Hi, friend! How are you? Happy September!

We’re going to keep it light today with a current faves post. But first, let’s catch up …

In the past six weeks, I’ve been on three trips, which is a lot for me. I loved my time in Holden Beach with my Charlotte girlfriends, in Maine with my little family and in Montreal with my Florida girlfriends, but I’m also happy to be back home in Charlotte for the remainder of the year (outside of one small roadtrip planned for November). We’ve talked about possibly fitting in a Disney trip before the year is over too, but looking at the calendar, I’m not so sure that it’s going to happen. Because I have an in-person job six days of the week, and Dave often has to work in person on the weekends, we can’t really get away all that often. Luckily, we fit in plenty of fun right here at home, so we don’t have to save it all for travel/trips/vacations, you know?

Brady started school last week, so we’re back into a more structured routine, and it feels good so far. I’m staying busy with work and classes, and I even started tennis up again, after taking some time off during the summer (I had my first doubles match for the fall season last night, and we lost in a tie-breaker, bummer). We’re also just about to launch back into full sports mode for our family, with Brady’s soccer, Brady’s tennis, Charlotte FC and Panthers football too. Here we are this past weekend at a Charlotte FC game …

And now, for the faves …

Current faves

Fashion

adidas gear for fall

*adidas sent me a gift card to purchase this gear, but these opinions are my own.

I love adidas gear, and I wear a lot of it. And one of my favorite things to get from adidas is the matching leisure set. Why do I love a good matching leisure set? Because if you’re unsure of what you want to wear — but you need something casual — reaching for a set makes it so easy. The top and bottoms are decided for you in one fell swoop, and I love that.

I have four matching leisure sets from adidas that I wear all the time. Two sets include shorts with short-sleeve tops, and two sets include shorts with long-sleeve tops. My latest set includes this light blue cropped and hooded sweatshirt and these light blue shorts. I have another set made from this same French Terry fabric from adidas, and it holds up so well. I almost always wear a small in both tops and bottoms in adidas, and that’s what I got in this set too. I like a loose, casual fit for these sets, and they usually run a little big.

Even though it’s still technically summer here in Charlotte, I’m already looking forward to cooler temperatures coming in the fall. This set will be perfect to wear for those in-between days, and it’ll only take one decision to get dressed then too. 🙂 

In addition to the set above, the other item I’m really excited about is perhaps the most beautiful backpack I’ve ever seen. It’s just so colorful and fun … you see, adidas and FARM Rio did a collaboration, and the pieces are lovely. I got this gorgeous and embroidered backpack, which is made from 50 percent recycled materials too. I’ve been using it as a gym/work bag the last couple of weeks, and not only does it fit a lot of stuff, but also, the vibrant pattern just makes me happy.

Here’s what else was in my recent adidas order:

• This tee for kids for Brady. This shirt arrived a week ago, and Brady has already worn it three times. He’s a big fan of anything sporty, especially when it looks like a soccer jersey.
• This medium-impact sports bra for me. I was totally in need of more sports bras, and this one is just the right size and support. It fits perfectly under my work tanks that I wear to teach group fitness classes.
• These aqua slides for me. These slides are so light and cushy, and they go with just about everything.
• These metallic Samba shoes for me. I’ve been eyeing some Samba classic shoes for quite a while and finally pulled the trigger. Do you know how long Samba shoes have been around? It’s amazing that this style just stands the test of time.

While we’ve already done our back-to-school shopping, if you haven’t yet, may I recommend adidas? You can find plenty of backpacks, kids clothes and a lot of shoes under $100 all in one place on the adidas website. adidas gear is well made, affordable and 100 percent functional too.

As always, thank you to adidas for decking out the Pitt family!

Family

Brady’s first week of first grade

Last week, Brady started first grade!

Although we had 11 weeks together over the summer, it really did go by quickly, and school is officially back in session now. 

Brady is excited to make some new friends and spend time with friends he made in his class last year too. But what’s even cooler is that Brady’s first grade teacher just so happens to be the same teacher he had and loved from preschool (she moved up to his school in first grade this year, and he was assigned to her class).

Here he is on his first day with a fresh haircut and some Canada socks, which I brought back for him from Montreal …

The first week of school, I dropped Brady off and picked him up. But as of this week, he’s riding the bus on the way home. This not only saves me some time in the afternoons, but it also makes him happy, because he’s been wanting to ride the bus since last year. (And I cried when I met him at the bus stop for the first day, because I always cry when he does things for the first time — #momlife.)

We’ve been so pleased with Brady’s elementary school experience so far. I feel like he comes home with new information and knowledge every single day, which is really fun to see. 

We took a few first-day-of-school pictures a couple days before the actual start of school too, because we knew that Dave wouldn’t be around on the morning of his first day. So here’s one of those …

Brady has shared that first grade is already a lot more work than kindergarten. And he’s the “captain of his table” which is a stressful role. His favorite time of day is recess, and his favorite subject is math. Go, Brady!

Fun

The start of the Carolina Panthers football season

A couple weeks ago, I took Brady and my mom to the first pre-season home game for the Carolina Panthers, and despite some rain and a loss, we had a good time.

While we were walking the stadium’s concourse upon arrival, a Panthers team member randomly reached out and asked us if we wanted to go down to see the players come out on the field — a little surprise-and-delight moment (and they were looking for a group of three, and that’s what we were). Of course, our answer was yes. It was a really cool experience, and Brady was in awe as all of the Panthers players and coaching staff lined up in front of us. Music was blasting, and the energy was high. Brady didn’t say a single word during this time (I had to pick him up so he could see the action), but he mentioned later that he couldn’t believe how big the players were in person. I agreed! It was awesome.

It’s been so fun to go to so many sporting events through Dave’s job, and although it fills up our weekends, we love it. Brady and I are pumped for the regular football season, and we’ll probably try to go to every single game, bringing a couple of friends along with us each game. 

Books

Reading “Expirations Dates” by Rebecca Serle

I’ve finished several books in the last month, two nonfiction and one fiction. Let’s talk about the fiction …

This was my fourth book by Rebecca Serle, and I’ve enjoyed reading each of them. “Expiration Dates” is Serle’s newest piece of romantic fiction, and I checked it out from my local library, as I often do. 

(“Expiration Dates” by Rebecca Serle)

The reason I’ve loved Serle’s books so much is that they all have a similar element: a dash of supernatural. Now, I’m not at all into reading fantasies or mysteries or anything like that. But somehow, Serle tells a realistic story with a little unrealistic twist thrown in, and it just works.

This book is about a woman named Daphne, who randomly receives a piece of paper every time she dates someone new, and that paper tells her how long she’ll be with that person (the twist), and the predictions continue to be correct. Throughout the course of the story, we learn about Daphne’s relationships, her history and then we see her enter into a more long-term relationship where the timeline is unclear.

I will say that at first I felt like the narrative was jumping around a bit, but then I got into the flow of it. There were some unexpected turns in this storyline, and I actually didn’t know what would happen at the end. This was not my favorite of Serle’s books, but I still liked reading it. It felt like a little escape, and ultimately, I loved the journey of it. 

If you want a light romantic read, you should totally check out this one or some of Serle’s other novels. I loved “One Italian Summer,” “The Dinner List,” and “In Five Years.”

Reading “Good Morning, Monster” by Catherine Gildiner

I was on the waiting list at the library for this nonfiction book, “Good Morning, Monster” for many, many weeks. And boy, what a book.

I’ve told so many people about reading it, because I found it to be so moving, interesting and fascinating.

I initially opened this book up and started reading it on the plane on the way to Maine. Then, I waited to read it again until I was on the plane on the way to Montreal. I wanted to make sure every time I picked it up, I had plenty of time to devour each of the five stories in the book — so I didn’t have to leave one in the middle of it. 

(“Good Morning, Monster” by Catherine Gildiner)

So what are the stories about? Well, this book is written by a therapist, and it’s a recounting of five of her most memorable and heroic patients. I’ve never been to therapy before, and I didn’t really know what went on there until reading this book (other than watching Tony Soprano meet with his therapist on old episodes of “The Sopranos,” of course). 

It’s fair to say that just a few paragraphs in, I was totally into it. I was so intrigued by the stories of the individuals Gildiner worked with. They all went through very hard things as children and adults, and all of their struggles shaped them as people. They each ended up in therapy to fix an issue that they didn’t realize was somehow connected to what happened to them in the past. While each had a different issue and history, what was similar among all of the patients was that they had to deal with their past traumas one by one in order to ultimately recover from what was plaguing them in the present.

I won’t share much more than that, but I will say that if you’re looking for a moving and deep book about real-life healing, this is an excellent choice for you. This book has made it onto a ton of bestseller lists, and I’ve heard it’s even been turned into a podcast. It’s a good one, and I keep thinking about it, even now, a couple weeks after I finished reading it.

A Lady Goes West archives 

Our trip to Maine. We loved this special family trip, and I loved writing about it too … “Our first family trip to Maine: Highlights from visiting Portland, Freeport and Bar Harbor.”

Fitness favorites. I’ve tried so many products over the years, and these are my top five … “Five must-have fitness essentials I can’t live without.”

My trip to Montreal. Just a couple weeks after Maine, I was off to Quebec. Here’s a recap on my trip with some travel tips too … “Highlights from a girls’ trip to Montreal.”

Thanks for stopping by A Lady Goes West to say hello! I’ll see you around here again soon. Have a fabulous week.

Question of the day for you

Have you read good anything lately?

Are you still feeling summer or have you launched into fall?