What kind of music do you like to hear when you need to cheer up?

I have been feeling a little bit down for the past few days. Today I was driving on my way back from work and I heard this song called "Rolling in the Deep by Adele" I had heard that song previously in The Voice when Vicci Martinez sang it during the Blind Rounds. I never thought I would like that song, it didn't seem to be the kind of music I normally like, but Vicci sang it with such passion and emotion that I absolutely adored it. As I was driving and listening to the original version sang by Adele I got goosebumps all over my body. When I got home I decided to look it up and hear the song on YouTube and find out who this Adele was. I must have heard the song a million times, the Adele Version, the Karaoke Version, the Vicci Martinez Version, over and over and over, and I got goosebumps, and I wanted to sing, and I sang, and I sang to the point when my daughters where begging me to stop. LOL. But I felt so much better afterwards. The thing I like the most about the song is the Chorus, the passion that goes along with it. I don't care much for the lyrics as I don't feel I can relate to them, but the emotion behind the song, that's something beyond words.

Here are the videos for the song, first by Adele and then by Vicci Martinez. Enjoy!

 

What songs do you feel cheer you up when you are down?

How do you get out of a slump, when we don't feel like doing much?

Don't you sometimes have just one of those days when you feel like you don't want to do anything? Like there is something missing? Well I have been feeling like that since my hubby has been gone to visit his mother that was ill I miss him so dearly, and things are definitely not the same without him here.
Even my daughter Gaby told me today, I want to go home. You are home, what are you talking about? I said. She said, I don't know, I don't feel comfortable in the house, like if it's not mine. She says that it feels like that since daddy has been away.
We all feel the dent in our hearts and the emptiness in our souls when one of us isn't around, yet I know my husband is taking care of his mom and that's a very noble and great thing he's doing. At this time his mom needs him more than us, but I must say it hurts. I wish I could convey to him how much we love him and how much we wish he knew it. How he's so important to us, and how we wish for his mom to recover very soon.
When things go on a slump, how do you get out of it?
How do you cheer up and feel better?

Excuse me Miss, there's a man in the women's bathroom.... O_o A case of Gender confusion..

The other day I went to Target with my daughters. As I headed into the bathroom I saw a person with a baby carriage. She looked pretty masculine and was dressed with what some people may commonly see as manly clothes. For a brief millisecond I thought she was a man, however just one good look at her face and it was obvious that she was a woman. Just then an employee of Target comes in and said that a customer had complained that there was a man in the women's bathroom. She said, Is there a male here? I said no. This lady says, It is obvious they are referring to me. See what I mean? Her partner gets all defensive and starts arguing with the Target employee and mentioning the words prejudiced and lawsuit in the same sentence. The Target employee was apologetic and said that she just had been sent to the bathroom to check what was happening because a customer had complained, but that she nor any other Target employee had said anything. She said that it was obviously a misunderstanding on behalf of the customer and they walked out of the bathroom and I didn't hear anything else.

I found that to be very interesting and such a controversial subject. I am accepting of all people, and have no problem with anyone who doesn't have a problem with me. She was indeed masculine, and it might have been an honest mistake. Was that customer being prejudiced when they went to complain to the Target employee? Maybe not. If she had honestly believed that the woman was a lesbian then she probably would have never complained. Would you have been offended? Would you have been surprised? The couple had a baby with them, and to tell you the truth my first impression was that of a daddy trying to find a place to change their baby's diaper. Some places only have diaper changing stations in the women's bathroom, isn't that more discriminatory that honestly making a mistake?

If you were a lesbian and liked to dress with gender neutral clothes, would you be offended if you were confused with a man? Would I be offended if I got confused with a man? I guess, I mean I was once confused with the mother of a friend of mine, although she is 13 years younger than me, so technically I could have given birth to her..
I don't know what to think of this. I did feel bad for them, it must have been embarrassing, but I think that if you like to dress in manly clothes, like to wear your hair short, use a cap in your head, wear clothes that hide your boobs, and don't like to wear make-up or earrings, or anything that could be remotely identified as girly then I don't think that you should be offended if anyone gets confused. I mean everyone has the right to wear whatever they want, whatever makes them feel happy, and not care what other people think or say about it, not even if it makes them confused.

What do you think about this topic?

Parenting - Do you every buy your kids toys because you wish you could play with them too?

When I look back at my childhood, I remember having a large doll house, Holly Hobbie dolls, and Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I had quite a few, but I would get one every so often. Going to Toys R Us to get one more for my collection was one of the most exciting events of my childhood. Toys R Us seemed so huge! I was only 4 years old and this place was like miles and miles of toys. But that doll house got broken that same year and I kept the dolls and smaller houses for years to come. Yet after that small period in my life I have no recollection of playing with dolls. Maybe it is that I just don't remember my life from 5 years old until I was 10. It's like those 5 years disappeared into thin air. It's weird, I have several memories of me being 4 and 5. One memory of being 6, one memory of being 7 (mainly just who my teacher was and some students in my class). One memory of being 8 (I changed schools that year), none of being 9, several of being 10, 11, 12 and so on.So after I was 10, I didn't play much with dolls. I don't remember playing with toys at all. Just reading, and listening to music, watching TV, and playing with my cousin. So when I look back to my childhood the only time I recall playing with dolls was when I was 4. Now with my daughters I see their dolls and I must say that I want to play with them. When they say: Mommy! I want another Strawberry Shortcake, or I want that Monster High Doll, or that Barbie, or that Ken. I fake being upset and say that they have too many dolls already, but I let them beg, and I always end up buying the doll after all. And it's not because I can't stand my ground, but because deep down inside I want those dolls too. I don't like playing pretend as much anymore, but just the act of having the doll in my hand, maybe fixing her clothes and brushing their hair, and looking at the tiny little food items, and plates, and stuff just makes me feel like a child again and for one brief moment I don't see the mountain of dolls that they have in their room, I just see a 36 year old little girl who is lucky enough to have another doll to play with.

Do you ever buy toys for your children just because you wish you had them when you were a child?
What are your favorite toys?

Fandom - COSPLAY

Cosplay is a form of Costume Play that people do mainly based on animated Japanese characters.
My daughter is into Cosplay and she just asked me if she could have a Cosplay Birthday Party. We still have 7 months to plan for it, so I better start now. Cosplay can be very costly or time consuming if you decide to make your own costumes. We'll see.
I am including a picture from the Cosplay Fashion Show at the Sakura Matsuri Festival in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens back in April 1st.

Cosplay Fashion Show 2011

Do you like to dress up? What kind of costumes you like to get when and if you do?

What makes a landmark constantly amazing?

I have lived in NYC for 11 years. For the past 2 years I have been taking the train to work. On my way, I pass by an area where I can see the statue of liberty from afar. Every day for years I sit in the perfect chair that gives me the best view of he statue of liberty. I see this like I'm going to see a special show and it amazes me how I seem to be the only one that looks at it as we pass by. Is it that people don't know it's there? or is it that people just don't care anymore? At what moment does the statue of liberty becomes such a common sight that people dismiss it?

Yet in another way I can relate. I can see the empire state building out my window, yet I don't go over and look at it everyday. Is it that when you can see something anytime you want, does it loose its value? What is the difference between the empire state building and the statue of liberty? Is it the Historical Significance? Tallest Building versus a sign of freedom? How about the Brooklyn Bridge? I see it often and it still amazes me, especially at night. But the things that amaze me the most are the ones I don't have access to see them at all times of day or night as it is like with the empire state building. What makes a landmark constantly amazing? Is it over all significance or the accesibility of view?
If you lived in Paris and could view the Eiffel Tower through your window. Would you ever get tired of it? Would it loose its power? How about the great Pyramids? Or the Sphinx?

Do you live near a famous landmark? Does it still amaze you after many years? Why do you think is that?

Health - What are your Food Monsters?

I keep thinking about loosing weight as I see the amazing progress my husband is doing and I think to myself. What is keeping me from going all out? What stops me from being disciplined? What keeps me down?
There is this part of me who doesn't want to feel deprived. I little voice in my head that tells me, If you are going to start this diet you won't be able to eat Tiramisu anymore, so you better eat it now before you start your diet. You better eat that oreo double stuff now or you will never get to eat it again... So that is what stops me from going all out and trying to loose weight.
Do you ever hear that voice?
I hear it everyday, the fear of being stuck eating bland stuff, or eating soups. Oh! How much I hate soups!!
There is another voice inside my head that tells me that I'm being irrational, that I will eat what I love again, just not all the time. And the voice points out that when I am not afraid to loose the object of my desire then I am not as interested in it. I can have cake or cookies in my house and if I don't feel like I am being deprived of them then I don't feel the need to eat them. So I decided to make a list of foods that I'm afraid to loose, those things that stop me from going on a full regime that will allow me to loose weight.

1. Oreo Cookies, Double Stuff = 140 cal for 2 cookies plus the 80 cal of the cup of skim milk

2. Tiramisu - A delectable dessert that I had not tasted in years yet recently discovered again in the Coffee Shop we go to for our Women's Writing Workshop on Wednesdays.

3. Surullitos - Cornmeal fritters. I eat them about 3 times a year, but this last month when I went to PR, I ate like 3 years worth of them.

4. Pizzaroli - Chef Boyardee Pizza Ravioli. I rarely eat these also, just love them so much!

5. Empanadillas - I love eating empanadillas, yet I do not eat them that frequently either.

6. Flautas - Chicken Flautas, it's a Mexican dish. Chicken rolled in a corn tortilla to make a little straw like shape, and deep fried, then covered in sour cream, and green jalapeno sauce. Yum. Also, a 5 times a year plate.

I mean, after looking at these I realize that the things that make me second guess my diet, are things that I don't eat every day. So even if I were to eat them in the same way I normally eat them it wouldn't be much of a problem.

How about if I allow myself to eat Oreos 2 times a week...Two times a week is too little, you should eat the whole box now, before you start your diet....Here it goes again, the evil little voice...Ok, so let's ignore Oreos for now.

I can eat, Tiramisu once a month. I can deal with that.
I will allow myself to eat surullitos once a month. They are quite time consuming so I will probably eat them less than that.
I will allow myself to eat Pizzaroli once a week.
I will allow myself to eat empanadillas once a month.
I will allow myself to eat Flautas once a month.

Well after writing these statements I realize that the Oreos are the only ones that give me a hard time. So I will allow myself to eat 2 Oreos every day. I know I ate 5 already today, maybe I should just eat 2 more now, and tomorrow you'll start your diet. Oreos are a monster. I vow to not buy Oreos double stuff after this box finishes. I will wait more than a week to buy more. I will buy only the mini Oreos for the girls, as I don't like them as much and won't be tempted. That worked. :)

I realize that my main problem here are Oreos Double Stuff. I cannot Not eat them as long as they are in the house, but I can make the choice not to buy them again when they finish. And if I find myself craving it so bad, then I will only buy a singles pack to calm me down.

Do you struggle with some food monsters as well? What are they?

Another Version of the Sunset

This picture of the week is another version of the same sunset for last week.  I am hesitant to make my title The Picture of The Week because a webpage called Broken Controllers has created a link to my page and for some reason next to my link there's a big Download button that supposedly makes you download a Spyware program. So if you ever go to a page that starts off with Broken Controllers DO NOT Download ANYTHING!
Anyway, hopefully none of you got tricked. So here it is, my new picture of the week with a new frame. Which frame do you like better? Which picture you like the best?

SELF - What places would you like to visit in the next 5 years? - Social Moms Writing Prompt

Every once in a while I will use a Social Mom's Writing Prompt in my Blog, especially if it has a topic I am interested about or if it's something that I would want to write about to begin with.

I was never one to dream about traveling, except when I was in High School, I was fascinated by Italy and always dreamed I would have my honeymoon there, yet it never happened. After that I discarded the whole idea of traveling up until a few months ago.

As I thought about ways to help out the world and teach my children about philanthropy I realized I wanted to travel the world helping out in different charities all over the world. Take one year to travel the world volunteering with my whole family. We would help the world as we get to experience different cultures, different languages and environments and write about my experiences. I still have a way to go before my dreams become a reality. I have to get a passport for my family, somehow we've managed our whole lives to be without one. We also have to research charities that take volunteers that even children can do. Ideally I would like to be able to stay with a host family in every country so that I could be exposed even more to the culture and the language. So far I have quite a few friends all over the world that hopefully won't mind to let us crash with them for a few weeks.
The places I would like to travel to include International and Local places, and here it is:


Locally:

*California

*Hawaii

Canada

International (Over Seas)

*Italy

*France

*Greece

*China

*Japan

*Australia

*Spain

*Egypt

All the locations with a (*) in them are places where I have a friend living in that country, whether it be a real in-person friend, or an online friend that is close enough that I wouldn't feel awkward asking them if we could stay with them. I just need to find a Canadian friend. Any Volunteers?

Where would you like to travel to?

Peaceful Family - What is your fighting style?

This morning I was scheduled for a Pre-K Parent Meeting to discuss the graduation ceremony for my daughter's class. When I arrive at the school the staff doesn't seem to be aware of the meeting, except the actual teachers. We are told to wait in room 114 to wait for the teachers to come in to talk to us. In room 114 there was a workshop being held there about Peaceful Families. How to deal with anger in the home. The teachers came gave us a 5 min briefing of the graduation ceremony and then left. And we were tricked into staying at the workshop.
I could have left, but for some reason I decided to stay and I found it very interesting. I first thought this workshop was about anger between spouses, and I thought that I didn't need it as my husband and me are getting along pretty good these days. But when I realized that the workshop was to help parents deal with the children's anger, visions of Elsie throwing tantrums and Gaby doing yelling matches with her sister made me want to stay.
The first part of the workshop divided the parents into groups according to their birth order. Only child, Oldest, middle child, youngest and blended mix. I went over to the Only child section, even thought I have two siblings on my father's side, I did not grow up with them, so I am still considered an only child in this case.
So, the teacher explained that our birth order determined some characteristics of our personalities based on our experiences as a child. And also now our children have maybe a different birth order or sibling situation than we had so they also experience things sometimes in a very different way than we grew up with. I could relate, I as an only child have a hard time understanding sibling rivalry or why do sisters tend to fight so much for the simplest of things. And I can also identify how my oldest daughter tends to feel as if she is responsible for her sister and she tends to scold her even if I don't ask this of her. She feels as if it is her responsibility to teach her sister what I taught her, and it is very hard for me to explain to her that she doesn't have to do that. She can very well allow me to deal with all the discipline, and when she doesn't then I feel like I am battling constantly with her about it. Another aspect of this birth order characteristics that I noticed was that my youngest tends to be a little spoiled, she is used to getting her way and feels like she doesn't have to work hard to obtain something.

The second part of the workshop asked us parents to choose an animal that resembled out fighting technique. Many parents chose the tiger, jaguar, lion. But I chose the turtle, a snapping turtle. I tend to avoid confrontation, tend to hide in a shell, but when angry can snap back at people.

After this exercise the teacher handed down a paper that gave a list of different Conflict Management Styles and how each of them had a time and a place. That it was more effective to deal with conflicts in different ways depending with the situation than if you tend to use the same cookie cutter response for everything.

The Conflict Management Styles are the following:

-Directing/Controlling - "My way or the Highway"
  This kind of Style is best used in a situation where Immediate action is required or when there is a safety concern.

-Collaborating - "Let's work it out"
This style is best suited for occasions when there is time to create a mutually satisfying solution, when the needs of both parties are compatible, and when there are many points of view.

-Compromising - "Something is better than nothing"
Good for fast decisions in minor issues, when there doesn't seem to be another solution.

-Accomodating - "Give in" or "Let go"
When the relationship is more important than the issue at hand. When we want to show our willingness to be flexible, when we expect to have a turn next time.

-Avoiding/Denying - "Walk away" or "What Problem? There's no Problem."
When confronting is unsafe or damaging. When the battle is not worth picking, when you want ot cool down and make a plan

-Appeal to a Third Party - "Help me out here"
When parties are not able to reach agreement by themselves, when there is power imbalance and someone can serve as an ally.

After that the teacher explained that with children we have to not only help them deal with conflict but give them alternatives of how to react when they feel upset.
She pointed out that Anger is just the tip of the iceberg, that underneath there is a mix of emotions from fear, inadequacy, shame, hurt. We need to teach our children to develop a feelings vocabulary, to identify anger cues, and find anger reducers, identify anger triggers and identify the ways that one makes others angry.

Even though the time ended and we were not able to go into more detail on this last part, I think that this workshop was very helpful as it made me realize that I have to find a way to teach my children how to deal with their own anger and help them find appropriate ways to express them. Because it is OK to be angry, but it is not OK to be rude.

Parenting - How do you teach your children about charity?

The world today has become very "green", people are encouraged to help save the planet. With that new responsibility comes a new way of encouraging values in our children. We as parents want to be able to teach them how to be charitable, how to help out.  What things can we do to teach children about charity?
Well, we can do so by setting an example and by exposing them to situations that they can help out others.

Recently I spoke with Ellen Bari form Momasphere and she told me about this cool book for small kids called Jumping Jenny about a little girl who loves to jump and finds a way to helping people by sharing her passion with the world.

In which ways do you teach your children about charity?
What have been your experiences with giving?

Fandom - What makes a person obsession material?? LOL

Starting this month I am going to dedicate Wednesdays to Fandom, or the talk about famous people I love. I tend to obsess sometimes with some actors and it's hard to say what makes a person obsess worthy.
For example, some people I am a total fan, just by the way they look. This may seem shallow, but I don't think I can help it. For example, I totally adore Alejandro Sanz. He is a singer from Spain, for those of you who don't know, and I love two songs of him that he made in collaboration with other singers. One of them is La Tortura with Shakira, and the other is Looking for Paradise with Alicia Keys.
I must admit that I have never heard any of his other songs, yet I follow him on Twitter, and took from a friend  the cover of one of his CD's because I love the pictures on it.
My husband might think this is not real fandom, as I am not familiar with all the aspects of this guy, I just think he's good looking, and I like 2 of his songs. Is that so wrong?
Have I tried to listen to more of his songs? Well, yes, but he sings mostly ballads and I am not too good with ballads. I wish I knew a real fan who could tell me if he has any other songs that are not ballads or that are at least somewhat cheerful.
But to me, I am a fan, because I can have weird obsessive thoughts about this guy. Is this wrong?
Do any of you find yourselves dreaming about a famous person, just by their looks?

What makes someone obsession material? Am I the only one with this dilemma?

Can you recommend good fiction books? Or any book for that matter?

I am an avid reader, I love to read and I am constantly reading. I believe that books just come to me, maybe through a recommendation I just read about in a webpage, or sometimes I find out about a book from another book, or radio station, or TV show. For whatever reason, books just tend to present themselves to me, at the perfect time.
It used to be hard just carrying so many books around all the time, that's why having my Kindle, the  one my hubby got me for Xmas is such a blessing. I mostly read non-fiction books, but now that I am on this Women's Writing group I find myself with the need to write something for the workshop and then I can't think of anything to write about. I also want to learn how to write fiction, and I haven't read fiction in such a long time.
I tend to read non fiction books, those that teach me about something I am thirsty to learn about. Books that expand my knowledge, that help me solve a problem or necessity, or that will improve my life in some way. It is hard for me to read fiction because I feel like there is nothing to learn from it. Yet there is. In my quest to learn how to write fiction, I have to read fiction.But I have another problem, and that is that I do not like books that have a lot of misery or hardship. I like books that are funny, and that have a little bit of mystery, like the book Good Night, Nobody by Jennifer Weiner. I also like the book Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella. This second one I have not finished reading it yet, but I like the element of mystery and funny situations that happen in the story. I also like vampire stories, but they must have funny elements as well. Nothing too serious for me.
I believe a lot in the Law of Attraction and it makes me see things so differently. I mean it is impossible for me to be OK with reading things about pain, and family dysfunction or hardship, or anything that goes against what I want in my life. I have the ability to feel deeply the things that I am exposed to, so I try to avoid anything that will create negative thoughts and negative emotions. I like things that will increase my feelings of  happiness and feed my natural curiosity and desire to learn and figure things out. So the perfect combination is of Comedic Mysteries. Comedies or mysteries in general, or psychological thrillers. I don't know. Anything that keeps me on my toes wondering what is going to happen next and that makes me laugh along the way.

What kinds of Books do you recommend? I really want to know! 

Health - What do you eat for Lunch?

It must feel like its the same thing over and over, but still I'm wondering how to loose weight. My husband is doing so great! And I'm not really dieting at all. Why? Well, to start I tend to get too hungry if I don't eat the way I eat, and I get dizzy and nauseous and cranky. So, I don't really want to feel that way so I eat what I eat and move on. I sometimes wonder if I have a fast metabolism, or something. I tried researching it but couldn't find an answer that fit my symptoms.
I have low thyroid hormone levels if I don't take my daily Thyroid hormone pills. I go to the bathroom after each and every meal. I eat small meals throughout the day, I am currently eating vegetables at every dinner. I cannot eat certain foods, or I will get nauseous.
A regular day for me is a coffee and a buttered roll for breakfast, eaten one hour after taking thyroid pill. For lunch it's either leftover dinner or one of two things, chicken broccoli from the Chinese food place or a slice of pizza and a soda, except on Fridays that I eat McDonalds, I used to eat either a BigMac or chicken nuggets, but a co-worker taught me about the mini-mac, which is a regular cheeseburger with BigMac sauce. It is awesome because it allows me to eat what I want without feeling like a pig. XD
After that I might eat some fruit or a cookie for snack, and will have a dinner consisting of a protein, a small portion of carbs, and veggies. After that I eat another snack of either cookies or fruit.
I mean I don't think this is such a horrible thing to eat. Maybe where I can stand to improve is in the lunch area.
My hubby eats either a small sandwich in Whole Wheat bread or a Protein Shake for Breakfast, a soup for Lunch, Nutrigrain Bars for snack and Protein and Veggies for dinner.
I am not a soup fan, and when I do eat it it keeps me hungry. Maybe I could make a home-made egg drop soup or something, but I know I can't eat that everyday. Maybe I should eat a salad with some protein. It's something to consider. I'm such a picky eater that is hard. I don't like soup, or sandwiches, or any kind of seafood, so chicken is the only thing that comes to mind.
What do you eat for lunch? Some Ideas will be greatly welcome!

Picture of the Week - Blogfest Sunset

So, the night of the Brooklyn BlogFest as I arrived to the Bell House I saw the sun was setting and took the following picture.

I gave it a special effect that I tried for the first time today. I got the idea to do this from Dooce where she explains how to give a Lovely Glow effect. I checked out Dooce today again because as I spoke to a friend today and I told her about how successful Dooce has been and she totally wanted to check it out.
The frame was just my idea, and I was just trying it on for size. What do you think? You like the frame or not?

The Brooklyn Blogfest 2011

Tonight I had the privilege to attend the 6th annual Brooklyn Blogfest.  It started of with a video of images by Gabriella Herman of Bloggers by the light of their computer screens. Followed by 3 women bloggers who let us inside the minds of real bloggers by reading excerpts from several different blogs, it was funny, clever and a great presentation. We then had a talk with Jeff Jarvis, author of  What Would Google Do?. and blogs about news and media at Buzz Machine He is also the director of the interactive Journalism Program at CUNY and he brought in students to do research on us bloggers. He was interested in creating a bloggers network where bloggers unite for a common purpose and promote each other in the process. His theory is that a group of bloggers working together can reach a bigger audience and could help each other out as opposed to many individual blogs acting on their own. After the excellent talk from Jeff then they did the classic Blogs-of-a-Feather were they divide the space into areas and have bloggers of each category group together and trade business cards and talk about their specific topics. I always hesitate to choose as I'm not sure were I can be classified. Should I go talk to Jeff, or go into the eclectic blog group, or the mommy bloggers or the just starting bloggers? Where does my blog belong? I ended up going to the mommy blog section and I met 3 new faces in the mommy blogging group. I saw the usual group that I used to see often on the Momasphere Events, like Melissa Lopata and Ellen Bari who recently released the book Jumping Jenny about a little girl who uses her love of jumping to change the world. Rahti Gorfien who is a Life Coach for creative individuals plus has her own radio Show Radio Rahti, Joyce Szuflita and met Nancy McDermott from Park Slope Parents, Paula Bernstein from Parents Connect , Amanda Wiss from Urban Clarity, Kirby from Baby G and sitting next to me at the main event was Donna Minkowitz. 
Not only I re-united with a few old friends, but made a few new friends along the way and even got to be interviewed by Sam Newhouse from the Brooklyn Eagle who wrote an article about the Blogfest and it mentioned ME!! 
So overall, the Blogfest was a success. I learned a few things, met new people, networked, promoted my Blog.  I'm going to cultivate my new friendships and wait for the next time the Blogfest comes to town.

Charlotte Maier, Nancy Graham & Elizabeth Palmer

Jeff

Louise Crawford and Atiba Edwards

Jeff Jarvis

Fandom - Are you a Fan of anything or anyone in particular?

Today as I was thinking about my blog and what I am going to write about I realized that there is a part of me that I have not yet introduced you to. The side of me that is a Fan. Some of you may already know this side of me, like my twitter friends and my real life friends but not all of you readers know.
Well yes, I am a fan. What does that mean? It means that I have a tendency to become a HUGE fan of certain TV shows, movies, actors etc. I enjoy going to see when a movie or TV show is being filmed and try to take a peek at the actors and visualize them as real people as opposed to the characters they play.
My first  bigger than life obsession was Robert Downey Jr when I was 11 years old after watching the movie Tuff Turf. Robert Downey Jr has been my obsession for more than 19 years. There is also Drew Barrymore which I have admired since I was 6 years old , and more recently Alexander Skarsgard and Tim DeKay and Matt Bomer from White Collar. In music I obsess about Alejandro Sanz, The Misfits and Ozzy Osbourne.

Jerry Only from the Misfits

I have had the opportunity to meet a few of my obsessions in person, like Robert Downey Jr, Tim DeKay, Matt Bomer, Jerry Only from the Misfits and once I saw Ozzy Osbourne at a distance, but close enough to count.

Matt Bomer from White Collar

Robert Downey Jr

Tim DeKay from White Collar

Here are some  of the pictures that I have taken on my "stalking" adventures. I wonder how many people out there are like me, that find something fascinating about people we don't really know on a personal level, celebrities that many tend to idolize or put on high pedestals based on their fame. But there is something about seeing a celebrity in person that makes me realize that celebrities are as human as you and me, and even though that is a fact that I carry with me I get a sense of amazement when I see a celebrity's humanity up close.
Do you fantasize in meeting celebrities? What makes you like a celebrity in particular over another?

Household - Would you eat something delicious even if it looked disgusting?

The other day I was checking out the Failblog when I saw this picture of some chocolate cupcakes.

We love chocolate cupcakes at home, chocolate brownies, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, so I showed the picture to my daughter's and asked them. Would you eat these cupcakes? They both looked disgusted and said no. Not even if they smelled delicious? Not even if you were 100% sure they would taste delicious? No, and No. But Gaby said that if she was told that those were the most delicious cupcakes in the world she might consider tasting them, but would be hesitant to try them.
This reminded me of when I was in middle school and I went to a friend's party and she served crackers with blue cream cheese. She had only added blue food coloring to the cream cheese, and I LOVE cream cheese, but some reason, seeing blue cream cheese reminded me of play dough and even though I tested it, I thought it tasted disgusting. As an adult I made the same thing, blue cream cheese and it tasted normal not as disgusting as I remembered. So I wondered, does the appearance of food make a difference on the taste? I'm sure it's purely psychological because the taste of something does not change with presentation, but our perception of the food item is influenced by how it looks. I wonder if smell also has some impact, I know that if something smells disgusting people are not going to try it, but what about something that smells delicious yet looks disgusting? Would that change the person's perception of the food item?
What do you think?

Health & Beauty - Allergies

I started off last week with Allergies, just as I came from PR and I realized that there must be something in NYC I'm allergic to. In PR I don't get allergies as bad as in NYC. And I have made it a point to go to the doctor soon and get tested for allergies. I have never done it before, I have just taken allergy medicine after allergy medicine hoping that one of them will help, but I guess trial and error has not worked well in this case.
Anyway, my allergies turned into a sinus infection and now I'm in antibiotics. I feel weak and dizzy sometimes, but thank goodness I feel better each day now. But I still try to rest as much as I can and not strain yourself.

Do any of you suffer from allergies? What has worked for you? What are you allergic to?

Parenting - How do you set a good example for your children?

Recently I have been paying attention to the kind of example I give to my children and contemplate the ways I can set a better example for them and how I can influence them to take better care of themselves.
My oldest daughter is now ten and has all the qualities of a teenager. I knew I was dealing with a precocious  child when at the tender age of 5 she came home one day from Kindergarten and announced to me, I want to be popular! I started thinking, Isn't this supposed to be something that I shouldn't have to worry about until high school? Well, 5 years later and she is into things that I normally would have related to teenagers, she seems mature, and moody at times, but she's a wonderful kid and I am very grateful to have her as my child. But sometimes  I look at her and see that she doesn't take care of her appearance too much. She doesn't mind having messy hair and wrinkly clothes and I see myself in her, and I worry that I have set a bad example for her. Growing up I hated brushing my hair or ironing clothes and I hated skirts, shoes, and make-up. Now I see my daughter following my footsteps except she has some advantages and it's because she likes skirts and shoes, and she likes make-up, I just don't let her use it just yet. But her hair is a mess most of the time and I don't know how to deal with that.
Growing up my mom always tried to get me to wear skirts, brush my hair, put on make-up, iron all my clothes, wear nice girly shoes and it seems that I always had to go against everything she said, just because. Now, I understand what my mother wanted to achieve with me, however I know that I was a rebel, and my daughter tends to be like that too. I cannot try to force her into something or she will go against me full force as I used to do with my mom (and still do sometimes). So I feel I must lead by example.
My dilemma now is How do I set a better example to my children when I don't know how to do it?
I mean, I struggle with fashion, how to dress properly, I only wear jeans and shirts and black sketchers, every day of my life. Recently I have tried to buy nicer shirts maybe to try and give a better example, but the choices I made, based on what I liked did not meet the approval of my daughter or my hubby. Is it still an improvement when I wear a nice blouse even if it's my husband's least favorite color? Or if my daughter hates it? I did choose a shirt that I absolutely loved, and I love how it looks on me. I think that I should wear what makes me happy regardless of whether others like it or not. And what about my hair? I can wash my hair, let it air dry and straighten it with a flat iron and it looks nice for a few days, but then before the week ends my hair is not at it's best and I struggle with the decision to wash it or not. Not washing it usually wins, especially since my hair is normally dry, and taking care of it is a few hours worth of my time. But what about my daughter? She washes it and hates brushing it and then it tangles, and her hair is very thick and oily and then she has a sensitive head that it hurts a lot when brushed, so it's a constant struggle, so I tend to give up. I give up because I don't feel like fighting the battle, I'm tired. But is it worth it? Should I try to win the battle, or try to be like the Horse of Troy and sneak in and win the battle? Do any of you struggle with these kinds of issues? How do you deal? I want to know.

Sixth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest 2011 - Be There!

Last week I was asked to do a mini workshop on Blogging for our Brooklyn's Women's Writing Workshop. As I prepared my workshop guidelines and reviewed my notes from the AWESOMEST eBook on Blogging for Women "Blogging in Pink: A woman's guide" I remembered how I first found out about Blogs and how I got interested in them to begin with and I remembered the Brooklyn Blog Fest. Two years ago I was reading a local Brooklyn Family magazine and saw an article about Louise Crawford a mom Blogger who runs the BlogFest. I found out where the BlogFest was, and headed myself out there with barely a day's worth of planning for it. I went by myself, I didn't know anyone, I did not talk to many people either but I sat there and I gathered information, took many business cards, and the whole concept seeped into my blood and it became a goal of mine to become a Blogger.
Last year I found out about the even the day before the even, and when I tried to get tickets they had been sold out. I was very disappointed, but this year I get another chance, and an even better one because for the first time I am going to the Blogfest not as a simple observer but as an actual Blogger. This time I won't feel embarrassed when people ask me, What's the name of your Blog? What do you Blog about? This time I plan of having Business Cards! I am a real Blogger, finally! I get a chance to mingle with hundreds of Brooklyn Bloggers, I will get the chance of getting my name out there and increasing the readership of my site. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!
So anyway, I encourage all of you to go ahead and buy your tickets now, they do sell fast. It is $15 but with fee's and such it end's up being about $18.88

If you plan on going send me a shout out and maybe I'll see you there in person. :)

Happy Blogging!! :)

Household - Brand New House without moving

As many of you know I was struggling with clutter and I was working through it. Then I left for Puerto Rico and my husband did the most amazing thing a husband could ever do. He remodeled the house when we were in Puerto Rico. He made a new Dining Room, A new Living room, a new home office. And for the first time in many years I must say that I have a peaceful place in my home to relax and do my work and I am so happy with it. I love my hubby!!! That was the best dating anniversary/mother's day gift EVER!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

And for those of you who are wondering and would like to see the transformation here I have a picture of the space before. The picture was taken while I was playing around with my daughter and the camera, it is actually a shot of my foot, but you can see basically the whole room.

And this same room was turned into 4 different spaces, 4 AMAZING SPACES!! :D

I'm proud of my new house! 

Do you ever think that remodeling could make such an amazing difference?

Health & Beauty - Insect Bites and Sun Burn, how do you deal?

This past few weeks in Puerto Rico I encountered myself actively dealing with insect bites and sunburn. The first time we went to the beach I bought a Sunblock Spray for kids and waterproof 70 SPF. I sprayed my girls and continued to enjoy the time at the beach. At the end of the day my daughter Gaby had burned her shoulders, and I had burned part of my back, so I had to run to the pharmacy to buy some after sun care to relieve my daughter's pain. We were surprised because we did put sunblock on each other. But after taking a look back I realized that we made a few mistakes of sun safety.

#1. We put sunblock on ourselves at the beach. It is recommended that sunblock be applied 30 minutes before being exposed to the sun to give the lotion time to be absorbed into the skin and work better.

#2. We applied Spray sunscreen in a windy place. There was a lot of wind at the time we applied the sunscreen so most of it must have blown away instead of sticking on each other.

#3. We didn't double check that we reached all the needed spots. We did a quick spray and were not very thorough. It is necessary to make sure to put on sunscreen in all exposed areas for good protection.

And the other thing we had to deal with was mosquito and midges bites. For those of you who don't know what midges (or Majes in spanish) are, they are a tiny little bug, the size of a fruit fly more or less, and they gather in places near water and come out mostly at dawn.

The last day we went to the beach it was raining early so we were able to enter the water late, when the sun was not at it's peak, it was cloudy so we didn't even put on sunblock (another no, no of skin safety) and when the sun started to set and we gathered our seashells and towels and headed towards the car, we took a few minutes to stand at the peer and that's when I noticed the Majes flying around my legs. I didn't think much of it, I mean I had not been at the beach this late in more than 2 years so I wasn't really thinking the bites were going to be too bad, but there I was back in NYC with over 25 bites in my legs and back. Tiny little bites that looked like mosquito bites except smaller, as my mosquito bites tend to swell a lot and appear bigger than a quarter. These bites were more the size of a pea, but itched for over a week. I tried researching online about these biting midges but there wasn't much helpful information. So I just put on calamine lotion on them 2 to 3 times a day and wished for the itch to go away.

Now that the weather is getting better, how to you take care of your skin and protect yourself from sunburn and insect bites?