Goodbye, June

 

Goodbye, June!

Poem by Vinaya Joseph

June

♡

June, a month of golden days,

Where summer's warmth begins to blaze.

With skies of blue and sun-kissed air,

June whispers secrets everywhere.

In fields of green and blooming flowers,

June paints the world with vibrant powers.

Each petal dances in the breeze,

A celebration of life's ease.

With every dawn, a promise anew,

In June's embrace, dreams come true.

A time for adventure, for love, for play,

As June guides us along our way.

In June's light, memories are made,

In laughter shared and joys displayed.

A tapestry of moments, rich and bright,

In June's embrace, we find delight.

So let us cherish June's sweet song,

And let its melodies carry us along.

For in its midst, we find the key,

To unlock the door to destiny.

Lottie At Young Women Camp

Lottie at Young Women Camp means she's hiking mountains, 
collecting and trading pins and having conversations with other girls, 

 making things, studying scriptures, reflecting, NOT being on her phone, 

 building fires, and learning to get along with other girls who are different from her.  

And spending time in nature with her dad.

I love it!

This is what Lottie was doing EIGHT years ago with her dad:

Swimming at Fox Hill.  

My, my, what adventures we've had!

Claire + Nate Wedding Announcement

 This is me attempting to take a photo of Claire + Nate's 

wedding announcements, and it wasn't great. 

I feel that my inadequate attempt to photograph this

diminishes and cheapens the beauty of the actual announcement.

Newest Addition

 

Today, I made and painted our newest silhouette addition, Nate!

He's going up on the wall with the rest of the clan!

Now, I need to add it to my blog banner!

No Backup Plan

 This afternoon, I got a text from one of Gigs' friends who shared a photo

 with me of Gigs asleep in the back of his car.  

Gigs has been in Florida with some friends for his graduation trip. 

 I wasn't involved in any of the plans, so I didn't know where 

he was going to be staying (a sketchy Airbnb), eating 

(Chipotle every day), and doing (fishing & snorkeling).

He'd call me each night to say he was safe, but that's all he let me have.  

I trust Gigs.

I trust he'll be home in one piece, too.

Meanwhile, when Ollie got home from work, 

he and Christian put up the lights in the driveway in 

preparation for Claire's wedding.  

Praying it won't rain for the big day!!!!!!!!

We don't really have a backup plan!

A Gathering Place

 This afternoon, after our morning classes and the rush, 

the construction team came in to work on a few items from the punch list. 

They were respectful enough to take their dirty boots off at the door. 

The studio is beautiful, with large windows and a roomy 

lobby space for clients to gather and shop.  It's really a dream come true.

I took a little nap in the lobby and put away several candles in our retail space.

The scents are making me queasy.

Something is off with me.

Then I found out that I was featured in the 

fitness and wellness online magazine, Athletech,

and was then re-posted by B3 founder, Sadie Lincoln.

It was super cool, and such an honor!

I love this traction!

I love seeing our team's hard work paying off!

So grateful for all the wonderful people involved to make 

Barre3 Chatham Park a gathering place for EVERYONE!

Tasting

This morning, I taught two back-to-back classes, then went to my office

and fell asleep on the floor.  I've been so sick, exhausted to my core.

Christian woke me up because we had an appointment in Durham to 

We visited a bakery to sample cakes for Claire's wedding.

In our taste test kit, we tried the following:

Chocolate Genoise Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Mousseline

Chocolate Genoise Cake with White Buttercream

Vanilla Genoise Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Mousseline

Vanilla Genoise Cake with White Buttercream

We brought the cakes home, and everyone sampled them and gave 

their opinion. Vanilla Genoise with Hazelnut for layer 1

Chocolate Genoise with white Buttercream for layer 2

and vanilla Genoise Cake with Hazelnut Mousseline layer 3.

It feels strange to do this without the bride present, 

and I’m grateful she trusts our taste.

Who's the cutest kitty? Kitty is!

On Her Way

 This evening, Lottie, Jane, and I left the studio with the most gorgeous 

cotton-candy pink sky ever.

I've been feeling a little yucky, and think I've just been overdoing it

with work stuff.  Still haven't caught up on my sleep since opening a week ago.

I love that I have a job where my family is all involved.

I love that Jane teaches classes and Lottie's takes classes.

One day, she'll be an instructor, I bet.  She's well on her way.

Highlights in June

 Highlights today:

1. My friend, Anna, sent me a preview of the gorgeous pot she is making
 for Claire's wedding dinner. It's the coolest pot 

I've ever seen, and Claire is going to love it!

I'm going to put it near her wedding cake with gorgeous flowers.

2. Kitty.  Need I say more?

3. We're checking off the to-do list for Claire's wedding prep.  

We're getting closer!

4. Finally, art and lighting went up in the play lounge at the studio.  

It's pretty cute.

The Glow!

 This morning, they put up the Barre3 sign on our storefront, 

and it felt like Christmas morning!

Then, of course, I came back later that evening to see what it looked like at night.

And it was AMAZING!

Look at that glow!  Oh Ya!

Welcome Sweet Tea!

 

On my way to work this morning, I heard on the radio (yes, I still listen to the radio!)

that it was National Sweet Tea Day!

Now, I've never had sweet tea, but I think that is such an adorable

name of endearment, and one I use all the time!

This evening, Christian and I went to check on the cows since 

we have several pregnant mothers. When we arrived, we saw a

 new baby heifer curled up in the grass, and I knew immediately 

what I was going to name her: Sweet Tea!

What a beautiful day to be born during

the perfect Carolina summer!

Sweet Tea is so little that she snuck under the fence away from her mama.

Christian had to scoop her up and take her back to the herd.

I love living here.

We Did It!

Day two at the studio was another really successful day!  
Lots of new friends coming to take class, shop our amazing retail, 

and just come to see what we're all about.  

After we locked up for the day, I remembered back to May

 of last year, when Christian and I came to this very spot with 

the dream of opening a Barre3 studio right here.

Today, we recreated the photo because we did it!  
We did it! WE DID IT!

Barre3 Chatham Park Grand Opening

We opened!  We had such a great turnout from the community!  

We sold memberships and met new friends, taught classes, 

and died of exhaustion later that evening!  It couldn't have been better.

SHOUT-OUT to Jane, who is my personal assistant and is wicked business smart!  

I love working with her!