I can’t believe we are on our last leg! Today we are in the Tuscan region and are headed to a wine tour in Montepulciano. Vino Nobile is this area’s best known wine. The guide is the same on we had yesterday for a Brunello di Montacino tour. If the tour is anything like that one, it should be an amazing day. We ended up “kidnapping” the girlfriend of one of the winemakers and everyone shared a magnum bottle of some amazing vino. Only in Siena…
You Twlight fans may recognize this town… it was used as the setting for Volterra in New Moon. (Yes, I had to Google that.)
*
I am lucky to have Carol @ Lucky Zucca as my guest. Carols is one of the newer (to me) Atlanta bloggers and I have loved getting to know her through our last couple of meet ups and email exchanges. We ever had the opportunity to run a race together already! Carol has the best outlook on life of anyone I know. Just reading her posts will put you in a better mood!
________________________________________________________________________
Hey there, Sprint 2 the Table Readers! I am too excited to have the chance to guest post for Laura while she is in Italy. I’m so jealous! I spent a year living there while I obtained my M.A. degree, and I haven’t had the chance to go back yet (it has been 2 & 1/2 years!).
Editor's note: I am eating LOTS of this for you all.
Anyways, us being super jealous of Laura unfortunately isn’t going to get us stowed away in her luggage, so moving on.
.
My name is Carol and I blog over at Lucky Zucca. My blog started out as a happiness journal and concentrated on all the things that made me happy each day. Anything from a delicious breakfast to a good workout to chats with friends to more serious topics like how to overcome bad attitudes can show up over there. The main theme is simply to be happy and thankful for what we’ve got, even when things seem all wrong. In my opinion, finding little things to be joyful about is such a better way to live your life than concentrating on the bad.
I hope that anyone that visits my blog is inspired to find those things in their life that make them happy, even when times seem grim. I’ve grown and matured with my blog, and it actually is what helped me get through a difficult time in my life. I was struggling with who I was as a person, and through blogging, I reconnected with the things that make me who I am. I started reading again, began crafting more, started cooking and baking more often, hosting dinner parties for my friends, and exercising more consistently. Many things I had somehow lost touch with quickly came back to me when I started thinking about what made me happiest.
So, how can you do that? How can you get back in touch with your passions? I think the first step is to take a few moments, either at the beginning or the end of each day and think on the things that recently made you happy. Things you found joy in. Did you love that walk you took with your friend outside? Did you enjoy relaxing and reading a new book? Maybe group sports are your thing, maybe it is a favorite TV show. Do you find cooking therapeutic or daunting? Are you really interested in different types of beers? (Editor’s note: she knows me too well already…)
.
Figure out what makes you happy, relaxed, and stress-free, and concentrate on those things. Look for things you’ve enjoyed for all your life (or, if it’s the beer thing, all of your adult life :D). Make time for those things and be sure to live in the moment and enjoy them while you’re doing them.
I was struggling with making time for everyone else and not making time for myself. When I did have time to myself, I abused it by lazing around, watching mindless television I didn’t enjoy, and essentially wasting my life away. I thought I was fulfilled because of the people that surrounded me, instead I was void because I was ignoring my own passions. Making time for ourselves is one of the best ways we can invest our time.
Love yourself!
Though I still post about those things that make me the happiest, I also sometimes post about how we can find happiness in our lives. My blog has become a project of self-actualization, and a journey that I hope you all will join me on! As I’ve become more self-actualized myself, I’ve realized that sharing how I got from where I was (bored, un-invested, and not passionate about most things) to where I am now (excited again, re-invested, and passionate about many things) could potentially help someone else. So, I try to share my thought processes, things I do to get over the speed bumps we all encounter, and spread a positive attitude.
.
My passions are being outdoors, adventure (hiking, biking, skydiving, bungee jumping, roller coasters, etc.), exercise, cooking and baking, reading, crafts, dinner parties with my friends, travel, animals and pushing myself to succeed. I’ve connected so well with Laura because she is passionate about many of the same things – namely food, exercise, and pushing herself for success. I believe if you look at the happiest people in the world, you will find that they respect themselves, respect their bodies, and engage in their passions. Reading Laura’s blog has reinforced to me the theme that we can do anything we put our minds to. Her exercise success, cooking successes, and overall positive attitude are inspiring and I admire these things about her the most!
Lucky Zucca is a little different from Sprint2theTable, (mainly that Laura is much better at exercise than I and much more experienced in the kitchen! 😉 – Editor’s note: I think you rock, Carol!) but we embrace the same ideals: a positive outlook and pushing yourself to become successful. Dedicating your life to your loves and passions.
.
Over at Lucky Zucca, I love to do book reviews, crafting how-to’s, share recipes, document great workouts, and talk about fun activities my friends and I engage in. If any of that interests you, I’d love for you to stop by and leave a comment so we can discuss the things that make you happy!
It's a real party over there!
Thanks for taking the time to read my guest post, and I hope to see you around the blog world soon! And a special thanks to Laura for such an amazing opportunity!
***
I wish Carol would call me every morning for a dose of happiness.
.
Your turn – what makes you happy?
(My answer is far to obvious tight now… cheers!)
I really think that Carol’s blog is a very refreshing. I’m glad I got to know her!
Being with my friends makes me happy.
Thanks for letting me guest post for you Laura! I am so anxious to hear more about your Italian adventures when you get back!
Aw, Carol that picture of you in the snow is soo cute!! Sooo many nice memories on here! <3 Miss you.
Firstly I can’t believe that your trip is nearly over! The days seem to be flying by over here so I can’t imagine how fast they are going for you!! :/ And secondly thank you for introducing me to Carol and Lucky Zucca! 🙂 The things that make me happy? Having the people I love around me and / or a good bottle of red normally does the trick! 😉
Oh, Siena… reminds me of our honeymoon… so beautiful. Your trip is nearing its end and you have so many incredible memories to look back on. What a fabulous time.