Beachy and Chickies

This free picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

In Paris, France?!

My swanky looking, "no, us??... we are not tourists!" sister and bro-in-law

L to R: George Jones (father-in-law), my sister Rhonda, Chris (my brother-in-law) at Place de la Concorde

No, not me! I was there for 24 hours on a layover about 14 years ago but I will not forget it. It was really amazing and still sticks with me now. I recall a graffiti laden statue near the site where Princess Diana was in her fatal car accident, the Charles de Gaulle airport and the architecture there...the Eiffel Tower and we went to the top, at night. Amazing. Huge, overwhelming to see the city from there and realizing there was so much that I would miss. Now, I get to relive and hear more through my sister's eyes.

As a surprise to his Paris, France living brother, my sister's father-in-law planned a surprise visit taking my sister and her hubby along! Rhonda have never been to Europe before so I have been very excited for her in preparation and in watching Facebook obsessively to see and hear what is going on daily. It is kind of a quick trip. All together, they will be there for about 5 days. I know they are hitting all the big sites, Place de la Concorde, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Arch de Triomphe (please don't check my spellings here!) and constant cafe crawling. And, just what do you think of her fetching boots? I say she fits right in!

Cannot wait to see you back home sister and hear of your impressions of Paris!

Instead of overeating

St. Mark's Square when it's empty...breathtaking.

I just ate leftover meatloaf over spinach greens followed by my "pumpkin" pie made of acorn squash from The Art Of Simple Food. It is a cookbook that I am slowly becoming familiar with but mostly restricted by foods that my husband is capable of getting into his mouth and that my children will not turn up their noses to and refuse to eat. It has good basic, whole food recipes and I bought it to get insight on making my own pastas.

I don't have a problem eating in any sort of way. I particularly like to eat when I am stressed or bored or, it just tastes good! I know I am not alone in this escapism but today, instead of reaching for a second filling slice of pie, I "traveled" for a few minutes until the urge for pie subsided, to Venice and I did not gain one ounce in the process. Please enjoy the Top 10 Things to Do in Venice. I like this tour schedule..the quietness of it suits me. I have never been to Venice but if I did, I think I would take this itinerary along.

What do you do to avoid over eating?

Now,... where is that stash of chocolate?