Where to begin. It was quite the anniversary!

Thank you to everyone that came, everyone that was there with us in spirit, and everyone that supported us from near and far. 

It was by far our best weekend yet and it was awesome. We had a few bumps and the heat was challenging, but it was still a celebration.

The weekend started with a blogger party on Friday night. So many amazing social media influencers that have supported us showed up. I was quite blown away by the turnout and it just shows you that if you believe in your dream and work hard, people respond. 

I caught myself in old thought patterns thinking I’m not cool enough for this but the truth is we are all cool enough. Just being our weird vulnerable passionate selves is enough and so I let the old thoughts go and I enjoyed it! What a night!

Then, the weekend. It was so much fun to see everyone. We had our regulars, lots of new people, lots of yogis, and a lot of my friends/family showed up. There was a very positive reaction to our new flavor – Radiant Golden Rose – which Meredith created beautifully.

On Sunday night, we had a friends & family party and besides the uncomfortable heat/humidity it was a very sweet time. 

I have been alone for so much of this journey. I know that comes as a surprise to some people as I juggle Yoga-urt with my other job, and you might think I’m always with people since I’m so busy. But the truth is, this was probably the loneliest year of my life or at least in a long time. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but so many late nights, early mornings, problems that only I could solve, and at the end of the day, it all falls on me no matter how great my team/family is. I think other business owners understand.

So it was so great to have my family and friends show up big time this weekend. It was nice to celebrate with them and I honestly think we’ve come further in our first year than any of them thought we would. Special shoutout to my niece and sister for spending Fri-Sun helping and supporting me. I don’t know what I would’ve done without them.

So, how do I summarize our first year? How about Intense and Magical. Yeah, that sounds really good to me. 

I gave 2 toasts this weekend, and I read the following quote by Judith McNaught both times as I feel it sums up my journey to Yoga-urt:

There will be a few times in your life when all your instincts will tell you to do something, something that defies logic, upsets your plans, and may seem crazy to others. When that happens, you do it. Listen to your instincts and ignore everything else. Ignore logic, ignore the odds, ignore the complications, and just go for it.

Have you felt that way before? If so, what are you waiting for?With my sister Dawn

My family

With Meredith, Yoga-urt chef

Blogger Party

My cousin Brad and his family

My sweet niece and nephew

PETA came to visit us.

Strike a pose. Group of awesome people.

Introducing our Anniversary Flavor: Radiant Golden Rose

More fun yoga poses

It’s been a crazy week! Business is really good as summer is finally here and more and more people are finding out about us.

Sunday was National Ice Cream Day and it was our Best Day Ever! 

All of this is great, but a little overwhelming as well. Especially when your shift lead has a medical issue which unexpectantly puts you down a person the week of your anniversary. So I’ve been working late at Yoga-urt, juggling everything, and it’s exhausting. It’s like we are playing catch up everyday.

I’m really excited about this weekend and also nervous. I’m most nervous about the heat. When we are super busy and it’s super hot, it affects our machines. I will bring in some fans and plan as best I can, but that’s all I can do. 

In the meantime, I need to hire another soft serve maker and possibly a cashier/server too as we continue to get busier. I feel like this anniversary weekend will be big for us and a lot more people will be finding out about Yoga-urt. It could get crazy after this and we need a little more support.

So here we are. Our 1 year anniversary. I don’t think I’ll be able to soak it all in until next week when I’m taking a few days off to rest. In the meantime, there is a lot of work to do to prepare for this weekend. I hope i can take it all in as i am truly so proud of Yoga-urt and want to celebrate it!

As our Anniversary approaches in less than two weeks, and we get closer to our celebration, we wanted to say Thank You!

Thank you for coming to Yoga-urt. 

Thank you for bringing your friends. Your lovers. Your family. Your pets.

Thank you for following us on social media. For posting about us. For tagging us.

Thank you for your beautiful pictures.

Thank you for saying hello and your warm words. 

Thank you for your reactions when you tasted Yoga-urt for the first time, priceless!

Thank you for the beautiful words and art you left on our chalk wall.

Thank you for including us in your press/articles.

Thank you for your nice reviews.

Thank you for driving long distances to come to our store.

Thank you for telling people about us.

Thank you for sharing your love of Yoga-urt with us because seeing you enjoy it is the best part. 

A year ago, no one knew who or what we were. I remember right before our soft opening, how vulnerable I felt. Will they like the soft serve? Will they accept our strange name? Will they come to Glendale? Will they understand our product? 

But I know that vulnerability is something to embrace and connects people, and that gave me the strength to move forward. 

When I think of how far we’ve come in a year, I am blown away and that’s because of all of you!

I just wanted to let you all know how much the Yoga-urt Team and I thank you for an amazing first year. We see you, we hear you, and we love you!

Thank you!

I am filled with mixed emotions right now. 

On the one hand, I am super excited about our Anniversary Weekend coming up in a few weeks. I gave a lot of thought to how I wanted that weekend to be, had some lovely people help me brainstorm, and I’m really happy with the plan. 

On the other hand, I am beyond exhausted and feel a lot of pressure to pull off all of the plans. I think this last year is catching up to me, juggling 2 jobs, and there is just no end in sight. I am taking the week off from my day job after the anniversary weekend, and I truly hope I can escape for a few days. I so need it. It will be the longest break I’ve had in years.

It just seems that there are constantly things to deal with – employees calling in sick, going on vacation, or quitting, AC issues (finally fixed), prep for anniversary, and on and on. 

I know I’m up for the challenge, but sometimes I just feel so beaten down with all I have on my plate even though I signed up for this.

Tomorrow is a new day, and I’m sure things will get better. We’ve come so far from where we were a year ago, we’ve proven ourselves, and I really want this to be a celebration. 

I’m so proud of what I have accomplished and what Yoga-urt has accomplished, and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Now I just need a good night sleep so I can continue giving my best as we head towards our Anniversary!