Hi, friend! How are you? What’s new?

What a week! With Halloween on Monday and extra activities, this week was a total blur. After today, I will have taught seven classes this week, which is a lot for me and two more than usual. I also went to tennis, got my car serviced at the dealership (which was a long enough car drive so that I could listen to nearly the entire new Taylor Swift album — so good), took Brady to a play-date, hosted a virtual Beautycounter social, took Rudy back to the vet (the poor guy has allergies), worked and caught up with a friend from college over dinner, after she attended my barre class.

This weekend, we have Brady’s last soccer game of the season, I have tennis, a hair appointment and another activity, so it’ll be full as well. Also, can we just talk about the fact that it’s November? And Thanksgiving falls a bit early this year, so the holidays are truly just around the corner. This is definitely my favorite time of the year, but it’s also a crazy time of the year. How do we feel about it, friend? Time flies, right?

But today, it’s all about the faves. Ready? Let’s go …

Current faves

Fun

Taking Brady to the Hall Family Farm pumpkin patch

Last week, as the month of October was nearing the end, I was feeling like I really wanted to make it to the pumpkin patch before the pumpkin season was over. Although we went apple picking a few weeks earlier, there was one fall-festive activity that was missing from our line-up. And I mentioned the option of visiting the pumpkin patch to Brady as a “maybe,” and he really wanted us to do it. (Also, once I casually mention something to him, he latches onto the idea and doesn’t forget, so I had a responsibility to take him.)

On Friday afternoon, once I was showered up from teaching my last class of the week, I decided to take Brady out to Hall Family Farm in Lancaster, South Carolina for a little fall excursion.

Dave was working, so just the two of us headed off for a little adventure together. We had gone to Hall Family Farm once before last year, and it was a lot of fun, so we knew that was the spot to return to. Hall Family Farm is huge, is family owned and has been around a long time, although they relocated to South Carolina a couple years ago, apparently.

The weather was mild, and there weren’t a ton of people there when we arrived, which was nice. And funny enough, even though we were 30-minutes away from home, we ran into two groups of people we knew — which was an unexpected surprise!

One of the people we ran into was Jen, a fellow blogger who lives in Charlotte. Jen and I have been connected through the blog world for years but had never met in person until the pumpkin patch. How funny is that? She was chasing her little boy, while I was chasing mine, so we didn’t get a chance to chat much, but it was really nice to see her face (even though I was looking like a mess).

During our two-and-a-half hours at Hall Family Farm, we rode on the hayride (which features spooky music and is really cute), we did some potato-sack slide rides, found our way through a corn maze, found a pumpkin to bring home and saw some animals.

While you do have to pay for the hayride and corn maze, many of the attractions are free. I saw on the Hall Family Farm website that they are closed for the season, but they are reopening for strawberries in spring 2023, so we may need to return to check that out.

Anywho, Brady is such a good boy when I take him out on activities like this with just me. He listens to me, he stays close, he chats, and he’s a perfect companion. Admittedly, he’s not always like that on family activities. But that’s a topic for another day.

Overall, this outing was perfect. We had excellently mild fall weather, clear skies, a chill time doing festive stuff, and it kicked off the rest of our Halloween weekend, which I detailed in this post. Yay for Charlotte living and hanging out with my little man!

Also, I made a little video about our pumpkin patch visit here.

Little delights

A few other little things worth sharing with you

Brady’s school friends and their moms. Because Brady is in his second year at his school, he’s made a really great group of friends (who all have great moms). Some of them do soccer with us, and we hang out with some of them outside school when we can with little playdates. Well, birthday party season from his class has officially begun, and it’s so nice that we always know people at these parties, and I have his friends’ moms to hang out with. This past weekend, I took Brady to his friend’s party, and we planned to stay an hour, and because time went by so quickly, it was two hours before I even looked at my watch. I love that he can play with his friends, while I talk to the moms. A win-win!

Pumpkin yogurt. I don’t think I’ve ever shared about this brand of yogurt on the blog, and I felt like today was a good time for a little shout-out. I’m not as big of a yogurt eater as I used to be, but I’ve been buying the pumpkin-flavored Noosa the last few weeks, and it’s delicious. It’s also got 12 grams of protein in one tub. If you see it in the grocery store, I’d give it a go. This is a seasonal flavor, but the year-round flavors are good too.

The sherpa is back. In late 2020, I finally pulled the trigger on this fluffy sherpa jacket, because I had been eyeing it for forever. Well, little did I know that I’d wear it throughout the cooler months over and over again, and I’d truly get my money’s worth. This is now my third season pulling this beauty out, and I’m so happy it’s back in the rotation now that we’re getting some fall-ish weather. I’m wearing a small (in the ivory color), and by the way, the hood is removable. Find the sherpa here, because it’s still available.

Workouts

My workouts from last week

Here’s where I share a recap of my previous week of workouts. I share this to show you how I try to get diversity 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. 

Workouts from the week of 10/24

• Monday: Taught 1-hour barbell class, 9:45 a.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 1-hour barre class with light weights, 9:30 a.m., took 90-minute tennis clinic, 11 a.m.
• Wednesday: 45-minute Les Mills Strength Development via Les Mills+ at home, 10 a.m., taught 45-minute barre class with light weights, 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday: Taught 45-minute combo class with weights, 9:45 a.m.
• Friday: Taught 45-minute barbell class, 11:30 a.m.
• Saturday: 45-minute Les Mills Strength Development via Les Mills+ at home, 11 a.m.
• Sunday: Took 45-minute neighborhood walk, 11 a.m.

This past week was super full! Not only did I teach five classes, but I also took a rest day and I did two solo weights workouts via Les Mills+ at home, which is awesome. I haven’t done two non-class workouts in a long time. But I didn’t repeat that this current week, due to some extra class subbing. I’ve been doing plenty of foam rolling and other recovery, but I could use some yoga in my life soon. At least I took a day off with nothing but a slow walk. 

Deal of the week

Use the code ASHLEY10 for a 10 percent discount on Les Mills Smart Tech equipment until November 21!

Do you need some weights to use for your home workouts? If so, I’d recommend Les Mills Smart Tech equipment through and through, because it’s such high quality, and you don’t have to do Les Mills workouts to use it. If you want to invest in this equipment (or give it as a holiday gift) you can save 10 percent off your order of anything from the site, with the code ASHLEY10. There are never sales on this stuff, so even 10 percent off really matters. This code is good through November 21. (I even made a video about how I use the equipment here, if you want a closer look.) 

*I’m an affiliate for Les Mills and I have been for five years. I taught Les Mills group fitness classes for 10 whole years before moving to Charlotte, so I’m a real fan of the brand. And when you use my Les Mills links, you support me, and I appreciate it.

Best read of the week

Here’s a light read that I thought was interesting:

Conversation starters. The best way to start a conversation with someone is to ask them an open-ended question, rather than a yes-or-no question. This older article has a ton of ideas for topics you can bring up to get to know someone better, so you can get into interesting subjects beyond surface level. I love this list, and I may need to pull it out at an upcoming ladies night.

Quote of the week

Here’s a thought for you:

Blog archives of the week

Let’s look back at two blog posts worth revisiting, including a recent one:

Halloween fun. Sharing a short and sweet recap of our festive Halloween weekend … “A tale of two Halloweens in Charlotte.”

Pre-workout nutrition. This is a very common question, and you should read all the variables to see what’s right for you … “Fitness corner: Should you eat before your workout?”

That’s it for today, my friend! Thank you reading A Lady Goes West. Have a great day and weekend, and I’ll see you back here soon! 🙂 

Questions of the day for YOU

How was your week?

What’s one thing you’re planning to do this weekend?