Hi, friend! Happy Friday! How’s your week?

My week has been good! Just the usual group fitness classes, mom stuff, tennis, work and even a friends’ wine night (we do these on the second Thursday of the month, so I always have that to look forward to). This upcoming weekend, we’re pretty light on plans outside of a little barbecue with some friends. I’ll also be putting together a new barre routine for next week and doing some work.

Let’s get right into the faves of the day …

Current faves

Adventures

Exploring Davidson, North Carolina on a beautiful day

We have, admittedly, not done a great job of exploring the surrounding areas of Charlotte over the last two years — spending most of our time in south Charlotte, where we live. But we want to change that.

Last Sunday, Dave, Brady, my mom and I made the 40-minute drive to Davidson, North Carolina, just north of Charlotte. Davidson is a cute little town, which is home to Davidson College (where Steph Curry played, if you’re a Warriors basketball fan). And it’s right near Lake Norman too.

Before we left, Dave had gotten a few recommendations from co-workers on some restaurants, so we had a loose plan in place. We drove through Cornelius (another little town in north Charlotte), then made our way to downtown Davidson.

We found some street parking and walked down the main drag to have lunch at The Pickled Peach. The Pickled Peach is a cute and casual sandwich and salad shop, and once you order at the counter, you head to a table to wait for your food. They also have a market inside, and Brady enjoyed checking out the merchandise.

It was literally the most beautiful day when we were in Davidson, so sitting outside was essential. The sky was a bright blue, there was a cool breeze, and it was very comfortable in the sun in light long sleeves.

We ordered our food and sat outside the restaurant while people watching (a favorite activity of Brady and mine). I ordered a burrata salad with chicken (always adding extra protein to my orders now, as I mentioned in this post) and a roll, Dave had a tasty ham sandwich, my mom had soup and Brady had a grilled cheese. We all loved our food. My salad had the lightest flavors, but they were so pleasing — I hadn’t had anything like it in some time.

After lunch, we walked down the main street (which is actually called Main Street, by the way), and we stopped into the cutest local book store called Main Street Books. My mom wanted to buy Brady something, so the two of them picked out a little book about animals, which Brady was excited about.

From there, Dave and I went to Summit Coffee and ordered some lattes. I had an oat milk latte with lavender, and we took those drinks on the walk with us. We found Brady and my mom in a gift shop, and the four of us walked just a couple minutes down the road to the Davidson College campus. 

Davidson College is super small, and it had a lot of pretty brick buildings surrounding a big grassy field. We later found out it was spring break, so that would be why there were hardly any people around.

We stayed on the campus walking around for almost an hour, and it was such a relaxing and nice day to do it. Also, Brady was really into taking pictures with my phone and kept asking to take pictures of us and things — which is apparently a new interest of his.

(Once again, I’m wearing this henley top, these sunglasses and these sneakers.)

We were only in Davidson for about 2.5 hours, but we saw all there was to see in the little downtown area and we’d definitely go back again — there’s a very popular dinner restaurant called Kindred in Davidson that’s on our list.

And next up on our agenda for exploring is the Lake Norman area. Even though Lake Norman is part of the greater Charlotte area, it’s always seemed like so far away from us in south Charlotte.

Fun

Ladies’ movie night

Last Friday night, I put on a sequined blazer and joined my neighborhood girlfriends for a fun night. We met at a friend’s house for drinks and appetizers, then we went to see the new Magic Mike movie, “Magic Mike’s Last Dance.” We had to go about 20 minutes away to find it playing at the Ayrsley Grand Cinema, and Ayrsley is another area I hadn’t been before.

If you’re not familiar with the “Magic Mike” franchise, (this is the first time I saw one of the movies, but I did see the live show in Vegas a few years ago), it’s about a male dancer. That’s all I really need to share, because the details are not safe for work nor safe for blog review.

As expected, the movie was not very good (I mean, it was entertaining, just far from quality cinema), but we still enjoyed the evening. There were only a couple groups of ladies in our theatre, and the crowd was chatty and fun.

After the movie, we went to a nearby spot called The Corner Bar, then back to our meeting place to hang for a little while longer. I laughed so hard this night from all the funny things in the movie and in our conversations, and it was good for the soul.

Running my first 5K outdoor race in years

I don’t think I’ve run in an outdoor race since before Brady was born. I’m pretty sure that the last time I really ran a race was a downtown San Francisco Turkey Trot many years ago, back when Dave and I would run fast together — one time, we finished in 24 minutes, which I don’t think I could do now.

Although I work out a lot, I hadn’t run at all in months, so I was a little nervous to see how my legs would feel in my first 5K this past weekend. Well, on the morning of the race, I wasn’t as worried about my legs. Instead, I was just tired, because we stayed out too late the night before at our movie night, and that 5:45 a.m. wake-up call came quickly.

(I’m wearing this tank, these leggings and these sneakers.)

Luckily, the weather was incredibly beautiful, and our group of four girls took on the hilly golf course race course together. It was a chocolate-themed run, so we got a chocolate medal, some hot chocolate and a chocolate run race t-shirt for our efforts. I haven’t worn my race t-shirt yet, but I will soon.

The course was super tough though, and I woke up with sore ankles the next morning from all the uphills and downhills we had to take on. We ran the whole time, except for one little water break, and we finished in a little over 30 minutes (there were no bibs, thus we didn’t get an official time), so it wasn’t exactly a sprint, but it was fun. We were proud of ourselves for doing it, and it was cool to have it under our belt before 8 a.m. on a lovely Saturday.

And those are the faves to report. Good times, with good people.

Workouts

My workouts from last week

I like to share a recap of my previous week of workouts. I share this to show you how I try to get diversity of movement in my week, and how I always take a rest day or an active recovery day.

But remember, I do a little bit more than the average person, because I’m a group fitness instructor. You absolutely don’t need to compare your movement to mine.

Workouts from the week of 2/27

• 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, 11:30 a.m.
• Wednesday: Taught 45-minute barbell class, 8:30 a.m., taught 45-minute barre class with light weights, 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday: Taught 45-minute combo class, 9:30 a.m., took 60-minute tennis clinic, 11:30 a.m.
• Friday: Taught 45-minute barbell class, 11:30 a.m.
• Saturday: Ran 5K, 7 a.m., did 30-minute full-body weights workout, 9:30 a.m.
• Sunday: Rest day (took 75-minute neighborhood walk, 5 p.m.)

This past week was quite full! I taught six classes, I played tennis twice, I ran in a very hilly neighborhood 5K (which left my ankles quite sore), and I just barely fit in my solo workout.

I almost skipped it this past week, but I knew I wanted to keep that promise to myself. So on Saturday morning, after my 5K, I went to my neighborhood gym for some deadlifts, push-ups and core work, and I had it finished in less than 30 minutes. It wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t skip it at least. Overall, I enjoyed this week of movement, especially switching it up with my outdoor 5K.

Best read of the week

Here’s a timely article that I felt like sharing with you …

How to save on groceries. The last couple of months, I’ve noticed that nearly everything I buy at the grocery store has gone up in price. Our grocery bills are outrageous, and they seem to keep increasing. This is a simple and timely article on a few ways to save on your grocery bills, and I need to do a better job about following these tips. For instance, the authors of this article suggest sticking to one store, and I’m guilty of sometimes going to four a week. How many stores do you go to regularly? Give this one a read, if you need some help saving on groceries like I do.

Quote of the week

Here’s a great thought for you …

Blog archives of the week

Let’s look back at a couple posts …

Self-development book review. I’m proud that I finished reading this book, and I spent a lot of time pulling out some of the top things I learned in this one, so you can get a CliffsNotes version without getting through all 500 pages … “What I learned from reading “Awaken the Giant Within” by Tony Robbins (a book review).”

Postpartum exercise. This post is from several years ago, but it’s still super relevant to any mommas out there … “Five things no one tells you about postpartum exercise.”

Thanks for coming by the blog today, friend! Be well!

Please leave a comment, send me a direct message on Instagram or Facebook, or email me at ashley-at-aladygoeswest.com if you have any post requests/feedback/comments or questions. 

P.S. For my clean-beauty lovers, if you shop Beautycounter today, there’s a big gift with purchase, if you spend more than $125. And also this weekend, if you’re in the market for Les Mills fitness equipment, use the code MARGIFT for a free $99 gift when you spend more than $400 or use the code STRONGER10 for 10 percent off everything except bundles.

Questions of the day for you

How was your week?

When was the last time you visited a new-to-you city?

How many grocery stores do you go to each week?