Heading to South by Southwest Music and Media Conference this week? We've mapped out the best places to eat, drink and sweat while in Austin. Borrow our supplementary SXSW itinerary - for this year or next. 

Austin, Texas is one of America's best kept secrets. (Shhh. Don't tell.) It is the birthplace of Whole Foods (with an 80,000-square-foot flagship store to prove it) and home to Black Swan Yoga - a donations-based studio that will leave you feeling, well, much better than you felt after watching the film with the same moniker. (Sorry, Natalie Portman.)  There is no shortage of amazing things to see and do. Let's get started.

There's a whole lotta Whole Foods to enjoy in Austin
image courtesy of Whole Foods

do yoga

All good getaways involve a little time on the mat. We already mentioned Black Swan Yoga. It's a great choice if you want to get in and out quickly (no paperwork, nothing to sign up for and classes starting almost every hour until 10:30pm). Remember, classes are by donation, so give generously. There's something for everyone so check out the schedule in advance. We're dying to do the MP3 Power class.

Yoga Vida  has been partying in Austin since 1999. It's a Baptiste studio, meaning all classes are power vinyasa flow in a heated room. Either location is great but if you hit up the studio at 707 West 7th Street, you may run into Dean, Zoe, or Sanieh (all lululemon ambassadors) or Bekah, the Assistant Manager at our Austin store.

Speaking of the store, we've always got complimentary events lined up at all our locations and Austin is no exception. Stop by our store at 6th & Lamar to find out the schedule for their weekly in-store yoga classe and run club.

eat

After working up a healthy appetite, we plan on heading over to Annie's for breakfast. It's a toss-up between the organic steel cut oats, garden omelet and brioche french toast.  After all the yoga, hiking, and swimming, we may even tip-toe over to one of Austin's famous food trailers. The Mighty Cone and Crepes Mille come highly recommended.  We've been told we can't leave town until trying the Spaghetti Carbonara at La Traviata. Blue Dahlia Bistro has some great options for vegans and carnivores alike and if you want to go all out, check out Driskill Grill. We have our eyes on the three-course "Farm to Table" menu.

go outside

Next it's off to Town Lake Trail for a walk around the lake (3, 4 and 5 mile loops available). Want to walk on water? Do the next best thing: rent a board at Stand Up Paddleboards. If you're feeling more in a hiking mood, head over to the Greenbelt for a wide selection of hiking trails.

drink

The word on the street at our Austin store is that you won't be disappointed if you hit up Daily Juice on your way out. Why? Three reasons. First, they have house specials that look incredible. Second, raw vegan fare is also on the menu.  We plan on walking to dinner and drinks but if your feet hurt, jump into one of the hundreds of Pedicabs zooming around the city. (FYI: All are cash-only and most charge $5-$10/head regardless of destination.) 

Put your feet up in a pedicab
image courtesy of citrixonline

swim

If it happens to be Texas-hot outside, we're hoping to break in a new swimsuit at Barton Springs by taking a dip in Austin's famous swimming hole. It remains a balmy 68 degrees Fahrenheit year-round, much nicer than the chilly Pacific waters here in Vancouver.

image courtesy of Austin Parks & Recreation

shop

If you like locally owned shops, great views and lots of "weird" Austin stuff like we do, stick around in SoCo. (We automatically like places that call themselves "weird". Bravo, Austin.) If that doesn't do enough damage, head back across the river.  There's lots of great shopping to be done in the 2nd St. District and MOSS on South Lamar has incredible designer consignment and vintage finds. Don't say we didn't warn you. 

party

There will be no shortage of fun to be had during SXSW. There's more than 80 venues for music, many of which are downtown. Browse the music events for this year's celebration. Outside of SXSW, we plan on owning the floor at Barbarella on Red River. (They post their playlists online. That means we can recreate the magic at home.)

want more?

• Get all the latest on SXSW. Sign up for one of their several RSS feeds.
• Plan your workouts in advance. Read Kristina's tips for fitness with a busy life.
• Set some travel goals of your own. We're not stopping at Austin. Neither should you.

If you're SXSW-bound, travel safely and don't forget to leave the convention center for some fresh air and a good stretch. The possibilities are endless, just don't get lost in Whole Foods. Where are you planning on going in Austin?

Happy anniversary to Hari Om, our Langley BC Strategic Sales partner!

We’ve been working with Hari Om for the past year, and this upcoming weekend (April 24th and 25th) they're celebrating their two-year anniversary as a studio, and one year as our partner. There's an even longer history here, as Valeria (one of the owners) and I worked together once before at lululemon Park Royal.

Valeria left a few months after I started to go off and start her yoga studio, and then a year later we reconnected when I came to the Strategic Sales team and found her while searching out potential partners in the Fraser Valley.

Valeria taking care of business at Hari Om

After one visit to this stunning studio I was sold. Langley is famous as the birthplace of BC, as the growing fur trade and the discovery of gold in 1858 brought people streaming this way. Today, Langley is still thought of as a hub for farming and horses – our mini cattle country.You walk into Hari Om, however, and it’s as though you’ve entered a modern oasis. The studio is reminiscent of a New York ballet studio with beautiful exposed brick, hardwood floors and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a small green space.

They also have tons of great yoga classes with everything from hot to yin to Kundalini to power and more. They also tend to have great guest teachers such as lululemon ambassador Chris Chavez popping in periodically to host workshops. During their celebration this weekend they will be offering free classes daily. I’m still deciding between 'Indian Groove’ and ‘So You Think You Can Hot Yoga’, but either way I will definitely be out there taking class and celebrating their two-year birthday party! For more details on the celebration visit hariomyoga.com.

1. I was honestly frightened for him being up that rickety ladder. I was debating whether I was meant to save him or the camera first:

2. Happily watching from afar as Pat worked out his angles, he called me over. Surprised and delight to help, I scurried over only to be asked to hold his camera. At first I thought he was joking, me carry that amazing and precious thing? I didn't tell him this at the time, but when he handed it to me, I felt like I was carrying the crown jewels or maybe his first born. I felt terrified and privileged, which I'm sure would have been most amusing to Pat. Tentatively taking the camera and passing it back and forth, I relaxed a little (well, maybe just stopped holding my breath as much):

3. Once we had the camera angle set, Carmen stepped in to work out the placement of each yogi. You would think perfect alignment on the mat would be key, but for the camera angle Pat was using, we needed to adjust their position to work with the frame he was taking. Lighting was also played with. The studio's light had a gorgeous warm glow, but actually made the picture flat. Using the natural light, although minimal, gave the picture a more dynamic quality:

4. Next was working on poses: which one would add to the frame: warrior, camel, cobra? One thing that stuck with me from this experience, was always remember your focus. The yoga position, although beautiful, couldn't detract from our focus, which was the mat. It also needed to create the right mood, and so in the end camel position was chosen. With using only natural light that poured into the yoga studio, to me it gave the feel of gentle strength, a quiet and powerful inner presence.

5. Having a look at their work. After being so amazing at holding those poses, Pat showed the lovely Anita, Janice and Jenn how the pictures turned out.

6. Moving on to solely pictures of the mat, Pat played with positioning of the mats and angles of the camera. Taking a shot from the side with a low depth of field versus taking it from above created a big difference in the frame, both with a completely different feel. Before I knew it, we were done and I reluctantly started to back up.

I would like to give a big shout out to Pat for letting me come along and experience behind the scenes of a photoshoot. I had such a great time.

The final masterpiece that is currently on our lululemon homepage!