More Of Our Posing Nonsense Followed By Food

If you have read even one of my posts about my trip to the Mediterranean, then you already know that Melissa and I had so much fun getting all dressed up and posing in front of our favorite orange back drop.

So, of course, this night was no exception.

Here is a picture of Melissa looking as stunning as always in her gorgeous black and white dress.



Melissa snapped this first picture of me and quickly realized that it was off center.



So she snapped another one. Unfortunately, I then noticed my Minnie Pearl style tag showing on my table runner shawl.



So, she tried one more time.



Much better.

At this time, I was still having to wear my table runner shawl to cover up my freakishly sunburned skin. (Pitiful.)

After we were done with all of our posing nonsense, it was on to dinner.

This particular night, I chose all of my food selections from the light menu. I had eaten gelato at every port that we had been to, so in order to ensure that my clothes would still fit for the remainder of the trip, I decided it would not hurt me at all to go with some lower calorie choices. (Just for this one meal mind you.)

For my starter that night, I had a salad with a light vinaigrette dressing on top.



For my main course selection, I chose a grilled chicken breast with roasted vegetables. It was tasty, but not exactly filling.



Then for dessert, I chose the low calorie cheesecake topped with some form of strawberry syrup (on the side).



It was very good, but my mind kept drifting back to Sicily and all of the loving thoughts that I had about my cannoli.



Sigh.

Melissa and I got so tickled by our waiter Ioan. He had brought Melissa an extra order of food (I forget exactly why), and she was simply too full to eat it. But Ioan was persistent, so he tried to make her eat it by feeding her himself.



She was so embarrassed and tickled at the same time. (I'm sure me taking a picture of it was not embarrassing for her at all though.)

Our waiters, Ioan and Gusti, made each night's dinner special. I will tell you more about them in future posts.

This is what Melissa and I looked like every night while eating dinner.



All smiles and giggles.

Well, after a fun filled night of model poses and a low calorie dinner, it was time to go back to our room.

Once again, we were very excited to see what kind of towel animal would be waiting to greet us on the bed.



What does it look like to you?

First Stop: Naples, Italy

I'm going to begin telling you a bit about the trip.....I was gone for so many days and so many things happened that I will probably get some things out of order, and I may even repeat myself a lot a little. So I will just apologize to all of you ahead of time for any confusion or repetition that may take place in the upcoming posts. (Especially to Kenny, who I know falls asleep from time to time while reading this blog.) :)

I thought I would start out by showing you the cruise ship that we were on. Melissa took my picture in front of it so we could show everyone. It was called the Carnival Freedom. The Carnival Freedom was absolutely the most wonderful cruise ship that I have ever seen.....I do realize that it is the only one that I have ever seen, but you will just have to trust me when I tell you that I am certain it is the most wonderful.

I'm just saying is all.



Our first port of call was Naples, Italy. (Hi, Aleisha!) This is a picture of Melissa and I getting off of the most wonderful cruise ship. (I should probably also mention and apologize that Melissa and I took our pictures doing absolutely everything; we just wanted to share the experience with everyone is all. Trust me though.....you will love most all of the pictures.)



We basically just drove through Naples (I will tell you about the driving conditions here in a future post) and then on to Sorrento and Positano to be able to see the Amalfi Coast. This picture is me standing in front of Mt. Vesuvius; it was so beautiful. Mt. Vesuvius you may or may not know is the volcano that erupted and destroyed the ancient city of Pompeii in AD 79 (I believe). It's definitely worth looking up if you are not familiar with it.



These next two pictures were taken along the Amalfi Coast. My camera, of course, does not do this place any justice, so once again, you will just have to trust me when I tell you, "This place is breathtaking!"





The rest of the pictures that I am showing you today were taken in Positano. If you have seen the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, Positano is where Diane Lane goes with the first man that she meets and has a romance with. (Just so you know, I am full of all kinds of perfectly useless information like that. It's a gift.)

Positano is as charming as it is beautiful.
Everywhere you look is an amazing view like this one.



And I have never seen so many different types of flowers and trees in my life. All types and all colors.



We were told that all of the houses like the ones you see on the side of the mountain, you have to walk up steps to get to. The people who live in them have to park their cars on the side of the road (like I said earlier, I will talk about the driving conditions here in a future post) and walk up however many steps to get to their homes......Please understand.....It is a lot of steps.



After looking around and shopping in Positano (I'll tell you about that later too) our tour guide drove us all the way to the top of the mountain to have lunch at a local family restaurant. The name of the restaurant is painted on the plate in the next picture.....Imagine a really attractive Italian man pronouncing it for you......Sigh



This restaurant was like something right out of a movie. Nestled at the top of a mountain with an amazing view, full of very attractive Italian men, and more food than you could even imagine. And the whole place was filled with the aroma of fresh baked bread and rich tomato sauces...mmmmmmm! Each dish that was brought to our table was better than the one before; and after stuffing ourselves full......they brought out platters of desserts. It was overwhelming and wonderful.

After stuffing myself to the point of popping, I had to visit the "ladies room." Kenny and Yvette , this last picture is for you. I walked into the bathroom only to see this little picture window opened and overlooking this......



.... a bathroom with a view......only in Italy.:)

My Diet Food

I have struggled with my weight my entire life; it has always been an issue for me.

It is very irritating to me that some people can eat absolutely anything they want to and never gain an ounce.

I can look at food and put on two pounds. Seriously.

When I was a teenager I remember a friend of the family coming over to the house one day. She was soooo excited! I asked her what was going on and she said very proudly,
"I have finally gained two pounds!"

I was so happy for her. She had to eat and eat and eat to put on two pounds. She was born with the curse of being naturally thin.

Just hearing the food she had to eat to reach this milestone caused me to gain three pounds.

My boys, thankfully, have never had a problem with their weight. They eat basically anything they want to. Regular Pringles for example. I eat the Fat Free Pringles...

One day I walked in the kitchen to find Daniel eating my Pringles......I freaked out calmly said to him, "Son, don't eat my food! You can eat anything in the kitchen and you want to gobble up my stuff?"

There's a kitchen full of food he can eat, but he eats up my diet food.
My food full of no flavor and ingredients that have some less than pleasant side effects.

I'm really not a mean mother, but sometimes it makes me cranky.....I'm just saying is all.

I live with a household of males who burn more calories lying around on the couch than I do riding my exercise bike for 3 hours. It's irritating.

The reason I probably sound a little resentful is that I'm jealous.

I want regular Pringles.

I want to eat a piece of chocolate cake with out wondering where it is going to end up on my body.

I want to lay on the couch and watch television with a bowl of buttered popcorn and not have to break out my fat comfortable pants, or worry that my shoes won't fit in the morning.

Suzanne Sugarbaker explains it better than I do; I think we were separated at birth.:)