Raise your hand if you're happy it's Friday. I have both hands up. Although, I must admit Friday is my 3rd favorite day. Saturday is my favorite because it's the main day of the weekend. Sunday is my 2nd because of church. But Friday is still something to get excited about. What is your favorite day of the week?

Something else to get excited about? Entering my giveaway for Amazing Grass. You have until my 2nd favorite day to get those entries in, so get to it! And check the end of this post for more great giveaways you can check out.

Oh, and one more thing. I thank you for all of your supportive comments on my recent Intuitive Eating post. 🙂 Some of you mentioned writing a book on it. Lucky for you, there already is an amazing book on it, where I get the principles and some of the other information I share. This is just my personal take on Intuitive Eating, why I think it is important, and things that have worked for me. Each of the principles and tips like "the 3 mindsets to adopt to battle the food police" are credited to the authors Resch & Tribole, like I mention in my posts. But thanks for thinking I could write a book! How awesome is that?! 😀

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So, Friday's are my newly scheduled yoga days. I am still loving yoga since it helps me to feel strong and also at peace. Kind of like how my next stop on my Flashback Friday trip through Europe left me feeling. 😉 After traveling to London and Paris, we hit up the Swiss Alps in a little town called Interlaken.

Upon arriving in Switzerland, we had to take about a 30 minute walk to the hostel. Not the easiest feat with a 40 lb pack on your back. But when we arrived here...

Our Hostel

...we realized it was all worth it. I mean how can you beat having a view like those mountains from a $15/night room? Even if the room comes with some whiny girls donning matching Burberry headbands and complaining about the lack of things to do.  Don't ask me what they were doing in the Swiss Alps. Hiking was obviously not on their agenda.

Hiking was definitely on our agenda, but we decided to wait on it to have a couple full days to explore. It was already afternoon when we arrived, so we headed into town to find some dinner and do some shopping. I just loved the little houses and all the lush greenery.

You can bet that one thing on our shopping list was some real Swiss Chocolate. It did not disappoint. And now I am sad to not have any pictures of it. Why couldn't my blogging days have started sooner? The smooth, creamy, rich, dark goodness deserved to be captured in photos. Thank you Newman's Own for giving me dark chocolate to satisfy the chocolate craving this post is giving me.

Various Chocolates

Although this was before my blogging days, I was still one to appreciate high quality fresh food. There was a ginormous co-op there that was open to the public. We took full advantage and stocked up on fruits, cheeses, yogurts, breads, gourmet salads, and some all natural granola bars. I was in foodie heaven. Apparently I am more foodie than I originally thought. I spent an entire PAGE of my journal talking about this store.

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The next couple of days revolved around hikes. We always started early to get in as much time as we could. Only problem with that is it would quickly warm up so we would wear shorts, and my jacket was a little big. Left some things open to the imagination of those Swiss men.

There were so many trails to explore. And we found our way to many beautiful sights. Here are just a couple pictures from a river we stopped by for some lunch.

Now, this part of the trip hands down had the most beautiful sights. Except for one. After getting back to the hostel from our last hike, I went to the restroom to discover a little visitor. A tick. Where? None other than UNDER MY PANTIES! It apparently decided to hop on during a previous potty break in the mountains. A girl's gotta pee, ya know!  So take note: guard your girly bits when squatting in the wilderness. Or buy one of these.

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Who knows how long it was there? But it was burrowed in and not coming up. I was thanking my lucky stars that my friend & I were roommates and have seen it all before, so there was no embarrassment asking for her help. We just laughed about it. Until we couldn't get it out and discovered the best way to remove that sucker was to burn. it. out. Yea. We had to bum a cigarette off the clerk and hold the tip up to my hooha to smoke that little bugger. In the end, we dominated it, but to this day that was the longest couple of minutes of my life. Crotches should not be on fire in that way, ever. Nevertheless, I can assure you I will never forget my hike through the Swiss Alps. They do say pain and beauty go hand in hand. 😉

• What was the craziest thing to happen to you on a trip?
• What is the best chocolate you have ever had?

**Other awesome giveaways: Janetha's, Sami's, and Lily's!

Hey loves!!! Did you read my 4th installment of the Intuitve Eating series? Be sure to check it out if you haven't. I am very passionate about this information and want it to reach as many people as possible. 🙂 Now, time for another fun Flashback Friday post. 😀 Last week, I told you about my backpacking through Europe college graduation trip and all about how we kicked things off in London. Now, I will take you to our next destination. Paris! Or, Par-ee as the French say. 😉

We started our trip by taking the Chunnel from London. What a cool ride that was! Train travel is under-rated. It is a very peaceful way to travel. I loved it!

Eurostar Train

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The night we arrived to Paris, we went on a dinner boat ride along the Seine River. It was nice to see many of the sights we were excited to see.

We also walked around and just discover many little quaint areas in downtown Paris.

The following morning, we took a short trip to Versailles. Who knew ornate and gaudy could be so beautiful?

But what was even more beautiful? The gardens of Versailles. We had such a good time walking around such gorgeous scenery.

We even enjoyed some lunch Europe style by grabbing a baguette, fresh bread, and gourmet cheese to munch on a park bench. It was fabulous. But we couldn't stay for long, since we wanted to visit two other must sees. The Arc di Triomphe after walking along Champs-Elysees. Notre Dame, where I couldn't help but be in awe of the beauty and take a moment to praise God. And the Louvre, where there is just too much to see and take it all in adequately. Amazing!

Arc Di Triomphe

Notre Dame Outside

Beautiful Stained Glass

At the Louvre

Checking out the Art - Venus di Milo

After all of that we were done for the day. We saved the Eiffel Tower for our last day there. It was cool and had some spectacular views up top, but I think Paris has so much more to offer than the Eiffel Tower.

top of tower

the view

Like the food! Hitting up a cozy French cafe was probably one of THE best moments of the trip. My tastebuds have rarely been that satisfied.

Chicken Baguette + Two Pastries = Perfect Shared Meal

mmmmm.....

I have to say that Paris surprised me. I expected it to be one of my least favorite stops on the trip, but it became (and stayed) a favorite. The French people are not near as rude as they are made out to be. The city is beautiful with lots of gorgeous parks and gardens, which was very different than the iron-clad city I pictured. And so much history and art topped it all off.