Likes & Favorites: Valentine’s Day Edition

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Happy belated Heart Day! If you know me well enough, I pretty much hate Valentine’s Day. I’m all about the love and friendship, but less about the expectations and cheesey Hallmark cards. (Seriously, all I want is a normal, middle-of-the-road card to say I care about someone. None of this wordy, overly romantic nonsense). But this past Valentine’s Day was surprisingly wonderful. It turned out to be a relaxing weekend full of love, which is what it’s supposed to be right? Here’s what I was liking:

Treat yo self .

“JD, I need this.” I was in Lululemon with my friend JD when I found this amazing quarter zip pull-over (that was on sale!!!). I was looking for a yoga shirt, but I couldn’t take my eyes (or hands) off the quarter zip (which, again, was on saaaaale).”Do you really need it?” JD asked. “No…” I said. “Well, do you have the money for it?” “Um… sorta?” “Whatever, treat yo self.” So I did. Call it my Valentine’s Day gift to myself.

Brunch for brunch’s sake.

I’m the biggest proponent of brunch, mostly because I’m basic and that’s part of the job description. So I got brunch TWICE this weekend. One included roses and the other, mimosas. Aka I’m a lucky girl. Plus I was in fabulous company both times. I’m really thankful that I have people in my life who truly care about me.

and violets are blue.
First time at White Dog!

Painting with Julebaby.

My roomie Julie is the artist of the apartment. Really, if you walk into 205, the first thing you’ll see is a wall covered in colorful paintings. All Julie. Because it was Valentine’s Day and it was cold and snowy, Julie decided to paint all day, so I joined her. Beautiful art (by Julie), a pretty cool Ampersand (by me), and some cute candids (courtesy of Madeline) followed.

da roomies.
My art!
the cutest.
yoga OM by Julie

The cutest love song.

Just listen, be happy and feel the love.

Yoga with friends.

I ended my Valentine’s weekend with yoga which was awesome. Even more awesome? I took my friend Tony who has literally never done yoga in his life. It takes a lot of courage to go and I was super impressed how he truly embraced the practice. If anyone ever wants to come to a FREE yoga class with me (at Prana House Yoga aka the best studio ever ever ever), I’ll be more than happy to lend you my extra mat.

Tony takes yoga.

Tony takes yoga.

Liking the girls of 205 killing it this weekend & favoriting feelin’ all the love & friendship.

A Priest on a Yoga Mat

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{I wrote this piece for an English class I’m in and I’m really happy how it turned out, so I figured I would share!}

It’s 7:56am. Dressed in a maroon athletic shirt and loose cotton pants, David Cregan is preparing for a handstand. Palms press. Eyes lower. Arms lock. In one fluid movement, his legs kick up, gently tapping the wall behind him, before straightening into the inverted pose. He holds for 12 breaths, which seems like a lifetime to the sleepy, beginner yogis in his class. Slowly, his legs descend as he folds into himself, smiling, eyes closed, forehead resting on the mat. He seems to be praying, albeit in a less traditional way than he’s used to. For when Cregan prays, it’s usually on an altar, not a yoga mat.

Father Cregan is a priest at Villanova University, but also a reverent yoga teacher. Despite his aging body and bad knees, he is dedicated to the practice. To him, it’s not just a form of exercise; it’s a moving meditation that allows him to express his faith.

“The integration of the mind and the body that I experience in yoga is a kind of home for me,” he says in his office, two days after his morning class. With his sandy-brown beard and thick-rimmed glasses, Cregan looks more like an academic than a yogi. Comfortably cross-legged in an armchair, he chooses his words thoughtfully. “It brings together two important parts of my personality.” Similar the practice of yoga, his office is indicative of his disciplined yet vivacious nature: the rosary on the coffee table clearly represents his vocation while the expansive multi-colored tapestry on the wall embodies his vibrant spirit. When asked about the striking wall decoration, Cregan’s eyes light up. “It’s from India where I spent 5 weeks getting certified to teach yoga,” he explains. “To those in the Hindu culture, yoga isn’t exercise. It’s a way of life.” While India may have inspired his current yogi mentality, Cregan started stretching for more practical reasons.

As a young man, Cregan ran long distance. In 1997, he completed the New York City Marathon, placing in the top 16 percent (or specifically 4,937th, as Cregan recalls). A few days later, he decided to go for a run, despite the recommended rest period. Perhaps fatefully, he injured his left leg, to which a sports medicine doctor suggested medication, surgery or more stretching. Wary of the first two options, Cregan decided to try yoga, despite his initial assumption: “I thought it was for people in California who exclusively eat granola bars.” Still, he visited a yoga studio in Staten Island, not expecting how it would alter his perspective. “It was a very spiritual place,” he says. “They had the traditional Hindu images, but also the Blessed Mother with a rosary wrapped in her hands. It was then I realized it was a physical activity as well as a spiritual one.”

Since that first class in 1997, Father David has incorporated yoga into his daily routine. In 2008, after being certified in India, he began teaching classes in the Davis Center for students, which most describe as a unique experience. “Every time I practice yoga with Father David, it’s like a prayer,” says Fiona Shovlin, graduate assistant in Campus Ministry and a regular in Cregan’s class. “Yet he also creates an energizing atmosphere. Yoga’s goal is to unite our minds, bodies and spirits and he is skillfully aware of this during class.”

Others close to Cregan also appreciate how his faith, vitality and yoga practice seamlessly intertwine. “He loves teaching, preaching, praying and exercising,” says Father Joseph Mostardi, former roommate and dear friend of Cregan. “They have become so woven into his daily routine that they are hard to distinguish. He knows how to laugh at himself and then find peace even in the midst of chaos. It’s a way he remains balanced.”

And boy, does Cregan love balance. In a one-hour yoga class, he’ll challenge his students to find stability on one foot, shaking forearms and occasionally lopsided heads. With every grunt and heavy clunk of limbs hitting the floor, he reminds his class that they’re doing something beautiful.

And at 9:04am, when his class is ending, the sighs of relief are overshadowed by confident smiles. With hands pressing and heads bowing, the class chants “Namaste,” which Cregan translates to “The divine in me recognizes the divine in you.” After a final blessing, Cregan rolls up his mat, changes into his black vestments and leaves his class the opposite of how he started: right side up.

{Click here to read about the first time I took a class with Father David}

Likes & Favorites: Super Senior Weekend

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This weekend was epic. Thursday marked 100 Days until Graduation (um yea what?), so the majority of the senior class went to a ticket party (#tbt to freshman year anyone?). Friday, my parents came for an awards dinner (Where Father Peter mentioned that we only had 99 days until graduation, thanks FP) and I took them to the bars after (more later). Then on 98 days until graduation (now that I’m super aware of how many days until the G word), aka Saturday, Nova beat Georgetown by 98 points (just kidding, it was only 16 points, but who’s counting?) I pretty much liked this whole weekend but here are some other things I’ve favorited this week.

Parents & Bars

Post fancy award dinner, I took my parents to the bars. Yup, the legendary Main Line Bars themselves. It was super fun because a bunch of my friends brought their parents too and we basically took over the first floor. It was so funny to hear about the hole-in-the-wall places my dad used to go to when he was in college and I’ll never forget dancing with my mom to Brown Eyed Girl. I love my parents to death and to be honest, I wouldn’t be at Villanova without them. I’m glad I go to share a beer with them during my senior year, at my favorite bar better yet.

Cheers to Joe & Karen.

What’s a Hoya?

So Nova and Georgetown have a pretty big rivalry (remember 1985?). G-town beat us a few weeks ago (please don’t talk about it), so beating them on Saturday felt even more glorious. And of course, in true Nova fashion, there was a HUGE tailgate at Wells Fargo which is always a good time. Friends & basketball? What could be better.

tailgatin’
xo
great & fabulous.
K
ROOMIES

{This is second semester}

Hot Men with Puppies.

There’s an Instagram devoted to hot men with puppies. (@menwithpups). I don’t think I need to say anything more about this.

um hi.

{you’re welcome.}

Thanks Kris for the Music

Over Christmas, my sister told me to check out Hozier’s whole album which I meant to right after that but sorta forgot BUT I refound it this week. It’s good. Really good. Faves of mine include “Jackie and Wilson” and “From Eden.”

50 Shades of Spoofs

As well all know, 50 Shades of Grey comes out this upcoming Valentine’s Day weekend. No doubt about it, the regular trailer is down right provocative. And you better believe Ellen’s spoof on it is down right hilarious.

{PS. Single ladies, if you’re feeling sad about being single this V-Day–which you shouldn’t, btw, because it’s a made up holiday–just remember that everyone’s S.O. will never be as good looking as Channing Tatum. Here. See his abs and rejoice.}

Liking getting over a cold & Favoriting sitting on my couch for an extended period of time for the first time all week.