Wonder Grace Joy: July 2022

Sunday, July 31, 2022

Dear July

July always reminds me of Sailboats.

WOAH! You were quite the wrecking ball. I don't know if I've had a month quite like you. I don't know if you should take it as a compliment or something shameful. You were A LOT. A Lot of good, A Lot of weird, A Lot of emotions.

Lets jump in shall we?

You started off strong with Vacation! It was so much fun and the memories made will be in my mind for a long time. North Carolina is absolutely gorgeous and there was so much I wanted to do but couldn't fit it in. I am excited to go back to see more of what North Carolina has to offer.

Right after the great vacation memories, someone decided that it was finally time, after 2 years, for C0VID to visit me and my family and boy what a visit it was! It made itself at home for what I felt like an extended vacation that it was not welcome on. I felt terrible I gave it to my parents but in the end, we all ended up well. We are all fully recovered and very happy to be close to one another again.

After C0VID, I had to play catch up at work. That was probably the hardest part for me because I am still playing catch up. I feel like I have a never ending to-do list that just keeps multiplying like bunnies. I am the type of person who has a to do list, I like to accomplish it the same day I write it and a lot of things have been pushed to another day and I feel like I won't be able to get to that item. I know I will be able to get all the work done at some point but its a bit frustrating.

I was also playing catch-up with my blog this month too. I felt I went into July with some posts scheduled and I was set and I was able to get the North Carolina Recaps out soon after my trip and I had these grandiose ideas to keep up with my blog and to get ahead of the game, so to speak BUT here we are, my Recaps are not published yet and I am working my way to getting back on track. #RealLife

Kyle and I went on a fun adventure this month besides our vacation. Our adventure was to Ikea in Elizabeth. Kyle was looking for the skinny Billy bookcase which has been elusive since out last trip to Ikea in March. Elizabeth said it had one Skinny Billy Bookcase BUT Brooklyn had fourteen. We knew it was a gamble to try Elizabeth, even if we get there around opening BUT we tried. We knew exactly where to go and find this elusive Billy Bookcase BUT we were too late... it was already sold. Kyle looks at me and said "Brooklyn?" I said "why not!" We were able to get from Elizabeth to Brooklyn in 30 minutes, on a Sunday, in July. It was like the stars aligned for us and the traffic was minimum. It was amazing! Ikea in Brooklyn is also in an industrial area on the water. We knew what we wanted and we went right there and fourteen of them were there, waiting for us to take them to their forever homes. We scooped up three and then found the inserts for the Klaax storage cubes and we were on line to check out in no time.

Kyle asked what we wanted to do now, since we are in Brooklyn. Pizza was the first thing on our minds. Kyle did a quick google search and we found a highly rated pizza bar close to where we were. We were able to find street parking in front of the beautiful brownstones and a block later, we were standing in front of Via Roma Pizza Bar, a tiny store front pizzeria. We walked in and found that bar was a loose term. It was a teeny tiny pizza shop with a patio area out back. We ordered a Margarita pizza and grabbed a drink from the cooler- They had this fun bottled sodas, I chose a Shirley Temple. It felt so fancy but also so simple. It was perfect. We made our way back out to the patio and waited for our pizza. 15 minutes later, Kyle comes back with a huge pizza and it looked SO good! We dug right into it and I can say I totally get why people say Brooklyn pizza is sooo good! It has to be that water they use.

On our way home, we were traveling back into Staten Island and I said to him "can we make a stop?" He looked a bit confused why I wanted to stop in Staten Island and when I told him "for the best cupcakes ever" He chuckled and said sure. I was so excited to get those cupcakes and again, it has to be the water they use to make them.

This month I really jumped head first into my training for the Lacey 5K. I really love the program Couch to 5K but it was really hard for me to start this program. Feeling like a beginner at anything always feels so scary to anyone and for me, it was a mental hurdle for me to get over and once I did it felt good to be back out there. I found my rhythm with the sessions and listening to longer podcasts really seemed to help take my mind of the fact that I was running. LOL I ended the month being able to run for 20 continuous minutes and that was HUGE for me. I was so proud and so excited I was able to do that!

One great thing that has happened this month is that I have become more comfortable in my skin. Over the years, I didn't wear shorts because I didn't like how I looked in them or I didn't wear this because I didn't like that. If you are a woman, you totally get what I mean. Yet this summer, I wore the shorts, I wore things that in previous summers, I might not have reached for. It was/is a pretty freeing feeling. I love seeing on social media the body positivity posts; no one is perfect and we are all beautiful in our own ways.

Along the lines of being more comfortable in my skin, I would like to say that I am at more ease with life, most of the time. I think life has handed me many curve balls and I like to think I have handled them with grace and gotten through them pretty well but sometimes I feel like I am trying to round up 12 squirrels who all drank double XL espressos. I guess its all part of the balance with life.

Lastly, I have finally gotten back on to my stand up paddleboard and its safe to say that after our paddleboard adventure in North Carolina, I was excited to get back on mine. Adrienne hosted a sunset SUP Yoga two weeks ago and it was such a perfect night. The water was like glass, there was little humidity and it seemed to me that we had the whole creek/lagoon to ourselves. WELL, we shared it with some very peaceful ducks and a family of swans. I am so excited to paddle more next month. I love seeing my car sprinkled with sand.

UPDATES:

License Plate Game: 1 new one- HAWAII. This was a funny story.... Kyle and I found this one in North Carolina. We were driving back to Asheville and I said to him "I think that's a Hawaii License Plate. Well he stepped on the gas and we tried to catch up to this car to verify and in doing so, we realized we followed him off an exit we were not intending to go. I got the biggest fit of giggles because of that. Oh the things you will do for a game.

Exercise: The only type of exercise I did this month was walking, jogging and yoga. I didn't climb at all- I bet my membership misses me! I shared last month that I decided to give up my gym membership for the summer and I am so happy I did that. I have been really enjoying finding ways to exercise that are outdoors.

My 2022 Goals:

I moved 12 out of 30 days this month (Move at least 3 times a week)
I spent 15ish hours outside (Spend 1000 hours outside this year)
I tried to show kindness all month (being the best version of myself) and it really boosted my mood those days when I was kind.
I was NOT creative at all this month. I am still struggling with this. (Be more Creative)

Did you miss any of my posts this month? Find them all below:

Whew! What a month! Keeping up with last month, I shared what emoji July was based on what the first 12 emojis were in my phone of January 1 which was 😍 and I am pretty sure that was pretty spot on. August's emoji is 🥺 and I am scared/curious to see how that translates into my life. Well August, please be nice to me.

[[Every Summer, like the roses, childhood returns- Marty Rubin]]

PS. Saying yes to adventures was another big thing for me this month. On our trip, we did a few things that were not planned ahead of time and we found them and just went for them and they turned out to be so much fun! Same with our Ikea Adventure, why not go on another adventure to find something. Isn't the best stories always about unexpected things? Saying yes helped me this month and brought a lot of joy to my life.

Friday, July 29, 2022

friYAY Favorites

YAY! Its Friday again! Did anyone ride the struggle bus this WHOLE week? Okay good! Glad we are all in the same boat!

I am linking up with Andrea and Erika today for Friday Favorites.

I have a few random things that have stood out for me this week:

Brain Fog/// I deal with brain fog with Crohn's disease and I have no idea if this is a Crohn's Disease brain fog or a post C0vid brain fog.... either way I do not like it. I feel really dumb talking some days because I am forgetting random common words. Its bad. Any tips or tricks to combat this are very welcome!

Yoga/// I think the yoga bug has bitten me again. It has been a few years since I have truly focused on yoga and since doing SUP yoga last week (Which was amazing) and some basic yoga stretches at Couch to 5K, I realized I actually miss it. I have a love hate relationship with Yoga Teachers- sometimes I feel like they don't cue the movement right for me to understand, sometimes they are too out there and something I don't like their vibe. I am excited to try Gravity Vault's yoga classes. Its included with my membership, so I probably should take advantage of that. It would be a double benefit, climbing and yoga in one place.

Blown Away/// Have you seen this on Netflix yet? Its in its 3rd season and Kyle and I watched the first episode of Season 3 and WOAH! We were totally Blown Away (pun intended) by these sculptures the artist made. I LOVED the gumball machine. I thought it was so neat!

Everything Everywhere All At Once/// Have you seen this yet? O.M.G. we went into this blind, not knowing anything about it and I was in awe of it. Not many things will keep my undivided attention and yes I might have shut my eyes for a few minutes, but I watched 95% of this and it was really cool. Without giving anything away, I loved the hot dog fingers. It was so silly and weird! If you watched it, what was your favorite part?

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That is my Four on Friday!

Today I am hoping to do some errands, some things around the house and do some jogging around the neighborhood before the storms roll in. I am also in the process of sorting through a shoe box of old family photos I found so I can put them in an album. My gosh, there are so many core memories that have popped up even some I had tucked far far away. Its really sweet to see these old memories especially of loved ones who are no longer here.

Did you miss my posts this week? Find them below:

WGJ vol. 31 | Diary #31 | WGJ Travels: Seasoned Traveler Tips and Tricks

Have a fantastic weekend! Be well and be Kind!

[[Be gentle with yourself. You are doing just fine.]]

Thursday, July 28, 2022

WGJ Travels: Seasoned Traveler Tips and Tricks

Another week, another WGJ Travels post.

This week’s post is all about a certain favorite traveler. He's lived in a few different countries, traveled to more countries than I can name, and he loves taking along a certain pink travel companion on his adventures… If you guessed it was KYLE, you are correct.

On our way to Hacklebarney State Park a few weeks ago, I interviewed him for this post.

10 years of adventures

Gabrielle: Okay Kyle, your age and location.

Kyle: 33, New Jersey, USA

G: First question: what are your go-to items for traveling?

K: Toiletries, clothes, phones, ipad, chargers, and neck pillow. I used to carry a nice camera but I left it in a rental car in Serbia and did not get a new one, so a phone camera is all I need now. I’ll also bring country-specific items, like electrical adapters and possibly transformers.

G: How long are your trips normally?

K: Typically no more than a week these days, because of limited time off of work. And for the sake of packing and hygiene considerations, I tend to keep things under two weeks.

G: Right, that makes sense.

G: What is your most memorable place you've traveled?

K: Hmmm… too many. My favorite place I've hiked has been on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

G: Oh wow! That must have been beautiful.

K: It was. My favorite place I've driven is Eastern Europe, in the Balkans.

G: Oooh! There has to be a story there.

K: LOL! I drove in 7 different countries in 7 days on that adventure. I drove in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. .

G: How neat is that? They don't have automatic cars there right?

K: To rent, it tends to be all stick.

Machu Picchu 2012

G: Okay, how do you stay safe in a foreign country?

K: Be careful about being overly friendly.

G: Duly noted and trying to work on that... go on.

K: Be friendly and courteous to locals but be aware of them trying to take advantage of happy tourists. If you frown more, I found it’s actually harder to be taken advantage of.

G: [Writes down "Practice frowning."]

K: Keep your cash low, you can always go to an ATM–at least ones that are attached to reputable banks. Cards can be replaced. Research the area you are going to. Just because an area is big and loud and full of tourists, it does not always mean they are safe for tourists. I have found that smaller, local places tend to be safer.

G: Great tips! I like the one about frowning the most. Maybe that would work here in the states too! LOL

G: Okay, next question. How do you plan a trip?

K: I start with flight deals based on any number of emails I get from different airlines, or just perusing Google Flights.. I will set parameters of a start date and an end date. I see where the best deals are and then make a decision. Once I have the flights, then I pick the places I want to hit and then plan the days from there.

G: Okay that makes sense, start with the big things and then zoom in to get to the smaller items.

K: Yup! I use Google maps, atlasobscura.com and sometimes even dangerousroads.org to add in fun little activities that aren’t the standard tourist fare

Norway 2022

G: What was a travel “oops” that turned into a memorable experience.

K: LOL; Two come to mind.

G: GREAT! Let's hear them!

K: I went to Italy for a post-graduation trip with my girlfriend at the time. We went to Cinque Terre one day. We had no place to stay. This was before and before I had a smartphone. We met an old man named Sergio at the train station. He asked "Do you need a place to stay?" We answered "Yes," and we followed him back to his home. He knew more French than English so we communicated in broken French and English. And it turned out he had a nice extra bedroom and bathroom and provided us breakfast, so it was basically an in-person AirBnB situation.

G: Oh my gosh! He just let you into his home?!

K: Yup! We didn't leave any of our valuables there when we went off to explore, but it definitely made for a neat story.

G: Um, it sure did! What's the other story?

K: I was living overseas in Russia for work. In the summer of 2012, I was stubborn and still didn’t have a smartphone. . I was taking my first big solo Asia trip to South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. I printed out all the confirmations and directions and I thought I was ready. I was walking around trying to find my hotel in Taiwan after being dropped in a sketchy alley by my taxi. I couldn't tell where it was; there were no signs. I finally was able to call them and they said "you go to your room at this location." I was confused and asked them how to get into the room when I haven't checked in yet. They said the key was inside the room and the room was unlocked. Someone will come along tomorrow to collect the money. It was so annoying, because it meant I had to budget time in my tight schedule to hang out at the room and wait for these payment collectors to show up.

G: Oh my gosh, wait, they just let you stay in the room and then they would get their money?!

K: Yeah, kinda backwards but it made for a cool story.

G: Okay! What was your longest flight?

K: That's easy. Newark to Mumbai for my sister's wedding. It was a 15 hour flight.

G: Ooooh!

K: And Moscow to Los Angeles was about 13 hours..

K: My longest flight trip with layovers was to South Africa. I flew from Houston to Amsterdam then Amsterdam to Johannesburg. It ended up being about 22,000 miles.

G: Woah! That is some serious frequent flier miles.

India 2017

G: Okay, on the flip side, what is your shortest flight?

K: Commercially, it was from Anchorage, Alaska to Kenai, Alaska, about 15 - 20 minutes, give or take. I have flown short trips in helicopters too.

K: The smallest commercial plane that I actually was in was last month, from Tortola to San Juan, which was in a Cessna 402.

G: You are truly brave to be flying in such a small plane.

G: What are your favorite airports?

K: Internationally, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, or Seoul’s Incheon Airport; Domestically, it's probably Indianapolis or maybe even the newly remodeled Delta terminals at JFK.

G: :::feverishly googles Amsterdam and Seoul airports::::: OHHHH! So Pretty!

G: Flipside, what is your LEAST favorite airport?
K: LOL, Newark by a long shot (and it’s the airport I use the most). Siberian airports (all of them) are all pretty bad. Actually, Tortola most closely resembled the typical Siberian airport experience than anywhere else I’ve been in the last 8 years..

G: LOL!!

G: I remembered seeing a map of all the miles you have flown throughout your lifetime, can you share that with me?

K: Okee! Here it is, updated as of June 30, 2022.

G: Are there any places you're itching to visit?
K: Of course! Everywhere I haven't been yet.

G: LOL duh!

K: And most places I've been that I enjoyed, I would go back.

G: Okay! How about a list of places that you can think of off the top of your head.

K: Hmmm.....

K: The Alpine countries of Europe (Switzerland, Austria); Eastern Europe- Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria; Czechia; Iberian Peninsula- Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar; , Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia; Egypt, Morocco, Zimbabwe; Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Mainland China, Jordan, and climbing Kilimanjaro

G: WOAH! Very neat! I feel like I visited a lot of those places playing Carmen San Diego.

G: Okay, this is something I always wonder, what are some travel myths that everyone thinks are true but aren't.

K: Hmmm, okay! I've heard that there are gypsy children in Italy who pickpocket all the time, but when I was there, both times, I didn't see any.

G: Oh! That's an interesting one!

K: Hmmm, another one was that French people hate Americans. That's partly true. They do not like the ignorance of their language. The French are proud of their language, which goes for most countries. If you try to speak French, they will be more willing to help you. I have also learned that the smaller the country, the less widespread their language is and more likely they will speak fluent English.

G: That makes complete sense. Neat!

Costa Rica 2017

G: What is your perfect vacation?

K: In a perfect vacation world, I always try to do 4 things: something in nature (like hiking, climbing, frolicking through fields of sweet smelling flowers…); something cultural (food events/festivals/arts/etc) something historical like a significant monument, ruin, museum, or castle; and finally something social like make new friends, check out the nightlife, and maybe party a bit!.

G: Oh what a good plan! I like that.

Newcastle Upon Tyne, England 2019

G: How do you plan, financially, for these vacations?

K: I track my finances. I know what to adjust to be able to afford vacations. I also work around it and make it a priority. I like traveling so it's high on my priority list.

G: What is your mindset going into a vacation?

K: I am thinking, "Thank god I am getting away," and I am looking forward to new and different things.

G: What are your expectations going into a vacation?

K: I have none beyond what I planned to do. I like the social things to happen organically- like stumbling upon a festival or meeting fun people at the bar. I don't go looking for it, it usually finds me.

Russia 2011

G: Lastly, do you prefer to carry on luggage or check your luggage.

K: Normally I carry on because Newark baggage claim is slow and I am usually flying for work; I don't have much. This way once the flight lands, I can just go to get my rental car and be on my merry way as fast as possible. It’s also much quicker if traveling internationally and going through customs. The first time I moved to Russia, it took like two hours for my checked bag to come out.

G: Thank you so much for letting me interview you!

K: :) No problem

G: I've learned a lot about you; and I can't wait for our next adventure.

Macau 2012

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Well, there you have it, a fun interview with Kyle. He truly is a Carmen Sandiego, with all the places he has traveled. The stories and photos he provided me were so fascinating and neat to see. It was a walk down memory lane for him.

If you are wondering why Penelope, the new world traveler, was not mentioned in this post, its because she will have her own post in a few weeks.

Did you miss my previous WGJ Travel posts? Catch them here: Planning; Destination Bucket List; Travel Must Haves; What's In My Suitcase; Vacation Mode; What I Packed vs. What I Used

Catch the next WGJ travels tomorrow, its the first part of my Recap in North Carolina.

[[Oh, the places you will go!]]

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Diary #31

Oh my gosh! This month's diary post is filled with goodies! So many things made me smile. I had the mindset that I am going to take a picture of whatever makes me smile. Judging from the amount of photos this month, my cheeks should hurt from all the smiling I did! You can find more vacation photos in my recap posts.