Almost getting it kind of together...

I've spent much of the last day and a half watching Girls.  Have you heard of this show?  If you haven't, it's about time you do.  It premiered last April and season two premieres January 13th.  Here is a quick preview to what the show is essentially about, go on, click, click, click.

The show follows the life of Hannah Horvath, a twenty-something trying to live the American dream in New York City.  Hannah is a struggling writer working a non-paid internship in the city and living with her best friend, Marnie.  The show begins with Hannah finding out that her parents are cutting her off financially, she soon has to leave her internship and her quarter life crisis essentially begins.  The show also follows Hannah's two other friends, Jessa (a British girl) and her cousin, Shoshanna.  

I quickly fell in love with the show because it is so well written.  The main character, Lena Dunham (Hannah) is also the writer, creator, producer, and director of the show.  Lena is only 26! Apparently she has a book of personal essays (much like her character in the show) releasing in the near future titled Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's Learned.  Obviously, I will be checking this out and spilling my thoughts here once I get my hands on it.  

There's nothing I love more than books and movies that feel real to me.  I want to relate to a show and feel like the characters could be people I know in real life.  Don't get me wrong, I like Sex and the City as much as the next girl, but I don't really share a life as glamorous as Carrie Bradshaw or Charlotte York, and Mr. Big is a little unrealistic.  Gossip Girl is fun too, but life in the Upper East Side is far from relatable to my life, and probably yours too.  Girls feels real, I actually have friends with issues like those in Hannah's life, everyone around me is going through a quarter-life crisis, and we don't all look like we stepped out of Vogue or Cosmo (looks or clothing wise).  The show is graphic...it is on HBO after all, but then again so was Sex and the City.  Unlike the super sexy content of Carrie Bradshaw's many encounters, Girls' feels much more raw and honest.  Trust me. 

Conclusion: check it out...like, yesterday right now.  Season one is only ten episodes and they are all less than 30 minutes, making it super easy to get through.  I really wish I had spaced out watching the episodes...I don't want it to end.  It's just so good.  Go get caught up, and once you do, check out what's to come January 13th when season two premieres!

Are you as obsessed with Girls as I am? Please don't make me feel alone here...

Yoga-ta try this post!

I would bet that Fernando Delgadillo read this prior to writing Entre Pairos y Derivas

I have to tell y'all that sometimes I get inspiration (mostly for my personal posts) and it's like something foreign takes over my body mind heart and all I do is write until it empties.  I write, and write, and write.  I hit publish and about two hours later it settles and I realize, "Yes, I just did that."  I go through a cycle of wonder, "What came over me? Why did I do that?"and that is how I result posting things like  this.

On a different note, I must share with you and tell y'all that the highlight of my week is always my yoga sessions.  Among my other workouts, which are in the morning, I attend yoga twice a week in the evenings.  These are hardcore sessions my friends.  Most days I sweat buckets in there, and it's not even "hot" yoga.  I have resorted to not wearing a shirt and just keeping my yoga pants and sports bra on.  Hey, you would too if you were in this class.  No need to feel self-conscious, the lights are completely out in the room anyway.  Not just because I sweat a ton, but I feel so incredibly cleansed afterward.

In a variation of pigeon pose.  Excuse my messy hair s'il vous plait. 

Transitions
If you are new to yoga it may be a difficult transition from other forms of exercise.  Yoga takes patience, time, and concentration.  I find that when I fully concentrate in my practice it makes a load of difference than when I'm too focused on other things going on in my life.  The best thing to do when you're not sure what you should be thinking or how to "focus" is to breathe.  Keep breathing, through hard poses, and especially follow the guidance of your yoga instructor.  They typically do a great job of telling you when you should be inhaling or exhaling.

Isn't it all flexibility and pretzel formations though?
Most people who have never experienced yoga tend to think "pretzel" formations or "flexibility." And while yes, sometimes you end up looking like a pretzel in class and you definitely improve your overall flexibility, yoga is so much more than that.  I think it is often taken for granted how much strength it takes to get through a yoga class.  You are constantly strengthening your body by doing different poses.  You use the weight of your own body and, if done correctly, your core. Yoga sculpts your body, and with poses like warrior III and plank you are lifting pounds of your own body weight.

What it can do for you
Through yoga you learn to love your body in a completely different way.  As cheesy and granola as this sounds, you start to learn the rhythm of your body and become more in tune with it.  The power of the human body will surprise you, and you will gain greater self-confidence.  I love that yoga focuses on how your body feels and what it can do rather than how it looks.

First Timer
Don't be turned off if you find it to be intimidating going to your first yoga class.  There are always beginner classes you can try, and I promise there are pose modifications for every pose! Make sure and arrive early to tell the instructor you are new to the practice, ask them to show modifications for poses.  Yoga instructors can be some of the nicest people you will ever encounter.  Fear them not!

And last, I leave you all with the song that's been in my head all day.  Old, old, song from the nineties (best decade ever!).  A Tejano song by Bobby Pulido (what a hunk).  I find the video strange because he is in San Francisco of all places.  If you've never heard Tejano music before, it is a genre original to the state of Texas and listened to mostly by Mexican Americans.  The music has German influences, can you tell? (Hint, hint: the accordion).  Enough of that, here's the video:

What's your favorite yoga pose?

Namaste.

"Everybody but me"

Anxiety, it's getting to me.  I'm not ready for the summer to be over, but I think it's officially time that I begin planning for the next school year.  I really want the next month to go by extra slow.  First of all, I'm not sure what classes I'm teaching.  Maybe Spanish I, maybe Spanish II, maybe both.  All I know is that my school is officially changing to a Block schedule, so I will only have three classes and one off period.  For my foreign readers, the traditional American schedule would've been a total of around 6 different classes and one off period.  School will begin earlier at around 7:30am but we will release at 2:35pm (HALLELUJAH).  I'm sure there are perks to only have three classes in a day, but my biggest concern is teaching for more than an hour and keeping those high school students on task.  I have got to plan effectively, especially since their class will only be a semester course and not a full year course anymore.  I have to be better than I was last year, and I have to make sure my behavior management is excellent.  I hope to have an official update on what my schedule will look like by midweek so that I can begin my planning.  At least through the first unit would be AWESOME!
Any other stressed teachers out there?! 
Suggestions?
I hope you enjoyed reading about some of my favorite brews here and here, but better yet I hope you had a cold one in my honor this weekend.  I'm craving a Lazy Magnolia Summer Pecan and am hoping to find one in the Lone Star state soon!

I am starting a new book soon (like as-soon-as-I-am-done-blogging-soon) called "A Stolen Life" by Jaycee Dugard.  It's a memoir, I go through phases with books.  Sometimes young adult fiction, nonfiction, psychology related books, new fiction, old fiction, classics.  I'm going through a memoir phase, I like knowing that they are true stories about real people.  I read "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls last month, such a good read.  It's about how she and her siblings lived most of their young lives in poverty and their journey about how they got themselves out of it.  "A Stolen Life" is about Jaycee's experience after she was kidnapped.  It's supposed to be very raw and powerful to read.  I am looking forward to it so definitely expect a post-read review.

Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped at the age of eleven.  This is her story about her powerful experience.

Best part of my Sunday though? Having a tiny cup of ice-cream.  I'm not a huge ice-cream fan, I prefer frozen yogurt or a savory treat almost any day.  But sometimes, only sometimes do I get a mega jones-craving for ice-cream.  The good stuff.  Like Marble Slab Birthday Cake ice-cream with sprinkles on top.  Sprinkles rock, okay? They are all about presentation, and to me they present my ice-cream in a beautiful please-eat-me-now sort of way.

Birthday Cake ice-cream with colored sprinkles 

Remember how I told you that I'd let ya know if this was a good song? Well I finally had a good listen and decided I really like it.  I will usually listen to the song once, find it alright, and then go look up the lyrics and decide whether it is better than alright.  I heard it, read the lyrics, heard it a second time and decided it was definitely better than alright.  Really love this verse:

Everybody want safety (safety love)
Everybody want comfort (comfort love)
Everybody want certain (certain love)
Everybody but me

Goes to show us how important it is to step out of your comfort zone and just "dance".  I love how beautiful the video is. So much talent is shared with the viewers of this video, but my favorite is the final scene with the New York City Ballet, being a former dancer myself I am a bit biased :)
I hope you enjoy watching the video below!

 How was your Sunday? 
Got any memoir recommendations?

WIWW - What I Wore Wednesday

(Note: For your convenience, you may want to consider playing the song at the end of this post in the background as you read the entire thing)

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!! 


Welcome to WIWW or What I Wore Wednesday where I present to you the outfit I wore midweek.

I spent this lovely Independence Day at the beach! Going to the beach is one of my favorite things to do.  I love it so much that I don't like to get the smell out afterward.  The smell in my towel, my arms, my hair, it's heavenly and there's something even therapeutic about it.  Anyone else feel the same way? 


I started my day off like this:

Free Starbucks Tall Blonde Roast coffee & Free Song of the Week! I'll let you know how the song is.

Since I spent the day at the beach you can only imagine what my outfit looked like:

Wind caught me by surprise here.
Reversible Bathing Suit by Tommy Hilfiger from the outlet store
Beach Flip Flops are Reefs
Sunglasses are cheap from Aldo
Floppy sun hat from Ann Taylor outlet 

Showing off my "guns"
This swimsuit is reversible btw.  Stripes & Polka Dots

"En el mar la vida es mas sabrosa"

There was a little of this...

...and a little of that.

And a difficult time getting out of there.

"Oh beautiful, for spacious skies"

I will leave you beautiful people with one last thing.  There is a song I may or may not have admitted to singing at the drop of a hat.  It's not so secretly one of my favorite love ballads.  Gets me every time.  

1, 2, 3...

I hope you read the previous post, it's filled with great information even if it is lengthy.  This one is a shorty, I promise.  I have a couple of songs (1) I'd like to share, an article (2) Leigh Leigh showed me, and a blog (3) I'd like to share.  I will organize it for you in case you want to scroll past the stuff that doesn't interest you.  But hopefully all of it does, but if it doesn't don't tell me. You'll hurt my feelings ;)

(1) Songs

You may have heard this song in the Chevy Sonic commercial or in The Last Song (yes, the one with Miley).  There is something about this song that touches my soul.  The lyrics are powerful.  Enjoy. 

I heard this song today for the first time in a long, long, long time.  It brings back sweet memories for me.  It gives me butterflies in my stomach and I think my heart flutters when I hear it sporadically like I do.  Isn't love great? I can definitely relate to Keith's words in this song.  

The real winner is the song below.  I recently took notice of this song at the wedding I went to last Saturday.  Yes, the wedding mentioned in Entre Pairos y Derivas.  Adele's "One and Only" was the first dance song.  It was beautiful, but I had never really listened to the song before.  Adele's music tends to be kind of "wah-wah-wah no one loves me" and that's not really my style.  Beautiful voice though.  Something about listening to "One and Only" stood out to me and so I went home and looked up the lyrics.  If the lyrics in a song touch my heart chances are that I will like the song 90X better.  I read the lyrics and they described perfectly how I was feeling about said person in the post linked above.  EEEK...

I hope you like it as much as I did. 

(2) Article - here is a little something to regain our faith in humanity :)

(3) Blog Just discovered my friend Lisa Marie's blog Pretty Little Moments.  She's a great writer and has a beautiful layout.  Go visit :) 

Told ya that was short! 

Which was your favorite song? What was your favorite story in the article? 

"Expectation is the root of all heartache"

First things first.  Yes, I do realize that my previous post Entre Pairos y Derivas was a bit erratic and the word vulnerable doesn't even begin to describe the series of emotions I have gone through as a result.  Regrets? Absolutely not.  Expectations? Attempting not to make any.  After all Shakespeare did say, Expectation is the root of all heartache.  Don't worry, I plan to keep you all updated on the effects of it.  

I'd like to give you all a rundown of some blogs that inspire me.  Something that really matters to bloggers is having their message spread.  Everyone wants to feel important and worthwhile.  So, I encourage you to take a click at some of the blogs that I read regularly.  Some are extremely successful, meaning some of these women actually blog for a living  (AHH DREAM JOB!!).  Others are just trying to share their story.  All, however are worthwhile because everyone has something new to teach us if we are willing to learn.  I do ask that you help spread the word about these blogs.  Even if they are super successful blogs like P-Dubs they could always use more readers.  Simply forward it to your best friend if you enjoyed what you read, post a link on Twitter, Facebook, or even your own blog.  If you have a blog, I'd love to read what you have to share so leave me a comment and I promise I will visit often! 

The blog roll: 

Healthy Tipping Point because this is the first blog that I fell in love with.  I am a devoted reader and it sounds silly, but I feel like I know Caitlin personally because of it.  Caitlin is a 27 year old living in North Carolina and a brand new momma! She inspires me to live a healthy life by taking small steps to wards an amazing YOU.  Love you HTP! 

Operation Beautiful is the reason that I found Healthy Tipping Point in the first place. I remember stumbling upon this website in college when I was trying to figure out a wellness program (I was an RA) to put on for the residents of a female residence hall.  I was inspired by the Operation Beautiful movement whose mission is to post anonymous notes of encouragement and positivity in public places for other people to find.  It's awesome! If you have found an Operation Beautiful note before, please comment.  Better yet, tell Caitlin at operationbeautiful@gmail.com 

Young House Love  This is a great blog for the lover of DIY or HGTV(I kid).  But, really, John and Sherry are the cutest couple and give their house the same amount of love that they hopefully ;) give each other.  It's wonderful to read and full of home inspiration.  My favorite is their projects page to browse through when I'm in need of something to do pin.  

Katy Loves She just seems so genuine and sweet.  A true woman of God.  Always positive and always sweet and always sharing what others are doing.  

The Girls with Glasses This is the fashion blog I read.  Summer Bellessa and Brooke White tend to post short, sweet, and to the point videos with awesome fashion/makeup/life advice.  There are not always videos, although they are my favorite.  They are two gorgeous girl with a great sense of style. 

Yuppie Yogini Although Nicole doesn't post often, I still check back to find her next post.  More than anything she makes me laugh with her quirky opinions.  She is also a practicing therapist (DREAM JOB again).  

Kath Eats Real Food I love Kath! I know, I know, I don't really KNOW her, but still.  She is a registered dietitian who inspires other through her successful weight loss, and her eating of REAL food.  She is also expecting a baby so you can find her mommy-to-be journey there as well.  

Taking Back My Twenties Laura is Kath's younger sister and I relate a lot to her journey.  I recently found her blog and love reading about the beer she drinks (beer snob, like me) and about her recent engagement! Oh, and we have the same name :) 

Lisa Lupo Photography Lisa is an old friend from high school.  Even though I haven't seen her in years, I'm sure she's just as I remember her.  Easy to be around, funny, goofy, and talented.  Lisa is a newly wed living in the Seattle, Washington area.  Although Lisa studied Anthropology in college she is taking over the world with her amazing talent for taking beautiful photographs.  I would definitely hire her!  Her blog documents her learnings as a new photographer with snippets about her life.  

Lauren Noelle is one of my lovely friends from college.  I read her blog regularly because it is my way of keeping in touch with her.  Lauren has been writing about her post-grad life and her coming-of-age process as she discovers so much about what she wants and the woman she is becoming.  

The Forever Optimist is about my BFF Sarah.  No one in the world is as caring, genuine, funny, down-to-earth-real, and lovely as she is.  She is also a terrific writer.  She has once again found her inspiration and is on quite a journey.  Go join her! 

The Pioneer Woman of course! Rhee Drummond is an inspiration to all women.  She is your country-gal next door.  Amazing recipes, photography, fun quizzes, and absolutely HILARIOUS.  P-Dubs will change your life.   

Epicurean Vixen a blog about food in Austin, TX (best city in Texas).  My friend Karen is such a foodie and is the best food critic.  

Musings From The Law is one of my best friends from college.  She is like a sister to me.  She is also a consistent blogger and a writer.  I am so proud of all that she has done.  You can currently read about her experience in Chile.    

I sure hope I didn't leave any out, but I probably did.  I come across so many blogs, but the ones I picked are the ones I read on a regular basis.  Even religiously with some.  

What about you, what blogs do you read? 

I will leave y'all with the following song.  This is my theme song for the summer of 2012.  I know it's in portuguese it is brazilian after all, but promise you'll give it a chance :) 

Michel Télo - Ai Se Eu Te Pego 

Entre Pairos y Derivas

As much as I think this is a summer of change, some things never do.  This was made evident on Saturday night.  I will have to go back approximately nine years to do my story justice.  You see, almost nine years ago the summer before my first year of high school I fell in love.  Now...don't go away, you're probably tempted after reading that line.  Stay...stay...hope I convinced you there ;)
Yes, it sounds crazy, because it was.  I didn't realize it was love at the time and believe me, it took me a good four to five years of denial to even call it love.  


This boy made me believe in love at first sight (cliche, I know, but I promise it happens).  He is someone who can make laugh at the drop of a hat (God knows I have the worst sense of humor).  Someone who's eyes I cannot resist for anything.  Someone who has spoken some of the most genuine words I've ever heard.  Someone who, almost nine years later still gives me butterflies at the pit of my stomach.  Someone who I can hold a stare with forever, not because I'm a creeper, but because my eyes cannot help themselves.  Nine years.  Nine years have passed and last night we encountered each other again.  


(Side note: throughout these nine years there have been previous encounters and we have kept in touch in some way, shape, or form. )


Last night our eyes met after several years and he came over with a smile to greet me (in true Latin culture fashion) with a kiss on the cheek.  To my embarrassment I found myself holding his cheek as he pressed his against mine and the rest was a blur.  The truth is that I don't think either one of us knew how to react to one another.  There I was taking sips of Dos Equis to build up the courage to dance with him.  What are you supposed to do when the person you fell for at the age of thirteen is giving you the same feelings now that you're a grown woman?!  After several stares back and forth I thank God for the group dance as he moseyed over stood by me and began to speak.  Small talk and jokes mostly. It's difficult to express how I feel when I'm around him.  I feel absolutely beautiful, beaming, like a light radiates inside and everyone takes notice. (Why yes,  I realize how dramatic that sounds after reading it)    As much as I knew that this encounter of ours would only last a couple of hours it didn't make it any less exciting.  To be honest, all I could think about was kissing him.


I've spent too many years asking the what if and we had nothing to lose.  I was so afraid, but of what?!   Scared that he would reject my carefree offer, that after nine years he felt absolutely nothing.  Afraid he would say he had a girlfriend (although I'm fairly certain he currently does not).  With many stares back and forth, back and forth, shaking of heads, and unspoken words, the night ended.  Stares that said a thousand words and yet I wish I could say what they were.  I came home and cannot stop thinking about him (naturally).  


What my point is, and what I have been contemplating about this encounter is this: will I find someone who will make me feel the way that he does?  Should we settle for mediocre when it is just a waste of time.  There are too many mediocre things in life and love should be mad, passionate, and extraordinary, right?  I don't necessarily believe in coincidences and while part of me wants to say it was a coincidence running into him again I think I was supposed to learn something from it.  The question is, what?


Why bring back these incredible feelings that I have only ever had with him?  Why, if he lives in another country?  Why? WHY?!  It just kills me.  Am I supposed to be in a relationship with someone who makes me feel this way?   Or am I supposed to realize I won't ever feel this way about anyone else  and live with the fact that he's out there?  As a rational person who is not idealistic, I am aware of all the cynical and even the realistic answers, and it just all seems like...well, bullshit.  


I trust God and why I ened up in certain situations, I just ask for the patience and perseverance to understand this.  And, finally.  To the boy (now man) who changed my life nine years ago: if you're reading this, "por los mares de mi vida, hoy me veo siempre bogando a ti." 

Una canción que me regresa a ti.  Translate if you must, but this man is truly poetic.  

Recap: Summer 2012

This summer is one of change.   It's in the air, I can feel it and I can almost smell it.  I am writing about my process of becoming as I figure things out in my twenties.  This is the summer I will turn twenty-three.  This is my first summer out of college.  My first summer earning a real income .  A lot is different already, my summer began embracing change immediately.  


My boyfriend of my first real relationship since high school broke up with me approximately three days into my summer vacation.  It had been about a year and half and when you begin to seriously date someone for that long you begin to build your life around them.  The decisions you make for your future like whether you will see your family or your boyfriend for your next break (we were long distance btw).  Whether to apply to graduate school, and if so whether there would be a program in Austin where I could be with him? Will I change my religion?  Something that has been such an important part of me as a woman of God.  My religion became really true to me in college and I was always a faithful catholic and felt sure of myself within the catholic church.  


This relationship opened up the question of a new religious denomination.  This was a no brainer at the start and my answer, "ABSOLUTELY NOT HAPPENING."  There were no doubts, not one hesitation about ever changing.  It's funny what love can do to you as you begin to love someone so much that you begin to change yourself.  I began to consider a change in my religion for someone else, I know that if it happened it was because I was going to marry him.  I'm still unsure of this is acceptable if it is in the name of love.  But some changes were learning experiences for which I am humbled and grateful for.  I became more selfless and learned how to work incredibly hard to understand someone else.  I worked hard to get through the hard times we faced.  I kept wanting to improve who I was and if there was something that I was doing wrong or if I wasn't being a considerate enough person then I wanted to change.  


To this person: I am so, so thankful for all I have learned about myself and about what it means to love somebody else. I can safely say that I loved as best as I knew how and know that I can bring my becomings to a new relationship.  I do feel broken.  As anyone who goes through a break up does, especially when you began to think they were your forever and always.  As broken as I am though, I am also free.  I feel no anger or bitterness inside me.  I feel so much love in my heart and I feel truly hopeful.  I'm not sure what these feelings mean yet, but I will figure it out.  You move on, you move forward, you learn, and you give thanks because regrets are nonexistent when it comes to love.  

I leave you with an incredible song by Dave Matthews Band.  Listen to the lyrics if you can.