Happy 2nd Blogiversary to Me!!

Today is the second anniversary of Someone Will Appreciate! Woohoo. Two full years of writing my most thoughtful, ridiculous, serious, and hilarious thoughts on TV/movies, guy/dating, working out, traveling, poop, etc... You know, just the usual stuff for me.

Who would have thought I had another year of this in me? Perhaps I did. I enjoy writing and often find it therapeutic. Sometimes I have blocks and have nothing to say so I don't force it. There was definitely a dry spell with the posts this year when things got busy and hectic and I just didn't have much to write about or even time to write. There were others where I couldn't wait to sit down and get writing. It happens.

I AM Strong

Hudson River Path. Love it.

Hey did you guys see the girl today on the Hudson River path crying and trying to catch her breath while running? She was in a neon yellow top. And kind of smiling even though tears were running down her face. Oh you didn't? Well, spoiler alert, it was me.

This morning was my longest training run thus far of my current marathon training. I had to do 15 miles and was up bright and early to do so. I decided to cross Central Park and head to the west side path to run up to the George Washington Bridge and then back down to where I needed to be in order to hit 15. I started off kind of slow and dragging, but after about mile five I started to feel comfortable. I had downloaded some new music last night as well to add to my iPod for this run. New music always gets me going. One of the new songs I downloaded was Katy Perry's Roar. Have you heard this jam? It's pretty great and is going to become a staple on long runs. It's inspiring and I love that. Some lyrics include "I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire...Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR" and "Now I’m floating like a butterfly... Stinging like a bee...I earned my stripes... I went from zero, to my own hero." Great, right?  It's def a song I want to save for the end of long runs when I really need a push. That's what I did with it today. I saved the song for the last mile of today's run and as it played and as I listened to the lyrics, I started to cry. While running. Tears running down my face. I was almost done with my run and I lost it. I started wiping away the tears and wheezing to catch my breath from the crying. WTF is wrong with me? Let me count the ways... Just kidding. But seriously, it's okay for me to cry during the last mile of the marathon out of sheer happiness and joy, but at mile 15 of a long training run? It's too early for this shit.

Chicago Still Has my Heart

All my summer blog posts have been about my travels, so why not write another one on that topic, huh? This time, it will be about my trip home to Chicago this past week. I go home every summer since I have the time off, but this was by far my shortest summer trip. It was only seven days long. Sigh. Because my mom went back to work already and both my dad and brother work everyday and I don't have a car there, they didn't think it was a good idea I stay much longer than a week. Usually I would disagree with that and fight to stay longer but because I was gone for so much of the summer already, I wanted to have some free time in NYC to just relax before work starts again. This summer sure flew by. Eight weeks just isn't enough!!

Everyone that knows me, knows that I love going home. I love hanging out with my family and basically lounging around the house. It's like I never left when I am there. I immediately make myself at home while at home. Obvs. Of course there is pool time and downtown time, and plenty of eating time included too. Even though it was a relatively short visit home, there were many highlights this vacay as per usual.

Back to Reality

I've been back in NYC for a full week now and unfortunately my trip seems like a distant memory. In typical me fashion, I had a giant to-do list for when I got back here.  And in typical me fashion, I got it all done immediately. Duh. I am now just starting to feel settled, but I am off to Chicago on Thursday for a week. Geez, I am such a jet-setter this summer!

As soon as I got home last Saturday, I knew what had to be done. First things first, I needed to do all my laundry, unpack my suitcase fully and put everything away. I can't go to bed without being fully unpacked, organized, and settled. It's the little OCD in me. I also ordered myself a nice juicy cheeseburger since I missed that American meal oh-so-much while away. And for the record, it tasted incredible. I then immediately downloaded all my pictures from my camera and phone but got super overwhelmed to go through them right away since there were about 1800 pictures. Eventually, a couple days later I got to it and even ordered some pics and made my photo album. It came in the mail yesterday and is awesome. I looked it over and over. And over again. I wanna go back. 

Europe By the Numbers

So, my trip is officially over. Waaaaah. I really can't believe it. I simply had an amazing time. I know I've said it before (and I'll probably say it a few more times) but this was most def the trip of a lifetime. I cannot believe how much I saw and did in such a short period of time.

I think going on a group tour was the best way for me to explore Europe my first time around. And going at it solo gave me the confidence to plan a trip by myself in the future.  I also know that I can go by myself for an extended period of time and be just fine. After all, I am my own best friend and my own favorite company.

All good things must come to an end

DAY 24

The final day. Dun dun dun dun. Nooooo. I don't want this trip to end. It had been the best experience of my life and if I could keep going for another couple of weeks (or months!), I would. But all good things must come to end as they say, so its back to New York and back to reality tomorrow. Blah! 

Today started like pretty much every other day. Up early. Hotel breakfast. Bus. The uzche basically. There were only 10 people on the bus, three of whom were getting dropped off at the airport and then rest of us were heading back to London. Unfortunately we were not taking the Chunnel back, but taking the Dover Ferry again.  This time at the ferry, we went on as individuals, not on the bus. We also had to go through customs entering England. This meant another stamp on the passport. A France one. Woohoo! It's the little things in life that please me. We caught the early ferry because we had so few people which was fantastic because had we missed it, we would have had to wait another hour. That would have driven me insane.  I had also forgotten we gained an hour back! I'll take any extra time I can! 

Obsessed with the Eiffel Tower

DAY 23

Well folks, today was the last official day of the tour.  Sad face. Tomorrow I am off to London for one more solo day and then back to NYC.  But for now, lets focus on today! That's right, the day in the City of Lights, Paris. Oui Oui.

The day started off with breakfast in the hotel as per usual. I had a croissant and tried another pain au chocolate and some eggs. Once again, not thrilled with the pain au chocolate. Maybe they aren't for me?! Then it was off to the bus to head over to the Eiffel Tower. This is what I was obviously most excited about seeing. On they way there we passed the Igles Dedome that had to do something with Napoleon. I think he may be buried there. I suck for not listening carefully and not paying full attention. His mention along with a Joan of Arc mention last night got me thinking of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure again as this movie has basically given me most of the history on these two historic icons. Ah yes, it's not only entertaining, but educational as well.