Traveling to the Middle East

TWO MONTHS SINCE MY LAST BLOG!??! sheesh!

I'm in Istanbul, Turkey. En route to the Middle East for a Film Festival. This is going to be an experience of a lifetime.

More soon!

Homemade Arepas on a Lazy Saturday Morning

Today Spanish Guy and I collaborated on the making of a home made international breakfast. 

On the Menu alla Our House:

To Drink:

Fresh squeezed Florida Orange Juice

Colombian Coffee with Almond Milk

Water

To Eat:

Arepas made with Maseca and olive oil (sent from Spain by my mother-in-law) and a pinch of salt (recipe given to us by one of our very special friends)

Fresh Mexican Cheese and tomatoes

Pineapple Yogurt

It was delish! I love lazy weekends!

This is my Saturday Morning

It's Saturday morning and I'm lounging on my cream colored movie sofa, my legs are dangling from the arm rest and my head is propped up on top of a squooshed together down filled blanket that my mother gave me last year when we went camping in below freezing temperatures. 

This is my Saturday morning. Spanish guy is still sleeping and I'm getting hungry.

This past week I've had off from work because of minor surgery I had to get done, so I spent my days writing in my journal, having coffee, walking around the park and not talking so much (it was surgery on my mouth, I still have quite a few stitches in, and they are super annoying, it's almost as if I forgot to remove some floss after a very hygienic mouth cleansing session, it's just chillin in my mouth).

But I'm trying to make the best of it. In a few days I'll be in Ireland at a wedding and two weeks ago Spanish Guy and I returned from a southern USA Road Trip that was quite special. We got to visit my cousin and one of our closest friends from Spain. This afternoon we have a BBQ Pool Party in Staten Island and tomorrow I'm having "dinner" with friends. (I put dinner in quotes cause I'm lucky if I could get a chip in my mouth with the limited movement I have at the moment!)

Well, this is my Saturday morning, and this is my life.

I still cant eat, but will make some homemade Arepas for Spanish Guy and I will vicariously eat through him this morning...

Happy weekend!

My best friend is moving out of the country

This is nothing new to me. I'm used to my friends leaving. And I'm used to leaving myself. But it's still sad. Two weekends ago we took a last minute trip to Ft Lauderdale and Miami, just us girls. We stayed two nights and lived the fabulous life.

I'm going to miss these moments with her. She was my friend since kindergarten, we traveled around the world together: throughout Europe, Costa Rica, Panama, Quebec and of course Miami... sigh...

A piece of me will go with her. Who will I dance with now? Who will I travel with? What will I do???

Ugh, I hate this feeling...

Hiking near NYC: Sterling Forest State Park

This trail was amazing, about five miles of pure serenity, with river crossings and a few steep climbs. I recommend this for any first time hikers that want a long, quiet, beautiful great high/low hiking trail.

Spanish guy and I were all smiles and the length was just right for us. The weather was amazing today as well, 65 degrees. After hiking along a flat road and up a light hill, we had to take off our shoes to cross the river, and the sensation on the bottom of our feet felt like a cold stone massage.  At the beginning of the trail we passed by (what we later found out were) relics of former mining activity. Old beautiful abandoned buildings from the 1700's They were beautiful and erie. The hike ended with a few short steep rocky paths and brought us straight out to our car. It was perfect for our Sunday afternoon. We had a nice lunch afterward.  

Oh yeah, it's only 45 minutes from NYC as well!

Hubby crossing the river

blocking the bugs from getting in my hair

gorgeous.

Growing our Own Food in Manhattan

We started a HARVEST in Manhattan! I'm SO excited! 

Our apartment has a balcony, so today we went upstate to hike and on the way back, we bought some plants and a tree. We also planted seeds that we bought: Tomatoes, Cantaloupe, Beets and Onions. Once they all start sprouting (in a few weeks), we'll move them into a planting box and there our new food plants will live and flourish! We can't wait until they grow and we can eat our own home-grown food in the middle of Manhattan!

It was so nice to get my hands dirty and transplant all these babies today! l love it!

Visiting the Museum of the City of New York

A NATIVE NEW YORKER AND HER SPANIARD HUSBAND

Spanish Guy and I spent this afternoon at the Museum of the City of NYC. Unlike other museums where I've mostly felt detached from the exhibited works, this museum spoke to me culturally (Besides the activist exhibit not including the Young Lords and the Black Panthers)! I grew up in NYC, so I enjoyed seeing how the city has changed over the years and learning about the major players (JACOB RIIS, THE HENRY STREET SETTLEMENT, ETC) and of course, there was a general theme of resilience among the many who have called NYC their home.

We really enjoyed the video of the history of New York and learned that NYC Shipping was the first to develop the concept of transportation schedules, as opposed to leaving when boats (or any mode of transportation) was full . Full or not, New York started following a set schedule. CRAZY!

Visiting this museum was an inspiring experience and made me feel proud to be a New Yorker. I left feeling refreshed culturally!

In-Laws Visiting NYC

My in-laws from Spain were in NYC visiting last week. It was my husbands long-lost brother and his girlfriend. They were here for 10 days (a lot for NYC)!


We visited:

• Yankee Stadium & the South Bronx
• A Baptist Church in Harlem and the Apollo
• Brooklyn Heights and the River Cafe
• The Brooklyn Bridge
• Empire State Building
• Chinatown and Little Italy
• A Nets Game at the Barclays Center
• Shopping in Soho, Harlem and the Woodbury Common Outlets
• TimeSquare of course
• The Museum of Natural History
• The Chelsea Market and the High Line
• Dancing and Karaoke in the West Village!

We ate:

• Mexican food
• lots of Hamburgers (not me though, I'm a Vegetarian)
• Sushi
• Traditional American Breakfasts at lots of different Diners
• Mac and Cheese
• Cuban food at Havana Central (Delish)
• Applebees por su puesto
• Drank at lots of NYC Happy Hours

It was amazing to be able to spend so much time with my Spanish Family and talk in Spanish and see NYC through their eyes! Sometimes you need to look at things through a new lens.

A few pics:

Happy Birthday to my sis-in-law, WEST VILLAGE, NYC

Barclays Center, NETS GAME

Bro-in-law, LIKE A TRUE NYer

APPLEBEES, Woodbury Common OUtlets

The Brothers! love them

Our Third Wedding Anniversary in NYC: Lady Gaga's Restaurant, Off-Broadways Shows & MORE!

Last week Spanish Guy and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary. It was our first celebration not traveling so we wanted to make the most of our local celebrations. We didn't have ANY time to plan (the life of NYC working professionals) SO the big day arrived and we were left walking around the charming streets of manhattan-- in the brisk cold with soft steam seeping out of the crease of our lips, we dogged a yellow taxi and helped each other safety cross over black ice, with no reservations, looking for a romantic cozy restaurant.

Luckily, one of the first ones that we saw turned out to be more special than we could have ever imagined. It was a small Italian Restaurant on the Upper West Side called Joannes.

It turned out that it was LADY GAGA's RESTAURANT...

Complementary Dessert from Joannes-- for our anniversary, so sweet!

L-O-V-E

Four years ago when Spanish guy and I moved to NYC a friend of mine gave us free tickets to see Lady Gaga at Madison Sq Garden. It was a magical experience, and one that we never forgot (we were so poor and so disconnected from USA pop culture for years before this). So to be celebrating for the first time in NYC a few feet away from Lady Gagas' Family was SO special to us. We feel like the universe works with us. Things have always fell into place for us and we are so grateful for that.

Besides the amazing Italian Dinner and hours of conversation reflecting on our last year together, that weekend we exchanged gifts, went to see Stomp (bought for us by a dear friend) and went to the Spanish Tapas Chain, Cien Mondaditos! 

What a memorable Wedding Anniversary in NYC

The off-Broadway show, STOMP, a wedding anniversary gift

Cien Montaditos, NYC

Montaditos and Chips from Cien Montaditos, NYC

And of course, we exchanged gifts. I bought my hubby a personalized (leather) gift from Red Envelope and he bought me a super European outfit (with Leather-- the theme of the third anniversary-- shirt and bottom) from Club Monaco (one of my favorite shops).

ON TO OUR FOURTH YEAR! Next blog theme: how we maintain happiness in our marriage as the years go on.

Valentines Day, 2014

Today is Valentines Day, 2014. Last year we spent Vee-Day at JFK in route to Spain. It was super romantic, charming and amazing! This year we decided to relax a bit and enjoy our own environment-- a laid back evening of romance right in our own backyard. We go out almost every night, so going out on Valentines Day won't make for a special night, instead we were thinking of heading out to NYC's Sex Museum then spending the evening at our magical apartment with some wine and pizza. 

It's the small things that count in life sometimes.