Hey, friend! What’s new?

Today, after I teach my barbell class at Life Time (and shower), I’m heading straight to the airport and flying to Nashville for a girls’ weekend with three of my closest friends from college (one I’ve been friends with since high school). We’ve been talking about this trip for more than a year and are finally making it happen. Our agenda includes eating at cool restaurants, sipping on tasty beverages, walking around town to explore, shopping and definitely seeing some live country music. It’ll be a quick one, and I get back home on Sunday afternoon, but I’m pumped for even just two nights with these ladies. Follow along with our adventures over on my Instagram stories here.

Other than that, this week was pretty normal. I subbed an extra barbell class; I got my eyebrows waxed and tinted (which I hadn’t done in several years, but my micro-blading from last spring has nearly worn off, so my brows were ready for some TLC); I took another evening walk with a girlfriend; I got Brady’s back-to-school forms filled out (and we took him out for a very fast and successful school shopping trip at Nordstrom Rack and Old Navy, as well as got his hair cut); I worked a lot; and I got ready for my trip. Dave was gone for two days on a work trip and got back in the wee hours of the morning, so I literally emptied his stuff out of the suitcase and put mine in, and I’m very ready for a getaway.

On a less-than-positive note: We also had some minor internet outages at our house for a day, and I tripped on the treadmill at the gym while taking a class (luckily, I didn’t get hurt, or fall off, and I can laugh about it, but dang, tripping during a sprint is one of my biggest fears). I told Brady about it, and he thought it was hilarious …

Alright, let’s get to the faves …

Current faves

Home

Upgrading our bonus room with peel-and-stick wallpaper

*I was not compensated for this review, but I did receive the product in exchange for my post, and I’m so glad I did, because I love it.

Several months ago a company called Love vs. Design reached out to me about their beautiful customizable peel-and-stick wallpaper, and I was instantly intrigued. I’ve wanted to put wallpaper in our house since the day we moved in. In fact, I’ve wanted wallpaper for a very long time even before we moved to Charlotte, but it always seemed way too expensive and out of reach. I even went as far as to look at wallpaper books and get quotes back in California, and I was never able to make a decision or pull the trigger.

Well, you don’t need to go to a store to look at wallpaper books these days. With Love vs. Design, you browse through the designs online (they even show each design in a sample room), and you can get fairly affordable peel-and-stick wallpaper, and you can choose whichever colors you want with the designs, so it’s customizable. Also, it’s not a permanent option, because you can pull it off eventually (but I didn’t try that, so not sure what it does to the wall). 

(This is a repeat outfit you’ve seen me in many times before. Here are my jeans (which are on sale and run a bit big), and here is my top. Love this outfit.)

I went to the Love vs. Design website to look around and absolutely loved what I saw. I ordered a few samples (with the special codes they gave me), which we stuck on the wall to get an idea for the look/feel, and then we decided on the Little Scallops wallpaper design, which Dave thinks looks like a “wifi” symbol. We went with blue and white shades, or more specifically pond and ceramic, which are the colors from the Love vs. Design site. It took only about three weeks for our wallpaper to arrive, which I thought was pretty fast for a custom order.

I knew right away that our bonus/playroom was the spot that needed some love and attention, because there’s nothing on the walls in there, and it was quite boring and empty. This is where we exercise, where I create content for my classes, where we play with Brady and more, so we’re in there quite a bit, and it’s always been just a little … bland. Well, all it took was one wall of wallpaper (and a new plant) to transform the space entirely.

Here’s the before …

Here’s the after …

While we intended to put this wallpaper up ourselves, Dave started and felt like it may be a little too hard to line up the design. I ended up finding someone who specialized in peel-and-stick paper to come over and install it, and it only took her a couple hours. She didn’t get it perfectly lined up everywhere, but it looks great overall. And I put a plant in front of the one spot where she didn’t line things up exactly, so it can be our little secret.

And every time I even walk by the room, I’m so happy we made this upgrade. It’s bright. It’s inviting. It makes me happy. And Brady is also super happy about this change, because we can play his new favorite card game, Uno, in there and enjoy the wallpaper up close …

If you’ve ever considered wallpaper, the peel-and-stick kind could be an easier, more affordable option for you!

Also, I made a before/after video of the changes and you can see that here. Thanks to Love vs. Design for reaching out and for providing such a beautiful change for our playroom. We’re so pleased, and I definitely want to do more wallpaper in our house one day.

Entertainment

Two interesting Netflix shows we watched recently

“The Tinder Swindler”

I had heard so much about this Netflix documentary about a man on social media who defrauded women, “The Tinder Swindler,” so I had it on my list. Well, we finally watched it, and it was almost hard-to-believe, but also very interesting. And the ending? Oh man. This is about a guy on Tinder, who gets close to women, then starts asking them for money. It’s almost two-hours long, so we watched it over two nights. It was a great follow-up for us after “Inventing Anna” on Netflix. And I loved that the women who were defrauded were willing to be so open and be part of it to help bring awareness to this kind of thing.

“Trainwreck: Woodstock 99”

Dave wanted us to watch this short 3-part series about Woodstock 99, and on the first night, I kept working while we watched. Then the second night, I paid even more attention, and by the third night, I was full on invested. This is a real-life documentary about how things turned really bad for attendees of the music festival Woodstock 99 in New York. While the first Woodstock was all about peace and the love, the second one turned into destruction and violence. It was actually a little scary, and some real concert goers were interviewed to talk about their experience more than 20 years later. Very interesting stuff!

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 8/15

• Monday: Taught 1-hour barbell class, 9:45 a.m., took 90-minute walk with friend, 7:30 p.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 1-hour barre class with light weights, 9:30 a.m., took 1-hour yoga class, 6 p.m.
• Wednesday: Took 1-hour treadmill/balance class, 9:30 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: Took 90-minute tennis lesson, 11 a.m.
• Sunday: Rest day (took 40-minute neighborhood walk, 11 a.m.)

This past week was a great week of workouts. I had a real rest day with nothing but a slow walk, I went to hot flowing yoga, I taught all five of my classes, and I even went back to the treadmill/balance sports class at Life Time (called Ultra Fit, by the way) again, and it’s been a fun way to switch things up. I’m very pleased with this week of workouts, but my next two will be a bit lighter with my two upcoming trips, and that’s okay by me.

(Always a fan of a matching set, here are my leggings, here is my top, and here are my favorite training sneakers.)

Best read of the week …

Here’s something I wanted to share with you:

Real-talk podcast. I’ve got to be honest and tell you that I don’t listen to podcasts as much as I used to. But I did catch a full episode of “The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast” last week while I was getting my nails done. It was an interview with Leah McSweeney, who is a business owner, mom, recovering alcoholic and also a cast member of “The Real Housewives of New York,” and this interview was so darn real. McSweeney talked about being in rehab multiple times, she talked about being on the hit Bravo reality show, she talked about some crazy experiences getting arrested and all sorts of stuff, and it flew by. No, there is no health and wellness advice in this episode at all, but if you’re a “Real Housewives” fan, or you just want to hear from someone who’s got an interesting past, this is a good one. Also, the language is questionable, so make sure you listen without any kids around.

Quote of the week …

Here’s a thought I shared on Instagram that I wanted to share here too, with a side of Brady’s little teeth:

Blog archives of the week …

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

Kitchen refresh. Sharing all about our recent kitchen project in this one, including our budget, timeline and the exact products we selected … “A look at our kitchen refresh.”

Self care for the real world. Lots of great, simple and doable tips in this one … “Small and realistic ways to take care of yourself as a busy lady.”

That’s all for today! Thanks for coming by the blog, my friend. I hope you have a great day and weekend, and I’ll be back next week with a recap of my Nashville adventures — expect that post a bit later in the week! 🙂 

Questions of the day for YOU …

How was your week?

What’s one thing you’re doing this weekend?

Are you ready for fall or hanging onto summer a little longer?