Queso Frito...

Growing up, the best Sunday mornings consisted of my mom blasting cumbia music while cleaning and making breakfast. The memory of waking up to the mouth-watering smell of platanos fritos (fried plantains, with salty sour cream, YUM!) , huevos estrellados (huevos rancheros to some, basically sunnyside up eggs with a homemade tomato sauce, YUM!), or queso frito (fried cheese, YUM!) remains indelibly etched in my mind.

This morning I woke up in the mood to recreate one of those mornings for Isabella. When she woke up, I picked her up out of her crib, changed her diaper and took her to the living room, while I went to rummage in my fridge. All I had in there that resembled a proper Sunday morning at my mom's was eggs and queso tropical (that's troh-pee-cahl not trop-ih-kil). Queso tropical is a fresh white cheese for frying and it ended up winning by default because I definitely CANNOT make my mom's tomato sauce for the huevos estrellados...not to mention there was no bread in the house.

So, I put on the Sonora Dinamita station on my Pandora radio while frying up some slices of cheese. As the female vocalist crooned about an old man hitting on and honking his horn at her, the oil in the pan popped and little drops landed on my arms causing sharp little bursts of pain. I yelped a small "ouch!" with each drop that sizzled on my skin but the slices of cheese browned nicely and the fantastic smell of fried cheese filled my kitchen. I was only able to fry up two slices of cheese because Isabella walked in and I didn't want any of the popping oil to burn her. So, I took my two slices of fried cheese, got a glass of juice and shuffled back to our bedroom.

My boyfriend woke up when I came in with a steaming plate and mumbled "mmmm...food! What are we eating?" "Queso frito!" I exclaimed, he pulled a face and retorted with a drawn out "ewwwww."  To which I replied "that's fine, I didn't make any for you! Just me and Isabella." At the mention of her name, Isabella started in with her "mum-mum-mum" babbling signaling her eagerness to dig in. I cut off a small portion of the cheese and popped it into her awaiting little mouth. She chewed for a bit almost as if she was mulling over the taste before finally deciding that she was not a fan and spitting out the chewed up bits of yummy cheese all the while pulling a face remarkably similar to her dad's. I sighed, gave her a bottle while I finished my cheese, then returned to the kitchen and got her a bowl of fruit loops, which she gobbled up.

So, maybe I haven't got Sundays at my mom's down to an exact science (what with Isabella hating the fried cheese) but I can at least create my own version. As long as it includes breakfast and some really great tunes, we'll be set! After all she did shimmy and wiggle to the sounds of El Viejo del Sombreron and why wouldn't she with lyrics as awesome as these?!

Enjoy!!!:

Dicen que es vino tinto

Pero es un rojo uva mi carrito

Es un último modelo

Que siempre va conmigo a donde quiera voy mi carrito

Por que el es mi compañero ese carrito es mi vida

De el nunca he tenido quejas

Cuando consigo a una chica

El me lleva a donde quiera

Cuando consigo a una chica

El me lleva a donde quiera.



¡Señorita a la orden la llevo!

No gracias estoy esperando al viejo del sombreron

Uy no me diga que tipo tan afortunado

Ay llego vera.



¡El viejo de sombreron!

Ese viejo si es rebuena

¡El viejo de sombreron!

Para conseguir mujeres

¡El viejo de sombreron!

Será que tiene secreto

¡El viejo de sombreron!

Ese viejo si la mueve.



Voy a comprarme un sombrero

Un sombreo bien jalón

Pa' hacerle la competencia

Al viejo del sombreron

Señorita de mi alma

Tengo una preocupación

¿Por que esta tan entregada al viejo del sombreron?


Lo que pasa es que una gota de agua sobre una piedra hace un orificio

Ese viejo tiene su carrito y cada vez que pasa se sonríe conmigo

Va de largo, se regresa si me encuentra parada en la puerta

Me lanza un piropo y me toca el pito

Va de largo, se regresa si me encuentra parada en la puerta

Me lanza un piropo y me toca el pito

Pipipi es a cada ratito que pasa el viejito y me toca el pito

Pipipi es a cada ratito que pasa el viejito y me toca el pito

Pipipi siempre vivo pendiente

Pipi cuando el viejo me toca

Pipipi siempre vivo pendiente pi pi cuando el viejo me toca

Pipipi ya me tiene mareada con el pi pi con el pi pi con el pi pi

Con el pi pi me toca el pito pi pi me tiene mareada con el pi pi.

Bi-weekend-ly...(and the wonder that is my NOOK Color)

So, it seems like this blog will be updated bi-weekend-ly. It's the ONLY time I really have to myself, because I'm not at work (well, actually I am at work but not doing my regular work, which takes up much more than my allotted 8 hours per day and would NEVER allow time for blogging) or at home therefore my daughter isn't around to crawl/walk/climb all over me or knock anything out of my hands. Also, my boyfriend isn't around to suddenly attack me in need of "business time" ... which, naturally isn't always a bad thing. Except for when I'm sound asleep and a cold hand startles me awake...that's just not sexy, I'm sorry. I love him to bits but he has the WORST timing...but this blog isn't about him. *sigh*

What is this blog about?

Nothing, really I just felt like writing. That happens to me a lot when I've been reading incessantly (that and I start to narrate my daily life in my own head, I'm a bit of a weirdo). And since purchasing my Nook Color I haven't been able to STOP reading. Which, of course is fantastic -- I know, I know as a self-proclaimed bibliophile an e-reader goes against everything I stand for but, damn it all! I LOVE MY NOOK!!!!! I have downloaded 71 e-books since January (a special shout out to Barnes & Noble's "Free Friday," which has definitely contributed to the increase of my library). Granted, some are samples and some are short stories but it's still exponentially more reading than I did last year.

I mean the fact is that since becoming a mom I don't have the energy (let alone the space what with carrying around a diaper bag more often than a purse for myself) to carry around any books, with the Nook I can carry around 71 books in ONE slim little device. Plus, I get to read in the dark because of the fantastic backlit screen. I've always been, what my sister lovingly refers to as, a book-eater, which means once a book lures me in, I'm hooked and I can't stop reading until I've devoured every last morsel of a word. This has led to many a night spent squinting at tiny fonts with nothing more than my cell phone to illuminate the pages and at 27 years old, that's really not cutting it anymore. Because let's face it my eyesight definitely isn't what it used to be (on a different and ironic note, I think I need glasses now, whereas in the past I wore them as a fashion accessory).

In addition to all the wonderful stuff the NOOK color has for me (oh, did I forget to mention the other features? Oh, well let's see it has crossword puzzles, chess, Pandora radio and sudoku. Plus it's not only for reading books you can read magazines and newspapers too! Also it runs on Android and I've been on Team Android since the G1 came out -- which, incidentally I still own! But I digress...) it also has kid's books with a "Read To Me" feature, which will be so incredible when Isabella is a little older. And, don't worry the Read to Me books do have a Read by Myself option so I can read the book to Izzie, or when she's old enough she can read them by herself...if I let her touch my Nook, which I don't...not often...not yet.

So, all in all, while an e-reader can never truly replace the wonder that is reading a book (i.e. the intoxicating SMELL of a book), it's still a great little device and I'm simply in love with it.

Maybe Barnes & Noble can invent a Nook case that smells like an actual book...hmmm...

My ultimate search for the perfect umbrella stroller...

This all started when my lovely boyfriend and I went out for the day and he thought he could handle carrying our (at the time) 11 month old daughter around in her BABY carrier. I warned him it would put some serious strain on his back (which is already giving him trouble, he blames it on turning 28) and his shoulders. I explained I had taken her out with her carrier when she was 8 months old and she was already way too heavy for it. But he insisted and with all the macho-bravado he could muster he gave me his signature half-smile raised an eyebrow and said "c'mon, babe, I can handle it." Needless to say, we got two blocks from our building and he was already huffing and puffing all the while a string of giggles spilled out of our daughter's mouth with each bounce that resulted from her dad trying to re-adjust her into a comfortable position for him. When I saw him in distress I instantly started suggesting buying a cheap 99 cent store variety umbrella stroller. About four blocks from our building, he conceded. We stopped at a Shopper's World, spotted a Disney-princess themed super cheapo umbrella stroller and purchased it just to put my boyfriend out of his misery. It was supposed to be a temporary thing but now it's 4 months later and we're still using it.

This contraption has definitively become the BANE of my existence. I use it every morning to take my daughter to my mom's for the day while her dad and I go to work. And every day I struggle with it because it's so low that her JJ Cole Bundle Me automatically gets caught under the wheels. Her Bundle Me is constantly filthy, it's digusting and I'm so tired of it. Not to mention the flimsy canopy that has gotten all bent out of shape. The time has definitely come to invest in a better, sturdier umbrella stroller, especially since I'm walking in the March of Dimes March for Babies walk and the AIDS walk both in May.

So, for the past few weeks I've been researching better umbrella strollers on Babies R Us.com and Target.com to name a few. Thus far I really like The First Years Ignite Stroller (ranging from $38.99-$48.00 depending on the store and the theme of the stroller), Babies R Us' Butterfly stroller ($54.99) and the Maclaren Volo Stroller (a splurge at $98.00). My first two choices rank higher than the Maclaren because they take us parents into consideration in the form of a large parent console with the First Years Ignite stroller and a cup holder with the BRU Butterfly stroller. The Maclaren offers nothing for the parents other than a lower storage basket, though to be fair that's more than I can say for that disaster of an umbrella stroller that we're currently using.

All in all, I'm slowly but surely coming to the conclusion that the final decision can't be made by just perusing different strollers online, I have to go to the store and actually test them out!

Three Years Later...

Wow, it has been three years since I've posted a blog! It's not so much that I've had nothing to write about as much as it's I've had absolutely NO time to myself. You see, I've become a mommy, and as many mothers will tell you mommyhood is all-encompassing...

My daughter was born in 2009 and I feel as if I spent the whole of 2010 looking and feeling utterly bedraggled. The introduction of a baby into my life has provided me with endless experiences (funny and scary alike) that would amount to tons writing material but with zero time to actually put a pen to paper (or a finger to keyboard). The thing is, I strongly believe that to be a good mother you have to be dedicated and devote as much of your time and energy to your child possible. So, that's precisely what I did however, 2011 has signaled the arrival of a new revelation for me...dedication and devotion to your child does NOT mean letting yourself go to pot. I've dyed my hair and bought some new clothes and I'm not stopping there. I'm going to lose this baby weight if it's the last thing I do (you know, with 2012 around the corner it may very well be). Furthermore, I will make a strong and diligent effort to not let my brain detoriorate. I've been reading a lot more (something I never had the energy for during pregnancy or for the first year of my daughter's life) and now I'll be writing more too...the only difference is now I'll be writing from the point of view of my life as a mom. What am I ultimately but a writer who had a baby and became a mommy? Having my daughter hasn't made me any less of a writer and so I need to make serious changes in my life to improve it and ultimately to provide better for Isabella...ah, yes that's her name by the way. The absolute love of my life, Isabella Yamileth. Her birth story and naming story have already been written down, now let's move on to her LIFE and my life as her mom!

leprosy...

I was just thinking…well I wasn’t really thinking as much as I was browsing myspace and, you know…my sis and i are some SERIOUS outcasts in our neighborhood! Let me explain…

I was on a family member’s page simply because her status message intrigued me, so curiosity got the best of me and I decided to check if she had any new pics up. No, she had none but the pic she had as her default had been commented on by plenty of people. Including this girl in the neighborhood who is disabled… Anyhoosen! I went on her page…she has a substantial amount of friends. Including my family, of course!

And it just got me to thinking, of course this sounds cruel but it’s true damn it!, how much must everyone hate us that they actually accept and hang out with a little armless girl but not my sister and me?! I mean don’t get me wrong I think it’s great that people like her and hang out with her and they accept and hang out with that lesbodian that used to look at me funny (like she wanted to hump me) and they accept and hang out with that girl who is a closet lezzer (not only accept actually but one of the neighborhood dudes impregnated)!!!

I mean if life was a game of elementary school baseball you would think we’d get picked before them…but no. I mean at this point we might as well be lepers!

LOL…I have too much time on my hands…

Paris

I refuse to have another let's hit up a club birthday celebration.

I'm turning 25 in November and I want to celebrate it by going away. And I don't want to go somewhere local.

I want to go to PARIS. So I checked on Expedia what kind of cheap deal I could get there's a flight+hotel package for $785.00. And I'm gonna do it...I was talking to my best friend about it and it seems like she'd want to come along. but then she shitted on the whole thing because

A. there were a couple of bad reviews of the place (overall rating is a 3.2 out of 5 aka GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!!)
and

B. by saying we should bring her friend along because she speaks french.

what am I? Like I didn't study french for 3 years at Hunter?!

ugh...what's up with people? always feeling the need to bring someone else along? if i'm asking you to come it's because I want to share the experience with you. NOT you+1.

for that matter, she just shouldn't come at all...

I'll bring someone else or go by myself, fuck that shit.

never ever thought I would leave him alone but I let a dog roam now he wanna come home...

my boyfriend thinks I'm going to dump him on december 14th. pretty damn specific, eh? well he seems to have these pseudo psychic dreams. and in his most recent I broke up with him on his cousin's bday I gave no explanation other than to say "I have my reasons." in all honesty he's paranoid. paranoid about any lingering feelings I may still have for my ex. I don't really blame him, after all his previous girlfriends have left him for their exes at an alarming rate. the percentage is astounding, and gives him every reason to doubt my feelings. except I'm me. that's the difference...well then again that may make him think my sentiments dubious more than anything else. see, my ex..hmm...well I felt he was the one, you know the ONE, for years. I waited for him--he was my first and everything. my one and only, my love, my life, my soulmate. but he broke my heart too many damn times. and I had to let him go. like keyshia cole says "if he aint gonna love you the way he should, then let him go" and that's what I've done. however he recently contacted my sister to tell her that he still loves me. well what can I say but... "don't trust him, though I still love him no longer want him..."--there will always be a soft spot for him but I'm not IN love with him. he's just a bit of nostalgia. me and E we're in for the long run.