My Intended Life

Good wishes and....

2011-12-26T18:33:00.000-08:00

I wish all of my friends and followers a fantastic New Year full of love, health, happiness, fun, food, drinks and music!

Here are some of my favorite holidays songs that I hope you can also enjoy:

Gayla Peevey's, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.The lyrics are so innocent and nostalgic.

The Ramones's, Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight). Hey, its The Ramones that's all I need to say.

Thurl Ravenscroft's, You're a Mean One Mr, Grinch. The original movie rocks, the new one not so much.

Eartha Kitt's version of Santa Baby. She was so talented and sexy!

Sarah Silverman's, Give the Jew Girl Toys. Her humor is quite appealing to me and this song is great example of why she makes me laugh.

George Harrison's, Ding, Dong, Ding, Dong. My favorite Beatles with a simple and meaningful message: Ring out the old, ring in the new. Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Bing Crosby and David Bowie's, Peace on Earth. I remember watching this special in the only channel that showed English programs in Puerto Rico back in '77 and falling in love with Bowie.

C3PO's, What Can You Get a Wookiee For Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb?). I burn out my 1980's Star Wars album with this catchy song on it.

Villancicos de Navidad, Co Mi Burrito Sabanero.
This version was the same one that I listened to growing up in Puerto Rico.
I sang it in my elementary school Christmas show back in '73, then my oldest daughter sang it in her elementary school show when we lived in Puerto Rico back in '97 and finally my youngest daughter sang it with her 5th grade chorus here in South Florida back in 2005.

With Love,

DISCLAIMER: All videos from YouTube.

Just food...

2011-12-18T12:36:00.000-08:00

Having being home late every evening for about 3 months due to my daughter's play rehearsals and my own extra work; my meals were planned ahead and quickly executed to avoid falling asleep in my kitchen.
I want to apologized for not writing down the recipes; I'm what my friends called a "bit of this and a bit of that" cook.
When it comes to the foods that I prepare for my family, I try my best to use local products from either the local markets or organic products from my local Publix or Whole Foods stores.

This is my vegetables mix; you will see a similar plate of vegetables with all of the meals I prepared this during this week. It was easy to make and I had all the vegetables on hand so I didn't have to go to the store.
The avocados were on sale at my local market and because I'm the only one in my house that eats them they last me a while. They are kept in the refrigerator until the morning that I'm going to use cook with them.
I bathed my salad in olive oil, dry and fresh cilantro. My youngest daughter had a simpler salad without the avocado or all the cilantro.

I don't use already made pastas sauces, because I grew up making my own with my mom.
As a young teen I was terrible about helping my mom in the kitchen. Once she left the dishes for me to do and they were in the sink for 3 1/2 days before I decided to go ahead and washed them, and it was mainly because she hid all of the other plates and I didn't have a clean plate to served myself with!

These extra wide whole grain noddles are cheaper than the white ones and taste so much better when you add your seasoning to it.
One thing that I did and do love to make with my mom is preparing sofrito (a mixture of cilantro, garlic, unions, salsa, oregano, black pepper, salt, recao leaves and some ajies dulces -semi sweet small peppers).

Another bunch of vegetables cut into small pieces and overflowing the salad bawl.
It was a serving of two, so you can imagine how full we got with all of our greens and wide noddles!

I use my mom's sofrito mix with some Goya tomato sauce to created my salsa for this whole grain linguine.

This night I cooked my vegetables with some organic balsamic vinegar, 100% extra virgin olive oil, a bit of black pepper and roast vegetables spices blend from my local grocery store.

We ran out of brown rice and I didn't wanted to go the store so we ate Uncle Ben's long grain white rice. I seasoned it with dry cilantro, 5 pieces of garlic cut extra small, olive oil and small amount of sea salt.

This was another non-meat dinner; with the rice and this two side dishes.

By the way, I always prepared the dinner the same night. We rarely eat left overs and I make the salads and vegetables the same night as well. If there are any left overs I take them to work with me for my next day lunch.

The red beans were in my refrigerator in a pot with water since the night before so they faster to cook. I only buy Goya dry beans; again I don't like to use the canned ones.
This day, I did visited my local supermarket in order to get some brown rice, some organic meat and coleslaw to add to my veggies.

We finished the week with some organic chicken slowly cooked in water, Cajun spices seasoning and a pound (just kidding!!) of fresh garlic.
This is cheap mac and cheese from the box; both of my kids refuse to eat the organic or the whole grain ones!
I added butter, a small amount of fresh garlic, pepper and some milk to the box mixture to give it my own touch.

This is from my table to yours; I hope that you have a great, healthy, fun and stomach filling week!
With Love,

Dealing with stress, visiting a friend...

2011-12-09T04:44:00.000-08:00

This week I've been so stress about everything!
You know money, work, classwork, crazy drivers and thinking about what lays ahead for my family and even for the planet!

My high stress level only lasted a few days; I chose to move on and don't let it get any further down the path of listening to R.E.M. "Everybody Hurts" or Radiohead "Paranoid Android" over and over.

I was also thinking about my lovely and strong friend Shefali's ordeal and the difficult situation that she is dealing with. You see, about a month and a half ago her house burned down and she lost almost everything. Thank god she and her daughter were out of the townhouse when the fire occurred.
Shefali wrote an amazing post on this matter to express her sadness on the lost of part of hers and her daughter's history. Items that are irreplaceable because of their emotional connection or because they were made for her by her love ones.

Shefali is staying at Judith's house (whom is also a good friend of mine) while her townhouse is getting repair. We went to visit her about 3 weeks ago to chat a bit, let the girls swim in the lake and have a bite to eat.

Judith's house is an adorable style cottage in one of the best neighborhoods in Ft Lauderdale.
This is part of her very large backyard.

A plant with yellow leaves have to be included to add to the sunny elements of the post.
At least this is what I told myself!

The backyard has a variety of palm trees and even banana trees; right by the lake.

This was the view to the left of us as we sat at the house pier and checked on the girls while the swam in the lake.

Here they are; out two fresh water mermaids!!!

It was a gorgeous and breezy South Florida day and we felt very lucky to be outside enjoying it even if my sunglasses were not helping keep the sun out of my eyes at all.

This is at Panera Bread; by now you know of my light fixture obsession!
I love the modernity, simplicity and hues of yellow in this one.

Panera Bread is within a few minutes of drive from the house and Shefali was so generous to takes us there for lunch.

To visit and chat with my Indian friend I wore:
A made in India XOXO long skirt wore as a dress, thrifted the same week at my favorite Salvation Army Store.
Mossimo, made in Vietnam jacket, thrifted from the same store about 6 months ago.

The Rocket Dog sandals were a present from my mom.
The belt belongs to youngest daughter.
The green purse has no name tag and I think I got it at Marshalls or JCPennys long time ago.
Bracelets from Steinmart and thrift stores.

All necklaces are from thrift stores and consignment shops and were all purchased on their half price day.

Today my coworkers are celebrating my birthday with a abundant festive lunch (its a late celebration because we were all so broke). Later on tonight we are also having our work holiday party.
Saturday I'm going to my niece's game, my daughter thespian competition, my oldest daughter is coming home and I was invited to a Broward Symphony concert at 8:00 p.m.

I hope that you all have a great weekend and even greater week,

A busy weekend ...

2011-12-04T21:36:00.000-08:00

The weekend of Veteran's Day I had a 3 day-weekend and it was packed with activities and full of thrift related outfits.
On Friday, we went to a Colombian restaurant close to my favorite Salvation Army.
The restaurant is called La Antiquena Bakery and Restaurant; this was the first time that we sat and had a meal.
I usually bought empanadas or salchichon (cured pork sausage) to go, however this evening I used my first (an early) birthday present to go out to eat which is one of my favorite things to do any time and anywhere.

The restaurant interior has these lovely green chairs and the entire restaurant is painted soft lime green; it makes me think of some of the houses in the small towns in Puerto Rico or in the Dominican Republic.

Youngest daughter picking up some hot salsa to accompany our meal.

This is my daughter's plate: is pechuga a la plancha with rice and beans, tostones and a salad.
She said that it was delicious.
We also had a very nice and attentive waitress.

This is my plate: bistek encebollado, rice and beans, tostones and a salad.
My bistek was well done and greatly seasoned.

The red beans came in their own little cute bowl!

I love coconut water and this brand has little pieces of coconut in it.

We put this sauce on everything we ate; from the salad to the tostones.

It took us about 40 minutes (or maybe more) to finish eating.

Except for some small pieces of rice we both devoured the entire meal.

Here I'm barely able to move...

There were lots of glasses of water and yoga poses within the next couple of days.

For my eating adventure, I wore:
My old Marshall's shirt. My JeanStar, made in Kenya jeans.
Target, yellow cardigan. Strada purse, also from many years ago.

Thrifted belt. Yellow bracelets: all thrifted.
Montego Bay Club sandals, thrifted about 7 months ago.

The first yellow necklace, was a thrift find at Thriftarellas, (one of my favorite thrift stores) about 3 weeks ago.
The second one was purchase at a local art fair.

Part 2

Saturday, I ran in and out of the house 16 times; which means 16 times of picking, dropping, arranging and re arranging stuff and events for myself and for my daughter's Homecoming party.

I need to be extra comfortable so here is what I wore:
Mark, Fore & Strike 100% cotton, made in Hong Kong, shirt; thrifted 3 weeks ago.
Target, Mossimo jeans, made in Cambodia also thrifted about 7 months ago.

Thrifted belt. The bracelet on my left also from Thriftarellas, the ones in my right hand are from Dollar Stores.
And of course my old Roman-style sandals.

My fringe bag was another thrift store find about 8 months ago.

The necklace collection: I purchased them at Steinmart, Bealls and consignment shops.

This is my daughter's Homecoming dress.
I got it for her in one of my consignment shops trips.

She wore my pearl and pearl-like accessories, my Calvin Klein sandals and my black stockings.
The pearl purse was purchased the same day at my favorite Salvation Army for less than $6.00 and its made in Hong Kong.

This is her corsage; it matched her dress perfectly!!

After picking up my daughter and her date and dropping him off at his house I drove for another half an hour home. When I finally got home I couldn't go to bed until around 2:30 a.m.

Part 3

Sunday morning came around and I was exhausted and in desperate need for some Cafe Bustelo to keep me going because the green tea that I've been drinking was not going to be able to do the deed.
But, I didn't have any coffee or brown sugar left in the house so I had to get my tired self to the grocery stores to buy some.

To go to the grocery store, I wore:

My oldest daughter, Forever 21 cardigan.

Jones New York, made in The Philippines pants, thrifted 4 months ago.

Necklaces and earrings were made for me by my friend Luz back in 2007 when she came to visit me from New York. The bracelets are from locals stores. The sandals are from Marshalls.

I adore this purse; it was a present from me to me on my birthday a few years back.
It has no name tag, its no real leather and it was made in China but is well love by me!

Talking about presents:
My lovely blogger friend Tanisha just send some samples of the coffee and tea that she is selling.
I'm ready and very excited to have some new brands of coffee to try during them this coming week.
I want to take this opportunity to say: Thanks So Much, Tanisha!!!!!

I'm back home and I need...

2011-11-28T04:43:00.000-08:00

My daughter's first home visit from college was accompany by a small list of needs and wants.
The area where her college is located is a bit cooler than here during the Fall/Winter season, it can get down to the lower 50's to the lower 30's and the she didn't had a good winter jacket.
This is the part were my blogger friends from very cold areas are probably saying: "what? you need a winter jacket for below 50 degrees? Are you serious?"
Yes! Please remember that we are use to 80-90 degrees so 50-30 is freezing for us!

This is us making our way into one of the largest mall in South Florida, The Sawgrass Mall.
I lived in this mall from the time my girls were in the 5th grade until now with my youngest one still in high school.
This was and still is the place that I took them and their friends to eat, to see movies, to shop and to play in the Game Works (an giant arcade place).

This is a make believe walking or maybe a super-hero take off!

At Berlington Coat Factory looking for the cheapest and craziest accessories to go with the coats.
We got a lion and a zebra critter-hats for the girls to keep their heads, ears and unique brains warm.

This a candy store by the Forever 21 store in the middle of the mall.
The girls love Forever 21 and I love candy so it work out great; they got clothes and I got sweets.

There were a lot more of this magnets but this collection was my favorite.
Loving the Mel one and the Weight Watches one.

Everywhere you look there were all kinds of colors, shapes and form of candies and sweets.

You get some candy and get to do some reading at the same time.

This is by the store entrance.

Somehow this dress looks like a shorter version of something I wore back in 1984.

This one of the 3 food courts around the mall.
It has many choices of food and fast foods from all around the world.
We decided to go for Chinese-Cajun and my oldest daughter paid the bill.

The food was very good but I do hate these foam thingy that we were eating out of.
There was a third food plate that got out of the photo's range.

For this family outing I wore:
Old yellow cardigan from Target.
One of my two faithful and versatile white tanks.
Yellow Gap skirt, thrifted two months ago.
My also very old, Penny Loves Kenny sandals.

Necklaces from various art fairs.

Bracelets from youngest daughter and from my local Indian store.

Rings: one from Peru (the larger one) and the other from a Dollar Store.

This lovely bag was in the $1.99 container at the Ft Lauderdale Salvation Army.

It has a tag around the back of the string that says: The Wayuu Taya Foundation 1973.

And after doing some research I find out that its made by South American Indians and that this foundation assists with the improvement of the South American Indigenous people's lives while respecting their cultural belief and that it was created by the model and actress Patricia Velazquez whom I remember seeing in the cover of magazines and in movies like The Mommy.

Finding pieces of clothing or accessories like this is one of the reasons I enjoy my thrifting adventures so much and the fact that was less than $2.00 is also enjoyable.

Have a fantastic week,

The Yellow and Green Farmers Market again...

2011-11-21T18:36:00.000-08:00

I visited the Yellow and Green Market back in February for the first time and I just felt in love with the market and the people.

I needed to buy lots of greens, oranges, some incense for my house altars and to send to my friend Sarah and some small bamboo plants.

Of course its always way cheaper to buy at a market than at any mall or grocery store

and most this market products are organic. Besides is better to know the person than is growing your food than the one who is transporting in a freezer truck (even though, they are important too).

The market entrance as photographed by my youngest daughter with my instructions: "Not that angle", "Get the other side" and the always annoyed "Are you sure you got the picture?"

Our first purchased was eucalyptus honey for morning tea, I like it on my oranges and I also use it on my neck and face. Thanks Bees!

This shop specialized in local honey and you can taste any of them in a small spoon before buying your honey.

This is Mystik Sisters, our friend Nitza's shop. We took some photos with Nitza's but because we didn't use the flash they came out...well bad, pretty bad so its better to display all the merchandise that we love.

A wall of herbs!

Flowers galore.
I love sunflowers and flowers in general as most of my skirts and shirts shows.

The roof and the market banners gives a rustic and red barn-like feeling.

We Latinos all use some kind of peppers in our meal and in our seasonings.
These ones are hot but not fiery hot, just hot enough.

An array of earthy goods and some extra large carrots.

These are my favorite peppers to eat and to cook with; I use them in my salads, pasta and when seasoning beans and meat.

A bag full of greens and some other goodies as well as an empty pocket and an even emptier stomach.

Another photo opportunity while choosing our next meal path!

And here we are at Antojitos; with all the goodness of empanadas and all of the goodness of Latin food stuff in yuca, bread or potatoes and fried and fried!

And the two lovely ladies that run the booth (#122) and that also cooked all the deliciousness on display.

On our way to the parking lot stood this magnificent representation of the real animal and so user friendly that it was calling for a photo op.

As we drove out into I-95 we pass by Boomers, an amusement park. This wooden roller coaster is called The Hurricane. In the past 7 years I spend many summer days in this park with my girls, we used to ride the coaster and go into the park arcade and played killing zombies, monsters and aliens games. The most we ever rode the coaster was 42 times with 2 breaks to drink water and to go to the bathroom. It was an accelerating experience and every time we drive by this area we feel sad that it got closed and its just standing there like a wooden soldier refusing to give in into defeat.

For my market outing I wore:
Made in Indonesia Ann Taylor Loft jeans, thrifted few months ago.
Made in The USA old white tank.
The cardigan with no tag is from Marshall or Steinmart and its also quite old.
Painted belt, thrifted last month.
Necklaces from Steinmart. Bracelets from DOTS and Steinmart.
Liz Claiborne purse about 5 years old.. Sandals from Marshalls.

I'm having a week off from work and I'm planning on spending it with family and friends.
I'm also celebrating my birthday, my oldest and youngest daughter birthdays too (yes, we were all born in November) and Thanksgiving with my mom and niece.

Have a healthy and happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your time with your love ones,

Shopping in Miami Beach....

2011-11-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

For the last 3 years I've not bought many things retail because I do most of my shopping at thrift stores or consignment shops.
I do buy retail when my friends give me gift certificates or my mom surprises me with new shoes/sandals from Macys because she thinks that I'm always wearing cheap and not so good for my feet shoes.
However when it comes to underwear, socks and sleeping clothes, I always do buy retail.
I needed some undies and instead of going to my local mall again; I decided to go visit my mom and go to a mini mall within walking distance from her place.

The view of the mall entrance as we were walking and my mom was asking if "I'm insane because in Miami Beach you can't walk and take picture without having the chance of being run over by a tourist in a rental or a drunk local".
Well, I guess this is my definition of living dangerously.

This are the two palm trees in the Romero Britto's sculpture that is right at the mall entrance.
I'm completely obsessed with his use of colors and shapes.

Here is little me at the bottom of the sculpture trying to catch some shades while instructing my daughter in which angle to take this photo.

I traveled many miles in Miami Beach and so far, this is the larger ball by the largest palm trees I've seeing.

In the words of Bon Scott:
"But we've got the biggest balls of them all"- here in sunny South Florida!

A closer look at the palm trees.
Britto's work has a bit of cubism, graffiti and pop art influences.
He has a gallery here in Miami Beach and lives in Coconut Grove.

Somehow my clothes are matching the big ball!!

The inside of the mall is just 4 giant stores. You need to take elevators and the moving escalator in order to go from one level to another.
Besides this Ross there is a TJMaxx on the top floor; we shopped for our undies in both stores.

Love the art deco touches in this mural and the turquoise color.

This is the mall's side area and it gives you a great look at this part of the city.
When my mom and my brother moved to Miami Beach around 10 years ago, most of these buildings were just small retirees condos and now it's a giant concrete metropolis.
Sometimes, I miss the old buildings but I understand that progress is here and things must change.
But, I also believe that the architecture of this area is still visually pleasing.

The exit stairs have this fantastic shinning paint that remind me of the ocean.

Me at the ocean stairs getting ready to face the afternoon heat.

I was wearing: my very old A.N.A. sandals, Old Navy (and about 7 years old) long-style shorts, Target polo (6 years old), stripes purse (no name). A collection of brown necklaces and bracelets, some thrifted some were purchased locally.

This is one of the outside cafes. No-one was outside because of the horrific heat.

Another cafe area deserted as well.
I was in love with the chairs modern and sleek look as well as their color.

Another terrifying moment for my mom; here I go again walking and photographing the concrete beauties around me, a bus advertising Chile and those heavenly palm trees (real one not Romero Britto's like).

Here we are on our way home.
My youngest daughter and I love the phrase: "Object in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear".
For me it has a reminiscence of Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken".

Have a lovely week,

Off to another university...

2011-11-02T04:46:00.000-07:00

The first month of my hiatus from blogging I moved my daughter to a large university and here is how it went...

So here is some of the luggage bags and many other things that my oldest daughter took with her to her new home, 180 miles away. Well, it's still in sunny Florida and just 4 hours away.

We stayed up until late packing and got up early in the morning, very early in the morning.
We took many photos in the early morning but we all looked like cyclops so I decided to avoid the horror of Odysseus coming after us by concealing these photos to the secret not for blogging cave.

There were a lot of more boxes and clothes already in the car.
Of course all college students need sodas, Coca Cola to stay awake and Sprite to burp up all the bad food they eat (Hey, I still remember my college years).

It was a beautiful day, sunny, warm but not too hot and with amazing clear blue skies.

These are just some of the few reasons why so many of us live here in Florida.
Just look at the gorgeous mama nature!

Here we are! Yes, she is going to be spending her days and nights in this fabulous complex. The entire complex is only for college students and the people that work there.

I was so proud of my girl; she leased her place on her own and besides her grants she is taking loans to pay for her place for the entire year and I only going to be paying for the next year summer months. Well besides spending money, food money, clothing, medication, health insurance.....

This is our lunch; after spending hours fixing her place we needed some fast, cheap and filing lunch so Wendy's was the perfect choice.

We took a mini tour of the campus. The first time that my daughter came to the campus she came with her boyfriend's family because I was working and going to Saturday classes and couldn't take the day off.

The Knight, the college mascot is so freaking regal, and physically and intellectually ready for a fight.
This university is the 3rd largest campus in the nation and its was my oldest daughter dream to attend it. She worked very hard and finished her Associate in Science with honors and was part of the her college Dean List.

When I did my bachelors my first two years my grades were amazing but by the last two they were terrible because I was partying, working, going to concerts and having the time of my life (wait, that's what I still do). I knew that I was going to continue into my master's studies and I was already working so I really didn't care much for my grades as soon as they were good enough to get into a graduate program they were good enough for me.

It took me a long time to start and complete my masters, I started in 2007 and finished it in 2009 the same year that my oldest daughter graduated from high school.

My girl and her tall, smart and loveliest boyfriend; he's British-American and a ginger (that's always a plus for us).
He and both of his parents were there with us setting him up as well; he is also finishing his studies here just like his brother did two years ago.
I'm very happy that he is in my girl's life because I see a lot of the qualities that I like about myself in him. Specially the one about being there for the ones you love during the good and the bad times and saying what you mean and meaning what you say. In order words: a person that is reliable and present for you when and where you need them.

By the way: I take all my best life lessons from Dr. Seuss.

One of the faculties building; it was a crazily emotional week so its just fitting that I feel some attraction to the Psychology Faculty building.
I was sad, happy, tired excited, proud, loud and mentally unprepared for all the feelings that were pouring into my being all through out the two day that we spend moving and setting my daughter into her new life.

This walkway is between the faculties and it was my favorite part of the entire campus!!

These are the trees that are surrounding the walk way (bridge?).

I could swear I saw an alligator looking back at me but it also could be my imagination and the lack of sleep????

This is the center of the campus and the fountain was a lot more impressive in real life but we couldn't wait until it started to shoot higher water before we needed to move on to another area of the campus.

This is the inside of Student Government Building, and this mobile structure and the way the light comes in through the glass is quite impressive when you are in it.
This building has the school bank, library, coffee shops, cafeterias and restaurants in it. It was like a mini city and so many preppy kids roaming around with big eyed parents like me thinking "my god my kid did good and now I'll be even more broke for the next couple of years"!!!!!!

Daughter's room; I was so proud of her color choices and to the fact that she purchased everything for her room with her scholarship's leftover money.

It took us between 4 to 6 hours to get her room, bathroom, computer area and closet ready. Her boyfriend's mom got her a dark curtain for the window for those days that she doesn't want to see the sun early in the morning and some extra stuff for her room.

Another proud moment: my love for The Beatles stays engraved into her music conscious.
I think I did my job for the good of everlasting music.

Here I'm super-dupper-tired trying to helped her pick up groceries that will last her for at least 2 weeks.
I wore my old jeans and t-shirts from Target with a pile of accessories.

I left a bit after this photo and I cried a lot when I was leaving but then I had to concentrate because it was pouring down raining on our way home so the eyes needed to be in top clear shape.

I'm so sorry for the length of this post; I guess I've been quiet for too long and have too much to say.

Love,

I'm back!!!!

2011-10-24T04:19:00.000-07:00

Hola my dearest readers and friends; after 2 months of a self-imposed and much necessary break I'M BACK into the swing of blogging!!!!!!

During my hiatus I did a lot of talking, eating, and getting together with family and friends. I visited my Mom often, my youngest daughter started her senior year, I moved my oldest daughter to a larger university 180 miles away (there was a river of tears and more tears on the way there and on the way back), started 3 new classes for two endorsements that I'll need for my job and called my friends all the time; including those overseas which gave me a large than usual (about $200.00 more!) but so worth it phone bill.

However, I must confess that it was darn difficult to keep my promise of less Internet and more family and school time because I want to read and comment on my friends blogs so instead I would check my dashboard and look at all my ladies new photos and new posts and think "Ohh I miss you all"!!

Its been heart-warming and quite special to realize that I had established some wonderful friendships and connections with women that are very similar and very different from me. I started to blog as a way to expand my horizons and with the desire to create some more human connections with other people that may or may not have the same interests and views of the world as I do.

Even though I'm extremely grateful for all of my followers; I never consider or worry about numbers of followers or readers; for me it's all about living my life, dealing with all the ups and downs and trying to make some long lasting friendships.

And, I think that I'm very lucky that I had made some fantastic friends with my adventures in blogger land.

Last week of summer-work dressing and...

2011-08-21T17:21:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago marked the end of my summer job and this past week marks the beginning of my regular job.

I'm tired, a bit crazy, overloaded with paperwork but very happy to continue working on my passion and to have a job that allows me to support my family and enjoy having some medical benefits; and sometimes a little extra to go out and have fun.

This is what I wore on my last week of slacks-only summer work attire:

Orange Crush shirt is from Target and its my homage to my favorite soda; well I must say "besides Coca Cola".

Isaac Mizrahi capris from his Target line.

Kenar cardigan and Converse tennis shoes both purchased at Marshalls years ago.

No name purse from a no name store (sorry I don't remember where I got it).

Thrifted belt. Necklaces from Bealls Outlet and bracelets from Steinmart.

My Sweetheart, made in Cambodia and already worn red pants.

Old shirt and cardigan from Target.

Converse tennis, thrifted 5 months ago.

This photo is the no-flash version..

Necklaces: the first two are from Bealls and the last one was just thrifted last month.

Bracelets: some are from Steinmart, some are thrifted and others from my local Indian store.

Sun 'N' Sand purse.

Prospirit shirt, made in Mongolia (I have this shirt for so long and I never read the label until now).

Evie cardigan, made in Hong Kong and purchased at one of the stores at Broward Mall in Plantation 4 years ago.

Worthington long shorts, made in Indonesia and also purchased in Broward Mall.

My old trustees Easy Spirits Mary Janes purchased about a century ago at the easy spirit store here in Plantation, Fl.

My necklace is from Steinmart and its probably about 6 years old.

Bracelets from Claires, DOTS and the silver ones are from all the places that I have lived.

Andy Wharhol's soup purse.

Worthington pants, made in Guatemala. They are the same brand and I purchased them in the same store but they are made in two far-from-each-other parts of the world!

Swaui blouse, made in The USA (with the strange name you would think otherwise) and thrifted back in March.

Necklace and bracelets are from Steinmart and are about 4 years old.

Rampage purse also from ages ago.

Thrifted belt.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of my followers and the loveliest, super kind, witty, stylish and smart ladies that always take time out of their busy lives to comment on my blog.

I believe in personal connections no matter how far we are from one another and I have genuine love and admiration for all of you.

I'm going to be taking a few months off from blogging because my life is a bit complicated (in a good way) and busy-crazy right now.

I'll have lots of photos and outfits to show when I come back and I'll will miss reading all of your amazing blogs.

Con Amor,

A dinner and a birthday...

2011-08-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

Part I

My good friend Laura invited me over for dinner at her house two Thursdays ago.
I have known Laura since our kids were in the 6th grade, and she always has been a very giving and caring person to me and to my daughter.

Her son and my youngest daughter are still friends as they move on into their senior year in high school and Laura and I contemplated how we are going to manage all the time, expenses and emotions that this school year promises to bring us.

I enjoyed a walk back into memory lane, good food and spending time with all the family pets. We can't have any pets because of my oldest daughter allergies and asthma so whenever I get the chance to spend time with other people's pets; I do enjoyed it tremendously.

This is Laura's backyard and close to the area where she was grilling the chicken.
I love this orchid and its the first time that Laura's plants are growing because as she herself put it "if she planted it, it usually died"!

I prepared the salad and helped setting up the table.
We ate and talked about the kids time in middle and in high school and how fast its all happening and how unprepared we both are to deal with high school graduations!

This are some of Laura's family pets that I adopted for the evening:

This is Eva, she is Goldy's daughter with the neighbors black Labrador.
The neighbors house and Laura's connect by their backyard so Eva gets to see and hear her dad bark all the time.

This is mama Goldy.
She is very playful and wants to be center of attention all the time.

This is the man of the house he was Goldy original mate.
He is the oldest one and the most calm and collected of the three. I love his face; its shows his beauty, peace and maturity.

This giant ball of yellow and orange fur is Poo Bear!
He is huge and somehow agile at the same time. They don't understand why he is so big because they don't overfeed him and he's being checked by the vet. I guess he is just born to be big.
He is their Garfield, well not really he's way more loving than Garfield.

I wore:
Boundaries skirt is a 100% cotton, just thrifted at my Salvation Army store.
To The Max shirt, made in The Philippines and purchased with the skirt.
Merona sandals from the Ft Lauderdale Salvation Army store at the beginning of July.

New York& Company purse, a gift from an old friend back in 05 or 06.
All the bangles were also purchased the same day that I got the skirt and the shirt.
Necklaces: the longer one was thrifted, the double one was made for me by one of my old supervisor and the one with strings is from Steinmart.

PartII

This past Thursday was my niece's birthday and I decided to wear the same skirt because it felt like a Thursday skirt!

We had great fun, the girls playing the new Harry Potter game for the Wii while we cheered them on.
We also tried to see if the girls remembered some of the our earliest memories of their times together and of the games they used to played.

We had some pizza (sorry we ate it before any photos were taken) and the most delicious cake from Sweet Art By Lucida located in Pembroke Pines. We love, love their cakes and have purchased them for all of our birthdays.

My niece also has a giant goldfish as a pet.
He comes up to the top of the tank and she pets him like he's a dog!

I wore:
The same skirt as two Thursdays ago; the recently thrift 100% cotton Boundaries skirt.
Old Navy top, 100% cotton, made in Mexico and thrifted two weeks ago.

Steve Madden studded sandals.
Worthington purse.
Necklaces and bracelets are from Steinmart, DOTS and thrifted.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful week,

Summer reading...

2011-08-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

This summer I've been so busy working and doing my living thing that I read fewer books than usual; as a matter of fact some of the books in this list were my 2nd or 3rd read. Some of them because I love them so much that I needed to read them again and one is because I needed to re-learn some skills that I have not used for a while.

The Art of Sign Language by Christopher Brown.
I purchased this book back in 2007 when I worked with deaf students to improve my skills back then after taking sign language classes all the way back in 2004. This summer I worked with interns that have some hearing impairment and I needed to re-learn this skill.

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.
It's one of my all times favorite books and this is my 3rd or 4th time reading it. I also love the 2005 film version even though there are some major changes in the movie plot in comparison to the book. I think that Liev Schreiber did a great job with the screenplay and directing the movie as well as the natural and heartfelt acting of Elijah Wood and Eugene Hutz (the lead singer of the amazing band Gogol Bordello).

House and Philosophy, Everybody Lies by William Irwin and Henry Jacoby.
I bought this book as a present for oldest daughter during her House obsession stage and this is my 2nd time reading it.
Its funny that I introduce my girls to House, Doctor Who, Glee, Japanese animation, the new Sherlock Holmes and many more things that they really got into it; and that I move away from it while they remain loyal to.

Rollins Stones Interviews by Jann S. Wenner and Joe Levy.
I got this book about 5 months ago, its a compilation of some of the magazine's interviews from 1968-2004 and its co written by the amazing and I-always-want-have-an-affair-with Joe Levy!!! Some of the interviews included are: Jim Morrison, George Lucas, Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, The Dalai Lama and Bono.

Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat by Bill Watterson.
I adore Calvin and Hobbes!!! The simplistic and humorous everyday events from a point of view of a child and his tiger stuffed animal. I can tell you that I remember vividly when I was 14 1/2 (back then those half were very important) and I stopped caring or believing in my stuff animals. And I can also tell you that I remember vividly when I realized that a stuff animal, a figurine, a book, a poster, etc do have a powerful sentimental and emotional value and we shouldn't lose sight of that childhood love of inanimate objects.

Classic Album Covers Of The 60's by Storm Thorgerson.
I purchased this book back in 2007 and I had never finish reading and/or looking through all of it. It has the artist name, album name, the record year and the cover designer name at the bottom of all of the photos. So imaginative and cool covers and many artists that I know and love and others that I never heard of but learn about after seeing their album cover some 40 something years later.

This is how the photos were set up to have a nice pink background!

I hope that you have a wonderful week,

Some old places, some new photos...

2011-08-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago on one of the hottest weekends this summer I decided to visit my Mami.
I gathered my kids and my niece and drove to Miami Beach to get some good food and to spend time in the city with my mom.
We visited many places that we've been before and some new ones. We took the city bus around and stopped to buy some stuff, stopped by my mom's favorite clothing store, laughed and sweated like crazy and had some delicious food.

This is all the darn construction on The MacArthur Causeway on our way to Miami Beach.

The Miami Children's Museum with a Romero Britto sculpture at the entrance.

My youngest daughter took the last two photos while I was driving and once we got to my mami's place we left the car in the parking lot and walked for around 10 minutes to the bus stop.

Miami Beach buses cost only .25, are usually on time; and I don't have to worry about dealing with crazy drivers or paying anywhere from $2-$25 for parking.

Our first stop was this CVS pharmacy around Collins Ave.
Love the palm trees and the all the excitement of people on the streets because the area where we live is mainly consider a suburb, so we have to drive everywhere and we hardly see people walking around except when we go out to Downtown Ft Lauderdale.

This is the CVS pharmacy; as we can see it's open 24 hours and has everything inside from food, drinks, bikinis, sandals, books, detergent, medications, etc, etc, etc.

The cashiers all knew my mom and some of them remembered the kids (my girls and my niece) when they were little.

I'm not a tourist but I'm not a local either so this window of small tourist related stuff got my attention.

This building is across from the CVS and this sculpture in the front has always make me think?
Who is this warrior supposed to be? Is he a local Indian mix with European? Is he trying to defend the building or the area?
Why is he so big and the ship so small? How come he looks like he goes to the gym a lot? Why are his nipples so perfect? I mean please someone explain this things to me!

The New World Center Gardens are part of the New World Symphony building
design by Frank Gehry and another place we visited back in March.

I got this peachy beauty while waiting for the bus to pick us up to go to Macys.

I guess that Fanny and Edmund could have retired here!

This building is right across from the Miami Convention Center where we went to Art Basel
back in January of this year.

This the Temple Emanu-El Dove of Peace.
We were here back in February we saw a Seraphic Fire concert.

This used to be the last of the Burdines stores until it was closed back in 2005.

Burdines was a chain of stores that started back in 1896 in Florida. The stores used to have some funky colors and flamingos as part of their interior decorations.

As you can see all the funkiness is long gone!!!!!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T KNOW THESE PEOPLE AND THEY DON'T KNOW ME OR HAVE ANY AFFILIATION WITH MY BLOG; THEY WERE JUST IN THE WAY.

Here I'm waiting for the bus to takes back to the area close to my mami's place so we can eat.

I wore:
Talbots skirt, thrifted las month.
One of my old Target shirts.
Gold and gold-like necklaces, bracelets and earrings:
some were bought retail, others were present and thrifted.
Purple bag, a present brought to me from India from my close friend Shefali.

Took this photo while walking to my mami's place.

I see this building all the time and I love the art deco colors and structure underneath the windows.

This is one of the few houses that are still around the area; most houses have been turn into two or three storage sized condominiums.

The house's entire outside walls are covered with bougainvillaeas.

This arroz amarillo (yellow rice) and fricase de pollo ( chicken fricassee) done my mom's way.

Of course good and tasty vegetables; they looked good, tasted better and are very good for ones body.

This is my plate before consumption; I eat cilantro with everything and everyday if I can.

This is a way to end a hot Sunday visit to Miami Beach!

I was tag...

2011-07-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

A while back I was tagged with two awards from the amazingly stylish and fashionably well-versed
Terri and Viviane.

The terms are to reveal 7 or 10 things about oneself and to share what is on my make-up bag.

I decided to mix both concepts and just share some of the stuff I do to keep myself in check to be able to live my life and keep up with my kids, family and friends.

These are my tune-ups tools.

This are my make up essentials:
I use the Avon concealer around my eyes because I've have dark circles around my eyes since the age of 7 or 8. Its an inherited trait from my father and from his mother.

The base and powder are Cover Girl, and the Maybelline best-seller great lash mascara.

The lipstick, lips glaze and eye pencil are from Avon; I have few more colors in my makeup bag.
I buy Avon and Mary Kay products because believe it or not when I was a young girl in the mid to late 70's most companies didn't make makeup for women of darker complexion.

Avon and Mary Kay were very popular in Puerto Rico when I started to wear makeup and they took care of us brown girls.

This is my thrifted makeup bag, here are the rest of my lipsticks, eye shadows, eye pencils, lips glazes and my faithful powder brush. As you can see I don't have any blush. I always have difficulties finding one that I really like or that goes well with my skin. I know they are out there I just haven't cared to find them.

Here is the part that I share some stuff about myself beyond the makeup bag.

I use extra virgin olive oil on my face, neck and body right after a shower at least 3 times a week. By the time I'm ready to go to bed I remove it with a very cold wash cloth.

I also use honey in any area of my face, neck or body where there is any blemishes. I apply it right after my shower and again I remove it with a cold wash cloth before bed. I don't want to become a human bug collector while I lay sleeping.

I use the coffee grinds to exfoliate my entire body during my showers and it supposed to help combat cellulite. Hey we all have it; unless you get it surgically removed and/or go through many suction spa treatments it's going to be there in many areas of your skin like a faithful "friend".

This are the creams that keep my chocolate skin soft and protected.

I was born on an island and lived on another for many years, traveled and lived in many parts of The USA and now I'm living here in South Florida; during all of my life I had applied on lots of sunblock and had stayed away from excessive sun exposure . I wore so much sunblock during my college years in P.R. that my mami used to said she could smell me a mile away.

My night cream is from Avon for women over 40, my day cream is from the local pharmacy for women that want to spend less than $20.00 and my body lotion is my favorite and it was on sale at my local pharmacy. I change body lotion often; I like to try different brands and different mixture of elements. However I don't like fragrance in my body lotions.

This is the shampoo, conditioners and the leave in conditioning cream that I use to try to control my hair from sticking up like Edward Scissorshand's hair. I also change my shampoo and conditioner often (always going for the cheapest brands) because hair gets used to the shampoo ingredients making it less effective.

This is my remedy when I feel bloated and sluggish after spending some time over-stuffing my mouth!!

This is my brown rice and vegetables; I eat this for lunch and dinner for a couple of days to settle my system and allow it me to get back to my normal self.

DISCLAIMER: I'M NOT A DOCTOR OR PLAY ONE IN BLOGGER LAND.

I ALSO AM NOT YOU: SO WHAT WORKS FOR ME AND MY BODY IS NOT NECESSARY GOING TO WORK FOR YOU OR YOU BODY AND I'M NOT GIVING ANYONE MEDICAL ADVICE OR TELLING YOU TO DO WHAT I DO.

This is my home gym; I only exercise at home or walk or dance because I don't ever, ever, ever feel like driving to any gym!

I need to wear the ankles and wrist weights all the time because they help to strengthen my knees and hands which had giving me problems before.

I would like to tag the following bloggers because I'm curious to know what is in their makeup bags and how the take care of themselves:

Vix from Vintage Vixen

Sarah from Misfits Vintage

Sharon from MyStyle- Fashion, Vintage and Me...

Tabouled from Tabouleh

Loo from Jumbles and Pompoms

Fabienne from The House In The Clouds

Have a great week,

Some school shopping...

2011-07-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter needed some clothes for all of the upcoming events that she's going to attend this coming school year. I haven't purchased anything retail for myself since 2 years and 10 months ago but I buy retail for my girls all the time. So we went to a mall here in Plantation called The Fountains. We've being going to this mall for about 10 years. I was in a very relax mood so my clothes are loose on me and I wore the most comfortable sandals that I could find.

I wore:

Napa Valley shirt, made in Kenya about 3 sizes larger than my usual shirts and just thrifted at the end of June.

Sweetheart red pants also thrifted in June and made in Cambodia.

Thrifted belt purchased about 4 months ago.

Report sandals from Ross; they were purchased for my daughter

but somehow they end up with my shoes.

Bracelets from all of the places that I lived and rings from my times in NYC.

The hearts necklace is from the Indian store by my job and its quite old.

One of my most loved purses; my Paloma Picasso purse.

Thrifted more than 10 years ago.

Here we are on our way to Marshalls to get some shorts, tops and dresses for my daughter.
This entire area was constructed in the last 2 years. The sidewalk where I'm walking used to be a family
owned Italian restaurant that made an amazing lasagna.

These are new condominiums; the Fountains movie theater used to be in this location and all the green area were stores or parking spaces. My girls first movies with friends was in those movies theater but now they gone.

They developers did a good job including many green areas and even though I still feel bad for many of the specialize stores that close down the new green areas are very nice to take a stroll in between the giant stores that have taken over the mall.

More luscious greenery!

Of course The Fountains have many fountains around the mall areas.

Me, myself, my little car and the restaurant behind me is where we sat our behinds to eat.

The cup said it well...

My girl's lunch-dinner was this gigantic burrito and chips.

This are my fajitas and chips. Both plates plus soda were very reasonable and I still had some money left for gas.

This is the inside of Lime; right to the left of us. The wall are yellow and all the wood accent makes it so homey.

The collection of sauces; from mildly heaven to hot as hell.

Adorable yellow flowers right by the parking area across from the restaurant.

Have a great rest of the week,

My prayers...

2011-07-23T14:45:00.000-07:00

My prayers are with the people of Norway after the killings and bombing in Oslo and the lost of lives as well as the lost of the sense of security and openness that this country has always demonstrated.
I receive many daily readers from Norway and of course the lovely Anika lives in Oslo; thank god she and her family are fine as I just found out (I emailed her and she just emailed me back).
I just want to take this opportunity to send a message of support and condolences especially to those parents that have lost their children in the camp shooting.

And then the amazingly talented and so sadly portrait in the press, Amy Winehouse was found dead in her apartment.
Every time I saw photos or videos of her behaving irrationally; I always felt so sorry for her because she had so much talent and incredible potential but couldn't control her addiction demons. I introduced her music to both of my girls and I tireless played her cd's for many years.

So I dedicated this post to those whom are still here on our beautiful earth; breathing, crying, laughing, dealing with the joys and the suffering of every day life.

Con Amor,

Saturday July 9th....

2011-07-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

We went to a Florida Marlins baseball game on July 9th. My ex-sister in law (whom is like a second mother to my girls, their aunt as well as their godmother) gave us 4 tickets plus a parking pass.

I took my youngest daughter and two of her best friends to the game.

We have been going to the Marlins games since 2006, we took a break last summer because I couldn't afford the tickets anymore. Its not that I'm an incredible knowledgeable baseball chick but I was born in Dominican Republic, raised in Puerto Rico with a Cuban grandpa and grew up around uncles and cousins that loved the game. I've been watching baseball at stadiums and on TV since 1976 and I love the game.

Its a long game and it takes a few moments to get adjusted to the pace and the rules but both of my girls know all the basics and they love staying after the game for the entertainment and the fireworks. Yes, they have fireworks!

I wore:

Thrift shirt purchased the Friday before the game, with no name tag but it looks like the brand I.N.C from Macy's.
Mossimo jeans, thrifted a couple of weeks ago.
Thrifted belt, purchased about 4 months ago. Old Italian sandals.

Necklaces: some from Steinmart, some thrifted and others were presents.

Rampage purse.
Bracelets from Dollar General and others were gifts from friends.
Ring from Steinmart.

Here we are, the game started at 7:00 we made it to the parking lot by 7:20!

Walking fast to get inside. We were surprised that there were so few people in the parking lot because in years before the games were always packed.

We walked this round pathway to make it to our seats. The art is done by the great Brazilian artist (living in Miami) Romero Brito.

Our seats were the in the fourth row right by the Marlins dugout. We could almost, almost hear some of the players talking and we waved at them and some of them smile back at us.

Again we were amazed by the small amounts of fans inside the stadium.

The great Bonifacio getting in the swing of things!

By the time this play came to, we were already 3-1.

We were winning. That's the reason for the big smile.

DISCLAIMER: THE PEOPLE IN THIS PHOTOS HAVE NOT ASSOCIATION OR AFFILIATION WITH MY BLOG.

Here I'm again thanks to my youngest daughter's friends camera work.

The Marlins cheerleaders doing their dance.

The pink and orange sky right before it turned dark and all the stadium lights were turned on.

This is the Houston Astros, the rival team. The change the pitcher 3 times during the game.

These dudes dress in funky costumes are the Marlins Manatees, the male counterparts to the cheerleaders. They come out and also do some dancing.

My favorite player Emilio Bonifacio. He is from Santo Domingo, the capital of The Dominican Republic and has been playing for the marlins since 2008.
He got 2R and 1H and had the best batting average of the entire game.

We won 1 to 6!!!!!!!

The team getting ready to leave the field after the game was over.

This was the after-game show: Cirque Dreams. They did some amazing acrobatics!

They had some sort of springs attached to their feet and they were jumping very high and doing flips.

This was a very busy day before the game I took my daughter to a birthday party, did 6 loads of laundry, picked her and her friends up, drove to the game, stayed for the show, drove from the stadium in Miami to this Steak 'n Shake in Sawgrass and needed some good old Coca Cola to continue with the celebratory mood and keeping up with 16, 17 and 18 years old kids!!!!!!!

One of the shakes.

And another.

Steak 'n Shake is an old-style take on fast food you actually sit and have an waiter and their menu is based on American Classics like hamburgers and hot dogs.

Some pictures of their old stores. This company was started in 1937 in the Midwest when a gas station was combined with a hamburger stand.

I'm always up for some good old American cuisine at 12:30a.m.

The kids choice. They were in food heaven, I mean small hamburgers, french fries and shakes is all you need to be in food heaven.

The moon and the restaurant entrance as we said goodbye for the night (actually early morning) and right before I drove two of the kids and them drove ourselves home.

Here are the gates to a good time and a free game thanks to my girl's auntie!

Have a great week,

One of my singing heroes...

2011-07-16T22:04:00.000-07:00

The Argentinian singer Facundo Cabral was assassinated on July 9th in Guatemala City on his way to the International Airport.

Many of you are too young or from a country where Cabral was not well known. For me he was a great musical and political influence. He was an well known and highly respected folk singer that sang about social injustice and the ups and down of the human spirit and conditions. Later on in his life, his music became more about the spiritual struggles than the human struggles that were present in his 70's and 80's songs.

I still have the albums that I bought at the JCPenney's in Plaza Las Americas in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the early 80's and I saw him in concert only once; I got to meet him for a brief period of time while he was gracious enough to take some photos with my girlfriends.

He came from very poor beginnings and suffered a lot of personal tragedies including poverty, illness, and the lost of his first wife and child in a plane crash.

I want to dedicated this post to his music because his music made me think and open my eyes about subjects that as a young girl I knew nothing about; but that I became aware of after listening to his songs.

This is my favorite song:

And the last song's verse says:

I’m not from here, nor from there
I have no age, nor future
And being happy is the color of my identity

Facundo Cabral No soy de Aqui Lyrics:
Me gusta el mar y la mujer cuando llora
las golondrinas y las malas señoras
saltar balcones y abrir las ventanas
y las muchachas en abril

Me gusta el vino tanto como las flores
y los amantes, pero no los señores
me encanta ser amigo de los ladrones
y las canciones en francés
No soy de aquí, ni soy de allá
no tengo edad, ni porvenir
y ser feliz es mi color
de identidad

Me gusta estar tirado siempre en la arena
y en bicicleta perseguir a Manuela
y todo el tiempo para ver las estrellas
con la María en el trigal

No soy de aquí, ni soy de allá
no tengo edad, ni porvenir
y ser feliz es mi color
de identidad

DISCLAIMER: THIS BLOG AND MYSELF HAS NO RIGHTS OVER THE CONTEXT OF THIS LYRICS OR VIDEO JUST OVER THE FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS THAT THEY EVOKE ON ME.

Thanks so much for reading and have a lovely and inspiring day!

Some of my work clothes...

2011-07-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have been wearing mostly pants to work for the last 3 weeks. Well there were those 2 times that a skirt magically show up. I pleaded the fifth and couldn't or wouldn't take full responsibility for the slip!

However most days I've been a good and responsible work-attire follower. Unfortunately I haven't been able to take many photos. I leave the house early and come back a bit late and have to do many duties and chores before finally get settled in for the evening, and by that time I'm too tired to take any pictures. Also I have not liked many of my work outfits and even though my new co workers tell me that "I dress very nice", I haven't been so pleased with my outfits.

So here are few of the ones that I got to take pictures of and that I felt good and comfortable in as well as followed the job rules...

No Boundaries pants from Target from 7 years ago.

Black shirt also from Target.

Nicole Lee purse.

Turquoise and turquoise-like necklaces and bracelets some are from few years back some are a couple of months old.

Bisou Bisou capris.

Madison Michelle shirt. My old and so comfortable Easy Spirits mary janes.

St John's Bay bag.

Bracelets are from the 90's and the 2000's.

Some of the necklaces are real others are a really good copy.

One of the purchased retail, the others all thrifted.

                        Worthington pants from JCPennys about 7 or 8 years old.
                                           Geoffrey Beene white shirt.
                            Betsy Johnson carrier bag about 4 years old.
Yellow and red necklaces and yellow bracelets are a combination of thrift, gifts and from my daughters.

                Kenar pants from Marshalls about 3 years old.
              Old shirt from Target and AMI jacket from Steinmart.
              Old brown flats from Target. Rampage bag.
           Two of the bracelets are hand painted and the other one is from Peru.

Be Bop capris pants. Thifted silk shirt.

Old moccasins from Marshalls and thrifted belt.

Green purse from New York and company.

No Boundaries long shorts pants from JCPenneys.

Old Target shirt. Thrifted Mossimo bolero jacket.

Hula girl purse from a small Miami Beach store.

Sterling necklace and earrings were a gift from my old supervisor.

Bracelets are from many of the places that I lived before.

Cardigan from Target.

Nicole Miller Blouse around 7 years old.

Thrifted orange belt. Lapis purse from Marshalls.

Earrings, pin and bracelets are all from Indian and were purchased here in South Florida or giving to me as presents.

Gap pants, just thrifted two days ago.

My Summer job is 15 minutes away from my favorite Salvation Army store; imagine what I being doing every Wednesday (all clothings, shoes and bags are half price) and Friday (75% off of clothings, etc.)????

I'm only able to spend a small amount of money but I still finding great bargains and I'm really enjoying the trill of paying $3.50 for a pair of Gap trousers!!!

A evening at the beach...

2011-07-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

After a busy work week, less than memorable outfits, some bumps in the work-road and many hours of mami taxi and house chores; I was in a mood for some music, sand, and maybe a drink or two.

A friend of my friend Jeniffer invited us to listen to a free reggae concert at the beach theatre in Hollywood Beach. She also offer to drive us, and there was another one of Jeniffer's friends that was going to meet us there.

I wore:

My just thrifted Mossimo jeans. My old Geoffrey Beene white shirt.

Thrifted belt and also thrifted Montego Bany Club sandals.

Dolce &Gabanna purse thrifted about 21/2 months ago for $6.00 at my favorite Salvation Army store.

Sorry the photo is very blurry.

I thought the purse was a good fake until I took it home and started to clean the inside that I found the tag and an additional brand hologram sewn to the inside of it.

The necklaces are from a local store (I think Bealls) and I bought them back in 2007 because I needed them to match a dress.

Bracelets are all thrifted few years back.

Finally at Hollywood beach! There is a free parking lot right by the beach area.

Free parking, free concert, free beach, free ride to the beach; makes for a fantastic evening!

Right before sunset. The puffy hair belongs to my friend Jeniffer.

It was windy and warm at the same time. Hey its Florida weather and its as crazy as most of us that have the pleasure of living here.

This is the band. They played reggae, some pop, latino songs and some Marley.

There were a lot of more people dancing around than shows on my photos.
We were sitting and dancing in our area. Jenny and the others have beer to hold so it made more comfortable to sit.

It was getting darker as the band play on.

We stop by one of the small restaurant by the boardwalk and Jeniffer and company order this beer pitcher.

I don't like cheap beer so I got...

A vanilla ice cream cone for $2.50.

After the music, the beer and the ice cream cones we walked by the beach.

I got my feet wet; it was so refreshing and calming.

Some of the hotel and condominiums near by.

Another view as we were walking back to the car. The beach was full of families and couples just hanging around and getting into the water.

On the way back to the car; it got so hot and even though it was almost 12:00 a.m. as we were leaving the beach was just getting busier.

End of The Year Luncheon...

2011-07-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

This was my job's end of the year luncheon at The Pine Island Ridge Country Club and it took place on June 10th.
I have a negative view of country clubs; when I lived in Puerto Rico I went to many weddings at country clubs and find them and the people that frequent them snobby and judgemental (well this is a bit judgemental too but this was my personal experience).

So my expectation were to be loud, have a good time and annoy some snobs!

I wore:

Willi Smith dress, thrifted long ago (2003 or 2002).
Target cardigan, very old as well.
No name sandals from SteinMart.
Necklaces and bracelets from SteiMart and from 2006 or maybe older.

This lovely little purse was a thrift find the same week of the luncheon.

I found it in the $1.99 box with four other very nice and colorful purses on June 8th at the Salvation Army in Ft. Lauderdale.

The handles are made from wood and the inside is lined in silk.
No tag or designer name on it but it looks like many of the made in Hong Kong or
made in Indonesia purses that I own.

This is the dress flowery print. The fabric is very soft to the touch and its stretchy.

The Country Club parking lot had these magnificent trees with many singing birds that sound like a nature cd as I walked from my car to the building.
When I spend time in Georgia (in Carrollton and Savannah) I saw similar trees with moss hanging that used to give me the creeps, especially at night.

Before going into the luncheon I meet many of my co workers outside so we could go in together and sit together.

I walk around the gardens and took some photos. These hanging flowers were too enchanting and they needed their own photo.

A butterfly getting her lunch as well.

Out table; it was divided by teams so we really didn't have to meet before in order to secure being sitting together!
The theme was holidays around the world; our table was the Halloween one.

Hey another posing opportunity and another co worker willing to take my picture!

This salad looks and was delicious however it was $23.00!
It may not sound like a lot of money for other people but it was for me. I mean I really enjoyed it and I had a lot of fun with my co workers but really $23.00??

This was our end of the year celebratory cake!
I usually don't write much about my work because the way I see it: "I work to live, not live to work" .
I also keep my blog separate from my work; very few people at work know about my blog and I like to keep it that way.

After lunch, my supervisor (who is a club member because she lives in this area) took us for drinks at the restaurant/bar located at the club's lower level and right next to it was the pool and the lake.

It was another amazing day in South Florida and some of the people around the pool were giving us the "are you freaking tourists? why are you taking picture?" look.

I behaved quite nicely and wasn't asked to leave, and I actually had a good time; the salad and the bread was great, the drink was even better, the employees were very nice and I enjoyed spending time with my co workers and supervisors outside work without having to worry about paper work and deadlines.

Last Saturday night....

2011-07-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, I went to my good friend and old co-worker Donald's wedding party celebration.
He and Christina got married about 3 weeks ago and had a smaller reception; this party was for all of the other people that they couldn't invite.
I make plans to attend the party with my other ex-co-worker and very good friend, Shanika.
It was in Boca Raton at Christina's parents house.

I wore:

Signature London Style orange dress, a 100% cotton, made in Sri Lanka and a few sizes larger.

Purchased about 4 years ago.

Mossimo bolero style jacket, thrifted two months ago for $2.00. Olando, made in Italy sandals from Marshalls purchased about 6 years ago.

Louis Vuitton bracelets from a thrift store in Boca and rose bracelet from youngest daughter.
The larger bracelet is a Bijoux Terner, thrifted 2 months ago.

This collar is from Thriftarella's, purchased back in February.
My youngest daughter wore it for her play dinner but this was the first time I was wearing it.

A Camille La Vie small beaded clutch that I got for my oldest daughter prom back in 2009

at a local bridal shop.

The wedding photograper took this photo for me. This is the house entrance and I couldn't resist being so smiling and utterly happy with all the yellow.

This is the area where Shanika and I sat down before moving to the back yard grassy area.

I choose this location because of the proximity to the bar, the kitchen and the dance floor.

Hey, I know my priorities.

The bar was right next to this spiral staircase. And the pool was dangerously close, especially if you have too much to drink. Fortunately no one fell into the pool even though many of us had more than 2 drinks.

One of the extremely courteous waitressess. They were all so very nice to me and when I asked for more lamb, I got it!

This was my favorite food of the night, the lamb was perfectly done and so juicy.

I ate about 6 of them, lots of steamed dumplings and few small sausages.

The backyard with yellow and green lanterns and a beautiful sunset.

The groom, Donald.

Shanika and I meet Donald through our work. I moved to another position and location but I had kept in touch with most of the people from this team. Donald has many of the good qualities that my brother has (and he also as tall as him).

The beautiful bride, Christina.
She is tall and beautiful and has a great sense of style and humor as well as some fabulous tattoos.

The bar drink collection, they were more to the side but I couldn't capture all of them.

My favorite drinks of the night were the Malibu and Jack Daniels. I also got two sips of red wine before going dancing; by the time I got back it was already taken by the cleaning crew.

Shanika's drinks and my Cuba Libre with Jack Daniels instead of rum.

I haven't drank Jack in about 10 years; I can tell that I really enjoyed it.

Me by the pool, trying to look like: "No, I'm not petrified of falling into the pool and make of fool of myself like I did many years ago". Sorry the photo is a bit blurry.

The pool and attached jacuzzi and those fantastic blue lights.

The party people from the other side of the backyard. We sat here for about 45 and got to talk to the groom's dad and sister and ate dumplings.

Well I ate the dumplings, my friend Shanika didn't like them.

My dress is so wrinkled; I guess its showing what a good time I was having!

Here I'm sitting among all the grass, stars and of course our South Florida summery bugs.

Shanika shaking it up in the dance floor. I was right to the side of the lady in black, shaking it as well.

The girl in the middle with the black dress was giving dancing lessons. She was teaching salsa and some 70's dances. I knew both so I concentrate on dancing my style and just go with the music without following steps.

This is the the entrance to the bathroom closest to the dance floor area. Of course I had to take photos of these yellow flowers.

Me waiting to go into the bathroom. Women and their bathroom lines...

A closer look at the beautiful yellow flowers.

Ahhh, the dessert table.
So much sweet and plenty of time to eat a lot of it. And I did!

The display was sweet and colorful and they have an attendance filling up bags of all of the candy or
whatever ones were your favorites.

For me M&M's are a sure winner.

Here is my bag of goodies. You could choose from a yellow or a lime green bag in continuation with the color scheme.

Shanika and I all sweatty from dancing, eating, drinking and minggling too much...
As you can see, it seems like I was one of the shorter people in the party.

The stairscase to the second floor and right before the front doors were inviting us to stand or sit and pose before exiting.

My feet were hurting so I needed to sit and enjoyed the moment before leving this gorgeous house and such a lovely party.

A get-together...

2011-06-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

A friend invited me to a barbecue at one of her friend's houses in Weston, Fl.

I was to bring some desserts and myself with an empty stomach in preparation of ample food and good alcohol.

This was going to be another multi-Latino gathering. The lady of the house Bertha is from Mexico, my friend Maria is from Cuba, Eric is from Puerto Rico raised in The States and the other Maria is from Nicaragua.

I wore:

New York&Co made in Vietnam shirt, tied in the back because it's XL and

I did not have the time to sew it in.

No boundaries strapless dress, worn as a skirt.

Both items were thrifted at My Salvation Army store on the Wednesday (half price day) before.

I took this photo at Bertha's house because I was running a bit late and I didn't have the time to

take pictures at home.

Once I came back home I took all of my accessories photos.
These two necklaces are from 2003 or 2004 and they were very inexpensive because they were missing some beads.

The bracelet on the left is from JCPenney, the others are from DOTS and from a co-worker

that used to make me jewelry.

Victoria's Secret little purse, thrifted the same day as the dress/skirt and the shirt.

The dress /skirt print.

We had a loud and extensive conversation over some appetizers and drinks.

The Heineken was my drink of choice.

I wasn't able to post the group photos because I didn't got their permission and now some of them

are out of the country on vacation.

Some more drink choices.

When I was in college I used to drink Kahlua with Vanilla Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

So sweet and always brought a smile to my face! Now I prefer a good beer or wine instead.

This is in the back of the townhouse before they started to cook.

The shirt looks blue in the sun but it's really the same purple as the skirt.

It was a beautiful very hot day with a bit of a breeze, and we were surrounded by many trees and hundreds

of millions (exaggeration sign here) of fruit flies and other bugs.

More of the green; to better breath in, my dear.

The breeze was moving the palm trees around and the skies were evoking some

relaxing sentiments in all of us.

I was really about to take a nap with all the lovely breeze and serenity but the nasty bugs were all over.

I probably ate one or two while I was talking.

Well, they're protein!

Mr. Eric did all the barbecuing and we took the food inside the house because of the pestilent Floridian bugs.

The outside table was very nicely done and the flowers were beautiful.
However the bugs had been there before us Homo sapiens and they won back the patio space that afternoon.

Rice, two different kinds of salads, some home made dressing

and chimichurri sauce.

This was my plate; I got seconds afterwards.

The chicken and meat were brought up from Nicaragua and frozen until the night before.

The chicken and the cow meat comes from a free range farm of a relative of Maria's that also owns a meat market.

I usually only eat organic meats at home but I must tell these meats were the most incredible tasting pieces of meat that I have since I left Puerto Rico in '99. Way better than any of the organic meats I buy.

They were rich in flavor and had such a perfect combination of tenderness and remarkable natural taste that I really can't described.

All of us were just eating and making YUMM sounds; the only talk was about how delicious the meat was!

This was my last drink of the day. I drank it while eating the delicious meat.

I was in love with this couch; it remind me of Joan Miro.

I brougth the desserts from my local supermarket because I can't bake; I burn everything beyond recognition!!!!

This pastry cheese thingy is something that we have for or with our breakfast, but it can be eaten at any time during the day accompanied by some black coffee and milk. It's made with guava, cheese and so many other no-so-good for you ingredients.

Another view of the beautiful skies before leaving to go home.

A Training Day and some Tex-Mex food...

2011-06-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 13th I had a training for my Summer job and I decided to re-wear the same outfit I wore for my friends poetry reading.

The training gave me the opportunity to meet with some co-wokers that I haven't seen since last Summer.

I wore:

Temperley London skirt, thrifted back on May.

Cardigan and shirt from Target (quite old).

I even made a bigger effort on my morning make up so I looked more awake than I really was!

My no name sandals and no tag purse; it sounds like a bad country song.
Necklaces from Steinmart about 7 years old.

Ah, the beauty of flash. I look so more refresh than I am in real life.

You see, the night before I stayed up watching movies

(Red and The Loosers) until around 1:30 a.m and got up by 6:00 a.m.

After the training we went to eat at Tijuana Flats a Tex-Mex restaurant in Ft Lauderdale.

The restaurant walls are cover with some of the best wall art that I have seen in South Florida.

This was my first time at the restaurant and I felt at home among the art, the strangely named sauces,

the great service and the variety of food and people.

A closer look at the blue man. This chain of restaurant was created by a college students with some help

from his parents back in 1995 in Winter Park, Fl.

The pistachio colored ceiling had more cool and funky art.

I dedicated this photo to Elizabeth from the Account of the comtesse de ferveur;

whom is having a love affair with this color.

They have amazing hot and even hotter sauces with names like.Asbirin Extra Strength and Cafe Louisiana

Hotter'n Hell Sauce.

Here is one of their sauce displays that appears to defy gravity!

This was my friend Shanika's plate. She ordered the chicken flautas. She was also impressed with the food and the service.

This is my plate; I had the meat flautas (flutes) with no sour cream.

I have to post their manifesto because it's too cool, and I

can related to all of it.

Disclaimer: Manifesto By Tijuana Flats and not me!!!!!!

Sunshine Awards...

2011-06-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

I want to thank my lovely blogger friend Loo whom just gave me a
Sunshine Award and also Viviane whom gave me a similar award a while back.

I want to thank both of these amazingly stylish and all around enchanting women for taking the time to think of me and my blog when giving these awards.

I'm supposed to share some things about myself and pass the awards on.

1-I talk to myself all the time; sometimes I answer my own questions.
Well, what can I said I'm my own best audience.

2-I believe in reincarnation and I have some memories of places and experiences that I once lived.
O.k. this is the part were I may lose many of you readers and you'll probably be turning on the t.v.

3-I can't stand cheap beer.
I usually only have one drink when I'm out with my friends or at a dinner parties and why make it cheap alcohol?

4-When people are aggressive to me on the highway or on the South Florida streets I always give them the peace sign or blow kisses .
Sometimes they smile back other times they give me the international peace sign (the middle finger).

5-I love, love Beluga Whales; they are just majestic and beautiful.
No more explanation needed.

I'm passing this award to:

Angie from Papillion Chouette

Rosy from Sewingadicta

Mrs. Exeter from Dressing Mrs. Exeter

Nefferth from Mode Plus

Elizabeth from The Account of the Comtesse de ferveur

Paula from Fashion Over Fifty

ClaireJustine from Clairejustineoxox

Anika from byanika

You all bring Sunshine to my blogger life and I really appreciate all your support.

With Love,

Inspiration comes from...

2011-06-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

I did this post a while ago for Fabienne to publish it during her honeymoon travels.

I decided to make a few changes and post it again because starting tomorrow I'll be wearing slacks (no jeans), shirts and sneakers or flat shoes for the entire duration of my Summer job. Sadly, I'll have to wear my skirts after 6 p.m. and on the weekends only.
Believe me I'm not complaining, I'm very lucky to have this job and very appreciative to all the gods, saints and a close friend that recommended me for this position.

About 3 weeks ago, I was asked by a co-worker what is going through my mind when I decide to put my outfits together?

Well to tell you the truth, sometimes it's just that these were the only articles of clothing that require no ironing.
Other times it's a particular designer, a book, a movie heroine (Annie Hall), the music that I'm listening to, the food that I'm eating or about to eat, a particular event...
However most of the time my inspiration comes from omy surroundings, my girl's opinions as well as my love of colors, flowers and accessories.

I was into a Summer-like mood and was trying to enjoy the 80 plus heat so I wore:

Shirt and Cardigan from Target.

American Rag, made in India skirt purchased at Marshalls many moons ago.

Italian sandals.

Inspiration: Miami Beach Botanical Gardens entrance's fountain surrounded by a variety of bougainvilleas.

Squared by Sandra Roberts purse purchased at Marshalls.
Is a very shiny purse in real life; you can see me coming from a mile away!

Both necklaces and earrings are from Steinmart.
All Bracelets purchase at my two favorite local Indian stores about 3 years ago.
Rings were presents from my ex-husband family to me on two of my birthdays.

                              Cardigan from Marshalls. Audrey Hepburn shirt and
               Isaac Mizrahi skirt from Target.
                                                      Thrifted belt.
   My very old and very comfortable Easy Spirit mary janes.

Inspiration: Right before sunset in Miami Beach behind The Delano Hotel.

The larger necklace is from an arts and crafts fair at The Broward Mall in Plantation,

about 4 years ago.

The smaller necklace was a thrift find the same year.

Bracelets and larger ring from Steinmart.

The smaller one is from Dots.

New York&Company bag, purchased in 2005. I felt in love with the fuchsia pink; it brought back many 80's memories.

Shirt and cardigan from Target.

The Persaman New York skirt is quite old and don't remember where I got it.

Penny Loves Kenny sandals from TJMaxx.

Inspiration: Some of my market shopping for the week's cooking and my Jim Shore's Angels.

Both necklaces were given to me as presents from close friends back in 2007.

Another shiny purse, this one is a Tommy Hilfiger. I paid retail price for this purse 3 years ago; again the color was the main attraction.

One more of my old and very versatile Target shirts.

Chemistry New York skirt, thrifted many years ago.

Impo sandals from Marshalls.

Inspiration: One of my Shirley Novak paints. I adore her poppy seed paintings for their color and tranquility.

The necklaces are from my favorite Salvation Army store.

The red bracelet was a present from a co-worker back in '05.

The other bracelets are from JCPenney's and from a local Indian store.

Talking about spacious and enchanting: this Liz Claiborne purse is both.

Have a lovely, well dress and inspiring day!

An Award and...

2011-06-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

The witty, funny and super- dupper-stylish Sarah from Misfits gave me this lovely award!!!

The Rules are:

To pass it forward to some of my favorite blogs with less than 100 followers.

Here are my selections:

Ambar of The Rose King because she is one of the loves of my life and her love of all things fashion, art, music, etc makes me happy and proud of her curious and smart spirit.

Shefali of Flickering Lights because her style comes from her soul and her amusing, inspiring and incredible knowledge of the written word. She takes every day occurrences and turn them into poetry.

Yoana of Dressing-Everyday because of her chic and beautiful way of dressing and her ability to look effortlessly elegant every day.

Barbara (Birdie) of 40 and Loving It! because her struggles, her joys and her daily life are similar to many of ours and she gracefully displays them for all of us to see.

Paula of EveryDay Radiance because she deals with all of her personal turmoils and demons with strength and courage and writes from her heart without limitations.

Judy of Just Another Day On Earth because she is reclaiming her physical being and enjoying the lovely mundane of dressing up.

Ambu of Ambuji because she wear amazing outfits and writes equally amazing posts about fashion, architecture, pop culture and many more subject that are interesting to me with great ease and brilliance.

There are many more that I would like to acknowledge but I'll be doing it in another post!

I also will like to share some of my favorite objects that I see every day at home:

All the crosses are from the places that I had lived in the last 18 years.

I found her at Marshalls in 2004.

Battle mirror from India, purchased at a local store.

Large and small Ganesh from my friend Shefali's temple here in South Florida.

Small Murano vase and even smaller Peruvian nativity scene that I leave out all year because

I like the colors!

Small Mexican mirror and blue glossary from Puerto Rico.

Some of my Heartwood Creek Angels by Jim Shore.

The Rosalind Walshe candle designed in Europe for The Enesco Group from 2004. It only been lit once due to the fact that I want to keep it as a decorative item and not as an useful candle.

Plant pot from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Purchased at the Pier One in Plantation, Florida in 2006.

I want to apologize to my lovely blogger friends because I have not been visiting as often as I did before. I'm preparing myself for my Summer job that begins next week and I also being preparing my oldest daughter to go away to a larger university in the Fall.

I should go back to the swing of things next week (hopefully).

Con Mucho Amor,

Thursday night...

2011-06-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

This day was very busy at work and I needed a distraction desperately...

This night I went to see Ken Burns and Lynn Novick introduce their new documentary for PBS about the Prohibition area at The Parker Playhouse in Ft. Lauderdale.
They asked everyone in the invitation flyer to dress in your best outfit from the 1920's and there was music of the era playing at the theater lobby. The tickets were only $4.00 if you purchased them the first week online and $5.00 afterwards with free parking!

I could not find a flapper like dress that would go over my breast area so this was my take on the 1920's fashion....

I wore:

A silk blouse that appear to be made with love by some one and doesn't have any tag or name.

A Jones New York, made in The USA skirt.

Both thrifted around 3 weeks ago at the Ft. Lauderdale Salvation Army.

      Stockings and Predictions booties were also thrifted 3 weeks ago.
     The boots are one size large but they are very comfortable and were so
                          cheap that I couldn't let them go.

All necklaces are from the early 2000's from local stores.

This pin was a gift to myself in 2004.
I have only wore it 3 times and I think it never been photograph.
So it was deserving of it's own photo.

The fan was another thrift find at the same store the same day. I spend less than $20.00 in the entire outfit (skirt, blouse, stockings, boots and fan).

This is my Clinique make up bag; used as my clutch. I got this bag at another thrift store a couple of months ago because I loved the green flowers and fruits on it.

This poster was by the lobby entrance.

The Parker Playhouse; the documentary screening supposed to be at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts the small theater were I saw The Girl Choir of South Florida but it was change to The Parker because it fits more people.

This is one of the antique cars that were part of the 1920's theme. The car's owner took my picture after I asked him if I can take photos of his car and post them in my blog.

Here is Mr. Michael in all his glory! He was a sweetheart and very much an expert on the Model T Fords and the era.

This was the other car that was on display some people were getting inside and taking pictures without asking the owner. A bit rude!

Sorry this photo is a bit crooked; I was trying to take photos, talk to people and call my friend to see if she was showing up or not.

The mix of the turquoise and the antique look of the chandeliers is quite charming in real life.

This light fixtur remind me of The Aliens movies when Ripley finds all the alien's eggs!!!

This photo was taken by one of the lovely older ladies that worked at The Parker.
We talked about the Love, Janis musical. A show based on Janis letters to her sister that also included all of Janis most known songs that I saw here a few years back.

The theater ceilings and wallpaper.

Some of the audience members; many of whom were dressed in gorgeous flapper dresses and fantastic suits, newsboys caps and hats.

This window to no-where and lights were by my right side. I was sitting in the 3rd row by the right side of the stage.

A closer look at that lovely gold tone wallpaper.

I was so closed to Mr. Burns but for some reason most of my photos of his introduction speech were blurry...ARHHH.
He was so eloquent and I've always had such a nerdy crush on him that I was smiling from ear to ear while he was speaking!

Again, so sorry a bit blurry. This is Ms. Novick; she was so cool and knowledgeable and made such direct points on why they choose this era for a documentary and how the 1920's prohibition politics are so closely related to some of political nastiness that we are experiencing today.

Some parts of the documentary; where it was explained why for the first time men and women were drinking together.

After about an hour of some of part one, two and three the audience was able to line up on both sides of the stage and take turn asking questions.

Both Ms. Novick and Mr. Burns gave extensive and at times funny answers to all questions. Unfortunately some of the questions were not really questions but statements and had to be re-phrased.

I enjoyed the evening and my nerdy heart was delighted!

Have a great week,

A store I love, a movie I don't ...

2011-06-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed I've not been able to post many photos of my daily outfits, my cooking, the books that I'm reading or my lucky thrift finds because I haven't had the time to either take the photos in the morning or to download them.

So I've been concentrating in posting all of my outings. I do go out often with my friends or my kids and I usually do something that I'm interest in. I have a very small entertainment budget, so many times my friends and I split the costs.

I also always on the look out for discounts from my Union website or from local websites. I love going out because it helps expand my horizons and the view of my piece of Earth and the people that I'm sharing it with.

So finally, Saturday, May 28th I made some plans to meet with my favorite British friend, Judith for an early dinner at Chipotle in Ft. Lauderdale and for a movie afterwards.

I wore:

my brand spanking new thrift St. John's Bay blouse.

Thrifted belt, purchased four months ago.

Be Bop capris wore before here.

My very old and so very comfortable Roman sandals;

No wonder they were able to conquered Europe.

I mean, I know that it was not only the sandals but I bet they helped!!!

No real need for an extra photo, I just like how the outfit (in other words, me) looks!

Sun "n" Sand purse purchase long time ago.

This means that it was so long ago that I can't

remember.

All the necklaces are from The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and are made from

plant seeds. Some of the necklaces date back to the mid 70's when my mom

visited my grandma.

Rings from local Brazilian store. Large wood bracelet from local Indian store and the bangles are from DOTS and thrifted.

My salad bowl from Chipotle.

It had rice, beans, corn, guacamole and spicy chicken.

I love light fixtures and architectural details. This is not a surprise if you have read my blog before.

The wall mural Aztecs Gods or maybe just Aztecs symbols.

The decoration in the other Chipotle (at Sawgrass in Plantation) is completely different as seen in here.

After dinner I drove to the movie theater (Gateway) and parked in the small mall next to it.

We got our tickets and have about 40 minutes to wait so we decided to walked around the mall.

This clothing store had this lovely chandelier, it was close so I took the photo from the outside.

This is a very small thing.

This would be a "nipple-kini" for me and most of the women I know.

I made Judith laughed so much with my "nipple-kini" remark!

And then...

We walked into Jezebel because Judith say she and her daughter love this store and she thought that it was my kind of store.

And she was right, the store is full of colorful items and many of my favorite things.

Love the paper mache flowers and the cards are so cool and funny.

Here I'm again with the light fixtures fixiation.

For some odd reason, this one made me think of Space Odity and Bowie.

A bit of medusa in here.

This is by the back of the store where all the clothes are.

A red medusa and some other cool stuff.

I was immediately attracted to this yellow area.

Petticoats.

Gorgeous vintage dresses. I need to save some cashola in order to buy some of them.

Another look at the white medusa and a pink boa.

The room divider is between the dresses area and the store windows.

These bags needed their own photos. Can you see my excitement?

My lovely friend Judith by the purses area.

I want all, I want all and I want it now! (Lyrics by Queen, wishes by me).

You see this is my store.

Look at all those colors, they have my name on it.

Fantastic bracelets. The photo is a bit blurry because I was moving to much.

After buying dinner and the movie tickets this was the only item that I love and could afford. My darling Judith got it for me before I got to the register.

Afterwards we went to the movies and got into The Hangover 2 instead of Pirates of the Caribbean 4. It must been meant to be, because we saw the first Hangover together as well and we both loved it.
However, this movie was funny but not as good as the first one, and at times it felt flat. Also how many times are the guys going to be drugged by their friend before they kick his ass for good?

I just came from seeing the wizard, the wonderful wizard of documentaries: Mr. Ken Burns at the Parker Playhouse in Ft. Lauderdale. My nerdy heart is beating so fast...
Off course I'll be posting about it later.

Dinner and a movie...

2011-06-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

Like I said before, it has to be a special occasion for me to go out during the week. On Tuesday May 24th, my friend Maria and I went out for some Moe's and some Bill Cunningham!

It was the last day that the documentary was playing at Cinema Paradiso and I couldn't let it pass without seeing it.

Moe's is Mexican food with a touch of Caribbean flavors.

And it's very affordable!

It's also closer to me than to Maria's so she drove to meet for dinner and I drove to the theater.

My salad; under the layers of vegetable is a very spicy chicken with medium salsa.

Maria's dinner also included some chips and cheese but it was eaten before I got to the camera.

By the theater entrance.

The soft green and turquoise colors are a great contrast again the gold of the light fixture.

The marquee, outside the theater entrance.

The poster's photos are full of color and fabulous outfits.

Iris Apfel is in the poster as well as in the documentary; and in case that you don't know she is one of my

fashion heroes.

For a Tuesday and a documentary there were a lot of us at the theater.

There is a scene were he is asked if he ever had a romantic relationship and he smiles with sadness in his eyes and said "no, because he implies that being a homosexual was not acceptable in his family.

He also started to cried when asked why he goes to church every Sunday. Again is implied that he is repenting the fact that he is gay. Many of us in the audience were crying during this part of the movie.

The movie was beautiful, funny and showcase Mr. Cunningham artistic abilities as well as his fragile spirit.

If you like fashion, photography, and independent spirit: check this movie out.

This is the lighted and retro theater exit hallway. As we were exiting it felt like you were leaving a ball and not a movie.

I wore:

Another one of my old Target shirts.

A.M.I. skirt from a local Ft Lauderdale store around 7 years ago.

My oldest daughter sandals that are a gift from my mom's to her and that she let me wear because the colors are a perfect match.

This is the skirt's flower design. It is on both sides of the skirt.

My bag is from 2008 and I got it in Miami Beach at a store that is not longer on Lincoln Rd.

It doesn't have a name tag.

Necklace is from Steinmart and it's from 2008. Do you remember the trend of ribbon ties on jewelry?

One of the bracelet is from India and the other one is from Dots.

Both rings are presents from my girls.

Have a fantastic and fun week!

Bill Picture from: artsfuse.org

Drama Club Banquet...

2011-06-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

My younger daughter had a masquerade banquet to celebrate the end of her Drama Club year. I went, ready to sit and chat with some of the others "drama parents" and to enjoy the silliness that involved a bunch of talented and precocious drama kids as well as, music, nice clothing, masks and some Italian food.

I was in a black and white mood...

I wanted to wear some white gloves with this ensemble but baby daughter said: "Mami that is to much"!

Which I interpreted as "o.k. don't embarrass me now".

I'm wearing my old Target shirt and Bandolino skirt (about 7 years old).

Some of my 80's and 90's faux and real pearls necklaces and bracelets; all of them were presents from co workers or supervisors.

I've always been lucky at work when it comes to making friends and establishing connections at a human level not just a work level.

Well, except for that one place that I do not want to mention because I might need to use some "choice" words to describe the people and the environment there.

By the way this was the first photo but I almost broke the vase so I had to move it!

Sagharbor booties with newly thrifted black stockings.

A necklace worn as a bracelet.

I remember buying this necklace in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

It was around the Like a Virgin Madonnamania!

Rings from my years in New York.

I love this clutch (it can also be use as a purse)!

It was a thrift finds around 3 years ago.

I saw it at the bottom of a box of half priced items.

It remains me of Picasso's Les Demoiselles de Avignon.

A much closer look at my Cubist-inspired clutch.

There is no name tag inside and it appears that it was not well taking care of when I got it.

I cleaned it up and it's been loved ever since.

At the venues' entrance.

You should know by now that I love trees and I drive my girls crazy with the "please take a picture of me by the tree".

My girl won a star because of one of her funny and witty remarks describing her mentor and director during a cast pre show ritual.

She is wearing some of my bracelets and necklaces.

Sorry no photos of me acting foolish, maybe next year!