Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Italy Travel Style

In preperation for my trip to Italy I have been learing a lot about how my husband and I travel together. We have been on lots of trips together, but honestly never this long and never this complicated! So we have been chatting a lot about expecations.

When I studied in Rome with my bestie Katie D (now Mrs. S!) she and I tended to do the cheap route with everthing and it always worked out. We just would wander and take everything in. We felt you would learn more about a city if you just sat on a piazza and drank some wine and people watched. That is my type of good time. Don't get me wrong, I love to sight see but only on my time and only if it works in with my wine drinking... don't judge.

Anyway, I am excited to say that it sounds like Mr. A is the same way! We plan on doing a tour during the day and then just relaxing at night with a bottle of wine, dinner and people watching. I want to really take in Italy and not just see it through musueums!

So in case you care here is our plan:

Day 1 - 4 we will be in Rome. I plan on doing all the major sights and also eating lots of great food.

Day 5-8 we will be in Sorrento. I plan to head to Pompeii and Capri and then drink wine and eat lots of food.

Day 8-11 we will be in Positano. We plan on doing nothing. Possibly taking a cruise at night along the coast. We are having dinner at Le Sirenuse. SO pumped!

Then back to Rome to head home the next day :(

I can't wait to see everything again! Katie D, I will say "Hi" to our home for us!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Fall fashion and vacation wear preview

As I prepare for our vacation to the Rome, Sorrento and the Amalifi Coast I have had the perfect excuse to buy lots and lots of stuff! Woot Woot! I daydream of many of these things and some I have actually purchased. I usually try to replace staple items and then find a few trendy things to throw in there. I don't typically live on the edge though, so sorry if this is not all that exciting to many of you. I am trying to think more out of the box of my usual jeans and t-shirt with sneakers weekend outfit. Here is what I have come up with so far:

First I needed some fun dressed that I could add leggings to and boots and wear them at night or during the day. I bought these at old navy with 30% off! 

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I think the last skirt will be prefect with a white tank sandals and a wrap for a nice dinner. I have never bought anything like this before, but Kelly and Janet said it was a go so I went with it. I blame them if I look like a sofa. 

I am imagining me wearing a lot of this look this fall, all of from Loft of course. Kate Middleton rocks this all the time:

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For shoes I am bringing several newbies and several oldies. I know it seems like a lot but I remind you I had foot surgery and I don't mess around with my feet! I am bringing a pair of cold sandals in addition to these:

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Here is the one thing that I could never travel without. My scarves. Ladies, and gents I am ONLY bringing 4. This is a very low count for me considering I counted over 30 in my closet. I freaking love scarves. I am going to buy more over there, I know it. Don't judge. BUT you have to admit it is the perfect functional accessory to every travel outfit.

I am packing leggings to make each outfit a bit warmer if i choose to wear it at night. I am also packing on pair of skinny jeans as I have been told that is what Italians wear. And I am bringing a few basic tank tops  to throw on with capri's  and my scarf, of course.

So how have I done?

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

What is irony?

Irony is going to see the movie Contagion with Mr. A on Friday. A movie about an infectious disease that kills half the world:

  
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 And the next say getting a crappy cold... REALLY?

Friday, September 9, 2011

Vacations Workout Update: Week Recap

This week I did pretty well. I worked out every day this weekend and this week I worked in some way almost every day. Last night I went to town lake with Harry and Janet. It was so smokey and dusty out there it was probably not a good plan.

Diet wise I am doing pretty well. I have a yogurt and granola every morning with back tea. In the afternoon babybel cheese with crackers and for a snack I have a small able and Greek yogurt. Dinner this week was not unhealthy, but it's probably the reason I am not loosing pounds.

Tuesday night I had a Junior League event so I ate some fruit and stuff they had there. Then Wednesday I cooked fro some of my JLA friends. I made fresh pea pesto crustini:





Then I made broccoli risotto:
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We had a great salad and s fruit tart as well. Supper fun night really. And sort of healthy. Operative words being, sort of.

Then last night I worked out with Janet and got home around 830. Stuffed my face full of leftover risotto and a piece of wedding cake. Woops.

Tonight I am going to my first BUNCO night with the girls. I have no idea what it is but I am sure I will be fun!

Have a great weekend and please keep in mind those who gave their lives for our country on September 11th and since then. I will never forget where I was on that day  and I hope none of us ever forget.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Look! We are awesome!

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 Our friend and talented photographer Amelia took some pictures of us on our anniversary. She blogged them on her photography blog yesterday and I thought I would share them with you all!

I know we are dorks, but I loved the idea of going back to where we got married and having pictures done a year later. It was so much fun! I am glad we have these. I hope we can do a photo of our family every year on our anniversary!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

One year old wedding cake is gross...

Just an FYI in case you did not know!
Gross year old cake topper...
Seriously, the taste is still in my mouth.
I made a back up just in case!
 On the other hand petite fours at TRIO are amazing.


Mr. A and I celebrated one year of marriage yesterday and I have to say we did it right.


We started off the night with a drink at the hotel we got married in, the Stephen F Austin Intercontinental. Then Mr. A in all of his awesomeness surprised me with dinner at TRIO in the Four Seasons Hotel. We sat right by the windows overlooking Town Lake and drank a fabulous bottle of wine. It was a truly amazing dinner finished off with locally grown peach cobbler and petite fours. WOW, is all I can say.

Go there, now.
 Then we walked about 10 blocks back to the SFA hotel where Mr. A had be get a drink while he got the car out of valet. It was so nice out and we reminisced about taking out pictures out on Congress Ave.




Little did I know what he had planned. As we headed for the door he pressed the top floor button in the elevator! He got us the "Governor's Suite" with 180 degree views of the city, living room dining room, library and huge bedroom! Too much!


The surprises kept coming, he had the wine from our wedding waiting for us and our wedding album! So thoughtful!
After some screaming like a huge dork we sat town and looked at our album together remembering ever part of that wonderful day! It was perfect and so sweet. We laid in bed until 12 the next morning and ate breakfast looking out over the city we fell in love in.


 I am so lucky to have married the best man in the whole world. I cat wait to see what year 2 has in store for us! Thank you you Mr. A for being the best friend and husband I could ask for.





Vacation Workout Update: It was the weekend

I worked out every day this weekend. Mr. A and I took the pup to the lake and we went to the gym.

I ate very well except for Sunday night, when I went to town on dinner at TRIO at the Four Seasons's hotel for our 1st anniversary. More on that later.

Today I am eating my usual healthy breakfast and lunch and then for dinner I am going to probably have a frozen meal after my first JLA meeting. It's not ideal but it will work.

Trying to keep it up!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

2 Posts, One Day. 21 Day Challenge Begins


As of today I have 21 days to get my butt in shape for our anniversary trip to Italy. I can’t wait for the trip and I know I am going to eat my face off whilst there so to counteract this I am going to challenge myself to do some sort of workout every single day until then.  My first anniversary is this weekend and officially since my wedding day I have only gained 10 lbs, but the muscle and definition I worked so hard for is all gone. Time to take things up a notch around here.

Here is my plan:
60 minutes of exercise every day. This can be lifting weights, yoga, swimming, walking the pup, walking my office hallways, taking a jog at lunch (even though it is 1,000 here) or anything else I can think of to get my butt in gear. 

Three healthy meals a day and one light dessert. This is where I will be challenged, but I know I can do it. All of my meals will be good healthy vitamin rich meals. I will report to this blog every day to tell you what I have had that day. Kind of like a weight watchers notebook type thing.

You might be asking yourself why I am being so crazy. Clearly if you are asking this you are not really my friend.

I am working hard to fit into my cute honeymoon bathing suits and dresses. I want to feel beautiful in all the outfits I got for my honeymoon. I don’t want to ever think about how bad a meal is for me when I am in Italy; I want to eat with no regrets or hesitation. Plus, Italian women are gorgeous, and I want to be able to keep up.

So there you have it, I have put this out there for the world to see. Now to take action:

Day 1
Workout – Sand Volleyball with friends at Zilker Park
Breakfast – Yoplait 100 calorie pack of yogurt and ½ a serving of granola with wheat germ
Lunch – Baby carrots, small granny smith apple, 100 calorie pack of Greek yogurt with honey and 2 wheels of baby belle low fat cheese
Dinner – Unknown quite yet, but the plan is a veggie burger with thin bun and veggies. Maybe some pirate’s booty and some strawberries to end the night. Ohh with fat free whipped cream and neutella! This is all fairly healthy dammit, I get my neutella!

An update on something I started... in May. I know.

Sorry for the lack of blogging. I have been out enjoying kicking ass in sand volleyball, working out, prepping for our trip to Italy and more!

I am writing to give you all an update on my gallery wall. I started it back in May and thought I would fill in the empty spaces quickly. Well turns out "Young House Love" makes all of this look really easy. So with out further adue I give you my almost finished gallery wall:

As you can see on the bottom there are two blank frames still. I have a map for one and we will be filling in the other with a picture from our anniversary.
I took paint chips and lined them up to make this bad boy. I will be finishing off the edges with matting.
Here you can see MR. A's bow tie. You can also see I framed three of our favorite fortunes from movie nights over the past year. The other photos are from our wedding, a trip abroad and Mr. A's grandpa flying.
Here you can see our wedding invitation, pictures from the wedding, a poem Mr. A's grandma wrote for us, our first key we shared, and of course spider man.
Sorry that these last two photos are not vertical. But I think you get the idea. I am happy with the way this has all come out. I just need a few last touches and I will be ready to show it all off to you!