Moving to a new site

maybe only temporarily or permanently.. depending on if I like it or not.

so until I say differently, I'll be at: http://sporktastic.tumblr.com

Eurotrip: Rome

9/21-Prague to Berlin:
woke up at 7, showered, packed and headed for the airport. Got to the Prague airport around 9:30, checked in and waited for our 11:50 flight. 2 hours later we landed in Roma! Ahh, it felt like coming home! Upon getting our luggage, we boarded a shuttle bus and Mark took us to the Victor Emmanuel Monument (the wedding cake building), Trevi Fountain (here I am wishing for a return trip to Rome!), the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Afterward, we went to the hotel and checked in. The hotel itself is pretty nice but its about 20 min outside of Rome.
At 7, we got back on the bus and headed into town for our included dinner (Gweed overslept!). Penne pasta and chicken.. yum!!!! It was Flavia's birthday so she got a special dessert and we all sang to her. She is too cute. Derek is starting to feel the Contiki Cough. Gross. Anyways, back to the hotel by 9:30 for an early night.

9/22-Rome:
After some much needed sleep, we woke up at 7, showered and left the hotel at 9:15. We rode the bus to Ottiviano metro and walked to the Vatican Museum where we had gelato for breakfast. (Our goal for Rome was for the 3 of us to have 26 gelatos while in Rome for my 26th birthday hehe) Anyways, our Vatican tour was ok. Our tour guide spent a lot of time going over the Sistine Chapel and we didn't see as many things as we did the last time we went there, but nonetheless it was cool to go again. The pope was doing a talk in St Peter's Square that day so we couldn't go into the basilica but we got some "Where's Waldo" shots of the pope.



After pizza and more gelato, the 3 of us rode the metro to Termini station to purchase our Roma Pass (a 3 day transportation pass and entry to 3 sites) and then onto Piazza di Spagna to see the Spanish Steps. It was quite hot in Rome that day so we didn't linger long and made our way back to Ottiviano for more gelato and to meet the group. We got back to the hotel at 5, showered and met in the lobby to fill out a Contiki survey. We left the hotel around 7:30 for the optional dinner show. The food and wine was really good and the show was interesting (some enjoyed it more than others! ahem Derek!) The show ended around 10:30 and we went back to the hotel for another early night.

9/23-Rome:

My birthday!!! Yay! Woke up at 8, showered and left the hotel at 9:15 to catch the bus to Ottiviano metro to Colleseo. A large group of us went through the Roman Forum and then Derek and I separated from the rest and went through the Colloseum with Kristin and Matt (Gweed was being pretty cranky, sorry buddy but you were, and I wanted to avoid the negative energy from the Chloe-Derek situation)

Afterward, the 4 of us caught the metro to get off near the Capuccin Crypt. We found a nice little restaurant where I had some of the best pizza I've ever had in Italy. Followed by more gelato, we went shopping near the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. By early afternoon, we were all starting to feel tired so we caught a cab back to the hotel at 3:30. After a nice nap and another shower, we met in the lobby at 7 to go out for my birthday. Everyone came out!!!! :) The 4 of us took a cab to Piazza Navona where everyone took a lot of last group shots since this was the last night of the Contiki tour. Eventually, we all walked to a small ass pizzeria where it proceeded to take 2 hours for everyone to order, eat and pay. Kind of annoying when your group was done by the end of the first hour. But nonetheless everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me and I got some kind of tiramisu dessert. Yay on the first part; I'm not a big coffee fan so I graciously had a few bites before passing it on to Derek, who is getting worse with his cough by the way (along with Matt and Gweed--what is up with the men getting sick?!) FINALLY, the group walked to a small pub where if you paid 20 euro you could have unlimited drinks for 2 hours. We cheated: Derek paid the 20 euro and then rubbed his stamp on my hand. Genius! Although the dinner pretty much dampened my mood, along with Kristin and Matt dipping out early (Kristin had to get up at 4 in the morning and Matt sounded like he was dying at this point). But we managed to hang out until 12:30 before we caught a cab back to the hotel. Such a bittersweet night. I met some really kickass people on tour that I am missing dearly right now. They almost become your family since you're stuck with them day in and day out for those 2 short weeks. But Derek and I would be lying if we said we didn't have our favorites and we have already made it our goal to make sure we see them again! (you should know who you are! ahem our 4 favorite aussies and lil kiwi ;)

9/24-Rome:

woke up at 9 to check out of our Contiki hotel (more goodbyes in the lobby--so sad!) and took a cab to Hotel Lancelot where Derek and I stayed at the last time we were in Rome. Our cabbie was f'in crazy! After almost hitting a guy's dog he proceeds to get into an argument with him before cussing out a girl for trying to parallel park lol. After checking into the hotel, we caught the metro to Ottiviano, grabbed some pizza and headed to St Peter's for our Scavi tour which takes you underneath the basilica. I think all 3 of us were feeling pretty drained at this point; feel were hurting and Derek and Gweed were looking worse. But we trudged on. After the Scavi tour, we went inside the basilica for some pictures and after more gelato we headed to Castel Sant Angelo. AMAZING VIEWS! I made the boys walk up many steps but wow was it worth it!

Nonetheless, us sleepy Americans caught a cab back to the hotel so we could take a nap before meeting the Aussie girls for a last dinner. At 7, we looked our hotel window to see Hayley and D waiting for us. Bel apparently had had a pretty crazy night on my birthday and was still feeling hungover. So the 5 of us walked to the pizzeria down the street, grabbed some more gelato (our final tally was 27- one to grow on! lol) and walked around the Colosseum for a good hour. It is so pretty at night:

I think we were trying to drag out these goodbyes as long as possible. Unfortunately, it came time for us to head back and do final packing so we said ciao to the girls and walked back. We were so excited to be finally going back home to see our kitties!!

9/25-en route to home:

woke up way too early to catch at cab to the airport. The cabbie tried to rip us off but good ol Rick Steves saved the day. After a LOOOONG 10 hour flight, we connected in Chicago and finally made it back home around 6:30 eastern time, had some Skyline and passed the fuck out. Kitties were so happy to see us, I swear Josie was my shadow for a good week! Derek and Gweed were really sick (both ended up having sinus infections) and I was starting to come down with something myself (I am still struggling with bronchitis-figure that one out!).

But all in all, this was definitely a trip I don't think any of us will ever forget. Contiki is a great tour company and again we met some really great people. We have pictures and memories to last us a lifetime and even if we don't make it abroad again before kids, I am glad to say we ended with a bang.

Thanks for reading all, I hope I made sense in my crazy rambling. Until next time (when its back to normal and boring).. Ciao!!!

Eurotrip: Prague

9/19-Berlin to Prague:
woke up at 7:30 to get on the coach at 8:30 for Prague. STILL feeling like shit. Around lunchtime, we stopped in Dresden, Germany which is known as the "Florence of the North". Gorgeous, gorgeous city. The architecture was beyond amazing and it was astounding to find out that the city had been destroyed during WWII so almost all of the building were post-war. We had about 2 hours to walk around the city, so Derek and I stopped at an outdoor cafe called Piazza Nova, people watched and I tried to eat some pizza. At this point, I think my stomach was hurting because it was practically empty but any smell of food still made me feel nauseated so it was basically a catch-22.
Back on the bus at 1:45 and we finally reached Prague around 3 or 4. We went up to the Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral, which had spectacular views of the city. Many were complaining that Prague looked "dodgy" but it reminded a little of Italy so I felt very comfortable.

After that we drove to the hotel and checked in. We stayed at the Ibis hotel, which is basically a chain hotel. Therefore, the rooms were pretty standard. Small but clean. After a quick shower, we had dinner at 6. A group of us met Mark in the lobby at 7:30 to go for a walk to Old Town. Prague is so beautiful! Again, I can't fully describe the experience in being this places which is why we tried to take as many pictures as possible, but if I could go back to anywhere from our Eurotrip (besides Rome!) it would most definitely be Prague. Anyways, after about an hour myself, Derek and Gweed decided to go on our own so we could get some money and fried cheese-- ok before we left for Europe we watched Anthony Bordain's No Reservations on the Travel Channel where he went to Prague. They have these street vendors that sell the usual hotdogs and burgers but they also a fried cheese sandwich. The boys were so excited about this. I had my doubts so I didn't get my own but I tried a bite of Derek's and WHOA! So freakin good! FINALLY! My stomach does joyful backhandsprings.. normal fucking food!!!! Beyond good food, Prague prices are awesome. For a sandwich and Coke it was 70 czech crowns which basically equates to about 3 bucks. Now that might seem pretty standard for here, but ya gotta realize we were used to paying 8 euro for a damn coke! Needless to say, I went to bed that night feeling much better physically, mentally and spiritually.

9/20-Prague:

woke up at 7 and some breakfast. Left the hotel around 8:45 to walk to the bikeshop for our bike tour around Prague. We got to ride around the city for about 2 hours. Again, Prague is f'in AWESOMELY BEAUTIFUL! Here we are at the John Lennon wall:

Afterward, while everyone else went on the optional lunch cruise, Derek and I walked to the Hotel UPrince and ate at their rooftop terrace restaurant. Ah, the views!!! And the food was excellent-Derek had pork tenderloin and I had grilled chicken. It was so nice to be able to spend some alone time with my husband. Don't get me wrong, we fully enjoyed meeting new people and hanging out with the group but it was nice to take a break and just be with each other if only for a few hours. After lunch we walked around the city and did some sovenir shopping. We got back to the hotel around 2:30 and took some much needed naps. I finally got my marathon 3 hr nap :)

We woke up at 5:30, showered and headed out with the group for our Pub Crawl, but not until after we all enjoyed more fried cheese sandwiches. Anyways, the Pub Crawl was 20 euro and included unlimited alcohol for an hour and a half at the first pub and a shot each at the next 2 bars and also a tshirt. So we get to the first bar and they only have sizes small and medium for the shirts. I felt so bad for the guys!!!! The beer was TERRIBLE, the wine was watered down (so I heard) and the only shots they had were absinthe and vodka cranberry. so we basically struggled to get through 2 beers there. At the 2nd bar, which was beyond creepy our shot was straight vodka. Um, no thanks. I got some czech beer.. man they like it skunky. After an hour there, we headed to another bar which was actually our favorite for the night, however again all the included shot was stupid vodka. But the place had a great atmosphere and they had Budvar (Budweiser) so I was a very happy girl for that hour. The third bar was eh, and by that point we were starting to get bored. But Hayley wanted to check out the superclub so a reluctant Derek joined the group of us and we managed to stay for a half hour lol. Around midnight, the 3 stooges left and walked almost all the way back to the hotel. It was cold and I was starting to get worried since none of us really knew where we were, so we caught a cab back the rest of the way. Apparently we were only about 8 blocks away lol, but better safe than sorry. We called it a night at 1:30. The next day we would be off to Roma!!!

Ok so this next pic needs an explanation: when we reached the Pub Crawl bar, the Contiki group met a brother and sister from Ireland. Apparently this was their 4th night on the Pub Crawl and they were having a jolly old time at every single place we went to. Beyond the fact that the Irish have god awful teeth, you couldn't understand a word they were saying and they loved to riverdance to techno. Long story short, when you have a large group of people like ours, you tend to get in herd mode and make fun of the outcasts. It may be mean, but if you were there you would have been dying laughing with the rest of us! Anyways, here they are with me, Hayley and Kristin:

Eurotrip: Berlin

9/17-Amsterdam to Berlin:
Ok so I hope you remember my last post, but just in case you don't, here's a quick recap of our last night in Amsterdam: a)female time b)asian food c)shit ton of beer and d)random shots.
Alright, well on the 17th I woke up at 7 feeling tired, but overall ok. I walk down to the lobby eat a piece of bread and smoke outside with Bel. After getting back to the room for last minute packing, I start to feel nauseated. I proceed to have a really gross and stinky 20 minutes in the bathroom. Now, we have an 8 hour coach ride ahead of us to Berlin so I start to get a little worried about my stomach. The time to leave quickly approaches and my worrying grows into full on freakin out. I'm crying and begging Derek for us to get off the bus and just catch a cab all the way to Berlin. Why am I freaking out? Well, beyond the fact that I'm on a bus with 35 other people, you are not allowed to use the restroom on the coach. What if I HAVE to go? Again, crying hysterically lol. Derek finally tells Mark the tour manager the situation and Mark assures me that if an emergency comes up, they will pull the bus over asap. This is little consolation. If only I had listened to my bestie Amanda back home and had packed Immodium! Not a moment too soon, an angel in the form of Aussie Jess gets on the bus and offers me said magical pill. Gratefully I take 2 and try to calm myself down. We finally depart around 8:30 and head towards Germany. I think I passed out within the first 20 min. We stopped for our first pitstop around 10 at a gas station. I feel a tad better and get off to use the restroom (#1) and grab some water. The more I talk and walk, the more the nausea creeps back so I skulk back to my seat and pass out again. Lunchtime finally arrives and we pull into a McDonalds. I happily order a McChicken and really wanted some fries but in fear they would upset my stomach further, I settled for just the sandwich. Yea, I could only half of it. This is not good. I walk across the street to a gas station (where they play Metallica "Nothing Else Matters" lol) and get me some much needed Powerade.
Back on the bus, I proceed to immediately pass out again. I wake up a few hours later to find us at a deadstop on the Autobahn. The need to pee is great and many are grumbling the same. Mark decides this is the perfect opportunity for mingling and blahblahblah so we spend the next hour or so doing such. After what felt like another lifetime later, we finally pull into a rest area. I am STILL feeling like crap. I ask Jess for 2 more Immodium. God love ya girl. After peeing and grabbing more liquids, I go back on the bus and again sleep. FINALLY, I wake up and it is dark outside. Mark announces we are finally in Berlin. Ok, we were supposed to arrive in Berlin around 5. I look at the clock and it says 9. Judas Priest what a fucking a traffic jam! I sit up and take in the lights of Berlin--much like here at home in the US folks. Nothing really special. We pull into this shady parking area and we are at our hotel. I can't even remember the name of it right now, but its dark and it looks old so everyone is a bit creeped out. We get our room keys and immediately head back down for the included dinner. God, I don't know if it was because I felt so bad but the food was terrible. I tried to eat at least something and afterwards we headed back up to the room so I could relax and go back to bed. WORST DAY OF THE TRIP FOR ME :(

9/18-Berlin:
Woke up at 7:15 still feeling yucky, so I skipped breakfast. The group of us walked to the Ubahn (underground/subway) where I bought me a pack of peanuts and caught the train for our historical walking tour. Those pack of peanuts lasted all the way through Rome.. thats how sick I was ppl :(
Our tour guide for the walk was very good. Quite passionate about Germany and the 3rd Reicht. We saw many of the sites, including the Cathedral, the Old Museum (pictured below),

Brandenburg Gate, the Parliament Building, and the Holocaust Memorial. This was not what I was expecting. I'm not sure what my expectations were exactly but nonetheless it is quite a random abstract display. The tour guide let us spend a few minutes walking around and break for a quick lunch and bathroom run.

The only think I could stomach was a croissant. The smell of Derek's hotdog was strongly putrid, but I'm glad he enjoyed it. We then continued the tour which took us to the site of Hitler's underground bunker, the remains of the Berlin wall and Checkpoint Charlie. At this site, the tour ended and we were free to do whatever we wished. Derek and I decided to join Gweed, Matt, Jen and Chloe for some shopping. We take the ubahn to an area where they say there's good shopping. Upon realizing it is merely a shopping mall and with growing tension between Derek and Chloe, the 2 of us decided to leave and go back to Unter den Linden (a street with lots of sovenirs and craft shops). We meandered for a good hour, witnessed a protest, practically saw the whole Berlin police force and found some really cool sovenirs for family members. Around 3 we caught the ubahn back to the hotel to relax a bit before the night's activities.

We left the hotel around 5:45, caught the ubahn to Joe's beerhall. Again, my stomach is still upset so I settle for the typical American meal of cheeseburger and fries while Derek tried lots of yummy looking sausage and drank a large quanity of beer. After Amsterdam, I decided that I wouldn't really drink again until Rome lol so I decided to stay sober for our night in Berlin.

After dinner, we caught the ubahn to meet our tourguide from the morning tour who would also do our "Eye Spy" Berlin tour which presumedly covered more on the Stasi police and the days of the Berlin wall. It was pretty neat to look into a preserved area of No Man's Land but the night quickly turned into shit for me. Physically I was drained and because I was sober, my nerves were a bit on edge. I said some hurtful things to Gweed (although I'm not sure he really remembers.. if he does he's a dear and has already forgiven me) and was pretty antisocial for the duration of the night which included the group going on a hunt for clues to find bar after bar. (Basically it was nothing but a pub crawl). Our Aussie friend Matt is starting to get sick and is coughing all over the place and leaves the group when we get to the "superclub". I wish we would have joined him. Terrible, terrible, terrible. That's all I can say. Derek and Chloe have a "fight" and he declares he is no longer hanging out with her for the rest of the trip. Awkward. We finally leave on our own at 1:15 and decide to take the ubahn back since we have a daypass that lasts til 3 am. SCARY!!!!!! The trains were only running every 15 min and with it being Saturday night, there were a lot of drunk punk rockers and bums. I prayed and prayed lol. We finally got back to the hotel at 2:30! (should have only taken 15 min tops) and I went to bed in a very sour mood, thankful that we were leaving Germany in the morning.

Eurotrip: Amsterdam

9/15-Paris to Amsterdam:
We woke up at 6 am :( dropped our bags off to Hans at 7:15 and the group walked to Gare du Nord station to catch the train to Amsterdam. After a short 3 hours and beating Gweed at War twice, we got to Amsterdam shortly after noon. Once there, the "Lawn Zombies" set off for food and other local fare. We ate at this weird pizzeria/steakhouse where we all had cheeseburgers that were definitely not made of beef lol. We found a coffeeshop called "Pick up the Pieces" which ended up being the exact same coffeeshop that Derek and I had been to when we were in Amsterdam last time. Most of the afternoon was full of giggles and munchies, and wondering around town to try and find the Anne Frank Huis. We ended up meeting the 3 Aussie girls instead (D, Bel and Hayley) and went to another coffeeshop called "Free Adam" where some of the girls ate special cake. Once we left there, Derek and I did some sovenir shopping and we all caught the coach back to check into our hotel at 4:30.

Our hotel for Amsterdam was Best Westerm Blue Square.. wow! Super freakin nice! Derek and I were beyond tickled when we saw a normal size bathroom and comfy pillows AND clean sheets! (our last visit to Amsterdam was a bit shady hotelwise). Anyways, our included dinner was at 6:30 which consisted of a fairly good buffet. My stomach seemed to adjusting well to Holland food. Caught the coach at 7:30 to the Red Light District where most of the tour group experienced a live sex show. To be honest, I was disappointed. Nothing more than standard boy/girl! lol, I think most people were quite relieved when we finally left just to escape the boredom. After that waste of money, we just caught the coach back to the hotel for an early night.

9/16-Amsterdam:
Woke up at 7 am (are you seeing a dreadful pattern here?) and left the hotel at 8:30 for a small town outside Amsterdam called Edam. What a cute little town/village! We went bikeriding for a little over an hour which was really cool. Got a group picture here:

Also went to a cheese and clogmaking presentation--interesting. Derek and I bought a wheel of pepperjack cheese-yum! Afterwards, the coach dropped us back off in Amsterdam. A group of us ate french fries (Amsterdam has the best french fries!!!) and walked to the Anne Frank Huis (apparently we were only a block away in our futile search the day before lol). Anne Frank was pretty depressing. You weren't allowed to take any pictures and many of the rooms were bare with exerpts of her diary written on the wall or on casings that held other artifacts relating to the Franks or the Holocaust. The house was in a very old building and the stairs that led to where they hid were quite steep! Derek and I realized we needed a pick-me-up so the 2 of us along with Gweed and Jen walked about 20 minutes to the Heineken Brewery. We did the 2 hour tour which ended up being a lot of fun and it also included about 2.5 beers each. Derek and I decided to buy a little sovenir: our own personalized bottle of Heineken :)

After quickly (in 15 min!) drinking 2 beers, we caught the tram back to Central Station. Trams/buses can be a bit odd in Europe when it comes to actually paying for them. We got on the tram, tried to pay but were waved off. When we reached the destination, there was no place to insert coins or money so we just got off! That also happened to us when we were in Rome 2 years ago.. I dunno, like I said its just odd. Derek and I ran into the train station to buy Charlie some Belgian chocolate and then caught the coach back to the hotel.

After quick showers, we got back on the coach to go to dinner at the Sea Palace, a floating Indonesian restaurant. Alright, I have to stop here to explain a few things. A) It is female time for me. If you don't know what that means, you're dumb. B) Me and Asian food do not generally mix. I almost always puke or have the shits. C) Remember I've already had basically 3 Heineken.

Anyways, we eat at this restaurant where I try almost everything (because I have a good buzz from the now 5 beers I've consumed) and am quite excited to get on our canal cruise that features unlimited drinking for an hour and a half. And I literally spent that hour and a half drinking as much beer as I could (when I wasn't spilling it on my husband's shorts or Jen's camera). The original plan before going out was that Derek and I would return to the hotel after the canal cruise to get a good nights sleep, but oh no, drunk and happy Jessica insists that we go out with everyone else. So we ended up walking to this bar/club called Players which was basically empty when we walked in. When the bar found out we were from Contiki, they gave us all a free round of shots and were pretty lax about what we did for the rest of the night. After a reluctant shot of Sambuca, I switched to water for the remainder of the night. However, that did not stop me from pole dancing and making a fool of myself. Ah, my wonderful husband.. who was completely fucking sober. How he put up with us.. I still don't know. Well, finally around 12:30, he was ready to go so me, him, Matt and a pissed off Chloe caught a cab back to the hotel. This was the beginning of the Derek-Chloe disaster. Gah. Anyways, when I got back to the hotel I was actually feeling pretty sober and went to bed with no worries and looking forward to the next night when we would be in Berlin...

A shot of me and Gweed on the canal cruise:

Berlin next folks.. until next time Ciao!

Eurotrip: Paris

Are you ready for some epic posts? Since I'm taking the time to write them, I fucking hope so! :)

9/12-Paris, Day1: After a two and a half hour train ride, we arrived in Paris around 4:30 at the Gare du Nord train station a bit bewildered. It was quite busy and it seemed we were right in the middle of a shady or "dodgy" (as the Australians call it) area of town. But Derek's penal GPS system led the way and after 10 minutes of my heavily communicated doubts, we arrived at All Seasons hotel, our home for the next 3 nights. We dubbed it the terminator hotel, since it had this creepy robotic script on everything. The rooms were pretty small, but that's pretty standard for Europe. After a nice shower, we headed down to the lobby at 6 to meet our Contiki tourmates. After meeting our tour manager, Mark who gave us an orientation about everything, we all walked to a nearby hotel for our included dinner which included duck (and I was surprised that I quite liked it!) After dinner, we boarded our tour bus (and met Hans our driver) and took a night city tour of Paris. Wow! I understand why they call it the "City of Lights".. everything is simply beautiful! He let us stop at the Eiffel Tower for some pictures and Derek captured this masterpiece:

I know, our Nikon is f'in awesome. Anyways, we got back to the hotel around 10:30 and a group of us (3 stooges=me,D and G, plus Ryan, Chloe and Kris )decided to walk across the street to this little bar for some drinks. After a couple hours, Kris headed in and we had to walk a drunk Chloe back to her room. Upon returning, we met and sat with the 3 Aussie girls (D, Hayley and Bel) along with Garett. Around 1:30 we decided to call it a night.

9/13-Paris, Day2: We woke up around 7, showered, had breakfast (which basically consisted of cocoa pebbles) and got the coach at 9 to Fragonard Perfumary. After a snooze of a tour, they tried to sell us some expensive perfume which I think everyone declined. Afterward, we caught the coach and got dropped off near the Louvre. The group today was the 3 stooges, Chloe, Matt, Kris, Ryan, Jeera, Flavia and Melanie and we all walked to the louvre to see the Mona Lisa, which is basically overrated (in my opinion) but it was something we said we had to see so now we can say we saw it.

After a very expensive lunch (Paris is insanely expensive by the way!)--Gweed's pathetic excuse for a coke was 8 fucking euro!, the 3 stooges plus Matt walked down the Champs Elyses to the Arch di Triomph (I'm not double checking my spelling, so if I'm butchering these, I apologize!) Now the Arch is surrounded by this crazy roundabout where they say an accident occurs on average every 20 min or something stupid like that. We sat at the Arch for over an hour and NOTHING HAPPENED! Uggggg, disappointment lol. Around 3, we decided to catch the metro back to the hotel.. Wow, our first time on a subway system! I was quite surprised with how clean it was--Paris did have the cleanest metro that we saw in Europe and after a few times, it was quite easy to navigate and use.

That night, we left the hotel at 6 for Moulin Rouge. We got there a bit early so we had a few drinks at O'Sullivans right next door. The show itself was quite fun. I'm really glad we did it. The food was pretty good too. We sat with Chloe, Matt and Kris which the 6 of us would briefly be dubbed as the Lawn Zombies but that story comes here shortly. Anyways, each table got 3 bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne. (Gweed tried wine and LIKED IT!) Needless to say, we were all pretty lit up once the show was over and we headed back to O'Sullivans. The night was filled with more drinking and dancing (and with some people puking) and we discovered Kris' obsession with Cars (the animated movie) and Mater. Around 1, the 5 of us cabbed it back to the hotel. In bed by 1:30 am!
Blogger just fucking deleted my Moulin Rouge picture.. so anyways.. moving on..

9/14-Paris, Day3: we woke up at 7 am, showered, had our cereal and boarded the coach at 9 to head for the Palace at Versailles. This is where Marie Antionette lived. Derek, Gweed, Matt and Kris all had massive hangovers so we decided to skip the palace tour and walked to the center of town where there was a farmers market. We decided that we wanted to have lunch under the Eiffel Tower so we bought some bread and jam and started to walk back toward the bus. The bread did not make it back to Paris lol. After chilling on the bus with Hans for a bit (Chloe bravely took a train to Versailles and met us), we headed back toward Paris and were dropped off at the Eiffel Tower.

Us minus K went to the very top and it was fucking AWESOME. Soooo glad we did it! Anyways, while waiting for the elevator to get back down, Chloe starts singing this random zombie song, "There's a zombie on your lawn". Long story short, it was a long standing joke that carried for the rest of the tour and thus why our little clique was called the Lawn Zombies.

Afterward, we caught the metro to Galleries Lafayette, a huge shopping mall. After the boys and I discovered it only contained designer clothing (a Marc Jacobs peacoat was 4500 euro!), we walked to a nearby cafe and just chilled and waited for the girls.

At 6:30, we caught the metro to the Latin Quarter and bought some sovenirs and took some pictures outside Notre Dame.

After a rude frenchie refused to let me use the restroom (even after my offer to pay!) we walked to a quaint little pizzeria and and ate pizza for dinner. We headed back to the hotel around 8:30 where I tried to use Chloe's laptop to check Facebook but the wifi was not working :( Our decision to not bring our phones was killing us. We spent the rest of the night packing and gearing up for Amsterdam!

Eurotrip: London

Yea, yea, I know I've been slacking. Vacation and sickness trumped blogging. But here I am, about to stampede you with Euro stories. I was a big fat nerd and kept a travel journal for the trip just so I could tell you as many dirty details as possible. So lets go back almost a month to September 10: Departure Date. We woke up early and finished packing. My mom picked us up at 11 and we met my grandparents at Beef o Brady's for lunch. Got to the airport around 1 and departed home around 3:20. A quick flight to JFK.. only about an hour and a half. Their airport is f'in confusing! We had a 4 hour layover so me and Derek chainsmoked for about a half hour and then had some really expensive BK before departing at 9:30. Seven and a half hours later we landed at Heathrow at 9:30 am local time to a very cloudy day. Heathrow was extremely easy to navigate and we decided to cab it to the hotel. Cabbies in Europe are insane. Beyond the fact that we're driving on the wrong side of the road, they squeeze into these little spaces that you think cars are not meant to go. After a long and winding trip, we finally arrived at Luna & Simone Hotel, our home for the night. We were too early to check in so we dropped our bags and walked to a nearby pub and drank Staropramen, a Czech beer. Very skunky, but the boys enjoyed it. Around noon, we were finally able to check in to our room. 3 small twin beds in a tiny ass room. Oh and one bathroom. Fuck me. To make matters worse, all 3 of us had upset stomachs due to diet and time change. Needless to say, it was a stinky 24 hours lmao!

Most of London was spent on the Big Bus tour. We rode around London for about 5-6 hours and practically saw everything (except Buckingham Palace because the boys were being big whiny douchebags) Here is a pic of Big Ben and the Eye of London:

I wanted to shop in Harrods (a hugeass department store) but again I got whimpering and complaining so we basically rode around on the bus all day, had shitty fish & chips and tried to not kill each other. We got back to the hotel around 6 and the boys immediately passed out. I knew this was a bad idea, but after watching tv for an hour I drifted off as well. I woke up around 8, feeling like absolute dogshit. Having no water for 12 hours makes Jessica a very crabby girl. So after a tearful half hour of trying to wake up Derek, we finally walked to the local convenient store and grabbed some waters and ate some crackers courtesy of the "Books and Crackers" bag we made Gweed bring. After long showers, we all passed around midnight.

On Sunday, we woke up at 8 and headed down for the included breakfast. I think we were all pleasantly surprised.. it included eggs, very yummy bacon, baked beans (which I declined), toast and tea. After each of us took another trip to the bathroom, we checked out, took some pics by the nearby phonebooth and caught a cab to St Pancras train station. We had about an hour and half to kill before our train left for Paris so we walked across the street to King's Cross station and took our pictures at Platform 9 3/4. For those of you who are ignorant to the wonders of Harry Potter, this is how Harry got to his wizard school, Hogwarts each year. Anyways, around 12:30 we boarded our train!

11 more days..

til Europe! After a year of planning, I can't believe it is almost here! :) Although we are going to be vacation poor once we get back, I don't care. I know this will probably be our last big "hoorah" before settling down and expanding the Mastronardo clan. No, that doesn't mean I'm going to try and get knocked up when we get back lol but that we are going to buckle down and start saving money for the "future".

I can't even tell you which city I am most looking forward to. Since I have a feeling I won't blog again before we leave, here is an idea of what us 3 stooges will be getting ourselves into!
London-we're only here a day so we are focusing on doing the hop on/hop off bus tour and hitting up a pub and getting some authentic fish and chips (and hopefully Derek can drink his Tennents) After taking the chunnel the next morning we will be in..

Paris-3 nights in the city of lights. I guess if I really thought about it, I am probably most excited about Paris. It is the fashion capital of the world and I plan on drinking lots of champagne and eating bread and cheese until I puke! haha not really, but we will be going to all of the major sights (Eiffel Tower, Louvre, etc) and we are also taking a day trip to Versailles. We are also going to Moulin Rouge one night. After another train ride we will go to..

Amsterdam-the tour includes a bike tour to a cheese and clogmaking shop but beyond that our only plans are to partake in the local culture ;)

Berlin-historical walking tour which includes all of the major sites. I hear that they have some good punk rock nightclubs so we are going to try and find one of those so I can fulfill my international dancing quota. And of course, beer and pretzels.

Prague-beer, beer, beer, beer! And then.. more beer, beer, beer!

Rome-Colosseum, Forum, Vatican, Spanish steps, you name it, we're doing it! We are also going on the Necropolis tour underneath the Basilica (where St Peter is supposedly buried). We'll be celebrating my 26th bday in Rome so I plan to eat 26 gelatos in the 4 days we're there (hah! well maybe between the 3 of us!) and drink lots and lots of lambrusco. Oh, I really hope we can find the wine we had last time. Best sparkling red wine in the world peeps!

Don't worry, we're taking 2 cameras (3 if you count Gweed's) so we will have more than enough pictures to last us a lifetime!

Anyways.. I think we are going to have a SMALL get together for the fireworks on Sunday.. and I'm on the 5th book of Harry Potter. I think that's it :)

Until next time.. CIAO!

Shoots

so I know I said awhile back that I would be doing some photoshoots.. so here I thought I would share my top favorite shot from each photographer. (Alexis, I finally got all of the ones from Andy so I will have to email some more to you) Overall, I have been having a lot of fun with this and have found that it's helping me regain my confidence in myself as well as motivate me to remain healthy and stay on track with getting into shape. I can't believe it is less than a month away to Europe!!!!! These are from newest to oldest (still haven't fully mastered this whole Blogger picture upload crap) If you want to see more, I can email them. I don't think I'm going to add any to Facebook just yet. (My confidence isn't fully back people!)

Photographer: Imagination Complex

Photographer: TheAnj (Thanks again to Alexis for being my "escort" to this one! ;)

Photographer: CandyDrop Photography

Until next time.. Ciao!

TrashBiscuit

is a designer that is going to be on this season's Project Runway. I saw their designs at the Cincinnati Fashion Week a few months back and they are very fun. I am already rooting for them to win. So exuberant this show is back on.. it makes me want to learn how to sew. Which, the hubs is starting to do. He made a bag over the weekend.. while its not his finest show of talent; I think he has potential to be an awesome bag man.

42 days until Europe.. wipppeeeee!!! Day 4 of P90x... mngngidljroph. It sucks, but I can tell its already starting to work so after the slight detour on Saturday I think we're going to plow through until Europe. Yes, Saturday we are having a white trash/ toga party, which I invited a shit ton of people to in an effort to try to hang out with certain people that I haven't in a long time and/or that I never have. To my big surprise (sarcasm), none of those people are coming or have responded. Boo on you! Its so disppointing to see endless Facebook status updates about how people want/need a new friend(s), say "lets hang out!" but are so unwilling to actually make it happen. Myself, on the other hand, love my friends DEARLY but could always a use a few new ones. It keeps life interesting, for sure. Rant=finished.

Getting the hurr did tomorrow. I know, I know, its like 4 times in the last 2 months but I'm seeing RED and hopefully it all works out.

Until next time internet fiends.. Ciao!

Just a Girl

Hello blog world. I lied last week. I told you I'd blog before the weekend. Sorry. But here I am and its been less than a week since my last post so that has got to count for something. Tehe.

Anyways, the anniversary trip was fabulous. Better than the honeymoon (we really didn't like Jamaica). The hubs is still kickin ass in school; work is sllllooooooowwww but having Fridays off is truly priceless. Its a shame I waste them with doing. absolutely. nothing. most of the time.

Less than 2 months for Europe. Savin up for money.. at least trying to. We really want to buy a digital SLR before we leave.. so any suggestions would be awesome. We're probably going to be poor for a year because of this trip. But I know it is going to be sooo worth it.

On to the reason for posting..

Now.. as I'm about 2.5 months away from my 26th birthday I find myself getting old. Not old old, but everyone is married or getting married, has kids or are trying to have kids. The cellulite is starting to become more pronounced, the skin is starting to wrinkle, and my memory is already starting to fade. As I subscribe to 4 fashion/beauty mags (Marie Clair, Elle, InStyle and Cosmo) I find myself wanting to experiment with fashion, makeup and hair before I get too old and it becomes inappropriate. (NOTICE: for my mature readers, please do not take offense to my use of the word "old", its just a lot easier to type than decrepit ;) Unfortunately, I did not have the most feminine upbringing. My mom didn't really show me much with hair and makeup so I'm not very good at it and now that I'm in my 20s I almost feel ashamed to have to ask how to do it properly. But since I love you guys, I am going to ask you. If you ever want to have a makeup/hair/clothes party, please think of me. I would love to learn new hairstyles, new makeup techniques and some fashion advice. Sidenote: Does anyone know of a good vintage store in NKY/Cinci???

Moving on, I joined a modeling website years ago called ModelMayhem. I did a couple of fantastic shoots but got busy and then just forgot about it. Well, I updated my picture on there a few months back and my shit has been blowin up and I have had several photographers contact me and want to shoot (or I have found that they have done some cool concepts in the past and have approached them). But my best friends Self Doubt, Insecurity, and "You'retoofatandshorttomodel!" pop up and scream at me to not do any of it. (I'm a little embarassed to even be sharing this with you) I like to model, dance and sing but for some reason I am always ashamed to tell my friends. I can only think that I am afraid of their possible ridicule or criticism.. and it makes me sad because I would love to do all of those things more (esp dancing) but I fear that I have no support in this creative area of my life.. so again, if any of you ever want to go dancing or have impromptu photoshoots (I like to take other people's pics as well) then please lets get over ourselves and do it!

I know I'm ranting at this point so I'm going to stop but opinions, advice and love are always appreciated :)

Until next time.. Ciao!

Hair Help

Ok I know I've been seriously slacking and I promise to have a good post later this week, but I need your help! I recently tried to go dark with red highlights and it did not work out so well, so I think I'm going to go solid red, I'm just not sure which shade and I'm thinking of switching up my hairstyle. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE give me your advice and I will love you forever!! :)


Option 1: Ashlee Simpson red
Option 2: "Purple" red

Option 3: Bright red with black underneath

Option 4: Bright Red. This is also a cut possibility (minus the bangs)

Cut Possibility #2

And of course Cut Possibility #3 is to keep what I have. Decisions, decisions...

Honestly, I am leaning toward the purple red with the Jessica Simpson cut. I would LOVE to go bright red but I am scurred that when it fades it will look orange. Thoughts???!?!?!

Until next time.. and I promise it wont be 2 months.. Ciao! ;)

Cinco de Mayo

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!! What a lazy blogger I've been.. geez. I'm sure my phone has an app for this but again.. too lazy to even search for it.

Anywho, lets see.. my life is officially back to normal. Shorter hours and off on Fridays.. 3 day weekends are totally bliss. Still working out at the gym 4 times a week.. overall I've lost 5 lbs and an inch here and there. I'd be ecstatic if I could lose 15 more, but will be happy with 10. Eating healthy comes pretty naturally during the week but once the weekend gets here with all of its social and familial obligations, the beers are drank and carbs are consumed. Granted, not like before, but as a healthy 25 year old, beer is not easily shaken from my personal menu lol. The trainer says to switch to wine which is a-ok with me as long as we're drinking at home or at someone's house, but I'm not paying $5 a glass when I could have had 2 beers for that (most places). A few of my friends have joined UA in the last month, which is awesome. Since Derek is in class 2 days of the week, I've been working out with Gweed and its been great to have "bruddah from anotha mutha" time.

Hmm.. I signed up for a 3 day IRS seminar in Atlanta the week of our anniversary. So we will now be gone the whole week. (Mon-Thurs in Atlanta, Fri-Sun in Memphis) I am uber excited as is the hubs. I was a little worried there wouldn't be much to do in Atlanta but the World of Coca Cola is there as well as Medieval Times (Derek has never been) and the Margaret Mitchell House. If you are uniformed, I am a HUUUUUUUUUGE and I mean huge Gone with the Wind fan. Sadly, I have never sat down to read the work of art that translated to the greatest movie of all time, but I love everything about it. The characters, the actors who play them, the story, the corny one liners, everything. Scarlett (and many of you may wrinkle your noses) is my all time favorite character; I have always admired her beauty and tenacity. ANYWAYS, Margaret Mitchell is the author of GWTW. So as I am looking at the website, I click the link for the gift shop. Holy Toledo, I am in Heaven! Tons and tons of kickass GWTW memorabilia.. hubby will have plenty of anniversary gifts to choose from ;)

Until next time.. Ciao!

Fashion Week

ok so many of you have ignored my requests to help me pick an outfit to wear for the finale of Cincinnati Fashion Week. The husband STRONGLY requested I don't spend a boatload of cash so after hours of looking on the web I have found the 6 gems you see in my previous post, all from Forever 21 so all under $50. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE share your opinions. I obviously want to be able to wear the dress again. The pink tutu one may surprise you but I had Halloween in mind for that (Ga-lenda anyone ;)

Beyond that, this past weekend was a blast and Tax season is finally over. Rejoice! But I actually still have work to do (whaaa whaa) so I'm keeping this one short.

Until next time.. Ciao!

Fashion Week Dresses

The ones I just can't seem to eliminate quite yet:

Husband's picks:

Get a Life

I think my lesson of the week is that it doesn't matter how old some people get, they still enjoy drama and to stick their noses where it doesn't belong. Guess I'll be doing some spring cleaning on facebook as well.

Only 4 more days of tax season.. thank the lord! We're escaping to Louisville on Saturday for Thunder. We've never been but I'm sure we'll have a blast. Still need to find something to wear to Cinci Fashion Week.. any ideas would be extremely helpful. Might have a 4th for Europe again.. that's exciting.

Yea.. don't really feel like getting into too much more detail right now. Until next time.. when I'm much more relaxed.. and happy.. and stress-free.. and hopefully drama free.. Ciao!

Some Progress

Well, we had measurements last night. We've been on the P90X diet for about 3 weeks. I've lost 2 lbs, 2% body fat and about 5 inches all around (3 of those from my hips lol!) so I feel a bit better about the diet. This past week both me and the hubby were starting to get frustrated bc well quite frankly dieting sucks. As much as I would love to see faster results, I am really happy that my body fat is finally changing. The Mr. gained 11 lbs but his body fat went down as well so I guess he's just turning into my muscle man! ;)

Only 3 more weeks of tax season, thank goodness.

I think I'm coming down with something. My throat has been on fire the past 2 days so I'm not sure if its an infection or what. My grandma's been sick and one of my coworkers has been hacking the past week so who knows. As long as its not strep! So of course I tried to get into the doctor today because I don't want it to get worse over the weekend without meds but they're booked. So hopefully they'll just call me in something. I really don't feel like driving to Hebron today.

That's really been about it. Exciting I know. Probably the most boring blog you've read all week, so my apologies. 3 more weeks people, 3 more weeks. Who wants to celebrate with me on April 15th?! :)

Until next time.. Ciao!

The P90-FMe Diet

so it is only Day 2. Wowza, I miss food. Don't get me wrong, most of the food is just fine (eggs, tuna, fruits, veggies, etc) but it is soooo damn boring! I am praying for Friday to get here just so I can eat normal food! (Fridays are my cheat day) I've already decided we're having Donatos for dinner lol. Now how sad is that? I have never been a good dieter; I would rather slave away in the gym, but since that seems to not work for me anymore crappy food has to enter my life.

To make matters worse, my mom, who has been on the Nutrimed diet for approx a month, now weighs less than me. Do not misunderstand this: I am VERY happy for her!!!!! But any woman would be crazy to admit that this wouldn't bother them. I've been working out and eating fairly healthy for 2 months and haven't lost anything! Its just crazy frustrating.

Moving on, FBers will have already this, but we paid off the Eurotrip yesterday. Well the tour and flight part at least. We figure it'll be another 2-3k for food, alcohol and kickass shit to buy which will be easy to save between now and then. Update from the last post: we finally got our tax refund and most of my partner draw, hence the payoff of Europe :)

Beyond that, my life consists of sleep, (crappy tasting healthy)food, work, working out, and TV. So excited that Gossip Girl, 90210 and Melrose Place are back on!! We finished the 2nd season of The Tudors where Anne Boleyn gets her head chopped off. So at some point, I'm going to make the hubby watch The Other Boleyn Girl with NatPort and ScarJo and yummy Eric Bana.

Well, I am starting to ramble at this point. So I'll shut up. Whatevs.

Until next time.. Ciao!

The Halfway Point

Well, I'm basically halfway done with tax season. Only a month and a half to go..
I feel I've handled myself pretty well this year. Not sure if my confidence has gone up but I don't go to my grandpa as much with questions and feel a lot more comfortable meeting and answering the client's questions. So hopefully that continues to improve as the years pass! :)

Still working out.. as of Monday, I had lost 1 pound. I should probably weigh in more often but I really hate the numbers game. I just want to LOOK and FEEL good. Our trainer gave us some really good arm and leg workouts for when we're on our own and he kicks our butts on the 2 days we're with him so I'm being patient that over time, I will see some noticeable results. Still working on the nutrition. My new phone has an app called the Calorie Counter (if you have a Droid, you should be downloading this right now!) and it is amazing! It helps you keep track of the food you eat and also has an exercise diary so you know how many calories you're BURNING throughout the day as well. And it has a Diet Calendar that shows how you did for the past week and I've only been in the "red" once and that was last Friday and Fridays are my cheat day so I don't feel too bad about it. I think my focus is going to be on trying to get more protein because I really need to get my fat percentage down. So I'm hoping that with the combination of that plus the weight training we're doing will get that down asap!

Not much else has been going on. We went to the St. Henry Renaissance Auction last weekend, which turned out to be a lot of fun! We won some really cool items and had a blast just hanging out with friends. I think our only plans for this weekend (as of now) is to enjoy some hibachi at Miyako tonight. Kinda nice to not have plans!!!

I'm currently reading Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand. Its some good chick lit. I'm trying to have it done by middle to end of next week since I have to lead a discussion with my book club. After I have that done, I'm making a scarf for Sarah's bday (shh! don't tell her ;) and then I can FINALLY start on my scrapbooking. I'm really excited to see 5 (almost 6) years of our lives' together in albums :)

There has been some money issues lately. Our furnace went out in January and we had to pay 348 to have it fixed. Well, we've only been in our BRAND NEW house for a year and a half so we found out it was under warranty but we are STILL waiting to be reimbursed by the builder. On top of all of that, the IRS is seriously screwing with us. I paid estimates last year (since I'm a partner in a partnership) under my social so when I filed our first joint return I included the estimates I paid. So we were supposed to get our refund last Friday. When it didn't show, I called. They said that I had put on my return that estimates were paid when they were not.. um excuse me?!?! You cashed my f'in checks so yes they were paid! To which the agent asks: which SSN did you put them under? to which I replied "mine, duh" and she was like "oh you should have included your husband's as well". WTF?!? I'm filing a JOINT return meaning you should look at BOTH social security numbers before processing my damn return. Bottom line: They can't tell me when we'll get our refund. BULLSHIT. And I'm not talking no little refund. I'm talking a few thousand!! As JG Wentworthers would say "ITS MY MONEY AND I WANT IT NOOOOOW!!!" hahahaha. and finally I'm waiting on my profit sharing from the company, which I should (fingers crossed!) be getting here in a couple of weeks :)

So once we get all of that, we can pay off the credit card, pay off the Eurotrip AND still have some leftover to save. So I am happy about that.

Whew, well I'm going to shut up! Wow, this was a long one..

Until next time.. Ciao! :)

Weeks 4 & 5

so I slacked a bit. Yep. Still working out on average 3-4 times a week. My knees are killing me from the treadmill so I guess I'm going to take a few days off from that. Keith says to do the stairmaster.. ha! I'm gonna focus on the elliptical and work my way up to that. Renewed my training with Keith to where we now go to him twice a week.. starting hopefully next week. We definitely need it. I'm not getting it done. After 5 weeks, I've lost 0 pounds and 0 inches. Now I know my diet is not perfect but by golly I've been eating SIGNIFICANTLY better than I used to. I don't know what else to do.. maybe it takes time?

Tax season is underway. Yay. Been busy, busy but it makes the days go by faster so I guess that's good. I booked our Anniversary getaway today. We are staying at the Talbot Heirs in Memphis. It is 2 blocks away from Behle Street which apparently is like the Bourbon St of Memphis. We plan on going to Graceland, Sun Studios and Coyote Ugly while we're there. And to eat barbecue is a must. I'm really looking forward to having a weekend away with my hubby :)

Europe has well.. hit a speed bump. Unfortunately, Nikki will not be going. And we are undecided as to whether to find a new 4th or to just leave it with the 3 of us. So.. not much else to say about that right now. Hopefully things will work out.

Um, yea thats really been about it. Valentine's Day is Sunday.. I think we're gonna hit up the OG and then catch Percy Jackson at the theatre. Sounds pretty good to me. So if any of you have some yummy and healthy foods (that are convenient to cook!) that you eat please fill me in (I'm finding it rather difficult to find foods that fit that all of these criteria)

Well, until next time.. Ciao!

Week 3 and The Perfect Mix (so far)

This a few days late. Last week was Week 3, which sucked. My energy level was lower than normal and the majority of the week I didn't feel very well. But I worked out Mon-Fri regardless and did as much as I could. Training was tough this week.. I thought I was seriously going to puke afterwards. Its been awhile since I felt like that. Foodwise, I did good until the weekend. Friday and Saturday were high calorie days.

My goal for this week is to alternate the cardio more. I did the elliptical last night which was horrible. I could only do 15 minutes. But for my treadmill days I think I have found the perfect workout mix for my ipod. For you runners and walkers, let me know what songs get you pumped up! (or the ones that cool you down)

Jess' Workout Mix:
Britney Spears-Womanizer
Chester Bennington-Morning After
The Veronicas-Untouched
Jim Sturgess-Across the Universe
Goldfrapp-Ooh La La
Madonna-Hung Up
Lustra-Scottie Doesn't Know
Matchbook Romance-Monsters
The Birthday Massacre-Falling Down
Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown-No Air
La Rocca-Non Believer

Week 2

so last week was Week 2. I worked out Mon-Fri! I was quite proud of myself and watching Wanted and Twilight sure helped :) 4 of those days were spent on cardio. I am up to running about 3-4 min at a time for a total of 10 min during the workout. I try to just go longer and longer each day and have noticed an improvement. I did pretty well during the week food-wise then come Friday it all went to hell, so hopefully that will improve over time as well. My energy levels have greatly increased since I started working out and I sleep like a baby so I am thankful for that. (whether I still have the restless leg going, I have no clue, but Derek hasn't complained lately so I'm going to assume no) so my goal for this week is go atleast Mon-Thurs and try to do a bit more strength training when I'm not with Keith (our trainer).

Lets see.. anything else going on? Oh right, work is hell right now. I am doing two reviews at the moment (which is a step down from an audit) and I have to have them both done ideally by the end of the month! Year-end accounting work is pouring in and the phone calls with tax questions have begun. I'm in for a long 4 months.. but its my moneymaker so I can't complain too much right?

Derek is still kicking ass with school. We've been watching the heck out of some House. I need to still order Season 5. Project Runway started last week.. was really excited about that! I'm rooting for Emilio and Jonathan (for those that are watching it too!), they had some amazing dresses this past week. Besides that, I've been reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle for the last month. It started off REALLY slow and I was about to just give up and put it down, but it finally took a turn to the better and I have been reading a good 50 pages a day now. I'll probably have it done by the end of the weekend.

Until next time.. Ciao!

Week 1

So I started REALLY training this week. I've had a gym membership since last April and we have a trainer that we see every week but besides that requirement we don't really go. And only going to the gym once a week does not supply results lol. So my ultimate goal is to go 4 times a week with a mix of cardio and strength training. I am hoping to run the 1/2 pig marathon with Nikki in May, but I would be extremely happy if I can just run for an hour by the end of tax season.

So week 1 was hard. Monday I didn't go because it was my cousin's 16th bday so Tuesday was the first day and I went with Nikki. I did the treadmill for 30 min and ran for about 3 of those. Its a start, I keep telling myself. Wednesday we had training with Keith for 30 min where we boxed and did a combo of jump rope and ab work. Then I went upstairs and did the treadmill for 30 min and ran for 4 of those. Watching movies helps the time go by. I am in the middle of Wanted :)

The White Death deterred me from going on Thurs and Fri so Saturday morning I went up and did the treadmill for 35 min and ran for 5. I am pulling a good sweat and find myself light headed afterwards but I get this insane adrenaline rush which makes it all worth it. I really need to focus on my eating habits, because I'm still in the habit of holidays. I have cravings now for candy and I am glad that there is no more in the house. My goal with eating is to pack my lunch Mon-Thurs and leave Fridays as my cheat day. Same with dinner. Which I did adhere to this first week. I have been "eating" a protein shake for breakfast for the past 6 months which seems to keep me full until lunch time.

Overall, I feel pretty good. I dont expect visible results for awhile, but I feel better than I am now doing something.

I have a question for all of my nurse friends-- what is the average heartrate for running? I find that after 3-5 min of running my heart rate is usually around 175-185. This seems awfully high to me, but I wanted to get the input from you.

So on to Week 2. Ciao!

Recap

so I am copying off of the Winnings and recapping my 2009. I know, I know, a few days late, but better late than never!

January-- I am HOOKED onto the Twilight books. I'm pretty sure Derek was considering on leaving me due to my Edward obsession ;) We also drove 2.5 hours to Columbus to get our pretty Mishka. She is named after Hannibal Lector's little sister. Bet you all didn't know that!

February-- was a pretty humdrum month. Nothing special for Valentine's. We read a lot of books that month. 2 series to be exact. NFP classes started in order for us to be married in the good ol Catholic church. We went to St. Henry's Renaissance Auction with the Winnings which was fun. And I worked a whole lot.

March--peak of tax season! We "discovered" Nip/Tuck.

April-- I officially became a CPA! We spent the night in Louisville. Celebrated Derek's birthday. Invitations were mailed. We joined Urban Active.

May--my bridal shower. That's about all I can remember!

June--The big month!!! We got hitched! (And I won big at Belterra on my bachelorette party) and we ended the month in Jamaica.

July-- spent 4th of July in Jamaica and also got hooked on the Sookie Stackhouse series there. Derek applied to Cinci State. I changed my name.

August--Derek was ACCEPTED to Cinci State :) and we decided to go to Europe with Nikki and Gweed for September of 2010. Still reading some books..

September--had a labor day party at the house. Celebrated my birthday. Started taking Chantix to quit smoking.

October--the crap month of 2009. We struggled with the smoking or lack therof. Smiley got married and Sarah had a party on Halloween to celebrate her and Zach's wedding in Punta Cana. Oh and booked the trip to Europe!

November--best costume party ever at Hemmer & April's. We rock! Had a root canal. Got my wisdom teeth taken out. New Moon <3

December--pretty self explanatory. Lots of holiday parties.


Things I'm looking forward to in 2010: another tax season under my belt, our first wedding anniversary (hopefully in Memphis) and Europe. Just to name a few. I'm being lazy for lack of time so I'm going to stop there. Oh and my only resolutions are to: continue to be smoke free (besides being the drunk smoker ;), lose this holiday fat, and try to be with family more.

That's all. Until next time, Ciao.