A look back at all the happenings of 2014
Can you believe that tomorrow is the last day of the year?
I have a unique situation as a blogger, because I can look back on my year and link to stories and events. And it’s a good thing I can, because 2014 was definitely a different year for me with some huge changes in my life. I started out the year as an account director at a downtown San Francisco public relations agency teaching group fitness on the side. I ended the year as a full-time fitness professional and writer/blogger. Wow. There have been many questions along the way, but I know I’m on the right path now.
A Lady Goes West basically came to life this year. While technically I started this blog right before moving to San Francisco in the fall of 2012, at first, I wrote much less frequently and only shared the posts with my friends and family. This year, starting in March, I decided to put more time into this little hobby of mine, and I’ve seen nothing but good things come from that choice. And I’ve said it a few times already over the holiday season, but I’m truly grateful for your readership and friendship over the past few months. Now, let’s get to the point of this post …
My 2014 year in review
This year marked the second full calendar year in which Dave and I have lived on the West Coast. We’ve had quite a few adventures, some of which were blogged about, and some of which were not.
Shown above from top left to right: Dave and me after I put him through his first personal training session, Dave and me after a yoga session, Dave and me at Fat Tire’s annual festival in Golden Gate Park and me at a DMB concert at the Greek. Good times.
Here are the highlights of the year that I can link to, listed in chronological order:
- We took an overnight trip to wine country and stayed in St. Helena at a lovely little B&B.
- Our very best friends, Grant and Bre, visited us for three days, which was a total surprise to Dave. When he came home from work on a Thursday evening, they jumped out and gave him one incredible shock. You can see our adventures here: Surprise visit and dinner at Kokkari, Bluebird day along the Embarcadero, Perfect park day at Fort Mason and Tandem bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge.
- I took a quick trip home to Florida to visit my parents.
- I became a certified personal trainer.
- Dave and I went to a Live at the Landmark concert at City Hall and discovered a new favorite band, St. Lucia.
- I launched and reviewed Les Mills BODYPUMP 89 and BODYATTACK 84 classes.
- We attended Dave’s sister’s wedding in Boonville and enjoyed fun with family and some amazing food. You can see our adventures here: Boonville Hotel, wine tour and barn dinner and Gorgeous outdoor wedding in Boonville.
- We went on an incredibly relaxing, yet fun group camping weekend trip to Big Basin State Park under the redwoods.
- We had an awesome time participating in San Francisco’s famous Bay to Breakers race across the city in costume with friends.
- We celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary in the City over Memorial Day.
- We went on an absolutely perfect vacation to Cabo. You can see our adventures here: Fabulous Cabo vacation recap one and Fabulous Cabo vacation recap two. And yes, we’re going back one day, we hope.
- I attended a Les Mills BODYATTACK Advanced Instructor Module 1.
- I started working as a personal trainer at Equinox in the Marina neighborhood.
- Our very dear Orlando friends, Jess and Amanda, visited us for a few days. You can see our adventures here: Friends colliding at Fort Mason Park and Culinary walking tour of the Mission District.
- I became a certified Kettlebell Athletics personal trainer.
- I partnered with ClassPass as it launched in San Francisco. I attended the launch party and tried out tons of cool classes around the City using the service. You can see my class reviews here: Pop Physique, Barry’s Bootcamp, Pure Barre, Cardio Barre, Elevate Fitness, The Pad Yoga, Glow Yoga, Aspen Aerials, TRX, Avant Barre, Moxie Yoga and Mint Studios.
- I launched and reviewed BODYPUMP 90 and BODYATTACK 85 classes.
- I had a piece published on POPSUGAR, and it not only made my day, but made my week. Here it is: Should You Lose Your Shoes During Your Next Workout?
- We went to our third Dave Matthew’s Band concert at the outdoor Greek Theatre in Berkeley and had a blast.
- I became a certified pre-and post-natal personal trainer.
- Dave and I reached the two-year milestone in San Francisco, and I wrote a pretty long-winded recap here: What I’ve learned from two years in the City.
- We traveled to Florida for a fun Labor Day weekend at my parent’s house using two free round-trip flights Dave won in a golf tournament. Woohoo!
- We spent a very San Francisco day at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at Golden Gate Park.
- I launched and reviewed Les Mills BODYPUMP 91 and BODYATTACK 86 classes.
- We went to one epic dinner to celebrate Dave’s birthday and finally got to see what House of Prime Rib is all about.
- I took a quick trip back to Florida for the weekend to celebrate a good friend’s engagement party, while Dave was away on a boy’s golfing trip.
- I partnered with fitmob and tried several fitness classes around San Francisco including In It to Win It, Raise the Barre and Satori Yoga.
- I went to several blogger events, including ones put on by POPSUGAR, Lululemon and BlogHer. And from these events, I’ve met some great blogging friends, who I absolutely adore.
- Dave and I took a roadtrip to San Diego for Thanksgiving. We ran a Turkey Trot, spent time with his family and explored the charming City of Carmel-by-the-Sea for a night.
- We spent a week in Florida for my birthday and Christmas and even had a super enjoyable overnight in Orlando.
- We made some big decisions about 2015.
In between all of these events, we hung out with friends, worked hard, visited tons of great restaurants and tried to take in as much as we could from living in the great city of San Francisco. 2015 is just a day away, and with the new year comes some major changes for us, and yes, my friends, you will definitely read all about it.
My challenge to you: Stop and think about your 2014
For all of you out there who don’t have a blog to look back on to recap your year, I challenge you to take a moment today or tomorrow to think about some of the good stuff that you’ve accomplished, or think of some of the fun that you’ve had. I truly enjoyed putting together this post, and it made me quite happy looking back at pictures and recalling funny moments. What’s the best way to do this? Think of every month by itself, starting with January and try to remember at least one good thing about each. I bet you can do it! Good luck!
That’s all I’ve got for you today, my friends. I’ll be checking in tomorrow with a usual post about food. I hope you have a lovely Tuesday!
Questions of the day
What’s one good memory that you have from 2014? Do you have any New Years Eve plans? (And if you’re a reader who has never commented before, I’d love to hear from you. Go for it!)
This was a great post as I’m a new reader 🙂 I somehow found your blog about a week ago and have been enjoying your posts so much. Your blog is so well-written, and I look forward to reading them each morning as I sip my coffee. I’ll definitely have to take some time to read these posts from 2014!
Hi Amy! That is so sweet of you to say. Thank you for reading and for commenting today. I’m glad to know A Lady Goes West is part of your morning. Please let me know if you have any post requests. Hope you have a fabulous Tuesday!! 🙂 Thanks again.
Congrats on all the success of your blog so far…what an exciting year! We are heading over to a friends house for some NYE festivities….I’m hoping I can make it up to midnight!! One of my goals for 2015 is to pursue some more freelancing gigs, any tips on putting yourself out there? Cheers!
Hi Marielle! Freelance gigs have come to me in different ways. But if you find a blog or brand site that you’d really like to write for — identify their PR rep on the contact page and reach out with some ideas. You will probably have to do some free stuff before you get paying gigs, just to build up a portfolio. Best of luck with it!
Thanks girl! I’ll start some researching soon 🙂
Looks like you had a great 2014! I wasn’t going to do a 2014 recap because I just started my blog in April but now after reading yours and a few others I think I want too 🙂 Happy Tuesday.
Hi Sara! Of course you should do a review. You’ve got a great thing going for only blogging since April. Keep it up, lady! 🙂
Thats Ashley! I appreciate all your support 🙂
You had a very exciting year! Can’t wait to see what 2015 brings for all of us, best wishes for the new year :). No big NYE plans for me, maybe a nice dinner and I might have some friends over for a relaxing night.
Hi Jessie! That sounds like the perfect NYE. Sometimes staying at home or a friend’s house is much better than braving the busy bars and restaurants. I hope you have a good one! Happy Tuesday to you:)
You had quite the 2014! It looks like you really expanded your fitness knowledge which is totally awesome. I’m excited to hear about your big changes in 2015!
Thanks, Ashley! I know, I didn’t realize how many new certs I got until going back through to write this. 🙂 Happy Tuesday!
Looks like a busy and amazing 2014! How fun to move to SF. I love it there. Hooray for your first year of blogging. Time flies. Mine turns 6 in January.
Hi Marcia! Wow! Six years is a long time, but when you love to blog, I guess you just keep it going. Thanks for stopping by, and here’s to an awesome 2015!
What an awesome year!! Here’s to an even more amazing 2015!!
Thanks, Erin! Same to you! 🙂
Wow, you had an awesome year, Ashley! I agree that’s one of the many advantages of blogging is that it’s so easy to look back at memories and experiences from the year.
I think it’s amazing that you are following your heart and doing what you love. I’m sure 2015 is going to be filled with even more exciting ventures for you and I’m excited to watch you grow! xx
Hi Sarah! Thank you for the kind words. And I sure hope so! Hope you have a lovely Tuesday:)
Well done on your blog work! I’m a regular reader and love seeing a new post being added! Looks like you had a wonderfully eventful year! My favorite memory is probably when I started my fitness journey! It’s amazing to look back and see the progress!
My new year plans? Well, it is my birthday today (Woo!) and I received a FitBit! Travelling to England (I live in Scotland) for the New Year!
Hi Nikki! Well a VERY happy birthday going out to you! How great that you have plans to travel for the New Year I hope all that goes well and is very fun for you. Thank you so much for being a great reader, and please let me know if you ever have any post requests or questions. Nice work on the fitness journey! What’s your workout of choice these days?
Thank you so much! I have became quite the Les Mills fanatic. Body Attack is definitely my favorite! I also enjoy Combat and Step. I especially love your BA review posts! Gives me a heads up on whats in the new release as my local gym usually starts the new release a few weeks later! I’m so excited to be travelling for New Year – It’s been a while since I last went on an adventure! Happy New Year when it comes.
I’m launching BODYATTACK 87 next week, so look out for a review on that soon! 🙂
It looks like you guys have had one heck of a year!! I love that these little blogs can also hold a space as an online scrapbook to look back on. Congrats on all of the major accomplishments and successes this year! Happy 2015! xo
Thanks, Heather. Same to you! 🙂
Ashley, you’ve had an impressive year! You have so much to be proud of yourself. I’m so jealous you’ve seen DMB so many times. It’s always been one of my bucket list things to do. And how did you quit your job and go to full time fitness instructing? It’s been something I’ve considered doing. I would love to hear more about that!
Hi Megan! It’s a work in progress for sure, but I felt my passion in fitness growing, and something told me it was time to step away from the desk-job. I’d been a writer within the working world for so long that it made sense to stick with that and continue writing via the blog and some freelance — while training clients and teaching group fitness as well. I don’t have all the answers, but I can tell you I’m infinitely more happy with this path! And it’s not easy! Sooo worth considering though:)
This is all so crazy to me! I can’t believe you’ve only been blogging seriously for a year! AND you just became a personal trainer this year! You had me fooled on how pro you are! Hooray for years in review! Hopefully we get to hang out more in person this year!
Hi Kelly! I sure hope so! Thank you:)
One good memory from 2014 was celebrating two years with Brian and one year of living together. As for NYE plans, I’m headed to Brian’s cousin’s apartment tomorrow for a party. She is very creative and always goes all out for her annual celebration. I can’t wait!
Loved reading this post!
Hi Chrissy! Glad you enjoyed it, thanks. Two years? Congrats to you! Hope you have fun on NYE at the party. 🙂
I really want to attend next year’s Fat Tire festival. That sounds & looks like a really fun time. Have a wonderful rest of 2014. :] // ▲ itsCarmen.com ▲
Hi Carmen! It was a good time for sure. Hope you have a great NYE! Thanks for stopping by to say hello:)
Wow, what a great year Ashley! 2014 rocked for you, so I bet you’re gonna smash 2015! 🙂 Big smiles! All the best for the new year, and congrats on your success as a fitness professional and a blogger! xo
Thanks, Karen! Right back at ya! 🙂
Wow! You had so many awesome accomplishments this year!!! I had a great 2014 and hoping 2015 is just as good. My NYE plans are to go to a Hollywood themed party at a restaurant but I have NO idea what to wear…that is my current predicament in life, hahaha!
Hi Annmarie! Thank you! Ohhh yes. NYE outfits are hard, especially when there is a theme involved. Red lipstick and sequins scream Hollywood to me! Have fun! 🙂
What a great year! It’s so fun to be able to look back and realize just how much you accomplished in a simple year’s time! I am so glad you started writing more this year and sharing! It’s been so fun to read your adventures! 🙂 Looking forward to all 2015 has in store!
Hi Morganne! Well thanks for stopping by to say hello! And yes, it was a great year. Here’s to a great 2015 for the both of us! 🙂
I love reading 2014 year in reviews. You seriously had such an amazing year! Scott and I are just going to dinner for NYE then heading home to try and stay up until the ball drops 😉
Hi Katie! hahhah I know! My hubby is worried that if we stay home I won’t stay up. But I’ll sure try! 🙂 Have a good one!
You’ve had a seriously busy year! How awesome to make the switch to something you are so passionate about!
My New Years plans involve beer and a bonfire of Christmas trees that my boyfriend collected from around the neighborhood. We’re classy like that 😉
Hi Becky! Okay, your plans for NYE sound really fun. I like bonfires and just don’t get to enjoy them very much in San Francisco. Have fun!! And here’s to a great 2015!
You’ve had such an awesome year! :D! Congrats on all your success on your blog (I also thought you’d been blogging for wayyy longer)! I’m definitely looking forward to reading throughout the years to come! :] My NYE plans are extremely boring (hooray for more time to sleep and study!), but very much needed, so I’m gonna appreciate it! 😛 Best wishes for 2015!
Hi Farrah! Thanks for the kinds words. And a low-key and boring NYE is sometimes just what you need, so I hope you enjoy it. Here’s to a great 2015 for us both:)
SO many good memories in 2014 over here. Perhaps one of my favorites was changing jobs too! I’m so delighted by your new blog/fitness focus for work. Let’s see what 2015 brings! 🙂
Hi CharlieSue! You changed jobs this year? Awesome. Sometimes we all need a change. Hope you have a great NYE! 🙂
Wow you had a busy 2014! 🙂 Congrats on all the great achievements. I don’t know how you write such a well put together blog and post so often, but I Love your blog and look forward to reading in 2015. Cheers!
Thank you so much Sarah! Same to you. Here’s to a great year in fitness and blogging for the both of us! 🙂
Definitely enjoyed taking two of your classes in 2014!! Love catching up on all the things I missed before I started reading your blog!