Count down to Venice & Croatia - 26 days!

26 days until our vacation to Venice and Croatia! I just booked our Ferry from Split to Anacona....getting excited!!!

Birthday Plans for a Weekend in Milan, Italy

Woke up with a great yoga sesh this morning at Yoga Shala.  Yoga is an amazing way to start the day, and it totally kicked my ass. I went for a run yesterday morning, and I was totally feeling the back-to-back work outs.  But I wanted to get some workouts in before my BIG birthday weekend for my 30th in Milan, Italy!

We've been planning our trip for about a month now, and thankfully we started that far in advance since it was hard to find a flat to rent (we always use www.airbnb.com).  For us, planning a vacation/trip is like therapy.  You get to research, decide and plan exactly what you want to do and where you want to go.  Since this is our second trip to Milano we had a better idea of where we wanted to stay, and what we wanted to do.

Here's a run down of our plans:

Thursday we take the train from Monte Carlo, Monaco to Ventimiglia, Italy and then a second train straight into Milano Centrale.  The total train time is about 4 hours, putting us there just after lunch!  We will get the keys to our flat and then we plan to head to the Triennale Design Museum. David's a Creative Director, so he thrives off of Museum outing and gets some awesome inspiration.  I'm also into design (albeit more the fashion type)...but I can definitely appreciate the interior and architectural aspects and get some inspo for our apartment in Miami!

Our dinner reservations are at Ristorante Guerrini, which was rated highly on TripAdvisor for both good food and romanticism. It's my official birthday on Thursday, so I hope to enjoy an amazing meal and some special wine!

Friday is a shopping day!  Whohoooo, we will start at the outlets ( Il Salvagente ) just outside of the city center, and then make our way back towards the middle.  Stopping for lunch at Nobu Armani. And then hitting up the shops nearby, and a late afternoon Aperitivo.  Dinner reservations are at Don Carlos...which again was highly rated on TripAdvisor as well as the Michelin Guide. This restaurant is a bit more fancy...I can not wait! 

Saturday is another day of shopping and exploring. We plan on checking out the San Marco church and lunching at La Latteria (which was recommended by the New York Times). We don't have dinner plans for Saturday, and plan on asking the gentleman we rent the flat from...since it's always good to take a locals suggestion.

And finally, for Sunday we will check out the renowned brunch at the Bulgari Hotel before catching our train at 3pm to head back to Monaco.

I'm looking forward to an amazing trip with my hubby and explore more of Milan.  Hopefully we have made some good selections for a weekend trip to Milan and will give an update and details when we get back next week! Happy early birthday to me...cheers!

It's the Final Countdown! Last Few Days in my 20s!

It's the final countdown to my big 3-0!  This weekend sucked majorly as David was catching up on work, and no one wanted to hang out!  Made me feel pretty horrible in fact. I just don't feel like I have any good friends that I can rely on here in Monaco.

Saturday was gorgeous, and I invited some girlies to get together for a drink or lunch and basically no one even responded to my text message.  Awesome!

Sunday I went to church and chatted with our friends there and then we met up with our neighbors for a nice lunch with their kiddos. That was nice!  We are just getting to know them...they come from NYC and have a 7 and 4 year old.  So it was good to see how they managed the kids at lunch.  Honestly the kids were very well behaved, compared to some I've had to endure!

Now it's Monday, and just 3 more days until my birthday. We leave for Milan the morning of my birthday, and should arrive just after lunch.  Very much looking forward to our escape to Milan.

I'm definitely happy that I didn't do some crazy birthday party with friends, because clearly they aren't real friends anyways. 

Don't know if I'm feeling bummed out because I'm getting old, or just because I miss my Miami friends...who are TRUE friends!  Eh, either way...going to try to turn this day into a positive one and enjoy my last few days in my 20s.

Pink Full Moon April 2013

So my week last week was just crazy, starting off horrid and ending quite nicely. Here's a little run-down:

Monday. Woke up and immediately was having a terrible day.  Sunday night I got the news that my mom's mom was very very sick and in the hospital dying.  She did not have the strength to eat, speak...and apparently had "brain poisoning" from the cocktail of medications that the doctors were administrating in an effort to keep her alive.  I woke felt guilty about not being able to be with my mother to give her strength and support(me being here in Monaco and her being in Indiana, USA). I also was mid-cycle of my period at this time.  Another indicator that I wasn't pregnant.  That this month was another failure. 

Tuesday.  Another bad day, much like Monday.  Just can shake the feeling that I'm a bad person. Nothing seems to make me feel better, I just cry and cry...even sitting at my desk at work.  Crying for no apparent reason, with nothing that my dear husband can say to make me feel better.

Wednesday.  Feeling relatively better.  I go to the 2 hour full moon yoga class at Sunshine Yoga and get some insight.  Apparently the full moon this month was the "Pink Moon", and has some significance for the rebirth of spring. She said that there was a reason that we all had been feeling strange. Here's an interesting blog post about this phenomenon.

It was at this class that during our mediation/relaxation at the end Cathy said, "let everyone enjoy their own happiness." It was in that moment that I realized that whenever I find out someone had a baby, or someone else is preggo...I get jealous.  But the fact is, that everyone is entitled to that happiness. And just because they got pregnant, doesn't mean that it won't happen for me.  There isn't a limited number of women who can get pregnant and my friends being preggo give me less of a chance of falling pregnant.  I need to be happy for each and every woman who gets to experience the magic of pregnancy and birth, and in that happiness it will help my universal pull to be just that: pregnant. And it doesn't stop there...I shouldn't judge a fat person for not having control, or not having motivation to exercise.  Maybe they are happy like that...and they are ENTITLED to that happiness (and that goes for anyone no matter what makes them happy: doing drugs, drinking excessively, eating poorly, being lazy).

Thursday. Feeling better yet. Resolve to figure out our struggles of getting pregnant and make an appointment with my gynecologist.

Friday. Have a great day. Get a phone call from my mother that my grandmother is doing well. That she was sitting up, speaking and even eating and drinking!  Wow, what an improvement...even the doctors are amazed(was it the pull of the full moon that helped her recovery?)! I'm feeling the strength of the renewal and hopeful that the next few cycles will be the very time that I will finally get pregnant.

Was anyone else feeling crazy last week? Does anyone else find it interesting the impact of the lunar cycles on human behavior and emotions? Do you agree that each and every person is entitled to their happiness?

Missing Miami

So I'm not sure if it's the last few rainy, cold days we've had here in Monaco or what, but I'm massively missing Miami.

I'm missing my weekends at the beach.
I'm missing taking my morning run on the beach in the sweltering heat.
I'm missing all my amazing friends!
I'm missing getting into my car and having my sunglasses fog up because its so hot.
I'm missing my car.
I'm missing late night chatting at a restaurant or bar on Lincoln Road with my girls.
I'm missing my gorgeous industrial style, 1000 sq foot, sunny apartment on South Beach.
I'm missing my parents.
I'm EVEN missing my brother.

Since my birthday is quickly approaching, I think I'm getting sad not being able to celebrate my milestone with my best friends at "home".

I know the weekend in Milan will be amazing, and super fun...but it just doesn't feel like a celebration.  More of an escape, plus it's just sad to celebrate your birthday with just 1 other person, even if he's the most amazing man in the world. To me birthdays are meant to be shared with a super duper birthday cake, and giant yummy glass of wine (or 2) and a hearty delicious meal surrounded with people who are happy that you were born. It's funny here in Monaco, I think I can count on one hand people who I would invite to my birthday....which is most definitely the reason we decided to celebrate alone.  But it doesn't mean that it doesn't make me sad.

Sorry for the depressing post....I think between turning 30 & our struggles to get preggo I'm just having a bad day.

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??