Hi, friend! How was your week? Are you gearing up for a long weekend? Monday is Memorial Day in the U.S., so a lot of people have an extra day off. We don’t have a lot of plans for the holiday weekend, and I’m still working on Monday, but that’s fine by me.

My week was just okay, to be honest. I taught my usual classes, subbed an extra barre class, played tennis twice, went to Brady’s final preschool concert, helped work on gifts for Brady’s teachers with some of the moms in the class (we made the teachers cash wreaths, which turned out so cool), had dinner with a friend who came to my evening barre class (a highlight of the week) and did all the other stuff I usually do. It was a busy and rushed week, and I moved from one thing to the other with no downtime, which I’m usually fine with, but every once in a while I get sick of all the rushing. You know what I mean? Thank goodness a slower weekend is upon us.

On a good note: Today is Dave and my 11th wedding anniversary! Oh how far we’ve come since May 26, 2012 in downtown Orlando, Florida. 🙂 

Let’s get right to the current faves of the day …

Current faves

Family

Celebrating the end of preschool for Brady

It’s very bittersweet to say that Brady is officially done with preschool! He had his last day yesterday, and it’s been quite emotional for me. Luckily, Brady will see many of his friends at two short summer camps at his preschool, so it’s not goodbye forever. However, sadly, all of his friends are heading to separate elementary schools for kindergarten next year.

I’ve never shared the name of Brady’s preschool on the blog or social media, but if you’re a South Charlotte mom looking for an amazingly run church preschool, feel free to reach out to me, because I would recommend Brady’s in an instant. It’s been perfect for him and for us.

We’ve loved all his teachers, we’ve loved the activities and the communication and even the pick-up and drop-off line, which have always been so well run. 

Brady and I toured this preschool in our masks just a couple months after we arrived in Charlotte from the San Francisco area in early 2021. (Fun fact: A blog reader recommended this school to me, when I didn’t know anything about the area, so thanks, Liz).

And while the school didn’t have space for Brady for our first few months, we immediately got him on the list for the next year, and Brady’s had one fabulous time for the last two full school years there.

(Here are my jeans, here is my tank, and here is my purse strap.)

Over the last week, Dave, my mom and I have attended not one, but two concerts at Brady’s preschool. My favorite one was held in his classroom, and he and his little classmates sang the cutest songs for us. Brady killed it during that performance and sang and danced his heart out. I cried nearly the whole time, because it was so precious. The second concert featured several of the classes and took place in the church, and it was sweet too. But it wasn’t quite as intimate, so I held it together a lot better. (And we’ll cherish the videos we took of his performances forever!)

Brady’s grown so much during his preschool career, and I can’t wait to see how he thrives in kindergarten next year. But now, it’s officially time for summer! 

I have Brady signed up for six different weeks of summer camp over the next three months, but other than that, he’ll be my sidekick day in and day out. Yay Brady! 

Being featured in “Stroll Magazine”

We were so excited to be featured in the May issue of our neighborhood magazine, “Stroll Magazine.” We were on the cover of the magazine, and there was an article about our family inside, all about our background, jobs and favorite things about living in South Charlotte (and you know most of that if you’ve read the post I wrote about our first two years of living in Charlotte).

We live in a really big neighborhood, and I’ve always enjoyed seeing the families on the cover, and it’s so cool that we got a chance to be on it. 

We took the pictures about a month ago and then eagerly awaited the magazine to hit the newsstands — and it arrived in our mailbox late last week. Funny thing: Brady had already told some of his friends at school that “we were on a catalogue!” and he was pumped about that.

If “Stroll Magazine” sounds familiar to you, that’s because it’s a brand of publications tailored to different communities across the U.S.. Thanks to this particular Stroll for choosing our family to highlight! 

Wellness

My morning routine

Do you have a morning routine or are you just winging it after your alarm goes off? When Brady was a baby, I was just trying to survive those tired mornings, and I didn’t do a single “wellness” thing just for me.

But these days, I do have a short routine that I like to complete to start the day, and it sets me up for a good day. Earlier this week, I shared a video about that short morning routine in partnership with NOW, and if you’re interested, you can find that video here. 

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, 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 5/15

• Monday: Taught 1-hour barbell class, 9:45 a.m., played 60 minutes of tennis, 11:30 a.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 1-hour barre class with light weights, 9:30 a.m., took 90-minute tennis clinic, 11 a.m.
• Wednesday: Took 1-hour weights/treadmill class, 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., took 60-minute tennis clinic, 11:30 a.m.
• Friday: Did 45-minute full-body weights workout, 9:30 a.m.
• Saturday: Took 90-minute tennis clinic, 11 a.m.
• Sunday: Played 30 minutes of tennis, 12 p.m.

This past week was a solid one for movement. I taught four classes, played tennis four times, did my own solo workout and even took a new-to-me half treadmill/half weights class at Life Time called GTX, which is a small-group training workout. I really enjoyed it, and it reminded me of Orangetheory Fitness (where I was coach back in the day). While I didn’t have a total rest day this past week, my one day of a short 30-minute tennis session was quite light. 

Here’s a look at my solo weights workout on the fitness floor …

Best read of the week

Here’s an article worth sharing with you …

Ways to avoid endocrine disruptors in your daily life. I used to talk so much more about choosing clean products and monitoring how many toxic chemicals are making it into your life. I still feel strongly about this issue, and I’m still doing my best to reduce my use of plastic and selecting phthalate-free products in my home and life (and it’s not easy!). Check out this short article on a few ways you can reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals too.

Quote of the week

Here’s a thought from James Clear worth sharing with you …

Blog archives of the week

Let’s look back at two posts worth revisiting, including the latest from earlier this week …

Health and fitness inspiration. This post was very much worth updating, because it’s something we all need a refresher on … “How to know what health and fitness information to follow.”

Mindset. I learned these tips from my life coach, and I still use many of them today … “Three helpful mindset shifts I’ve made recently.”

Thanks for coming by the blog today. I hope you have an excellent day and (maybe long) weekend!

Questions of the day for you

How was your week?

Do you have any plans for Memorial Day weekend?

What’s one thing you’re working on in your health and fitness right now?