I WENT TO COLORADO Y’ALL! And I had THE most amazing time, Colorado is SO BEAUTIFUL! Before I get into this blog post I want to shoutout Athleta, as they sponsored this post and actually inspired my entire Colorado adventure! ♥ #POWEROFSHE ♥ yay ILYSM Athleta thank you for the loving support and inspiration! xo

Ok, so… Colorado… This trip is easily one of the most spontaneous trips I have ever taken (except for the time my childhood BFF Diana and I decided to drive to Vegas for one night at 10:00pm… but that’s a whole other story lol) I woke up on Saturday morning craving NATURE, I had this need for grounding so I took Penny up to Runyon Canyon for our weekly hike at around 8:00 am but it just wasn’t doing it for me like it usually does. I sat at the top thinking thinking thinking and then that’s when it hit me.. I should go to Colorado and visit my BFF Aerial who just moved there from CA the week prior. By 10:00am I had booked my flight for the next morning! With that one decision my Saturday went from chill to hectic as I taught my regular Saturday yoga class, packed for my trip, coordinated Penny to go to my moms house and prepared to leave town for 4 days!

When I arrived in Denver the next day it was pouring rain so my friend Aerial and I hit up a local vegan spot in Denver called City Oh City, picked up lunch to-go and then spent the rest of the day relaxing and hoping for the rain to subside as we had some majorly fun adventuring planned for the next few days. Luckily by the next day the rain was over! So we got up early and headed to The Rocky Mountain National Park first!

Colorado Adventure #1 : Rocky Mountain National Park

The drive to The Rocky Mountain National Park from Greely (which is where my friend is living) was an adventure in itself, the mountains are so insanely beautiful, and the wildlife is everything. I will never get over seeing animals roam freely, crossing the roads as they please.. it’s truly a sight to see. The Rocky Mountain National Park is HUGE so I suggest having a plan before you arrive. The entrance fee is $25 so be prepared for that as well. We got there around 8:30 which was perfect as it wasn’t too hot out yet and we easily got in without having to wait in line too long; I say that because on our way out the car line to enter the park was insane- so get there early unless you want to wait! We had decided on 2 easier hikes which ended up being just over 3 miles total which was perfect because by 10:00am it had gone from sunny and cool, to blazing hot and sunny lol…so definitely prepare for that!! I almost didn’t bring a sweatshirt but I was happy I ended up wearing my Serenity Criss Cross Sweatshirt over my High Rise Jacquard Chatarunga Tights + Stripped Jacquard Fully Focused Bra  because once the weather took a hot turn I just tied my sweatshirt around my waist 🙂 The two loops/hikes we did were Bear Lake and Alberta Falls. Both MUST SEES if you ask me. Easily accessible for everyone, enjoyable, BEAUTIFUL as you can see from the photos and straight up serene.

 

Colorado Adventure #2 : Find a Local Yoga Studio

In Denver there are quite a few yoga studios around, some even I recognized as sister studios of places in LA, but I was so stoked Aerial had scoped out an authentic little spot in Greely! After a full day of hiking we went to a wonderfully relaxing and restorative class at Sacred Space Yoga ! The studio itself is actually the downstairs portion of a home with lots of kitty’s and puppies running around which I loved. The teacher was great and I loved that she gave us a 10 minute savasana!!! It was heavenly after our day exploring the mountains! After yoga we went to Rocky Mountain Ramen which had the yummiest vegan ramen! Being vegan in Greely Colorado ain’t easy lol, but this place had a few great vegan options on their menu! I highly recommend it!

Colorado Adventure #3 : Explore Denver

 

On my Instagram I asked you guys for your Colorado recommendations and because Amethyst Coffee was recommended by soooooo many of you I knew I had to stop in! I definitely didn’t get to explore Denver as much as I wanted to (I’ll be back though!) but I did find what I am confident to say is my favorite coffee shop in Denver .. I swear it’s not just because it’s right by A PINK WALL! You know I love pink so I was soooooo excited to find this pink wall right in the alley behind the coffee shop! Anyways, back to Amethyst Coffee … it’s my favorite place because of the energy in there! Vibes on vibes on vibes.. it’s so super cute! I got a vegan cashew milk latte which was SO YUMMY! They also have some light breakfast items and vegan pastries! They only had 2 pastries left when we got there so Aerial got the vegan donut and I got the vegan spinach mushroom croissant! Both were so good but the donut was so insanely good we had to find out where they got them and go get more lol.. more on that in a second though because I want to talk about the outfit I rocked in Denver.. it was PERFECT! I love these leggings for a few reasons: they are high-waisted, the material is so light-weight and comfortable, AND THEY HAVE A POCKET!!!!! Score.

Here are the links for my Denver outfit:

Chakra 7/8 Tights

Scallop Bra

 

 

Ok, back to the donut topic: the donut Aerial got at Amethyst Coffee was literally THE BEST DONUT either one of us had ever had.. and not just the best vegan donut, but THE BEST DONUT EVER. We asked the barista at Amethyst if they made them in house or what the deal was (they were that good lol) and she told us they get their pastries at Beet Box in Denver, so we hopped in the car and went to Beet Box to buy more haha. Beet Box was the cutest little vegan bakery, they had a pretty big menu with a variety of items + so many vegan and gluten free donut/pastry options!! My favorite was the apple cinnamon donut and the cinnamon roll!

 

The next spot we hit up was another recommendation from you guys that follow me on Instagram: Watercourse Foods! I got the lavender lemonade to start and it was sooooooo good I literally am salivating thinking about it lol. I also go their vegan burger with sweet potato fries and it was delicious! It’s a definite must try when in Denver.

 

Colorado Adventure #4 : Fort Collins

 

 

Fort Collins loosely reminds me of Larchmont in LA, it’s super quaint and cute and the Old Town Square is a must see! We had dinner at a local vegan spot Tasty Harmony and it WAS SO SO GOOD! Aerial and I split the nachos which where the best vegan nachos I’ve ever had, no joke, and then we both got the Quixote Chop salad which was really good too.. but honestly…. I totally could’ve just had a plate of nachos to myself and been happy lol. After dinner we met up with 2 of Aerials friends at an underground bar called Social which was beautiful inside! We hung out there for a bit and then headed home to rest up for my final day in CO!

Colorado Adventure #5: Boulder

Boulder is easily my favorite place in Colorado.. it’s so beautiful, the mountains are insane, the town is gorg.. everything is perfect. We went to The Boulder Tea House for breakfast where we met up with my friend Lily who recently moved from LA to Colorado! We sat outside by the little creek catching up with each other, I was so happy I got to meet up with Lily, it was such a nice morning! YOU MUST SEE THE BOULDER TEA HOUSE! It’s gorgeous, the service was spectacular, and the food was great! They are not a “vegan restaurant” per say, but I was easily able to make my meal vegan and I truly enjoyed it! I had the Kookoo Sabzi and subbed out the eggs for tofu.. there was not one speck of food left on my plate when I was done lol, it was delicious! Also the chai tea latte with almond milk is DIVINE! Ya gotta try it!

 

After the tea house I changed into what would be my travel outfit (see pic below!)  and we went over to Wonderland Lake which, you guessed it.. was beautiful. We walked Aerials dogs around and looked at all of the beautiful lakeside homes and cottages there.

 

 

I found a pink house! Maybe my future home in Boulder? 😉 It doesn’t look that pink in the photo but it was the cutest blush pink color in person! After we walked around Wonderland Lake we stopped at Wonder Press, a local juice and coffee shop! Wonder Press IS SO SO CUTE I CAN’T EVEN DEAL! Vibes on vibes in there.. I got a cold-brew and green juice for the trip back to the airport! I like to travel comfy so I threw on my Chakra 7/8 Tights + Pink Pura Bra 🙂

 

 

What.a.trip. Getting out in nature was just what my heart and soul needed. I can’t say that I have ever been out in the mountains like that, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like I got to do and see a lot, but I know there is so much more! If I missed anything you think I need to see, or a spot I need to go please leave me a comment below so I can include it on my next trip! Yes…. I had so much fun that I am already thinking about going back 😉 If you want to see fun clips from my trip head to my Instagram and look under my “Travel” IG story highlights, and be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel because I will be posting a full Colorado vlog of my entire trip!! 🙂