Lobster bake fun, office visits, food and weekly workouts

Hi, my friends! It’s time for our weekly collection of food, fitness and fun favorites!

How has your week been? Mine has been good! Outside of three terrible nights of sleep that came out of nowhere with Brady, compliments of two sprouting little teeth. Oh how I don’t miss those sleep-less nights. By the way, more details on all things Brady coming up next week, because we are due for an update. Also, I’m off to a food and fitness event in the City this morning, so head over to see my IG stories for more.

This upcoming weekend, for the first time in months, we have absolutely no plans, besides me teaching my regular Saturday morning barre class. Not sure what we’ll get up to! How about you?

Let’s do the faves …

Fun

Lobster bake in Livermore Valley Wine Country

This is a favorite, favorite. So last weekend, Dave and I went with our dear friends, Phil and Kicki (who also moved to the Bay Area from Orlando, by the way), to Livermore Valley Wine Country for a fun event … a traditional lobster bake held at Darcie Kent Vineyards, which was part of the region’s annual Taste Our Terrior weekend of events. We sampled wines from around the region, then sat down to enjoy the spoils of a real lobster boil.

Big tubs of corn, potatoes, shrimp, sausage, veggies and lobster were dumped on the white-paper table-clothed tables, and we sat down and dug in. While I have a pretty strict no-processed-meat policy, all bets were off with that spicy sausage, and yes, I had to eat it, as well as the lobster and veggies, with my hands — just dipping into tiny tubs of melted butter. It seemed appropriate! And the beauty of having a mostly healthy diet is that it’s totally cool to relax your standards here and there when you feel like it. And I felt like it.

We had SO much fun hanging out with our friends, and meeting new friends too, including the lovely Kallie, who also lives in Walnut Creek. Oh and drinking wine. Good wine!

Because we had a babysitter at home, we actually popped over to a bar in Walnut Creek after the event and stayed out past 11 p.m.,, which was awesome, but had us super tired the next day. Good times were had by all! And I literally couldn’t tell you the last time I went to a bar. Apparently they still exist! 🙂 

Special thanks to the lovely Livermore Valley Wine Country folks for hosting us!

Bringing Brady to Dave’s office

Earlier this week, it was “take your child” to work day at the Warriors office, and so I took Brady in to say hello to Dave’s coworkers — he has been in twice before, but the first time slept right through it, and the second time, I wasn’t there, so we were due to make the rounds together.

There were a bunch of events taking place for the slightly older kids, so we just strolled around and chatted with people before walking over to the Oakland City Center for lunch al fresco. Of course, we couldn’t miss a chance for photos with the trophies …

There was a lot to look at and a lot of people around, but Brady was in good spirits the whole time and even gave some smiles to a few people. So cute! (By the way, if you can’t tell, I’m wearing workout clothes, because I wasn’t exactly expecting pictures.)

Beauty

Amazing hot air brush

This John Frieda Hot Air Brush is an Amazon Prime day purchase, and I’m so glad I got it! I have been hearing about these hot brush tools and always wanted one. And with a TON of hair, which is naturally curly, I’m a good candidate for something that helps you to get a good blowout at home.

I’ve used this a bunch since it arrived, and it totally helps me to get my hair smooth. Here’s the deal: You have to blow-dry your hair to about 80 percent dry, then you use the brush to get a smooth texture and some root volume. It’s so easy to use, and I’m pretty sure I should’ve owned this years ago. I’d imagine if you have thinner or shorter hair, you could style your head in just minutes too, although it still took me a while. Definitely a better finished product than I could get with just a round brush and a blowdryer, for sure.

Fashion

Last-minute lobster bake outfit

So I went out two hours before I was supposed to be ready on Saturday for the lobster bake to find an outfit. I went through Nordstrom Rack and Zara with no luck, and then stumbled into Macy’s on my way out and found this dress, in a pinch. You will definitely be seeing it on me again, because I love it. And it’s on sale.

My dress.

It’s a good kind of form-fitting, without being too tight, and it was super comfy and is machine washable — a necessity for anything I purchase these days. I also like the length, because if I add a jacket, this thing will take me through fall.

Food

Watermelon kombucha from GT’s

Nothing says summer like watermelon, so I was excited to try out this flavor when it arrived at my doorstep from the GT’s Kombucha folks. It’s SO refreshing! I’m totally a fan and went through the bottles they sent me way too fast, so I’ll be off to the store to get more ASAP.

By the way, I’ve had a bunch of you say you don’t like kombucha. That’s totally cool. If you don’t like it, don’t drink it hehehe. It has a decent amount of sugar, so isn’t something you want to drink a ton of anyhow. I happen to love many flavors, which is why I drink a few bottles a week. But you do you! There are other ways to get the gut-friendly properties of kombucha, like through yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut and even kefir. 

Yet, if you have found some flavors of kombucha are just too tart for you, then watermelon may be a good option. It’s just right. Perhaps one of my new faves.

Quinoa and hummus bowl from Ladle & Leaf

Quinoa and hummus go together so well. This is the lunch that I had with Dave in downtown Oakland after we walked Brady around the office on take your kid to work day. We sat outside at the City Center in the sun too, which was really nice, because Oakland is always slightly cooler than our area. 

The restaurant, called Ladle & Leaf, used to be the San Francisco Soup Company, which I had eaten at a few times in the City when I worked in the Financial District. Apparently all the SF Soup Companies rebranded to Ladle & Leaf, and it’s a good change for sure.

It was meat-free, featuring quinoa, arugula, pickled beets, hummus, Brussel sprouts, feta cheese and avocado too. (I added the avo as an up-charge, which I often do, because I like to have it at almost every meal.)

I feel like I’ll be visiting Dave again soon, just so I can go back here and get this meal, complete with the slab of sourdough bread. Sourdough bread is perhaps my favorite bread, and if you remember, was probably the thing I consumed the most of while pregnant. Even though sourdough is technically a white bread, if you get the fresh stuff, it’s actually got some good fermented properties for you too and is easier to digest than wheat. And it tastes so good! 

Colorful weeknight meal

When I brought this plate out to the table to eat it for dinner earlier this week, Dave said, “Well, we’ve got all the colors on this one,” and he was certainly right. (He had a similar combo, with different veggie burgers, no eggs and no sauerkraut.)

Two Hilary’s Eat Well veggie burgers, half of a baked purple sweet potato, roasted zucchini rounds, two eggs, sauerkraut, sautéed kale and sauerkraut, all covered in turmeric, sea salt and some black pepper. Mmmmmmm!

Fitness

Weekly workout recap

Here’s a look at my workouts from last week …

• Monday: 20-minute full-body weights workout, 11 a.m., 45-minute FlyWheel Tempo class, 6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday: 30-minute CXWORX, 9:30 a.m., taught 1-hour Bootybarre class, 5:30 p.m.
• Wednesday: 30-minute full-body weights workout, 11 a.m.
• Thursday: Taught 1-hour Bootybarre class, 12 p.m., taught 1-hour Bootybarre class, 7:30 p.m.
• Friday: 25-minute full-body weights workout, 12 p.m.
• Saturday: Taught 1-hour Bootybarre class, 11 a.m.
• Sunday: Rest day

This past week, I was determined to lift weights three times, as that is always my goal, and I haven’t been meeting it lately. I’m happy to say that I did complete all three short full-body sessions. I also taught barre four times, which is a lot for me, including one day in which I taught it twice. As you guys know, I only like to do one workout a day, but this week, due to subbing an extra class on Tuesday and Thursday, I had some extra workouts. I made up for it with two short days and a full day off. I’m starting to feel like I not only need a change, but I’m in need of some yoga or dance or something different to throw in there. Who knows!

Suggested reading

Best links from around the web

• Healthy products. It’s so cool that you can buy health products at drug stores. Check out these items available at CVS.
• Food. Lots of good options on this list of a bunch of healthy plant-based recipes.
• Workout. I’ve done a handful of workouts on the big Pilates megaformer machine, and I’m always surprised how darn hard they are. This set of moves, based on megaformer exercises, looks tough, and I just may need to give it a try.

A Lady Goes West book club

In case you’re interested, we’ve just started reading “The Body Book” by Cameron Diaz right now and will be doing some discussing in our Facebook group over the next few weeks — it’s a non-fiction book all about health, fitness, nutrition and more. Come join!

A Lady Goes West favorite archives

• Cardio! I love writing in-depth fitness pieces like this one … “How much cardio should you be doing each week.” Thank you to everyone who read, commented or shared!
• Recovery! I can’t go too long without thinking about how much I’ve learned and how far I’ve come … “Life after recovering from hypothalamic amenorrhea.”

Have a wonderful day and weekend, my friends! Be good! Get some rest! Hydrate!

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Questions of the day

What are you up to this weekend? 

What’s something you are loving lately?

What’s the best workout you’ve done recently?