Hey, hey, my friend! How are you doing? It’s the first post of October, and we’ve got a lot to catch up on.

There’s been quite a bit of exciting stuff going on around here! Brady turned six (more on that below), we’ve been doing a lot of fun things (concerts, social activities and sports, some of which will be below) and keeping up with work and regular life. We also went to Brady’s curriculum night this week and got to hear about all the things he’s learning in kindergarten, which was cool.

(Wearing this top in a medium and this hat in these pictures.)

There’s been a pop-up project taking up some extra time lately for me, as well: Some of you may remember that I shopped at the Weddington Kids Consignment sale back in the spring (and bought a ton of affordable used clothes for Brady), and I knew I wanted to do it again when the sale came back in the fall. Well, the sale is this upcoming weekend. And I’m not only going to be shopping at the sale, but I’m also going to be a consignor. Months ago, I entered the lottery to sell some baby stuff and was chosen. It’s taken hours-upon-hours to get my 150 items ready for sale, and I hope it was worth my time when the consigning check comes in to me in 30 days. I drop off all my items tomorrow, and that will be the end of my work. I have to thank my mom, Dave and Brady for helping me get them ready, because it was a lot (selecting the items, pricing them, inputting them, tagging them and organizing them). But I love to purge, and so that part felt great. Local friends, you can shop the sale this weekend in Weddington, if you’re interested! Find out more here.

Before we get started, let’s take a moment for my new fall mug, which I’ve been enjoying the last couple of weeks …

Now, we’re ready for the first-of-October faves …

Current faves

Family

Brady’s 6th birthday party

Over the weekend, we had Brady’s 6th birthday party, on his actual birthday, and honestly it may have been my favorite party we’ve ever held for him.

We did a big party for Brady’s first birthday, and a big party for Brady’s fifth birthday, keeping it to smaller family parties the other years. But this year, I wanted to do a mixture of both. We invited Brady’s closest friends and their parents (many of which are my friends too) to our neighborhood park in the afternoon on a Saturday, and it was mild fall weather, blue skies and an excellent time. 

Although I did have a lot to do on the day of the party, it was fairly stress free. I bought the kids snacks and drinks little-by-little via Target pick-up, and I ordered the decor and party favors little-by-little on Amazon, so it never seemed like a ton. Then I did one big grocery shopping trip the day before the party, and I picked up the cupcakes (Smallcakes) and balloons (Publix) and ice on the day of the party. The set-up took no more than 30 minutes and the clean-up took less than that. I kept it super simple with snacks for both kids and adults too. (And Dave, Brady and I all wore old clothing, planned only a few minutes before the party, whereas in the past, I’ve spent time getting us new stuff that coordinated, which just added to the to-do list.)

During Brady’s party, all the kids ran around on the playgrounds and in the open fields, while the adults chatted in the shade sipping on adult beverages. We had music playing, the breeze was blowing, and it felt just perfect.

(Here are my sandals, which are currently on sale.)

Because we only had 12 total kids (many of whom were siblings) and their parents, it felt very manageable, and I think I spent time with all of my friends who were there, which isn’t always the case for bigger parties. Our family truly enjoyed this celebration, and I love that it turned out just as it did. 

Also, can we talk about Brady turning six? That seems so big to me! And I swear, since he started kindergarten, he’s seemed older and older every single day. He even has his first loose tooth.

By the way, I made this little video about Brady over the years. I’ve showed it to him a number of times, and I think he likes it as much as I do. Check out Brady’s first six years here.

Fun

Seeing Old Dominion in concert

Oh my goodness, I can’t say enough good things about this concert!

Dave bought us tickets to see the band, Old Dominion, for our anniversary back in May, and the concert seemed so far away. A lot of things have happened in our life since May, and I was pregnant when he gave me the tickets … I remember wondering how I would feel and look at this upcoming concert?

Anyhow … all of that aside, this concert was absolutely amazing. I had the best time. Old Dominion is a country band with a lot of popular songs, and I’ve been a fan for many years. Some of my favorites include “Written in the Sand,” and “No Hard Feelings.” These are feel-good country songs and hearing them makes me so happy. Also, Old Dominion’s entire new album comes out this weekend, and I can’t wait to check out the latest stuff.

We had great seats on the lower level of the Spectrum Center (an indoor arena in Uptown Charlotte) and we stood the entire time, as did the rest of the crowd, because Old Dominion songs are just so singable — so you want to be up on your feet. I’ve been to many concerts in my life (not as many in recent years, though), and what I love most is to watch a band who looks like they are having fun performing — like they truly care about entertaining and making music.

I’ve seen some big-name bands who were completely unimpressive and lackluster in person (I’m talking to you Zac Brown Band, you were quite disappointing), and I’ve also seen some smaller bands and artists who just killed it (I’m talking to you, O.A.R., who maybe isn’t a small band, but is not as popular these days, and they were super awesome). I would say Old Dominion is one of my top three concert experiences ever, just behind my first Taylor Swift concert more than 10 years ago back in Orlando. Yes, THAT good.

Before the concert, we went to Fahrenheit, a rooftop restaurant in Uptown Charlotte, for drinks and bites. The view was awesome, and the food and drinks were pretty decent, mostly. We had a gift card to use up at Fahrenheit, which is always fun. Overall, I would say this was just a great night, and we loved it!

(Here’s my new clear purse, which I bought specifically for concerts and sporting events where you need a clear bag to get in. I loved using it! And here’s my Nashville t-shirt, which was perfect for a concert and is on super sale right now, and I’m in a small. These two items deserve to be favorites on their own.)

Books

“Those Other Women” by Nicola Moriarty

I finished this book, “Those Other Women” by Nicola Moriarty last week, and I wanted to share about it for two reasons.

Number one: Nicola Moriarty is a sister to Liane Moriarty, a very popular Australian fiction writer. I’ve read some of her books before, and I was actually looking for a book from her when I came across “Those Other Women” by Liane’s sister, Nicola. I think Nicola Moriarty has promise, but this is only her third novel, and her storytelling still needs a little bit of work, overall. Yet, I liked her ideas — I just felt like she could’ve tied everything together a little more skillfully.

(“Those Other Women” by Nicola Moriarty)

This book is about a couple of women who start a Facebook group for non-mothers in their community, and the Facebook group goes off the rails. The main character has some drama in her life that leads her to want to create a place for non-mothers to connect, and while her intentions were innocent, it does lead to some unfortunate happenings and misunderstandings. 

My number-two reason for writing about this book is the overall message: You never know what someone is going through, and you can’t judge someone until you walk in their shoes. This book is about a bunch of women who judge each other based off of not really knowing each other’s situations. And I think that’s something we’ve all done or been through before. I really liked that the book concluded reminding readers to give people a little more grace. While I wouldn’t say this was the best book, it was a fairly easy read, and I enjoyed the fact that it was current with so many references to social media, and I appreciated the lesson too. 

I’ll give Nicola Moriarty a few more books to work on her craft before I revisit her writing, but this one still deserved a mention. I’m reading another Taylor Jenkins Reid book right now, and I’m devouring it — more on that one soon.

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

Workouts

My workouts from the last two weeks

Now it’s time to take a look at my workouts from the last two weeks.

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 9/18

• Monday: Taught 1-hour barbell class, 9:45 a.m., played 90 minutes of doubles tennis, 11:30 a.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 1-hour barre class, 9:30 a.m., played in 100-minute doubles tennis match, 8 p.m.
• Wednesday: Did 20-minute weight-room workout, 12 p.m., taught 45-minute barre class, 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday: Taught 45-minute combo class, 9:45 a.m., took 90-minute tennis clinic, 11 a.m.
• Friday: Taught 45-minute barbell class, 11:30 a.m.
• Saturday: Played 60 minutes of doubles tennis, 8:30 a.m.
• Sunday: Played 60 minutes of singles tennis, 11 a.m.

Workouts from the week of 9/25

• Monday: Taught 1-hour barbell class, 9:45 a.m., played 45 minutes of doubles tennis, 11:30 a.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 1-hour barre class, 9:30 a.m., played in 90-minute doubles tennis match, 6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday: Did 20-minute weight-room workout, 12 p.m., taught 45-minute barre class, 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday: Taught 45-minute combo class, 9:45 a.m., took 90-minute tennis clinic, 11 a.m.
• Friday: Taught 45-minute barbell class, 11:30 a.m.
• Saturday: Took 30-minute neighborhood walk, 9 a.m.
• Sunday: Played 60 minutes of singles tennis, 10 a.m.

These past two weeks of movement have been solid. I’ve taught my regular classes, played a lot of tennis and had lighter active/recovery days each week too. I feel good, so whatever I’m doing right now is working for me. But as soon as my tennis season is over, I want to get back to longer solo weights workouts and maybe even fit in some yoga. 

Best watch of the week

Here’s a video worth sharing with you …

Trader Joe’s fall staples. Raise your hand if you love Trader Joe’s as much as I do! I had fun putting together this video for Neighborhood TV all about my favorite fall finds from Trader Joe’s that you can only get once a year. If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, grab some of these items before they’re gone for the season.

Quote of the week

Here’s a thought worth sharing with you from Ram Dass via The Chalkboard Mag …

Blog archives of the week

Let’s look back at two posts worth revisiting …

Bags, bags and more bags. I’ve been recommending these bags for quite some time, and they deserve their own blog post … “The best brand of everyday bags and my favorite bags I use all the time.”

Fitness decisions. Life is too short to do workouts you don’t enjoy. Here’s how to figure out what to stick with and what to ditch … “How do you know if a workout is right for you?”

That’s all I’ve got for you today! Have a great day!

Questions of the day for you

What’s something you’re excited about right now?

What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to?