Shannon’s World

I am in Sitges with Karen from my office and also Zsofia from our London office.  Karen and I have traveled together many times before, including spending 10 days in Budapest last November.  This is the first time Zsofia has helped our group, but she fits right in and is a welcome addition.  Zsofia is orginally from Budapest, so we’ve had lots to talk about. 

Last night we walked the 1 mile into town and enjoyed a delicious and cheap dinner.  We thought the restaurant was a pizza place, but they served a variety of food, including rotisserie chicken that was on display (there were large rotisseries and fire along one side) in the restaurant.  I had a delicious white pizza and Zsofia and Karen enjoyed chicken with red peppers and french fries, respectively.  Their bottle of wine was only 6 euros and our total bill was only 30 euros - fantastic!  After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and spent some time at the poolside hotel bar.  Karen and Zsofia had some sangria . . .even I had a sip - delicious! 

Monday night we had a “Celebration” Dinner in Sitges at Finca Mas Solars.  What an amazing space; it used to be a casino.  We arrived after a 15 minute bus ride from the hotel and enjoyed champagne outside by the fountains.  We then moved inside for a dinner of fish, beef fillet and ice cream - it was delicious!  After dinner, the DJ and dancing started.  Finca Mas Solars would be a fairy tale setting for a wedding - it is exquisite.

A few pictures from my hotel room in Sitges - it is wonderful here!

Interesting article on Ashton’s more serious side in The Washington Post.

I am so excited to see the Jennifer Weiner has a new book out: The Guy Not Taken.  I’ve enjoyed Jenifer’s previous books: Goodnight Nobody, In her Shoes (also a movie), Good in Bed and Little Earthquakes and look forward to reading her newest piece of work.  Weiner’s books are always light hearted and enjoyable to read. 

I am headed to Europe!  My whirlwind trip starts with a week in Sitges, Spain.  Sitges is a resort town, located outside Barcelona on the Mediterranean.  From Sitges, I head to Rome, Italy where I will be for approximately 10 days.  From Rome I will travel by train to Venice.  I return to the good ol USA for 1 -2 days and then head to The Peachtree State, Atlanta for a week.

The trip is mostly business, but I will be taking a few days vacation in Italy and the most exciting part is that my Mom is joining me to continue our Italian vacation we started in Milan in April.   Rome and Venice here we come!  I am also looking forward to catching up with Gretchen in Atlanta.

I’ll post updates on the blog of my trip and the growth of the belly during this month long excursion.

Ciao!

Only 27 more hours until the Grey’s Anatomy Season 3 Premiere!  I can hardly wait!

For those that I have not had a chance to tell in person, I am pregnant.  I am 16 weeks (4 months) this week.  My clothes have not been fitting for a while and I am fighting the maternity pants!  I started buying a few pairs of bigger clothes to get me through months 3 and 4.

While I was home in DC in August, I went to an outlet mall with my Mom and a good family friend, Joan.  Joan had the cutest jean skirt on with great back pocket detailing (embroidery, rhinestones) and a good wash-color.  She told me that the skirt was from Chico’s Platinum Jean’s collection.  There happened to be a Chico’s outlet where we were.  If you are like me you heard Chico’s and said, ”I am not a 50 year old Mom; I will not shop there.”  However, this was the second time I’d complimented something from Chico’s.  Mike’s Aunt Shelly had the cutest embroidered jean jacket on in Maine and it was from Chico’s!

Chico’s jeans are on the expensive side ($98) but I was able to get a pair for $35 at the outlet and I just love them!  Too bad they are starting to get a tad too tight in the belly! 

I made another purchase from Chico’s.  They’re travel collection is terrific and for those growing (like me) they are VERY stretchy and comfy.  I found a great pair of pants - not the most fashionable, but I don’t care they’re comfortable!    

I was lucky enough to catch the much anticipated debut of the Rachael Ray show.  Here in Chicago it is on at a weird time - 2 pm on CBS.  It was a good show with tons of variety - cooking, an interview with Diane Sawyer where they talked about their favorite things, sky diving with an audience member, etc. etc.  I am looking forward to see what future shows hold but today’s was certainly entertaining and fun to watch.  Mike and I are headed to NYC in November, I’ll have to see if I can get tickets to be in the audience.

I caught another show that I’d never seen before last night - Amazing Race. . .also fun and entertaining.  I am looking forward to episode #2.  I am not sure what night Amazing Race will be on going forward.  I heard it used to be on Tuesday nights.  If it moves back to Tuesday, I just hope it doesn’t interfere with House.