Tres

Photo by Phoebe Joy Photography

Three years ago on this day, we made a vow to love and stand by each other through good and bad times alike.  Today that vow holds as strong as ever. 

Year three saw some of the best moments we've ever experienced together.  Moments that remind us why we chose to experience this crazy ride together, as a team.  Moments that we live for. 

Year three also saw us at our worst.  More recently, year three handed us a loss that no couple should ever have to go through.  It left us heartbroken and jaded. 

Although this experience has made for a really sour start to year four, I have faith that this year has many positive things in store for us.  We're working on fixing those broken hearts and regaining that laughter that existed when this photo was taken.  I've been reminded time after time for these past couple of weeks why I fell in love with you.  You continue to be my strength, my best friend.

Today we stand stronger and more aware.  We are ready to move on and make year four the best one yet. Happy 3 year anniversary to us.  :)

Summer Snippets

Another season gone, another long period of time of no blogging.  What's new, huh?

What can I say, life has been...busy.  I constantly find myself playing catch-up, but never fully getting there.  A royal shitstorm of school, work, family, and everything in between will do that to you.  Not complaining.  Just, explaining?  I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.  It's not bad, really.  Keeps things exciting, keeps me on my toes.

Summer is long gone and Autumn is in full swing.  But Summer was fun and eventful enough to merit its own blog post.  I had one pesky Summer class to complete, but besides that a lot of good things happened.  As per typical TeamClaudiaFelipe blogging-fashion, I present a photo diary of what we've been up to (Summer version).

Community:

DTLA, I can't get over you.  New restaurants, bars, shops popping up seemingly overnight.  A new local haunt opened up its doors this summer.  Check out the sweet upstairs, al fresco dining patio:

Kitchen Table DTLA: overhead-strung lights and Méliès movies create a very Euro ambiance   

This isn't the only new spot we've visited over the summer, but I point it out cuz A) it's awesome, and B) they served us foie gras after that foolish ban went into place in California.  Take that, system.

What's a summer without community festivals?  Bloomfest, in particular, was super fun.  It's a celebration of the Arts District.  And if you've ever been to the Arts District you know that it deserves to be celebrated. Every day.

Happy husband with beer at Wurstkuche

The Grand Performances summer concert series never disappoints.  When I heard that one of the performance nights was going to be a tribute concert to Cachao López, I couldn't miss out.  My parents joined husband and I to a night of seriously good Cuban music.

Fitness-related: 

We joined a new gym!  I've been dying to join Crossfit, and we finally made it happen.  We are obsessed.  We can't stop WODing.  We probably annoy every non-Crossfit person that we talk to because we can't stop talking about it.  Another perk - I've always wanted to live within walking distance of my gym.  You know, where you can just wake up in the morning and walk to the gym?  Well that's possible now!  It makes life so much easier.

Zumba!  This year I gave myself this silly personal goal of getting certified as a Zumba instructor.  Well I caught a break one weekend and decided to go for it.  The training class was a ton of fun!  I can't believe I actually went through with it, but here I am.  I taught my first classes a few weeks ago.  Major check off of my life to-do list.

Travel:
Can't complain about Summer travel.  My college roomie/bestie/Filipino-Indian sista moved to Manhattan a couple years ago.  I've been meaning to visit her, so I made it happen on Memorial Day weekend.

The High Line: the ultimate urban park. I want one of these in LA.

I made it a point to visit this ice cream shop.  Well worth the wait in line.

Brooklyn Bridge-ing

Catching up with girlfriends.  Priceless.

Times Square

Also: a trip to Central and South America.  Early in the summer, husband and I decided to get out of the country for at least a week.  It had been too long since we took a good vacation.  We settled on a week in Costa Rica.  Then, an opportunity presented itself at work.  Through a good turn of events we were able to tack on an extra week in Colombia.

First, Costa Rica:  it was beautiful.   We spent our first three days in the cloud forest of Alajuela.  It was the most relaxed and pampered we had felt in a long time.  The days were beautiful, and at night a very gentle rain would set in.  We would sit in our patio in the dark, fireflies buzzing around us, while watching lightning storms miles away.  Surreal.

Our little cabin in the clouds.

Breakfast and morning fog.

Road scenery

3 days later, we left the cloud forest for the beach in Manuel Antonio.

 

We arrived to the resort just in time for happy hour.  Guaro Sours and ocean views.

August is apparently low season in Costa Rica because it rains more than usual.  As a result, crowds were pretty much nonexistent at the beach and at our hotel.  And by rainy season, it means that it rains for like 2 hours out of the day.  Not bad at all.

Manuel Antonio

Guaro Sours at the empty hotel pool

Three days at the beach was enough for us.  We were eager to continue our adventures to the next country.  After a night in San Jose, we were off to South America.  By the way, have I told you how badly I've wanted to go to Colombia for like..my entire life? Although we were only able to stay in Bogotá for the week, it was a.maz.ing.  First, I got to do some work there which was an amazing experience in itself.  I gave my first presentation in Spanish to a group of doctors (scary!), and I got to meet some really inspiring people.  Then, exploring time... Bogotá is an incredible city.

We arrived on a Saturday night, dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and hopped on a cab.  We ended up at a restaurant-turned-salsa club on our first night.  It quickly turned in to one of the most memorable nights of our lives, and one of the best of this trip.  The food, for one, was one of the best Colombian meals we had.  The mixed drinks were fresh and deceivingly strong.  We also tried aguardiente for the first time!  The crowd was diverse and a mix of young and old alike, all having the time of their life. After 11pm, a Colombian salsa band took the stage.  The entire place was so into it; everyone was dancing.  Random instruments at some of the tables seemed to pop out of nowhere to play along with the band.  The place literally came alive; the energy was palpable.  My first night was everything I had ever imagined Colombia to be, plus more.

All I had on me that night was my cell phone, and ID. I managed to take one blurry picture because, honestly, taking pictures was the last thing on my mind at this moment.

Besides falling in love with Colombian culture, we did a fair amount of sightseeing.

Plaza Bolivar

At the Botero Museum

Making friends, as usual.

Jumping on the teleferico to Monserrate

Views atop el cerro de Monserrate

Colombian days

We couldn't leave Bogotá without paying a visit to Andres Carne de Res.  I'm not quite sure how to explain this place.  A mix of restaurant/bar/discotheque/fantasyland/party-on-crack?  The place is insane.  The food was to die for.  The ambiance unlike any other.  We drank mojitos out of bowls the size of our heads while being serenaded by wandering bands baptizing you with confetti and Colombian hats.  We made friends with the lovely couple sitting next to us and danced the night away to vallenato and Carlos Vives (yet another major check off of my life to-do list).  It was the perfect end to our trip.

Best night of our Colombian experience: Part II

There you have it.  One season all rolled up into one giant blog post.  Summer 2012 wasn't too shabby after all.  I'm really missing those carefree days, especially because Autumn hasn't been the best.  But that's another post for another day.  If I ever get to it.