Sorry I've been missing for the past week!  I've been in England since last Monday for work, and the weekend before that, I decided that I needed a mental health weekend, so I went to Munich with my hubby for Oktoberfest!

Jamie had planned on going to Oktoberfest with some work buddies, just the guys.  I had originally been invited, but had declined because I thought I would need to travel for work on Sunday, and the flights would have been ridiculous out of Munich, so I just thought I'd let him have a boys weekend.  Then, last week, I had a work week from hell, a "living in the Netherlands" week from hell, and I just needed to get out.  Jamie asked me if I wanted to go, and I jumped at the chance!  I am so glad that I did.  I absolutely LOVE Germany, and I'd never been to Munich before, so it was a fantastic time!

We drove, so we left early morning on Friday, and I worked in the car on the way there.  Prett decent drive, and I got tons done.  We arrived in Munich around 6:30pm, and headed out to the beer tents for Oktoberfest!  HOLY CRAP!  I have never in my life seen so many drunk people, and I went to a huge party college.  It was ridiculous!  It took a few hours, but we finally found a seat in one of the beer tents.  At Oktoberfest, beer is only served in the beer halls/tents, and you can't order a beer unless you have a seat.  So, since the tents open at 10:00am, a lot of people will show up then and just reserve the seats all day long.  But, we managed to find an entire table to ourselves, all 6 of us...which was super surprising because the places was packed!  We ordered our first round and some food, and we were on our way!  A hour or so later, two girls asked if they could sit with us, and we started talking.  One was from Australia and one was from New Zealand...super sweet ladies!  We closed down the tent (really not hard to do, since they close at 10:00pm), and headed back to the hotel.  Jamie had two beers and was definitely a bit tipsy (each beer is a Liter), and I had 1.5 beers, but was doing fine (no idea how, since I hardly drink). 

 
Me, with my liter beer.

 
My new friends! 

The next day, we woke up and met the guys for lunch at the Ratskeller, where Hitler used to make his speeches early in his political career.  Let me tell you, that restaurant is STUNNING, but a bit creepy when you think about Hitler being in there, ranting his madness.  We had some super tasty lunch, and decided to come back for dinner!  Since we ate lunch in their beer garden, we made reservations for the indoors restaurant later that night.  Good thing too, because it was super crowded as well!

 
One of the dining rooms in the Ratskeller.

Between lunch and dinner, we headed to the shopping area so that I could buy a traditional German dress for Oktoberfest.  I'm shocked that I actually bought one, since I never buy souveniers, but I figure it'll be great for the German festivals back home, plus Halloween.  After buying my dress, we headed over to the Olympic village to see the site of the 1972 Olympics.  We came across the memorial for the Israeli Olympic athletes who were murdered, and walked around the area.  It was very peaceful and quiet, and very green and well maintained.  Lots of kids playing, dogs running around, and people just hanging out.  It was definitely a place I'd spend time in, if we lived in Munich.

 
Me in my traditional dress! Ready for Oktoberfest! 

That night was dinner at the Ratskeller, and then headed back to the hotel.  The next morning, we woke up and started the trip back home!  It was definitely a much needed break away from the NL, and I came back feeling refreshed and ready for my work trip in England.  Overall, a great trip, and I'd highly recommend Munich as a vacation destination!

Hope you all had a great week, and a relaxing weekend!

XOXOXO,
K.

For the longest time, I never told people I was a runner.  I didn't FEEL like a runner.  I mean...I felt like I'd go outside, d!ck around for a bit, run a mile (maybe 1.5) and call it a day!  I just didn't feel like that qualified me as a "runner," per se.  But...last night, I had an epiphany!  As though the heavens opened up and the angels started singing and blasting their damn trumpets!  I WAS A RUNNER!

Jamie and I went running on Monday evening.  We usually go running in the mornings, around 6:45am, so that we don't have to worry about it later on in the day, but we were both super tired from rock climbing on Sunday, so we waited until after work.  The run yesterday was AWESOME!!!  We ran for a little over 3 miles, but I could have kept going for at least another mile!   For the longest time, I felt like I was stuck at the 2 mile hump...I just couldn't seem to get over it.  However, a few weeks ago, it was as if a switch turned.  Since then, I've bumped up my distance by another mile, and I feel like I could easily keep going!  We have a 6k coming up in October (right before I go home), so I'm really excited for that!

In other news, I am 1 pound away from my pre-vacation weight, so I'm really happy about that!  I would like to be around 155lbs. when I go home, which means I need to lose 8-9 pounds in the next month.  It's doable, but a little aggressive.  I'll try, but won't be broken hearted if it doesn't happen.  My real goal is to just be in the 150s...anything more than that is icing on the cake!

Otherwise, life is as usual.  Work, housework, cooking.  I'm excited to go home next month.  I'm going to buy some new clothes (everything is SO much cheaper in the States), some new products that I can't get here (Clean n Clear, for one), and try to see all my friends!  Plus, I'll be picking up my flute when I'm home, and trying to get back into that while I'm here.  It'll be exhausting, but it'll be a lot of fun!

That's all for now...hope you all are doing well!

XOXOXO,
K.

The work week is nearly over!  I find I have the hardest time getting back into the groove of work right after vacation.  I know I'm supposed to feel all rejuvinated and ready to tackle the world, but honestly...all I want to do is sleep.  Work has been a bit better lately, and I'm FINALLY done with all the customer requests for quotes that I've been working on.  Those have been super stressful because they could bring in millions of euros in new business...and I was responsble for them.  So...glad those are finished up...now I just hope we get the business!

In other news...weight is still going down, thank God!  Also, I did my longest run yesterday with Jamie...2.5 miles!  I know that seems like a short distance, but I used to only run sprints (the 400m was my best event) so running anything longer than a mile was practically unheard of for me.  I'm trying to work my way up to a 10k, then eventually a mini marathon, but never more than that.  I'll actually be lucky to complete the mini, as I have a lot of knee problems, but I think I could probably do it with the right type of training and knee care.  We'll see...it's awhile off.

I think that's about all for now.  I realize this was probably a lame post, but there's really not that much going on.  I promise that I'm going to download some photos from the trip and post them, I just haven't had a chance to yet.  Hell, I haven't even had a chance to shave my legs yet from the trip, let alone download pictures!  But, I promise to do it...promise.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

XOXOXO,
K.

So, yesterday was the happy post about vacation.  How wonderful and fabulous it was...and it was, truly.  However, my diet/eating right went to absolute shit and now I'm paying for it.  When I started this weight loss journey back in late June, I SWORE to myself I'd never see the 170s again.  I was at my highest weight ever when I started this...177.2 pounds.  Now, granted, it doesn't seem like a bunch, but at 5'4"/5'5"...it was overweight and rapidly heading towards obesity.

I've always been pretty muscular, so I was lucky that I didn't LOOK like I weighed as much as I did, but I still felt like crap.  I was determined to lose the weight and be healthy again, like I was before law school.  I was doing so well too...consistently seeing a downward trend, which was pretty nice.

I know that mistakes will happen and occasionally I'll fall off the wagon, but I had no idea it was as bad as this.  I gained nearly 10 pounds between work in the UK and the cruise!  And the worst part...I was still taking stairs the entire cruise, walking all over hell's half acre at the ports, and exercising nearly every day!  Imagine how much I would have gained were I not doing all of that?!

So...yesterday, I weighed in at 171.2...back in the 170s.  I was pretty depressed and upset with myself, but I realized that shit happens sometimes, and you just got to roll with it.  Yesterday was a day full of healthy eating and tons of water, and this morning (though I normally don't weigh every day), the scale said an even 170.  I'm hoping to be below that come Saturday, for my real weigh-in.  I'm heading back to the US in October, and I want to be in the best shape I can be in, because I have a bunch of doctor's appointments while I'm home for various things.  I want to be able to go into their offices and tell them that I've made a lifetime change and I'm a far cry from where I was when we moved abroad. 

So yeah...that's the bad part of my vacation.  Any encouragement you could lend would be greatly appreciated...I'm still feeling a bit down about it all.

Love and hugs!

I know I promised yesterday that I'd come back and give you a recap of our vacation, so here it is!

The basics: Cruise was through Norwegian Cruise Line, the ship was the Epic. We began/ended in Barcelona, Spain, and hit up these ports: Florence, Italy; Orvieto, Italy (a lot of people went to Rome, but we'd already been there, so decided to go somewhere else instead); Naples, Italy (we actually went to Pompeii); and Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Reviews:

Barcelona, Spain - OMG. I'm in love with this city! The food was amazing, and we tried to hit up all the major Gaudi spots in the city. La Sagrada Familia was my favorite, by far, and I thought it totally put all other European cathedrals to shame. While we were there, a choir was practicing downstairs, so soft music was floating throughout the cathedral...bliss. The stained glass windows are also stunning! We also went to the Parc Guell as well, but since we only had one day, we only managed to hit up the Parc and Sagrada Familia. Also stopped at a local place for some Tapas...delicious! And the white sangria was to die for.

Florence, Italy - I feel bad saying this, but Florence was sort of "blah" for me. It probably didn't help that the whole city was on strike that day, so the museums were all closed. We wanted to stop in the Uffizi, but it was closed as well. DH saw his first political protest, however, so I guess not all was lost. It was probably my least favorite port of call, which was sad, since I had high hopes.

Orvieto, Italy - Our port was in Civitavecchia, and many of the people headed to Rome for the day. DH and I had gone to Rome for a long weekend a year or so ago, so we decided to go somewhere else. We headed to Orvieto, deep in Umbria...small town, very cute and quaint. Has a great Basillica with some beautiful frescos...similar painting style to the Sistine Chapel. The town wasn't crowded, which was wonderful, and we had a great time just strolling around and people watching.

Naples, Italy - We docked in Naples, but I had zero desire to see the city. Instead, we took the train to Pompeii for some hiking/sightseeing. Honestly, the place is ENORMOUS! And, frankly, after a few hours, I got bored, because it all starts to look alike (stone walls, some places with awesome stone paintings, etc...but it all starts to blend in). In addition, the place where they kept the casts of those preserved from the volcano was under construction, so we couldn't see any of it. It was hot, and a lot of walking, but I would still recommend it if you've not seen it before, because it was pretty interesting.

Palma de Mallorca, Spain - Probably my favorite port of call while on the cruise. We didn't book anything with the cruise ship. We, instead, booked a SCUBA diving excursion on our own. We met up with the guy from Big Blue Diving at a nearby McDonald's and he took us to the shop. From there, we geared up and headed out! DH is scuba certified, but I'm not, so we had to do a "discover" scuba course instead, so there was some initial stuff in the beginning to deal with. Overall, the dive was fantastic! A ton of different fishes going by in big schools, and we even saw and octopus! I've definitely decided to get scuba certified, so I'm sure we'll go back to Palma to do more courses through Big Blue. They were great to work with and were super professional and knowledgeable. Highly recommend them.

The ship - OMG...the ship was fantastic! The Epic is the biggest that NCL has, and the newest. Not as gaudy as the earlier ships, and nicely decorated. Tons of places to eat, two large formal dining rooms, a few buffets, and a lot of other choices. We saw Blue Man Group one evening, and they also did a Cirque dinner show, which was amazing! My favorite meal was probably at the Moderno Churrascuria, which was basically a Fogo de Chao on board...omg...some of the best beef I've ever had!  We got passes to the thermal spa, which allows up in the spa every day of the cruise, which was a great place to relax, since it's kids free. The gym was great, but I found it pretty stuffy, even at 6:30am, when we worked out. Had some great, state-of-the-art equipment though, so can't complain too much.

Overall - the cruise was fantastic. I'm glad we went a few days early to see some of Barcelona, and I'm definitely sad it's over! We really loved cruising with NCL, and would recommend them to others! 

I'm sitting in the Barcelona train station, waiting on the train that takes us to the airport. Our vacation is officially over, and it was amazing. I'll do a full entry either tonight or tomorrow, but let me just say that I'm sad to get back to the daily grind. Happy to get back to our cat, but sad to go to work tomorrow.

More later!

Tomorrow, I leave for Barcelona!  From there, on Sunday, we'll hop on the cruise ship for the next week and FINALLY relax some!  This summer has been killer in terms of work for us, so this is a much needed vacation.

I'll be MIA for the next week or so, but will be sure to catch back up with you all on my return!  Have a safe and happy week!

XOXOXO,
K.

I put up a protected post.

I'm in England for the next few days, for work. Thankfully, Jamie is with me this time! We went to check out part of Hadrian's Wall today before heading to our hotel. Not what I was expecting, but still really cool to see! I leave on Wednesday and Jamie leaves on Thursday, then we have our cruise next week.

I feel like an utter sloth. I only ran last Monday because work has been crazy and Jamie has been sick. I'm down to 162.8, which is nearly 15 pounds down!!! I'm proud of myself, but feel like I'm going to blow it if I don't get off my butt and run. Eating healthy is hard when you travel constantly, and today was a total loss on the healthy scale, but from here on out, I'm going to be good. I'm not worried about the cruise because there are lots of healthy options, but here in Britain...not so much.

Anyways, sorry this was so short...I'm on my phone. Forgive any misspelled words! Hope you all are doing well...sending you all lots of love and hugs!

XOXOXO
K.

Jamie and I just got back from a short weekend in Verona, where we went to an outdoor opera!  For several years, it has been a dream to go to an outdoor opera (ever since I saw the movie, Hannibal, to be honest...and it's my favorite movie EVER).  So, when I found out that Verona's opera puts on a summer season in an old Roman amphitheatre, I knew that this was the opportunity!  The season had a lot of my personal favorites, but once I saw that they were putting on a production of Romeo and Juliet, "in fair Verona, where we lay our scene" I knew that my mind was made up...it was almost blasphemous to go to Verona and see something else!  Romeo and Juliet it was (it also didn't hurt that this has been one of my favorite love stories since 7th grade, when I read the play). So, poor Jamie, I pulled him along for the ride. 

We flew into Bergamo, which is about midway between Verona and Milan.  Thank god for budget airlines...those things are amazing!  We fly them as much as we can, and they're super cheap if you only pack a backpack (which we normally do, because I hate waiting for luggage).  We arrived late morning, then jumped a bus to get to the train station, where we boarded a train headed for Verona.  One stop and two hours later, we arrived!  Took a taxi to the hotel, where we dropped off our gear and promptly headed out for some sightseeing!

 
(Walls of the Old City)

(Church bell tower) 

Verona is a small Italian town, so I wasn't really overwhelmed with things to do, which was nice because I've been so stressed out lately with work and all I really wanted from this weekend was a little sightseeing, a lot of food and wine, and some opera.  We walked around to get a feel of the place, passed by the Amphitheatre, and went off in search of lunch.  Sigh...Italian food is my downfall.  I love it all...the pastas, the pizzas, the antipastis...delicious!  After lunch, it was around 3:30pm and it was ridiculously hot, so we headed back to the hotel for a cold shower and a nap.  Bliss.  Woke up a few hours later and just hung out for the rest of the night.  Relaxing...loved it.

Saturday morning we woke up, grabbed breakfast (omg...the pastries were to die for), and headed out for some sightseeing before the heat of the day closed in.  Even at 9am, it was still in the low 90s, so it wasn't like we really beat the heat.   Thankfully, there were plenty of places to splash some water on your face and cool off.

 
(Actually a drinking fountain, but I didn't trust the water)

We stopped into a few churches, which were stunningly beautiful, and took a tour of the amphitheatre before the performance that night, just to get an idea of what it looked like without all the guests seated.

 
(Church mosiacs)

 
(The Arena, sans people)

Then, we stopped by a Ristorante for some lunch and had some delicious foods, then went back to the hotel for another shower, another nap, and to get ready.  I woke up around 5:30pm, which gave me an hour to throw up my hair, put on some make-up and get dressed (plenty of time). After getting ready, we headed out for some dinner before the show. OMG...dinner was my FAVORITE meal this trip. I had a fantastic salad caprese (fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil) and an antipasti of proscuitto and melon. Topped off with a glass of prosecco, and I was in heaven! Jamie got a filetto that was super good too (though mine was better). After dinner, we headed off to the Arena for the opera!

I didn't get a lot of photos of Romeo and Juliet, sadly.  We took my camera (barely one up from a point and shoot) and the lighting was dim (obviously, as it started at 9:00pm).  In addition, though we were in the 22nd row, it just wasn't conducive to photography.  I did grab a few shots, and here's one of my favorites.  It's of Romeo with the Priest, right as he and Juliet are about to be married.  Juliet is kneeling on the ground that some guy's head got in my way...sorry!

 
(The "Cathedral"...picture Juliet kneeling in front of some dude's head.)

After the opera let out, we headed back to the hotel for another cold shower (even at midnight, it was hot), and to pack up before our flight out the next morning.  We woke up early today, grabbed our gear and headed out on the train.  Got into the Netherlands around 1:30pm, and promptly came home, and passed out!

So...there was our weekend get away in Verona!  It is a beautiful town with not a ton of things to do, but definitely makes for a relaxing weekend.  The opera was amazing...couldn't have asked for better! 

Hope you all had a great weekend!

XOXOXO,
K.