Chicago Day 2 – Yoga & Salsa

Ok, folks, today's the day. I am going to finish my Chicago posts! I have 2 left. This one plus Day 3. Which means 2 posts in one day. Holy guacamole. Wait, guacamole in a minute. First, yoga.

Subway sponsored a Core Fusion yoga class at Exhale on Saturday evening. I wasn't selected as one of the original 30 or so participants, but by the end of the day, my luck had changed! The lovely Whitney offered me her spot since she was still feeling her A.M. loooooong run come yoga time. Thanks again, Whitney!

After gathering in the lobby, we were presented with brand new yoga mats - surprise! Then we were transported via chartered bus to the studio.

The place was beautiful - tranquil, natural, and it smelled amazing.

I was expecting a peaceful and calming class...especially after the group voted for a 'stetch' class versus a 'strength' class. Boy was I wrong!

As soon as the class began our instructor, John, got our blood pumping. He was upbeat, loud, and encouraging - but I kind of felt like I was in an infomercial.  We definitely did a lot of stretching, but we held poses for a long time, which required balance and strength. He focused on hip stretches, which felt amazing. My hips are always tight after running, so I really appreciated this! We ended the class with some intense ab work (it's called Core Fusion after all!) And after the class wrapped up, John says, "Now you're ready to go out for the night!", which I loved. It's true - getting my heart pumping and sweating a bit really left me energized and in a great mood!

Sabrina organized an optional group dinner at Mercadito, which was happening just after yoga. There were 4 of us attending both activities, so it was nice to have a little group to hang out with for the evening! Exhale offered us beautiful locker rooms and showers to use, so after class we freshened up and hopped in a cab to dinner.

Candice, Me, Lauren, and Alison - yoga mats in tow!

Mercadito is a hip Mexican restaurant that offered us the option of a tasting dinner for $45 a piece. This included 2 kinds of salsa, 3 kinds of guacamole, salad, fried platains, 4 kinds of tacos (2 vegetarian), and 3 kinds of dessert! It also covered tax and gratuity, so I thought it was a pretty good deal. There was TONS of food - no one left hungry! In fact, we all opted to walk the mile back to our hotel since we were so full.

I ordered a virgin margarita...I knew I'd be getting up early to run, so I played it safe!

Food bloggers in action! Ashley and Candice

I think this dinner was my favorite part of the weekend. It was nice to be in a smaller group for an extended period of time. We finally had the chance to get past small talk and have actual conversations with each other! And the walk home offered another chance to talk with the people sitting at the other end of the table. Thanks so much to Sabrina for organizing this!