Mar 21 2013

Cruising into a New Decade

Posted on 21 March, 2013 by TheDailyMel

No, in this case I’m not talking about cruising into a new decade when it comes to my weight. I’m literally talking about an actual cruise as part of my birthday celebration next year when I turn the big 5-0! I’ll be heading off on an Transatlantic cruise with BFF Tracy, her parents, and our Australian friends, Valerie and Ian. So, we’ll be getting the same crew back together again from our cruise last summer to Alaska.

That beautiful ship is the Legend of the Seas which is part of the Royal Caribbean line (my favorite!). She’s the ship we’ll be sailing as we make our way across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. She actually just went through a $27 million renovation, so she should be looking all spiffy and shiny when we set sail in next year.

Since this is going to be my big event for celebrating turning 50, I’ve decided to really do things up right! I’ve got enough air miles on American for a free first class airfare to Ft. Lauderdale (our embarkation point). Since we will be setting sail on a Wednesday morning, we decided to add a few days in Florida prior to setting sail, so we’ll actually end up having a 22-day vacation. Woo Hoo!

Here’s the itinerary for our trip:

Day 1-2: Key West, Florida
Days 2-4: Pompano Beach, Florida
Days 5-11: Depart from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida followed by several days at sea
Day 12: Ponta Delgada, Azores
Days 13-14: Sailing days
Day 15: Cork, Ireland
Day 16: Sailing day
Day 17: Paris, France
Day 18: Brussels, Belgium
Day 19: Amsterdam, Holland
Day 20: Sailing day
Days 21-22: Copenhagen, Denmark

Again, since we’ve decided to travel in style. We’ll be staying in a Junior Suite while we’re cruising. We’ll have a “spacious” 230 sq ft cabin with a 76 sq ft balcony. In all the times I’ve cruised, I’ve never had a balcony, so I’m beyond excited about that! Here’s a pic of what the suite looks like, but bear in mind this photo was taken prior to the recent renovations, so some things will be different, like the TV being replaced by a flat screen instead.

For anyone who has cruised before in a regular stateroom, you probably remember the “joys” of the bathroom all too well. You know, those “overly friendly” shower curtains in the miniscule sized shower? Well, that’s actually another thing I’m most looking forward to about being in a suite this time … a real bathroom! Again, this pic was taken pre-renovation, but look … an actual TUB! Seriously, it’s the little things, right?

Finally, since this vacation is again all about traveling in style, I’ll be using my air miles on United for a first class ticket on the way home as well. First class airfares, a junior suite on the cruise, and some amazing ports of call in Europe … yeah, this is definitely going to be the vacation of a lifetime and I can’t think of any better way to cruise my way into my 50s.

Until next time …

Jul 16 2012

Hello from Alaska!

Posted on 16 July, 2012 by TheDailyMel

I’m on vacation this week in Alaska on the Rhapsody of the Seas. I have so many thoughts regarding this trip, but they’ll have to wait until I get back home. For now, I’ll leave you with a couple of photos. (I’m blogging from my phone, so I hope this works!)

Until next time … farewell from Skagway!

Melissa

Jun 4 2012

Metal Monster Monday {June 4}

Posted on 4 June, 2012 by TheDailyMel

Boy, I’m just getting this in under the wire as a Monday post since it’s nearly 10pm here in California. Better late than never, right?

Now, on to the weekly weigh-in report! I’ve been on a really good roll recently with consecutive days OP (on program) with no cheats or slips. In fact, today makes Day 21! The result? I was down 2.4 pounds when I weighed in at my Weight Watchers meeting yesterday! It’s kind of amazing how well one can do when they actually stay OP.

My short-term goal is staying 100% OP until I leave for my cruise to Alaska next month. I don’t plan on going crazy with the food or anything on the cruise, but I do plan to indulge a little bit since cruise food is so amazing! To help counteract all that wonderful cruise food, I’m definitely planning to do some walking on the deck of the ship during the cruise. Since it’s the Alaska Inner Passage cruise, there should be plenty of awesome scenery to take in during my walks, too. Win-win!

Don’t forget, tomorrow (Tuesday, June 5) is the deadline for entering my Green Giant giveaway! The deadline to enter is 9pm PDT.

Until next time …

Apr 10 2012

April WIPocalypse Update

Posted on 10 April, 2012 by TheDailyMel

I know it’s not been that long since my last WIPocalypse update, but that’s because I was really late posting it. This one is also a few days late, but nearly as bad as last month.

Since my last update, I actually managed to finish one of my designated WIPocalypse finishes on my plan. I finished Lady Alexandra by Mirabilia on 31 March. I loved stitching this piece! In fact, it may very well be the quickest I’ve ever finished a piece of this size. Not only was the stitching fun, but the beading was, too! Here’s my finished piece followed by a close-up of some of the bling on her dress. As always, click each image to biggify. Note: the fabric looks a bit lavender in my photo, but it’s actually Ice Blue linen by Wichelt.

Lady Alexandra by Mirabilia

Lady Alexandra Beading Detail

I also have another finish that wasn’t part of my initial WIPocalypse list. It’s one of the Petite Christmas Angels by Joan Elliott. I didn’t actually start this piece until 15 February and finished it on 2 April, so you can see it’s a quick little project. I stitched it on Marbled Lilac Jobelan from Polstitches. I loved this fabric! It’s so soft and has such a nice hand.

Petite Christmas Angel by Joan Elliott

Since finishing both of those pieces, I’ve been working on my Hannah Beeby 1816 sampler. This is another piece on my original WIPocalypse list that I said I want to finish this year. I’m getting pretty close now and really hope I can finish it before I tentatively go back to work on 30 April following my knee surgery tomorrow. This piece is stitched on 36-count Tundra from Lakeside Linen using Snoqualmie Falls cotton floss from the now defunct Needle Necessities. I’m also including a close-up photo that shows off the fiber better. According to the conversion chart on the ThreadworX site, their Rocky Mountain floss is approximately the same fiber.

Hannah Beeby 1816 by Timeless Designs

Snowqualmie Falls floss

In other news I made a major stitching purchase last week with the last of my tax refund (the rest went to paying for the balance on my upcoming Alaskan cruise). Here are my new pretties:

System 4 Stands

Yes, you’re looking at TWO Needlework System 4 stands — the floor model and the table model! When I made the decision to finally break down and buy one, I was just going to get the floor stand with both the Q-Snap holder and the frame clamp for holding my needlepoint stretcher bars. I knew I wanted the extension bar as well. Thanks to doing a bit of math and a bit of bargaining with the shop owner, it actually wasn’t that much more (less than $50) for me to just get both stands with the two different clamps rather than piecing it out buying accessories. Since the parts are interchangeable, I can use either clamp on either stand. The Q-Snap holder is adjustable, so it will hold anything from an 8-inch to a 17-inch set of Q-Snaps. I’ve been using them like crazy since I bought them last week and LOVE them!

Lastly, my Sunflower Fairy by Nora Corbett is finally home from the framers after a couple of matting issues. The first mat I picked out was discontinued by the manufacturer, so we had to substitute something else. When that one arrived at the framers, it was damaged and had to be sent back. Anyway, she’s finally home and that’s all that matters. She done with double oval mats and museum glass.

Sunflower Fairy by Nora Corbett

Well, that’s it for now. As I mentioned earlier in this post, I’m having my knee surgery (meniscectomy) tomorrow (Wednesday, 11 April). I’ll try my best to post a quick blurb in the next few days to let everyone know how things go.

Until next time …

Apr 13 2011

Vacation Planning!

Posted on 13 April, 2011 by MelGetsFit

Woo Hoo!! I’m going on vacation …. next year. The parents of my friend Tracy invited us to go with them on an Alaskan cruise in July 2012. After talking it over, we decided to go for it. So, here’s where you’ll be able to find me next summer.

Rhapsody of the Sea

We’ll be going on Royal Caribbean‘s seven night Alaska Sawyer Glacier cruise on their Rhapsody of the Seas ship. This will be my third cruise, but my first on Royal Caribbean. We’ll be sailing out of Seattle up the Alaska Inside Passage with ports of call at Juneau, Skagway, Tracy Arm Fjord, Victoria BC (Canada), and then back to Seattle.

We’ve been talking about this trip for a little while now. It’s starting to finally feel more real now though as we booked our stateroom and paid our deposit yesterday. The countdown has now begun … only 457 days and counting.

In addition to just being a really awesome cruise, one of the reasons I’m so excited about this trip is because it will let me mark state number 48 off my list of visiting all 50 U.S. states. After the Alaska trip, the only two states I’ll have remaining will be North and South Dakota. I definitely want to try and hit those in the next three years so I can say I visited all 50 states by the time I’m 50 years old.

Until next time …