to NC for my best friend's wedding! :)

 

April, May and June were pretty busy with moving and settling into my new home and job.  But I was lucky enough to have my best friends and family visit me in NYC to keep me entertained.  :)  I also took a quick trip back home to surprise my brother for his 30th birthday!

    

           

Welcome July!  July was the wildest month of the year!  Not only was it my 35th birthday, but right after that I was embarking on a three week work tour across Asia-pacific!  But first, as I'm a huge fan of work/life balance I decided to go to Chicago with my sister-in-law for my birthday!  We rented a cool apartment in River North and walked around to brunch and dinner every day!  For my actual birthday dinner we went to The Signature Room, an amazing restaurant on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Tower.  High recommend!!!  We also did a boat tour to see the city from the Chicago River, and also the ferris wheel at the end of the pier!  The pier was crazy with tourists but if you can deal with the process it's worth it!  

       

Now it's time for business.  Six months into my job I was off to Asia to conduct training for the various offices of our business partner.  First stop, Hong Kong!  I was only there two nights so didn't have much time to explore, one of my most memorable moments was the Apple store in the IFC mall, view below!  Oh and paying $93 for a manicure and pedicure!!  That's what happens when you don't ask the price!  

After Hong Kong I was off to Australia!  I had a week in Australia but hopped between Sydney and Melbourne.  Sydney was absolutely beautiful, has a vibe like LA!  And Melbourne was super cool!  Crazy this place is across the planet so I am lucky I could check that box.  Oh and I also got to mark Australia off my continent list of doing yoga on every continent!!!   :)

After Australia I was off to India, then Taiwan!  I literally was in India for 48 hours and Taiwan for 48 hours. But if you know me I always make time for a good meal so you know authentic curry was on the menu in India!  In Taiwan my coworker took me to one of her favorite hot pot restaurants!  :P

I got back to NYC in the first week of August, wow where did the summer go!  :)  Getting back to a normal routine was much desired, but also was a visit from my BFF!!

Now of course the last official weekend of Summer, Labor Day, is a cause for celebration!  In September I took a quick trip back down south to close out the summer with my family!  I do miss them so much!

September never really got back to normal because almost as soon as I got back to NYC I was headed back out to Europe to conduct another round of work training!  This time I was able to visit a few new places I had never been to, like Stockholm, Frankfurt, London, and Zurich!  I was able to touch down for a moment back in Amsterdam too, which was very sweet.  

  

       

October was nice to get back home.  I only had a few work trips to Houston, San Diego, and Kansas City before my Dad came to visit in November!  He visited a year prior but this time I was in a proper one bedroom apartment versus a studio!  The little things you are thankful for like a one bedroom apartment!  My Dad and I had such a blast.  We ate and drank ourselves silly the entire weekend.  The NYC marathon was also going on while he was here, so we got to watch, yell and scream at that!  So much fun!

November. It was time for more family time, Thanksgiving was finally here!  I was especially excited about this holiday because I got to see my nephews that I rarely get to see!  They are 2 and 5 and just so much fun.  We played magic carpet, watched them jump all over the couch, and of course played the "doggy game" on my phone, aka snapchat.  :)

Finally, December is here, which brings me a feeling of relief after a busy and successful year.  But there was one last event to close out the year right, a Christmas party at the White House!  My friend Mike is a Major in the Army and also a White House Aide.  He kindly invited me to go with him and I was so excited the entire night!  We took pictures in the green room, the red room, and even got a picture with Trump and Melania!  What a cool once-in-a-lifetime experience!

 

I want to thank all of my family and friends that have supported me and been there for me throughout this crazy year.  What an incredible year it's been!  I will continue to take risks because that's where you grow and are rewarded.  I am living my best life and it feels great!  Here's to another great year!  Cheers!