The great travel stretch, 40 Under 40, updates and my weekly workouts

Oh hey, friends! Remember me? After staying put for the first half of the year, the second half of the year has really picked up for me travel wise and you’ve probably noticed.

It started with my trip to L.A. in mid-July for IDEA BlogFest and World Fitness Convention, then a week in Las Vegas in mid-August with friends, bookended by a visit from my Mom, followed by a long-weekend trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea and then this past weekend in Tahoe. I’ve got two more trips coming up in the next couple of weeks, then I’ll stay put until the holidays. 

My next trip actually starts tomorrow when I head to L.A. for two days for a video shoot. Because of the quick turnaround, when I got home last night from Tahoe, I emptied out my big suitcase, put it away, and pulled out my smaller one just to repack it with new items. 

Nonetheless, with all this travel, my updates on the ol’ blog have been few and far between, and I must apologize for that. But stick with me, because I’ll get back to posting more workouts, food and tips soon, I promise. Let’s catch up a little today, shall we?

Press trip in Lake Tahoe

Like I said, this past weekend I went on a whirlwind press trip to North Lake Tahoe for some outdoor adventures with a few other bloggers hosted by a hotel, and I had a great time. While I’ve done several media stays at hotels and travel activities as a blogger, I hadn’t ever been able to go on a full weekend “fam” trip until now, and I loved almost everything about it. There’s a ton to share from what I learned, saw and did, so I’m going to put together a full recap very soon. But I’ll leave you with these views from the gorgeous natural area …

emerald-bay-lake-tahoe-by-a-lady-goes-west

sunset-on-lake-tahoe-by-a-lady-goes-west

Needless to say, I became a big fan of Tahoe in the late summer. Wouldn’t you agree? 

And here’s a shot of a pretty tasty salad I had at Panera yesterday on the way home from Tahoe full of ancient grains and arugula. The Panera bread is not as good as the bread at Boudin’s, but it’s still fluffy white carby-ness, just when you need it on a Sunday road-trip. 

panera-salad-by-a-lady-goes-west

40 Under 40

Something pretty cool that I haven’t mentioned on the blog (but did mention on Instagram and Facebook), is that Dave and I received an awesome honor this month by being named to Diablo Magazine’s list of “40 Under 40.” Each year the magazine chooses 40 folks from around the East Bay of San Francisco to put on the list — all of us in different fields, doing some cool things professionally — and we were in good company with entrepreneurs, a physicist, a radio host and more. My favorite part is that in the magazine article, they called us a “power couple.” Love that!

ashley-and-dave-at-diablo-mag-40-under-40-by-a-lady-goes-west

We found out we were nominated a couple of months ago and then were notified we won while away in Las Vegas. This past Thursday night was the reception, so we were able to go and hang out with some of the awesome and lovely Diablo Mag editors (hi, ladies!!), and some of our friends who were in attendance. 

Funny story, that’s not so funny: I had a particular dress in mind that I wanted to wear to the event and had it all set out. Well, on Thursday morning, when I went to put the dress on to get ready for the day, I was totally struggling with the zipper in the back. The only other times I’ve worn the dress, I had Dave to zip it (it won’t go over my head unless unzipped). He was already out the door for the day, so I just gave it my all to try and get the fitted thing zipped up behind my body. And don’t you know I heard a rip, and boy did it split right down the back. At that moment, I was super disappointed, because (A) I broke the dress and that’s embarrassing (B) I didn’t have any other dresses in mind that would work. Therefore, I ended up putting on some old junk dress to wear to work that day and then popped out over the lunch-hour to Nordstrom Rack to pick up something new. Twenty minutes and 35 dollars later, I had a new black cotton wrap dress, which I actually really love, and I threw it on after work right before the reception without another thought about it. It all worked out! 

Diablo Mag 40 Under 40 by A Lady Goes West

I don’t think someone can ever have enough black dresses. You know?

Other than work, eating, packing/unpacking and fitting in some sweat sessions and group fitness classes, it’s been business as usual over here. I hope it’s been going well in your neck of the woods too!

What do you say we switch gears and talk about fitness?

My weekly workout recap

Sharing a look at all of the ways I got moving recently …

Weekly Workouts by A Lady Goes West

Weekly Workouts

  • Monday: Rest day
  • Tuesday: Taught a one-hour BODYPUMP class
  • Wednesday: Took a one-hour POP Pilates class
  • Thursday: Did 30 minutes of upper-body weights
  • Friday: Did 30 minutes of lower-body weights
  • Saturday: Kayaking and hiking
  • Sunday: Rest day

Overview of the week

With all of my travel lately, I’ve had lighter weeks in the workout department. Yet, during the weekdays, I’ve been able to fit in some good exercise. This past week included three sessions of weight training and an easy low-impact Pilates session. I really enjoyed all of the leisure activity I got on the weekend doing “non-workout” movement outdoors too. Overall, it was a fine week, with two lovely rest days.

Have a great start to your week! 

Need a break? Here's some chatter about #travel #fitness #BayArea and more ... Click To Tweet

P.S. Thanks to Meghan for today’s “Week in Review” link-up. 

Questions of the day

How was your weekend?

What’s been your best workout lately?

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33 Comments

    1. Thanks, Susie! The dress situation reminded me that little things like that are not important and easily handle-able hehehe. 🙂 Hope you had a good weekend, friend!

  1. Ah congrats on the 40 under 40 honor, that is so cool! And I can’t wait to hear about your Tahoe trip, I’ve always wanted to go. My uncle lived there for a fews years and I never visited, kicking myself now. My best workouts lately have been some lower body plyo and strength workouts. I’m a sweaty mess after and I stay sore for a few days.

    1. Hi Patricia! I don’t get sore that often, but I actually really enjoy it when I do ehhehe. 🙂 So good work! And YES, Tahoe is amazing, I can’t wait to share the deeets soon. Hope you had a nice weekend, my friend!

  2. Lake Tahoe! Wow, I’ve only heard great things about visiting there–so add that to my list of places in Calif. to visit, maybe-someday, ha!
    Congrats on the 40 under 40!
    Love that this dress situation had a great ending, it just goes to show, time wasted being stressed is not well spent—easier said than done, right? 🙂
    Such a good wknd, great fall wx, enjoyed a hair appt–overdue w/ a trim, etc. Shopped at Bath & Body=love the Fall candles! Football Sunday and house stuff. Plus a nice walk w/ my hubs + a an upper body wkout Sunday:)

    1. Okay, now you’ve reminded me I need to get ALL THE FALL CANDLES in my house as soon as possible heehe. And yes, Amy — forget about the little stresses. That’s our lesson for today. 🙂 Nice work on the active weekend!

      1. Ha, I used to shop @ B&B way too often…..more for candles + soap, the body products don’t do enough for my dry skin. Anyway…….I had the best time, helpful + fun employees. Pumpkin French Toast candle=so good:) and Coconut Pumpkin latte hand soap=crazy delish smelling! Workouts yay!!:) thx lady!

  3. I’d say a little blogging break so you can travel all over is absolutely worth it. I’ve been on a partial hiatus myself because of having company in town.

    Congrats on the 40 under 40. What a fantastic honor, you powerhouse couple you!

    Happy Monday and thanks for linking up.

    1. Thanks, Meghan! When you go from writing five times a week to three and then only once, it’s tough. But I’ll be back at it again soon. Have a great day, friend!

  4. What a great photo of you two! I’m not surprised at all that you two have been named a power couple in the Bay Area!
    So glad to have met you this past weekend and share those fun activities with you. 🙂

  5. Woah, you’ve been going and going; some day I’m secretly or not so secretly hoping that I might be able to do a blog trip; some how I can’t imagine getting to that level, but the hotel trip out in the boonies looks BEAUTIFUL!

  6. I’m so jealous of the blogger travel trips…how fun!! But I’m sure you’ll be grateful to be home for a bit once this last trip is finished!! Workouts for me include teaching and taking BodyPump and some HIIT cardio…I’ve been feeling just EXHAUSTED after long days with twin toddlers so trying to listen to my body and rest a bit more!

  7. Wow, you have been traveling a ton! I’m so excited that you got to go to Tahoe! It’s so ridiculously beautiful. I can’t wait to hear more about your trip!

    And major congrats on your feature in Diablo Mag! How freaking cool is that?! Not that I’m surprised or anything- you and Dave are one hot couple! 😉

    I’m so sorry to hear about your dress catastrophe but I have to admit, it made me giggle imagining you trying to zip it up yourself. I’ve had the same problem and felt like I was going to dislocate my shoulder trying to get the job done, lol. I can totally see myself ripping it too. But I’m glad it all worked out in the end. You looked gorgeous!

    1. I can laugh at it now, but when the dress ripped I was not laughing hehhe. There may have been some tears hahah! 🙂 Glad I’m not alone in the difficulty of some clothing though. You make me feel better, Sarah!

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