This weekend I celebrated my birthday, not to be confused with my blog-anniversary that I celebrated in October. Birthdays are always a time of reflection and mine falls right before the new year, making it the most ideal time to look back at what I have accomplished (or still need to) and figure out what I want for myself in the upcoming year.

Since being in Los Angeles for about 18 months, a lot has happened. I’ve started this blog as an outlet for my fitness obsession, gotten engaged and married, and made new friends (thankfully so many that share my love for working out).

To ring in year 27, I decided to throw the sweatiest birthday party I could think of, so naturally, a spin class was my first choice. SoloCicla, the gorgeous new studio in Studio City was the ideal location. Not only is it easy to get to (right off of the 101), but also there’s a plethora of free parking, free shoes, and free alkaline water!

I immediately texted everyone I knew to join! My friend Paris (whom I’ve spun next to at other LA studios) just started teaching at SoloCicla and I knew she would be the perfect energy to have in the room; she is so motivating and knows all the best music.

Evan and I arrived to the studio and were met with a spread of balloons, flowers, and cupcakes set up by the studio—it was the sweetest surprise!! I brought along two double bottles of champagne and two jugs of OJ because there’s no better weekend drink than a mimosa! Everyone grabbed some shoes and strapped into their bikes. There were about 10 people brand new to spin and I was nervous that they would hate me after!

Once we were all ready, Paris turned the lights off and the music up and we started to ride. We did a ton of tap backs, push-ups, and jumps and I was sweating from every single pore! The music was awesome and really created an atmosphere where we could all work our butts off but have so much fun in the process. Paris offered encouraging words and gave shout outs to the newbies along the way.

After 45 minutes of cardio goodness, we were off to enjoy the weekend! Mimosas were had, happy birthdays were sung, and cupcakes were devoured. It was the absolute perfect way to celebrate and I am so thankful to the amazing hosts, SoloCicla, and all of my gorgeous friends who love me enough to spend a Saturday morning spinning when they could be sleeping in!

Most photos by Bethany at Glam Packed. Tank by Socially Fab.