retail therapy fail.

This weekend is my weekend escape to South Beach and my friend Silvia is going to Napa Valley in California. We thought we'd pass by the mall for some retail therapy to make up for the blah feeling we were in earlier in the day and pick up some cute outfits for our trips. For her, it was a success. For me, a giant F A I L. The good news tho, is that she has a jean vest she's probably had since the 90's that she's letting me borrow. SCORE. Now, if only i could find a cute outfit to put underneath this vest.  i'm sure i've got something in that closet of mine.  Here are some of the things i would have liked to add to my closet but had to put down and keep walking. 

BCBG textured tube skirt

Steve Madden Fiesstaa

ALDO Bolling

i always wanted white distressed jeans but didn't even see those anywhere. maybe that's a good thing. 

is it really Monday.?

Papi's back home from Spain.! 

he surprised me and my sister by coming a week earlier than he told us.  Friday morning when we were sitting down eating my mom's bday dinner my aunt called and told me someone wanted to talk to me.... it was papi.! imagine everyone's surprise when i said 'hi papi' haha.. everyone's head at the table popped up.  seeing him wasn't gonna happen friday since it was mami's day and we already had plans.  

he hadn't seen my sister or Jamel in a year so vicky made a nice dinner for him at her place Saturday night.

A lobster and shrimp dinner.

Yea, she did it up.

Over dinner, my dad offered to watch the baby jamel so my sister and i could go out.  We dolled up and went out to Ft. Lauderdale. 

Then yesterday, i went down to my aunt's for dinner.. lechon asado. moro. avacado. all we were missing was the yuca. Stayed the night down there at my cousin's after watching the HBO Sunday night line up with him and wifey stephany and their two adorable puppies.  And today chilled by the pool with my dad and aunt all afternoon.  one of those 'ahhhhhh' days. so lovely. did i really just type 'lovely'.?!! ha.! 

listen

JayZ   Rihanna  Kanye 

Run This Town

Life’s a game but it's not fair

I break the rules so I don’t care

So i keep doing my own thing

walking tall against the rain

victory’s within the mile

almost there don’t give up now

only thing thats on my mind 

is who’s gon run this town tonight

cutie

Spread Artculture magazine

happy birthday

to the most

loving,

unselfish,

supportive,

independent,

hard working,

beautiful,

caring,

strong,

and best role model/mother any woman could ever have.

i could only hope to be the woman she is.

and of course... the 3 of us 

[we really need an updated pic]

ps.. Jennifer Lopez also celebrates her birthday today :) 

fun in the sun

Remember that Little Black Dress event I told you guys about last week.?  Well, there was a raffle for some prizes and everyone that had a drink was entered.  Not that i would have needed an excuse for a drink. haha. so anyway, i got an email the other day from the events manager that i had won one of the prizes.!! i thought it was kinda cool to win something, you know.?  i wasn't really expecting much... maybe a gift certificate to go back to the spot, which would have been nice.  uh, no. i get there today to pick up my prize and the lady walks out with a freaking bag and starts pulling shit out.  I won a 3 day, 2 night stay at this really nice hotel on South Beach, a gift card to Bliss Spa, and a very large bottle of vodka. :))))))  WOW. i'm pretty excited. i'm thinking of taking my bottle down there and drinking and tanning the weekend away at South Beach.  whaddathink.?!? who's coming.??! lol 

i didn't have the best of days yesterday so this was a definite pick me up and now i can't stop smiling.. :))  God's way of tellin me to stop trippin.??  extra xoxo today.

word

"Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."

-Buddha

retail therapy

7:45 am.  that's what time i set my alarm for this morning.  and i surprised myself by NOT hitting snooze.  had some business i had to handle today.  But, before heading out the door, there was something i wanted to do.  I've been in such a cranky mood lately so i wanted to get back in the habit of my 'vero time.'  I put the alarm earlier than i really needed to be up to make sure that i had time. made myself a nice egg sandwich with my cafe con leche and did the ME thing... just sat still..  no thoughts in my head just a smile on my face. i almost forgot how good it felt. Then, i set off to my productive morning.  So productive in fact, that i thought i should reward myself LOL.. 

i told myself to only buy ONE thing: the romper. but then, i found the distressed jeans i JUST blogged about. kindof. they're not the loose boyfriend fit. but they were so cute and inexpensive. i couldn't pass them up. i know. i know. shame on me. but then, to make it worse, as i was waiting in line, i saw them. the glasses. the clear nerd glasses that i DO NOT need but could not stand to put back. 

they're long and i'm short so i will wear them cuffed up 

BTW.. i finally got to wear my purple AA pocket dress over the weekend when i went downtown. it is the most comfortable dress ever. might just be my new go to. 

"Everyday is my day. I'ma do it my way. Everyday." 

on the hunt

i all of a sudden have the biggest craving for a cupcake. not really so random since i'm always craving something sweet.  i'm thinking one of these afternoons i should go to a nice bakery/cafe and enjoy a delicious cupcake with a cup of coffee.  only problem is, i don't know of any such bakery/cafe.  this is my new mission: to find one.  i live in south florida.  if you know of any spots... lemme know.! 

[finding this picture only made it worse]

Entourage

I'm sure by now everyone's heard of the HBO series Entourage.  I had always heard it was the guy's version of Sex And The City.  Not having seen it myself, I didn't really get what all the hype was about.  Last season I saw a few episodes and liked it but didn't have HBO to keep up with the show.  Well, I do now.  I watched the season 6 premiere the other night and, i will admit, it did make me want to join the group of people around the country sitting by their TVs on Sunday nights to watch.  But, with as much as i liked the show, one thing i was paying more attention to was Sloan and her distressed boyfriend style jeans.  I liked the whole outfit, but let's be honest, it is way too hot in south florida for me to rock a blazer.  I've been trying to find a picture of her from that episode for the past half hour with no success.  I'm sure there's somewhere you can go online to watch the episode. 

the jeans: 

7 for all mankind

ZCD

bebe

love them. need them in my closet.

changes

i'm trying to change things up a bit so i created a GMail account that goes with the blog.  well, actually, i created a whole 'contact me' section so along with the email there's a link to my twitter and my facebook.  so now you guys can email me.! and to take it to the next level, i added this email to my BlackBerry.  what may seem like something so small made me a very happy person today since i'm usually lost with anything to do with computers and i did it all by myself.  i didn't ask anybody for help ((except to ask Nicole if it worked lol)).  The fact that i made my email address a clickable link AND added it to my phone was a huge achievement for me today... LOL so if you have any tips, questions, or ideas... EMAIL ME :) 

"Pleasure is always derived from something outside you, whereas joy arises from within." 

Eckhart Tolle  

lemme get some skins

my poor little MacBook is starting to look very plain to me.  My solution: a skin. i've been searching online for the perfect one and have found some very cute ones.  I fell in love when i found a fafi one that someone made. grrr to my technologically illiterate self.! i wish i knew how to make one. 

love this:

if you know how to design skins pretty please with sprinkles on top help. :)

i want a cute fafi one.

home alone

moms and yeya went to Disney for the weekend and left me home alone... 

 i kept myself busy out of the house with good friends so i wouldn't miss my mom and our routine family weekends. 

Downtown Delray

the girls (and Jamel) got together Saturday for an afternoon downtown.  We had lunch, cupcakes, and walked around.  In front of the museum they have a replica of the LOVE sculpture in pink for barbies 50th birthday.. 

Little Black Dress event with my aunt Saturday night

word.

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others.  For beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness.  And for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.

-Audrey Hepburn 

the 'checklist'

I had a conversation this morning about this little thing called 'the checklist.'  You know those wo(men) out there that will just date anybody just to have a man (or chic).? Or maybe not anybody, but they don't expect things that you should at a certain age.  Or the ones that have the wrong things on their minds.. things that shouldn't matter.  Anyway, what was a very funny conversation lead me to this blog.

Most people have certain standards (or at least should) when it comes to who they date.  This may not be a written on paper checklist but it sure is mental.  And it's different for everybody.  This is, in my opinion, what someone in their mid 20s should look for. Let's see. and i know i'ma get heat for this.

• at least your age.  18 year olds are so eager to please and so darn cute but, no... and younger than 18 is jail time.
• a car. how are you going to get around to your......
• job*.. and playing video games all day is not a job. 
• GOALS/AMBITIONS
• morals/values: don't try to holla with your wedding band shining in the sunlight (oh, it's happened lol)
• no more than 1 kid ...
• and no (or very minimal) babymommadrama
• an education* please know the difference between their, they're, and there/ our, are 
• treat your mom/sister/grandma with respect
• good hygiene 
• hold a conversation (about things other than just who's album is about to drop)
• dress code on point (this does not mean you gotta be rockin LV or true religion, just make what you got work... please no Ed Hardy tho)
• sense of humor. 
• thoughtful

*or working on it. 

LOL

because 'he's cute' just isn't gonna cut it anymore.

sidenote: this is just a joke not to be taken [100%] seriously.  lololol

Pick ups

I went to the library this afternoon and picked up 3 new books.  ((i'm not really sure that i can call books from the library a pick up since i have to return them, but oh well.)) 

• The Wishing Year by Noelle Oxenhandler (came highly recommended after my love for Eat, Pray, Love)
  
• Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult 
  
• Buddha by Deepak Chopra
  

I decided to get another Jodi Picoult because I really like her books (at least the ones I've read so far).  I didn't read My Sister's Keeper.  I cheated and saw the movie, but heard the endings are different ((wtfff)).. But I read The Tenth Circle and Change of Heart and liked them both.   

Then, I went to the mall.  Not to shop ((for real)) just to get some Chick-Fil-A, but i ended up walking out with a cute new skirt.  I saw one that i really wanted on the mannequin in the window, walked in to grab it but they didn't have my size (boo), and got a similar one instead. I was in and out in 5 minutes. Hmm, now i wanna go back tomorrow and get the other one. aaaand i really want a romper or two for the summer but can't seem to find any in the stores.  it is too hot for pants.  i want to be in shorts, skirts, and dresses all summer.

[the one i saw in the window]

[the one i purchased]

can you tell i like the black and white print designs.??! 

that picture does my new skirt NO justice so i decided to model it... plus i'm bored and really excited to have a cute new skirt.

dear forever21, you rock my world.

mascara love

i meant to do a post about mascaras a while back but just forgot.  I saw a video blog of Kim K and her makeup artist (not sure which one since she has so many 'favorites').. but i'm thinking it was Mario.  The reason i liked this one so much was because he used a drug store mascara and i love me some mascara but am not about dropping $25 for it. So of course, i love a good drug store mascara.  He used the L'Oreal Voluminous.  Make up artists are usually promoting more expensive mascaras so i thought 'wow.. this must be good.'  

I went out to Target, bought it, and tried it.  In my opinion, it's not all that.  I mean, i've been using it because i bought it, but will i run out and get it again when it's time.?? nahh.  My fav 'big lash' mascara is the Cover Girl Lash Blast. love love love it.  it gives those big lashes that you want when you got out at night.  I've tried others, but always go back to this one.  I even bought it for my mom bc she has very little lashes and she fell in love. 

and a good length mascara for daytime.? i use the L'Oreal Telescopic and really like it.  The brush is so thin and applies evenly to all lashes.  It creates the most beautiful long lashes.   

   

throwback

 ... and jamel (who is sitting on my lap 'helping' me blog today)

4th

i hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July.!

i started mine off with jamel in my face, of course.  but at least this time it was to kisses, not staring and yelling.  so.. that's always a nice way to wake up.  headed to my aunt's house for the family bbq thing. cheeseburgers.. baked beans.. YUM.

my mom bought jamel a floaty suit thing cuz this kid loves the pool, but doesn't know how to swim yet.

then, we went to Nikki's to do the night BBQ.

jamel and julianna together are so cute.

theeeeen we walked to the beach to watch the fireworks.

i guess we forgot that we live in south florida and walking in the 102 degree weather mixed with the nasty humidity wouldn't be a good idea... i'm tellin you.. thank God i been rockin the natural hair.. lol 

... and i ended my night with a yummy chocolate 4th of July cupcake :)