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WIGWAM WELLNESS FESTIVAL SERIES

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Remember this post where I mentioned I’d be helping with the Wigwam Wellness Festival Series? Well, I’ve been in full swing since March!  The first date was April 12th and I attended the fest as a guest to get acquainted and have my own Wigwam experience, it was awesome and it made me so proud to be involved! This past weekend I attended as the photographer and though the first half was during a torrential downpour, the ladies behind the logistics pulled it off without a hitch,and that day was awesome as well!  Along with photographing, I’ve been running the Instagram account, which is really fun because it involves spicing up photos with boho graphics using the Rainbow Love App and A Beautiful Mess.

I compiled my favorite photos from 4/19 that will give you an idea of what the Wigwam Experience is all about.

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Each morning starts with a welcome ceremony that consists of a variety of music, motivation, meditation, huzzahs and a gong! Then everyone goes off to their first experience. Followed by a 15 minute break then onto the next experience.

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Each festival date has vendors that sell goods during the day. To name a few there has been -organic makeup, oils, camping gear, yoga mats, soy candles and cold pressed juices!

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The Chattahoochee Nature Center is something in and of itself a magical place. It’s really the perfect spot for a yoga and wellness retreat with it’s 127 acres of beautiful trees, flowers, lakes, preservation areas, bird exhibits, butterfly gardens…the list goes on!

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The lineup includes classes for all levels and the instructors are really sweet and help the beginners and also give the experienced yogis a chance to push themselves.

Photographing this event is a different pace for me.  I’m used to event photography, but adding fitness and lots of movement makes it a really fun challenge! I’m looking forward to this Sunday’s experience, especially since the sun is supposed to make an appearance. Check out the line up for 4/26 and 5/3 and come out and join us!

WIGWAM WELLNESS FEST

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I am so excited to share with you all that I’m going to be a part of Wigwam Wellness Festival coming to the Atlanta area in April and May!  I’ll be posting to social media important updates and information as well as photographing the event. Here’s what Wigwam Wellness Fest is all about—

The experience is a trendy wellness festival series featuring “local celeb” yoga & alternative fitness instructors, wellness-related keynote speakers, healing arts, safe vendors (face/body products, organic clothing, etc) and clean eating. This experience will weave together body, mind + spirit resources and provide insight on how to make simple tweaks in everyday life that create powerful outcomes.

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On Friday we met at the festival location, The Chattahoochee Nature Center, for a team powwow and tour.  We had an indoor picnic and met one another over a beautifully prepared lunch.  Here is the group of Atlanta women making Wigwam possible! Each lady has their strong suit and together we make one bad-to-the bone team!

In a nutshell– Jennifer is the event producer, Karina is the copy writer, Jessica Murphy is the talent liaison, Sarah is the graphic designer, Jenny is the chef and clean eating instructor and has the help of her assistant Jessica Hanners, Julia is the stylist (and maker of the awesome headdresses and cheese platter!) and Ashlee is the vendor and sponsor leader.
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Should have taken the photo when it wasn’t partially eaten but I’ll admit it, I got side-tracked: by cheese! Julia did such a good job putting together our powwow, even brought a record player for the tunes!
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I really fell for this area mostly because of the large tree that sits in the middle of the property.  Trees have so many meanings, i.e. wisdom, eternal life, strength-just to name a few, so I think this area is perfect to be in the center of Wigwam Fest! The land just to the left will be the vendor market.
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The building you see here is where outdoor yoga will be held. Facing water and a beautiful view, it’s such a pleasant spot for a peaceful exercise.
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This is Jennifer. She’s been planning and executing events in Atlanta for some time. She’s passionate about bringing people together whether it’s to party, mentor or cleanse.
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There are several paved trails around the nature center leading to exhibits like rescued birds, i.e. a bald eagle and butterfly gardens.
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The property has a garden area where instructors will teach courses as well as share gardening tips.
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This group of ladies has me thankful to be a strong, freelancing woman in Atlanta! Thrilled to see this experience come to life!

Sign up for special Wigwam invites (such as early bird ticket purchasing)! This will allow you first dibs on picking and scheduling classes with your favorite instructors! www.wigwamexperience.com

BEAVER CREEK, CO

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After getting back from the Alabama trip visiting my family we then flew to Denver, boarded the Colorado Mountain Express and started a long drive on icy roads into Beaver Creek.  It took something like 4ish hours to get to the cabin so it was twelve hours of traveling. Long day for sure but when we got there I knew right away it would be worth it! The “Winchester Lodge” as I started calling it was gorgeous and sat right off of a ski trail called Cresta, you could literally ski to the back door! Not only that, you could hike up a small hill to said trail, ski to the lift and be heading to the top of Beaver Creek in minutes!Processed with VSCOcam with n1 preset IMG_1273
Our first day of skiing was Monday. Dustin went off with the boys and his mom and I went to the village to get some lessons.  She is an experienced skier but wanted to perfect some of her weaknesses whereas I hadn’t been skiing since I was 19 (I am 28 years old) so we told them I was a beginner.  They didn’t listen to us and put me with her and two other fairly experienced women and took us all to the top of the mountain. I kept asking “we’re going to go over things…right???” and he kept brushing me off saying, ya ya, it’ll come back to you. Luckily it did come back to me because he skipped the beginner stuff and took me right on a fairly steep run. I was so nervous! But the women in our group encouraged me and I did fine. Dustin’s mom and I really felt like the class wasn’t executed well and we didn’t get in a full day of skiing so we called and got a different instructor for Wednesday.  On Tuesday I went out with Dustin and his youngest sister and skied BC and did really well, minus a wipe out in 3 feet of powder.  Wednesday’s class really helped me fine tune areas I was weak in and the instructor, Wink, was great! He was probably around 70 years young, had two full knee replacements and was a bomb skier! Can’t brag about him enough!

For New Years Eve we went to Crazy Mountain Brewery and got a few flights and tried all their beer. Very tasty! I even liked the pumpkin beer which I usually think is too overwhelming but they nailed it.  Then we met his family at E Town and had dinner followed by hanging at his sister’s apartment in Edwards.Processed with VSCOcam with h6 preset
As we did every night, we ended up in the hot tub! Friday was the forth day of skiing and oddly was my worst of all days. Dustin thinks it’s because I was more fatigued than I thought, I’d agree, my legs just didn’t want to corporate. It also didn’t help that a certain fiance accidentally took us down a blue run!  I managed to survive, which was my ultimate goal, haha!

The lows were in the negatives and the highs were below freezing.  I wore so many layers skiing so my body was fine but my feet were numb from the ankles down even though I wore good socks.  I have never been that cold in my life and I’ve lived in some really cold states, ie. Montana! The cold didn’t stop anyone from having a good time, we all really enjoyed ourselves!Processed with VSCOcam with e2 preset
For Christmas, Dustin got me a pair of Sorel boots. These were the third pair we tried since that brand’s sizing is all over the place between styles. Take my advice, if possible I’d just try them on, I ended up getting a men’s version at Abbadabba’s in Little Five.  Beyond happy with the pair we stuck with and they kept my cold-nature feet quite warm!
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On the way in to BC our bus stopped at a Starbucks connected to a ski shop where I picked up this hat by Picture Organic Clothing.  I didn’t own a fleece-lined hat and had only brought a wool cap with me so I figured I needed one, plus it caught my eye with it’s cuteness! Very warm and seems to be made well.
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Wearing Sanctuary jacket, Jcrew sweater, Target button down, North Face gloves, TOMS sunglasses, UO denim, Sorel boots, REI socks.16030580577_bb0903b3d8_k15596552033_8917381ceb_k
The following photos are in Vail.  We went and explored Vail Village and Lionshead.  It was stunning! We walked around shops and looked at art work in high end art galleries.  Then we took the gondola lift to the top of Vail.  There was a lot of cloud coverage but they were slowly getting burned away by the sun which made the texture of the sky really beautiful.
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15596552353_0977fad9ce_kReally enjoyed bonding with Dustin’s family and seeing their vacation home. There’s talk of us going back in the Summer time to hike and explore the trails we skied. Hopefully that pans out because I was also told about a llama hike where a guide loads up a llama with a picnic basket and you all go for a hike and have a picnic-ummm-yes please!

SERENBE FARMS

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Months and months ago we bought a Scoutmob deal for trail riding at Serenbe Farms. For one reason or another we kept having to reschedule and finally got to ride this past weekend. We both agreed that it was a blessing in disguise that we had to move it to Saturday because the weather and trees were beautiful!  We were scheduled for the 10am ride and got there a little before and walked around the barn, petting Cricket the farm cat and chatting with the guide. Then, much to my surprise a friend and her roommate showed up for the same ride! Love how small everything gets when you live in the same place for an extended time.  So after we got helmets and were given our horses we saddled up and went on our way to blaze the trails!
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Because of my skill level, or rather lack there of, I was put on Seminole because she was supposedly chill.  Initially she wasn’t happy with the bit in her mouth and was slinging her head back and forth which made sense because it doesn’t seem comfortable at all.  At first, this scared me but I quickly learned how she wanted the reigns to be and if I left them really loose she was calm.  If other horses got too close she’d nip their butts which I was afraid would affect the rider but luckily the horses seemed to be used to her. Whenever she spotted green leaves she’d stop and eat on them, which kept making us fall behind the group.  Then Dustin told me that she was taking advantage of my leisureliness and I needed to show her who’s in control. After I tugged and didn’t let her near the green stuff she behaved.  I nicknamed her Sassy Seminole because of her antics which the guides thought was fitting.  She put up with my lack of knowledge and we bonded and learned each other’s ways.  I had a really enjoyable time!
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Dustin grew up riding horses and was a pro! At one point we crossed over a fallen tree and while everyone else had their horses casually step over the tree he did a little kick technique and leaped over it like he was competing in a show! He looked like a modern cowboy-it made me laugh so hard!
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Above– at some points it was difficult riding with my camera but it was so worth having it! Below– this donkey almost pulled my camera out of my hand trying to eat the strap!
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Above- After our ride we took advantage of the day and went exploring around town and found this wooden trail.
Below-  We stumbled upon a shop called Greenhouse. We all wanted so many things!  We left with a practical buy, a muddler, for our cocktail bar. The owner was also so nice and let us swoon all over her 11 week old standard poodle puppy, Charlie. Look at that face!
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After shopping we went to the petting area to play with bunnies, mini horses, donkeys, goats, chickens and pigs. The bunnies didn’t want much to do with us but the mini horse was very friendly! Even let us style its mane into this hershey kiss up do!

We had made reservations at the Farmhouse for 1:30 and made way over to get our fried chicken game on. That may have been the best fried chicken I’ve had-ever. Seriously so yummy!  So as you can see and read, we had an amazing Saturday and would highly recommend a visit to Serenbe!

PUMPKIN PATCH

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After last Saturday’s blogger brunch I quickly changed and jumped in the car with Dustin and we headed to Warbington Farms in Cumming, GA for pumpkins, farm activities and kid times.  We met up with his cousin and her family-including her 1 year old twins. Elizabeth dressed them in perfect pumpkin patch apparel -matching plaid shirts and blue jeans!
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Luke kept hugging and holding onto Dustin, it was the cutest! Couldn’t help but snap a photo!!
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What I wore: Free People button down, Zara lace top, H2O jeans, Sam Edelman boots, TOMS shades and Anthro clutch.
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The above and below photos are hilariously adorable!  Luke (above) is taking in the sun and Adam (below) just wanted a taste of the stem-we all got a kick out of both *and quickly jumped in to stop Adam from taking a real bite!

In the next month or so we will officially be their God parents!  We are more than excited to take on the role of mentoring these two boys throughout their lives.  For now it’s mostly keeping them giggling but later we’ll be their when they need advice, a shoulder to lean on or whatever life lesson we can pass on.
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Big brother Will enjoying the tractor, this is his “cheeeeesssseeee” expression!
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There was a petting zoo with rabbits, goats and chickens!  The kids weren’t the only ones excited, I was right in their with them!  Momentarily saved the above rabbit from the overly eager hands of 4 year olds.14974267754_326beebcb9_k
It’s always nice to escape the hustle and bustle of city life and enjoy open fields and fresh air!