And, we're back!

Well, I'm back.

If you're following this blog at all, you already know that last week Monsieur and I went on vacation. We decided to drive to Santa Barbara, and boy, was it relaxing. Guidebooks call that area of California the "American Riviera". When I first read that I thought to myself, "Yeah, right. Nice try." But I think there may be something to it. Strolling along the tree-lined, extra-wide sidewalks you feel like you could be in some delightful European beach town. It really was wonderful and I would definitely go back.

I think I was pretty good about portion control. Monsieur and I typically would split lunches and share appetizers. And, I actually did take part of my dinner back to our hotel one evening because I already felt more than satisfied. But I do think I ate more at dinner time than usual.

I also discovered a wonderful ice cream shop that is based in Santa Barbara: McConnell's. 

They have as assortment of delicious flavors, but my favorite (by far) was Black Coffee Chip. It's a blend of espresso and drip coffees plus some very finely shredded Guittard chocolate. Heaven! So, I was a bit relaxed about my treat intake.

On the plus side, we took some long walks and swam almost every day, so I hope that helped to balance things out a little bit.

Still, given all that, I wouldn't be surprised if the scale wasn't as complimentary as it was before I left. 

Monday morning weigh-in: 165.5. (+1.5 since last week and -1.5 to-date)

Gulp.

So, I was hoping that the result would have been a bit better. But, I managed to get things moving in the right direction before, so I should be able to do it again, right? Right.

So, here we go!

Early check-in

Next week, Monsieur and I are going on a mini-vacation. Actually, it will be our first non-family, non-wedding-related trip in over a year. My last real vacation was three years ago now, and it was just before papa got sick. So, I am really looking forward to it. We are going on a road trip and several days of poolside lounging are planned.

Since I won't be around next week and I'm not planning on bringing my laptop (or my scale!) I thought I would check to see how things were going, weight-wise.

Friday morning weigh-in: 164. (No change since Monday and -3.0 to-date)

Of course, this is not quite the same as if I had weighed myself on Monday, but I am actually quite happy to see that things are holding steady.

This week has been a monster. Maman got sick this week, too, and our caregiver got the stomach flu, so for the past 3 days I have been 'on duty' full-time. As a result, my meals have been a bit erratic. Especially yesterday. But, the caregiver will be back today so that will (hopefully) give me a chance to regroup and get ready for my vacation.

See you in a week!

Chicago, Chicago

Time for another whirlwind trip. As I mentioned earlier, we're going back to Chicago to attend a wedding! (I wish I'd followed the French diet more consistently, perhaps I would be a bit slimmer. But there's no use crying over spilt cafe au lait now.) It is interesting to me, at least, that I had just started thinking about the French diet (and applying it) around the time I went to Chicago last.

I managed to score us a great deal at a five star hotel, The Langham, Chicago. It's just north of the river, and only a couple of blocks off of famed N. Michigan Ave.  From the pictures on the hotels' website, it looks super nice and I'm especially interested in exploring the spa/indoor pool and relaxing with afternoon tea. Hopefully I'll be able to do both. Sometimes, when you are attending these kinds of events it can be hard to find the time, even though you are theoretically on vacation!

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post anything tomorrow or Monday (we fly back on Monday, so my usual weigh in will be delayed), but if not, have a great weekend!

Slow week

Sorry for being M.I.A. this past week. Too many to-do's and not enough inspiration contributed to my lackluster performance here on the blog.

At the same time, I sort of wonder if I should force myself to post something every day, even if there isn't much to tell. Is that daily discipline good, or counter-productive? And if I do post something every day, am I being creative or just making stuff up??  I'm really not sure.

In any case, next week the blog will be 'on vacation' since the time has finally arrived for my Foundation of Pastry class at the San Francisco Baking Institute. I'm really looking forward to it.

See you in a week!