Hello, my beautiful friends! How are you and how was your week? Mine was good. As I mentioned last week, we decided to repaint the entire interior of our house to spruce it up a bit, so we had painters here last week and this week completing the job. It looks so good, and I’m very pleased with it. But it was a bit of a madhouse for the last week, as we also had our dishwasher repaired, a bunch of furniture delivered and a contractor fixing some things too. At one point, we had five extra people in our house at once working away — which was really fun with Brady and Rudy running around as well.

It will be nice to have the place to ourselves next week, even though we’re happy and grateful for the ability to make these improvements to our new pad. 

Other than that, Brady had preschool two mornings, I taught my virtual classes, had some meetings, worked a lot, folded a ton of laundry (because I’m a mom, and that’s what moms do), and I even had a Zoom catch-up with some girlfriends — Heather and Giselle. This weekend, we don’t have much on the agenda. But now that our walls are painted, we can finally start hanging things, so it doesn’t seem so empty.

By the way, quick event invite: Next Thursday, March 25 at 7:30pm Eastern, I’m hosting another virtual social over Zoom with my Beautycounter friends with giveaways, girl talk and makeup and skincare tips. I’d LOVE to have you join us. If you’re interested, send me an email or a DM, and I’ll share the link (and you are welcome to bring a friend). It’s a super informal and fun get-together, so don’t be shy. Also, speaking of skincare, I love this …

Now, let’s get to the faves …

Current faves

Fun

Visiting the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte

Several people had recommended the U.S. National Whitewater Center to us, and we finally went to check it out last Sunday. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it was awesome.

Once you pay $6 for parking, you can walk around the entire facility, hike the trails, watch the whitewater rafting training and eat at the restaurants too. There are also some adventure activities like zip-lining and rock-climbing, which you can pay extra for, but we didn’t do any of those this time.

We walked around, hiked one of the easier trails, then ate on the patio, and this marked our first time eating out at a restaurant in Charlotte after being residents for two months. It felt totally safe, and it felt totally amazing to have someone serve us tasty food and sit back and people watch. It almost felt … normal.

There were a ton of families at the center, and it was a great place to take kids. We will absolutely go back and explore more one day soon. But for now, it was good just to get out of the house for once.

Finding an original piece of art on “Art and Found” Day

Now this was a truly special surprise. Last Friday, Brady and I were walking on the trail that we go to every week in the mid-morning when he doesn’t have school, and as usual, he was off path exploring in the bushes. I was tapping my foot on the trail and waiting for him to follow me — wishing we were moving at a more rapid pace.

And as I was standing there, I looked down to find a little package wrapped in brown paper, tucked behind a bush and leaning up against a wood railing. I picked it up, and it said it was a free original piece of art from a local artist and that the day was “Art and Found Day.” So cool! I opened it up, and it was this beautiful hand-painted butterfly on canvas, done by local artist Tara Spil Art. 

I connected with Tara on Instagram later that evening to let her know we found the piece, and she said her young son had hidden it in the spot where we found it. So his selection, combined with Brady’s wandering off path, were both meant to be to help us become the new owners of this special piece.

Brady was so excited he kept saying, “we found art!” for the rest of the day. We took the piece home and are planning to hang it on the wall this weekend. Such a cute idea, and our day was truly made.

Workouts

Weekly workouts 

Because I like to share how I’m moving, here are last week’s workouts …

• Monday: 30-minute full-body weights via Peloton, 6 p.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 45-minute barre class on Motus, 3 p.m.
• Wednesday: 30-minute full-body weights via Peloton, 10:30 a.m.
• Thursday: Taught 45-minute barre class on Motus, 3 p.m.
• Friday: 20-minute cycle via Peloton, 7 p.m.
• Saturday: 30-minute full-body weights via Peloton, 10 a.m.
• Sunday: 10-minute yoga stretching via Peloton, 6 p.m.

This past week of workouts was good and a little lighter than the last. I never picked up my barbell for a Les Mills class, and I missed it, so I have one on the schedule for this week. Oh how I miss teaching full-hour BODYPUMP classes in person, but I don’t know if I have the fitness level to do that at this current point. Ick. Anywho, my week was pretty well-rounded, so I’m good with it. But I do plan to be back in the gym at least a couple times a week in the next few months here.

Discounts 

A Lady Goes West recommended favorite products

I only share what I use and love in my own life, and here are some of the brands I swear by. And when you use my discount codes and links, you support me, so thanks for that …

• Fit Revolution. Get a 14-day trial and 33 percent off your first month of this amazing workout platform (where you can take my classes on demand) with the code ASHLEYPITT3PC1.
• Carbon38. 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 superfood supplements. I’m all about the Organifi Complete Plant-Based protein powder. You can get 15 percent off your order on the Organifi site with the code ALADYGOESWEST.
• Four Sigmatic. These superfood coffees and teas are so good — I especially love the Cacao Chill and Lion’s Mane Latte. Get 15 percent off your order with the code ALADYGOESWEST.
• Beautycounter. The best safe skincare and makeup. Send me a message, and I’ll share a 10 percent off code for your very first order.
• Les Mills On Demand streaming 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.
• Les Mills Coach program. You can get 15 percent off a 4-, 8- or 12-week guided coaching and accountability program with the code ASHLEY15.

Best reads

A few things from around the web 

• Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 for 2021. Every year, we get a list of the fruits and vegetables that are found to have the most pesticides, and here’s this year’s list. It’s important to remember that you don’t need to avoid the produce on the dirty list, but choose organic options of those varieties, whenever possible. And by the way, eating produce that is “dirty” is better than not eating any produce at all.
• Smoked salmon flatbread. I don’t eat brunch often, but if I did, this is what I would want on repeat. I love the sound of this smoked salmon flatbread recipe. Who’s making it this weekend?

Here’s the quote of the week from the Calm app, which I use to do my daily morning guided meditations. Speaking of the Calm app, I’m thinking of switching to something new. Any suggestions? I may go back to Headspace for a bit …

A Lady Goes West favorite archives 

• Life and learnings. I hope you had a chance to read this one on what I learned and what I think we can all learn from this challenging year. The comments are great too … “The one-year anniversary of the pandemic in my world.”

• Mindset. This one is a good one to go back to … “Three helpful mindset shifts I’ve made recently.”

Thank you for reading the blog today! I’ll see you back here soon. Have a great day and weekend, friends! 🙂 

Questions of the day

How was your week?

What are you up to this weekend?

Have you “found” anything fun recently?