Hi, my friends! Happy end of the week to you! Where should we start? This week included an earthquake, Dave’s birthday, lots of group fitness, writing work, a SoulCycle date with a friend and a whole lot more.

I guess we’ll start with the earthquake. I’ve felt several earthquakes since living in California for seven years, but this was by far the scariest one for me. In fact, the epicenter was just one mile from our house, and boy we could tell. It was a 4.7 on the richter scale (which makes it almost a moderate earthquake) and our whole house shook for maybe 10 seconds or so.

It happened on Monday night around 10:30 p.m., and I was alone in the family room hanging up the birthday banner for Dave’s birthday the next day. I watched as the trinkets on the entertainment center shook, and then I froze — realized what was happening — and ran down the hallway to the bedroom to find Dave sitting up in bed holding Rudy, also a little bit in shock.

We were shaken, but the good news is that Brady never woke up, in spite of it. I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep that night, but we never felt any of the aftershocks and didn’t have any damage, other than one little thing falling off our entertainment center. Guess it could have been worse, but it reminded us that natural disasters are a real thing and can happen at any time.

Anywho, this upcoming weekend is an exciting one for us, because Dave and I have a city adventure planned just for the two of us. Dave’s younger sister, Gwena, is coming over to hang with Brady. Let’s get into those favorites now …

Current faves

Food

The return of the sweet potato lunch

Do you guys remember when I used to eat a baked sweet potato and eggs for lunch every single day? Me too. It was a staple meal for me for a very long time, but then I took a hiatus. Well, it’s back in a big way, after rice bowls and lentil pasta had been at the forefront of my weekday lunch routine for the last few months.

Here’s a stacked version featuring a baked white sweet potato, an egg and a dollop of guacamole, with a mug of hot bone broth on the side, all covered with sea salt, black pepper and turmeric …

And here’s a version using Caulipower frozen sweet “potatoasts.” I found a bag of these at Sprouts and gave them a try …

Here are the benefits of these potatoasts: The only ingredient is sweet potato, they are very tasty, and they are already sliced up for you. However, they aren’t organic. (I don’t buy everything organic, but I always choose organic for potatoes, because I eat the skin, and because potatoes are on the dirty dozen list from the EWG). Another downfall is that you have to cook them for a lot longer than the directions call for, so I was starving by the time these babies were ready on the first day I ate them.

I’d probably buy them again though, because overall, I liked them, and I like having food like this in the freezer to have on hand when needed.

The best nighttime drink from Organifi

A few months ago in a favorites post, I told you guys that I had finally tried the Organifi brand of high-quality supplement products and was completely in love with the GOLD powder, which is a nighttime tea made from reishi (a medicinal mushroom), turmeric and various superfoods.

I don’t use a lot of fancy supplements regularly, even though I often test them out, but I’ve been hooked on this Organifi product for a while now. And if this tells you anything, I even decided to join as an ambassador and get a discount code to share with you for all the Organifi products — that’s how much I like it.

If you go to the Organifi site, you can enter the code “aladygoeswest” for 15 percent off your order, and this is cheaper than ordering off Amazon too, so it’s definitely best to get it straight from the brand’s site.

Here’s how I use the GOLD powder nightly for good sleep, detoxification, immunity support, relaxation and soothing my worked muscles …

I fill up a mug with some Ripple Foods plain milk or a splash of Ripple Foods chocolate milk, then I put it in the microwave for 90 seconds. Once it’s done, I drop a scoop of Organifi GOLD in it, stir it, let it sit for about 2 to 3 minutes, then sip and enjoy with a couple of dates for a delicious and relaxing dessert.

I swear I sleep great after a mug of this GOLD, but I’m mostly drinking it because of the taste. Also, there’s a seasonal pumpkin version of this product, which I just got in the mail this week, so I’m going to try that one soon and let you know how it is. Is there such thing as too much pumpkin? Never.

As a note: Supplements like this are totally not necessary in your wellness routine, but if you find one you truly enjoy, then go for it. That’s what this one is for me — a treat, which also happens to have valuable nutrients and benefits.

Fun

Afternoon family outing to a brewery

Last weekend on Saturday, I went to a baby shower in the morning (didn’t really take any pictures), but in the afternoon, Dave and I took Brady to meet some friends at a place called Calicraft Brewery in Walnut Creek. I had been there before a couple of years ago when I was pregnant and wasn’t all that impressed. But now going back now as a parent of a toddler, I can see why this place is so busy on the weekends.

We showed up around 4:30 p.m. and stayed until almost 6 p.m., and I wasn’t even ready to leave, but we needed to get Brady home for his dinner. It’s basically in a parking lot of an industrial complex, so there’s a ton of room to roam outdoors, and there’s also some outdoor seating and a food truck.

(Still rocking the best white t-shirt ever from Everlane, because I’m a clothes repeater, and I’m not embarrassed about it. Here are my sandals and belt bag too.)

I ordered a spritzer drink, which was light and refreshing (not a huge beer fan, unless I’m tailgating for football, which I haven’t done in years). As I sipped on that, Brady had a heck of a time running around with Dave and our friends’ son too, throwing a football and knocking over the cones in the parking lot. They were completely occupied, so I had the freedom to chat with my girlfriend (and hold Rudy, because we brought him too), and I even ran into another friend (with a toddler in tow) I hadn’t seen in forever, so we caught up.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Brady loves to be out and about and go to new places and be around people — so this was a good afternoon stop for us that I’m sure we’ll repeat again soon, especially because it’s not hot now. Good times.

Donuts with Daddy event

On Wednesday of this week, Dave took the morning off and went with Brady to “Donuts with Daddy” at Brady’s preschool. Brady had known about this event for a while and kept mentioning it. He even had a little invitation for it that had been sitting on his coloring table in the family room all week, which he would pull out and show me frequently.

It may be strange that this is a favorite on the blog, because I wasn’t actually there to witness this (I was at SoulCycle with a friend and then working at the library), but apparently the event was great. They ate donuts, the kiddos played and some of the dads chatted a bit in between spending time with their own kid in the main room of the preschool for about an hour.

I know it’s hard for Dave to miss out on so much everyday being at work, so I was happy he was able to make it to this little thing. And Brady keeps talking about it, so I know he was happy too. In fact, when I went to pick up Brady from preschool that day, he was a little disappointed to see me, and immediately asked for dada. 

They came home with this little poem, and those are their actual handprints. Adorable, right? Considering framing it … 🙂

Fitness

Weekly workout recap

Here’s how I was moving last week …

• Monday: 30-minute weights workout, 5 p.m. (shown below)
• Tuesday: 30-minute CXWORX, 10 a.m., taught 45-minute BODYATTACK, 4:45 p.m.
• Wednesday: Taught 1-hour BODYPUMP, 9:30 a.m., taught 1-hour barre, 5 p.m.
• Thursday: Taught 1-hour barre, 12 p.m., practiced BODYATTACK 30 minutes, 5 p.m.
• Friday: 75-minute hot yoga class, 9:30 a.m.
• Saturday: Rest day
• Sunday: Taught 1-hour BODYPUMP, 8:30 a.m.

This past week of workouts was a good one, because I made it to a hot yoga class at a new studio in Walnut Creek, and my body needed it. The class was a whole 75 minutes long, which is about 15 minutes longer than necessary if you ask me, but it was a good challenge. I felt pretty darn amazing after that class though, and then enjoyed a full rest day on Saturday, so my body was recovered and ready to teach BODYPUMP on Sunday morning. Other than fitting in some hot yoga, I spent the rest of the week teaching classes, taking classes and did one short solo weights workout, which you can see below. 

You can find more workouts like this in my “workout” highlights tab on Instagram in my profile, or check out some inspiration in this post.

Best reads

A few things from around the web …

• Mobility moves. Mobility is everything. While flexibility is how far you can move a part of your body at the joint, mobility is how strong you are to control that movement. People seem to be getting less and less mobile these days as they spend more time sitting. This is the most unique set of mobility exercises I’ve ever seen. I will be trying them all at the gym this morning. Wish me luck!
• Concealer. Are you applying your concealer right? Here’s a great tutorial on how to do it. I love the tip of dabbing with your ring finger, and that’s something I only recently started doing. Here’s my top-choice concealer right now.
• Cold season. Cold season is on the way. Here’s a quick list of supplements that help fight colds, so you may want to stock up now. I’ve got a few in my fridge and pantry already, and the Organifi GOLD includes them too.
• Working mom life. I really enjoyed this podcast episode with business influencer, Jenna Kutcher, and the co-founder of Tone It Up, Katrina Scott, about what they did right and wrong when returning to work after having a baby.

Here’s the quote of the week from my morning meditations …

A Lady Goes West favorite archives

• Skincare. Because my skin is feeling pretty good thanks to this line … “All about skin and my review of the Beautycounter Countertime skincare line.”

• Keep the faith. This post is the truth, and if you need some help handling your situation and seeing the positive, read it. I actually went back and read the whole thing, and it made me so grateful for time, changes and perspective. “What a difference a year makes and why you shouldn’t lose hope.” Enjoy the throwback pictures and all …

Thank you for stopping by the blog! I’ll see you over on Instagram until we meet back here.

Questions of the day

Have you ever felt an earthquake?

What was the best part about your week?

What are you up to this weekend?

What’s the longest yoga class you’ve ever done?

By the way, if you need a workout over the weekend, you can give Les Mills On Demand a try using my special referral link that provides you with 21 days for free. Try Les Mills Barre or Les Mills CXWORX for 30 minutes of intense core and butt work — those are two of my faves.