Hey, friends! How are you? Welcome to the blog!

First of all, as you may notice, we’ve officially gotten a facelift over here. Welcome to the new and improved A Lady Goes West. I’m excited about a more functional and simple design, which will hopefully be easily readable on mobile or desktop for you. My favorite part about the new site design is how the homepage looks on desktop, and you can view that homepage here.

I had my last website design for almost seven years, so it was clearly time for an upgrade, and I hope you like it. And if not, you’ll get used to it. I’m moving away from the bright yellow that took over the screen for so many years, and we’re now using baby yellow as an accent and a sans serif typeface. Big changes, you see. 🙂

Anywho, this week was a good one! I taught my five regular classes, worked on the blog a lot, had a mid-week coffee date with a sweet friend who also came to my barre class, took Brady to swim and all of that. I also spent some time party prepping, because Dave and I are having over five other couples for a pizza party tonight. It’s definitely the biggest gathering we’ve hosted since we’ve lived in Charlotte, so we had a lot of grocery shopping to get done. I’m sure it will be fun, and I’ll share a bit more on Instagram stories.

Other than that, we’ve got dinner out with some other friends on Saturday, so it’s a very social weekend, concluding with work and a tennis clinic on Sunday.

Now for the current faves of the week …

Current faves of the week

Fun

Taking Brady to a Charlotte FC soccer game

This was fun! We took Brady to his first soccer game and one of his first professional sporting events. We got the tickets last minute and figured it sounded like a good time, so we went for it.

Charlotte FC is the new MLS team in the area, and they play at Bank of America Stadium in Uptown, which Dave and I had been to once before for a college football game. It’s a nice arena and it’s pretty easy to get to, which makes us more inclined to visit it.

The game had a 5 p.m. start, which worked well for us, and we made it until almost the very end. Brady had a lot of questions about the players and referees, and he actually watched a decent amount of the actual game, which was a little surprising.

A friend had told us ahead of time that it may be a little loud, but it really wasn’t too bad. Brady mentioned the noise level a couple of times, but we were safely seated in a suite, so that helped a lot. I feel like other sporting events could be a bit much for him, but this late-afternoon soccer game was a really good start for us, and I’d go back. There was a lot of excellent people watching too, and that’s always my favorite part of events.

Some of Dave’s local coworkers were there too, so I got to meet a couple people.

We walked around the concourse a bit and even that was fun for Brady. Speaking of soccer, he plays at Life Time once a week, but we think he may be ready for a little team. But I’m not excited about adding another thing to my weekly list right now, so we shall see when it feels like the right time to sign him up.

(Here’s my sherpa, my jeans and my sneakers.)

Little delights

A few things that deserve a favorites mention

I’m back with a “little delights” section, which is where I share small things that wouldn’t warrant their own appearance, but are on my mind this week …

But first, here’s Brady getting his free cookie at Publix the other afternoon …

• TV. We just finished season 4 of “Yellowstone” and it was so good. Maybe the best series I’ve watched in years, and I looked forward to it every night. Currently, we are watching season 4 of “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” which is also good (totally different, because it’s a comedy), but definitely not as good as “Yellowstone.” I literally can’t wait to see the next season of “Yellowstone,” and based on a quick Google search, it may come out in fall 2022. 
• Grammar. Okay, I know this sounds so snobby, and I’m sorry about that, but as a former copyeditor and an all-the-time grammar stickler, I have to say it. Do you ever just cringe when you scroll social media and see errors? I know it’s not a big deal, and it’s not like I mention to people that they’ve done something wrong. But can we please get “workout” and “work out” straight? If it’s one word, it’s a noun. You did a workout. If it’s two words, it’s a verb. You are going to work out. There are a lot bigger fish to fry in life than people using poor grammar, but oh, how I notice it. “Your” and “you’re”? Can’t handle that one either, especially when people make special Instagram graphics and include the wrong version of the word. I feel like it’s getting worse and worse out there. I’m not about judging people’s bodies, their appearance or their beliefs … but their grammar? I get a bit judge-y with that. And there I used a fake word while talking about grammar, so you can judge me too.
• Shopping. I never get free time to shop, because if I ever go on a solo errand, it’s the grocery store or something like that. Well, last Friday night, I went out to get a few things for our upcoming party, and I spent a full hour walking around Hobby Lobby all by myself. It was delightful. I bought Brady’s Easter basket and stuffing, I bought myself a new animal print ring keychain (totally unnecessary, but it was $5 well spent, and here’s a similar version), and I bought some party supplies. I also found the one item in Hobby Lobby that wasn’t on sale (a huge matted picture frame that hangs on the wall) and decided to put it back, because it’s supposed to go on sale this week. But there’s no chance I’m heading back there to grab it, so I have a little bit of non-buyer’s remorse for not making the purchase then.

Boy, I’m really saying a lot of random stuff today, so let’s move on from this section.

Beauty

Using the new Reflect Effect AHA Smoothing Facial Mask

I haven’t shared about a Beautycounter product in a favorites post in forever, and this one is worth sharing.

This is the brand new exfoliating mask from Beautycounter, and I love it. It makes my skin so darn soft. And if you’re into masks, but not into the messiness of the charcoal mask, this one is for you. You leave it on for 10 minutes, then rinse it off, and it cleans off very easily. You’re supposed to use the mask twice a week, and so if you follow that, one jar of this mask would last about four months.

I was in need of some exfoliation, and this mask is perfect for it. Bonus points: It doesn’t scare Brady like the charcoal mask always used to, but he did say it looked weird. It’s clear and chunky when it’s on your skin, by the way.

You can find the new Reflect Effect Smoothing Facial Mask here.

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 3/21

• Monday: Taught 1-hour barbell class at Life Time, 9:45 a.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 1-hour barre class with light weights at Life Time, 9:30 a.m.
• Wednesday: Taught 45-minute barre class with light weights at Life Time, 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday: Taught 45-minute combo class at Life Time, 9:45 a.m., took 1-hour tennis lesson at Life Time, 6:30 p.m.
• Friday: Taught 45-minute barre class with light weights at Life Time, 10:30 a.m., taught 45-minute barbell class at Life Time, 11:30 a.m.
• Saturday: Took 1-hour hot flow yoga class at Life Time, 9 a.m.
• Sunday: Rest day (took 1-hour slow neighborhood walk, 4 p.m.)

This past week of workouts finally featured some yoga, and it felt so darn good. I went to a hot yoga flow class on Saturday morning, and it was just lovely. I would love to go to this class weekly, but even just a couple times a month will do. Other than that, I taught six classes and took a rest day, so it was a good week. I’m hoping to fit in a solo weights session this upcoming week, because that’s always something I need more of.

Best read of the week …

Here’s an article I read this week that I felt like sharing with you:

Conversation starters. I’m all about good conversation, and I crave it. This article is an excellent resource, not only with tips on active listening in order to truly be present, but it also includes awesome conversation-starting questions to ask in a variety of situations. Which ones would you ask first? Head here to read it.

Quote of the week …

Here’s a quote I shared on Instagram that I wanted to share here too:

Blog archives of the week …

There are so many posts on the blog worth revisiting, so let’s look back at two good ones (one recent, one older) …

Moving. This one is incredibly long and detailed, and I hope you liked learning about all my thoughts on Charlotte since our move 14 months ago … “Reflections from 14 months in Charlotte + what it’s like to move from California to North Carolina.”

Four things to focus on. Okay, so this post was written before the fall season started, but you can absolutely do these things to start spring off on the right foot … “Four things to focus on this fall.”

Thanks for stopping by, my friends. Have an awesome day!

Questions of the day for YOU …

How was your week?

What are you up to this weekend?

When was the last time you went to a sporting event?

What’s a common grammar mistake that really bugs you?