Saturday, June 4, 2011

Running thru life... Vacation Review - Athens Hotel

We are officially back from Greece.
The clothes have been unpacked and washed, the mail has been sorted, and the jet lag is wearing off. 

Our trip to Greece was AMAZING!!!
This was truly the trip of a lifetime.  Since so many people are asking for details and pictures. 
I thought I would blog about it.   I will dedicate a blog or two to each place we visited. 

First stop:  Athens!

OMG!  I love Greek Mythology so I was in Heaven. 

We arrived in Athens after a long series of missing connections due to taking off late.  =0(
From Athens Airport we took the Metro to our hotel with was a total of 14euros for 2 people.  A taxi was 35-40 euros- definitely a cheaper option and very easy to use.  We were staying at a hotel at the Acropolis stop.   It took us about 45 minutes from the airport and a very short walk from the metro to arrive at our hotel- 
The Herodion. 

The Herodion
Is located downtown Athens. 
Its appeal for us was
1) Breakfast was included 
2) It was in walking distance from everything we wanted to do 
3) Rooftop patio with views of the Acropolis.   
This hotel was recommended by our travel agent and we were very happy with our choice.  It was a little more pricie- 2 nights coming in at $500 but was worth it just for the convenience. 

Overall the hotel was set up as a Boutique- cute and quaint.  The rooms where spacious for Europe.  We just had a standard room.  The breakfast was ok... nothing special.  Though they did have excellent Greek Yogurt which is what I ate every morning.  The part that made the hotel was the rooftop patio.  It was a nice area that you could even order drinks/dinner and eat outside while watching the sunset along the Acropolis.  Absolutely gorgeous.  

 We did not get in our first night till after 6pm.  So we headed up to the rooftop, ordered some wine and food, and took in the beautiful site of the Acropolis.


The hotel was conveniently located from the Acropolis, Zeus' temple and Gardens,  the Agora, and the Acropolis Museum.  Which was the nicest part about it.  We did not have to pay for transportation at all- we just walked!!

Stay turned... our first day in Athens...

Friday, June 3, 2011

Running thru life...NOVA magazine

When I lived in Baltimore I was single at the time and new to the area.
A friend suggested I sign up for the Baltimore Magazine.
So I did and absolutely loved it...
It included restaurant reviews, events happenings, concerts, etc.

When I moved from Baltmore to Northern Virginia, I decided to do the same.
It is called The Northern Virginia Magazine.



While I find it not as well written as the Baltimroe Magazine, I do love getting it.
It has restauarant reviews, concerts,  runs going on in Northern VA, dog events, etc.
You get an issue each month and each issue has a theme as expected.

The pricing is about right.
12 issues or 1 year for 20$
24 issues or 2 years for 30$
36 issues or 3 years for 35$  (This is the one I signed up for because I knew we would be here for that long).  It is the best deal if you know you are going to get in the area for three years.  With each issue coming in less than 1$.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Running thru life.... Managing Plants Hydration

Last year before we went to Napa, Ca for a long weekend, I started to worry about my indoor plants being watered while we were away.  Our neighbors who normally help us out were also away being that we were gone Memorial Day Weekend.  So I decided to invest in some Water Globes. 
What are water globes?
  There are these devices which you fill and them place them in your plants and over time they release water depending on how wet the soil is....i.e  they water your plants when they need it.


I purchased a two pack at Home Depot for about $14 dollars.  They were both blue since our family room and our kitchen area (where are house plants are located) have a blue them to them.  So I filled them up prior to leave and found my plants happy when I returned home.  I used them again when we went away to Greece.  This time we were gone for two week so I filled them up before we left and then my neighbor came and filled them up a week later.  I came home to wonderful looking plants!!!
Good investment of $14 dollars!!!


Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Running thru life... IT IS HOT

So anyone who follows my blog and knows me know that I like to think of myself as healthy. 
I try to make smart food decisions, work out even on vacation, and try to live a healthy lifestyle. 

That being said this heat is killing me!!!
I do not want to walk let alone run!!
There is something about my family but we do not do heat well.  Both my father, myself and I turn in to tomatoes.  Not good!!  I get so sick from the heat I have been know to pass out. 

Even running inside is just not fun. 
We keep our house at 78-80 which is just too hot for me and my long distances!!!

So that being said I spent some time talking with my hubby about this summer because I have a feeling it is going to be miserable!! 

Our solution....   Fairfax County REC Center. 
In our experience joining a gym is it is expensive and over time we do not go because it is a pain to drive and park, Joe starts school again, etc. 
The Passes are a better option for us. 
We get 25 passes for 150 dollars. (They are on Sale now) 
We can use the passes over a span of 12 months. 
We also have a swimming pool in the neighborhood which we can workout doing labs so a membership just does not make sense. 

The passes will also let me train on other equipment like my first love the Eliptical and do some more weight training this summer.  So tonight or tomorrow night... I plan on heading to the RECcenter to get our passes and start working out. 

Happy Summer

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Running thru life.... Managing a garden

Coming home from Greece I was excited to see how our garden has grown.  

I previous blogged about planting a number of veggies- 
2 tomato plants
Basil
Mint
2 squash
1 red pepper
Onions

If you remembered I decided to plant one of each just to see what kind of success we would have since this is our first time doing this.  I also did not spend a lot of money on anything.  Everything was under $2.

We came home to much bigger plants... and our first two tomatoes!!!!
The Basil and Mint are going crazy.  
The tomato plants are huge!!!


I went to Home Depot yesterday morning to purchase two tomato cages because the tomatoes need some support.  
So excited!!!!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Running thru life.... Happy 2 years!!

Today is our 2 year anniversary!!

We were married in Fairfax, VA in a small courtyard wedding in 2009.  
It has been a rewarding two years!!!
  Filled with lots of friends and family, a new puppy, a hubby in PhD school, and new memories.  

Each year we give each other a gift.  
First year was paper.  Joe purchased Wicked tickets while we wee in San Fransisco visit Napa, CA.  Amazing play.  Joe received a photo book that I made on Kodak.  

2nd year is supose to be cotton.  
So our gifts were our pillows that  we used on our flights to and from Greece!!! 
We figured Greece was our gift!!!.  
What an amazing trip... one that I will tell you about once we get settled back in.  

So happy two years.  
Here is our wedding cake topper... we were in Napa, CA last years so we did not get to eat it.  
Oh well a year late....


Happy Anniversary!!!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Running thru life... to Ipad 2???

I am fortunate that my husband does not have a need for
the newest gadget as soon as it comes on the market.
Most of this is probably because he gets to play with top of the line stuff at work all day. 

Since we have been together I can count on 1 hand the big things my husband has wanted
1) Flatscreen LCD TV- He got as an engagement gift from me.  Thank you very much A.S. 
Apparently, the girl gets the ring and the man get a new flat screen TV!  I still think I got the better end of the deal!!!
2) Nikon LCD Camera - Our wedding gift!  I am so glad we had this on our honeymoon. 
3) Zoom lens for his Nikon camera- Christmas gift for our trips coming up this year
4) New computer- which is really like a full size computer because it is so big-  He needed this for school and programing.

So we have been together for 7+ years now and have only made a handful of expensive electronic purchases.  Most of which neither of us regret. 

The IPad 2 is out... and my hubby is in love. 

So what are your thoughts?????
Do you have an ipad?
Do you love it?
Do you hate it? 
Why....