Friday Favorites: Aussie Iced Lattes, Lily & The Octopus, Hot Yoga and more

Hello Friday, it’s so good to see you again. Thanks to Labor Day, this week has really flown by and I can now look forward to a fun filled weekend ahead of me! It’s my first year attending a few New York Fashion Week events and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s something that I’ve dreamed of ever since I was old enough to start watching Sex & The City… so it’s all a little surreal that I’m actually living here and able to witness some of the fashionable chaos with my own eyes. Since NYFW is an exclusive event, I unfortunately am not invited to the bigger shows like Rodarte, Marchesa or Alexander Wang (I diieee) but it’s going to be super fun nonetheless! 

Anyway, enough about NYFW since it’s not making it to this particular post on my “Friday Favorites” – which is really just a roundup of a few of my favorite things that I discovered or experienced within the past week. Maybe Fashion Week will make it to the list next week after I see if it’s all that it’s cracked up to be. 😉

Without further ado, I present to you a few things that I’m loving this week. Enjoy!

Aussie Iced Lattes

When MindBodyGreen posted about Bluestone Lane opening up a coffee shop in Dumbo (my hood), I knew I had to check it out. Bay had been talking about this magical concoction called ‘Aussie Iced Lattes’ forever and I had yet to try one, so I figured Monday was the perfect opportunity. The cafe is super adorable – think flamingo print walls, hanging plants and a beautiful coffee bar. While I chowed down on avocado toast, Bay decided to try vegemite on toast for the first time. Let’s just say it’s definitely not my cup of tea. haha 

The Aussie Iced Lattes however were right up my alley. It’s a lot like an affogato but much, much bigger… made with copious amounts of vanilla ice cream, chilled espresso, ice and cinnamon. Healthy? Absolutely not. Delicious? Absolutely YES. I’m obsessed. 

Lily & The Octopus

If you’ve been following me on Instagram I’m sure you’re aware that I’m kind of a huge dog lover. I’ll admit that sometimes that love borders ‘crazy dog lady’ status, but I wear that title with pride. So it should be no surprise that when I was gifted a book about a man and his Dachshund, Lily, I was hooked. It was simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking… and I was instantly reminded of my first dog, Brownie, who passed away a little over 3 years ago. I don’t want to give too much away so I’ll just copy the description from Amazon: Lily and the Octopus reminds us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go, and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all. 

Fair warning – I was up until 2AM reading this book and cried many tears. Get the tissues ready. 

Hot Yoga 

I recently signed up for ClassPass and it’s been a dream. I went to Prana Power Yoga earlier this week for an hour hot yoga session and it was so lovely. It’s not quite Bikram status as the room is heated to 90 degrees instead of 105. The flow was slow and gentle, which I really appreciated as it gave my muscles time to open up and really feel the depth of each pose. I’m starting to love how hot yoga makes me feel, especially after trying the “We Flow Hard” Vinyasa class at y7 studio a couple weeks ago. You get super sweaty but the end result is totally worth it. Just be sure to properly hydrate beforehand and bring a water bottle with you. 

Hiking With Nina

This past weekend, Bay and I traveled with Nina to Beacon, NY – which is just a little over an hour north of NYC. We spent our time hanging out with good friends, eating delicious food, drinking wine smoothies (yes, that’s a real thing and it’s amazing), and on Sunday we went for a 5 mile hike near the river. This is the first long nature walk that we’ve done with Nina and she was so adorable… she even jumped into the river for a swim! 

Instagram Stories

Sorry Snapchat but I 100% choose Instagram Stories as the way to share ephemeral content on the daily. It’s so easy to use, the design is better and so far I’m loving all the stories that I’ve seen on my feed. Keep them coming people! The only thing I wish Insta Stories offered are those lovely facial filters that Snapchat has… but until they do, I’ll just go to Snapchat to create an image and then post it to Stories. hehe

Keep up with what I’m doing on the daily, including events that I’ll be attending this weekend (NYFW and Wanderlust Festival) on my Instagram Story! If there’s anything in particular you’d like to see me post more of on Stories please let me know. 😄 

 

That’s it for this week! Hope you all have the best weekend.