Blog Award

Yesterday I got a wonderful surprise from Randi at Wild Magnolia, she gave me the following blog award

This award was definitely unexpected and although I am very grateful to Randi for thinking of me, I have some sort of mixed feeling about the name of the Award. I mean, stylish blogger? mmmmh, not sure if that does really applies to me as I don't really consider myself a very stylish person, my blog is not really about fashion, or design/decoration, nevertheless I gladly take the complement, so thanks Randi!!!

Now, the award always comes with some sort of rules as always I must link this back to Randi that gave the award, so go check out her wonderful blog at Wild Magnolia. Also I must share 7 things about me and then pass it on to other stylish blogs (not sure about having that many blogs to link it too... but I will try my best).

1. I hate paper cuts, I dread them every day, yesterday I got one.

2. When I was growing up I always wanted to be able to raise only one eyebrow at a time, so one day I made up my mind to practice all day long... after a while I learn how to do it and I can still do it (only my right side though).

3. I am a firm believer that "things worth doing, are worth doing them right" and I try to practice that every day of my life.


4. I miss my Mom's cooking very much, now that I have my own house and that I'm married; when I get home I mostly have to cook dinner, so now I can finally understand how hard it can be for all Mother's out there, trying to balance life, love, kids, house, work, etc, etc... Thanks Mom for the life you gave us and your the love that is always there!

5. I am a very spiritual person, I believe in God 100% but my religion is not necessary describe by just one type of belief. I was raised catholic but I do share many other points of view with other religions but always very sure that God exists and it's the beginning and end of everything.

6. I love vintage stuff, from furniture to black and white pictures, specially if there are family pictures.

7. I love Hello Kitty and everything Hello Kitty!!!

Now, I am supposed to nominate some blogs that I consider stylish, so here I go... (in no particular order).

Caroline at Absolutely Unique

Amanda at Amanda + Don

Meg at Life of Meg

Heidi at Ooh La La...

Jessi at The Juici Life

Joey at Joey's Cafe

All of those girls are plenty stylish, in fact they probably are more stylish than me... So go visit them and their stylish blog!

Have a great day!!!

social butterfly

All my life I've always been pretty social but I'm not sure if I really fall under the "social butterfly" cathegory.

Back home I always had my group of friends, we would go out pretty much every weekend, if not all together I always had somebody to hang out with.

I guess I could say I had a few years of pretty heavy partying, with late or should I say very early morning back to bed routines.

Still during my social/party years I also always liked quiet times as well. Spending time with my self or with a small intimate group. Also I've always been a pretty independent person that likes to do things on her own.

When I backpacked around Europe and the Middle East for a few months, I really got to know myself and to enjoy the company of "me, myself and I".... At times I would hook up with other people, travel with them for days or weeks and then at times it was again only me. No trouble about that whatsoever, I love my "me-time".

Now, I live in a very small island and since I move here my friend circle was reduce drastically. When I first met my now husband and we moved in together (couple of months after I move to the island), a big issue was the fact that he was the only person I knew around and I was super scared to make him the center of my world, so, I must admit it wasn't easy at the beginning and at times this (not having many friends) was a big issue for me.

At the time my husband kept on wanting to "hook me up" with some girls he worked with, and I kept on say I didn't wanted a "blind friendship date", that is just not me. To me a friendship needs to come natural and not something you go around "dating" for, LOL!

Anyway, years have passed and even though I am not as social as I used to be, I am happy about it, the way I see it, I've already had the chance to "be there, do that" and it's not such an important thing in my life anymore... I have a great life and a wonderful man that I can always hang out with!

Now, this weekend I have a friend from Canada coming to the island. We used to work together while we lived in Cayman Brac. She will be with her new husband and his kids, she emailed me saying she wants to see us, go out for a drink or dinner. The thing with her is that she is the kind of person that says she is going to call, but many times she's left us hanging and never shows up or calls, uugh, I hate that on people.

On the other hand I have a another event that same night, it's my friend Jen's Bachelorett Party/Night out, and that should be a lots of girl time and lots of fun.

I think it's funny how sometimes I can go weeks without any major event and now I have 2 the same night??? Not sure what to do? Wait around for Lauri to call this time and go out with them for dinner or drinks, or go to Jenn's thing? My husband says I should go to the bachelorette thing because it would be so much fun....

So, don't know what to do, but I have to make a decision soon!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Top 12

photo source

I got this idea from another blog and then decided to do it myself but instead of a Top Ten best posts of the year, I decided to go for a TOP 12 blog posts (one for each month) of the year 2010:

January~ Dog Therapy

February~ Mamma Dog

March~ the luck of us animal lovers

April~ Save the Whales

May~ Wonderful Weekend

June~ Where the Wild Things Are

July~ Tulum

August~ Family or Staff???

September~ Nice to meet you

October~ Stop and Think

November~ Pirates Weekend

December~ Disconnect to Connect

It's pretty amazing to think that I am getting closer to my 2nd year of blogging, sometimes it feels like I don't have enough inspiration, but the daily comments and interaction I get from blogging is wonderful.

So, what do you think? I hope you had as much fun as I did reading on my "best" posts of the month (well, best according to me!).

Have a great day!!!

the best teachers...

Here's a little animal wisdom I want to share with you today...

This is true, but there's also lots more to learn from animals, that's why need to really listen to what they say and how they act.

Have a great day!!!

1st weekend of the year!

Well, the first week of January is over so that means it was our first chance to have our date night.

On Friday night we went to our favorite "laid back" kind of place; a local diner close to home, food was good and it was soo romantic, here's the proof...

 Naaah, just kidding!!!

On that picture we were really posing, but in reality, the thing is that my husband loves crossword puzzles and every time we go there they have this newspaper that has them, so he is always working on that, so meanwhile I browse on a magazine...

Our night was very nice and I think this is the beginning of a very nice resolution.

Aren't we a nice couple?

On Saturday I had to work and my husband went diving at the new wreck, the Kittiwake. At night we just stayed home and went to bed early cause we were tired.

Yesterday Sunday, we went to the beach for a while, we both did some snorkeling and I saw a bunch of squid... Have you ever seen a squid underwater? They are awesome looking creatures, almost look kind of alien to me...

Here are some picture I've taken of squid in the past while diving...

aren't they alien looking?

they do this when they feel threatened...

they also change color

Aren't they neat??? I think so. Now if you've only seen them in your plate fried or any other way, now you at least see how weird they really look while alive, but they sure taste yummy though!

Have a wonderful day : )

weekend wisdom

 "Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just

going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, 

and not bothering"

Winnie the Pooh

Have a wonderful weekend! :)

 

the Kittiwake is down!

As of yesterday the island of Grand Cayman has a new Underwater tenant, our very own new sunken ship soon to be an artificial reef, the former USS Kittiwake was sunk yesterday off the coast of Seven Mile Beach.

I had to work so I wasn't there for the sinking, but my husband was pretty close and get some amazing pictures so if you'll like more info about this wonderful event and more insight about what the Kittiwake was all about, please visit Mark at First Time.

Here are some pics that I got from one of the main newspapers of the island, the Cayman Compass.

Kittiwake going down

bye, bye Kittiwake... hello sunken wreck!

Also, here's a picture of one the plaques that you can read (now underwater) with the sponsors of this great project and it's exciting to know that the Guy Harvey Research Institute was also involve in this, what a great way to help leave a UW legacy for all generations to come and visit!

Have a great day!!!

still celebrating

Last night we had a our company Holiday Dinner. Contrary to previous years, this time we decided to go for dinner on January to celebrate both Christmas and New Years and that way avoid the whole Holiday rush.

On previous years going to a restaurant during December was always very busy, food takes a long time to get to us and not necessary the best quality. So, last night it proved that January it's a much better time to celebrate the holidays!

We had dinner at a restaurant called PRIME and it's a Brazilian Steakhouse; those where you use the red light/green light card on the table to tell the servers whether you want or not to be server all kinds of meat cuts. Of course it's the kind of place where you need to show up famished to really get the whole experience out of it.

Yesterday I got a very pleasant comment from a fellow blogger that they've seen a CNN segment on my boss Guy Harvey and it's nice to know that he is getting to be better known around the world, not only because Mr. Harvey is a great person, but a wonderful boss, amazing talented artist and conservationist among other skills, but also because this kind of exposure generate more business for us!

Last night we had the chance to celebrate another year of great business and for me 2011 marks 4 years of having to honor to work next to such a great human being. Like my husband said this morning while having breakfast, "you probably have one of the best jobs in the world"... well, I believe he is right!

For those that don't know who my boss is and what an amazing job he does, here's the segment CNN did on him last year, and for those who would like to meet him one day, just come down for a visit and I'll take you into work with me so you can have a chat with him!

Have a great day!

DIY Shampoo

Being that one of my New Year resolution is to give, today I am giving you a wonderful recipe that could improve the health of your hair and scalp.

This recipe is very simple but the best part is that it has not chemicals (like all the OTC shampoo brands do), so I am sure this will bring amazing benefits to your hair. If you have lighter hair you might want to adjust the recipe a bit (ask me for some tips), but if what you are looking for a cleansing and invigorating shampoo that will bring shine and life to your hair, then I suggest you give this a try.

The Ingredients are:
1/4 cup distilled water
1/4 cup liquid Castile Soap (unscented of not, whatever you'll like and find)
2 tbs jojoba oil
1/8 tbsp peppermit oil (optional)
1/8 tea tree oil
1 empty bottle

Mix all ingredients and add an extra 1/4 cup of water. I recommend when using this shampoo to shake the bottle well before using and then tilting it over your hear because it's quite liquid.

If anybody try this, let me know how it goes, I've been using it for over 6 months and I love it and specially love the fact that there's less chemicals over my body, yay!

Have a wonderful day!

3rd day already?

It's been almost 3 days since the beginning of the year, so far I haven't really left the house but to walk to dogs.

Saturday I woke up and I had some sort of a hangover, I guess mostly because I didn't eat much and then had a few glasses of wine, so I woke up feeling crappy but improved during the day.

Yesterday on the other hand I was feeling pretty weird as well, I think it's something to do with my digestion because I just had like a feeling of tiredness and a little headache that felt was coming from my stomach, had something for it but didn't make me feel better, so all I did was lounge around the house, watch movies and TV.

Our NY's party was so much fun, we had about 20 people over and we watch the fireworks from the roof... here are some pictures of the night.

Us, the hosts!

Friends starting the night...

Emma & Christian (our friends and dog sitters!)

the newly engaged couple, Steve and Jenn!

Brenton & Sheila

Happy New Year from me!!!

Tomorrow is back to work and to real life, I have very high hopes for 2011 and I intent to keep a very positive approach about everything this year, let's get it started then...

Have a great day!!!

Happy 1/1/11

Another year is starting, the pages of 2011's book are blank waiting to be filled with nice moments, adventures projects and goals... Today as everyday is the time to live, be happy and love.

Thanks You God for giving me the opportunity to start another book of experiences. Hope that 2011 will be even better year for you, me and all of Gods creations!!!

ready, set?... 2011

After much consideration I finally have my resolutions for the year 2011. 

For 2010 I basically went back to my previous ones, analyzed them, decided to take some off some and add some, for this year I decided not to look back and just do what my heart feels like. Also for this year coming up I'm gonna try to be more in tune with what I need and what I want, so it goes something like this...

-Exercise more is a classic resolution, isn't it? So I just won't use it, and it's not because I don't need to exercise (God knows I do!) but because that just should be part of our daily life and not something that I need to resolute about, so instead this year, my resolution goes more like; Have more discipline. And that is Resolution #1.

- Eat less is also not one of my resolutions, mainly because I just love to eat, so my resolution instead will be Eat in smaller portions but more times a day and healthy as well, resolution #2

- Stay away from negative people just doesn't cut it, mainly because it is hard and some times you just have to deal with them whether you like it or not. So instead, I am going to focus this year on; Irradiating love and positive vibes with my mind and my spirit, Resolution #3.

- Now, the main question is; How am I going to irradiate love and positive vibes? Well, that takes me to my resolution #4, find time to quiet my mind (through meditation, silent moments and metaphysical thinking) and spirit. It seems to me that life is so hectic nowadays, I am constantly thinking, talking, worrying, analyzing, etc, so this year I really need to find the time to quiet my mind and my spirit, and to me a quiet mind/spirit = God, peace, harmony and love.

- Work harder is also not on my list, because this year I am going to concentrate on less procrastination at work which basically is more like a "reverse psychology" of  "work harder", but oh well, that will be my resolution #5.

- Last year one my favorite ones was to read a book a month, well, I don't think I read 12 books but I did read a lot, so that one I intent to keep but I am going to try to go beyond my normal subject/styles of books and explore new areas; resolution #6.

- Resolution #7 is to be more organized/neat around the house but specially around the kitchen, I know this is a constant issue for my husband about me and I figure if I add it here and make my "messiness" public I will make a real effort to be better.

- I love to travel, I need to travel, it's just in blood and in my heart to go places, meet people, see the world, so this year another one of my resolutions is going to be even organized with our finances, save up for a little scape with my husband, resolution #8.

- Resolution #9; give, give, give, give... whether is love, advice, money, material things that I don't need but others might, I feel that the more I give, the more that comes back to me. In my heart there is a HUGE special place for animals and I would love to volunteer more for them... I have lot's of ideas that hopefully will develop into amazing project in 2011.

- My last resolution (#10) of the year is a "shared one" with my husband, we have been talking about a resolution of Weekly Date Night, and although all the details are not quite set up yet, basically it's going to be; One of us gets to choose a date night a week (no matter where we go, as long as it's out of the house) and one week he gets to choose and the next week I get to choose, the person that doesn't get to choose that week has to do what the other has chosen! It's going to be fun : )

I am all set to start partying this year and continue into the next... We are having a party tonight at home and it should be lots of fun!!!

So, here's to everybody having a wonderful end to 2010 and that the year 2011 will be filled with good intentions, love, health, peace, harmony and abundance of blessings!!!

 

it's all about sharing...

Today I decided to honor my spirit of sharing and post the recipe for the wonderful dessert I made for Christmas Day, for those that are all about easy, tasty, chocolate desserts, this is a must.

Fudge Chocolate Trifle

1	box (1 lb 2.3 oz) fudge brownie mix
	Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box
1	tablespoon instant coffee granules or crystals (optional)
1	box (4-serving size) chocolate fudge instant pudding and pie filling mix
2	cups cold milk
1	bag (8 oz) toffee bits
1	container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray.
2. Make brownie mix as directed on box, using water, oil and eggs and adding coffee granules. Spread batter in pan. Bake as directed on box. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
3. Cut brownies into 1-inch squares. Place half of the squares in bottom of 3-quart glass bowl. Make pudding mix as directed on box for pudding, using milk. Pour half of the pudding over brownies in bowl. Top with half each of the toffee bits and whipped topping. Repeat with remaining brownies, pudding, toffee bits and whipped topping.
4. Cover; refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Store covered in refrigerator.

Yes, it's that easy!!! And trust me, it is good, so enjoy and let me know how it goes?

Have a great day.

resolute on resolutions

Christmas is long gone and today I don't have much to post about. Weather is still pretty dark, gloomy and cold (for us!), work's not being very busy plus this week we had 2 holidays at the island.

Being that Christmas Day was on a Sat. and Boxing Day (that they also celebrate here) was on a Sunday, then the government "declares" the observance of Christmas and Boxing Day on Monday and Tuesday... To me it's just another reason to waste days and being even lazier during the season... I work on retail/tourism so most holidays don't apply.

photo found here

I am already thinking about the New Year and new resolutions, to many resolutions are a waste of time, to me is another way to welcome a new year with better and new goals and projects, it's exciting!

Soon I will be posting about my new resolutions and I courage you to think of at least one, c'mon I know u want to!!!! Have a wonderful day.

end of the year projects

It's been a while since I share my latest amigurumi project on my blog.

For this Christmas I made my biggest project yet. I made it for my friend Linda's little girl, Daniella...

Unfortunately I didn't carry my camera to the party so I don't have any pictures of her with her new Gromit, but I do have pictures of him... here it is.

I thought this was going to be my last project of the year but then I reconsider and now I have a new one started.

The thing is that a few months ago I found out that my cousin Maria Jose and her husband Jose are expecting a baby. After much trouble getting pregnant and a few doctors even told her it wasn't going to happen. Well, she always had faith and God listen to her and many of our prayers, so she is due in late May, having a baby boy, and guess who is going to the Godmother? Me, me, me!!! I am so excited...

Now I have started a new and hopefully the first of many projects for my "soon to be" Godson, Julian... This is what I am working on.

Pretty, uh? I think is so sweet... So far I have most of the Sun ready (only missing the rays), the clouds and one side of the rainbow. Will post some pictures of them later...

Well, today I am back to work, weather is pretty crappy, very windy and cold, don't think we are going to be very busy... Have a great day!!!

mini Christmas vacation

Our Christmas was very nice, low key but we got to spend it with family and friends, which is what really matters.

The biggest gift we got was for the house and our enjoyment, a set of  Bose Companion 3 speakers. Our Toshiba TV has very poor audio so sometimes when we watch movies we needed to use this old speaker that my husband had and that were already broken.

These new Bose ones a very good quality and perfect to replace the old ones, the sound is super nice and crisp.

On Christmas Day we had a brunch with my Brother and SIL, to celebrate Christmas but also his birthday, we had a little chocolate birthday cake for him and we even sang Happy Birthday but at the time I didn't have my camera handy so I didn't take pictures, I know my SIL did, so I will share some soon!

Later than day we went to our friends Duncan and Linda's house, they invite us every year so this one was our 5th time there. We had waaaaay too much food, I took a dessert (like I do every year) but this year there were about 3 other deserts. Mine was a Fudge Chocolate Trifle and it was really good...

Dessert almost finished...

Today is my last day off, then I go back to work but I will still have the weekend off (1st and 2nd) then back to work on the 3rd for the rest of the new year, LOL!!!

We are having a New Year's Party at our house and I think this one will be the biggest since we started having one from 3 years ago, I am excited and I think it would be so much fun... Any plans on your end for the New Year celebration??? Come and join us if you'll like : )

Hope everybody in the Big White North is keeping warm and that snow and storms and not affecting them too back. Blessings to all!

Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad!

Wishing that this Christmas and every day of your life, you'll find these presents under your tree...

Let's us enjoy this season and focus on honoring God and the good feelings inside ourselves, because without that, all those other presents are shallow and empty.

Best Wishes this Christmas to you and your family!!!

Fruitcake

 Dear Santa;

I don't want much for Christmas....I just want the person reading this to be happy. 

Friends are the fruitcake of life. Some are nutty, some are sweet and some are even soaked in alcohol!. But mix them together and they add flavor to my life. 

*********************

To those reading this, all I can say is thanks letting me reach to you and share my random thoughts, comments, photos and anything that I can come up with everyday or just any day you come around...

In this era of technology I am so happy to say I feel like I have my own blogger family and my interaction with each and one of you is very important in my life.

So, for you and your loved ones I only wish that you enjoy this time with the best possible feeling in your heart; feelings of love, joy, peace, compassion and willingness to share with others that have less than us.

God is the most important part of the Holidays and every day of our lives, nowadays it's all about the presents, the parties, the drinks and we sometimes forget what's vital in all of this, so God Bless you today and everyday!!!

Merry Christmas!

Tree Thursday

The last tree I am featuring is not a tree on the island but one in my home country, Costa Rica.

The picture was sent to me by a friend that lives in California but was visiting CR for a few days, the girl in the picture is my friend's daughter Samantha.

 

Have a wonderful day!!!

double celebration

It's already Dec. 22nd, for me it's kind of hard to believe it, we are super close to Christmas.

This year my Christmas is an extra special one. For the first time since I've been on the islands, I get to spend Christmas Day with some family (besides my husband and dogs).

Now that my brother Mau and his wife Gaylene live here, we are getting together on Christmas day for a double celebration, as it's also my brother's birthday!!! We are doing a Christmas Brunch at my house, with a special dish from my home country (Gallo Pinto), French Toast, Fruit, Mimosas (OJ and Champagne) and  chocolate cake to sing "Happy Birthday" to him and Jesus!

Besides that, as I work at a gallery that also has a retail store, we have been pretty busy this past few days. Although getting closer to the holidays unfortunately doesn't mean people are in a nice Christmas Spirit. In fact, I am convinced that for some people, this time of year brings the worst out of them (sadly!).

Well, that's about all that's going on in my world today... Happy Hump Day and be good, naughty, or both!