September 26, 2011

Guest Post: Yuzema

This months guest post comes from my cousin, Yuzema. I have fond memories of playing as kids with a tiny set of baby dolls with bunk beds. We argued over who got the top bunk. Years later we don't fight anymore and choose to be friends beyond being cousins. She now has one of the cutest most rambunctious baby girls ever, love them both!. This post made me chop onions and therefor made my eyes watery... Here's Yuzema:

I waited 9 months to see his face and to meet my soon to be nephew. On August 3rd, all of the sudden I get this message from my brother in law saying, "We are on the way to the hospital." I was busy at work and thought; he can't be born without me being present. His due date was the following week and there hasn’t been any signs yet of him trying to come out sooner. That day everything worked out perfectly for me, I went home as soon as I could, then took a shower and ran to the hospital (well not literally but I was a fast driver that day.) You won't believe it, I made it right on time to support my sister in that special moment (I should say moral support because in this case she was the only one working hard.) In less than thirty minutes from the time I got to the hospital, there he was, my little Nathaniel trying to touch his Mommy's face. It was such a great experience to be there for my sister that day. She has always been there for me, so it was the least I could do for her.
My sister Lorena is more than just a sister, she’s a friend, role model and she’s like a mother to me. Lorena is that type of sister everyone would like to have, someone you can fight with then all of a sudden you laugh at the dumb things you were just arguing about. She’s a friend you can hang out with and not get bored. Definitely, she is my role model and pushes me to be better and inspires me to be better, she is a fighter. I remember those days when she had to go to sleep at two or three in the morning because she was studying or doing homework. How can I not say she is like a mother when I remember those days i had high fever she would go get a wet cold towel and put it in my forehead. Or the times she would run home from work to cook because it was my turn to cook (I did not like cooking).She would cook so I didn't have to and then go to school. Oh how I love her she is not perfect but she is perfect sister to me. I'm blessed to have her in my life. Now she has her own family she is taking care of and she is doing a great job. There are so many so much to be happy and be thankful for...
One of the many people that I am thankful for is my little sister Linda. Linda is full of happiness and has a free spirit. She is athletic, likes to cook, buy shoes etc. Very few times i have seen her down, even though we have gone through obstacles in our lives, she has always finds something silly or funny to laugh about. She joined the Air Force four years ago, her term just ended in February of this year (yaayyy). During those years she was apart from us, I cannot imagine how she was able to do it, being away from us (her family). But I know that God gave her the strength, wisdom and knowledge to move forward. I have always been proud that Linda was able to experience something she always wanted even though that meant being away from her family and friends. I thank God for her life and from bringing her home safe. There are so many families that have lost their love one serving in the military. My cookie monster (that’s how I call her at times) is growing so fast, now she is engaged, and ready to get married. I pray blessings upon her life and may God give her the wisdom to conquer everything that her hear desire in Gods willing.


-Yuzema

September 15, 2011

March Randomness


Today I found a file with a bunch of Photos from an afternoon I hung out with Meri. Since it was back in MARCH I don't remember much. But the photos did help trigger some memories...
 
Memory: We asked the shop owner to take our photo a few times but this is the only one that made it into the file apparently. I remember we had lunch at the restaurant you can hardly see in the background HT Grill I believe. I had a tuna melt, it was lovely. Or it might have been a turkey melt.


Memmory: We also has some tea and coffee at this place called The Coffee Cartel, It's pretty cool and they have thousands of old books you can read and sit in old chairs and sofas. The barrista kept talking about being "high on life" and about wanting to throw a "onsie party" I think we were invited.  I also think he was high on something other than life.


Memory: We went shoe shopping at this place... I think we were lured by the "All Shoes $20 always" sign. They were in fact all $20.
Memory: This is also the place where we found out that cowboy style rain boots exist along with neon green pumps. We did buy some shoes but not the ones pictured. 

Memory: We came across this little garden that had a shed with cute little stuff in it. I want those retro swimwear dollies! How cute would they look on a book shelf? I specially like the on in the red suite.

...and finally coming full circle back to the store where we had our blurry picture taken...
Memory: We walked around this quirky little store where they had the most random assortment of items. My favorite were the the black and white birdie salt 'n pepper shakers. (Push it! Sorry couldn't help it.)

So where did all this take place? On S. Catalina Street Redondo Beach. There are a bunch of little shops where you can spend a little time perusing and getting a you're in a little town in the middle of nowhere type of feel. Must go back and purchase mentioned dollies, salt 'n pepper shakers and a pair of shoes... not cowboy rain boots though. 

♥always
Marisol

September 12, 2011

Visiting the Getty



How cute are they? The pink flowers in the background I mean. I know the boyfriend and I are all kinds of cute but I'm not that naive to speak about us in the thirds person (wait, is that third person? Is that naive... I think I mean vain.) For a blogger I should really brush up on my grammar and vocabulary.

This past Sunday Two weekends ago we took a little family trip to the Getty Museum. We got there around 4:30 and they closed at 5:30. Yeah, we like to live on the edge like that. So while we didn't really get to see much we did enjoy seeing the Photography Exhibit on Cuba. This was one of my favorite shots:

How cool is that? Makes me want to take a photo from the inside of my car... althouhg my dash view is not this cool. It was a really nice day though. We had a good time just walking around the grounds taking photos, there is a chance we might have been a little obsessed with the pink flower tree things...

Those folks in the background, why those are my parents...and me taking their photo.

But not as obsessed as I am with my denim shirt! Seriously, I've been wearing it like every other day with everything it goes with EVERYTHING! I love it. I may or may not have given it a hug. I could do a whole blog just about it. Hmmm...

When did my baby sister become a little lady?

The whole fam minus one very sick-had-to-stay-at-home little sister...


Plus the boyfriend...and the running man...


We finished of the day by stuffing ourselves at Versailles for lunch. So much that we all went back to my house and fell asleep the rest of the day. Until we woke up to go eat some frozen yogurt. 

September 1, 2011

3 Day Diet

A little while ago a friend posted on Facebook about "The 3 day Diet" and its lose 10 pounds claim. I'm not sold easily on anything and I don't do diets. But just for kicks I looked at the link she provided and then told my two coworkers about it. They were in. So this past Monday we started our diet. The way is works is for three days you follow a strict meal plan precisely and this diet claims it “works on a chemical breakdown and is proven to work” and you are not allowed to substitute anything and only drink water, tea or black coffee. 

First of all, nope, I don't need to go on a diet. I did it more for experimental purposes than anything else. Also, I do not believe nor expect to lose 10 pounds. Let my first ever dieting experiment begin. 



Breakfast: 1/2 Grapefruit, 1 slice toast, 2 TBS. Peanut Butter
Lunch: 1/2 cup tuna, 1 slice toast, coffee or tea
Dinner: 3 oz any meat (we chose grilled chicken), 1 cup beets, 1 cup green beans, 1 small apple, 1 cup vanilla ice  cream
We started this really late in the day because we forgot about it and bought groceries last minute. So we ate breakfast at 1pm. Lunch at 3 and dinner at 6. Yeah, it was tough. We were not happy by dinner time. Mostly because it had only been a few hours since we ate lunch and breakfast. We kept whining like little kids that don't want to eat their vegetable. But that ice cream was good! Overall, it wasn't a bad meal combination at all. Lesson learned: 1 cup of anything is A LOT of food. 

Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 slice toast, 1 banana
Lunch: 1 cup cottage cheese, 5 saltine crackers
Dinner: 2 hot dogs, 1 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream
This day was actually pretty easy. We spaced out the meal further apart, and that helped so much. Although I did feel really hungry around 10pm that night. Really hungry, but I didn't cheat. Lesson learned: all of that food is less than 900 calories.

             
Breakfast: 1 hard-boiled egg, 1 slice toast,                                       
Lunch: 5 saltine crackers, 1 oz. cheddar cheese, 1 small apple
Dinner: 1 cup tuna, 1 cup beets, 1 cup cauliflower, 1/2 cantaloupe, 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream

I was angry by this day. The hunger from last night had doubled by breakfast and one little egg and a slice of toast did not cut it!  Lunch was pleasant but it felt more like a big snack and dinner...dinner was the worst! Too much food,  and even though I was hungry I couldn't finish it all. Lesson learned. I don't like plain tuna. I like tuna melt sandwiches. 1 cup of tuna is too much tuna for any human being to eat in one sitting.

Overall Weight Loss: Me: 2lbs, Coworker 1: 4lbs. Coworker 2: 6 lbs.

Bottom Line: I always do my research before trying things out. But not this time, I did it halfway through and guess what? It's a fad diet that is floating around the Internet. It's origin reads like an urban legend. There are different versions of this diet although most of them stick really close to what is above. Some even claim to be associated with a medical facility like Birmingham Hospital, Kaiser, Cleavland clinic, although no official record exists. They all claim it works on a "chemical breakdown" but when you really examine this diet it's just a low calorie meal plan. Very low calorie. Depending on how you prepare your food (only salt and pepper is allowed for seasoning) and what brands/options you choose to eat you are consuming between 600- 1200 calories each day, if you are eating double or triple this normally well duh! You will drop some weight. While it looks harmless enough, after all you do eat veggies and you get to have ice cream every day, it's really not that great and by the third day I felt a little weak and tired. Being in starvation mode lowers your metabolism which results in making it harder to loose weight. The weight you do lose is temporary, think about it. It's only 3 days and then you go back to normal... as in the weight you lost is back too. Plus we didn't include any exercise. I think I would have passed out if I had. I know what I should and should not eat so in the end this diet didn't harm or help me and only made me more sure of the fact that dieting is not for me. Truthfully, I will not recommend this to anyone. Plus I would have cracked had I been on my own after day 1. 

Here are the good things that came out of this: I realized I really enjoyed having breakfast in the morning, I pretty much already knew that but I usually only have a decent one on the weekends. Now my coworkers and I plan on making breakfast every day (we have a full kitchen to use). Also, seeing the calories being counted, thanks to the myfitnesspal app, I learned that measuring your food and calorie counting is a little difficult and time consuming but sometimes it really puts things in perspective. I won't be calorie counting but definitely am a little more aware of the big differences in foods and some surprising ones. A cup of baby carrots (47) or 1 Oreo cookie (53) hmmm...I guess carrots it is. But I'll probably sneak in a cookie once in a while.

So, while your diet is your business, here are my 2 cents: I say skip the fad diets. Just learn how to eat well because we all should anyway. Want to loose weight? Well, I can't help there, but maybe just do some research, make sure it's backed by professionals or ask your doctor. Oh and exercise. I eat when I'm hungry and I do indulge my cravings for baked goods once in a while. 

Now I'm off to have a piece of the chocolate croissant my other coworkers brought in to help us celebrate the end of our diet. They were soooo supportive through out the 3 days (it's hard to read but that last sentence was full of sarcasm.) Just a piece thought.... maybe... I'm not making any promises.

♥always,
Marisol

pssst.... I only had 3 bites of croissant, but a very good balanced breakfast!
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