Friends! Well, hello there … you may have noticed that it’s been a whole week since a new post went up on the blog, and here’s why: I decided to take the holiday weekend off of almost all work (I only did about one hour of work collectively from Saturday through Monday), and it felt much needed to keep the computer mostly closed up. That’s why there wasn’t anything new here for you on Monday, but I’m back and refreshed now.

Our holiday weekend was excellent (more on that below), and this short week was a super busy one. I taught my usual classes, subbed BODYPUMP, got caught back up with work and all of that. We don’t have any big plans this weekend, which is nice, because starting next week, we have visitors and travel throughout the rest of the summer back to back to back to back. But today, let’s just get to those faves …

CURRENT FAVES

Fun 

Anniversary adventure with Dave

On Sunday, Dave and I celebrated seven years of marriage. Wow! We were married in downtown Orlando, where we lived at the time, and we had a beautiful 94-person wedding at a historic courthouse, with a live-band dance party reception at a nearby club. It was one of the most fun days ever, and yet, the real fun started after we began our marriage … because if you know the story, it’s that we moved across the country together from Orlando to San Francisco just a few months after getting married. And the rest is history.

But I digress. We did a non-traditional anniversary celebration this year and decided to go to a music festival in wine country. We went to Bottlerock, which is an annual event weekend we’ve always talked about attending and never did until now. It was amazing! A great scene, a great line-up of musicians, lots of fancy food and drinks, people watching and everything else you could ask for. And we had a ball! We were lucky to have some connections and be able to watch the main stage in a suite, and that elevated the experience even more. We saw Citizen Cope, Lord Huron and Mumford & Sons. I didn’t realize that I would know almost all of the songs from all three bands. Love that!

Food

Collagen shots

Trying new products is fun. And these new Defense turmeric collagen shots from Vital Proteins are SO good. The brand sent me a few boxes of different flavor shots to try, and I look forward to taking a turmeric one after a tough workout — turmeric helps fight inflammation, collagen supports your skin, and the taste is yummy — also, each shot has seven grams of collagen protein. Thanks Vital Proteins for sending these!

Want to get your hands on some collagen shots? I’m hosting a giveaway for these on Instagram. There will be five winners, so head on over and enter today, because the giveaway closes this weekend.

The best breakfast

Have you ever had an heirloom tomato? So darn delicious! Over the weekend on our anniversary, Dave got up a bit before me and made me this breakfast spread. Avocado toast, an egg and an heirloom tomato — mmmmmm — heirloom tomatoes are to die for, which is probably why they are so expensive.

First freeze of the season

When I was pregnant, I went to Pressed Juicery for a “freeze” all the time, in addition to going to get regular ice cream every weekend, so freezes always make me think of that time. Well, I always take a break from freezes during the winter months, and I finally headed back for my first freeze of the season over the weekend.

Freezes are made from fruit, and they are dairy and sugar free, yet, somehow also quite a tasty treat. I wanted Brady to try one, and he seemed to enjoy it — until I gave him a bite with a slivered almond that he wasn’t expecting, and he was a little put off by the crunch heheh. Since the last time I’d been to Pressed Juicery, they added granola butter to the toppings menu, and it’s divine. I also like to get the cacao drizzle as a topping, which is shown with the granola butter and shaved almonds below.

Fitness

Weekly workout recap

Because I like to share how I’ve been moving …

• Monday: Rest day
• Tuesday: Taught 45-minute BODYATTACK class, 4:45 p.m.
• Wednesday: Taught 1-hour BODYPUMP class, 9:30 a.m., taught 1-hour barre class, 5 p.m.
• Thursday: Taught 1-hour barre class, 12 p.m.
• Friday: 20 minutes of BODYATTACK practice, 25-minute weights workout, 10 a.m.
• Saturday: 1-hour BODYATTACK class, 9:30 a.m.
• Sunday: Rest day

This past week was class heavy, with two full rest days. I definitely didn’t get in as much resistance work as I’d like, but oh well. Here’s the one solo weights session I did …

You can find these workouts saved under “Workouts” on my Instagram story highlights or check out this post.

Best reads

Some things I enjoyed from around the web …

• Walking with a purpose. I love the idea of dedicating each of your walks to something in particular in your life, like a person or just plain gratitude. This article even talks about adding meditation to your walks. 
• Avocado tips. Always useful to know how to speed up the ripening process of your avocados at home in two simple steps.
• Squat progression. Wondering how to level up your squats in your workouts to get better glute engagement and more of a calorie burn? Try adding a weight plate and then jumping. This article from my favorite fitness company tells you exactly how and why you want to try weighted squat jumps. Speaking of Les Mills, if you’re in need of good workouts you can do at home or at the gym, check out Les Mills On Demand — (my referral link, which gets you a free 30-day trial of the streaming service).

A Lady Goes West favorite archives …

• Prenatal fitness. It can be so hard to know what you can and can’t do, and while every woman is different, here are some general tips … “15 things you should know about working out when you’re pregnant.”
• Food. Inquiring minds like to see what others are eating … “All about food: What I’m eating and what foods I currently can’t live without.”

Have a great weekend, my friends. Thank you for stopping by the blog today.

P.S. Congrats to Emily W. for winning the Liquid IV giveaway last week.

Questions of the day

What are you up to this weekend?

What was the most recent concert you’ve been to?

Are you workouts mostly classes or solo?