Monday, July 28, 2014

OOTD in Benalmadena

So I tried posting this a few days ago while I was in Spain but for some reason my iPad was not cooperating. Anyway, here is a recent look of mine from Spain! If you like this look, please hype it below :)
The crop top was $5 from Urban Planet, and the maxi skirt was about $14 from Primark. The brown wedges were $20 from Sears and are very comfortable! I wore them on all three of my flights, as well as walking around the airport and along the board walk in Benalmadena!

Booty, Abs & Shoulders

For today's workout I started out with 15 minutes of "booty toning" haha. This consisted mostly of lunges, single leg dead lifts, glute kickbacks etc. I then did a 7 minute ab workout courtesy of Tone It Up (link below).


This ab routine was great as it had a variety of movements, however, the pace was a little too fast and they did not provide very good instruction. 

I then did a WOD inspired by one of the events yesterday at the CrossFit games. 

3 rounds of:

20 sit ups
45 second hand stand holds
20 overhead lunges (with dumbbells)  


My post workout meal consisted of a sandwich and milkshake. The sandwich is my go-to: avocado, tomato, cheddar cheese, and mayonnaise on whole wheat bread. 

I tried making a new milkshake today and it turned out really well! It consisted of: 
- 1 cup of fruit juice
- water (I only added a little bit- depends on how big of a shake you want)
- one scoop of vanilla protein powder
- 1 teaspoon of matcha powder
- a good handful of kale 
- 1/2 a lime (squeezed)

It turned out to be really yummy, and it's super healthy too. I was too hungry that I forgot to take a picture of my meal, but I'm sure I will be making another soon enough. Trust me, it was good!

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Munich

It's been a busy few days since I arrived back home on Friday. Thursday evening, my sisters and I left Malaga and headed to Munich, Germany.


We had a fantastic flight with Lufthansa, and were shocked that they provided so many drinks and a meal while on board for only 2.5 hours! The crew consisted of tall blond hair blue eyed flight attendants- very German. Once we landed in Munich, we were quickly escorted off the plane (within minutes) and shuttled by bus over to the terminal. I was so impressed with the German airport, it was so incredibly organized. 



We waited no longer than 5 minutes for our checked luggage- this is unheard of in North America! The airport was also very tidy, and was just superior in every way. 



We were unable to find a cheap hotel in Munich, so we opted to stay over night at the airport until our 12 pm flight the next day. Now, I've stayed overnight in airports before, but this was way too long. Looking back, we definitely should have booked a hotel, but I'm glad we chose to save money and sleep on a bench in the noisy airport instead haha. Made for an adventure and resulted in me having the best sleep of my life on Friday night.


Inside the airport, there was a ton of ways to entertain ourselves. They had a few bars and restaurants open, as well as a live band. The mcdonalds was open 24 hours, as well as a supermarket with everything imaginable inside. The Germans are so efficient, why waste time and space having to go to multiple stores when you can just get everything you need from one!?


After changing into comfy clothes, we spent time wandering around the airport, grabbed some food, and enjoyed the live music. We were able to store away our bags for 4 euros, so luckily we did not have much to lug around with us all night. Unfortunately, neither of us got much rest, as the airport was constantly being cleaned in some way, so we were always asked to move. Soon enough it was morning and we were ready to check in for our flight. 

To make a long story short, this was one of the most stressful situations I've ever been in. We checked in but were not given a seat on the plane. Although we were flying standby, I found this odd, as last time I checked the load was showing a green happy face (meaning we should have no problem getting on). However, our ticket now proved otherwise. We went to the baggage counter and the man refused to check our luggage. He said the flight was oversold by 20 seats and that we should go to the gate as soon as possible and ask for a jump seat. As you can imagine, I was panicking (tried to appear calm so as to not stress out my sisters, but inside I was losing it!!) How on earth am I going to let my 16 year old sister sit in a jump seat for 9 hours?? I frantically started looking up flights elsewhere, but I kid you not, everything was full. We were not going anywhere anytime soon.

I was finally able to find a flight to London, England. From there I had no idea what we would do, but I thought atleast it's a place I'm more familiar with, everyone speaks English, and there are many flights to Toronto that we could try to get on. All of the flights of course were also oversold from London to Toronto, but I figured it was worth a shot. I checked us in for the London flight, and what do you know, it gave us seats. Thank The Lord. So now we had a backup plan. The only problem being that our so-called backup plan was scheduled to depart at the exact same time as our original flight. Well... Wouldn't this be interesting. 

We hurried through security and then rushed to the gate for our original flight. Luckily, the two gates were nearby, so I was able to quickly run back and forth. After such a terrible night and an awful morning, we were so blessed to have such nice Lufthansa crew members working at the gate. Upon hearing that our mother works for Air Canada and that we were thinking of connecting through London if there were no alternatives, they seemed very eager to help. It was an oversold flight with other standbys listed, but these ladies were determined to get everyone on board. Alas, we were able to squeeze on the flight just minutes before departure. We were all scattered apart on the plane but none of us cared as long as we made it on. 

The flight itself was fantastic. Lufthansa is by far the best airline I've ever flown with. The crew was so nice, and the service was impeccable. We received 2 meals and a snack, with many rounds of drinks being offered as well. Unfortunately I was seated right at the middle exit, so it was freezing. This also happens to be where the baby bassinets are located, so I was stuck beside a crying baby the whole flight. Now, normally this would not bother me, as I love babies, but having been up for 24 hours, I was definitely a little irritable and that crying baby was putting me over the edge haha. I managed to tune the baby out, it wasn't his fault after all, and watched a few movies. 

To my surprise, Storm showed up to meet me after my flight. This was incredibly sweet of him, although he didn't end up making it in time hahahaha. I hate to laugh because I'm sure it was very frustrating for him but it's such a typical guy thing to do. I really appreciated him coming all the way down to surprise me though, it was really cute. We headed straight home, and have had a very low key weekend, as I am still exhausted from the trip. Looking forward to getting back into routine tomorrow though!! That's it for now, my European adventure is over, but hopefully there will be plenty more ahead in the future!

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Last day in Malaga

Yesterday was my final full day in Spain, so we all tried to make the most of it by spending the day at the beach. We played volleyball for a little while with two young Spanish men, who were quite unimpressed with our lack of volleyball skills. My sandals broke mid game, so I was constantly running around trying to cool off my feet from the hot sand. Us Spinellis aren't exactly known for being the best volleyball players, so it was quite a comedic event. 


Did I mention that we saw THE BLACK PEARL??!!!


Besides that, nothing too exciting happened throughout the day. We all went for dinner around 9 to Mama Leone's, which everyone had been raving about. I still can't believe how late the Spanish eat dinner, we weren't finished our meal until almost 11 o'clock!


My beautiful sistas!



Momma Spinz getting in on the action!


On our way down to the restaurant, Mj insisted on taking a photo of us at the marina. I can see why, it is such a beautiful spot (not that you can see it, she isn't the best photographer haha).


At mama's, Alanna, Mj and I ordered a 10 euro three course meal. For the appetizer, Mj and I each ordered a mixed salad, while Alanna got chicken soup. My salad was great, however, I have noticed that in Spain they typically use iceberg lettuce for all their salads, where I would have preferred some better greens. Alanna does not recommend the chicken soup. We ordered sangria at dinner also!


For the entree, Alanna ordered Spaghetti bolognese, Mj ordered chicken and fries, and I ordered spinach lasagna. I was thrilled with my dish. At first glance, it looked very creamy and there was little pasta to it, but I ended up eating the entire thing. I've only recently become a spinach fan, so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this meal.


For dessert, Mj and I ordered a caramel creme brûlée, while Alanna ordered rice pudding. Nothing special to note for the desserts, but overall they were good. Rachel and Emilee split garlic bread and a chicken Cesar salad for dinner, which they were not too fond of. Again, I thought it was incredibly weird that it was iceberg lettuce in a Cesar salad! 


After dinner we took a long walk along the marina, and ran into a few friends from the dance studio. We also stopped for another photo op, naturally.



We did not stay out too late at the marina, as we had to head back to the hotel to figure out our flights for the next day. 


Goodbye Spain... Next stop... Munich, Germany!!

Mijas

The wifi here is extremely frustrating, my posts keep deleting and I'm having a hard time uploading them, so I will keep this one short and sweet. Mijas doesn't need much of an explanation anyway, the photos will do all of the explaining. Yesterday was amazing. Mijas is the most beautiful place I've ever visited!! 

The drive was about 30 minutes from Benalmadena and consisted of me taking a ton of pictures of the beautiful scenery. 



The town of Mijas was basically a little village, where all the houses were white and most of the streets were cobble stone paths. You got the "everyone knows everyone" kind of vibe from it. So cute.



Shortly after arriving we toured around the town and went into many little shops. Check out the amazing view!!




The first stop on our tour was an old church created inside a cave. It was very interesting. 


We then enjoyed the view some more and purchased the most tasty sugar glazed almonds! They were to die for!


For dinner, we ate at a local Steakhouse. The people were so friendly and accommodating, given our limited time frame (Emilee had to hurry back before the show). 

Margarita pizza for Rachel:


Pepperoni pizza for Emilee:


Alanna and Mj enjoyed their chicken and steak dishes, respectively.



And rigatoni Napolitana for me!!


This was some of the best food we have had in Spain so far, and the servings were huge too. One thing we have been surprised about is the lack of spice in the food here. I definitely thought it would be more prominent in the Spanish dishes, but they have actually been quite bland. Again, maybe this is a known thing, but I just thought it was so strange! I love my spices!


After dinner we all received mojitos on the house! I'm not a fan of mojitos whatsoever, but these were the best I've ever tasted!! We then headed over to the main square to watch the Lois Laxton dancers perform.


We had a great crowd come out to watch the show, and the dancers were fantastic (especially Emilee)!  



Alanna took some better action shots of Emilee dancing, which I will have to post on here as soon as possible! I was busy videotaping the performances, so I was unable to take photos. After the show, the dancers went around handing out Canada flags and pins to the audience who seemed to really appreciate it! They were all really excited to receive a little piece of Canada. 

The LLDS performance was followed by a group of young Spanish dancers. They were so incredibly cute, and it was so cool to watch them on stage doing their Flamingo routine. Check out how cute their outfits were!!


After the show we all went out for drinks at a local restaurant. Turns out, the owner is Canadian and is from Toronto! He has been living in Mijas since 1997 and has a few successful businesses here. He was really happy and proud to see so many young Canadians coming to perform in Spain, and it was exciting for us to see a fellow Canadian being so successful over here in Europe!! 

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Dinner is served

We just got back from our night out in benalmadena. Dinner was at the same restaurant as on Saturday, and the food was delicious. We also had the same waiter, who speaks very good English and is really friendly and helpful. 

Rachel and Alanna ordered chicken Cesar salad.


And, bruschetta bread for me!



I must say, out of all the restaurants in Spain, this one really puts a lot of effort into the aesthetics of the dish, which we really appreciated. It looked so appetizing, and tasted as good as it looked!

After dinner we walked along the puerto marina and went into a few little souvenir shops along the way. We may or may not have picked up a back scratcher for my Nonna!! Hahaha. Then we had gelato (chocolate for me of course) and headed back to the hotel. 


Mj is cursing at my iPad right now while trying to do her bidding for next month on this crappy wifi (apparently they call it "wee phee" here in Spain lol). Alanna is reading while eating cheese and onion chips and drinking red wine. Rachel is in the shower, and I'm relaxing on my bed after having a few glasses of white wine! It's so cheap here, only 1 euro at the supermarket!! Deal of the day!

Oh, I almost forgot. I cannot leave without posting this hilarious photo of Alanna. She snap chatted this to me yesterday. We joke all the time about how she is Khloe kardashian, as they have very similar personalities (as far as I can tell). I even went as far as to yell "way to go khlo" as she walked across the stage to receive her diploma for graduation- no joke. So anyway, I thought this photo was way too funny not to share, because they actually look alike when Alanna completely distorts her face:


Hahahaha

Goodnight!

Monday, July 21, 2014

Beach day in Benalmadena

I'm currently sitting outside on my balcony after just having a relaxing shower. I wish I could say how serene it is out here, but I'm listening to this group of people make what sounds like a mixture of duck and seagle noises across the street hahaha. It's the strangest thing I've ever heard. I'm just waiting on Alanna and Rachel getting up from their naps and then we are all headed to dinner. Today was another beautiful day here in Benalmadena! We spent the first half by the beach and the second half by the pool.

I stand corrected- to my left is Alanna, naked, posing against the balcony door. How unusual...

Here's some photos from today:



Not sure if I'm running away due to the freezing cold Mediterranean Sea or because I stepped on a sharp shell..


We walked along the beach and saw the most amazing selection of rocks and shells along the shore. Alanna seemed pretty uninterested, but for Rach and I this was a gold mine!! We spent so much time looking through all the rocks, trying to spot out the coolest ones.


Since we are on a tight budget, we decided to make our own sandwiches for lunch. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and mozzarella cheese were bought at the local supermarket! Not the fanciest meal, but this has become a standard practice for us on this trip!!


We are headed to dinner now, so I'll post again tonight and hopefully share some details from Emilee and Mj's trip to Morocco!! I personally can't wait to hear all about it! If they are in good enough moods to tell us, that is.