life

Sneaker Story Time

Let me tell you a little story about these sneakers. These sneakers took me probably a year to convince myself to actually buy, unfortunately. As I was browsing through most of the options available through the ASOS website for my size, I kept reminding myself that this browsing experience was going to be different! It was going to be different because I was actually going to fulfill the online order and spend some hard-earned money.

It’s been a tough year and my sneakers are a sure reflection of it. One poor darling sneaker, a pair of black Nike lunar glides, first started with a small hole on the surface of the fabric above the toes. But then gradually widened into a semi noticeable hole, which small pebbles could easily slip through. Another darling, a pair of grey and lime green Nike air max’s, are at point where the outside looks pretty good, but the inside is starting to tear apart. My left ones heal counter skeleton is exposed because of the fabric friction. Lastly my third darling, a pair of grey sketchers sneaker, have bore the manic New York weather from heavy rain to post snowstorm slush and now the inside is not in the best condition, let’s just keep it at that.

These three were on repeat on a weekly basis, especially during my tough school schedule. For months, I didn’t have other options, or my other options wouldn’t have helped my commuting situation. I wanted to look cute, but I also didn’t want to get blisters. I finally told myself enough is enough, my current selection is on the verge of popping! At first, I thought I was exaggerating but then I heard on the news of a basketball player whose shoe popped during the middle of his tournament in the NCAA, the signs were everywhere and my conscious kept telling me just do it. So, this time I listened.

I couldn’t have picked a better time, ASOS was having a mid-summer sale which meant that I might be getting a little discount on something. But I just needed to be open minded enough to swoop up something good. It felt like a game at 6am, the excitement of finding a new pair was enough to keep me up. As I was putting some in my cart, I kept scrolling for more and making sure that I wasn’t missing out on page 10. By the time I had a chance to narrow my choices, some of my most coveted items were already gone in my size. No way! I had told myself; I had invested so much of my time on scrolling that time flew by and ASOS has one basic rule that I ignored. In the Asos online cart, the items you pick stay there for only an hour and that little bit of information surprised me. The items I really wanted were gone but I wasn’t going to “leave” without something getting ordered. When I finally fulfilled the order, I felt like I was still missing something but to much time was already invested just to go back and keep looking for other items to add, you know. It was the feeling of what economist would say “opportunity lost”.

To be candid, why did it take me a year to buy something that I desperately needed but didn’t cave in until my items were falling apart: guilt. The guilt of buying something for myself for the sake of vanity was unbearable during times where it was financially tough for our family. Before, vanity would jumpstart an impulsive pattern of buying something without having a designated purpose. Before I didn’t hold back, I had yet to learn the lessons of household economics. But before things changed, we had dual incomes and suddenly in the middle of the year we were down to one annual income. Resources weren’t completely scarce but if we weren’t careful, it could drain fast and the needs of our infant were top priority. I’ve now realized that going through a series of unanticipated occurrences are unforgettable learning experiences, borderline traumatic actually. Which it was for us and which is why, I could do without a new pair of sneakers for a while.

To care or not to care

How much are you supposed to care?

A new mantra I’ve adopted says “it doesn’t matter how much you know, but rather how much you care”. I heard this earlier this year, but it had not been proven true to me until the middle of my most recent school semester. The spring semester was one of the toughest, most stressful, and agonizing school terms as of yet. I took more classes than any other semester, some online and in-class, all while my daughter was entering the “terrible two’s.”

In a few of my classes, I was required to work with partners and for one class in particular, I decided to partner with a student, who I believed was a top student. He had the best grades in class, understood the material and could practically re-teach the whole lecture.

We partnered up for three projects and before we started, he stated how much he did not care about the work we were about to do. He wasn’t interested and who could blame him, but for me, it was different. I did care and was genuinely interested in what we were working on. I didn’t just care about getting a good grade, but was curious about the process and getting a “preview” of something I might be asked to do some day during my career, possibly. Plus, I was taking away valuable time from my family to finish these assignments, no matter how mediocre, I needed a return in my investment and my time. I was going to use the assignment as a trial to build my confidence in myself and learn more about my capabilities. It was a difference of opinions and as long as the work was completed, that’s all we focused on.

We worked well, for the most part but not without some hick ups, naturally. He seemed to have a tough time staying focused since other students would ask for his help and other personal problems. Most of the assignments were rushed to get finished on the last day, but luckily, we both worked fast and efficiently. Once all the work was handed in, we agreed that we had challenged one another in ways we didn’t expect. We had different capabilities and I got to know which areas I was weaker in. Working with someone who approached the problem differently was an interesting learning experience. I was able to see a different side of myself that otherwise might not have been noticed. Through this partnership, I learned that staying humble and patient is the best remedy to staying motivated enough to finish the work together.

Lavender Floral Linen Maxi Dress #OOTD Inspo x Kodak Moments at the Park

Honestly, I wasn’t going to share these pictures because I’m very hesitate to put my daughter out on the internet… I get a little scared, for creeps or something or another. She’s the biggest, toughest and most influential person in my life currently, so why would I not show off what I love the most and spend most of my time around? so I just told myself “why the heck not post it!” especially since Mothers Day is right around the corner so this post fits right in with the timing lol (plus, I took all the pictures myself which took a lot of work to manage all the different hats to get the best kodak, candid shots I can manage while multitasking)

I fall in love if the item inspires me or takes me by surprise with en eye catching print or fabrication. I’ll take it home even if it fits a little weird on my body shape. I felt really lucky to find this beautiful maxi linen lavender floral dress at a thrift shop. I’ve been thrifting a lot more then usual and I really love it because it sparks my imagination with all the different variety of choices and affordable price tags! I like to take my time and evaluate everything just because it is second hand after all and some items need to be investigated before a final choice is made.

I enjoy how fitted this dress is but I’m not a fan of how maxi it is (although I did at first). The buttons are starting to give me a problem by popping off every time I squat, which is super annoying! I might trim it to make it into a cute mid thigh length dress for the summer because it just feels like too much dress for such a small petite frame like mines.

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Honestamente, no iba a compartir estas imágenes porque tengo muchas dudas de poner a mi hija en Internet … Me da un poco de miedo, por horripilantes o algo así. Actualmente es la persona más grande, más dura e influyente de mi vida, ¿por qué no mostrar lo que más amo y pasar la mayor parte del tiempo? así que me dije “¿por qué diablos no lo publicaste?” especialmente porque el Día de la Madre está a la vuelta de la esquina, así que este artículo encaja perfectamente con el tiempo (más, tomé todas las fotos yo mismo, lo que requirió mucho trabajo para manejar todos los sombreros y obtener el mejor kodak, tomas francas administrar mientras se realiza una multitarea)

Me enamoro si el elemento me inspira o me toma por sorpresa con una impresión o fabricación llamativa. Me lo llevaré a casa, incluso si se ajusta un poco a la forma de mi cuerpo. Me sentí muy afortunado de encontrar este hermoso vestido de flores maxi lino lavanda en una tienda de segunda mano. He estado trabajando mucho más de lo habitual y realmente me encanta porque despierta mi imaginación con todas las diferentes variedades de opciones y precios asequibles. Me gusta tomarme mi tiempo y evaluar todo solo porque es de segunda mano y es necesario investigar algunos elementos antes de tomar una decisión final.

Me gusta lo ajustado que es este vestido, pero no soy fanático de lo maxi que es (aunque lo hice al principio). Los botones están comenzando a darme un problema al estallar cada vez que me pongo en cuclillas, ¡lo cual es súper molesto! Podría recortarlo para convertirlo en un lindo vestido a la mitad del muslo para el verano, ya que se siente como demasiado vestido para un marco pequeño y pequeño como las minas.

a flower crown for baby girl

ugh, she’s learning how to walk

a loose button for ventilation lol

#OOTD Knit Midi Black Dress & Vintage Yankees Cap x Body Positivity

where to start?….

I’m in a plateau in my fitness journey and I think it has to do with the way I’ve been eating. Although I’ve been trying to be very careful with what types of foods I eat, I’m now realizing that it is not enough to truly change the numbers on the scale. But I am happy to say that my weight is finally starting to hover around the number that I was pre-preganancy. For the short period of time that I’ve been a mother, I’ve been going easy with myself by being conscious to not say negative things to myself about my body or how awkward my belly looks hanging over my c-section scar.

I finally got the courage to test my confidence and put on this fitted midi length Forever 21 knit black dress with a scoop neckline and short sleeves that I randomly found as I was sorting through the racks inside a messy Forever 21 store on 34th street in Manhattan. It was the last one that I could see around and sadly, it had some damages but I didn’t care. I was so in love with the silhouette and especially with the versatility of having it closed all the way or leaving room for ventilation lol that I bought it with a little damage discount to knock off some dollas off of the original price. I took it home and it fit right in with the rest of my pieces, an easy comfy dress to mix and match with other pieces effortlessly.

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¿donde empezar?….

Estoy en una meseta en mi viaje de entrenamiento y creo que tiene que ver con la forma en que he estado comiendo. Aunque he estado tratando de ser muy cuidadoso con los tipos de alimentos que como, ahora me estoy dando cuenta de que no es suficiente para cambiar realmente los números en la báscula. Pero estoy feliz de decir que mi peso finalmente está comenzando a rondar el número que era antes de la preganancia. Durante el corto período de tiempo que he sido madre, me he vuelto tranquilo al ser consciente de no decirme cosas negativas acerca de mi cuerpo o de lo incómodo que se ve mi barriga sobre mi cicatriz de cesárea.

Finalmente, tuve el coraje de poner a prueba mi confianza y ponerme este vestido midi 21 color negro Forever equipado con cuello redondo y mangas cortas que encontré al azar mientras clasificaba los estantes dentro de una desordenada tienda Forever 21 en la calle 34 en Manhattan . Fue el último que pude ver y, lamentablemente, tuvo algunos daños, pero no me importó. Estaba tan enamorado de la silueta y especialmente con la versatilidad de tenerla cerrada todo el tiempo o dejar espacio para la ventilación jajaja que compré con un pequeño descuento de descuento para quitar algunas dollas del precio original. Me lo llevé a casa y encaja perfectamente con el resto de mis piezas, un vestido cómodo y fácil de combinar y combinar con otras piezas sin esfuerzo.

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Authenticity & it’s four Attributes

During the first day of my internship training, there was a girl in my group who made it her mission to point out to me how “fake” she thought I was. She didn’t say it to me privately, instead, she timed it so everyone else in the group would hear her opinion of me by saying it out loud during one of our quick 10 minute breaks. The girl was not a stranger to me because we had started the same internship program from the very beginning. Her sudden hostility towards me was strange, super random and I was left confused for the remainder of that training day. I had no idea what I could have done to cause her to say that and I couldn’t recall ever being out of line or disrespectful towards her. In order to hide my embarrassment and try to be polite, I let out a nervous laugh because I was trying to brushed it off as if she were telling me an insider joke.

Thinking back to that moment, I was so naive to social cues and didn’t realize when someone was being out of line towards me. I let her continually name call me, although it really upset me yet I didn’t comment back or bother to ask her why she was doing it. Honestly, I thought that I was being the “bigger person” and tried to not let it show that it was affecting me! Needless to say, I kept a fair distance from her and would try to avoid situations where I had to have a conversation other then work. Part of me couldn’t tell the difference between a joke or if it was a direct personal attack and not knowing the difference made me feel insecure, especially when I was around her.

So before I get to my point, I want to share another more recent story of a male coworker who consistently had a snarky comeback whenever I would attempt a causal work conversation. His attitude and mannerisms towards me would feel boorish, meanwhile other coworkers would have nothing but praise for his helpfulness and goodness. I took his animosity personally because it felt like it was gradually getting more indifferent and hostile. Being around him was like walking on eggshells and I would purposely stay clear of his path (although it was really difficult because we all had to work in a tiny office). I wouldn’t ask him for anything or bother with advice and I dreaded being left alone with him whenever the other coworkers left the office during lunch breaks or for any other reason.

One work day I had decided that I had had enough of his toxic attitude and dished it right back to him, exactly how he would towards me. When I looked at his face, his eyes were a little wide and he had a bit of a smirk. He then said, “finally, she speaks for herself.” In that moment, I didn’t know what exactly he meant but after that one comeback, he started being friendlier. Shooting for conversations rather then building negative tension. It seemed like suddenly, this male co worker wanted to have a decent working relationship… go fucken figure.

What I failed to realize was that, ultimately, it didn’t matter what these people said or even how they behaved towards me. What was important was how I responded and handled those different personalities and how much I would let them affect me or influence me personally. If I would have been self-aware, I would have been able to pick up on those subtle shady cues a lot quicker rather then letting my personal feelings decipher what every interaction meant. Here are a list of a few traits I wish I would have learned earlier in life, a set of traits that wouldn’t have allowed for these scenarios to play out the way that they did.

1. self awareness

to have self-awareness is an advantage over those who do not have it or don’t even know what it means in the long term (ei. me). I believe that self awareness is a skill because it means that you understand and trust yourself without a doubt and can’t be easily swayed or influenced. Its a skill build on balancing confidence and vulnerability together although each trait can cancel each other out. It may sound easy, but this is a mindset that is difficult to master because your exposing yourself to the world around you and therefore potentially having others judge you harshly.

2. boldness

boldness is having the ability to be forward and intentional with whomever it may be about whatever you personally believe in. Sharing with them your specific interest without fearing that you won’t be accepted somehow because others might not agree with you. I feel like deep down we all want to get some kind of approval from those around us and maybe even more from people who may not even know us directly.

3. honesty

honesty, the key ingredient for authenticity because it flourishes when you stop lying about who you are and about who your pretending to become. There is nothing wrong about having aspirations of a future better you. But by humbling yourself to see where you are at that moment, where you are mentally and physically, starts the process of self reflection. A quick google search defines self reflection as meditation or serious thought about ones character, actions and motives. From my personal experiences, self reflection is one of the greatest gifts you can give your future self by taking a little bit of time to think about you. I know it sounds selfish but if your rebuilding, the first thing every good home needs is a solid foundation.

4. trust

by learning to trust your actions, your choices become more deliberate and thats helpful because there is no way for sure to know what the opportunity costs are of every option available since time and resources are always limited. Trust can go hand in hand with intuition or that “gut feeling” that we all experience from time to time. Figuring out a way to let go of the expectations from others around us jumpstarts the ways in which we learn to depend on ourself and ultimately trust oneself.

I feel like in our society, being talented isn’t enough anymore but whats important and valuable is being authentic because it allows others to connect with you on a personal level other than the work you produce. By connecting with you, it means they might like you and want to continue supporting you by watching your instagram stories or sharing your tweets. It all kind of comes full circle and with all the different options of connecting with people, your personality will be the dividing force between your work and everybody else.

Looking back, I would have responded differently…

Brooks Brothers Puffer Coat OOTD x FBF

I wish I could say that everyday in New York city feels gloriously warm, truly, but that is simply not the reality and I’d be completely lying to you. This is me, almost everyday, wrapped up in a heavy duty puffer coat that bundles me up like a sleeping bag. This one in particular is from Brooks Brothers, its a knee length dark navy blue puffer coat with a cute black feather trim to keep my face warm lol.

Lets raise a glass to effortless, simple and functional outfits cause life is stressful enough!

Cheers to not being famous enough to draw out paparazzi who want to snap pictures of your every step, unapologetically and ruthlessly, whether you look cute or not!

Thank goodness sake for this amazing lightweight Mountain Buggy stroller and for museums that house ruins and classic paintings from ancient times!

Here is a little recap of my outfit and a vlog of the days events!

This post is a bit of a throwback because it was on January 16th of 2018! This day was extra special because it was my daughters official first birthday. We decided to celebrate it by taking her to the museum and have a little mini photoshoot but she was not having it because she was asleep the whole time! Thank God #amen lol regardless my husband and I really enjoyed it because there was a lot of things, a lot of history to experience once we were inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. Its so big and beautiful, every corner is instagram worthy and it really takes your breath away once you step inside. I really don’t think there is another museum like it (or maybe one that I’ve yet to visit). So this is a throwback Thursday kind of post, I had completely forgotten about this day, which was buried under all the other pictures of random life shenanigans on my iPhone.

I hope you enjoy and maybe even brings a little smile to your face, like if you like and follow for more content. Let me know what you think of the video or the outfit below in the comments, until next time!

The Only Reason To Cook For Your Man x Brooklyn Wedding Recap Video

If your going out of your way to cook a warm hot dinner meal for him, he better be special.

If you find yourself buying new panties at Victoria Secret with the lace trim to put them on just so he can take them off, he better be special.

When you offer to buy Chinese food just to keep him around even though you two aren’t really talking but simply sitting on the couch netflixing and chilling or cable tv DVR’ing , he better be special.

My engagement ended February 3rd because I’m officially a wife to an awesome man who’s been my best friend for like seven years. The wedding was short and sweet but completely Brooklyn style! Which consists of us going to city hall with a cute dress, a bouquet, a few family members and someone who would take half decent shots of everything because the professional photography available was charging way to much for professional photographs lol.

Anyways, I hate the stereotypes that follows married life once a couple decides to tie the knot. Its like suddenly your a foreign being who stops living life because of marriage.

One day I’ll look back at this post and consider myself lucky for being so optimistic or maybe a fool. Whether a person is your life partner or your coworker working on the desk beside you, everyone;

deserves respect because their story is as unique as yours
can’t be changed by other people telling them that they need to change, unless they already want to change themselves
should focus on themselves, be selfish about how your taking care of yourself mentally and physically because by putting yourself first, you’ll be in a better mindset to guide and help others

Finally, heres a recap video of my wedding day on February 3rd. The video quality sucks but its the only footage I have because, although my sister is smart as hell she’s no photographer. Not complaining here but in retrospective, I think I should have booked someone for that one hour. Well, you live and learn.

Anyways, heres my little special moment, brooklyn style lol

First Week of 2018 Thoughts & Resolutions

New Year’s Eve was small, cute and cheery. Our family stayed home since New York city has been experiencing some of the coldest temperatures in the city’s history and it didn’t help that we all had a bit of the whooping cough. So we stayed up until the ball dropped and even woke up our babygirl so she can feel the excitement of the new year since it is officially her first one.

For most of the New Year’s Eve day, I spend it planning, planning and more planning. I feel so much more confident overall and secure knowing that I’m not wasting my time because I have a better sense of what to anticipate next. I’ve grown to dislike spending time just pondering on what needs to be done next or wondering if I’m missing something. It such a annoying mental road block when your just sitting there confused about what to do with yourself or, on the other hand, when you have too many plans that it feels overwhelming. Unlike 2017, I’m planning on taking more control in all areas of my life throughout 2018. Here are some of my personal resolutions for 2018:

Don’t overwhelm yourself. To much too fast, halts creativity & that’s no bueno if your trying to create content.
Stop over eating! Portion control will be a waist saver or waist killer.
Go to the gym more! Cause you know your booty is not going to build itself and like Elle Woods said, “endorphins make you happy” lol
Patience will be your greatest gift to yourself and others. Embrace that shit! Lol
Learn to simplify things. Not everything needs more than a day to complete.
Grow a YouTube channel & learn what it means to add value to others.

I purposefully left my list short because each one can be broken down into smaller and more manageable tasks. I believe that resolutions should be goals that turn into habits. A skillful habit that will help guide you into your greater self.

I hope this post sparked some idea or thought that you’d like to further explore. Thanks for reading along and I hope you enjoy the pictures.

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Classic White Linen Button Down x #ootd

I like linen, especially during the summer but not all linen looks cute and its hard to find classic versatile stable pieces. I got super lucky in one of my thrift store adventure hunts by finding this amazingly over sized linen button down blouse. I’ve never been one to wear many things over sized but being that I’ve been struggling to lose the extra pregnancy weight, over sized tops really help me feel confident yet comfortable. It gets me sad, but I know I’m making strides and taking action on a daily bases to lose the weight that I have! I know that by this time next year, I won’t be in the same place in my weight lose journey and that gets me excited to stay motivated!

Here’s a very casual outfit of the day featuring my recent thrift store treasure.

Details about the outfit below.

linen shirt; henna G, leggings; zara, sneakers; forever 21, sunglasses; ray ban

Off-The-Shoulder Floral Romper x OOTD

This was a super casual floral romper for a casual stroll around the park in this crazy humid New York City heat. The romper has a trendy off-the-shoulder look with super cute floral motifs of red, pink, blue flowers and leaves that almost look drawn on. It was really comfortable and cute. I’ve been feeling a little anxious lately, mostly because I’ve been researching the classes I’ll need to take to go back to school for a bachelors degree. I’m really excited about the major I’m planning to go into but its going to be really tough for me because its mostly in math. I’ve spend so much time researching what would be the best and most flexible degree for me and my little family for a while now. It was really challenging because there were so many questions that I had about demand, pay scale, etc and nothing that could be answered by simply googling it.

Personally, I wish public high schools would incorporate and encourage other topics, something that’s more relevant long term, to build interest within the kids which would grow into a life skill. Instead of spending so much time on memorizing (what feels like now) useless facts or rules. I completely understand that education is important, but understanding whats valuable and what isn’t is just as important. Its just unfortunate that kids don’t get that time to really explore and question the things around them because of all the time spend on schoolwork or craming for tests… Anyways, I’m just ranting on my own personal experiences.

Perhaps you’ve had a different experience or have a different opinion about the education system, if so lets chat in the comments below! Also, what do you think about this outfit?

Thanks for checking out my blog and this post!

sunglasses; Ray Bans | romer; Rainbow | sneakers; Forever 21 | bag; Boohoo | baby; MINE 😅