Just when the travelling ended

We are headed over to Amsterdam and Brugge for a long weekend in December with my parents and my brother. As many readers know I used to travel all the time for my former job. Well wince coming to the new job I have been a slave in the office, basically. Since going public recently we are now back in to doing Compliance, which is what I used to do, so I am being sent off to Holland to Bergen Op Zoom for a few days for some initial conversations with the office there on compliance stuff and will be making some trips back there next year too. Just when I though that work travel was gone. The trip that I am looking forward to though is going to Hong Kong some time next year!!!!

So off to planning a few days in Bergen Op Zoom, Netherlands on the front of my vacation in December. Any one been here before and know of some things do see in the area?

About a week to go

I haven't lived up to m running like I said I was going to and with the race quickly approaching next weekend I need to get out running. I got home from work last night, laced up the running shoes and made a beeline out the door before there was an excuse why I couldn't go.

I felt really good during the run so had a plan in my head where I was going to run and about how far I thought it was. I ran to a park that is behind our house and then ran 5.5 laps around the park which is a .33mile loop then headed out the back way of the park, around the neighborhood and back to our house which to my delightful surprise was 3.09 miles! I know I can do the 5k next weekend but my goal is to run it under 30 min. I ran the 3.09 last night in 32 min. and change. Not too bad but I can do better so I have a goal now. I need to run everyday between now and the race and I should be able to push myself to be under 30min.

Time to get off my tush

Time to get the arse off of the couch and onto the road since I have committed myself to two 5k's withing the next month and a half! It is a really good thing and I think the committment to the 5k's will be more inspiration to go exercise daily now, hopefully!



The first 5k is the weekend before Scott runs the NYC Marathon and is a local 5k in our town which we are doing together! The next 5k is the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning which my brother, Scott and I are going to do together.



I started the running yesterday with 2.2 miles in 22.38min. Not the best of starts but hopefully I will get faster and skinnier at the same time!

Wish me luck!

Week 1

Week one of Team Balls N' Dolls was a great success! We came from behind in the top of the 7th to give us two runs and held them to no runs in the bottom of the 7th to make Week One a "W" in the books!

Team photo last night

Week two hopefully will be a bit better for me since I did have 2 good kicks but need to learn to keep them on the ground. The ball is harder to catch since it has lots of bounce but you learn to cradle the ball.

Hopefully this will be a successful season!

Balls N' Dolls

A playground game and competitive league game, similar to baseball, invented in the US around 1920 will be occupying my Thursday nights as a social "drinking" league for the next 8 weeks.

Have you figured it out yet?




It looks like this:







Yeppers- Kickball

I joined an adult social league with some friends to play on Thursday nights for some fun. Should be a good time. We have our first game tonight so I have everything ready to go. Team Shirt (salmon colored), wristbands, knee high socks, shorts and Gatorade. Hopefully through all the years playing in grammar school will come back to help me tonight as I haven't played since then.

Until tomorrow wish me luck and I will post some pictures in the am!

I have an app for that

I am still getting used to the iPhone and its apps. I never know where to start with looking for apps. I mean what am I really looking for, what do I need an app for? There are a ton of great apps out there for traveling (getting your city guides on your iPhone rather than a book to carry around) and then on Friday afternoon I came accross the best app thus far for me.

Lose it! - Lose it is like a mini weight watchers for your iPhone. You start by putting in your height and weight and how much weight you want to lose, then how many pounds per week. It will tell you then what your calorie intake should be. Once all that is set-up, which takes all of 5 seconds, you get to track your meals and evercise in the daily log. This tracks calories in and out based on food and exercise, net. The cool feature about this app is that you when you put in what you eat it will let you choose from restaurant menus, grocery store items or your own meals. There are a ton of exercise options to from my workout to gardening, etc.

This is what the daily log looks like....pretty darn cool!

I have been using it all weekend and it is a wonderful tool to have. Sure makes me think a little more before having a Starbucks Frappachino! I am going to be using this to assist with losing the weight that I want to and hopefully with the exercising this will be a good tracking device.

I think I was meant to be a travel agent in my life

Growing up my parents made a point of getting Chris and I to all 50 states and not the whole drive through and stop at a rest area and consider that a state, but actually staying in the state and doing things/seeing things. We managed to do very well in our years growing up with one of our best trips driving from New Jersey throught the midwest and up through Canada to Alaska for a month in Alaska. An experience I will never forget.

I am working with my staff to get the rest of their days that they are thinking of taking off booked. One of the girls that works for me is Sweedish and goes home either during the summer to see her family or over Christmas. Alternates with her mom in Sweeden and her dad here for the every other year thing. She was planning on going to Sweeden this summer so we were talking about what week she is going and that she will still have an extra week left of vacation to take. I said why not instead go to Thailand to see your mom there over Christmas and you would be able to go for 3 weeks and only use 2 weeks vacation with all of the Company days off. The thought went into the head, phone was picked up, Sweedish was spoken and a ticket is being booked for Thailand for three weeks over Christmas.

I love booking travel trips for people and love planning the vacations. Maybe I should go into business as a travel agent?????

Two and a half weeks in

So a two and a half weeks into the workout scheme and I am doing ok I think. I have been to spin class at least 4 days a week and haven't done anything else but that. It will be changing though as I will be running at least 2 days a week starting this week.

With my 2nd weigh-in (on Saturday) -5lbs.

While I am happy that I have lost weight it still doesn't feel great. I am hoping that adding in a few runs a week a few more pounds will be shed a little quicker. I will keep posting and will try to post on Saturday's instead since it is weigh-in day. Hopefully this week will see an additional 2lbs lost.

Weekend Recap

Weekend was AWESOME! Lots of stuff done around the house on Saturday and then we spent Sunday with family and friends drinking 4 kegs (3 - 1/2's and 1 - 1/6).

We celebrated my brother's birthday on Sunday and had a wonderful time! Yesterday was truly a recovery day and that can be told by Bailey who slept from the time we got home yesterday around 11am till Scott got home from playing golf around 4pm. She was exhausted from all of the excitement.

Now onto the short work week which will be great and looking forward to having family in this weekend! My in-laws are driving down from Buffalo on Thursday for a long weekend which will be nice! Hopefully this weather changes around a bit though since it looks like rain on Sat and Sun.

One step forward

I had my first day off from work on Friday in a long time. I didn't know what to do with myself since I have been so consumed by work lately. It was a free day off, yep no using vacation days, sick days, etc. A free day from my CFO for all of my hard week over the last 11 weeks...who is counting anyway.

I ran a few errands first thing in the morning and one of which was taking the step towards a fit Libby. I joined New York Sports Club on Friday which is the first step to my recovery process. The second step is actually using the little yellow card that hangs on my key chain, haha. Saturday morning I was up at at spin class at 9am, Sunday again at 9am and Monday at 6am. I think I am doing pretty well so far I just need to keep it up.

What am I going to do?

Mon, Wed, Fri - 6am Spin class
Tues- Run outside, push ups and sit up routine
Thursday - day off (aka long walk with Bailey) or on an occasion BOSU Core Class.
Saturday and Sunday - Super Spin (spin class but for an hour instead of 45min).

Other things I am doing:
1. Giving up Soda! We have a stocked fridge at work with Diet Coke, Pepsi, Snapple Iced Tea, Seltzer water, Ginger Ale, Orange juice and Apple Juice. I was too convenient to just grab a diet coke at lunch and have one or two in the day. The time has come to turn around in the kitchen and head to the water cooler instead. Yesterday was the step in the right direction with no soda and water all day instead!
2. Limit intake of bread. I don't eat a lot of bread but when I can stop it I will. Take the top bun off of a burger, no bread at a restaurant, etc. This I think will be easier to do and will make me feel better too.
3. Make healthier meals. This will be a harder change since we basically make healthy meals now but limiting some items we have on the plate.

I know there will be splurge days, I know there will be ups and downs during this recovery process but it is a start and you have to start somewhere.

I will update weekly on my progress! Wish me luck!

Fred's Team

Scott has been talking about running the NYC marathon for a few years and while he has talked and talked about it the time was never right, when is it though? He has taken the plunge and will be running the NYC Marathon on November 7, 2010 for Fred's Team! Fred's Team runs for charity and specifically for Memorial Sloane-Kettering.

I am extremely proud of him for taking the first step which is committing himself on the 26.2 mile run. He has started the training and hit the pavement, logging some miles already. He does need some help though, raising money for charity. If you can spare a dollar or two it would be greatly appreciated as he is trying to raise $3,000 for charity!

http://mskcc.convio.net/site/TR?px=1761483&fr_id=1310&pg=personal

Thank you in advance to all and I will update you all on his journey towards the finish line!

The Light is Shining Brighter at the End of the Tunnel

I have been a working machine lately and my sleep, life and body have taken the toll on it. I was at work till 11pm last night to get a document out the door which was a major milestone in this project. With that said, I get the day off tomorrow and a week reprieve of late nights for a short time but the light it starting to shine brighter and brighter at the end of the tunnel!

What is a girl to do with a free Friday off???? I have a few things in mind!

Trip planning

Work has been quite busy which has left me know time for posting. We are finally starting to ease up and so in any spare time that I have, I have been thinking about vacation. Maybe not a true long vacation but a 6 day getaway to Europe to visit a lovely place that Scott, my brother and I visited in Dec 2008. We loved the town so much that we said right then and there that we would be back the following year. You how those things go sometimes right? Well if you do then you know we didn't make it there since we were back in the US and getting settled in with jobs, family, house, etc. We are though, two years later, going back to Bruges for the Christmas Market.

We are planning a short getaway with a stop in Amsterdam for a night and a stop in Brussels for a night and the remaining 3 nights will be in Bruges. The plan is that we will start in Amsterdam on an arrival morning and spend the night and then leave on a train in the afternoon for Brussels. Spend the night in Brussels and head to Buges in the afternoon the next day.

It is a short trip but we are looking forward to it, even in May. I am in the process of hotel hunting in Bruges, Brussels and Amsterdam and have a few narrowed down but not entirely done. Looking for suggestions of restaurants, hotels, etc if anyone wants to share!

Tough choices

Lately I haven't really been home during the week at a resonable hour to actually enjoy and shows that are on TV, like Biggest Loser. I love that show and had religiously watched it until a little thing called work consumed my whole life (including weekends).

This week is actually a slow week at work (which is great) but now leaves me in a predicament.....the Biggest Loser is on tonight, GLEE and the Devils are playing the Flyers tonight too....where do I start??? This will be a night glued in front of the TV flipping between channels.

It will start with watching my boys go for win number 2 to tie-up the series against the Flyers (whom I CAN'T STAND), then over to Biggest Loser (during commercials and intermission) and then finally over to GLEE.

Good thing I didn't have anything else planned tonight!

P.S.- Cheer on the Devils tonight...they need the love against the Flyers.

Rain rain go away

Can I tell you that I truly hate the rain this year? Well I thought I would be over the rain compared to what we got in England when we lived there but I think this spring has taken the cake in rainfall.

Three weeks ago we got about 6 inches of rain in a matter of 24 hours and we had during that time lost power for about 12 of it. No power = bucketing out the sump pump all night in order to not have a flooded basement. Well bucketing or no bucketing we had water in the basement.

Yesterday started the rain again and this is supposed to continue for 3 days, yes you read it right, 3 whole days. We are supposed to get 6 more inches of rain during this whole thing. You know when it is bad when people are going out the store and buying canoe's and life rafts to get around their houses since the water is so high.

While both of these storms have hit us hard the aftermath is the worts. We live near the Passaic River and it crested two days after the first storm and is expected to crest on Thursday this week which means homeowners will be in trouble for longer than the rain storm.

I am dreading going home tonight in fear that our basement has got water in it. When Scott and I left this morning we were rain free in the basement and I hope luck stays with us this storm.

Belgium Chocolates and Fresh Strawberries

My weekend started off pretty good being able to leave work while it was still light out and about 4-5 hours earlier than lately. Got home and had some dinner and wine and relxed for the rest of the night.

Saturday I went to work, again, for the 4th Saturday in a row. My boss kept coming in my office telling me he was trying to get me out of there shortly. I was happy to hear but okay with it since I had other work I had to do since I have been so occupied with this project at work that I haven't done my normal day job. I got started in getting caught up on the day job and then was able to leave and come home around 3pm!!! What does one do being able to come home in daylight and on a Saturday? Bake!

I pulled out a pound of Belgium milk chocolate and our 3 quarts of Strawberries in the fridge and we started melting the chocolate in a double boiler and then dipping in the Strawberries. We had extra chocolate so we dipped some pretzel rods too! YUMMY!

The starting product...some Fresh Strawberries and lovely chocolates

The bag of Belgium milk chocolates! They are good on their own too, melted or unmelted...I wouldn't know though!

How good do these look???

I can tell you one thing...they taste WONDERFUL! Who needs Godiva dipped strawberries when you can make them yourselves for about 1/4 of the price and you get bigger strawberries.

Off to my parents house for a lovely Sunday Palm Sunday dinner with some Chocolate covered Strawberries for dessert!

If I had a day off work what would I do

Well that is a misnomer since I haven't had a day off in over 3 weeks....no joke. Work has been crazy and there might actually be a chance that I have a day off come this weekend. Not just a day but the whole weekend! I don' know what I will do with myself with two whole days off of work, but I don't want to get my hopes up as of yet since we are on the fence with being able to be done on Friday.

Scott said to me the other day we haven't been out shopping in a long time. I know that is what work does for you when you are working 16-18 hour days and no time off on the weekend to go shopping. I know there is the whole online shopping but sometimes I just can't look at a computer anymore after leaving the office.

If I actually get the weekend off I have a few things that I would like to do.

1. Pamper myself and go get a manicure and pedicure
2. Get my hair done (although I know this one won't make the list since my lady doesn't have anything available this weekend). Damn short notice
3. Sleep in. My internal alarm clock goes off at 6:30am and I get to lay back in bed around 11:30 pm. That SUCKS.
4. Go Shopping! I will go to the mall (haven't been in ages), hit up TJ Maxx and Marshalls and a few others.
5. RELAX. This is probably the key of the whole weekend. I need to do lots of nothing and just relax and revive.
6. Do some research for our sailing vacation (decided that we are going to Turkey and going sailing there)!

Here is to hoping that I get at least one day off if not two!

Long time no post

I had vowed to start blogging more but there is this little thing called work that has completly consummed my life these days. I have been working about 70+ hours a week, 7 days a week for the past three weeks and there is no end in sight yet. There is a date that there will be an end but it seems that it is never approaching. One day at a time I say everyday. One day.

I decided that I need to start to look forward to something and that there will be a countdown to a day in sight so time to start planning a vacation! We are headed out to the land of cheese this summer (Wisconsin) to get our cheese curds and beer on but besides that we haven't really planned anything. We are headed to Bruges this Winter for 4 days for the Christmas Market with a few family and friends bit there is a long gap in between those two days, like 6 months.

Places that are on the potential vacation list this year:

1. Croatia sailing trip (chartering a sailing boat with friends from London) for a week and sailing the coast of Croatia.
2. Bahamas
3. Napa Valley in the fall
4. Cruise- up to Alaska

Any other suggestions????

We really need to get our act in gear and set the plans in motion but I just haven't had the time like I normally do. I better get back to the grind.....work that is.

A little bit of London is coming to the US

The little things in life that make people smile is amazing. Liberty of London is a luxury clothing and home store on Regent Street. You walk in and there are traditionally vivid colors, wild prints, latest fashions and a home decor section which will leaving you savoring for more. During the three years that we lived in London I would go in to Liberty and buy a few odds and ends (i.e. paper stuff mostly since it was unique). I used to look at some of the printed shirts and dresses and think to myself, "Who would wear that?". In Europe you see everything.....trust me. I never bought any clothes from them but I was excited to see a commercial over the weekend about a line coming to the US!

They are coming to Target on March 14th with a Women's and Home Collection!!!!!! On some of the ads and blogs that I have read, some of the clothing looks great! They showed some cute dresses, childrens clothes and home accessories that are leaving me savoring for more. You can bet that I will be online on March 14th and at the store. Good thing I know someone who works at Target!

Back but not good

We are back from vacation and Scott is now sick in bed. That was a recurring theme over the weekend but not just from us but from lots of guests attending the wedding. So our first day back in the US and Scott was up at 2am sick and home from work today too. My stomach has not felt right since Monday morning but am praying that nothing comes up in the next 2 days since they say that bacteria stays with you three days. The doctor today told Scott that she believes it is bacteria in the food and that is what is causing him to be sick. He is on some antibiotics for a week so I am hoping to make it through healthy.

Overall the weather was great, the wedding was beautiful and we had a great time. I will post pictures tomorrow because I am guessing we will be having a snow day!

Packing the bags

Thursday night Scott and I are airport bound for a warm weekend destination! The journey will start off with a stop at the Continental Presidents lounge where we will meet 9 others to partake is a few cocktails of choice. We will then proceed to board the aircraft and most definetly consume a few more beverages. We will be in air for about 4 hours and will be heading south south west for a destination that is known for their Spring Break parties. We will be landing in Cancun! The 11 of us are staying mainland for one night so will partake in a few drinks at a few local establishments and will catch a ferry over to Isla Mujeres the following morning.

We are all heading down to Isla Mujeres for a wedding. It is not just a wedding, it is my best friends brothers wedding and very close family friends. Talk about a destination wedding, there are 99 guests coming. Yep you read that correct...99. Talk about a lot of people in the NYC area who want to escape this cold weather w are having and put on those bathing suits and get rid of the pasty white color that is all over their body now, aka me. It will be a blast for sure! The wedding is on Saturday on the beach following a reception on the beach. Looking at the weather forecast now I am happy to see a double digit number that starts in an 8! On Sunday they are having a Superbowl Party for everyone to enjoy at the pool! Talk about a way to watch a game.

You probably couldn't tell that I am excited to escape the cold weather of New Jersey and head to Isla Mujeres! If Scott and I are missing for a few days, you can find us here!

We have conquered!

Well at least we hope we have conquered. Since moving back into our house (almost a year ago...crazy!), we have either woken up or come home to a flooded basement 3 times. Not good news there. All three times were because of the DAMN sump pump. First time ball couldn't move up or down becuase it was stuck on the cover. Once we got the cover off it was working perfectly. Second time one of the metal clamps that holds pvc piping to outflow pipe came loose and therefore spread water all over basement floor. Third time the ball wouldn't go up or down because the pedestal sump pump had tipped over a bit, you know what that means? I came home after a heavy downpour on Monday this past week and as I was pulling onto our street I was praying that it was ok. We had left for work in the morning and all was good and the basement was dry well not Monday night. Unfortunetly for me, I was the first home so meant I started vacuuming up the water with the shop vac. It wasn't that bad to clean up since it didn't spill over much but still it was a pain in the butt.

Yesterday we started the morning off with a trip to the home depot for a new sump pump. We are definetly not plumbers by any means but thought we would tackle the home project. After a few more trips out to the home depot and about $250 later we have a new sump pump that works! We tested it by pouring in some water and all seems to work well. It is a powerful little sucker for sure and lets just pray that when mother nature decides to test out our new sump pump that it makes us proud of our hard work. At to put it on the record, the instructions said it would take 15 minutes to replace a sump pump. That is a farse lie since you have to let that blue/purple plumbers glue dry for 15 min. Yes I would agree that once that is done it takes no more than 15 minutes if the glue is dry and you have all parts.

Here is our new little saving grace, WE HOPE!

Today we are hoping to get our master electrician (a.k.a. my dad) over to finish up the electric that we ran in the basement yesterday also. We are hoping to get the "rec room" drywalled in the next month and then carpeted in March. Lets see what happens as it all rides on that little saving grace above!

Oldies but Goodies

Do you ever sit down and look at old photos? I could do it for hours! My mother in-law bought a digital scanner that converts old slides to digital photos. We have been converting my father in-laws photos from his world travel over to digital photos and have been enjoying looking at his travels. I brought the scanner to my parents one weekend and we went through a few of their slides too and lone behold look at what we have here!

This is my brother and I from where and when I don't know, but I love the picture!

Take 2

Here is a birthday cake of mine! YUMMY!

I am looking forward to finding more treasurer's as we go through picture so stay tuned!