Random Friday Night Thoughts

My posting has been so bad. I apologize for that. There are a million excuses and none of them are good enough because the simple reality is that blogging has moved to the bottom spot in the list of things I need to do to keep life moving forward. As it is, I am able to write now because I have a boost of energy that comes compliments of Alex being on vacation and us switching off on caring for Cati earlier today. Did you know that napping feels extra good when you don't have a toddler waking you up?

Anyway, here are my random Friday thoughts to make us all feel like I don't only ever talk about Cati:

The Hunger Games! I've never been as fanatical about books as I am about The Hunger Games series. I think everyone should read them starting yesterday. I can't wait for the movie to come out next year and I am sucking up all the pictures from the set like it's the only thing I know how to do. I wore my mockingjay shirt this week and someone knew exactly what it meant and it made my day.

Movies. I've taken a little break from reading books because my brain hurts too much at the end of the day. Instead, I've been watching the most hilariously entertaining movies. I saw "Easy A" and "Friends with Benefits" this week and both movies are fantastic. I have a big girl crush on Emma Stone now and I get nonstop giggles when I think of Woody Harrelson's character in "Friends with Benefits" (extra perk: he's also Haymitch in The Hunger Games!).

Choco Taco. Have you ever had this ice cream treat? If I could do a cartwheel I think I would have done one at the store today when a box of those suckers was buy one get one free.

The Nonexistence of a Kitchen. The kitchen has become the place where you get food but not the place where I make it. The only person in this house who is guaranteed a cooked meal made by me is Cati. Lucky girl. I'm in a cooking and baking funk and I just don't feel inspired. How sucky.

Leaks. Did you know that leaks have a mind of their own? I swear the leak gods have a special place in their hearts for our house because we are always battling some kind of leak. Last week it was the roof and this week it's the bathroom. I wish I had magical powers so that I could make it stop leaking. That or a plumber that comes when he says he's coming.


Yes, Teacher. Home-girl here is going back to school! I am finally registered and I am so looking forward to going back to school and feeling that sensation of being accomplished at something other than mommyhood (although to be honest, I'm kind of failing at that with the hitting that doesn't stop). I feel like the biggest dork feeling excited about carrying around my big, bulky backpack again.


It's Not You Miami, It's Me. Remember how excited I was about moving back to Miami? About being close to family and friends? Well, the honeymoon period is over. Alex has been in a I-Hate-Miami funk for the longest time and it finally hit me. What we were both in love with was the idea of what Miami used to be for us. The reality of what Miami has been for us is so different. I used to consider myself a proud Miami girl but I realized that the four years in Boston really changed me. That or what my new friend Jeannette said is true: you only get the best of the best out of people when you live far away because the time you do get with one another is so limited that you don't want to waste it with the bad. We've only been back two years but it feels like so much longer because it's been a very jam packed and emotionally charged two years.

Speaking of Boston...I cannot wait to go back in September for my friend's wedding! It's going to be so weird going back as a visitor. It's also going to be weird going without Cati. I'm looking forward to sleeping in and staying out late! Oh and not having to share my meals with another person!

True Blood. Do any of you watch? What do you think of this season? I've read all the books so my opinion of this season is based on the books, but it just seems like things are moving so slow and it's so disjointed. Also, Sookie and Eric hooking up is kind of disappointing; I just don't feel the passion. And while it's neither here nor there, I am disappointed that Alcide isn't getting rid of his clothes more often.

I think that's all that's going on in my head tonight that is not baby-related. Writing this post felt good because it reminded me that my brain is capable of doing more than being fine tuned to Cati's station. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Thinking Through Pictures

I love to take pictures. I always have my camera on me. I feel naked when I don't have my camera with me. I'm afraid that I'll miss the opportunity to capture a moment and, as a result, forget about that moment. I love to look through my pictures and relive the moment that caused me to take the picture in the first place. I think I get my love for pictures from my dad. It feels weird saying that since I don't credit him with anything other than my looks, but as I look through the albums of pictures from before I was born and from my childhood it becomes clear to me that the man loved his camera and loved to take pictures. I wonder about the pictures, why they were taken, and why so much changed.

I look at this picture and see a couple in love. A young couple in love. Who would have thought that they would end up divorced and essentially hating one another a decade later? What happened to the love? Did he change or did she?
I look at this picture and see serenity. This has to be my favorite picture of my mom. It's so beautiful and simple. I've never seen her look that at peace in my life. I wish she would look at this picture (she refuses to look at any of these pictures) and remember how at peace she felt. Maybe that would help her find comfort in the way her life is now.
Now this one...I wish I could remember the beginning as well as I remember the last 6 years. I was a daddy's girl at one point. Maybe, just maybe, if I could remember those years it would help chill the effect of the last 6.
It amazes me how much emotion and feeling can be captured in a picture and how a snapshot of an instant can tell a powerful story without words.

Memories of Fall

The weather has taken a lovely turn into the 50s and 60s. There is something about the crisp coolness in the air that has revived and recharged me. I am absolutely prepared to face the rest of the year and the cooler temperatures have me looking forward to the upcoming holiday season. If only this cool weather would last...

I'm craving all things apples, from apple crisp...
...to apple cider donuts.
I'm missing apple picking....
...and the changing colors.

Marriage, Pregnancy, Boards

Have you ever tried to sum up your life into a few words? Kind of like that activity that asks you to describe yourself in three words. I took this picture recently and it occurred to me that the picture perfectly described the state of my life at this point. It's a glimpse into what's important at the moment and what consumes my thoughts. First, there's my marriage. I feel incredibly lucky to have married such a great guy and still be happy. Second, is the pregnancy. Again, I feel incredibly lucky to be pregnant and to be in this stage of not only my life, but our lives. Lastly, there are the boards. These tests seem to never end and have played such a huge role in our lives for the past 3 years. So much has ridden on Alex passing them. He's finally done with the last part of his boards but now the anticipation and wait for the results begins.

Two Years Ago Yesterday...

...I was a blushing bride. I remember the day perfectly and clearly. It was one of the happiest days of my life. The days leading up to the wedding were stressful and the wedding day itself was stressful, but nothing could take away from the feeling of finally marrying the love of my life. The best moment of the day was walking down the aisle. I don't think I have ever felt anything like that. It was pure happiness, joy, excitement, anticipation all wrapped into one. No one else existed except the man standing at the altar waiting for me. I was oblivious to the world and the church full of people. Nothing existed in that moment except for us. This is the one moment I recommend all brides have because the feeling is incredible, irreplaceable, and one of a kind. Two years have passed since that moment and every time I think about it I get all giddy and stupid with joy. I wish I could bottle up that feeling and carry it with me and take a sip of it whenever I felt down. The past two years of marriage have been easy. I remember reading how the first two years of marriage set the tone for the rest of the marriage and how they are the hardest and I was scared. What did I get myself into? Was it really going to be that bad? As I look back I am truly stunned to see how easy and smooth it was. There were little bumps here and there but not anything that made it feel like being married was hard. I don't think it's marriage that's hard, I think it's relationships in general that are hard. Before I digress any further, I must say that being married to Alex for the past two years has been an amazing experience and I wouldn't want to be married to or in love with anyone else. I can't wait to see what year 3 has in store for us...

He was so handsome that day. He was thisclose to crying.

Meanwhile, I cried.

So worth it.

Thanks for loving me Alex.

Slowly Resurfacing

Geeze. I haven't posted anything in 6 days. Finals are kicking my butt, sucking the life out of me, and isolating me from the world. I have calls I need to return, emails I need to reply to, and a world to re-enter. I still have one more test left but I am feeling eerily calm about it. I don't feel as stressed out as I felt a week ago and, although I still have a lot of studying to do, I am not feeling as anxious. My motto the past two weeks has been "I just need to do well enough to pass." Hopefully I will pass all my classes. I don't think I can take another year of first year law classes! Even though the blog has been quiet the past couple of weeks the kitchen has been pretty active. Alex even told me yesterday he was surprised with how much baking I have been doing. I actually thought I had been taking it easy on the mixer but after looking through all the pictures I've taken of stuff I've made, I realize that I have been in the kitchen quite a bit. The first time I walked into the kitchen during my finals time was because Alex requested rice krispies treats. Sure, it's not real baking but it was the first time in over a week that I made something sweet. I love these suckers.


I have quite of few other sweets plus some restaurant reviews to post so the blog should have a surge of activity over the next few days. Then it will probably die down again because Alex's family is coming up this weekend for Alex's graduation and then we are going to spend some time exploring Massachusetts. After that, the moving company is coming and we are driving down to Florida. Busy times for this city eater :)

Just So You Know...

Posting is probably going to be a little scant over the next few weeks. I had my last class on Friday and I am currently in complete study mode. I have five finals in the next 17 days and I am still trying to play catch up in one of my classes. I am surprisingly calm this time around, but I know I still need to bust my butt; can't let those transfer schools think I suck at this law student stuff! I cannot wait until I can say I am done with this hell of a year. At least the weather was perfect for studying outside this weekend. Boston is gorgeous this time of year.

Honest Excitement

The past few weeks have been beyond exciting. My days are filled with thinking about Miami. It's really hard to focus on Boston and school when all I can think about is moving back home. One of the perks of being back in Miami is being close to my friends again. Being so far from my support system has been one of the hardest things about living in Boston. When we found out we were moving back to Miami one of the first few things Alex said to me was "Now the girls won't hate me because I'm not keeping you away from them anymore." It was a funny thing to say, but it was so true. I hate feeling like I am missing out on things because I am so far away. That's going to change soon and it couldn't have come at a better time. Three weeks ago I found out that one of my closest friends Jen is pregnant! I can announce it now since she has already told everyone. It's been hard containing my excitement because she is the first close friend of mine that's gotten pregnant. I am going to be an auntie!! I cannot wait!

Speaking of the momma-to-be, she tagged me. I'm supposed to list 10 honest things about myself. Should be interesting :)

The Rules are as Follows:
1. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs for brilliance in content/design.
2. Show the winners and let them know.
3. List at least 10 honest things about yourself.

1. Despite all the sweets I post on my blog, I don't eat a lot of sweets. Most of the time I bake things, take two bites, and then leave the rest for Alex to finish off. He swears I am making him fat, but I like my man well fed.

2. I moved to Boston with Alex 3.5 years ago. I had no idea what I was going to do with myself once I got here. I left everything behind in Miami and I had no problem with that because I knew Alex was the man I was going to marry. I gambled on love and it worked out in my favor. I was very lucky.

3. I believe people are inherently good. I am naive in that sense. I have difficulty understanding that people aren't good and that people have bad intentions.

4. I hold grudges. I hate to say it but I do. It's something I hate about my personality but I am too stubborn to change. I didn't speak to my sister for almost 3 years and I haven't spoken to my father in over 5 years. I don't know if I will ever speak to my father.

5. I really wanted to be an actress when I was in high school. I was a drama geek and I even had a lead role in a play my senior year. It was Neil Simon's Fools. One of the best and funnest experiences of my life.


6. My philosophy is "do what makes you the happiest." My goal is to be happy and all my decisions are based on what's going to make me the happiest.

7. I cannot wait to be a mother. I cannot wait to see how Alex is with me when I am pregnant. I can't wait to see what our children are going to look like. I anticipate meeting our future children, but at the same time I am terrified of becoming a horrible mother.
8. I don't know if I want to be a lawyer. I know most 1Ls say that, but I wonder if I am going to have what it takes to reconcile my personal views and philosophies with the reality of the legal world.

9. I will be heartbroken the day Perla dies. She's been with me for almost 14 years and I don't know if I'd be able to get over that loss.
10. I like to keep secrets, especially big secrets. When I got engaged I didn't tell anyone but my mom. My maid of honor (girl Alex) found out because I sent her a card in the mail. I spoke to here almost every day after I got engaged and I didn't tell her. She was confused when she got the card because she couldn't understand how I was able to keep such a big secret from her. I wanted it to be a big surprise. I have one big secret but I'm not ready to tell it just yet.

And now my tag picks...

1. A Beginner's Adventures in Photography
2. Elyse's Confectionery Creations
3. Mermaid Sweets
4. A Chica Bakes
5. Beantown Baker
6. Pink Stripes
7. Cookbookhabit

Surviving

Today it dawned on me that I am a survivor. I had my very first oral argument today. I was scared out of my mind. I thought about telling my teacher to have a paramedic outside of the moot court room door just in case I fainted. As I was standing at the podium I could barely hear myself because all I could hear was the shaking in my legs. Those were the quickest 8 minutes of my life. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be and the teacher gave me great feedback. I was happy to have survived my oral argument without needing medical attention. I was even happier when I realized that I am completely done with my legal writing course for the year. That's another thing I survived that I didn't think I would. The biggest accomplishment today was wearing a suit all day and feeling like a grown-up.
As I walked home today I noticed something different about the city. People were out. In shorts. What??? Yes, you read correctly. People were outside in shorts in the city of Boston. Spring is officially here which means I survived the longest winter of my life. The city looks gorgeous now with all the trees and flowers blooming. This is my favorite time of year because the city feels so alive, vibrant, energetic, and colorful.
I heard back from Perla's vet and it turns out she is on her way to being a normal dog again. They did bloodwork on her to count her platelets and her platelets are at a normal range now. She has to stay on medication for a few months, but other than that, she is a happy and healthy little poodle. She survived this health scare and I survived my feelings of helplessness and confusion in not knowing what was wrong with her. These are her I-know-you-have-treat- and-you-better-give-them-to-me look.

8.13.27.31.38

These days my brain is mush. The best example of my brain mush is that I ran out of sugar. Can you believe I ran out of sugar??? I couldn't believe it myself. I nearly fell to the floor in my kitchen, cried, and got into a fetal position because I couldn't believe I was out of sugar. First, I ran out of butter and eggs and now I'm out of sugar. I'm a disaster. Here's a breakdown of why I have a mush brain:

8 days until my last class
13 days until my first final
27 days until my last final and the end of my first year of law school
31 days until Alex graduates
38 days until we are back in Miami

I have way too much going on right now. I am mentally exhausted from all this counting down. I might just lose my brain as its mushiness slides out of my ears.

What recipes can you make without sugar?

Easter Obsession

Have I told you how obsessed I am with this candy? I searched quite a few CVS stores for this candy this year. I think it's so cute and I look forward to it every Easter. Do you have a favorite Easter candy?

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone who celebrates Easter enjoyed themselves today. We went to mass this morning, and although it was a long mass, it was still a nice mass with a lot of positive messages about life and how we have to continually "resurrect" ourselves to meet and face the new challenges of our ever changing landscape. I saw these chocolates recently at Richart and thought they were perfect for this post:
Happy Sunday everyone!

A Red Sox Follow Up

I realized I hadn't posted this yet. We went to the Red Sox game on Tuesday and this was the first baseball game I had ever gone to. The whole experience was great, but not what I was expecting. I was scared to see our seats because I didn't know if they'd be good but as soon as we sat down Alex said, "Babe these are awesome seats." You could see everything perfectly and the field was perfectly exposed. Because of all the noise I hear during the games, I was expecting to have my ears blown out by all the noise. But no, it was dead quiet. I didn't even realize the game had started because I was expecting some kind of exciting announcement like "Let's get ready to rumble!" I looked down to the field and saw a Tampa guy batting and was like, "Wait a minute. The game started?" It was so anticlimactic lol. They played music in between innings and when a Red Sox batter came out, but that's it. Even the crowd was quiet. I was so caught off guard with this. I was expecting the atmosphere to be more active. Sure the crowd became active during certain parts of the game, but I was really expecting them to be active 100% of the time. Then, Alex has told me about the 7th inning stretch and, if you can believe it, I didn't take this literally. I thought it was like half-time in other sports, not a 2 minute break for the crowd to get up and stretch. For a 3.5 hour game, it went by quickly. I think I was so enchanted with the whole experience that I didn't even notice the time.

One thing that I thought was cool was how much attention was paid to the Red Sox players. Obviously there will be a lot of attention on the Red Sox players at Fenway Park but I kind of felt bad that the TB people didn't get the same amount of attention. I'm so equitable lol. During the first few innings the big screen displayed the stats of the Red Sox batters and in the later innings the big screen displayed trivia. It was soo cool. There is so many little details about the game and I could go on and on, but I'll stop here and show you some pictures.

Our seats.

Welcome sign.

The view. I watched this throughout the game to see the #s change. Pitching.Jason Varitek. This man is built like Zeus. Jacoby Ellsbury: My baseball boyfriend.I am slightly obsessed. The line up in the later innings.

The Sox almost had it. Three men on base and 2 outs. The crowd went wild at this point. After the batter struck out, Fenway started clearing out.

I thought it was so cool how they cleaned up the field. The big screen at the end of the night.

Bummer Day

I took Perla to the vet today and they think she ingested rat poison. It seems she might have ingested it sometime this past weekend while we were away. I feel bad for the little one. I was sobbing in the vet's office. I've had Perla almost 14 years and the thought of anything bad happening to her makes me lose it. She's not just a dog, she's my buddy, my friend, my companion, and my little love. She's been faithful and dedicated to me from the beginning. I'm waiting for the vet to call me back with the results of her bloodwork, so please send positive vibes my way.

I need chocolate...lots of it.

This is what I'm doing tonight...

...And I am pumped! I have never been to a Red Sox game. Heck, I have never been to a baseball game. I have no clue what to expect and the only thing I am dreading is the 30-degree weather tonight. I hope they win so I can say that I saw the Red Sox play and they won! Seeing the Sox play was one of the things I wanted to do before we moved away and I was so happy we were able to get tickets. I think it would have been pretty pitiful to say that I lived in Boston's Fenway neighborhood for close to 4 years and I never saw the Sox play at Fenway Park.

This Made Me Smile...