Yes folks, they are back!

Well, I didn't get my wish, and everyone is back, and Rome is full again, and I probably will be circling like mad for a parking spot the next time I take the car. Anyhow, the other day we decided to take advantage of leaving work at a decent time, and having 30 mins before baby duties resume to have an aperitivo at Gusto. There were lots of empty tables outside and so we ordered our wine and filled up our plate from their well stocked buffet. I have to say most of the food was good, wine was ok. I had a wine called passerina, which I have never tried before. Price for 2, €20. 

Rome in August

How wonderful it is to be able to drive places without traffic. This is one of the perks of being in Rome this month. The bliss is about to come to an end in a few days, but I am really hoping that the crowds stay on holiday at least until the end of next week. Shops are open, some restaurants are open, yet there is a nice "calm" in the air. Maybe it's because we don't have to drive around in circles for an hour looking for a parking space close to home, or wait in long lines, or sit in traffic, or zig zag around people when walking on the pavement. The only thing that would complete this moment of peace is slightly cooler weather. The high today is supposed to be 39 C.  Considering the humidity factor, it will feel like 45 C, and that is just too much heat for this Rome girl to handle!

What is wrong with this picture?

It's the fact that Ivanka Trump gave birth just one month ago and here she is flaunting her post baby bod, which doesn't seem at all like she had a baby! I am so sick of seeing pictures of  celebrity moms 2 weeks after giving birth looking like it never happened. Why isn't anyone making a fuss about this? A lot was made of waif like models in magazines and on runways looking miserably thin and how they were terrible role models for young girls, and women in general . Everyday I am bombarded with images of actresses that seem like they starve themselves so that they can shed the baby weight in record time. Why am I taking this so personally? Well obviously because I am a mom who didn't find losing the baby weight to be so easy. My pre -baby weight was 54 kgs (119 lbs) and I gained 14 kgs (31 lbs) during my pregnancy, which is within the normal range. I ate whatever I wanted before, during, and after baby, so you could say that I didn't try to control my weight in any way until baby was 6 months old and I stopped breastfeeding. I was more "careful" but did not try to be extreme about my diet. The thing is, I thought it would be so easy to take the weight off, like it was before, just limit dessert, and carbs and voilà! Not so. It must be hormones or who knows what, but it was REALLY tough. The scale would not budge for months. It was stuck at this scary number, leaving me with about 8 kgs (18 lbs) to lose post baby. I then started running here and there, but really didn't have the time between a full time job and baby to be diligent about it. I followed a calorie controlled diet for about 2 months and that is finally when some of the weight started to shift. To make a long story short, 15 months after baby, I have 3 kgs (7 lbs) to go, to be back at my normal weight. It has been a struggle, but then again I didn't starve myself and exercise to death to fit into my jeans. I did however have to come to terms with the fact that whatever worked before, does not work now.  This brings me back to my initial point of the insanity of seeing pictures of stick thin actresses right after having a baby, and no one is up in arms about it. When will someone, anyone say something about this?

Gone fishing....

Buone vacanze a tutti!