Subscription Week (Dog Edition): Barkbox July 2015

Hi Everybody!

I thought I would mix it up a little bit today and share with you my dog edition of subscription week!

My Aunt's Dog - Nala - Ready for the fun to begin!
My Aunt’s Dog – Nala – Ready for the fun to begin!

I started getting some subscription boxes for myself and realized how much fun it is to get a little something new each month as sort of a surprise in the mail. I had gotten my dog a BarkBox before for Christmas – but was feeling generous so I signed him up for a 6 month subscription. We currently have 3 dog’s in our house and they LOVE the BarkBox each month. Sign up for Barkbox here!

July 2015 BarkBox
July 2015 BarkBox – Including:

My dogs LOVE the BarkBox – you can also customize it to your dog’s size. This month the pups got a great box. The box came with two squeaky toys – the elephant you can see above and a red cloth frisbee esk toy. They also got two containers of dog treats (totally don’t have the brand names because one of the animals chewed up the card with all the details – typical!). Lastly, the box came with a beef kneecap that I know all the dogs will be fighting over at some point in the near future.

Nala - enjoying the July 2015 BarkBox
Nala, all smiles, enjoying the July 2015 BarkBox

BarkBox is a great subscription service for when you feel like spoiling your dogs. I think it is great to order a single box here and there for special occasions like christmas and birthdays!

xxoo Melissa

Yoga: Monday Morning Kickstart

I recently began doing yoga. I will admit I was terrified to go to my first class. I always envisioned yoga to be just a room of nimble, size 0, lululemon wearing blondes who can do headstands while drinking starbucks. Let me tell you, while I wasn’t far off (they’re not all blonde), I did love it.

Prior to beginning my Monday morning yoga class.
Prior to beginning my Monday morning yoga class.

Now while I am by no means a size 0 or nimble in any sense of the word, I found the class to be a great workout that just about any level of fitness can do! You can adjust the poses to fit your strengths and weaknesses really easily and my instructor was extremely helpful when it came time to do poses I had never heard of.

My personal favorite poses are:

Warrior:

Triangle:

Cobra:

Pigeon:

Seated Twist:

These are great poses for beginners if you want to test out the waters before heading to a class! There are also tons of youtube videos you can watch in order to familiarize yourself with the poses – or even get a workout in at home.

For me it is not only about getting a good workout (without having to run) but also about the mental peace of mind that comes from a class. Every class ends with a couple of moments just focusing on your breath and releasing the tension in your muscles. I come out of class truly happy – feeling like a whole new person.

If you have been hesitant about getting yourself to a yoga class – GO FOR IT! I am extremely glad I did.