Vision Boards and finding yourself

On Wednesday I went to my Women's Writing Group and we were still working on our Vision Boards. We were all talking about the things we want to see manifested in our lives. I have been cutting images for weeks now, and I can't seem to allow myself to paste them in the board yet. It's like I feel like this is so important that I want to make sure I get it right. I want to make sure I paste everything that I possibly would want in my life. I have been gathering images for my Blog, for my personal life, my family life, a house, body image, etc. When it comes to my Blog, I feel that the imagery I'm getting is very strong. I am very confident with that area. When it comes to body image, and self I am also very confident in that area. But when it comes to my job and getting a house, then I feel very insecure. I worry too much about these aspects. I was planning on making a vision collage that would include all these things, but now that I am confronting these emotions head on, maybe I should keep them separate from my vision collage. I now realize that the reason why I have been so hesitant to start gluing my images is because I was afraid to include images for something I am still not clear about what I want, like the kind of house I want and the kind of work I want to be doing. Had I included these things in my collage, it would have made me doubt the power of the collage and it would have not worked as well. I should concentrate only in my family/self collage and the Blog collage because I have very strong feelings for those areas of my life.  Vision collages should have images that make you feel 100% good, things that you love, things that make you happy, things that represent the things you want manifested in your life.

Today I saw this video and found it appropriate to share with this post. It is about the TV show Finding Sarah, and it's a video with Sarah Ferguson and her Life coach making a Vision Board. Enjoy!

When a loved one passes away. Carlota, we miss you!

Yesterday a very special person passed away. My mother in-law Carlota, she was only 52 years young. It hardly seems fair how some people leave this earth way before their time.
Today I would like to honor her, a woman that not only gave birth to my wonderful husband, but who raised 9 kids in total, including her first female grand child.

Carlota is a woman that ever since she turned 17 she has been a mother, early on she stopped working and dedicated herself to raising those kids, she gave them everything she could possibly give them, she kept the house clean, put food on the table, and tried her best to keep them safe. Her children where her life, and her 19 grand kids too. She was always welcoming, her house was always filled not only with her kids and grand kids but with the neighborhood kids as well.

When I first met my husband when he was 18, I remember the first time I went to his house to meet his family, his brother's and sisters where so little, it was a world I had never known, as I grew up being an only child, and I was fascinated by it. There I learned for the first time to cook sancocho and to eat arroz con habichuela y tuna. When my husband and I lost our home to a hurricane just a month after we got married, we stayed at his house for a couple of weeks, and I remember feeling welcome in the house, soon I felt like one of the girls, even asking to be added to the chore list of the house. My husband's sisters were thrilled that I was willing to take one day of washing dishes from their chores. For a while I felt as if I was really part of this immense family, of brother's and sisters, and it felt good. I remember going on shopping sprees for school supplies, sneakers, socks etc. and how hard it was to make everyone happy within the budget. They were all spoiled with having only the name brands and it was because Carlota has always loved them so much that she wanted them to have the best that she could afford. I know she was a good mother to all these kids, and her heart suffered every time anything would happen to any of them, and she even took on the care of her oldest granddaughter when her parents couldn't.

Growing up with my husband, I always felt like I had to fill some pretty big shoes as Carlota was the ruler from which all my actions were measured. (I'm not sure if that sentence makes sense in English as I am translating from Spanish, but in essence I mean that I felt like I could never measure up to her, like she was this ideal to my husband that I could never fill.) She always had the house clean, she loved decorating, and cooking, and I was none of those things. But I must say I tried, and I still try to be like her in some way, but sometimes we just can't change who we really are. I really admire how she raised so many children and kept her sanity. I commend her for that. I do my best with my two daughters and I don't know if I would have been able to do as good a job as her if I had 8 kids.

When Gaby, my first daughter was still a toddler, Carlota got cervical cancer, and we took her to live with us in NYC from PR so she could get better treatment. I would take her to get her check ups, her chemotherapy, her radiation, I would take care of her, and we grew close. After the chemotherapy she got neuropathy on her legs and I would give her massages, and take her to all her appointments. I was so glad that she was able to recover from that. I really think that when we took her in, we extended her life for about 9 more years. In PR she wouldn't have gotten the treatment that she was able to receive in NY. I'm glad that I was able to get to know her better, and I'm glad that my daughters got to know her too. Especially Gaby, since she grew up with her as well.

Carlota, I want to say Thank you for raising an awesome man that it is my husband, thank you for being so nice to me, thank you for being a good mother, and grandmother, and woman. You will always live in our hearts. May God keep you in his Glory. Amen.

Loving Unconditionally and Not Caring

Today I was reading the July 2011 issue of Oprah Magazine when I came across an article that caught my eye. How to Love More by Caring Less by Martha Beck There was a sentence that shocked me, and it made me feel that the author was being a bit harsh when she said: "Well, Loretta, I just love you. I don't care what happens to you." My first impression was that the part of not caring what happens to her was meant as I-don't-care-if-you-stay-with-your-abusive-husband-and-he-kills-you, kind of thing, but as I read on I was able to understand that what the author means by "not caring" is, "I don't care what you do with your life, I will still love you no matter what." and I got it. Many of us make the mistakes of caring too much, like caring too much about what another person does, or doesn't do. If you find yourself thinking, if so and so could only do this or change in this or that way I would ________________________, then you are not loving unconditionally. I think we all make this mistake in our lives, and I have come to realize that it's better to live and let live, love and let love. AS Martha says "Loving without caring might mean staying calm when your sister gets divorced, or your dad starts smoking again, or your husband gets laid off." To me is not trying to control the outcome of the other person's life, is accepting them with their flaws and all, accepting that they make the choices they make because they can, it's being supportive when your husband wants to buy a motorcycle, even if you are concerned about it. It's knowing that the only person you have control over is yourself. It is accepting the fact that we can all reach a given emotional state even if a loved one does not conform to our wishes. It is thinking that it is possible to stay peaceful and able to embrace joyous occasions even if all our loved ones where to remain toxicaly insane.
We need to shift our focus from controlling our loved one's behavior to creating our own happiness.
I recommend  everyone to read the full article. I believe that for the past few months I have been gradually making this my new reality, I am accepting of my loved ones without caring what they do. Because I accept that they are different than me, that they have their own sets of wishes and desires, and it is not my job to control them or try to make them see life my way. I just have to love them just the way they are.

Adventures with Japanese & Thai Food

Ever since we went to Shiro of Japan I have had the craving to go again, and I have tried to eat in other Japanese, or Thai places trying to find a comparable meal. Last week I went  to Sushi Tatsu II with my friend April and we had lunch. I had a craving for noodles, just like the ones I had at Shiro, but I couldn't seem to find any, except Pad Thai. I remember trying it once 7 years ago but with Tofu, and decided to order the Chicken Pad Thai instead. I must say the meal was delicious, I even ate a vegetable Gyoza, and I am not fond of vegetables, but it was very tasty, and the dipping sauce was comparable to that of Shiro, so over all I had a great meal and would definitely come back. April complained about the service, the waitress was not too attentive of our needs, but over all the food was great and I get why April goes there so often.
On father's day, my hubby wanted to eat Sushi, so we ordered from this place in Williamsburg called Pacific 
Ocean House. It is a very small restaurant, and it was very casual and family friendly. There was a woman that worked there, maybe the owner, with her small daughter, the restaurant had toys, puzzles, story books and a toy kitchen. My daughter had fun while we waited as she played with a Spongebob Puzzle. One thing I didn't particularly like about the place was the strong smell, Gaby didn't particularly mind, or Elsie, but I did find the smell of food overpowering. The meal was a bit pricey, but I must say it was very good as well. I ordered the chicken teriyaki with Pork Gyoza and I must say the Gyoza are as delicious as the ones in Shiro, the sauce was amazing, and we had a very nice meal. The only thing I wished was that the vegetables included in the Chicken Teriyaki were different, as it had a lot of mushrooms and I am not fond of those either. But a very nice meal that was. Would come back any time.

Today was my fourth try with adventurous food, I still had the craving for noodles, so I decided to go to this Thai restaurant a block from my house and try it out. It is called Udom Thai and it is a very cozy place, the decoration is beautiful, and you feel very comfortable and peaceful in there, I totally loved the ambiance of it. The server was very attentive and friendly although she was wearing some short short ripped jeans and black leggins underneath it with a nice t-shirt on top. I felt her outfit did not match the place but I didn't really mind that much. I looked over the menu and decided to order something "safe", and I went with the chicken Pad Thai again. I was fantasizing about the yummy noodles and the delicious sauce and the bits of sprinkled peanuts on the side like in Sushi Tatsu II, and the vegetable gyoza and the amazing sauce, I even vowed to try the vegetable spring roll that I gave April last time. I ordered a coke and it came in a glass with a beautiful rose in the top of the straw, made out of Straw wrapper. I thought this was brilliant and I was impressed. Something so simple yet it gives it a very nice touch.

Rose in my soda :)

After this the server brings me the salad. And in all these places I have had meals in the past few weeks I have noticed that they give me a salad with a very interesting dressing, it's somewhat like french dressing, but thicker and a bit tangier. I really liked it in all the other restaurants up to now. Today I wasn't so lucky with the salad, first of all it was all lettuce and one slice of cucumber, the other salads had a bit more vegetable variety, yet that wasn't what turned me off to the salad, it was the dressing, it tasted like pure peanut butter.  Imagine taking half a cup of peanut butter and adding a teaspoon of french salad dressing and pouring it in your salad. It was too thick and to peanutty. I lifted the cucumber slice and tried to eat the lettuce that didn't have too much dressing, but I had to leave most of it on the plate. After that I receive the plate with the chicken Pad Thai, I don't know if it was the peanut butter dressing but I was already feeling a little bit nauseous, it might be just me, but I don't really like peanut butter at all, so I'm not a good judge on that. I take my chop sticks and take a piece of chicken in my mouth and I swear it tasted like rotten meat. I drank some of the soda, and some water and tried to wash down the flavor, I thought maybe I was still nauseous from the salad so I decide to keep eating, maybe it will grow on me the flavor, so I ate, and I ate, and I must say that after the 4th bite it did not taste bad anymore, but it started to taste too sweet, and after eating about half the plate, I had to stop.

Chicken Pad Thai

I tasted the vegetable gyoza that as you can see was a bit crunchy, like the spring roll, and they were both dumped into the sauce, as opposed to serving them on the side so that we can choose how much or how little sauce to put on it. The gyoza was still very good, and the spring roll was good too, but I couldn't eat the whole thing because it had too much sauce on it. After I finished, I paid my $10 and headed home, but I felt queasy and nauseous and with a stomachache for about an hour after I ate. I must say I won't be coming back to Udom Thai, It is a very beautiful place, much more than Pacific and Sushi Tatsu II, but the food was not my favorite.

Next time I am going to go to Gen instead, it's a sushi place right across the street from Udom Thai, and only one block from home. I can't believe how I have lived here over 5 years and I have never tried their food. I have bought sushi for my husband but I have never eaten anything there myself. It's also interesting how just doing one adventurous thing like eating at a Japanese Restaurant, something I had never tried before led me to embark in a full on adventure seeking out several other restaurants with similar foods.

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever been adventurous once and then followed with other adventurous things as well?

More Graduation and Inspiration

Today was Gaby's graduation from fifth grade. It was a beautiful ceremony and the key note speaker said some things that really stuck. He said that studies said that a child born to teenage parents and raised by a single mom would usually get into gang activity, die young, never graduate, be poor...but he was proof that what studies say doesn't mean it applies to everyone, because not only was he able to graduate from High School, but he graduated College, got his Masters Degree and even a Doctorate Degree. He was proof that anyone can achieve greatness, he told the kids that they had think about what they want to do with their lives, and dream it, see it, feel it, work it, and be it. He told them that they do not have to wait to be 30, 40 years old to achieve their dreams that they can achieve their dreams NOW. That if they want to be singers, they should sing, even if it's to family members at gatherings, if they want to be actor's they should be in school plays and practice, practice, practice. He gave a few other examples, and that got me thinking about my own life, and the lives of my children, I thought about how their lives are impacted by everything they see and do. It got me thinking about how I have the chance to influence their lives, help them go into the right direction. It is up to me and their daddy to give them all that we can give them for them to be their best. Both our daughters have incredible Art and Music talent. Art runs in my family and Music in my husband's. Today after graduation and celebratory meal we stopped by Guitar Center and I contemplated how my daughters both loved being there, and how they sat at the keyboards, and looked at guitars, and played with the drums, I even asked Elsie, if she could learn one instrument, what would it be? She said, All of them! and at that moment I realized that they are so lucky to have the daddy they have, with his music talent and his musical background, because I do not have that musical ability like they have, I love music, but I do not understand it as well as he can, the mathematical precision of music, of pitch, of tone, all of it is the same to me, but to my husband it is a whole another dimension, and that dimension is what my daughters really need to grow up with, because with him, they will be able to max their abilities in a way that I can't show them. And on the other side, I know that I can provide them with other knowledge about other things that only I can provide, and I know that I am blessed to have my family and to be able to give my daughters the chances that we have been able to provide for them. It makes me think that it is up to me to give them example, and I have to achieve greatness, the way their daddy is doing too, so we can show them by example, and by encouraging them to be their best, to let them know that the future is now, that they can start working on their dreams now. Like their school motto, Expect the Great! I do expect the great for them and for all of us. Mark my words, you heard it here first. We are going to do great things, and the whole world is going to know about it.
Big Love to all!

Gaby's Graduation

Elsie's Graduation

Graduation, and Moving up ceremony in one week. My babies are growing fast!

Tomorrow is the Moving Up ceremony of my beautiful baby girl Elsie. She is graduating from Pre-K and I couldn't be more excited. She is reading and writing and being such a big girl, my heart swells with pride. Even one of her top front teeth is extremely loose, this would be her 3rd loose tooth. She is growing up so fast!

But she's not the only one that's growing up, because on Friday my big girl Gaby went on her first prom and today she went on a trip to Washington DC with her class as a graduation trip. She spent the whole day on a different state 4 hours away, without mom and dad. Very grown up indeed. In the last couple of years my Gaby has turned into a young woman, she does not act like a little girl anymore, and this Wednesday she is going to reach a very big milestone in her life. She is graduating elementary school and getting ready to start middle school. I am so proud of her for all her achievements, and all the awesome opportunities that she has been able to have in her short life, that I know that by the time she graduates College she will have achieved more things than I will have ever achieved in my life. I am proud for my girls growing up and I am glad that they are doing so good.

I love you both with all my heart!!

Strong Fathers make strong Daughters

I have been reading this book called Strong Father's Strong Daughters by Meg Meeker MD. and in honor of Father's Day I thought I would say a few things about this book.
My first thought is that it is a shame that it is a book and not an article, and it's just because of my experience with men who don't like to read. Remember my article about how women read more books than men? Well, I've been doing my survey and my hypothesis up to now has been confirmed.
Going back to the book, I want to say a few things about it.

The book talks about the Ten Secrets every father should know and they are:
1. You are the most important Man in her life
2. She needs a hero
3. You are her first Love
4. Teach her Humility
5. Protect her and defend her.
6. Pragmatism and Grit are two of your greatest assets
7. Be the man you want her to marry.
8. Teach her about God
9. Teach her to fight
10. Keep her connected.


This comes mostly from the  Table of Contents but as I read I got that what the author is trying to tell all dads out there is that they are capable of influencing the lives of their daughters weather they try to or not. If a father is protective of her daughter, shows her love and understanding, makes an effort to spend time with his daughter(s) and is always there for them not only physically but emotionally as well, then his daughters are going to grow up being happy and will learn to have healthy relationships. The book shares different case studies of young girls and how their lives have been impacted positively and negatively by their father's actions. I found the book very interesting. Even though I have not finished reading the whole book I must say that I was surprised how in one of the chapters it says that they recommend a couple stay in a marriage for the sake of the daughter. That if a man sticks it out, that it gives the daughters a sense of security and gives them a good example in perseverance. The author says that there is a huge difference from a divorce that happens when a child is 20 than when they are 15. It says that 97% of girls that are part of a family where the parents are married feel loved, 71% if they are part of a family with a step parent, and 55% of girls in a single parent family felt loved.

As I read this book I felt all emotional and it brought back memories of my childhood growing up without my biological father, and how much I missed having a full time dad at home. How I felt abandoned, and not loved by my dad, and all the angry feelings I felt for him mixed in with the pain. And even though I met my father when I was 15 (yes, met, as in meet for the first time) and he assured me he loved me always and that he was constantly thinking about me, and how he kept pictures of me as I grew up, and now we have a pretty good relationship, and get along pretty good, I know that there are very deep scars that came along with it, and still things that don't make sense, and there's this part of me that cannot understand that if he loved me so much then why did I not receive a single letter from him, and I cannot understand why he gave up. He figured he would wait for me to look for him, and that hurts in a very deep level.
I know for a fact that my personality was shaped by him not being there for me. And I see how when I chose a man to marry I looked for someone strong, and loving, and protective of me, because that's what I was lacking in my life. A protector, someone to be there to look out for me. I am really grateful that I chose such a great man to be the father of my daughters, because he is strong and protective of them and I know he would do anything for them as they are the love of his life.
I am grateful for how my mom made a lot of sacrifices to give me the best life she could, and she kept me in good neighborhoods and safe from any bad influences because that kept me in check and safe. And I am also grateful for my step dad, that even though he and my mom divorced when I was 6 he knew how to keep in touch and was present emotionally for me throughout our lives. And to my grand father who was also a very positive male influence in my life and I love him with all my heart.
I want to say to all the dads out there that your daughters really need you, even when they are moody and try to push you away, because deep inside they need to know that no matter what they do, you will always be there for them, that you will always protect them, that you will always love them forever. And they need your constant presence in their lives to really feel it.

What creates a Spark in you?

My awesome Friend Valerie wrote a great post called The Secret Life of a Wannabe Writer and she got me thinking about when I was younger and how much I loved celebrity things, TV shows and Movie Trivia, how I watched my favorite Robert Downey JR and Drew Barrymore movies over 50 times each. I would learn every single scene, what music was playing in the background, what people would say, and my lips would move with every word uttered by the actors on the screen. I would collect movie memorabilia and searched constantly on Video Rental Places for the latest movie posters and/or movie cardboard cutouts to put in my bedroom.
Most of my thoughts were dedicated to movies, TV shows, Books of Fantasy and my Dream Journals where I would write all the dreams I had and would then go back and finish up the stories. I would create alternate situations, different endings, etc. I spent most of my childhood daydreaming and to tell you the truth I don't recall much of my real life events, especially 4th Grade, I have no recollection what so ever of being 9. Don't remember what teacher I had, who were my friends, where I lived, what I did, nothing. As I grew up I got married and left that world behind, and tried to concentrate on the present and live in the here and now. But I must admit that for many years I felt awkward, as if I did not know how to live as I was not used to it. I left my dreams behind and concentrated on being content with everything that was presented to me. I decided not to dream, not to want, not to wish for things that I did not believe I could have. After many years I finally realized by discovering the Law of Attraction that the way to be happy and get the best things in life is to have a very specific desire of what you want, to feel that you deserve it, that you can achieve anything and everything that you want, and here I was being content, thinking I did not deserve anything that I didn't already have, not wanting anything, forcing myself to separate from beautiful things, exotic things, fancy things, beautiful houses, nice cars I would refuse to even look at catalogs or magazines that had images of things that most people would love to have, beautiful houses, elegant clothes, beautiful hair, nice make-up, healthy bodies, etc. because seeing these images would cause a reaction in my body of desire for these things and because I believed that I was not capable of getting them so I decided to put them in the back of my mind and forget they even existed. But now I know the secret, and it is that we have to expose ourselves to all those images and thoughts of those things we want, because we deserve to have everything we want, we can have all these things, the world is abundant and it has more than enough things for every single one of us. But we need to be specific, we need to want, we need to ask, we need to have the deep emotional desire to get whatever we want to get and we will receive. So now I am working on bringing back my desire for all these things that make my life happy.
Have you found your spark yet? What makes you happy? Are you open to receive all these happy things in your life?

Should it be OK to wear shirts with profanity in Public?

Today I was walking down the street from my house and I saw a guy with a shirt that read: "F*%$ You and your Stupid Toys" It was in bold large letters that could be read by my daughter from more than 10 feet away. My daughter made a face of Horror and I was surprised that these shirts were even on sale.
I am all for freedom of speech but I do agree in censorship in TV and Radio with curse words and stuff, as I don't want my children to be exposed to that kind of language during the hours when they would be watching TV. So what do you guys think of T-Shirts worn by people in regular places, like the sidewalk next to your house at daytime, just one block from an elementary school. How about at the supermarket? In the park? Is it OK to censor what people wear?
What do you think?

Do women like reading more than men?

Ever day I take the bus and then a train and it's very often that I see people reading. However it always amazes me when I see a man reading a book. Men usually read newspapers, women books. And yes, this might be a generalization, or maybe a stereotype, but it's the average of what I see on my daily life. I think I am going to make a survey for about a week, and log how many people I see reading in my commute to work every day and how many are men and how many are women. I'll let you know what I come up with.
Anyway, I also have noticed that most writers are men. I know that there are a great amount of women writers, and good ones, but I think that the stereotype of the writer is that it is more often than not, a man.
So isn't this odd?
Perhaps I am just observing a little bit of what it is really out there in the world, but for me, I don't know many men that like to read books, it's perhaps a rare find. What do you observe in your town, or around the people that you usually come across with, who reads more? Men or women? Who writes more, men or women?
If any of you would like to make a survey like I will please send me your results and I will post them in the upcoming blog with the results of my observation.
I will make a sheet with the following notes:
How many men do I see reading throughout the day?
How many men read newspapers?
How many men read books?

How many women do I see reading?
How many women read newspapers?
How many women read books?

See how it turns out?
What do you think the outcome will be? I would be really interested in seeing the outcome in a different city than Brooklyn. Who's researching with me?

What makes a Comment Worthy Post?

I have had my Blog since February 2011. I have tried to be consistent and post something almost every day. I made this Blog because I wanted to have a medium to share my thoughts and views on topics that happen on my day to day life, things that perhaps many of you experience as well. In the world of Blogging, a Blog's success is measured in "views", and "comments", at least in my opinion, and it is hard when one starts to catch people's attention. Because once someone has seen you, and liked you, and follow you, then they will probably come back over and over again. But I also understand that in order to get a lot of comments you must also comment. So what if you work outside the home, like I do, have kids, like me, husband, house etc. etc. So maybe you as well as me, enjoy reading Blogs when we have a free time, and commenting once in a while. But what is it that makes a Blog Post comment worthy? Is it a reward for commenting? Something very controversial? Or maybe something not so controversial? How do you find Blogs that are in tune with yourself, how to find a community of people who like the same things as me? I am searching for some people who think my Blogs are interesting, that like the same things as I do. Maybe I will find that I like your Blog too.
So if you have a Blog, and think my Blog is interesting, comment on it and leave your url on the comment. I promise I will comment on yours back! Thanks for reading!

Life is Wonderful - The Law of attraction

I am not going to explain much about the Law of Attraction today, but I did want to mention it. I believe that when things go bad, the more you talk about how bad things are, the more bad things you attract. Because talking about bad things makes you feel bad. Hearing your friends talk about bad things also makes you feel bad. Feeling bad sends out a frequency to the world of badness and thus attracting bad stuff to you.
So when I start feeling bad, or something bad happens to me, I try to get my frequency high so I can feel better in order to attract good things to myself. I tell my friends that I don't feel like talking, I sorta isolate myself a bit. It might seem weird but by isolating myself I can concentrate on getting my good feelings out into the surface. I refuse to tell people if anything bad has happened to me on a personal level, and I tend to sleep a lot. Because when I'm sleeping I feel good. This takes me back when I was little, I loved sleeping, and dreaming, it was like that alternate dream life consumed my day, I would write my dreams, and think about them constantly during the day. Recently I discovered this book about The Law of Attraction and Dreams. I can't wait to finish reading it.
But getting back to the other thing. I truly feel like having good thoughts and doing things that make you feel good makes a big difference when things are not going your way. So next time you see things taking a wrong turn in your life, don't talk about it, don't tell your friends, don't criticize , don't complain, just find the things that you enjoy doing and do them. You will see how quickly things will start turning the right direction again.

Trying to be more adventurous with my food and I had a Blast!

Yesterday my husband invited me to a Sushi place. I am not a sea food eater, I usually only eat fish from a can and it must be chunk light tuna in water and nothing else. My husband asked me if I thought the girls would eat there and I said that I doubted it but that I would bring some food for them just in case. I figured that I could at least eat some noodles so I went along with it and it was one of the best experiences I have ever had in a restaurant ever!
We went to Shiro of Japan in Glendale, NY it is located inside the Shops at Atlas Park one of the most beautiful malls in the area.


We came in and the decoration is beautiful, people are seated at the Hibashi table and the food is cooked right in front of you. It is like being in a performance place, very fun, and delicious. 


For a person that is a very picky eater, I must say that I was very adventurous and ate the following:


Miso Soup
Dumplings (pork and fish)
Noodles
Fried Rice
Teriyaki Sirloin Steak
Salad with some unknown dressing
And some unknown vegetable that I think it was zucchini 
(I'm not much of a vegetable eater so this is a breakthrough)


And then for dessert I had one of my favorite desserts EVER!! It's the Cappuccino Tartufo. I used to eat it a lot about 7 years ago, but the place I would get them from closed down and I never saw it again this dessert, so I was so excited to see this item in the menu, and of course I had to order it and savor it's amazingness.

So here are some pictures of my Dinner which it was awesome!!! I recommend to you to go to this amazing place and if you live far away from NYC then go to any good quality Japanese Restaurant that serves Hibashi Style dinners. I'm sure you'll have a blast.

Capuccino Tartufo, you can see the creamy chocolaty goodness inside!

Even though my husband's birthday was a few days ago we took the opportunity to Sing him Happy Birthday!

Parenting - Health - When a weight issue becomes a weighty Issue.

We have all heard the news, even Michelle Obama talking about it. There have been an increase concern in Childhood obesity, encouraging children to eat right, exercise, etc. etc.
I believe that all this is good and healthy, but when do these assessments become dangerous?
When my daughter was 9 they did an assessment on her weight at school and told me she was at risk of becoming overweight. They send this note from school open for my daughter to see. Where is the wrong in this?
Well, the wrong in this is when a child, is 5 feet tall and weighs 105 lbs they are "at risk", yet if she was 102 lbs she would be at a healthy weight. If you are an adult that has struggled with weight, 3 pounds extra on a healthy active child is not a big deal. And I understand that they are concerned that children if left unchecked would be at risk for being overweight, but when my 10 year old daughter starts counting calories, and starts getting worried whether her butt looks big, or starts weighting herself everyday to see if she lost a pound or not, then I see this as being a bigger problem.
Children, especially little girls are at high risk of eating disorders. I believe that having the school take such approach to the children's weight is more harmful to the children than if they just talked about healthy eating, and exercise, and provided healthy meals at schools, maybe make some parent workshops on good eating habits. But I think it's horribly wrong to target children and tell them that they are at risk of being overweight. I don't think children should know this kind of information. Educate the parents, educate the children, but don't make little kids feel bad of their growing bodies.

HAPPY 35th BIRTHDAY to my hubby!!!

Today I'd like to honor my husband on his birthday. He has been a great husband and father, he is caring, loving, attentive, and responsible, hard working, fun. He has done so much for so many people. Not only he's a great husband and father he is also a great son, uncle, and a great brother. He is very giving, humble, charitable, sexy, huggable, adorable... And the list goes on.

So today, it's all about you JT. I love you and I'm so honored to have you as my husband and know that I am here, to listen when you want to talk, give you your space when you don't and be there whenever you need me.

Men vs The Law of Attraction

The other day I was talking to my cousin and she was telling me how she thought that her friend was very unfair to her husband. She continues to describe how her friend's husband gave her friend flowers for Valentine's, got her chocolates, a watch, took her to dinner and bought her a perfume. Her friend was livid because the husband had bought her a perfume she specifically had mentioned months before that she did NOT like. She was failing to see all the good things that he had done for her and concentrated on the one thing that he did wrong.
My cousin told her friend that her husband had completely forgotten about Valentine's day, and that she has learned from experience that every single time her husband asks her for something she likes, he ALWAYS ends up buying the one thing she specifically said she did NOT like.
I told Karla that this phenomenon sounds a lot a like the Law of Attraction, because it is said that the Law of Attraction does not understand the words, NO, Not, Don't. So if you say I don't want to get sick, the message received is: I want to get sick and the same applies to anything.  The way to get what you want is by asking for what you want.
I want to get this perfume as a gift.
I want to stay healthy.
I want those earrings that we saw at the store.

If you find yourself relating to this situation, I want to hear about it. And the next time you see yourself saying I don't want this and that, ask yourself. What do I WANT? Ask and ye shall receive!