Hey, friends! Well, here we are. This week was a lot better than last week for us. We are almost all the way back to healthy, and I was back teaching my classes, starting Tuesday, thank goodness. We kept Brady home from school until Wednesday, because he had a lingering cough, and he was so happy to finally go back (it had been almost a month due to winter break).

And let me tell you: Even though he tested negative for COVID two times, last week was the most sick he’s been in his life, and it was terrible — lots of tears for both of us. We are so grateful that it wasn’t more serious and he’s okay now. Wasn’t it just a couple weeks ago before this all happened how I was saying health is wealth? It is. And when I’m sick or one of my family members is sick, I’m not a happy camper.

(Dave took this picture of us on our first official family walk, once we were well enough. And, I’m wearing these socks, which I bought for Dave for Christmas and then quickly borrowed for myself.)

Anywho, there are some silver linings on our quarantine at home though: I got some little home-organization projects done, I washed my makeup brushes, I watched some documentaries I’ve been wanting to see, and I didn’t get out of bed before 8 a.m. for more than a week. And once I was a little more functional, I also put together an entire new full hour of Life Barre and a new full hour of Barbell Strength. I taught both new ones this week, so it was a group-fitness-learning-practicing-heavy-week, which as you know from my 2022 goals, is something I’m hoping to be able to streamline even slightly in the coming months. But it’s not streamlined yet, that’s for sure.

Now, before we begin the faves …

Thank you and calling for your input from you! Earlier this week, I posted not only a blog-reader survey that I’d love for you to take, but I also posted a giveaway of some of my favorite things (Target gift card, Beautycounter products, healthy snacks, etc.). If you haven’t yet, would you please take a moment to complete my blog-reader survey? And then you can enter my giveaway for a bunch of great stuff. Go here for it all. Thank you in advance for completing it and helping me improve A Lady Goes West for you!

So many of you have already answered the survey, and I’ve already surpassed my goal of responses, but I’d love just a few more, if you have a moment. I haven’t looked at your answers yet, because I’m a little nervous. Even though I crave feedback, I tend to take negative feedback a little emotionally (because I’m sure there will be some negative stuff, which is only natural and hopefully constructive). I’m planning to tackle that this weekend, maybe with a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

Now, let’s get into the faves …

Current faves of the week

Book

“Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty” by Lauren Weisberger

If the title of this book tells you anything, you know this is a total beach read. Introducing: “Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty” by Lauren Weisberger.

Right before the holidays, I took Brady with me to the library after the gym one day with a mission to grab a few titles for him and one for me, in very little time. The book I went after was not available, so I browsed the new release titles on the first floor (right near the entrance, to keep it easy) and chose this book based on the cover. I also made the decision based on the fact that I read “When Life Gives You Lululemons” from the same author and enjoyed it.

Why a silly beach read? I knew that during the busy holiday season, I wanted a super-light read that I could read a few pages of a night and wouldn’t worry about keeping me up. Well, this one did the trick.

(“Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty“)

What’s funny about this book is that for some reason, I pictured Jennifer Aniston as the main character, Peyton, and that really made me get more into the book. The lead character is a news anchor of a popular morning show, and that makes me think of the Apple+ show, “The Morning Show,” which features Jennifer Aniston. Anyhow, the book is about two sisters, one of them the news anchor, who have what look like perfect lives from the outside, but things start to unravel as their secrets are revealed. There’s a college-admission scandal too, so it hits on some hot topics.

Was this book a little bit predictable? Yes. But I still enjoyed reading it, because it was well-written and it was just good enough to keep me interested, but not so good that I couldn’t put it down. Maybe that’s not what you want to hear to be driven to read a book, but hopefully you get what I mean, if you ever want a book like that. I’m back to nonfiction after this one, and the one I’m reading now is so enjoyable. More on that soon.

Entertainment

All the things I watched on TV last week

I watched a lot more TV than normal during my COVID quarantine at home. When Brady was sleeping, and I had the TV to myself, I felt like zoning out and watching things I never have time for. Here are some of the things that kept me entertained …

• “Justin Bieber: Our World” documentary on Amazon Prime: I’m a Justin Bieber fan through and through. I didn’t love his music when he was younger, but his stuff from the last few years is so good. And I went to his concert back in Oakland, and it was amazing. I liked watching this documentary of Bieber preparing for a live-streaming concert in 2020. It’s fun to see the behind-the-scenes work of a big artist. It was interesting to learn that Bieber sleeps with a ton of humidifiers in his room to help his voice. I should do this, when I need it.
• “Cheer” docu-series on Netflix: Yes, I’ve already seen “Cheer,” and I loved it the first time around. I kept seeing ads that “Cheer 2” is coming out soon, so I decided to go back and watch the original “Cheer” docu-series again. In case you don’t know, it’s about a very competitive junior college cheer team in small-town Texas. Well, it was just as good the second time. I love to see the team practice, because their stunts are insane. It’s crazy the pain and injuries these athletes work through on a regular basis.
• “P!nk: All I Know So Far” documentary on Amazon Prime: I’m also a P!nk fan! First of all, there were a few years there where Les Mills BODYPUMP put a P!nk song in almost every release, am I right? So many of her songs are ingrained in my mind forever. Well, I’ve also been to a P!nk concert (in Oakland, same spot as where I saw Bieber), and she was incredible to see live. She sings, she does crazy acrobatics, and she truly flies through the audience (with the help of an apparatus). And she has a great message for everyone, which is to be yourself. This documentary follows P!nk and her family on her “Beautiful Trauma” tour through Europe, and we get to see her rehearse, parent her children on the road and do so much more. Super interesting and entertaining. Although I watched this one on my sickest day with COVID, so I think I will always remember it for that. Oh well.

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. But remember, I do a little bit more than the average person, because I’m a group fitness instructor. 

Workouts from the week of 1/3

• Monday: Rest day
• Tuesday: Rest day
• Wednesday: Rest day
• Thursday: Rest day
• Friday: 30-minute Les Mills Barre at home via Les Mills+, 5 p.m.
• Saturday: 30-minute full-body strength workout at home via Peloton, 11 a.m.
• Sunday: 30 minutes of practicing and choreographing barre at home, 5 p.m.

This past week of workouts was not a full one. I took six full days off working out, and I can’t remember the last time I did that. I needed rest when I was sick with COVID, and when Brady was sick, I didn’t even have working out on the mind, which is totally unlike me. When I did return to workouts, I kept it light-ish with 30-minute sessions at home in order to build back up for my classes this week. Moral of the story: Rest is good!

Also, doing Les Mills Barre reminded me that I need to make more time for Les Mills workouts, because they are always the best quality out there, and it’s so fun to just follow along and not have to lead or think. Haven’t done Les Mills Barre yet? Try it for free with my Les Mill+ free trial here.

Best read from the week …

Here’s an article I read this week that I felt was worthy of sharing with you:

Under your bed. Okay, not to scare you, but this an interesting one on why you need to be vacuuming under your bed regularly. There can be a lot of trapped toxins and dust under there, which can affect your sleep quality. Do a quick read of this one, and pull out your vacuum, folks. Yuck.

Quote of the week …

This one speaks to me …

Deal of the week …

Get 15 percent off your first two orders of $100 or more on Carbon38

Whenever someone asks me where I got a piece of workout clothing, I almost always answer Carbon38. I’ve been wearing workout and casual clothing from this website for coming up on two years. I love the variety, because the styles are so different from everywhere else. I’ve even written a post about my favorite Carbon38 items here.

If you are looking for some new workout clothes to kick off 2022, head on over to Carbon38 to search around. I highly recommend the Carbon38 brand (there are several brands on the site available), especially the Cloud Compression leggings (shown above). Use the code ASHLEYPITT for 15 percent off your first two orders of more than $100 on the Carbon38 site.

A Lady Goes West archives of the week …

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

Survey! Did you take my blog-reader survey yet? Head to this one to take the survey and enter my giveaway … “Would you please take my blog-reader survey? And a giveaway for you!”

Wellness as a mom. While I don’t have an infant at home any longer, I did at one time. And becoming a mom truly taught me a lot about what wellness means and looks like at different stages in our lives. Check out this one from a few years ago …  “What I’ve learned about wellness since becoming a mom.”

That’s it for today! Thank you for coming by A Lady Goes West, my friends. And if you didn’t yet, head on over and take my survey and enter my giveaway here. Be well!

Questions of the day for YOU …

Have you read anything good lately?

Did you take my blog-reader survey and enter the giveaway?

What’s in store for your weekend?