Boston: Why I came and left, and the friends I made along the way

It’s been exactly 1 week since I stepped on a plane and left Boston, a place I thought I’d call home 2 years ago when I first graduated.

For those of you that don’t know, I majored in Biology due to parent’s wishes but had my heart set on fashion design my whole life. Here’s a little black dress I designed that made it into San Francisco Fashion Week back when I was in college. It’s a mandarin collar deep V neck dress with illusion net sleeves and sequined booty shorts underneath. Ha. I guess I’ve always been about the booty shorts.

So I dabbled in and out of the fashion world as I finished up my Biology degree. I decided against med school towards the end of my college career much to my parent’s dismay but landed a job on the East Coast in fashion buying. I thought my dream had come true. What girl wouldn’t be happy spending the rest of her life shopping for a living!?

Turns out it wasn’t everything I wanted it to be. It lacked freedom and every day I came to dread work more and more. I don’t think I was cut out for the corporate world. There wasn’t anything really wrong with the company…it was me just wanting to be weird ole me designing yoga bags, making youtube videos, and bringing healthy lunches to work everyday. I just didn’t fit in to be honest. In fact, the girls didn’t like that I wore booty shorts to workout. Sigh, it was downhill from there. So 1.5 years later, I quit and left my heels and pencil skirt for my tennis shoes and yoga pants. It was also about the same time my yoga bags made it into SHAPE so even though I left without ANY PLAN in mind, I knew I’d be ok somehow.

I upped my Pilates from just 2 nights a week to 12 times a week. My mornings, lunches, and evenings were booked with classes and it was EUPHORIC! I spent the next several months being a super gym junkie and loving it. It was during this time that I began to really connect with myself and with Pilates. I am not sure what really happened but there was this inner “something” that blossomed inside me after I quit. Things just started to flow. I’ve always been about following your dreams and following your heart…and you know what, as scary as not having a plan is, not doing what you were meant to do is even scarier.

I began to make workout videos for diet.com, I got hired at Equinox – the ultimate place to work for if you’re anybody in fitness, POP Pilates was mentioned in COSMO, I got YouTube partner, was invited to be a FitFluential Ambassador, and tomorrow I will be announcing a special surprise that involves BEBE. (What was that Cassey? The people who make my booty shorts? Yes.)

Boston was a great experience for me and my thanks goes to the people I met along the way on this journey. People. People shape you. People can love and be loved. I love people.

I made so many new friends and created relationships that I will never ever ever forget. The biggest part of my time in Boston were my students. To my students who are reading this, I hope you understand how much I miss seeing your faces every week. You shaped me. You truly did. I love that we got to work out together, sweat together, and laugh about whatever together. You were my friends and you made me smile. No matter how crappy my day was, you made it better. That mind body studio was like a transformation portal for me…I always came out feeling so good. And I hope you did too.

The rest of this post is dedicated to my students in Boston.

I love you guys and I want you to know that I became a better instructor because of you. You taught me how to connect and how to be in tune. Don’t think I was always that way. My time in Boston will be remembered as my Pilates transformation. Something different happened here. Everything clicked and I owe it to you for being there for me every week.

Here are some photos from my last classes in Boston. If you’re a student and want to see the full album, go here.

Looking at these pics makes me tear up. I wonder how Pilates class went this week with your new replacements!?? Tell me!!! I wanna know!!!

Strawberry Daiquiri. A toast the night before my departure.

Moved and cleaned all by myself. One of the most accomplished feelings ever. Good memories here. Also home to a bunch of good videos like Judas and Uh-Oh Obliques. Big tea cup and my plants. Gone 🙁

I literally sold everything that could be sold. It was such a cleansing experience. Really learned how to let go.

And the plane ride home. I had some bad plane snacks accompanied by crying babies THE WHOLE 6 HOURS back to the West Coast.

I am now settled in the Bay Area in NorCal. And for the record, real Californians don’t say “Cali”! Haha it’s ok, I still love you my Bostonites. East Coasters are super cool. I will be staying here for the summer and hope to move down to LA beginning of fall. Again, no plans, but I know that’s where I wanna be. I want to wake up, go for a nice run outside, walk to my Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and/or farmer’s market, and teach maybe 4 times a week at a nearby gym. This would make me very happy. Oh that and a parking spot.

Sorry for the long post but it was also long delayed. BIG SHOUT OUT to my Boston students. Miss you A MILLION and LOVE YOU A LOT!!!

From a couch in San Fran,

Cassey