spotlight on love: vin/bar

Happy 60th Anniversary to my grandparents....

thank you for setting such a wonderful, loving example and for creating such an extraordinary family.  i'm so very lucky to be a part of it and to share in the love that you've grown through the years.

xo, yawdi

there's so much in my head that was going to go into this post, but they deserve more than a rushed 11pm note.  so it will have to wait until i can have it make as much sense on the page as it does in my brain.  and of course they don't own a computer so hopefully i'm doubting it will even be printed for them to read until it's actually up to snuff! 

planning for paris: google maps part 1

if you haven't noticed, i love google products.  like whoa.  so obviously when trying to get a handle on where we want to go / what we want to see in paris i used google maps to plot some ideas.  these are just ideas, not a list of 'must see' places...i don't want to have a full itinerary for the vacation but if we happen to be wandering in a specific area i'd like to know what it is we're staring at some of the time.  and since we'll have an ipad with us, it's a really handy way to get to know your surroundings without toting a bunch of travel books or paper maps.

i had a mental list of key attractions in my brain but went to a few main travel sites to make sure i wasn't missing anything.  i usually use fodors for planning but found some of the new features on the frommer's website to be a bit more conducive to what i was trying to accomplish.

for starters, i took their suggestions on itineraries if you were in paris for 1, 2 or 3 days (we'll be there for 6 so will hopefully be able to stretch out the top attractions into a more relaxed schedule).  i actually found the one day suggested itinerary in the public google maps section listed as "EUR: France: Paris: Frommer's Day 1", so thanks to the person who did that legwork for me:


View EUR: France: Paris: Frommer's Day 1 in a larger map

but had to create day 2 & 3 myself:


View EUR: France: Paris: Frommer's Day 2 in a larger map


View EUR: France: Paris: Frommer's Day 3 in a larger map

up next...walking tours mapped...

planning for paris: the hotel

earlier this year i decided that i needed to go back to paris...and so we are...at the beginning of june.  since booking the vacation i've wanted to delve into the details of the trip to start getting excited...but have just been way too busy.  now that spring's on it's way and mz's busy season is starting to wind down, we're finally getting closer to the trip countdown (even though it's still 67 days away per my desktop widget). we've been doing some shopping and closet cleaning all with the mindset of 'can i wear this in paris'? ha, so far it's been a pretty good motivator and hopefully will inspire me to dress a little bit more like an adult rather than relying solely on hollister to furnish my summer wardrobe.  maybe i'll share some of our new 'fashion' finds once all the the spring cleaning dust settles!

okay so none of that really had anything to do with what i planned on sharing today...our paris hotel!  when my mom and i went to paris for the first time (for my 16th birthday), she found this superbly charming little hotel on the left bank of paris.  We've gone back there twice since and i love it and love the area...but thought it was a little on the frilly side for a trip with mz and wanted to try something new.  so i did a simple google maps search to find another spot in the same latin quarter neighborhood as Les Rives de Notre Dame.  The Latin Quarter, right near Notre Dame, is bustling with restaurants and nightlife so i knew it was where i wanted to stay again...plus it's so close to Ile Saint-Louis which is probably where i'd live if given the opportunity (regardless of the slightly touristy feel).

i researched a handful of hotels that popped up on the google maps search via their websites and different travel websites and decided that Hotel Le Notre Dame was exactly what we were looking for...a little boutique hotel with a view of Notre Dame and a recent facelift by Christian Lacroix to give it a funky feel.  since making the reservation, i've seen this hotel all of the place so i'm thinking we made the right choice!  it was featured in bon appetit as a pick for their 'snob-free guide to paris' and i saw it listed in another random article as well...so hopefully it lives up to the press!

Bikram 30 Day Challenge: COMPLETE! + my body

done and done!! my 30 day Bikram challenge is officially history as of 7pm tonight!  woo-hoo!! i didn't miss a day/class and i almost did a double last night (but then decided going home to eat ice cream and drink root beer was higher up on the agenda)!  all in all it was a lot of work, obvi, and a lot of time, but i feel really thankful that i made the time and dedicated myself to this challenge.

since i've started 'the yoga' (as everyone calls it, which cracks me up every time) i have seen tremendous changes in my flexibility, strength and mental calmness...although to anyone else these changes would probably seem like nothing.  i've also become so much more aware of all the little idiosyncrasies that come with being me and so i'm constantly finding new things to work on and strive for as part of my yoga practice.  things that i've always known existed but never knew how to go about fixing them...

for instance, my feet always have rolled to the outside.  a lot.  like standing barefoot would mean that my big toes would not touch the ground.  this, you may imagine, is far less than ideal if you're trying to say balance on one leg while kicking your other foot above your head.  so now, after much hard work and a whole lot more concentration, my big toes actually touch the ground without excessive force!

i don't know why, but in the back of my mind i'm blaming the one insane year of rowing crew, i'm a little crooked.  my left shoulder is a little higher, my left hip usually protrudes a smidge further than my right...go ahead, stare, it's okay, i know i'm a freak ;-).

my shoulders are weird, you'd think i'm a retired pro baseball pitcher based on the lack of mobility in my shoulders.  test yourself - lie down and stretch your arm straight over your head.  do your hands touch the floor with ease? mine don't come close.  or stand up and put your hands up and try to touch your palms together.  does it take all of your strength to make that happen?  yeaaa...welcome to my crazy world.  these seemingly simple tasks have been some of the hardest things to overcome in my yoga practice.  i'm getting closer to making them happen but it's not happening overnight and i'm okay with that...because it's a goal to work towards that's only going to make me better and stronger in the process. win!

tomorrow when i wake up, i know i'm going to miss it.  not like i'm quitting, no way, no how, this is a part of my life now, but weekends are superbly difficult.  my weekend schedule's not as conducive to yogaing as work/week days and my practice usually suffers as a result...which means i come home and just want to nap!  i love this yoga, i love the hour and a half of pure peace, i love the individual competitiveness and i love the sense of community that comes with being part of the bikram family...and i love this song so i figured i'd sneak it in here since i can pretend it correlates to this post since i made reference to my wackadoodle body and the song is called 'my body'...enjoy!


if you liked this one, check out the official video and this one with some perdy gee-tars.

aston john piazza - day 9...continued

what's that you say? 

you're dying to see more of this cute little baby?!  

oh, okay then...

such a sleepy little guy!

okay, i'm ready for spring now.

time's up winter.  i loved all the snow you brought, but as of right now i'm officially over wearing winter coats.  plus my early spring bulbs have been struggling to stay alive with all of this crazy snow to 70 degree to frost weather swings...time to give them a break and just let them focus on blooming already.  to let spring know how welcome she is, i decided to spend way more time than anticipated cleaning the house saturday afternoon.  think i got past the first floor after 4 hours of dusting, scrubbing, organizing, etc, etc?  nope, pretty pathetic but made some good progress.

to keep the spring theme going, i convinced mz to go to the philadelphia flower show with me this afternoon - in the pouring rain.  i've never been, not sure why, it's right up my alley.  i was amazed to find out that it's the biggest indoor flower show in the WORLD! what?! insane!  oh and this year's theme is Springtime in Paris! come on, i HAD to go once i found out that enticing info!!  i'm pretty much obsessed with the flower show now, next year's theme is hawaii in case you're wondering.

it was seriously amazing.  today was the opening day, it runs through next sunday...so GO!!  the smell was incredible...narcissi, hyacinth, roses, tulips...and a gillion other flowers...transformed the convention center into a gorgeous parisian paradise.  the displays were really remarkable, i would love to see how they put it all together and make everything look fresh for an entire week!  inspires me to get some more fresh flowers in this house on a regular basis.

check out the rest of the pictures here.

sneak peak: aston john piazza - day 9

oooooh he's just so darn tiny!  

can't get over it, even when i got to see him for the second time last saturday.  

it was late afternoon and the light was not overly cooperative, but baby A certainly was more than content just chilling in his basket while we moved him all around to try to get the perfect shot for his announcements.

more to come once his momma gets a chance to view all of the pics!