a little soin de soi

that means "self-care" in french, btw.

do you remember my barre studio saga from a couple of years ago?  well, i have a fun update (which does NOT involve that old wretched studio i wrote about before)!

i wasn't the only one who'd discovered barre there and fell in love with the practice.  over the last year or so that i was faithfully attending classes, one of my fellow barre clients decided to go through training and became one of the instructors.  she was really great and super enthusiastic, with a sweet and friendly personality that made her classes fun and challenging.

during the pandemic, she and ballerina started teaching barre classes virtually and i was happy to have the option to do them from home.  and then towards the end of last year, she made the very welcome announcement that she'd found a great space to open a studio of her own.  ballerina was also on board to teach classes, along with another former barre client who was teaching yoga classes.  i was super excited and signed up for a founding membership as soon as registration opened up.

opening weekend came right after the new year.  they offered two days' worth of free 20-minute intro classes, and i happily signed up for classes on the first day.  the studio is a little further away than the old spot, but that's okay.  i'm still happy to make the drive because it's totally worth it.  

even better, another favorite instructor (the one who'd moved to seattle) came down for the weekend to visit and help out.  so i made sure to get out of the house and down to the studio a little early in order to spend a little time hanging out and catching up.  i even managed to score the parking spot right in front when i pulled up, and spotted seattle in the front window hanging up a promotional poster.

the studio was super cute, and perfect for intimate classes of 10 or less.

there was a nice little section of carefully curated merchandise available for sale, including a selection of pretty little bracelets handmade by ballerina.

all of my old barre socks were crap, with the grip on the bottoms having worn off over the years.  so i picked out this super cute pair, with little velvet accents in a pretty shade of green.

i was so happy to be taking class in person again, and even though it was a quick 20-minute intro class i was sweating within a couple of minutes and knew that i was going to be sore after.  it'd been awhile since i'd done a real barre class, and remembered the hard way how it finds all those little muscles that you'd forgotten you had.  i'd actually signed for two barre classes back-to-back, and then followed it up with an intro yoga class to round it out.  you can see me cowering in the corner in this picture, struggling to hold plank:

after classes were all done, i spent a little more time hanging out with my friends...and taking selfies, of course.

it was really fun to see so many faces i recognized from the old studio, and we gathered to take a reunion photo together.

and i even managed to meet up with a friend for my first full class a few days later.

it's been a month now since the studio officially opened, and aside from one week where i had to cancel because i caught a cold and didn't want to spread my germs i've managed to get in there at least once a week.  i can't even explain how nice it is to find a new barre studio with people who are welcoming and caring and supportive.  it really is like being home again.