So I've Been Blogging...

After a very long hiatus, I started blogging again.  I always enjoyed blogging, but didn't enjoy the feeling that I had to blog X amount of times per week or month.  It wasn't like I made some binding commitment to blog a certain amount of times per month.  It was just like this personal standard that I held myself to and it made me sad that I wasn't meeting it.  Not sure why.  I'm weird like that.  I obviously forgot about that standard over time and, well, fell off the blogging wagon.

But anyway, I'm back.  And I've been blogging for several weeks.  You just haven't seen these posts because I never published them.  They were top secret material.  Until now.

The secret is out: the husband and I are expecting our first child.  A baby.  Us, parents.  I know, right?

So far this experience has been both exciting and scary.  Exciting for obvious reasons: we get to welcome a mini-us into our lives!  Scary cuz this is an entirely new experience and it caught us just a little off-guard.  We started off as very clueless about what to expect, but we have been adapting well.  Overall, it has been fun and keeps getting better with every passing week.  It has also given me inspiration to write again and document this very exciting chapter.

I am about 22 weeks along now, so I'll be hitting that publish button on quite a few backlogged posts.  Here goes nothing!

New

What up blog world.  Is anyone still out there?  Do I still have followers?  No?  Didn't think so.

Let me just say that I truly miss blogging.  Enough so that I'm going to attempt to give it another go.  The thing is, my little outlet in the interwebs has been so terribly neglected.  I'm not quite sure how to jump back into this thing.  Slowly?  Gently?  

It's not that I'm lacking inspiration to post.  I've got plenty to share: new adventures, fun experiences, sweet photos from the streets of LA, stories about getting into trouble in some corner of the world.  But just thinking about backtracking to post about all that shit is overwhelming.  So let's just focus on the present.  K?

More to come.  Peace.

Hubs & I.  August 2013. 

By the way, I really sort of despise the layout of this blog.  Hearts?  Crumbled notebook paper!  Really!?  WTF.  This needs to change.  This will change.

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.

A Year In Fotos

Happy New Year!

Wow, 2011 really flew by.  It was a whirlwind of a year, one full of adventure and so many memorable moments. As I look back on this past year, I can't help but feel overwhelmingly lucky for the good things that have come our way.  We have wonderful families and friends, a warm home in a city and community that we adore, the sweetest pug, fulfilling careers, our health, and much more.  How do we deserve all of this?  I truly do not know, but I am so very grateful for such a positive year.  With that in mind, I resolve to approach this new year with that same appreciation and gratefulness.

Last year, I resolved to take a picture every day and post it on this blog.  And, (surprise!) I totally failed at that!  But don't worry because I'm about to make it all up with this post right here.  I did manage to take a ton of pictures, so I'll share a few of my favorite events from each month in 2011.  Ready..set...go!

JANUARY

Happy birthday to me!  I turned 27.  I like getting this aging thing over with early on in the year.  Thanks mom&dad for the January bday. ;-)  Husband took me to José  Andrés' The Bazaar for dinner.  It's been one of my most memorable dining experiences in Los Angeles (liquid nitrogen caipirinha - hells yess)  I remember I was starting to come down with a bad bug, though, so my appetite was not all there.  Maybe I'll get a re-do this year?  wink wink

FEBRUARY

I visited Philadelphia for the first time.  It was a quick business trip, but I still loved being able to visit a new city.  Plus, I got to see some old friends and meet their new daughter for the first time.  Win!

MARCH

Spain!  25 days: husband, me, our backpacks, and a loosely-structured itinerary.  We explored and ate our way through Madrid, Sevilla, Malaga, Granada, Barcelona, Roses, Valencia, and Alicante.  It was UNREAL.  Did this really happen?  I mean we got to fucking eat at El Bulli (which I am still determined to blog about one day).  Anyway, the pictures remind me that yes this was indeed real.

APRIL

A recovery month.  Lazy days at the lake with family.  A reminder that life is fleeting and precious.

MAY

A celebration trip to Berkeley!  The brother-in-law graduated college.  ::raise the roof::

Memorial day weekend at Palm Springs with the homies from work.  Many thanks to the big boss man for letting us borrow his condo.  Just a quiet, relaxing weekend in the desert.  Absolutely no revelry went on here.  ;)

JUNE

Playboy Jazz festival at the Hollywood Bowl.  So much fun!  The diversity of the crowd and the music really made this a memorable event.

JULY

Girls trip to Las Vegas.  No husbands allowed!  Can't post any more pictures.  You know what they say: what happens in Vegas...

AUGUST

Hello wedding season!  Our good friends got married in Seattle, giving us the perfect excuse for a mini getaway and a chance to explore this city for the first time.

SEPTEMBER

Another wedding, another new city to discover!  It was so much fun spending a weekend with our college buddies.  And Denver is beeeaautiful.

OCTOBER

LA County Fair time!

A weekend camping trip to Sequoia.  Unexpected snowy conditions made this an interesting but memorable experience!

NOVEMBER

2 year wedding anniversary already?!  This event deserved a relaxing retreat in San Diego.  <3

 

More new cities to discover: Minneapolis/St Paul!  This was a business trip for me, but the husband joined me for the weekend for sightseeing and silliness at the parks.  

Happy Thanksgiving!  We enjoyed a delicious homemade dinner at my parent's house.  Let the holidays begin!

DECEMBER

The first day of the month is always a celebration: it's the husband's birthday!  Happy 27 to my favorite person.  I took him to Tagine- a very cozy and charming Moroccan restaurant.  And the food?  Ridiculously delicious.

 

I've got another birthday to celebrate in December: my nephew turned 2 - yay!  My brother and his girlfriend, my sister, and I took him to Disneyland for the first time.  The little munchkin l.o.v.e.d. it.  Watching him light up as he met Buzz Lightyear for the first time was so freaking adorable.  

Happy holidays!  We hosted our first holiday party with its very own photo booth.  It was a blast.

And finally: Winter Roadtrip 2011.  Company shutdowns meant a week of doing whatever the hell we wanted, so we loaded up the car and drove east.

Stop #1: Arizona.  Grand Canyon to be exact.  Crazy impressive.  We really want to go back and ride a mule down to the bottom of the canyon.  Maybe when the weather is warmer?

Oh what?  Utah is only 3 hours away?  Let's do this!

Stop #2: Zion National Park

Hiking up to Angel's Landing was probably the craziest? stupidest? reckless? genius? I don't know..whatever type of decision it was.  Either way, it was spontaneous and fucking scary.  It's not so much physically challenging as it was mentally challenging.  But we didn't fall down the steep cliffs.  And it was awesome.

Made it to the top!!!

We continued the trend of recklessness by doing the Hidden Canyon trail on day 2 at Zion.  This seemed like more of an obstacle course with all of the dang rocks and logs we had to climb over.  A beautiful and breathtaking trail, nonetheless.

Stop #3: Las Vegas!

One night in sin city was enough for us.  We were eager to get back to LA to ring in the new year.

We ended the year with a bang surrounded by good friends and good drinks.  Dance party included.

Last picture of 2011!

Busy year, right?  2012 has a lot to live up to, but I am certain that it won't disappoint.  Let's get this party started!