End of Summer…

 

Ph by Ashley Frangie

“The greatest cruelty is our casual blindness to the despair of others.”

We all tend to believe that the things that happen to us, only happen to us; that when people hurt us, they do it intentionally, that everything that surrounds us is for the sake of making our life the way it is. We never stop to think that maybe, just maybe, what people do to us is the reflection of their own personal problems, their own unhappiness, their own despairs. I think that the greatest virtue we could all have is compassion, we never know what that other person was going through when they did the things that hurt us; or maybe we look for perfection in everything when mistakes happen around the corner everyday. We have to be compassionate about others, about their problems, about their life. I believe it is the greatest form of love. Compassion shows our human side, our belief that we all ride together in this enormous air balloon called world that will eventually break; even though we all have different problems and circumstances in life, we all suffer, so believe in the greater power of empathy and don’t be careless or blind to what others might be going through. How are you feeling this Friday? Today, I am feeling remorse for the way I am sometimes with the people that care about me, for the times compassion wasn’t in my heart and I forgot that people might have bigger problems that I.

That’s what he got for waking up in Vegas…

“Sometimes the only way to stay sane, is to go a little crazy.” 

From movie “Girl Interrupted”

“Here’s to the nights that turned into mornings with the friends that turned into family”

¡¡¡Ya es sábado!!! Si me siguen en Instagram o en Facebook sabrán que el pasado fin de semana mi esposo y yo decidimos “renovar nuestros votos” o hacer un “remarriage” en Las Vegas. La verdad fue mucho más divertido de lo que me imaginé, hace meses reservamos la capilla de Elvis y superó nuestras expectativas. Elvis nos casó, cantó y nos hizo reír con todo lo que nos dijo. En este Feeling Friday quisiera compartirles lo que le dije a Daniel en ese día, que aunque era más de broma y de loquera que de seriedad, quise hacerle saber que mi vida no existiría sin el. Ya me puse cursi, pero al final, si leen todos los FF que hago, la cursilería es parte de mi vida. Espero les guste.

Mediterranean Cruise Part II … Istanbul

 

Now we are in Istanbul, a very different and uncommon place for me, however, here is where I saw the best sunrise of my life. It truly was a paint from God, when the ship was arriving to shore we could see the Blue Mosque, the buildings, and the amazing colors surrounding the city, orange, purpule, and yellow mixing each other to create the perfect canvas. After we were allowed to get out of the ship, we took a tour with a company called Tura Turizm. We visited the Topkapi Palace, home of the Sultans for 3 centuries; St. Sophia Museum, the most important Byzantine monument in Istambul; the Blue Mosque, a breathtaking and beautiful place, however, to get inside we had to take our shoes and women had to cover themselves below the knees, the head and the shoulders, if you want a truly local experience it is the place to visit and get to know more about the culture and religion of Istambul. We also visited the Spice Market, where we obviously found and great variety of spices, including Indian Zafron; and the Turkish Delight, specialty Turkish candies, which are like gummies filled with pistachio, rose, orange, or lemon and coated in confectioners sugar, they were delicious, soft, and with a nice surprise of the flavor on the inside. The last place we visited was the Grand Bazaar, an enormous warehouse where you can basically find everything, from scarfs, necklaces, earrings, not so expensive 14k gold, and a lot of handbags, shoes, belts, but all were imitations from high end designers.

Mediterranean Cruise Part I

Hello my readers! Sorry for being absent all these days but I didn’t have enough time with wifi. I’ll start with this post about the cruise we took through the Mediterranean. I’ll divide it in three posts, hope you like it!

Our fist stop was Santorini, after thirteen hours of flying, two hours by train and 24 hours on the cruise, we made our way to Greece. Santorini has one of the best sunsets in the world, a place full of magic, charm, and painteresque views. When we arrived we took a speed boat to get to shore from the cruise, and we head towards the Donkey Station. In order to get to know the town of Fira and everything else for that matter, we had to climb up the mountain. There were three ways to do it: taking the cable car, which is the most reliable and safe way but the longest in time; by foot, which is not recommended since it is a long way up; and by taking the donkeys, which is the most unsafe way to travel but it sure was the funniest and exciting one. The donkeys are excellent trained, however they can slip because the path is not that smooth and you can end hurt. I enjoyed it all the way, it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever tried, and I do like to feel the rush from time to time.

Memories…

Being here in Puerto Vallarta made me realize how much our memories can retain that we take for granted. This place gave me a lot of good moments, amazing moments, and not so good moments, but moments after all. Moments that have made me who I am today. I used to come here every summer with my family since I can remember and 8 years ago we stopped coming, life stopped bringing us here. I have memories that include laughter, wisdom, regret, and comfort, all at the same time. But now I also feel relieved, I’ve never imagined I would come here 8 years after and feel wonderful because of the life destiny has prepared for me. How are you feeling this Friday? Today I am feeling nostalgic and free at the same time, because we should never take for granted what we are living right now.

The photos were taken by Daniel Lozano in a wonderful space in Irapuato Guanajuato called Hacienda de Arandas.

Mom…

I don’t know how to begin to write this post, there are so many words, so many thoughts, so many wonderful things I can say. My dear mom, you’ve given me the most precious treasures I could hold in my life. You gave me strength in times of weakness, you gave me braveness in times of fear, you gave me the luxury to feel free and conquer the world, you gave me knowledge in times of ignorance, you gave me direction in times of perdition, you gave me love in the very best and the very worst of times, you gave me LIFE… You are the one and only who cares enough to forgive and forget.

You are one of the most amazing persons I know; everyday I spend with you, I discover something new, something wonderful, something extraordinary from your life. Everyday by your side is a new adventure I will forever cherish. I wish I could lengthen your years and make them infinite, your company enriches my life and my dreams, your support comforts my soul. It’s amazing how every day you have the strength to be by your family and keep everything together. Even though most of the times we take you for granted, you never settle for anything less than our happiness. You are my hero, you are my example in life, you are my MOM. I hope I’ve become everything you dreamed I’d be. Thank you for making my life exceptional, you are a magnificent woman. I love you!!!

Happy Mother’s Day to all my mommy readers!! Because our life would be unimaginable without you, thank you for being you! Thank you for being our teacher, our doctor, our friend, our support, our hero.

Hay tantas cosas que decir y tantos sentimientos que expresar que no sabría por dónde empezar a escribir este post. Poder conocer y vivir con una mujer como tú, ha sido mi más grande regalo. Mamá, tú me has dado los mejores y más atesorados momentos de mi vida. Me diste fuerza cuando me sentí débil, me diste valentía cuando sentí miedo, me diste el lujo de saberme libre para conquistar al mundo, me diste sabiduría cuando fui ignorante, me diste dirección cuando me sentí perdida y sobretodo, me diste VIDA… Me diste el mejor regalo que hubiera querido tener. Eres la única persona en el mundo que perdona y olvida sin remordimientos. Eres una mujer admirable, cada día que paso contigo descubro cosas maravillosas de tu vida que me hacen enamorarme más de ti. Eres el top de mis mujeres, de mis heroínas, de mis admiraciones; cada día a tu lado es una aventura que nunca olvidaré. Quisiera poder prolongar tus años y volverlos infinitos; tu compañía enriquece mi vida y mis sueños y tu apoyo conforta mi alma. Es impresionante como cada día tienes la fuerza para estar con tu familia y mantenerla unida. Y aunque muchas veces no valoramos todo lo que haces por nosotros, siempre ves por nuestra felicidad. Eres mi ejemplo a seguir, mi modelo de vida, mi mamá. Espero haberme convertido en todo lo que soñaste y espero no haberte defraudado. Gracias por darme una vida excepcional, eres una mujer extraordinaria. ¡¡Te quiero con toda mi alma!!

¡¡Feliz día a todas mis mamás lectoras!! Porque nuestra vida sería inimaginable sin ustedes, ¡gracias por ser ustedes! Gracias por ser nuestras maestras, nuestras doctoras, nuestras amigas, nuestro apoyo, y nuestras heroínas.  

Snider Plaza

So I’m still in Dallas with my sister and I’m in the look out for hot spots to visit. I know Dallas doesn’t sound like THE place to visit just for fun, but I think it does have a lot of good things to offer. It is so warm, people are really nice, and it has its own charm, for me it is the best city in Texas. One spot I completely recommend is Snider Plaza, an excellent family shopping center that has a lot of local stores to shop around, restaurants, and fitness boutique studios like Beyond Pedaling and Pilates Barre. My favorite store was Christina M Boutique, it has a lot of good stuff with reasonable prices, from shoes to accessories. I already tried both of the fitness studios and I completely recommend both of them, the spinning classes are fun, exciting, and motivating and the Pilates classes are so out of the ordinary and challenging. If you come to Dallas, this is definitely one of the spots to visit. Thank you for reading!!!! Hola!!! Sigo en Dallas con mi hermana y mientras se recupera yo sigo buscando diferentes lugares para visitar. Yo sé que muchos piensan que Dallas no es un destino padre para venir de vacaciones, pero la verdad es que tiene muchísimas cosas que ofrecer y muchos lugares para hacer shopping y comer delicioso. Uno de ellos es Snider Plaza, es un centro comercial abierto, tipo parque, muy familiar con muchas tiendas locales, restaurantes y estudios boutique para hacer ejercicio. Una tienda muy padre que pueden encontrar ahí se llama Christina M Boutique, tiene de todo la verdad, desde zapatos hasta accesorios padrísimos y a precios muy accesibles. También tomé clases en los estudios de fitness, uno se llama Beyond Pedaling es un lugar para hacer spinning con diferentes ejercicios que son muy divertidos y motivadores. El otro estudio (The Pilates Barre) es un lugar para hacer Pilates en cama, pero no es la cama que ya conocen, es muy distinta y mucho más padre, los ejercicios requieren de más esfuerzo. Así que ya saben, la próxima vez que vayan Dallas, Snider Plaza es un lugar que definitivamente vale la pena visitar. ¡¡¡Gracias por leer!!!!

Winner design…

First of all, I want to thank you all for voting, for the support and for the amazing response you all have been having to the blog, it has been rewarding… I’m truly thankful!!! So, the winner design is… NUMBER #1!!! With the most votes it will be the face and concept of the blog!!!

And the winner of the price, who was selected randomly, is Luisa Fernanda Castillo Alfaro, she will receive a tote from Maptote, a pair of Happy Socks, a necklace from Kay K Couture, and a notebook from Cavallini.

Thank you all again for being a part of this experience that has given me so much, I hope you like the blog and keep in touch. Every recommendation, and advice will be greatly appreciated!!!! Always remember to keep it local!!!