PSA: Just a few spots left at our Costa Rica retreat! Also, we're getting ready to plan summer and fall retreats if you want to chime in. But if online is more your jam, we now have video bundles available for all levels. Don't forget that you'll get a free gift when you screenshot your review of our app to Lauren. Our Summer YBC Mantra Box is now available for pre order! And lastly, our book, Namaslay, is available for preorder.

Off the Mat is a series on YBC that shares bits and pieces about what goes on off the yoga mat, and in my everyday life.

Snapping Lately

Ok Snapchat is quickly becoming my favorite social media platform. I love that it's not this curated fake nonsense that instagram has quickly become. I like seeing the unedited behind the scenes stuff from people like Kate Hudson (@katehudsnaps) and bloggers like Man Repeller (@manrepeller). I love that I can just share whatever and know it'll be gone in 24 hours so if there's junk in the background, or if I'm just fired up about whatever (#peoplewhomergeontothehighwayduringatrafficjamanddriveintheshoulder), I can rant and rave and it'll all be erased soon. In my snaps I try to remember to include my workouts since people ask about those a lot, and I share some food prep stuff, deliveries to the office, and of course, my stoplight karaoke performances, which is totally something you should do if you don't already. You can find me at @yogaby_candace.

Traveling

The last few weeks I've stayed put for the most part, with the exception of going into New York recently to teach at Sweaty Betty. I stopped at David Burke Kitchen for an early dinner with my dear friend and agent Sophie, who I haven't seen in months. It was fantastic to catch up and the food there is incredible.

Coming up, though, we've got a lot of travel on the agenda. Next month we'll go to Costa Rica for our retreat (still a handful of spots left, if you want in!). Lauren and I are going to head down a few days before our retreat starts to scout two potential other venues for future retreats. After Costa Rica I'll be popping down to Miami quick for work.

In July, we've got a long weekend yoga retreat in the works that I'm excited about because I just think it'll be a really fun time. It's not in a particularly mind-blowing city, but the venue is really cool (giant house with pool and cinema) and I think with the right people (super relaxed, fun-loving people) it'll be a blast.

In August, we have our week long luxe yoga retreat in the works. We'll share those details hopefully on Monday, so stay tuned. This isn't a place I've ever been to, but Lauren has been there a billion times and is setting everything up with the owner of this gorgeous hotel on a vinyard, and the views are insane. We shared another picture on the YBC app - check it out! I can't wait to share!

Reading Lately

The recent Entrepreneur and HBR just arrived in my mailbox and they both make me so happy. As a small business owner, I love reading about what other businesses are up to, and I always learn something I can apply to my own situations.

For fun, though, I'm reading The Betrayal, which is just kind of a mindless little novel about marriage. Next on my list to read is Disclaimer, a psychological thriller (my fave!). If you're reading something great, please let a sista know! I'm always on the lookout for something entertaining, smart, and quick. I like to read at night to help me calm down and de-stress before I fall asleep at night, so I don't want anything too serious or academic, you know?

Watching Lately

I've seen a bunch of movies this past month. I saw Eye in the Sky in the theater a few weeks back and it was so good. I also saw 10 Cloverdale Lane, which was really good up until the 60 minute mark and then aliens popped in and womp, womp, I lost interest. I also recently rented Brooklyn, which I thought was such a beautiful story.

Eating Lately

Among Friends sent me their Papa Tom's Perfect Pancake Mix last week and I busted it open yesterday to try to hit my carbs (I'm counting macros to help balance out my hormones). I always have trouble hitting my carbs - I think it stems from following the GAPS diet to heal my gut, where you essentially eat zero traditional carbs. I followed the diet for two years straight and while it worked wonders for healing my gut, I now feel like I have no idea what to eat to get my carb intake up, so the pancake mix was a welcomed little gift!

I love that they're non-gmo and gluten free, and they have just the right amount of salt and cinnamon - so yum!

I recently discovered a cute little cafe downtown called Sarah's and they make a great cappuccino and latte. I'm stuck because I prefer cappuccinos over lattes but I am a sucker for the stupid little design haha. Anyway, I always get one or the other and add in some cinnamon and a little sugar in the raw (I know, I know, but let me live!).

Wearing Lately

I'll tell you what I've NOT been wearing lately - either one of these outfits that came in my Stitch Fix box earlier this month. Stitch Fix is a service that will send you some outfits based on your style and you can try them on, return what you don't like in a prepaid package and then go online and pay for the things you like. If you keep all the items, you get 25% off the order. Sounds great, right?

I thought so, but to be honest, it was a huge let down. Let me just start by stating the obvious - I really have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to clothing. Unless it's activewear or is something mindless like a romper (seriously, how great are rompers?! They require no thinking, you just throw them on and you look like a million bucks!), or is a super simple outfit like jeans and a t-shirt, I pretty much feel like a fish out of water. I am really particular about certain things because I am pretty short (barely 5'1'') and have a newly muscular build. When you're short and have muscle, it's easy to wear stuff that is, well, unflattering.

Ok outfit number 1 is above - it's apparently a dress but yikes it was so short. I'm not a fan of this style breezy dress because I feel so insecure in them - I feel like the skirt part would fly up at any minute and I'd flash everyone around me. Actually, I'm laughing right now because I know where this insecurity stems from! I was wearing the ca-utest little sweatshirt skirt from American Eagle when I was a junior in college and I walked outside of the library (shout out to Homer!) and it was the most windy day and my skirt went flying up! Picture an umbrella going inside out, that's essentially what happened. And I had my computer, my bag, my water bottle and like 85 notebooks in hand so there was nothing I could do. Ugh. Anyway, so this dress was a hard pass for me. Also not a fan of form fitting crew necks - I feel like they're not flattering on my upper body. Big fan of the v neck over here. Anyway, hard pass.

When you schedule your Stitch Fix, you can let your stylist know what type of outfit you're looking for. I asked for clothes I could wear for a Girls' Night Out. Um.... So many of you know I used to be a Spanish teacher. This top? Something I'd wear as a teacher. Not something I'd wear for a GNO.

Anyway. The shorts were fine, nothing to really write home about. They fit well through the waist and then sort of flared out at the hip which I thought was weird. So neither of these were a hit.

The last item they sent was this ill-fitting long sleeve black shirt with sheer panelling at the waist and I want to show you because it looked so horrific it was actually kind of funny, but I feel I've embarrassed myself enough with this portion of the post. I'm laughing right now because it's so awkward to take fashion photos when you feel so dreadfully uncomfortable and would rather be in sweats but underneath the laugh I am kind of bummed. It's lame to feel like you work so hard and feel so good in your body and then try on clothes that make you feel, well, like shit. I think we've all been there, right? When you're psyched to go shopping and then you try on a million things in the dressing room and between ill fitting clothing and crap lighting you're ready to have a meltdown? That's how I felt haha.

One of the other things that stood out to me, if I'm being completely honest, is that the quality of the clothing left a lot to be desired. I don't shop often and I have zero style, so maybe take this with a grain of salt, but when I do shop - with the exception of a few F21 thangs - I generally invest in what I'm buying. Like shorts, for instance. I have some great denim shorts - and they're really high quality. The shorts I was sent? They were thin and you could tell they'd lose their shape quickly. The dress? Flimsy material. The tank? Rough material, and you can tell in the photo - it doesn't fall nicely. Anyway, I think I'd be into a service like this if the clothing were better quality. I'm not sure I'll be giving this box another chance, but if you're up for it, you can use this referral link (disclaimer: I get $25 in Stitch Fix credit, but again, not sure I'll even get another box because this one was such a bust).

One thing I have been wearing a lot of, though, is this X ring I got from Rocksbox. Now that is a service I really like because the jewelry is all great quality. You can use code yogabycandacexoxo for a free box if you want to try it out.

And that about does it for me! Let me know what's been going on in your life outside of work. Any fun plans in the works? Have you ever tried Stitch Fix and loved it? (I've seen some people get really great pieces out of it, maybe I just got a lemon of a fix!) Read anything good lately? Rented a good movie lately? Tell me down below in the comments!

Off the Mat: April