chicos

Fall 2018 fitness routine

 in Fitness  tagged chicos / fall 2018 by

outdoor yoga beach yoga beach yoga

in photos: beach bag (on major sale!) / earrings / leggings / yoga socks /

So you might be wondering why there are beach yoga photos on a post about fall fitness, well, this activity was the inspiration for one of my workouts in my new fall 2018 fitness routine.

When I was in Florida with Chico’s, they hosted a beach yoga workout the morning before we all flew home. It was a beautiful experience and reminded me how good yoga can feel. I was in a car accident in the late 1990s. A women ran a red light and t-boned my friend’s car. I was sitting in the backseat, and despite my seat-belt, I was tossed sideways and hit my head on the interior of the car. I was out for a minute and later diagnosed with a concussion and whiplash. Without thinking, I settled with the insurance company instead of suing; which in hindsight, I should have done. I have permanent damage to my neck and upper spine from the accident. This results in chronic pain which can affect my activities.

Yoga can temporarily relieve some of this pain, and it also reduces the stress I hold onto from my daily life. In addition to relieving stress, it stretches out muscles I use when I workout, and it also helps reduce injury from my fitness activities, and life in general.

So, I have decided to incorporate yoga into my weekly routine for the fall season. I’m excited to see how this new fitness routine works!

Monday: Spin class (interval cardio)

Tuesday: Body Blast (interval strength training)

Wednesday: Body Combat (cardio kick boxing)

Thursday: Strong by Zumba (interval strength and cardio) (not sure how I like this yet-will report back in a couple months)

Friday: Yoga (stretching? How do you categorize this? haha)

Saturday: Spin (cardio)

Sunday: rest

Well, I’m excited to see how this new routine works for me. My goal was to lose ten pounds over summer vacation, but I only lost five. I am still going to consider that a win, and see if I can lose ten pounds by Christmas! Wish me luck!

What are you doing for fitness this fall season? Do you do yoga? Which types?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

photo credit: Arista Collective /

outdoor yoga

Twirling into the end of summer

 in General Fashion  tagged brahmin / chicos / dresses / fall 2018 / outfits by

black white scarf dress fall 2018 dresses fall 2018 it bagschicos dresses

wearing: gold and white hoop earrings (under $20!!) / lipstick / black and white scarf dress / purple nail polish / black croc stamp satchel-fall 2018 (under $300!) / black patent pumps (old, also love this pair) /

Last Saturday night was so much fun! My friend Dawn from Fashion Should Be Fun invited me to attend the Mimi Tran fashion show with her at Santana Row. I am so happy she did! It was a blast sitting front row with her and seeing Mimi Tran’s latest collection take the catwalk.

I decided to wear my new black and white scarf dress which I bought when I was in Florida visiting the first Chico’s store on Sanibel Island. My original plan was to belt the dress, but the belt wouldn’t stay put, so I took it off and wore the dress sans obi belt; and I loved it! The hemline is so much fun, and the dress construction is really comfortable. This was a no-fuss outfit which is exactly what you want to wear when it’s time to have fun!!

Although summer is still in full swing, I am craving the fall season. The recent evening and morning fog have me feeling fall; and I had my first pumpkin pie latte at a local coffee shop. So, let’s just say I am trying to make fall happen. 😉

This fall dress is easy to wear right now, as long as the temperatures stay under 80 like we have had recently. When the weather cools down, I plan on wearing this dress casually with a moto jacket and western style booties. It will be a great daytime dress! The dress can also be glammed up with a necklace and sparkling earrings. Did you hear crystal chandelier earrings for daytime are coming back? Oh, I need to dig out my old pairs and start wearing them! But I digress. . .

Shop my black and white scarf dress for fall:

Are you still feeling summer, or are you craving fall like me?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

*photo credit: Dawn/Fashion Should Be Fun

black white scarf dressfall 2018 dresses

35 Years Bold Chico’s trip day two

 in Events / General Fashion / Shopping / Travel  tagged chicos / summer 2018 by

Welcome to my Chico’s trip recap day two! If you missed day one, you can read all about it here.

The second day of the Chico’s 35 Years Bold trip was jam-packed with activities. We started our day out at Chico’s headquarters. Their headquarter’s is so dreamy! It’s Florida, so they had a beautiful pond near the gate to their campus, and the buildings were designed in nostalgic brick. It looked like a pretty place to work!

Chico’s gave us a tour of their campus, and filled us in on the history of the founders, and the company. There are beautiful antiques and a beachy vibe when you walk into the reception area of the building. There is nothing cold and corporate-like about it! What a fun place to work!

Our tour included backstage access to their entire design process from start to finish. You can see an artist designing a new print for a future collection, which I am not allowed to name, in one of the above photos. It is incredible to know that Chico’s prints are all hand-painted, in-house, by real artists!!

After getting a sneak peek at several future collections, forecasting mood boards, the fit process, and a couple of top secret collections, we were treated to a catered brunch. The brunch was delicious, and when we were done, we chatted with Chico’s executives about everything from marketing to design to shopping. It was so much fun to give feedback and share ideas with Chico’s decision makers!

Brunch eventually came to an end, and Chico’s brought us out to Sanibel Island where the very first Chico’s store is located. It was incredible to see the first store in it’s original location, complete with original fixtures and antiques. The store was incredible; and two stories!

So, what happens when eleven bloggers are armed with gift cards in a Chico’s? Well, a whole lotta shopping, that’s what! I came home with a black and white dress, and two belts. My new dress will make an appearance on the blog in the near future-so stay tuned!

Outfit I wore to Chico’s headquarter’s and shopping:

After shopping, we enjoyed a yummy lunch and then headed back to the hotel to rest and freshen up before dinner.

We started the evening off with a beautiful dinner inside the hotel’s ballroom. I found Tonya from The Real Chic Life had chosen the same dress as me for the evening. She looked fabulous! I love how she paired it with this necklace. The beads in her necklace really captured the colors in the print and looked amazing. Hmmmm, ideas for next time I wear it!

It was really fun twinning with her, after all, great minds think alike; amiright?! This dress is amazing, and it’s part of Chico’s pre-fall collection, so I plan on styling it differently as we move into the fall season. I am going to wear it with western style boots at fashion week in September. It’ll be a fun look!

Outfit I wore to dinner and the sunset cruise:

After dinner, we all walked across the street for a beautiful, ninety-minute cruise around Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island. The cruise was so pretty, I sat on the top level of the boat the entire time drinking in the beauty of the area. The sunset was incredible, and there were dolphins swimming along with our boat!! That was SO COOL!

One of the big takeaways from the trip was that we should always be living our best and boldest life. Chico’s is all about being bold, and enjoying life. When I was in my 20’s I always wore professional black ensembles and went for a conservative look. The older I get, the more I realize life is too short to follow fashion rules and blend into the background. It is time to shine; and be bold! So let’s raise a glass and cheers Chico’s on 35 years of living bold!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy