Current faves: GIVEAWAY, City fun, food, kitchen tools and weekly workouts

Hey, hey, hey, my people! How are you? It’s been a while since we’ve had a giveaway, so get excited for today’s post! 🙂

How was the week? This was a super busy week for us — the first “full” week in a while, thanks to the holidays. Dave was out of town for business for much of it, so we missed him, but other than that, things were good. The week was complete with a play date, a lot of writing work, teaching a class, Brady wrangling, workouts and all of that good stuff. This weekend, I’m heading into the City for a yoga event, and then we have a dinner party with friends. What are you up to?

Because it’s Friday, it’s time to take a look at a few random fun favorites in fitness, fun and life, which I hope are entertaining or informative or both. But first, that giveaway …

Giveaway

Win a RumbleRoller foam roller

It’s no secret I’m a foam rolling queen. I used to add “foam rolling” to my weekly workout recaps so you could see when I did it, which I don’t now, but trust me, it’s there at least three times a week before my resistance workouts or other.

I also always bring my own foam roller with me to the gym. Why? Because I have a better foam roller selection than my gym does, and I like to have my own. Also, that way I can use it at home. My favorite brand BY FAR is the RumbleRoller, and my favorite roller they have is the original mid-size.

The little knobs on the roller act like “thumbs” when you roll over them with your body, so you can massage your tissues, work out tight spots and feel great at the same time (while also gasping a little during the hard parts). And if you want to know why you should be foam rolling and how to do it, head here. But the gist is that it’s good for your body, helps you get greater range of motion during your workouts and much more.

Now for the giveaway …

One lucky winner will receive an original mid-size RumbleRoller. You must reside in the U.S. or Canada to win. I’ll select the winner on Wednesday of next week. By the way, if you’d like a second chance, I’m also giving away a RumbleRoller on Instagram, and that giveaway closes tonight. You can find it here.

How to enter:

1. Follow A Lady Goes West on Instagram.
2. Follow RumbleRoller on Instagram.
3. Then leave a comment on this blog post below (you can answer the questions or say anything you like — surprise me!).

The winner must be following both accounts on IG to be selected. Good luck! 🙂 

Food

My new milk frother

We can file this one under the why-didn’t-I-get-one-of-these-sooner section. Friends, I’m officially in love with my first hand-held milk frother, and it was very reasonably priced at only $10 too.

I got it this past weekend and have used it every single afternoon to make a hot matcha latte. Right now, I’m trying to figure out the best process for it, because I’ve been using two mugs — one to mix the matcha, cinnamon and boiling water, and one to froth the coconut milk, then I mix them into one. I think I can do it all in one, but I’ll report back once I’m sure. (I used to just whisk my matcha lattes by hand, and it was never amazing.)

Frothing the coconut milk turns a regular old matcha latte made at home into a fancy and significantly more enjoyable hot beverage. For sure. If you’re a latte lover, get a frother today and thank me later. Maybe it will even help you cut down on your Starbucks bill? (That’s a hope for me!)

(Side note: Shortly after taking the picture above, I spilled the entire full matcha all over my computer, journal, phone, coffee table and rug. That was fun.)

Trader Joe’s visit

Why did I stop shopping at Trader Joe’s for so many weeks (maybe months)? Perhaps it was because I already go to three grocery stores (Sprouts and Whole Foods and Lunardi’s), so I just didn’t want to have a fourth in the rotation too.

But I went back to Trader Joe’s for a big haul this week, and I was reminded that they have so many good things, and the prices are so much more reasonable than other stores. Brady has fun there too!

We picked up all sorts of produce and pantry staples and even a new “mushroom umami” seasoning blend, which I’m absolutely loving sprinkled on my veggies this week. We’ll call that one an un-pictured favorite.

Oh and remember when I wrote this one? Still helpful … “A busy gal’s shopping list for healthy items at Trader Joe’s to save time.”

Fun

Cirque du Soleil date night

Last weekend, Dave and I went into the City for the most perfectly fun date night ever. (We used to go out all the time and never once did I use the term “date night,” but now that I’m a parent who gets out less, I find myself using it. Ohhhh how I’ve grown uncool.) Anyhow … our sitter arrived around 5 p.m. and we hopped in an Uber to fulfill the birthday gift Dave gave me — Cirque du Soleil tickets.

(Peep my new belt bag? You can find it here, and I’m quite pleased with it. It was a present from Dave’s parents for my birthday. The rest of the outfit is older and un-linkable.)

It was supposed to be raining that night, but there was only a light misting in the air, so we decided to walk everywhere after arriving in the City via BART. We started out with dinner at Cockscomb in the SoMa neighborhood, which is a fairly new restaurant and a very San Francisco-y place. It was dark, trendy and our reservation had us sitting at the close-knit bar in front of the open kitchen, elbow to elbow with other patrons. City dining is so much better than East Bay dining where we live. Hands down. 

We had some cocktails and shared a few delicious appetizers as our meal, then had to quickly finish up and head out to AT&T Park, where the traveling under-the-big-top Cirque du Soleil show was taking place. This was my seventh Cirque show and third time going to the big top variety which comes every year to SF. This year, we saw “Volta,” and it was perhaps one of the best I’ve seen, with an urban and bright theming and lots of action. Although I still give “Kurios” the top spot, with the Beatles “Love” coming in the last spot, and “Ka” holding second to last. 

Our seats for the show were really good and close, so we could even see the sweat on the performers. The funny thing is, one of the performers messed up. And with all the Cirque shows I’ve seen, I’ve never been able to spot a mess up. It was right in the opening, when a roller skater was moving around the stage, and she lost her footing and fell down. She played it off nicely and wasn’t hurt at all, but Dave and I had to chuckle a bit to ourselves later about it. Poor girl. Of all the super hard things in that show and the roller skater was the one to stumble.

Overall, we were enthralled with the performance and had fun people watching and chatting during intermission, as well as slamming popcorn, because you literally can’t get away from the smell, so we had to get a bag for ourselves. We were home safely to relieve our babysitter before 11 p.m., and we were both so happy we got out — there’s not much I like to do more than dinner and a show with Dave. Good times!

By the way, for all of my Cirque du Soleil fans, I found this video of some of the performers talking about their diets and fitness routines, and it’s so interesting and funny too. Those people are unreal!

Beauty

Beautycounter skincare sale and a free gift

New year, clean skin! If you’ve been thinking about ordering a skincare regimen from Beautycounter, right now, regimen sets are 10 percent off, and you get a free gift of your choice with your purchase.

Step 1: Take the Skincare Quiz on the Beautycounter website to see what regimen is right for you based on your skin and skincare needs.

Step 2: Purchase a 4-piece regimen and receive a treatment product for free.

Which regimen is right for you?

• Normal Skin and/or Dry Skin: Countermatch Regimen – ADVANCED HYDRATION + AGE PREVENTION. Hydrates skin, boosts radiance, adapts to skin’s needs.
• Dry and Mature Skin: Rejuvenating Regimen – ADVANCED ANTI-AGING + HYDRATION. Keep skin looking youthful, replenishes skin, improves radiance.
• Oily/Blemish-prone Skin: Countercontrol – ACNE PREVENTION + MATTIFYING SKIN. Mattifies skin, clears breakouts, purifies pores, balances skin.

Step 3: Choose your free gift from Beautycounter: the Overnight Resurfacing Peel – Deluxe Travel Size 20ml, ($45 value), Cleansing Balm – Deluxe Travel Size 30ml, ($45 value) or No. 3 Balancing Charcoal Facial Mask – Deluxe Travel Size 30ml, ($30 value).

Fitness

Weekly workout recap

And now we’re into the fitness.

Here’s a look at my workouts from last week …

• Monday: 1-hour BODYPUMP class, 10 a.m.
• Tuesday: 1-hour leisure family walk, noon (active recovery day)
• Wednesday: 30-minute lower-body weights workout, 11 a.m.
• Thursday: Taught 1-hour barre class, 12 p.m.
• Friday: 30-minute CXWORX class, 9:30 a.m., 25 minutes of BODYATTACK, 4 p.m.
• Saturday: 1-hour BODYATTACK class, 9:30 a.m.
• Sunday: Rest day

This past week was pretty standard. I love a long walk day and want to try to make sure that makes it into my week every week like it used to. Walks have sort’ve fallen by the wayside for some reason (weather?), and I don’t like it, because walking is the most natural form of movement, and fresh air is great for the body. Other than that, I lifted weights a couple of times, taught a class and took some classes too. 

Here’s the short weights session I did … (As a reminder — If you want to see these workouts on the day I do them, I share them on my Instagram Stories and then save them in highlights under “Workouts.”) 

Favorite reads

Best stuff from around the web 

• Protein sources. I eat pasture-raised eggs almost every single day, but I only eat meat and fish about once a week. I’m not opposed to eating quality meat at all, because I love a medium-rare grass-fed burger and those basically got me through pregnancy, but I’m always on board with eating more plants. Here’s how to get more protein in your diet from sources other than meat.
• Squat form. If you go to BODYPUMP class regularly, or really any circuit class regularly, do you know how many squats you are doing each week? A LOT! So you need to get them right. Here are two great articles on how to set up your squat form and how to avoid knee pain when squatting.

A Lady Goes West archives

• Fitness trends. I love to write articles like this, with a bit more meat, so I hope you guys liked it … “Fitness trends for 2019.”
• Breakfast inspiration. Need some food ideas? Check out this one … “14 super simple and healthy breakfast combinations.”

See you soon, my friends. I appreciate you! 🙂 And don’t forget to enter the giveaway by leaving a comment!

Questions of the day

What are you up to this weekend?

What’s one great thing from your week

Do you do squats in your workout routine each week?

Do you foam roll?

Where do you do your grocery shopping?