Hi, friend!

How’s everything? This week was another busy one. I worked, I took Brady to swimming and to tennis, I played tennis for fun, I also played in my second USTA team tennis match (we played a very tough local competitor and lost, unfortunately), I auditioned to teach another program at Life Time (a small-group training class, which I’ll share more about soon and may start teaching this fall), I took Rudy to the groomer, and I did all the other mom stuff with Brady, but our summer days together are numbered. The end of summer is almost here, and I feel like this summer absolutely flew by.

This weekend, I’m playing tennis, I have to film some videos and work on a new hour of Barbell Strength, and we’re also taking Brady to see some monster trucks, which should be fun for us all (and hot).

Now, let’s get to the current faves of the day …

Current faves

Fashion

Back-to-school adidas gear

*adidas sent me a gift card to purchase this gear. Thanks, adidas!

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost back-to-school time and our little man will be starting kindergarten at the end of the month. I did some online shopping for Brady over the last couple of weeks to get him some back-to-school clothes, and we got the coolest t-shirt-and-shorts set and back-to-school shoes for him from adidas.

Although I like to save all his new stuff until school starts, he kept asking me if he could wear his new adidas shoes, so I finally let him put on the whole new adidas get-up this past weekend when we went out to lunch at Optimist Hall near Uptown Charlotte. Check it out …

I got myself some new classic three-stripe adidas gear to debut along with him. I’m wearing this top in a small, these shorts in a medium (the reviews said they ran small, so I got a medium, but I probably could have gotten a small anyhow) and these high-top platform sneakers. Brady is wearing this matching set and these colorful sneakers. 

I’m a big fan of matching sets and so is Brady (maybe because I put him in matching hoodies and sweats when he was only a few months old back in California, and we’ve always rocked the matching-set life together). adidas makes great matching sets too, for both kids and adults. Both of ours are super comfy, and I know we’ll each get a lot of use out of these cute outfits. We already got some compliments when we were walking around Optimist Hall.

If you’re doing some back-to-school shopping for your little ones, check out the kids backpacks, back-to-school clothes, back-to-school athletic sneakers and more on adidas.com. They really do have so much to choose from for kids and adults.

Although back-to-school shopping for shorts is great, I really can’t wait to get us into matching track suits when the weather gets cooler. And you’ll be sure to see those on us when they arrive. Thanks, adidas, for decking us out for the back-to-school season! 

Books

“Malibu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I brought this book, “Mailbu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins Reid, on my vacation a couple weeks ago, and I started it on the beach directly after finishing up another book. This is my third title from the same author, Reid, and I really loved both “Carrie Soto is Back” and “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” which she also wrote. When you like a book from an author, there’s usually a good chance you’ll like the next one. And that is the case for me with Reid for sure.

This book is about the Riva family, who lives in the beautiful beach-side town of Malibu. During the first half of the book, we learned about June Riva, the mother and how she came to be. We also learned about the Riva kids, their hardships and upbringing, and we learned about Mick Riva, their famous father, who was a chart-topper, but not a very good parent. The characters were pretty diverse, and we spent a little time getting to know each of them from their viewpoints. And I loved this part.

Then the second half of the book is all about the annual Riva family party and how that particular year’s party was significant for all the family members. While they had always had a famous name, the Riva kids had not had an easy path, and yet, they always held their annual party. And many life-changing things happened in their lives on the night of the party, all of which are detailed in the story.

(“Malibu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins Reid)

I really liked reading this book, and I read it very quickly. With one marathon-reading session on the plane-ride back from the Dominican Republic, I got through this in maybe three days, which is super fast for me. It was just enjoyable to read. I shed a couple tears in the sad parts, and I turned the page quickly in the interesting parts. Reid’s writing style is so easy to read and absorb, which makes this book such a good beach read.

Also, something that is cool is that Carrie Soto was actually introduced as a character in this book, and the way she was described makes sense for her solo story, which came out after this book. Also, I don’t remember it, but apparently Mick Riva was also one of Evelyn Hugo’s husbands, so he had been mentioned before in that one. I like to see those storylines tied together, and Reid seems to do that well.

I don’t think I liked this one quite as much as the other two books I read from Reid, but I definitely liked it. It’s a catchy beach read with a satisfying ending.

That’s it for the faves. Let’s get to the movement …

Workouts

My workouts from last week

Now it’s time to take a look at my workouts from last week.

I share this recap to show you how I try to get diversity of movement in my week (with a focus on lifting weights), and how I always take a rest day (almost always). But remember, I do a little bit more than the average person, because I’m a group fitness instructor, so you don’t need to compare your movement to mine.

Workouts from the week of 8/7

• Monday: Taught 1-hour barbell class, 9:45 a.m., played 90 minutes of tennis, 4 p.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 1-hour barre class with light weights, 9:30 a.m., played in 90-minute doubles tennis match, 6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday: Taught 45-minute barre class with light weights, 9:30 a.m., taught 45-minute barre class with light weights, 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday: Taught 45-minute combo class, 9:45 a.m.
• Friday: Taught 45-minute barbell class, 11:30 a.m.
• Saturday: Played 90 minutes of tennis, 10:30 a.m.
• Sunday: Did 70-minute full-body weights workout, 8 a.m. (shown below), played 90 minutes of tennis, 6 p.m.

This past week of workouts was a major return to normalcy after taking almost a full week off for my vacation the week before, and it was full with a few lighter days. I taught six classes, played tennis four times, and I even got back to a big solo weights workout (with a friend, shown below). I didn’t get a full rest day, but because I was coming off multiple rest days in a row, it worked out fine. 

Here’s my workout from the fitness floor …

Best watch of the week

Here’s a video worth sharing with you …

Lower-back stretches.  In my latest video for Neighborhood TV, I’m sharing my five favorite stretches for the lower back to ease lower-back discomfort from sitting all day.

Quote of the week

Here’s a thought worth sharing with you from the Calm app …

Blog archives of the week

Let’s look back at two posts worth revisiting …

Group fitness tips. I love to write about group fitness almost as much as I love teaching it. In fact, writing about group fitness is what helped me grow this blog. This post is for anyone interested in group fitness … “Eight tips for taking your first group fitness class.”

Morning beverage. I’m still drinking this daily concoction, and I love it. If you’re in need of a new morning drink, check this out … “How I make my morning collagen tea latte.”

That’s the post for today, friend. As always, I appreciate you taking the time to read A Lady Goes West. Have a fabulous weekend!

Questions of the day for you

Is it back-to-school time where you live yet?

What’s one good thing that happened in your week?

Do you have any book recommendations for me?