But I mean, don't we all? 

There's so much I love about summertime. I love lazy mornings of sipping coffee and reading the newspaper before my day begins. I love the freedom and flexibility to do things I just can't fit in during the school year. And I really love that I have the time and energy to try new things! 

On days I teach Jazzercise, I typically just make that my workout for the day. But on days I don't teach, I'm always looking for new inspiration. And while I love running, some days I just want something I can do in the air conditioning! 

Thanks to the magic of Pinterest, I've found some AMAZING workouts so that I can keep what I'm doing fresh and not let my body get too used to the same types of things. Lately, it seems my focus has been on arms or things I can do without a bunch of equipment on hand. 

These are a few of my favorites right now: 

1. This six minute excuse proof workout from SparkPeople requires zero equipment, and can be done anywhere! And really, I have zero excuse for not getting in six minutes of working out. 

2. This 20 minute ab flattening workout from PopSugar consists of just five moves with cardio bursts in between. Easy, quick, and effective! 

3. This ten minute lower body workout video from PopSugar features workout guru Anna Renderer (she's my FAVE right now!) and ten solid minutes of leg and glute work. Awesome when you're time crunched! 

4. This body weight workout from PopSugar is a great circuit for toning and tightening without any equipment necessary. 

5. This 60 minute boot camp workout from Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers will bring on the sweat! Each circuit should be completed for three minutes before moving on to the next box. This workout rocks! 

I really would love to find a great yoga workout to incorporate into my regimen, but think I need to do a little more YouTube searching until I find one I really like. 

What are you doing right now for your workouts? And yoga advice for this newbie? 

Our Grecian adventure: Where we went, what we loved, and travel tips if you're going!

When Dan and I started talking about honeymoon destinations, the first place I thought of was Greece. It's the one place I've always wanted to go, and I thought there was no better time to go then on our honeymoon! Luckily, Dan agreed, and since I was in the throes of wedding planning, he took on planning the honeymoon. 

He totally nailed it! 

We went to four different places in Greece: the islands of Rhodes, Mykonos, and Santorini, and the city of Athens. All of them were so unique and wonderful in their own ways, so I've broken them down below. 

Rhodes lighthouse

Palace of the Grand Masters at night

The Stadium at Temple of Apollo

What we loved about Rhodes:
We decided to stay in Rhodes Town, which is at the north of the island. Our hotel, The Mediterranean, was located directly next to the Casino, although, we didn't even step in there! We wanted to be within walking distance to Old Town Rhodes, which we were! And, bonus: the hotel gave us breakfast and lunch or dinner every day, so we only had to pay for one other meal out! Our favorite place there were the Palace of the Grand Master, a colossal structure in the heart of Old Town. It was intermingled with the shopping area, and gave us a reprieve from the sun. We also took a morning to walk out to the Temple of Apollo and Stadium (about three miles from our hotel), which was incredible to see. There's not much left of the Temple anymore, but the stadium (which was buried until the early 1900s) is in amazing shape. There's just something so incredible about walking among structures that existed before Christ. There's just so much history there! There's an incredible lighthouse in Rhodes, and it used to house one of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World (no longer there, unfortunately). The beach, and therefore, the Aegean Sea, were directly across from the hotel and we loved walking out to that view every morning. The hotel had a nice, albeit, small pool, but most people opted for the beach, so it wasn't ever too crowded. Rhodes will always hold a special place in our hearts... it was our first stop! 

What we didn't love about Rhodes: 
The hotel was okay. The room was small, but we didn't spend tons of time in it. It also had two twin beds pushed together (it was so small, I'm pretty sure a larger bed wouldn't have fit through the doorway!). The bathroom was also teeny-tiny -- like, the door touched the sink when you opened and closed it. Other than that, Rhodes rocked!

First view of The Acropolis (on the mountainside) 

The Acropolis at night

Temple of Athena, The Acropolis

What we loved about Athens: 
Umm, so much. Athens is so full of amazing history. We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, about 3/4 miles outside of the city center, but they had an awesome shuttle bus that ran on a schedule to take us back and forth. Athens has amazing shopping, both upscale and touristy (the Plaka market is awesome!). Our first full day there, we went to The Acropolis, which was absolutely AMAZING! The structures there are absolutely incredible -- they're HUGE, for one, and it makes you wonder how so many years ago, people were able to put these things together. Unbelievable! We got to visit a lot of other historical sites there too: Ancient Agora (where Socrates and Plato taught!), Hadrian's Library, Temple of Zeus, and the first modern Olympic Stadium (first used in the 1896 Olympics)! When we weren't seeing all of the history, we moseyed through different market areas and ate our faces off (the buffet breakfast at the hotel was AMAZING!). We went to a great restaurant named Arcadia where we stuffed ourselves on stuffed zucchini flowers, baked cheese with fig spread, and chicken pasta with dried tomatoes. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! The Acropolis Museum was also incredible... so many artifacts they've discovered over the years! 

Temple of Zeus

The Archway!

The Olympic Stadium

Ancient Agora

What we didn't love about Athens: 
Lord was it HOT there. Especially when you're standing on the mountain top of The Acropolis. In hindsight, we should have gone as soon as they were open (they opened at 8, we didn't get there until around 10). At that time, there were a lot of elementary tour groups coming through. And as much as we love children, Dan likened them to packs of locusts swarming around and descending at will. They were everywhere! 

Mykonos!

Mykonos skyline

The view from our hotel room!

The iconic Mykonos windmills

What we loved about Mykonos: 
Mykonos is so picturesque! Lots of white buildings with blue roofs. We spent a lot of time walking around the shopping area... lots of little pathways between the buildings, which was really neat. Our favorite store was Ionnhas Knitwear shop -- she had such beautiful handmade pieces! We definitely did a lot of shopping on Mykonos! Dan discovered his love for Loukamades (honey fritters) and I discovered my love for medium-sweet Frapes (which is essentially iced coffee, but for some reason, way frothier and way better). We went out to the island of Delos by ferry. Delos is an uninhabited island that is home to remnants of an ancient civilization. The museum there is fascinating, and I even found a statue that looks just like my best friend's dad! Our hotel was The San Marco, about two miles out of town, and also included breakfast. Our room was HUGE and looked right out over the Aegean Sea. You can't beat that! 

Delos island, entrance to Cleopatra's house

We had to stop for some Ferrero Rocher and Baklava gelato!

I'm telling you, this guy looks exactly like my friend's dad! :) Statue doppleganger!

What we didn't love about Mykonos: 
Mykonos is known as the party island, but our nightlife is about non-existent these days. The hotel did offer a shuttle, but most of the times it ran were at night, so it made it difficult to get to and fro during the day. Mykonos also had a lot of little bugs! We made the mistake the first evening of leaving our room windows open... and paid the price later in the form of bug bites. Lesson learned. Mykonos is also VERY hilly. For example, Dan had located a lighthouse about 2.5 miles from our hotel. We planned to take a morning run out to it and then back. Yeah, in the first three minutes of the run, there was, like, a straight incline uphill (I might be exaggerating, but not by much). We made it... maybe a half mile before we threw in the towel. But, if you ever need amazing hill training, Mykonos is your place! ;)

Fira! 

Fira, Santorini's beautiful sunset!

The line up of donkeys! 

ATV adventures -- Dan was in heaven!

What we loved about Santorini: 
By far, our favorite island! Santorini has it all -- history, culture, shopping, water sports, and the nicest people we encountered! Our hotel was The Majestic, and boy was it! We got a room upgrade since it was our honeymoon, so our room had a downstairs and a bedroom upstairs. We also got a free bottle of Vinsanto, the sweet wine that Santorini is famous for! Oh, and in addition to the included breakfast, they also delivered it as room service for no cost! Now THAT'S a nice way to wake up on the honeymoon! Our hotel was just a seven minute walk outside the city of Fira, which we loved. We rented an ATV to ride around the island one day, and got to see the Red Beach, the Black Beaches, and the White Beach. We went to Ancient Akritiri, an entire civilization found underground in the 60s (they theorize that only 3% of it has been uncovered at this point!). You actually get to walk through parts of it, which is awesome! We also traveled up to Thira, an ancient civilization that was on a mountainside, but it was closed when we got up there. We even stopped at the oldest winery on the island and went through their wine museum -- very neat to see the differences of growing wine on the island. Their sweet wines are made from sundried grapes. DELISH! Dan and I also planned a snorkeling expedition and got to snorkel in the Aegean Sea! We stopped in two locations and the amount and variety of fish we saw was just incredible! The food on the island was amazing -- we had a great dinner right on the bluff in Fira, a place called Nassou, and stopped at a small stand in town called Yogi Gyros. Excellent! Our last night on Santorini, we went to Oia, where the sights are absolutely amazing. 

The Red Beach of Santorini

Snorkeling time! 

Oia's skyline!

Oia's beautiful (but crowded!) sunset!

What we didn't love about Santorini: 
Nothing! Okay, maybe a few things. Oia was very windy -- like, blow you over windy. Additionally, everyone talked about the fabulous sunset there, and it was fabulous, but you're literally crammed into a small area on the island with 400 of your best friends also trying to see it. The sunset we saw in Fira was just as beautiful and more private and romantic. :) 

Our trip was to totally incredible, but we did come back with a few tips: 

-Use a travel agency. Although Dan planned the itinerary, the travel agency set up the hotels and all our transfers from airports to hotels. I can't tell you how relieved I was by that. I get stressed when dealing with public transportation in places I don't know, especially when signs are in Greek! It was amazing to step off a plane, see a sign with our last name on it, and immediately get wisked off to our destination. Grateful for that! 

-Go directly to the information center when you get somewhere. Sometimes there will be a small brochure at the gate of the historical site when you get there. But there's usually better info at the museum or information center. On Delos, for instance, it took us about 20 minutes to get our bearings. But the museum had an AMAZING map that was filled with information. Start there! 

-Eat the chocolate croissants. As many as you can. 

-Bring your own washcloths. Two of the hotels had them. Two did not. I know that seems silly, but I like my washcloth! 

-Buy water when you're in town at a grocery store or gas station. On the islands, the water is salty, so bottled water is the only way to go. The hotel will offer it, but at a premium. Buying it elsewhere is way cheaper! 

-Be careful what you shoot. We saw a lot of people (okay, us too) get yelled at for taking pictures at the historical sites. I may or may not have stood behind a headless statue and taken a picture with it. We got yelled at for that. We also saw a girl get yelled at for her mom taking a picture of her jumping in front of a building at the Ancient Agora. A man with a very loud whistle blew it and screamed, "No jumping pictures!" Good to know! 

-Most everything and everyone will be in and speak English. My extent of spoken Greek is "OPA!" But we had no trouble at all getting around, speaking to others, ordering meals, and finding what we were looking for. People were really great to us! 

We're baaaaaack!

The Acropolis, Athens

We're baaaaaaack! After, quite literally, the most AMAZING 14 days in Greece, Dan and I got home in the wee hours of Saturday morning and immediately passed out. I think 25ish hours of travel will do that to you! 

Where do I even start? Umm, Greece is incredible. Just absolutely, breathtakingly incredible. If you've even toyed with the idea of going to Greece, you have to do it! We keep talking about how this trip was once in a lifetime, and I'm so thrilled that we got to have two weeks together to explore the one place I've always wanted to go. 

Rhodes

We were able to go to four different destinations within the country: Rhodes, Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini. Each one was so unique, offering something just a little bit different from all the other places. I'll get into a point by point breakdown of where we went, what we saw, and what we loved later this week, but, (spoiler alert!) Santorini was hands down our favorite location. Between all the history, the GORGEOUS land and waterscapes, and the endless amount of food coming our way, it was easily one of the neatest places I've ever been. 

We're slowly readjusting to normal life. We've both been suffering from bouts of exhaustion, as evidenced by our accidental 7:30 p.m. bed time last night, but I think we'll be back to normal in no time! 

Santorini

Dan and I keep asking ourselves where we'd like to travel to next. For as long as I can remember, Greece was the destination for me, so now I'm thinking about all sorts of other places to go! 

Question of the day: Where is your favorite place to travel to and why? 

Mykonos

Planning a South Bend wedding? A review of local vendors!

Let's be honest, wedding planning can be stressful. Like, really, really stressful. Even if you tend to be an organized do-it-your-selfer kind of person, it can be a pain to keep it all straight. I like to think of myself as the kind of person who can make and follow a to-do list to a t. But there were times that wedding planning felt a little like trying to organize a herd of cats. Or the Superbowl. But I digress. 

If you're planning a wedding in the South Bend, Indiana, area, there are some amazing vendors to choose from. Here's a little bit about each of the vendors I used in the hopes that this will help a bride or two from feeling slightly less stress throughout your process. 

Ceremony Venue: Church of Our Lady of Loretto, Saint Mary's College
Ever since I was a student at Saint Mary's, I knew I wanted to get married in this place, on this campus, surrounded by so many wonderful memories from college. As a teacher, I feel like it's only fitting that I tied in a place that focuses on education. Plus, the church is round on the inside, which I absolutely love! I'm not going as in-depth here since you have to be an alum in order to get married here, but this was the very first thing we booked! 

Reception Venue: Hilton Garden Inn, Saint Mary's College campus
I literally dreamed of having our reception here almost as quickly as we got engaged. But, our date changed once or twice, and we there was a tentative hold on our date, so I didn't know if we would be able to have the reception there. As luck would have it, though, the date opened, and we booked it immediately! Our coordinator at Hilton Garden in was Megan Lesar, and she was absolutely fantastic to work with! She was great about answering any questions we had, and always responded quickly. The room looked absolutely incredible when we walked in the night of the wedding -- literally, everything we had talked about was above and beyond my expectations. The food was INCREDIBLE there, as it's all made by the chefs at Bistro 933 (one of our favorite restaurants!)! Added bonus: Megan took care of moving all of our gifts to our room for us so that we didn't have to have family and friends stay after and help us after the ceremony was over! That might seem like a small detail, but I think it just proves how serious they take customer service from beginning to end. I seriously hope we get to attend a wedding here someday, because I really want to see it from the guest side of everything! 

Dresses and Suits: Wedding Belles Bridal, Stevensville, Michigan
I only looked at two different stores for my wedding dress, but after I went the first day, I knew I would find my dress at Wedding Belles. The atmosphere and the people there were simply the best! The store is owned and operated by Patty Sanders and her son Will. They, along with their very talented staff, were able to help us narrow down all of our options until we found the absolute perfect dresses and suits! Our entire bridal party (sans children) and our parents were all outfitted at Wedding Belles. If you go there, I highly recommend Juli for a consultant! She helped me to find my perfect dress and even came to our wedding (as a guest!) and helped me bustle it! Now THAT is customer service! 

Jewelry for bridesmaids and moms: Heather Furness, Stars and Sparkle Accessories, LaPorte, Indiana
I lucked out SO MUCH on the jewelry for the ladies in my bridal party. My friend and fellow Jazzercise instructor, Heather, makes AMAZING custom jewelry (check her out here!)! I spoke with her about the vision I had in my brain and sent her a few photos I had found off of various websites, and she put together the most perfect jewelry ever for me. Pictured above is what I gave the girls (each necklace had a little initial charm so each one was unique!)! She even wrapped and labeled the packages beautifully for me. I would recommend Heather to anyone -- I loved the jewelry so much, I had her make me a set too!

Hair, Jamie Yops and Angie, Studio C, South Bend, Indiana
Jamie has been my go to stylist for years now, and I knew I'd want her doing my hair on the wedding day. Not only were she and Angie incredibly talented, they kept the appointments moving and got us out early! I loved that all the looks went together but each one was different from the next. Jamie creates amazing up-dos, but also gives great haircuts and picks perfect hair colors, in the event that you need her for that too! 

Makeup, Camellia Cosmetics, Granger, Indiana
Camellia has been the leader in area makeup since they opened. Our wedding makeup didn't disappoint! They were pretty packed with makeup appointments the day of our wedding, so we did get bogged down a little toward the middle, but everyone looked incredible, so it was totally worth it! 

DJ and Uplighting: Shawn Saros at ProShow DJ, Mishawaka, Indiana
We loved ProShow as soon as we met with him, and Shawn came highly recommended to us from other couples we knew. Shawn was great when we met with him and really heard what we wanted for our wedding. He kept the dance floor packed the entire night, and even worked with us to make some special, individual touches to make our wedding just what we wanted. Additionally, Shawn is just an all around great guy. He came by Dan and I more than a few times to see if we needed anything (a drink, cake, anything!)! If we ever need a DJ again, Shawn will be our guy! He even recommended our first dance song, and we loved it! 

Photography: Kaity Fuja, OMG Photography
We received really great advice early on in the wedding planning process. We were told, "Splurge on the photographer, because 20 years from now, all you've have left from that day are those pictures and your memories." We knew we wanted amazing pictures to look back on. I've known Kaity since I was in high school (and we share a birthday!), so I knew I'd want Kaity to shoot our wedding. The woman is SUPER talented (as evidenced by the fact that she's shooting 22 (22!!!) weddings this year!)! We couldn't have asked for better memories from our day. I can't wait to show these pictures to people for the rest of our lives! 

Flowers, Polly McCarthy, Poppies Floral
There is good news and bad news when it came to our flowers. The good news is our flowers were absolutely incredible. The bad news is we got married on Mother's Day weekend... one of the two holidays a year when flower costs rise markedly (the other, of course, is Valentine's Day). So, our flowers were pricey. But they were beautiful, and Polly knows her stuff! Polly has a tremendous amount of experience under her belt, and showed us pictures of some of the most creative and beautiful displays I've ever seen! Our flowers absolutely fall into that category! The moral of the story is be careful what weekend you get married. :) 

Cake, Tammy, Ralph's Bakery, New Carlisle, Indiana
Let's be honest, I love a good cake. This was one of the parts of wedding planning I was MOST excited about! Cake and I are close personal friends, so we knew it had to be good. We tried cake at a few different places. One was just okay. One we really liked, but it was pricey for a wedding of our size. But the last one was just right! I'd had birthday cake from Ralph's before, and I kept remembering the delicious frosting and fillings. When we met with Tammy, it was literally love at first bite. We had a hard time deciding which cake was our favorite, so we had to get four different flavors! It was EXTREMELY reasonable and absolutely delicious! 

Groom's Cake, Brigitte Vegter, PawPaw, Michigan
Brigitte is married to James, one of Dan's groomsmen and she makes absolutely stunning cakes! Dan was desperately trying to get his Pontiac GTO done in time for our wedding, but it just wasn't in the cards for the wedding, and perfection can't be rushed. So, I reached out to Brigitte to ask her if she could make a GTO cake for Dan. And boy, did she come through! The cake looked absolutely amazing -- a black GTO complete with rice krispie wheels, light up headlights, and a Putt plate on the front with our wedding date plate on the back. It was incredible! And double bonus, it TASTED incredible too! I keep telling Brigitte she should go into business -- her cakes are too awesome not to!

Mini-honeymoon, Yelton Manor Bed and Breakfast, South Haven, Michigan
Dan and I planned to go away for a night before we had to readjust to normal life. We left on the Sunday after our wedding without a plan, and started driving toward South Haven. Neither of us had ever stayed at a Bed and Breakfast before, and after some intense car Googling, we found Yelton Manor Bed and Breakfast . Ohmigosh, I LOVE this place! We were the only guests in the Manor that night, and the owners Elaine and Robert were more than hospitable. Each room is filled with games and books galore, which, honestly, could have entertained us for weeks on end! Sunday evening, it was raining, and we sat on the covered porch for a good hour just listening to rain fall. So peaceful and wonderful! And breakfast the next morning was scrumptious, and featured many items from the gardens on the grounds. If you're ever looking for a B&B in South Haven, SUPER highly recommend this one!