Hello, beautiful friends! How are you? How was your week? Welcome to December! It’s hard to believe we’re into the last month of the year, because this year has flown by like no other. I started it out in California in a very different place than I am now — both literally and figuratively. And we’ll cover more of that in my year-in-review post very soon.

But back to the business at hand: This week was a good one, and it was full of activity, outside of the usual work and classes. I took Brady in for his four-year-old check-up, which went well (outside of the three shots he had to get, which did not go well, poor guy). And my best friend from childhood, Kristen, came over for dinner to hang out (she was in town for a work conference), and it was wonderful to see her and spend some time catching up. Also, I went to a holiday tea at a fancy hotel with some of my girlfriends from the neighborhood, and we had so much fun sipping and chatting. All of that being said, it was an eventful week.

This weekend, we have two holiday activities on the agenda, and I’m looking forward to both! Alright, let’s do the faves …

Current faves

Home

New table settings

We’ve had our dining room table for a couple of months, and Dave and I have eaten a few meals there, so it’s been broken in a bit. But it was still super exciting to get the table all decked out for Thanksgiving for its first big official use with my family.

A few weeks before the holiday, I realized I needed table settings, and I found almost everything I wanted on Amazon and am really happy with it all. I foresee many more holidays using all of this stuff, so it felt like a worthy investment.

The placements, napkins and the table runner (not shown) are all linen, and they washed up well in a gentle cycle, with a light iron (my mom did that for us, thanks mom), after the first use for Thanksgiving.

Linking all of our dining room pieces below …

• Here are the placemats.
• Here are the napkins.
• Here’s the table runner.
• Here are the chargers.
• Here’s the table.
• Here are similar chairs.

Food

Thanksgiving weekend desserts

My sister-in-law, Stephanie, is an excellent baker, and it’s something she loves to do. Stephanie baked all of the desserts we enjoyed last weekend, and they were all totally delicious. I love dessert, but I always buy it instead of make it, so it was an extra treat to have all these homemade goodies to work on. I couldn’t choose a favorite, but perhaps the cranberry pie was my top choice. You really can’t go wrong with any of them, so I wanted to share.

Even though I’m not a baker, in case some of you are looking for special dessert ideas for the holiday season or the future, I would highly recommend the ones she made. Here are the recipes Stephanie followed:

• Crustless Cranberry Pie
• Chocolate Pecan Pie (Stephanie added bourbon, which was a fun flavor twist)
• Spicy Pumpkin Bars

Workouts

Weekly workouts 

This section of the post is where I share all the workouts I did the previous week. I want to remind you that I do more than the average person, because I’m a group fitness instructor, and it’s part of my job. 

Your personal workout week should work with your lifestyle, be diverse and leave you feeling energized. It doesn’t need to look like mine or anyone else’s. It’s yours.

• Monday: Taught 1-hour full-body barbell class at Life Time, 9:45 a.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 1-hour barre class with light weights at Life Time, 9:45 a.m.
• Wednesday: Rest day (leisure walk)
• Thursday: Rest day (leisure walk)
• Friday: Taught two 45-minute barre classes with light weights at Life Time, 10 a.m.
• Saturday: Took 45-minute yoga sculpt class with light weights at Life Time, 9 a.m.
• Sunday: Rest day (leisure walk)

This past week of workouts had some extra days of rest for the Thanksgiving holiday, and I didn’t mind that one bit. I did a lot of walking with my family, and I enjoyed the change in routine.

Promo codes

A Lady Goes West favorite products

There are certain brands that I swear by in my own life, and so I like to share them with you. If you choose to try them too, and if you use my links or promo codes, you will be supporting me. Thanks for that!

• Carbon38. I’m always wearing stuff from here, and it’s the coolest activewear around. Get 15 percent off your first two orders of $100 or more using the code ASHLEYPITT. 
• G2G protein bars. I love these tasty and minimal-ingredient protein bars. You can get 15 percent off your order on the G2G Bar site with the code ALADYGOESWEST.
• Organifi supplements. This is my go-to protein powder brand. You can get 15 percent off your order on the Organifi site with the code ALADYGOESWEST.
• Beautycounter. The best safe skincare and makeup. Send me a message, and I’ll share a 20 percent off code for your very first order.
• Les Mills On Demand workouts. My favorite fitness brand. You can do a whole month of workouts during a free 30-day trial by using my special referral link here.

Best reads/listens

A couple of good ones from the week …

• Christmas playlist. I don’t love it when I go to a party or a social get-together at someone’s house and they don’t have on any music, and there’s just silence when you enter. I know some people aren’t into music like I am, but I feel like music is completely part of the scene of any gathering. And at our house, we put on background music every single day for almost every single meal, for real. Quick PSA: If you’re hosting something this year, get some background music queued up ASAP. Here are some tips on how to do it. 
• Food choices. This article from the founder of Precision Nutrition on why you shouldn’t judge or overanalyze other people’s food decisions is so good. Basically, you have to figure out what works for you, you have to find out what you enjoy, and those things are your personal decisions only. Love it!

Here’s the thought of the week …

A Lady Goes West favorite archives 

• Gifts for kids. Brady would approve of this blog post … “Holiday gift guide for preschool boys for 2021.”

• Gifts for ladies. Send this to someone who is doing some shopping for you … “Holiday gift guide for ladies for 2021 (gift ideas for her).”

• Gifts for guys. Are you shopping for a guy this year? Here are some ideas … “Holiday gift guide for guys for 2021 (gift ideas for him).“

Thank you for coming by A Lady Goes West, my friends. Have a great day and weekend. Stay hydrated!

Questions of the day

How was your week?

Are you doing anything festive this holiday season?

Have you read anything good lately?