Seren-i-Tea in the Square

So I meditated.

OK that’s a lie. I mainly just sat there. For 10 minutes. Then I started planning out the rest of the day, weekend, etc in my head.

Then I started to feel like I could fall asleep sitting up. I think maybe I’m not one for meditating.

That being said- the event itself was a lot of fun – I’m so glad I was invited to attend!

Today’s event was put on by Sokenbicha Tea, Japan’s leading tea brand that is exclusively sold at Whole Foods markets nationwide.

Beautiful setting, beautiful weather!

It started off with Taiko Drummers taking the stage and they were awesome! You could tell these girls were having a blast up there.

Then Mallika Chopra (Deepak Chopra’s daughter) led us in said 10 minute meditation. Or as I will refer to it – my mental day planner.

She then spoke about setting intentions for your day-to-day life and about how her father would ask her and her brother each day what they most wanted/wished for. They would reply with “toys, Celtics tickets and a doll” but then he suggested wanting love, connections to people, and the non-tangible things that make us happy.

I really liked that part of it, especially when so much of time is spent thinking about the material things that we next want to purchase. (Case in point: iPad 2. Guilty as charged.) 😉

From there Stephanie Snyder, a very well-known yoga instructor that was named San Francisco’s most sought after yoga teacher by InStyle Magazine led us through some of her favorite yoga moves. All that stretching really hit the spot after my run this morning.

After the yoga portion was over we were free to head over to the “Oasis” to grab some snacks and bottles of Sokenbicha Tea.

Yes please.

They had samples of my very favorite PopChips (you better believe I grabbed 1 of every flavor), and then received bottles of 4 of the 5 flavors of tea.

Since Caroline had invited her guests to be VIPs we received an AMAZING Swag Bag!

• T-Shirt
• Manduka eQua Yoga Towel
• Shiseido SPF 60 Sunscreen
• Complimentary Shiseido Facial
• 20% off Zobha yoga gear
• Gorgeous green pashmina (seriously, SO SOFT!)
• $50 Gift Card to Whole Foods (yes, you read that right. Probably the best thing I’ve ever seen. I am SO EXCITED to grocery shop this week. Yes, I realize how very, very lame that sounds.)

When I got home I was excited to try out one of the tea’s so I went with the Revive flavor which says it’s a combination of Oolong tea leaves, black tea lives, rose hips (your guess is as good as mine), rose petal and ginseng.

I poured it over ice and enjoyed it with my very favorite Plant Burger from The Plant Cafe Organic. SO refreshing!

I know, how gross does that burger look?

Now I am not one for veggie burgers. I think they’re (mainly) weird. I do like Black Bean burgers and garden burgers, but more for a snack than an actual mean. I like all-beef (or lamb) burgers – usually with cheese, arugula and spicy mustard.

This particular veggie burger however – is amazing.

It’s made from a mixture of lentils, mushrooms, beets, cashews & bulgur wheat. I like mine with melted white Cheddar on whole wheat bread.

The mixture sounds disgusting and the burger looks even more disgusting but it is SO TASTY. And pretty healthy too!

I’m off to get ready for Engagement Party #1 of the weekend (this hair won’t straighten itself!)

Have you ever meditated? Are you a veggie burger or beef burger kind of person?

Today was my first time meditating… if you could call it that. 😉 I really just relaxed in the sun. 

9 times out of 10 I will eat a normal burger but sometimes when I’m not feeling something really heavy, I’ll go with the veggie burger. It’s really hit or miss for me!