Paris - Day One

Hello from Paris!  The first day of my vacation was spent having a birthday party my friend's host family, but it involved some Peruvian ceviche and lots of good wine, cheese, and bread in the typical French fashion.  Just one country away, I'm amazed by how different the food and culture are and it's certainly a change to the food I've been eating for the past four months!

After our dinner, we spent the evening walking around Paris and stumbled across a few notable landmarks on the way - the Seine and Notre Dame.

My first impressions of Paris?  It can't compare one bit to the environment in Berlin.  I would hesitate to say Paris is classier; instead, I'll say the Berlin is crazier. (And honestly?  The nightlife is definitely better in Berlin, but shhh!)  But that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying Paris!  The buildings and the famous effortlessly chic vibe of everyone here is definitely something to admire.

Peruvian ceviche with sweet potatos, yum!

I'm excited to see what the rest of Paris has to offer.  I can't wait to go into the Louvre and of course, the Eiffel Tower. I'm ready to channel my tourist side, complete with my all-black and neutral Berlin attire!

Sometimes, you're just not into it....

Sometimes, I wake in the morning and am eager to go running - I'm energetic, motivated, and the sun is usually enough to get me out of the house as soon as possible.  Then there are those times where it's all I can do to make myself to even a quick 20 minute pilates workout or even some simple stretching to get the day started.

This morning was when of those days where despite having the warmest weather since I've been in Germany - 21C/70F - the sun was shining and there were no clouds in the sky.  It was one of those morning where I hit snooze on my alarm a few times, and then after I proceeded to wake up, I decided to lay in bed and read some blogs instead of changing into my running clothes.  It wasn't until nearly an hour after I had woken up that I could finally drag myself out of bed.

Even then, sometimes getting into the run will motivate me to push harder and get into it.  That didn't happen today.  Instead, all I could think about was how today was my last morning in Berlin, and how hot it felt, and how tired I felt.  I have no doubts that the stress from finals week, trying to find an apartment for the summer in Berlin when I won't be able to meet anyone in person, trying to figure out how to get a new visa, and the sadness of ending the semester with some great people exhausted me and drained me of all motivation for the week.  I took my run slowly, with many walking breaks and didn't even keep a record of my time.

Although it wasn't a record-breaking or hard run for me, sometimes I just need those days to take a break and use the run as a way to clear my thoughts rather than challenging and pushing myself.  Sometimes I have to remind myself that breaks are okay, to let my mind and body recover a little bit to get my motivation back.

However this run was not all bad, I managed to snap a few last pictures of my last run in Berlin for the semester:

I will definitely miss running through Tiergarten in the mornings, no matter how grey and cold it was for 75% of those runs.  I'm so glad that I got to see what it's like in the springtime, and even though I won't be living so close to it in the summer, I look forward to taking long walks in the park!

I'm sitting surrounded by suitcases as I type.  My next stop: Paris.  Expect lots of skincare, beauty, food, and typical tourist posts!

Empties Post #1

As a sometimes obsessive collector and bordering hoarder of makeup and beauty items, it's always a satisfying feeling to finish some products and know that I am actually using and finishing the items that I have.  The ideal situation would be to actually use more items than I actually buy, but it somehow turns out that I buy approximately 10 items for every item I finish.  Shouldn't it really be the other way around?

I'm sure you're all interested in what is very shortly going to become my trash, but here is a look at the most recent round of products that I've finished:

I was happy to get these items out of the way as the makeup products were pretty old, and I''m eager to try new ones out.  The body care products are items I bought for my stay in Germany, and I've used them up just in time!

Read on for an idea of what I thought of these products!

FOTD: Playing with some brights

Springtime in Berlin is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful things I've seen.  After a brutal and very grey winter, seeing the sun every morning is enough motivation for me to crawl out of bed before 9am and go on a morning run. 

Workout of the Day:
10k run
short arm workout consisting of pushups, tricep dips, and tricep extensions

I never thought I would be able to manage running even 8k, let alone 10k, but they are becoming a norm for me now.  With this weather and some beautiful parks in Berlin, it's definitely less painful that it could be!

Even with finals this week, I can't resist taking a (very) long break from studying by talking a walk through the streets and hitting up a few cafes in the afternoon.  The weather and the sun are taking me out of my makeup rut and inspiring me to do something a little brighter - an accent of a yellow-lime eyeshadow and a cheerful pink lip.  It's definitely a refreshing change from the taupes and neutrals that I've been wearing all year!

 See what I used after the jump!

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What better way to procrastinate my final exam studying...

And so the blogging begins...after months of contemplation and procrastination, I've finally decided to get this going.  I can now say I've completed my 2012 (!) resolution.

Join me on my journey as I obsess over all things beauty with a little dabble in fashion, satisfy my craving for food and try to cook as I continue my fitness journey.  Sound confusing?  This is mostly going to be a lifestyle blog focused on my passions - most notably beauty, my quest to become more healthy and fit, with the occasional ogling over food.

I'll try to keep things interesting to keep myself from going crazy in my real life.  Hopefully this will be entertaining, inspirational, and drool-worthy (on the food part) as I share my adventures with you!