Surf Goddess Retreat - Bali

I have been home and back to work for almost a month now, the glow of the vacation high has sadly faded and all I have left is the pictures and my day dreams of the beautiful Bali water. I wanted to share a little bit about the vacation I so enjoyed last month at Surf Goddess Retreats. Surf Goddess Retreats is located in Bali and getting to Bali is no easy feat from Los Angeles! Of course I DID say I needed to get away from my life for a spell and going half way around the world was about as far as I could get. The flight from LAX was 16 1/2 Hours to Singapore, then a layover at Singapore Airport, definitely one of the coolest airports in the world to have time to kill in! Then 2 1/2 hours to Denespar. At this point my friend Dawn and I, bleary eyed and dazed from a day plus of travel were greeted by a driver with a sign who was dispatched to bring us to the retreat! Easy as that we exited the airport into the bright sunshine, were whisked away and found ourselves driving through an amazingly colorful, tropical and foreign land.

We were the first guests to arrive at the villa and were greeted by Chelsea, the retreat founder and owner. She was so warm and hospitable - showing us around the beautiful villa compound we were to call home for the next 8 days. Afterwards I immediately jumped into the pool right outside our bedroom door took a deep breath and knew I had made the right decision to come here!

The first evening we met our other retreat companions who came from San Francisco, Maine, Tokyo and Scotland. Then we sat down for what was easily one of the most amazing meals I had eaten in a long while. Of course - every single evening we were treated to an incredible and diverse array of dishes that were fresh and healthy. The food was so phenomenal we became quite spoiled and I wish they had a cook book - although we did get to eat some things that I don't think you can find quite so easily here in the states. One of my favorites at breakfast was this odd looking thing called "Jack Fruit" that tasted like bubblegum! Sounds crazy but was amazing!

The next day we began our surf lessons with the great crew at Rip Curl Surf School where we spent a few hours every day for the rest of the week. The water was warm and most importantly shark free! One other girl and I had a bit more experience so we got to have our own instructor the first day and then the second day our Surf Leader Melinda worked with us. They really catered to every ones unique skills. After that the rest of the girls had mastered standing and paddling so we all spent the rest of the next week together. The instructors were great and I don't know how they do it all day, I mean it is a rough job being out in the sun and surf teaching class after class of women huh! :-)

The school has photographers on hand to take pictures of the lessons so at the end of the week you can purchase a disc with your surfing photos. Thanks to that I was able to show my friends and family my surfing moves as well as a few of my spectacular falls and wipe-outs!

I am not really quite sure why I kept doing this whole "Airplane Arm" thing. One of the things about the photos is you could see what you looked like and what mistakes you you were making.

I just thought I would put this one in to show how graceful I am at falling. Yeah right!

In addition to surfing everyday - we also got private yoga at our villa. Quite a different and wonderful experience to enjoy yoga on a patio outside your bedroom door, overlooking your pool and garden while hearing the sounds of birds and other wild life all around you. Our instructor Susan was wonderful and patient with those of us who were not as adept. I am happy to say that through her I have re-discovered yoga and have been committed to practicing it daily since my return and am really feeling the benefits both physically and mentally. Thanks Susan!

In the middle of the week we took a day off from our surf lessons and Susan accompanied us to the town of Ubud. For anyone who has read the book, Eat, Pray, Love - the town of Ubud is featured in the last part of the book, and the people the author encountered and be-friended are real, including Wyan , the woman who owns Traditional Balinese Healing Center.

Our first stop was to the sacred Money Forrest. An amazing place with more monkeys then you can imagine just living among the trees - hanging out with tourists and getting fed and generally Monkey-ing around. (Oh yes terrible pun I know)

This "little" guy was the official greeter as we entered

Just chatting with my new friend about his days in the Monkey Forrest.

A family with a newborn Monkey.

As it turns out - the day we traveled to Ubud was an "Auspicious Day" in the calender for doing all kinds of ceremonies. During the drive Susan educated us on the religion and culture in Bali. Balinese give multiple offerings to the Gods every day. There are shrines and temples everywhere the eye can see as this is a very spiritual culture. The rest of the day we were able to peruse an open air market, have a delicious lunch and then visit Wyan at her Traditional Balinese Healing Center. This is her daughter (also featured in the book) Tutti and her pet rabbit.

The drive home we passed some of the beautiful rice fields that Bali is known for.

The rest of the week was spent doing more surfing and yoga, spending time with and getting to know all the amazing women on the trip, more exploration of this beautiful island and of course more spa treatments!

The end of the retreat and saying goodbye to our new friends was sad - but of course in today's digital age - we are all already connected through Facebook. Chelsea has also set up a Surf Goddess network for us to all be able to stay in touch with our new surf goddess friends. I can't say enough good things about the retreat. The accommodations are top notch, beautiful, safe and comfortable. The food - no matter how much of an appetite you have worked up there is more then enough delicious food to go around. Included in the retreat was a decadent several hour long spa treatment on our first day as well as a Life coaching session which was an eye opener for me. All in all it was an incredible experience in every way.

Dawn and I stayed a few extra days to continue with the rigorous routine of spa treatments, beach, sun, surf and eating. After which we had our last evening of sunset cocktails and prepared for the long journey home.

So for anyone who has ever dreamed of a surf adventure or a trip to Bali, I suggest you check out Surf Goddess Retreats!

Cheers Luvs

X's
Amanda

Summer Travels and Vacation Time

Ok, first off I apologize for the 2 month break in updating the blog here - but during the "down season" which is the lull between fashion buying seasons and when all the new merchandise is coming in and getting press and stirring excitement - it's that time in the fashion world where things settle down to a slow crawl with very little exciting or newsworthy to report. It is a bit equivalent to the calm before the next storm.

So with that said - we will take a short deviation in mostly fashion and retail based blog entries, and instead speak about travel - most specificlly MY TRAVEL.



Over the years in business here (going on 4) I have watched other people in my world (designers, showroom reps, industry execs etc) use this time to go on "Holiday" as the Brits say. For years I just sat and stewed in jealousy every time an auto response to an email would return with the "Out of Office, On Holiday until..." notification and think to myself..."Why don't they say what they really mean....I'm off having a fabulous time so Piss Off and don't bother me with work you Tosser", and go about my business. That is however....until now.



I have been trying to recover for the past week from a glorious 2 week break - my first in many years if you didn't pick up on that - and am now a complete convert to the European way of Holiday Thinking - that Holidays are a necessity and that the American "work ethic" of working ourselves into total exhaustion and using the very little vacation time doled out to us small piece-meal ways or when complete mental breakdown has ensued - in the form of "Mental health" days. The Europeans have it right - work hard, ok, now take off for a bit will you and come back tanned, relaxed and a wee bit happier.



So I FINALLY did just that - and the reason I have had to "recover" is I found it quite difficult to get back into my real world after having such a wonderful vacation. 12 days just wasn't enough and I had a total moment where I was sadly packing my case for the return home when I started trying to figure out how exactly to stay on longer - as in forever! Obviously when one goes on a vacation and starts entertaining serious thoughts such as "I wonder who I could enlist to bring my dog over here for me" and " I wonder exactly how much trouble I could get in for bribing a customs official to extend my visa"...well obviously the vacation was very much needed and it is pretty obvious that 3 plus years should not pass before the next one!



Owning a small business is supposed to give you the pleasure of your own time, not having to answer to anyone else, being able to create your own vacation rules...etc. Well anyone who owns a small business knows - that you have far less free time, the last person to get paid is now you and as for vacation? Well there is NEVER a good time to leave - which may not be true but certainly FEELS true!



SO at the urging of friends and family I finally decided to jump on a plane and get away - far away. About as far away as I possibly could. And where did I go, you ask on the edge of your seat? Well I'll tell you - I flew to Indonesia and more specifically Bali!



Surfing and Yoga and Sun and Relaxation at the Surf Goddess Retreat. AMAZING! To read more about my trip to Bali and learn more about the retreat - stay tuned for the next post!

Sunset in front of Ku De Ta - Legian Beach - Bali, Indonesia

Off to London and Travel Tips

Just a quick update that I am headed to London tomorrow for Fashion Week and will be posting pictures of the shows and events I attend. I am only slotted for 2 catwalk shows this go-around. Quick trip and tight schedule to see all my vendors as well as check out a new trade show, but I will post pictures of what I am seeing!

So, on my last trip to NYC 2 weeks ago my wallet fell out of my purse in the back of a cab - every traveler’s nightmare! In this day and age of heightened security - flying without ID can be problematic to say the least. Luckily I have a few habits I picked up years ago when I started international travel as a part of my business that made the trying event more manageable - so I thought I would share them.

1. Empty your wallet before you go. There is no need for your membership cards and every credit card you normally carry around with you. Those are the things that are the most annoying to remember and replace. Only take what is needed.

2. Make color photo copies of your Drivers License, Passport (if applicable) and every credit card you plan to take with you - front and back. Take one of these copies with you and leave one at home with someone who you can contact to fax them to you if necessary. I actually never take the copies with me to NYC, but always do for international travel. The other copy I leave at my office and everyone who works for me knows where to find them.

3. If you are traveling internationally, look up where the US embassy is in relation to the city/country you will be in and then write that fax number down on the copies that you leave at home/with someone you trust.

Because I do this, I was able to have Jordan fax the copy of my drivers license to me. That combined with a police report in the city I lost my wallet was what enabled me to board my flight home. The police report is mandatory in a situation like that and you must file immediately - as you generally have to come back the next day to pick it up. Without it - you will most likely not be able to board your flight. Even with it - be prepared to be a "low level security threat" and expect to get searched rather thoroughly. Having the copy of your license is not mandatory on all airlines - but I was told "un-officially" that having it made my whole check-in smoother.

If you don't have your credit cards registered with a service, or you are not an American Express card holder, having the copies means you have the number to call and your account number handy to cancel the cards you know were in your wallet, as opposed to trying to remember what you had and trying to figure out how to get a hold of the companies. This happened to me on a bank holiday day and as a regular person I could not get through to anyone. So I decided American Express would be my next call - and low and behold they contacted every single card/bank within an hour or 2 and gave me directions to go to the American Express World Financial headquarters in Manhattan the next day to pick up a temporary card. Where I was it was faster then having them overnight it to me.

So I thought my little drama was a good reason to share these tips with everyone I know who travels. Things happen, wallets get lost and stolen and when you are not in your own city - it is ten times worse! SO a little prevention can help make an unfortunate event like this something you can easily deal with.
Safe travels!

Cheers luvs
X's
Amanda