MINI VACATIONS MAKE LIFE A LITTLE EASIER

San Diego-Gaslamp

The idea of going to San Diego came from the need to have a girl’s weekend away.  The plan was to go out there, make some new friends and party hard.  And we stuck to the plan.  We hung out by the pool, made new friends, had lots of drinks and partied.  The hotel was beautiful… our room had 2 huge windows, one to the ocean and one to the city. 

But this mini vacation for me wasn’t only about parting, it helped me realize and accept a few things.  I’m kind of done with the party scene.  It no longer was satisfying and it didn’t fulfill any of my needs. It was fun but it wasn’t enough and certainly not what my heart desires.  I guess my needs at 30 are different from my needs at 20.

Palm Springs

The idea to go to Palm Springs came from the need to have a peaceful and restful weekend away.  And that’s exactly what we did.  We would eat, take naps, lay by the pool, take more naps, work out and more naps.  It was perfect.  Our suite was HUGE.  We ended up taking one of the sofas outside the balcony and fell asleep looking at the stars. 

Orlando-Florida

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

This trip immediately got on MY TO DO LIST as soon as I heard they were building a theme park.  The planning of this trip happened very fast.  I contacted my friend Claire Daniel and asked her if she was interested in taking the trip with me.  She replied with dates, I replied with dates, she booked her flight then I booked mine and we were all set. 

The trip was absolutely amazing.  My friend Claire is so much fun; she made me laugh so much.  THANK YOU. 

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is INCREDIBLE.  It looks real, just like the movies.  You know how there are people who go to a concert to see their favorite artist and they cry?  Well I never understood that until now.  When I started walking through the castle I started feeling these crazy emotions (happy feelings) and I almost started to cry.  The butterbeer was delicious, every single store, rides and shows were fantastic. 

This trip was a dream come true for me because the Harry Potter books are very special to me.  They were part of my healing process when I was sick.  I hold them close to my heart.

I’m a very lucky girl.

The Movies I saw this Summer

It’s Friday Night… let’s go to the Movies


In no particular order because I can’t remember but so far X-Men: First Class has been my favorite.

When I first saw the preview for this movie I was a little disappointed because none of the original actors were going to be in it.  But to my surprise, I loved it.  I will definitely add it to my collection.  Favorite X-Men: Mystic… kind of wish I was a mutant with her powers.  I wonder what it would be like to be President Barack Obama for one day

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Also one of my favorite picks and will add to my collection.  Plus I had the whole family experience that I really enjoyed.  And I wouldn’t mind being friends with Shia La Beouf

Happy Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2

By this time everyone knows that I’m a Harry Potter geek.  I’ve been waiting for this movie since I finished reading the book a few years ago.  It was exceptional!  Made me cry and it made me laugh.  Long live Harry Potter and Voldemort.

Captain America: The First Avenger

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed.  I guess I was expecting a bit more action, a little more deepness to the story, a stronger villain.  But it was still entertaining.  Not sure if I’m adding it to my collection.  But I have to say that Chris Evans was candy to my eyes, very handsome man.

Super 8

Loved, loved, loved it.  I was into the movie the entire time.  The kids in the movie are GREAT actors and the story line was brilliant.  Definitely adding to my collection.  Not interested in having something like this happen in real life though.

Friends with Benefits

My first reaction to this movie was, “I’ll wait to watch it on DVD”.  Because it’s one of those movies where you already know what’s going to happen.  But it was one of those Friday nights… I didn’t want to stay home so I opted to watch this movie.   Very cute movie, absolutely adorable.  Favorite thing about it was the father and his story.  I cried a little. Will be adding to my collection.

Movies that I saw on DVD and loved

Trust

This is a must see for parents who have teenage children.  It’s a great film with a great story line.  If I sit and think about it, it makes me sick.  Seriously, I recommend this film. 

Cracks

I saw a preview of this movie while watching a French film and it really caught my attention.  It reminded me of Black Swan, not because it’s about ballet but because it left me with a sad feeling inside.  I liked this movie because it’s different and it’s about a serious matter that we don’t really talk about.  Two thumbs up.  Might not be adding it to my collection… it might be a bit too strong.

Movies I’m looking forward to see…

Crazy Stupid Love

The Help

 

I like to go to the movies when I have nothing else to do, when I don’t feel like dressing up, when I just want to have a chill night, when I need some distraction and when there’s a GOOD movie coming out.

Los Angeles County Museum of Arts and Tim Burton = Beautiful Darkness

http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/tim-burton

http://www.timburton.com/

About to enter the exhibit

These are the HUGE lamps from the movie

Who would ever imagine that???

Here are a few fun facts about me… I think LA is an awesome city, I like museums and I’m a fan of the Nightmare Before Christmas movie.

So when I heard that the Tim Burton exhibit was coming to the LA County Museum of Art, I got excited and started planning. Ever since I saw the movie NO STRINGS ATTACHED I wanted to visit the LA County Museum of Art.  There’s a scene in the movie where the couple are fighting outside some HUGE lamps and the whole time the scene is happening I’m thinking… I want to go there. 

A few years ago I became a fan of Tim Burton’s movies… mostly because Johnny Depp is in them.  Edward Scissor Hands, Corpe Bride, Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Tod, Big Fish, Sleepy Hollow, and my favorite THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.  I love how distorted and exotic his creations are. They are strangely awesome. They had over 1000 illustrations

The exhibit was excellent.  We got to see his original drawings on regular writing paper, clips of short films, and original costumes.  It was like being in another world, a very interesting world.  It almost felt like you could get lost in it. 

The museum is very big and beautiful.  I definitely plan to go back and spend a whole day exploring it.

Holy Jim Trail Hike

TAKE A HIKE!

I discovered an outdoor activity I really enjoy… HIKING.  Recently I did a hike at Holy Jim trail in Trabuco Canyon.  My friend Gabriel, Erika, Duke (the dog) and I woke up early in the morning to meet at 7:00 a.m.  Very excited and ready to start our hike we arrived at our destination.  We arrived to a very bumpy road.  The road was so bumpy that if we didn't hold on tight we could have hit the top of the car.  The trail is very beautiful… lots of rocks, a few creeks, natural tunnels, lots of trees and plants and a beautiful waterfall at the end of it.  The hike was a little hard because the entire time you’re going up which makes it a good work out.  (Personally I would prefer something a little tougher and longer) At the end of the hike we finally reached the waterfall, a pretty amazing sight.  We got to sit down by the waterfall and rest before we headed back.  We had so much fun and it was such a wonderful experience that we came the next week.  Only this time we bought 11 more friends.

One of my goals is to run all the way to the waterfall.

Don't judge me because I love the HARRY POTTER BOOKS

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows 2

(The Deathly Battle between Good and Evil)

  

I reading now but that wasn’t the case a few years ago.  I used to hate reading when I was in high school.  My grade used to always drop from an A to a C the second semester because I could never read the books.  I would start reading but the next thing you know my mind was wondering somewhere else.  All of a sudden I would realize I had no idea what I had just read… so then I would have to go back and re-read what I had just read.

It wasn’t until a friend (Yesi) let me borrow a book called SOMETHING BORRWED, that I started to enjoy reading.  After finishing SOMETHING BORROWED in 2 days I wanted more, I wanted to read more, I wanted to know more.  So I started asking around for good books and many people suggested the Harry Potter books.  By this time 6 of the books has already been released.  At first I refused, I didn’t want to be part of the Harry Potter craziness.  But one day while I was shopping at Target I came across the 1^st Harry Potter book.  It was on sale for $7, so I bought it.  And that’s how my love for the Harry Potter books began.  Little by little I started to get consumed by this brilliant story.



That's me wearing the sorting hat. SLYTHERIN



One very IMPORTANT thing I need to share is that during the time I was reading the Harry Potter books I was going through a really painful time in my life.  My heart, body and soul were lost in pain.  The Harry Potter books helped me get distracted and helped me scape the constant pain I was living in.  Because of how sick I was, I had a lot of free time… so I used that time to read and enter the world of Harry Potter.

 

I purchased the last Harry Potter book in Italy, Orvieto

So I ended up reading all 7 books in about 3 months.  The 6^th book I read while I was traveling in Europe and the 7^th book I bought in Italy.  It’s always been very hard for me to pick a favorite but if I really must I guess I’ll pick the 7^th book, the Deathly Hollows.



On the wall of Whimsic Alley in Los Angeles



A while back an old friend and I at a Halloween party approached a guy wearing an authentic Draco Malfoy costume…  we asked him where he got his costume.  That’s how we discovered there was a Harry Potter store called WHIMSIC ALLEY in LA.  That is where I bought most of my costume and my wand.

 

Wearing the SORTING HAT

As you get to know me you’ll learn that for the most part I don’t like to follow the crowd.  I don’t cheer for a certain team because everyone else does; I don’t pick a certain thing because everyone else does.  As a matter of fact, I like to do the opposite.  In the Harry Potter books the popular house is Gryffindor which is why you’ll see the majority of Potter Heads wearing gold and burgundy.  I chose to like SLYTHERIN (the evil guys) because I knew nobody else would.  My favorite SLYTHERINS are : Voldemort and Snape.  SLYTHERIN colors are: green and silver.

 

At the Harry Potter Deathly Hollows Part 1 premier

I’m not a big fan of the films; most of them have not followed the books in my opinion.  I have them all because they’ve been gifts.  My least favorite has been Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince.  It was like if the director had never read the book, he changed almost everything, didn’t include important scenes and added some stuff that was never in the book.  My favorite movie is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2.  Even though they changed a few things, it was still great.  I don’t want the movies too much but I definitely read the books over and over.

Thank you J.K. Rowling for the Harry Potter books.  I will always remember them with love because they played a part in my healing.

Soccer is out of this World at the Galaxy Games #10

GOAL!  GOAL!  GOAL!

Call me closed minded but I don’t understand why people in the United States don’t like soccer.  “It’s boring”, is what I hear all the time.  It’s too bad that many Americans feel that way.   Soccer is an International sport; it is played all around the world and the most popular sport in the world. 

The LA Galaxy (my favorite team and Los Angeles team) was inaugurated to the MLS (Major League Soccer) in 1996.   For the most part they have been a pretty good team, always ranking in the top of the list. But it wasn’t until Landon Donovan joined the LA Galaxy that the game got even more interesting.

This was the first time my girlfriends attended a soccer game. I would talk about how fun the games were and how cute the boys were.  So I finally got them interested.  We got 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 drinks for $96.  One of the many packages that LA Galaxy offers.

Lucy, Yolle, Kelly, Erika

Interesting story: on our way to the game my friend Erika was telling us that her dad was telling her that she was finally a MEXICAN because she was attending a soccer game.  He advised her to be careful because according to his experience soccer games are crazy and can sometimes be dangerous.  I shared with them that I have never had a problem or been insulated. 

It was nothing like her dad had mentioned.

It turned out that we had pretty good seats.  Our section had the chance to get a FREE caricature made.  These were ours.

As I was in line waiting to get my caricature made, I met the family in front of me.  They were visiting from London.  They came to the soccer game to see David Beckham play.  By the way, I thought my caricature looked pretty good.   

It ended up being a really great game.  Both teams (La Galaxy/Chicago Fire) played really good.  We got to see David Beckham score the most amazing goal, a goal from the corner (corner kick).  I had never ever seen that kind of goal in real life.  It was amazing!  The crowd went wild!

The game ended 2-1 LA Galaxy.  My friends got to experience the most popular sport in the world for the very first time and I was happy.  Looking forward to another game but this time I want to sit with the fans.

The View from a Suite is Better... at the Angel Game

I don’t get a chance to attend many baseball games even though I like them.  The idea of sitting by myself at a game is not too appealing.   But when the opportunity arises, I jump right to it.  The Diocese of Orange organizes a Catholic Night at the Angel game once a year as part of a fundraiser.  So I contacted a few of my girlfriends and we organized a game night. 

A day before the game I got an invitation to sit in the suite with Bishop Brown.  I think I jumped off my seat from the excitement.  I had never had the opportunity to sit in a suite, ever… for no concert or sporting event.  It turn out that this is something I’ve really never done.

I had no expectations of how the suite would look.  I will try to describe as much as I remember.  After I checked in I was escorted to an elevator operated by a gentle in a classy usher uniform.  When arriving at the suite the first thing I walked into was a small restaurant looking area.  It had around 4 round tables and chairs around.  They were set up like if someone was going to have dinner.  That same area had a bar and a bathroom.  The next room (which is where most of us were) looked like a living room.  Sofas, center table, and TV and lots of food. 

I finally made it to the booth.  The booth was the only both located next to the cameras.  It had leather, roller seats and a lower and upper level to it.  In this picture you can see the view.

The suite came with lots of FREE food… Chips with 3 different kinds of dipping, popcorn, pretzels, nuts, pizza, hot dogs, cookies, brownies, and much more.  And it was all served in fancy plates and cups.  Hopefully in this picture you can see how fancy the chairs, plates and cups were.

This is my friend Noemi, it was the very first time she attended a baseball game.  I was a little sad I wasn’t able to be with her for this but I did get a chance to visit with her.  I hope she enjoyed and she’ll come back.

I invited my niece to go because I want her to live different experiences, to attend different events and see the many great things around us.

The night at the Angel game was great.  I had the opportunity to meet some interesting people, got to know Sister Paula, Fr. Gerry, Gregory and others.   I got a chance to spend some time with my friends in the upper level.  And I got to taste some yummy free food.

The best part of this night was that I was able to be me.  I was excited to be there, I took as many pictures as I wanted, I ate as much as I could, I introduced myself to everyone and participated.  I didn’t care that I wasn’t a big shot and I wasn’t afraid of what those around me would think.  I enjoyed to the fullest because I don’t know if I’ll ever get to do this again. 

Oh, and the Angels won that night.  Go Angels!!!