No More Credit Card Debt

As of Friday April 19 my husband and I have paid off all of our credit card debt!  Whohooo, what an amazingly freeing feeling it is! Now our only debt is the hubby's school loan and our mortgage on the apartment in Miami.

Not to shabby just a few days shy of 30.  Now, let's keep it up!

We started bit by bit paying off the credit card with the biggest balance (and percentage). Next we will tackle the student loan and pay off more than our mortgage each month...which ultimately will cut the time to pay it off by a fraction.

I always told myself by 30 I would have a kid, drive a Maserati, and be some sort of CEO. Funny how I haven't achieved a single one of those goals, but still feel so blessed with my life and feel like I've achieved very much at my young age. Instead I am happily married, living abroad, traveling monthly, meeting new friends, having new experiences, exercising regularly, living simply, and most importantly enjoying every second of my life!  Plus, I can always achieve those things by 40...10 more years should be plenty of time!

30 days to 30 years

Today marks the 30 day countdown to my 30th birthday.  My last few days as a 20 year old....I can only hope my hubby is planning a fun birthday party! 

• I'm wishing for a yummy confetti cake (or maybe the Reeses Cake pictured below), which will be IMPOSSIBLE to find in Monaco or France. Perhaps we will have the mix shipped over from the US!
• Wishing that my friends from the US will fly into surprise me!
• Wishing for a delicious meal or party surrounded by friends and loved ones!
• Wishing for a million more birthdays to celebrate and enjoy every single day of life.

I'm not feeling old quite yet....but I don't think it's set in yet that I'm gonna be 3-0!!!!! My 3rd decade of living. WOW!

Princess cake for the birthday girl??

Let the champagne FLOW!!

Me as a toddler....wasn't I super cute??

Favorite Things about Living in Monaco

So I started to make a list with all of my favorite things about living in Monaco....

-Dogs are allowed everywhere

-Opera / symphony / ballet / vernissage every single night of the week and weekend!

-The beach and the sea

-Fireworks for every occassion (Easter, Christmas, fireworks competition in July, summer, and more!)

-Cafe on every corner

-Now owning a car...taking the bus and public transportation everywhere!

-Learning to live in a small space (sounds strange, but I LOVE this)

-The mountains! Definitely none of those in Miami!

-Learning to listen.  This too sounds strange, but since I don't speak the language I have to listen more and speak less...it's taught me a lot about myself.  It's also a good tool to have, which I'm happy to have developed!

-Learning to live at a slower pace.  My life was one big rush, from one thing to the next in Miami.  Living in Monaco has taught me to slow down, that much is wasted in the rush.  I have learned to enjoy the small moments, and slower pace of life.

-The way that the French & Monegasque think!  Honestly, they do think differently than Americans, which is very refreshing and insightful.

-Dessert.  In Miami, I never ordered dessert or had coffee after dinner.  Here I nearly always take a coffee or dessert or BOTH. Again, I think this goes hand-in-hand with the slower pace of life.

-Wine and champagne.  These were some of my fave things in Miami as well, but they seem to taste better here :)

-Not making plans!  In Miami I had a habit of jamming my weekend with plans, and here we just go with the flow and rarely make plans.  We seem to enjoy the "spur of the moment" things more so here than we ever did in Miami.

I know that there are a million other things....maybe I will publish a "Part 2" in a few months as I continue to think of more things.

Getting in Shape for Summer!

So as of now...I'm getting back into shape for summer, my 30th and for my pregnancy!

Sunday and Tuesday I went for a 30-40 min run and did the following exercises:
-100 sit ups
-10 v-ups
-:30 side planks (each side)
-25 legs lifts (each leg)
-10 push ups
-200 arm lifts (with extended arms, I make small circles...100 forwards and 100 backwards)

And let me tell you, I am feeling the burn!  It's Thursday and I'm still sore.  My goal is to exercise 2-3 times a week. So my plan is to do another run on Saturday, and do my exercises listed above!  And on Wednesday I'm going to check out Sunshine Yoga!  It's been a few years since I've done yoga, so I hope no one judges my terrible form plus lack of understanding French will make it just that much worse...eek, I'm nervous just thinking about it.

Overall, I'm not trying to lose weight, just tone up and get back to feeling healthy!  This week, I've been in the BEST mood and feeling energized from my work outs earlier in the week. Here's to feeling good and hopefully...eventually looking GREAT :)

I'll leave you with some fitness inspiration:

Planning our Summer Holiday

Eeeeeeeee....I'm like a kid in a candy store right now.  There is a confession that I must make, I love planning travel!  For me, it's the thing that keeps me going every day at the office....knowing I have a holiday on the horizon.  It's funny since we ALWAYS plan the next travel, immediately after we've finished traveling.  Although last year we took our big vacation with a trip back to the US, and so far this year we have yet to plan something.  We've finally decided out next trip we're going to........wait for it......................

CROATIA!!!!

Yayayayayayayaya, we were debating about a trip to Scandinavia or maybe even back to the US.  But it's official we're going to Croatia!

At the moment I'm completely torn between Hvar, Bol and Vis.  But the more I research the untouched, non-touristy, more natural beauty of Vis...I'm sold!

We're going to do this road trip style, which let's be honest, isn't my fave.  But I will sacrifice to go to CROATIA.  Basically the flights were getting majorly complicated and woah don't even get me started on the prices, so we keep telling eachother that a road trip will be fun.  That we can get to see the landscape...PLUS we're bringing the doggies!!! eehhhhhh, I'm so excited right now!

Ok here's the rough layout:

June 11 leave Monaco and head for Venice! We've not yet been, so this will be an exciting new place for us!

June 11-14 stay in Venice

June 14 drive to Hvar, Bol or Vis.  Again, my vote is Vis!!

June 14-20: beach it up, drink it up, eat it up and most of all: RELAX in Croatia! 

I mean, look at these pics folks...and TRY not to be super jealous!!

Bit by the Bug

So I finally got sick from the bug that was going around. Sooooo not fun!

Today I'm feeling much better, PLUS the sun is out.  I think it's a sign that spring is nearly here. Here's to hoping!

In the meantime enjoy the end of your week! I leave you with: a cute puppy, weekend outfit inspiration and something funny...enjoy!

4 Years Married

4 years ago today, I married the man of my dreams surrounded by friends and family and loved ones! We've been through a lot together....and I can't wait to see what's next.

Tonight we toast to many more years, more laughter, more adventures, more challenges, more family, and most of all...more of the good stuff. Cheers!