London, Pilates and tips

I'm leaving on Monday and I won't be able to update this blog for a week which is a shame because I'd love to tell you about my crazy (=busy) days in London. I'll meet all my friends on Monday evening and  we'll be working hard until Thursday. I don't have any special plans for Friday and Saturday but I'll be with two girlfriends so I'm sure we'll have fun.

I had my first pilates class yesterday and I enjoyed so much although I found it quite difficult. It's challenging to learn how to breath in a proper way and it takes a while to achieve good alignment and posture. I signed up for a 3 months course, 1 day a week at a sort of "cultural association". I like the fact that we are only 5 (!)and the teacher is really focused on us. I also like the non-gym environment and the lovely girls I met yesterday. I'm eager to learn and I'm looking forward to the second class (after London).

I will try to "work out" while in London as I'm sure I'm going to miss brisk walking with my baby boy. I'm planning to go for 30 minutes walk every -say- 2 days. I don't want to stop using my legs for a whole week! Moreover I feel better (psychologically and physically) when I move. I've recently realized that I've developed my own ways to deal with stress (or life?) which, by the way, are pretty similar to these tips:

• go to bed early (between 11 and 12)
• drink a lot of water, especially in the morning
• take royal jelly in spring and autumn
• reduce meat and bread consumption and eat much more vegetables and fruits (very easy as I used to be a vegetarian)
• focus on one deadline at a time ;)

I was planning to work this morning but the weather is great and I don't want to miss the chance to go brisk walking for the last time before leaving with my big boy.

Reunions

I must admit I'm a bit nervous for the "big reunion" in London. I'll meet ALL my colleagues and I haven't seen some of them for a long time. Colleagues from the US, Canada, UK, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Greece etc. It makes me nervous because I've changed a lot lately. It's not only my hair (I look completely different from -say- one year ago), it's all the pressure and excitement that usually go along with these meetings. Moreover, most of them met a different Lola and they proabably have in mind a picture of me which I feel diverges from the person I've become. I've just got an email from a friend of mine who is so looking forward to catch up in London. I'm looking forward to see him too but I'm wondering if he'd notice that I'm a different.

Besides, the scheduled event is huge and I'll have to deal with many people for 3-4 days in a row which is good and "bad" at the same time. It's good because, as I mentioned, I can't wait to work with such an amazing network of professionals and because I do know (and like) most of them. It's "bad" because it's actually stressful as I'll be speaking all the time in another language and at a very high level. I can tell you that at the end of the day it could be tiring. Perhaps it's just me... I'm constantly concerned -especially when surrounded by native English speakers- that my English is not perfect and I should have said "this" instead of "that" and so forth. I'm pretty confident but I'm aware that I will always be an "Italian who speaks English" with an accent and a vocabulary that is limited. And I work very hard to improve it... on a daily basis to be honest (i.e. I mainly read books, essays and articles in English, I listen to podcasts and even write my own personal blog in English!).

Anyway, I'm sure I will enjoy the London reunion.

Red and random thoughts

Hi there, I've just met the second -and most important- deadline. Oh my, it has been stressfull and tiring but I am satisfied with my work. I know it's not "perfect" but I am proud of what I have done. So proud that I was off this morning to change haircut + color. I have fancy (very light) red nuances and I can't wait to see my friend's face in less than an hour. My partern likes it (well, via skype he says that I look good). I know these are trivial matters but after a whole month spent on historical books and quite complex topics I need to think about hairs and nails to relax.

I have trip plans for April and May. I'll be in London for a week right after Easter. It's a biz trip but I'll have a couple of days off to visit the city. We're  going to Sicily at the end of April to enjoy the sun, food and lovely places we're planning to see. It will be short but we definitely need to spend time together, besides Sicily is one of my favourite islands.

I do also have plans for the weekend. I'll make a chocolate pear cake with mascarpone instead of butter and I also would like to bake some bread. I NEED to use my hands as my head has had enough serious thoughts. Last sunday we went to the lake with our big boy and it wa so great. He had a blast and we had fun too. It's such a joy to see him running freely.

I have back and neck pain as I've spent a great amount of time in front of my laptop lately. I'm not going to spend 5 more minutes, have a nice week end. Ciao