Bikinis and Backpacks

It’s always sad flying from Ohio back to Florida.

I was away this weekend for a friends wedding. 

I didn’t take nearly any enough photos, so I’m stealing this from FB (thanks Julie!), because Michelle looked beautiful.

Her dress is Justin Alexander, one of my favorite wedding designers, who, if I had to do it all over again I would wear this creation: 

IN LOVE!

About a month ago I was home (funny, how after almost three years, I still consider Ohio home), for this lady’s wedding:

The beautiful Mechs :) 

But I was in Sara's wedding, so this time I got to play “guest” and mingle!  It was so great to see and chat with all my girlfriends.  We are all in such different places in our lives, and some on more different paths than other, but we all come together like old times.

…. Speaking of old times: I ate like old times.  I swear if I still lived in Cincinnati there would be no way for me to be a successful bikini competitor.

Michelle’s wedding featured Cincinnati chili as the main meal (seriously, I love Cincinnati-style veggie chili), and the centerpieces were BonBonerie torts, each table a different flavor.  And finally she offered Graeter’s ice cream. 

Yes, the chucks of chocolate are that big!!!! 

I was actually pretty good, consuming no alcohol, a small salad and a small veggie two-way, a piece of Lemon Moon cake and about a third of a piece of White Chocolate Romance (possibly my new favorite, hint hint Mom, for my birthday or graduation), and only a scoop of black raspberry chocolate chip.

And none of it I regret.

I have been wrestling with whether to continue competing.

Am I terrified I will gain weight? Yes.

Am I terrified of becoming a quitter? Yes.

Do I like the physical challenge competing offers? Yes.

Do I like the community of women involved in the sport? Yes.

But most important: Is training and competing fulfilling?

 No.

Not competing scares me, but maybe I need to open myself up to something new. 

Not only is it not fulfilling, working out is no longer my escape.

Most days, working out is something I have to do.

Now, I’m not saying that I will never walk into a gym again.  But I want to work out for the purpose of a healthy life, not to have 10 percent body fat.

I do enjoy waking up in the early hours beating out a few squats and a run.  The early morning workouts ground me and prepare me for the day.

But with my master’s program almost finished, and four national board exams staring me in the face, suddenly competing doesn’t feel so important anymore.

Competing had its purpose, but even though I’m in the health and fitness field, competing’s purpose lacks substance now.  I don't really want my pro card, and even if I did there is no guarantee that if I looked flawless and more fit every time I step on a stage that I would get my pro card, even after years of competing. And it’s an expensive sport (How expensive?  Quality bikinis can start at $200, most on the pros are a few hundred).

I want to focus on my future outside the gym; both in my future career and in future endeavors.

Competing happened because it was on my bucket list.  I have other items on my bucket list.  

One of them is backpacking.  

I was reading a magazine article about a pair of backpackers who were on Isle Royale, a small island in Lake Superior known for it’s legendary, yet dwindling, wolf and moose populations.  Why so legendary?  Both happened to end up on the island via a 15-mile ice bridge from Canada 60 years ago.  Yet, come 2020, the wolves may be extinct.

The backpackers spend five days hiking and camping on the island, hoping to catch a glimpse of the nine remaining wolves that inhabit the island. While they spent two nights listening to wolves howl in harmony, they spend the following morning in their tent, listening to howls and branches break around them as a wolf (or wolves) were just yards away.  One backpacker was able to snap a quick photo of the wolf as it ran off in the misty morning.  A wolf belonging to a pack that could be extinct in seven years.

Reading the backpackers wolf encounter gave me chills of excitement.

I don’t get chills of excitement when reading Oxygen or FitnessRX (both publications I still love, nonetheless).

I want to climb Mt. Shasta.  

Backpack part of the Appalachian Trail. I’d love to take the Hubs to the Grand Tetons, backpack the Grand Canyon and the Narrows in Zion too.  

The Narrows

Physical fitness is necessary for these trips. Proper nutrition is needed too.  But I would be trading my bikini for hiking boots and two-a-day showers for possible two (or more!) days without one.

And that excites me.

Potpourri

This is Hubs.

Doing his favorite thing. 

This is Hubs on his birthday.

Morgan eyeing the cakes

… which was July 16

Yes, I threw him a small pirate party...

Complete with Jack Sparrow

Oops!

I have been busy!

With what?

Oh, you know.

This:

(really, I look more like this:)

Being coming obsessed with this:

Lisa-Marie's body is slamming!

Studying for my one of my final finals.

Seriously, I only have one semester left (that equals four finals).

…  for the rest of my entire academic career!

I may have taken a few study breaks ...

... Pinning this:

Halloween and Bengals?!  Represent. 

To be enjoyed with my bestie when she comes for a visit.

 I literally just got on summer break, and I am already wishing for fall. 

 I do plan on enjoying my late-summer vacation by road-tripping to Ohio to hang out at the lake for a couple weeks.

But fall is my favorite time of year.

Since there is no climate change in south Florida, I can’t enjoy the perks of crisp mornings & sweatshirt weather, so I buy extra apple & cinnamon candles.  Hubs will just have to get over it. 

And once competition season is over, I can't wait to indulge in some caramel apples and hot cider ...

 in the comforts of my air conditioned apartment. 

Amore Italy

Bongiorno Lovelies.

Today is the Hubs' birthday.  

Unfortunately, he is in some small town in North Carolina or Virginia or somewhere not on the map.  

::sigh::

Such is the life of a yachtie.  

Thankfully, he will be home this weekend and Morgan, Martini and I are looking forward to celebrating.  Therefore, next week I will write a bit more about the special man I call "Hubs."

I can believe it’s only been a week since I’ve been home from Italy! It seems like a world away. 

And while I'd like to forget the trip home ...

 (Twenty minutes out from MIA we were told we'd have to circle until the thunderstorms passed, I almost got arrested for disorderly conduct ...  but after 11 claustrophobic hours in a small flying coffin, with a broken entertainment system, a less than courteous and attentive flight staff and an Italian seat-neighbor squeezing out of his and into mine for most of the flight, can you blame me for wanting to get off the plane, even if it meant in hand-cuffs?!) 

I can't believe I had my first trip to "real" Europe! 

Rather than go through a boring recap of 10 days worth of travel or a meaningless photo-dump, I will give you a bit of Miss T’s Guide to Italy.

Let's take off to ...  

Roma

Eh.  I feel like you HAVE to go to Rome if you go to Italy, but honestly I might be the only person that hated Roma.  I felt no connections with the city, except for the following:

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

(My brother got us lost lead us on Rick Steve's walking tour of "Rome at Night."  

It was really cool to see a different side of the city.  And everything was so beautiful lit up).

The fam at our welcome dinner

My first cup of real Italian espresso

Pisa

It’s a tourist stop, but you have to do this:

Florence

LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

I was feeling out of sorts by the time we arrived in Florence.  My eating was off, I wasn’t exercising, I missed the Hubs and the dogs. 

Our hotel was on the river, and it was the first city I saw people exercising.  We arrived in the evening and a ton of people were running along the riverside.  I joined them.  And it was the first place I saw a ton of people walking their dogs.  

The first morning in Florence we went to the The Gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti, where THE David resides.  

Prior to college, I was involved in at least one, if not more, art class every year since I was in kindergarten. My mom said I began drawing at 18 months.  I loved drawing, painting, sculpting, crafting, ... anything that allowed me to be creative.  And while in college, I switched from art to writing, but thanks to an amazing writing teacher, art was still very present, as he taught writing inspiration can come from a scene on canvas. (Nighthawks was his favorite; imagine the conversation going on in that diner. Viola! A story!)

Anyway, I haven't been in an art museum in a long time (Miami lacks a bit of culture). However, once stepping into the Academy, I just felt at home.  And while our tour guide at the Sistine Chapel kept emphasizing what a genius Michelangelo was, it wasn't until you saw some of his unfinished sculptures that you really appreciate how amazing he really was.  And of course David himself.  

I could go on and on, but I will leave you with this.  Florence is an art-lovers dream.  The whole city is accented with priceless statues.  It's an open-air art museum.

Venice

I was dying to go to Venice for two reasons.  

1. The Piazza San Marco (apparently my hubs was named after it ... or so he says).

2. I live in Fort Lauderdale, nicked name "America's Venice" (so I figured I'd feel a bit at home). 

First, it's not like Fort Lauderdale at all.  

(Although it makes Las Olas, all of south Florida for that matter, look CHEAP!)

Second, St. Mark's is AH-MAZE-BALLS. So beautiful.  

Doesn't do it justice!

I even bought my first piece of real art from a canal-side artist stand.

We were touristy and arranged for a gondola ride. 

Seriously, it looks just like the Venetian in Vegas!

... Which gave me the idea that Hubs should start a gondola tour of Fort Lauderdale ... can't you just picture Martini-Dog in a little stripe T, with a gondolier hat?!  

If you don't believe me, here's how cute he is in a tux. 

See? 

While in Venice, we took a hot as hell ferry to Burano, a little island known for lace as well as Murano is known for glass.  

Um, did I mention all the houses are painted in candy-coated colors? I did nothing to this photo.  The colors are that beautiful! 

Tuscany

I'm freakin' serious: this is how beautiful Tuscany is.

While traveling to these major cities, we stopped in multiple smaller towns and hill towns.  These were probably some of my favorite, as most are in Tuscany, which is miles and miles of countryside, and all these towns look like movie sets. 

Sienna

Every year they have a horse race, the Palio, in the center of town.  The town is divided into 17 neighborhoods, and those neighborhoods compete. It's a HUGE rivalry and apparently the week leading up to the race, if a married couple is from  different neighborhoods they will spend the week apart, and rather spend time with their family in their respected  neighborhood.

 Well guess which day we came?!  Unfortunately the final race wasn't until the evening and we left before then.  Bummed, as I wanted to experience Derby, Italy-style. 

San Gimignano

Verona

Ravenna

Orvieto

Assisi

St. Francis Church

Our Tuscan dinner.  Peach-flavored blue-colored wine.  It was quite yummy. 

Our farewell dinner.

Some other things:

1. The espresso isn't as good as I had hoped. ::sad face::  Neither was the bread.   

2. They put olive oil on EVERYTHING! Seriously.  It took some getting use to, but I have since learned to enjoy olive oil as the only condiment on my salad.

3. Gelato isn't that tasty (I still rather have Grater's, UDF or Ben and Jerry's), but they must put crack in it, because it's addicting.  You can't not walk past a shop without getting at least a taster. 

Arrivederci! 

Jet-Setting Survival Must-Haves

I can’t believe in seven short days I will be on my way to Italia!

Sadly Hubs is not coming with, but I will be meeting my family in Roma, and from there we will tour some of the major sites and cities of Italy. 

It will be a whirlwind trip, but it is also the first family vacation we have taken in about 10 years.  It will also be the first time we will have all been in one location in about two and a half years!

As I mentioned in my last post, I got back from Thailand about a month ago, two weeks ago I was in Ohio for one of my besties’ wedding.  After this Italy trip I will be flying back to Ohio for another good girlfriend’s fabulous wedding.

Hubs and I use to run through airports on a weekly basis when we were dating, but since being married, my passport has been gathering dust.  I feel like a jet-setter again!

I’m sure a lot of you will be traveling this summer, so here are some of my travel essentials:

Clorox Wipes

During my last trip, I read in a magazine about all the germies on planes.   I am a bit of a germaphobe to begin with (I consider the smell of bleach an aphrodisiac). After reading the article I quickly bought antibacterial wipes for my flight back.

As I sit, I wipe down the arm rests, the seatbelt, the tray table (top & bottom) and if the seat is leather, the seat … as well as anything else I might possibly touch that could give me Hepatitis A.

(Did I scare you?)

Water Bottle with Filter

As a bikini competitor I drink a lot of water.  Before competing I drank a lot of water. This time I will bring a water bottle with filter, so I can fill up anywhere! It will save you a lot of money, and keep you healthy and hydrated.

Nibbles & Nosh

I have been delayed on planes one too many times. I ALWAYS carry something to nibble on, whether it’s a packet of nuts to a sandwich from the airport deli.  On international flights, vegetarian meal options often leave a lot to be desired in the protein department. I’m usually so over-carbbed and bloated by the time I got off the flight.  This time I will be packing a few packets of tuna just in case.

Kindle

If I have a long travel itinerary (layovers and long flights), I hate to carry a huge bag.  I also get really bored with books.  I’m usually reading two or three at one time (probably why I never finish any of them!)  My Kindle compresses everything into one small carry-on, leaving lots of room in my bag for:

Tolitries

If it’s a short weekend trip, I try to stuff pack everything into a carry-on.  However, for my international trips, I like to carry on a small bag of make up and a small bag of necessities to make sure I don’t look like Lindsey Lohan when I get off a flight.

Make up bag:

Tri-color palettes give you some variety without
 taking up too much room

Foundation 

(mine is liquid, so I pack it in the quart-size necessity bag)

One neutral-color eye shadow compact

Eye liner

Lip pencil

Chap stick

Teasing comb

Travel size hair spray

Lip pencils can be used to color in the lip, and the chap stick glossies it up a bit and keeps you hydrated.  Also, rub a little of the pencil color on your fingers and blend into your cheeks for a bit of color.

These are AH-MAZE-BALLS.
I never travel without!

Necessities:

Travel-size face wash

Travel-size face lotion
(I also use it for my hands and arms)

Travel toothbrush and paste
(if it’s a short trip, then I will pack Wisps)

Saline eye drops

Anti-bacterial hand sanitizer

Wet wipes

Just enough to keep from being too stinky when I get off the flight.

Happy Flying Lovies! 

Eat, Love, Renewed

In my last post I mentioned I wanted to blog more.  I have failed on that one, but for good reason.

Two weeks ago, the hubs and I flew to the other side of the world to celebrate the marriage of my brother-in-law and (now) sister-in-law.

The week in Phuket, Thailand was just what this bikini competitor needed.

Prior to leaving, my body was failing me.   Honestly.  Waking up each morning was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.  I woke up feel like I had been run over by a truck.  My body ached.  All I did was sleep, but I was not rested.  I had no energy to even make it through the day, let alone attempt a work out (but I did). I was holding on to 5lbs of water weight.  Any moment I had to sit and think, I would just start crying out of frustration. 

I know other people have a way worse lot in life than me.  I am truly blessed. 

But when you have spent the last six month only putting pure energy into your body, participating in strength-training and (multiple) cardio sessions on a daily basis, and seeing improves in both strengthen and endurance then to have it all crumble while you attempt to paste it all back together, is just disheartening. 

Another realization out of this trip: Hubs and I have never taken a REAL vacation together. 

Hubs and I traveled back and forth to see each other while we were dating.  I made a 72-hour total round-trip to South Africa for his friend’s wedding.  He brought me to London for my birthday and proposal, then we immediately flew off to Seychelles to celebrate Christmas with his family.  We spent three months working together on the boat, traveling from the eastern US throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean.  Last Christmas was spent in St. Maarten.  And this doesn't include the half a dozen or so trips back to Ohio. 

But even with all that traveling, not one trip was truly a vacation.  The South African trip was a blink.  Hubs was working in London, and when I arrived he was still dealing with boat issues and pre-proposal nerves. And he got so sick he practically was on his deathbed (no fun with an lengthy layover in Qatar and a 14-hour plane ride). Arriving in Seychelles, was the first time I was truly meeting my future in-laws … I also had food poisoning, and was spending my first Christmas away from my family.  All Ohio trips involved something wedding-related ... and for those who have planned a wedding, know there is NO relaxation during the engagement period.

While our mini-moon, a long-weekend at the Ritz, was fabulous, I spent most of my time poolside, studying, not sipping over-priced pina coladas with my new hubs. 

And while we have been to some pretty beautiful places on the boat, it’s not a vacation, as Mark always has on his captain’s hat.  Even if the only people on the boat are the crew and family, he’s concerned about personalities, if people are happy and well-taken care of, and if the day’s event or dinners are planned.  I feed off of his energy.  We both end up being a bit uptight.

… Luckily our trip to Thailand included no captain hats.

Hubs and I spent all week relaxing poolside with family members we haven’t seen (or, in my case, met) in years. 

And of course, the wedding was beautiful, and so much fun.  Both Mark and I walked away hopping for a community of friends and support that both Guy and Shannon have.  Not only did the bride and groom get love, but the Hubs and I experienced nothing but the whole week.  

A quick layover in London allowed me to see my brother

My in-laws the night before the wedding, enjoying Thai milkshakes

Guy waiting for Shannon

The beautiful bride!!!

The hubs, handing over the rings

They had an elephant at the wedding!!!!

It was SUPER windy! 

 And, even more surprising, while I was off diet the entire week (I didn't want to stress out if I couldn't get a fillet of tuna at 2 pm), once I got back home and got back on diet, all water weight and bloat that has been plaguing me these last few weeks immediately disappeared.  

While diet fell somewhat by the wayside for the week, I did workout everyday and actually learned to enjoy the gym again.  I started seeing results from my workouts too.  I also decided to compete again.  

It's amazing how something as simple as relaxing can actually renew the body.