Friday Favorites: A link, a superfood + a mask

Hello to you on this fine Friday! I hope your week has included something great. Mine has been pretty good so far, but of course, I find that the weekends hold the best times.

Every Friday, I like to throw together a collection of things I enjoy in a “Friday Favorites” fashion. There’s no rhyme, reason or theme today, it’s just a hodge-podge of good stuff. So take off your thinking cap, sit back and enjoy this easy read.

My favorite read of the week: The Class-ifieds 

Have I mentioned that I’m starting to contribute my writing to some other sites? Well, I am. One of my first pieces ran yesterday on The Class-ifieds, which is a blog managed by ClassPass, the awesome service I trialed last month. Check out my piece: “So You Want to Run Away and Join the Circus? 3 Things You Have to Master,” which I wrote after attending an aerials conditioning class at Circus Center San Francisco.

Shown above from the left: Me with the trapeze bar after class, the inside of the large training facility and my class during the stretching portion on the mat.

While I didn’t post a full review of the aerials conditioning class on A Lady Goes West, I will tell you that it could probably be considered a 9 on the scale of difficulty of 1 to 10, with 10 being the hardest. We did so many challenging moves on the trapeze bar and aerial silks, and I felt like a complete weak novice. I walked out with rope burn and bad bruises behind my knees from hanging upside down on the bar. There were only 10 people in class (they keep it small for safety purposes, of course) and luckily someone was nice enough to spot me at times when I couldn’t get up into the right position in air. It was not a place for beginners. Everyone else seemed to know what they were doing, and it was all about training you for the circus, so the instructor meant business. Tough stuff, my friends. Tough stuff. 

My favorite new superfood: Hemp Hearts

Okay, have you heard of hemp hearts? Well I hadn’t until I received a bag of Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts this week through my role as a SweatPink Ambassador. Basically hemp hearts are little raw, shelled hemp seeds that have a nutty flavor and are full of nutrition and are non-GMO. Much like chia seeds, you can put them on basically anything you want to up the protein, fiber and Omega-3 and 6 content. In fact, one 30-gram serving has 10 grams of plant-based protein and 10 grams of Omegas, which is even more than chia seeds.

Shown above: A close-up of hemp hearts and the seeds atop a Greek yogurt.

Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods is a Canadian company, which sells nothing but hemp foods, protein powders and oils made from plants — clearly these are people who have passion for a little-known seed. 

So what do you really need to know? These things add a nice little crunch, and I used them in many ways this week. I added Hemp Hearts to my overnight oats breakfast, I threw them on top of a lunch salad, and I added Hemp Hearts to a Chobani pumpkin yogurt, pictured above. I definitely tasted the slight nutty flavor and really enjoyed the addition of more texture. The best thing about eating these seeds? I knew I was getting a little extra superfood in every bite and that warms my heart. If you’re interested in trying Manitoba Hemp Hearts, you can use the discount code: HHSweatPink14 for 20 percent off your entire web order at manitobaharvest.com. This discount code is good through the end of November.

My favorite fun delivery: Face masks

So my Mom likes to send me little care packages. However, I put a lot of restrictions on her. Mostly because I don’t want her sending me too much. We have no space in our little city apartment, I don’t really need anything, and if I let her go wild, she would have a package in the mail to me every week. A couple weeks ago, I received a slim little envelope in my mailbox and inside was the most adorable delivery. Two face masks baggies and some clippings from a magazine. The clippings were of cute things she would have bought for me, and I would have liked nearly all of them. But what I was most excited about were the masks. 

Manuka Honey Peel Off mask and Red Earth Clay Spa mask.

There’s nothing like a little at-home facial, and I’ve truly enjoyed these. While I’m not totally sure where she bought these single-serve products by Montagne Jeunesse, I believe you can find them at most major drug stores, as well as at Ulta.

Okay, friends, me and my smooth face are off for now. Tonight, I’m teaching BODYPUMP, followed by a neighborhood sushi dinner with Dave. Tomorrow, I’m teaching BODYATTACK, getting a haircut and going to a nice dinner out. Then on Sunday, we’re attending a rooftop party. Have a great weekend, and we’ll talk soon!

Enter the Athleta giveaway

Before you go, there’s still time to enter to win a gift card to Athleta. Hurry up, because it closes Monday.

More Friday Favorites 

If you’d like to see a few more “Friday Favorites,” see below or visit the the link-up hostess, Heather. 

1. A snack, a purse and a ritual
2. A delivery, a bra and a guy
3. A sweet, a wine and a read
4. A drink, a gadget and a plan 
5. A time, a bottle and a powder
6. San Francisco edition
7. Beauty edition
8. Beach vacation edition
9. Hidden meanings
10. Kicks, a book and a bowl
11. The very best sweatshirts
12. Party hosting and froyo
13. Fourth of July daytime activity
14. Beauty basics edition
15. Workplace edition
16. Shopping, sales and a show
17. The foods I always buy
18. Sushi, a game and pants
19. Fitness apps
20. Delicious and healthy products
21. Comfort, fitness and function
22. Beauty, buddha and blog events
23. Dining, the city and gift ideas
24. POPSUGAR, sweets and such
25. A bunch of fun stuff
26. e-book, food, picnic and tunes

Questions of the day

Have you discovered anything cool lately? Do you have anything planned for the weekend?