Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The sights and sounds of UIC

Jackie,
Did you know that there is a student video contest going on at UIC?  Me neither, until yesterday!!! Check out the entry below:



What other scenes would your video include?  Go Flames!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Six days and counting!

Dear Jackie,
                                        
Hope you had a great weekend.  I had a very nice one.  It had a great mix of family, friends, to-do list, and me time. This upcoming week is going to be jam packed one with party details and errands.  It's Diana's birthday luau celebration on Saturday!  Her bday was earlier in the month but we are finally celebrating it in complete Diana style. For her actual birthday day we went out to eat at this great restaurant named Irazu.  It was yummy! Plus, we "celebrated" the Chicago Blackhawks wining the Stanley Cup in honor of our bday girl.
Us(Wendy, Rosie, Liz, Yesenia, me and Diana) at Irazu on Diana's BDay!


I can't wait and don't worry I will take tons of pics and it would be great if we could skype you in.  Happy Monday and talk to you soon.
Idalia 

Sunday, June 27, 2010

The travels, the city, the summer...

Dear Jackie!

Muraho (hello)! I came back thinking I can speak Kinyarwanda, not true! lol I just wanted to quickly tell you that I really enjoyed my trip to Rwanda! It was great! The only thing was that I got eaten up by mosquitoes, and I will tell you very dramatically like I've told everyone else: My gorgeous legs are ruined for the summer!!!!!!!!!!!! (imagine me saying that with a bit of drama involved! lol). I was not going to post a picture of them, but since I have shown everyone else, I thought you should see it as well! Not flattering at all, but hey, what you gonna do? At least they'll be a conversation starter when someone comments on how tared up my legs are! lol I'll be trying to post more about it on my blog. I've been working on it but it seems soo long, I think I will overwhelm people with the details, although they may mean much to me. But keep an eye out for that!
I have been so busy since I came back, but good busy for the most part. Enjoying some good quality time with the family and also enjoying the summer in the city! Last weekend we went to the Puerto Rican Fest with Liz and Stephanie. We missed the parade and most of the festivities, but we still tried some delicious pomegranate ice cream and saw a couple of very good looking cops! I also got a song stock in my head, like I usually do, I repeated the whole week after! La de: Que bonita bandera, que bonita bandera, que bonita bandera, la bandera Puerto Riquena!

That same night a friend invited me to a house part, and guess what? They had a live banda! Steph and Liz came with and it was lots of fun. They walked in the alley to surprise the B-Day boy and the whole neighborhood came out. They were loud! Then the cops came but they were nice and one older white cop even stayed to hear and watch the "last" song, he seemed very entertained. But little did he know, la parranda seguiria adentro! It was too funny because the place was very small and the band members were at least 15, plus the instruments, plus all of us! But it was lots of fun.

This weekend I went to the Summer Dance at the park to do some Chicago style steppin'! I had soo much fun. I went to see if I could find the "black" love of my live, but instead found a group of old white ladies that could throw it down on the dance flo! LOL I had so much fun dancing that I forgot for a lil that I was there to find my love jaja! I think dancing IS my love...
Iliana, Liz, and Stephanie joined towards the end and we met up Aksh and Tzviatko for some drinks. I had a jager shot and it is not as tasty as in the good old days I tell you! But we had tons of fun.


I'm off to Mass and then to the Mexico vs. Argentina game! MEXICO, MEXICO, MEXICO!!!!!


Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Pie O my!

Dear Jackie,
Well work sucks but once 5pm hits everything else washes away.  I met up with Liz and Diana for some pie at Hoosier Mama Pie Company. I knew this pie shop existed but it took almost 11 months for us to actually visit it. When you walk in you get such a nostalgic feeling and it is quite quaint.  Well, Liz had the CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE - Rich thick chocolate pastry cream topped with lightly sweetened whipped cream and bittersweet chocolate curls.
Diana had the BANANA CREAM PIE-
Fresh bananas in a thick layer of vanilla pastry cream topped with white chocolate curls
and I had the COCONUT CUSTARD PIE-
Lots of coconut flavor in a silky baked custard.

What did I think? The pie was good but I will take cake over pie any day but you be the judge and check it out!  BTW -- Every Friday we offer a pie flight of 3 smaller slices. You select 3 flavors from a rotating flight menu of 5 or more pies.  I may check this out!

After our pie excursion, Yolanda came over and Liz and I gave her a tour of our little neighborhood by foot.  I had a great time but maybe Jewel(Milwaukee and Ashland) is not 4 blocks like I thought...my bad

View Larger Map

Well that was my day!  Hope you enjoyed!
Idalia

Monday, June 21, 2010

Italy, Paris, N. Holywood, Chicago!

Hola Jackie!


I know I have totally been slacking in this whole blog thing and let me begin by apologizing to you and all the followers to this blog for the delay. No excuses in 2010! So, I get your emails and all of them ask or request the same thing: what is up with you? Tell me what is going on with your life. Well here it is:

Trevi Fountain (Rome, Italy)

First, I recently got back from visiting Italy and France. Yums! OMG! It was soooooooooooo nice and I had a fabulous time. My sister was studying abroad in Florence, Italy and wanted to meet her up so that we both could travel within Italy and head up to Paris. We went to Florence, Pisa, Rome, Paris and Venice. I will speak on each place individually and, owe you all pictures, in upcoming entries but my ultimate favorite place would have to be Rome. It was literally the history books coming to life. The pasta in Italy was great (favorite dish: spaghetti with seafood or fruits of the sea) and the crepes and French bread were magnifique in Paris. I was out there close to three weeks and enjoyed all of it even the crazy ATM limits (more to come). Upon my return I went to work for three days and then headed out to North Hollywood, California for my cousins daughter ‘party. She was having a quinceanera and I LOVED it! Just hanging out with family and hitting up the 98 cent store was so much fun.

More recently, I have been so stressed out about…finding a new home. Yes, it is time to renew the lease and unfortunately Diana and I found ourselves needing to find two new roommates but guess what we found one…Yolanda! Well Jackie, I know that there is much I need to inform you about such as men (the flirts at home depot) and career objectives (grad school and beyond) but just wanted to give you a quick glimpse into my life as it is now. I can’t wait to see you again or touch base with you. You are such an inspiration and I hope in my heart of hearts that you are enjoying your adventure as much if not more than what you thought you would. Be safe and Ciao Bella!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Open Your Heart and Design Your Life

I had meant to post this before, but it got lost with all the noise in my head.  Nuns from this order came to our church in Glendale Heights.  After mass, I came home and found them on youtube.  (At mass they mentioned they had been on Oprah!

I found this so interesting and I hope you do too.

These are a few points of why I found it interesting;

  • I am too self involved on how to make MY life better than I never stopped to think about other people's lifes.  About how different and beautiful they are.

  • I like how the nuns were just "normal" girls...with jobs, bags, boyfriends, and shoes!

  • I love how they said that being a nun allowed them to be their better selves!  It was freeing?  What?!  Really?  With all those restrictions?  Wow.  I can kinda understand this bc if I think about my own life I can pin point things/events/responsabilities that have allowed me to be myself.  I am talking about my job and my relationship w/Fabian.  Even though they are "restricting" they have allowed me to develop into Eva.
So here are the nuns!  Enjoy!












Here are some comments I found w/the videos:

  • If God is calling someone to the priesthood or religious life as a nun or a brother, then it will be the happiest life that person can live. God is our beginning and our end, we were made for God.

  • But life is more than just having sex or checking facebook or texting. When you find something greater and something worth living, all the worldly things become just mere fantasies.

  • Silence is probably the most important part of prayer in a lot of ways. Haha I always tell friends that being quiet is the best step; one of my friends who was going throug ha really dry spiritual time decided to just be still and listen to God and experience His closeness and love. I'd say dothat in your daily prayer, and then discern any steps ahead. :) God bless!
Oh I almost forgot...I picked this title (Open Your Heart and Design Your Life) because I believe we should all open and offer our hearts to God/universe, BUT also take the time to design our own life with the best of our abilities.  I can't just go up to God and say...Here.  Do something good w/me.  I have to put forth the effort and try to be me and live my life.  The best real me, bc that's how he made me so who else can I be?

I am having trouble conveying my message...but I hope you get it.  Maybe I should have thought more about this post, but it's already been gathering up dust too long!

Taking a Break

So after the hole issue I decided to take a break on Wednesday.  I invited Fabian to a "romantic-before-you-leave-to-vegas-and-be-a-hoe" dinner.  Yep, he is going to Vegas on a guys' trip.  He is flying over there as I sit here and type this.

Anyways, I wanted to send him off with a nice memory of us.  It's a bit dramatic, but it's a new "life rule" I am putting in place.  The thought is that if I treat him super nice and show him how good he has it w/me then when he is away he will miss me that much more!  Does that make sense...or is it another one of my crazy ideas?


So we went to Tapas Barcelona.  A Spanish tapas restaurant.  I have tried tapas before and I did not like them because it feels like I am playing kitchen...bc the portions are too small!  Anywho, it was Fabian's pick.  The food was "aight" but nothing too great.  We did get a buzz from the Sangria though :)

So that was my break from "getting back on track."  Today, Yolanda is coming to visit me so I am only cleaning until she gets here.  We will see tomorrow...maybe I will dye my hair.

BTW, Jackie, you gave me that notebook with the butterfly.  My "to do list" notebook.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Here I go...Again!



So after wasting my day at work I decided that to balance it out I was going to have to step it up in the evening.  Enter ambitious goals...
  1. Return these shoes.  I absolutely love them!  They are sexy!  AND they hurt like a biatch!!!  I can only wear these laying down (get your mind out the gutter!)!  So the best thing was to return them.  I got them at TJ Maxx (the absolute best store in the world!) so I knew that money was not going to go to waste!
  2. Return B-day gift.  My friend got me a movie I already had so I needed to exchange it for another goody!
  3. Grocery shopping.  I usually only do grocery shopping every once in a while and when I do I usually buy too much.  I am trying out a new technique...only buy a little at a time!  Revolutionary!  So the downside to that is that I have to go shopping more than once a month!
  4. Dye hair.  Told you I was going to be ambitious!  Buy dye at grocery store and dye hair.
What I accomplished:
  1. Returned shoes. 
    1. Well, now I had a store credit burning a whole in my pocket...so I got a "couple" things for the bathroom.  You know to change it's look for summer.
  2. Returned B-day gift.
    1. Since I was already at Target I thought I would buy the groceries there.  I am a smart cookie!  I also bought the hair dye.  Very smart cookie!
By the time I got home I was hungry.  Shopping makes me hungry!  So I had a turkey sandwich ...at 10:30.  Then I got all this energy from it (I assume) and decided to clean the bathroom and put up the "couple" things I got. 

$5 Basket

$12 "3D" Bird

Rug $5.99 & Picture Frame $5.99 (yes the one resting on the toilet)

So what happen was that...I can't nail anything to the walls because they are too ...hard and the nails break.  Yea, I know.  WTF?  So anyways, I got this tape thing and of course I just went to town and put up my frames.  For the bird one, it looked a little unbalanced so I pulled it off and pulled off a chunk of paint...oops.  No biggie I just put the frame on top of it.  BUT for the picture frame...well that was another story.  I used a large piece of tape on each side, but since it's a picture frame it has that stand thing on the back so only one side got adhered to the wall.  Well that was not going to work.  So I pulled it off and a huge chunk of paint came off.  Yes, see below.  I can't cover it up w/the frame bc A) the stupid stand on the back and B) the hole is on the side!

Ahhhh!  Frustration.  I remembered why I stopped decorating!  Anyways, it's late.  I am hot.  I need to sleep.  Good night.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Not Productive Day

So much for being productive yesterday...so far the only productive thing I've done today is this...

I did a search for accounting mugs...for no reason other than I am a nerd.  I found this awesome graphic, but decided $18 was too much to spend on a mug...so I printed it out and taped it to my water cup.  All in a day's work.

Awesome Graphic:

Water Bottle:



I also came up with my own accounting mug design:





Some how...I think this day of slacking will also come back to slap me!

In case you are wondering, I do pride myself in my 10 keypad skills!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Recommitting to Myself

I was starting to feel lost.  I felt careless.  I felt not committed to myself.  So today...I decided to recommit myself to myself!

Here is what I did today to get back on track (to being happy, careful, and found!):

  • Flowers: I use to keep flowers around, they make me happy and they make a place look lively.  So here!  My mom hooked it up w/this little arrangement.  We picked these flowers ourselves from her friend's garden.

  • Mail and Bills: I FINALLY checked my mail and paid all my bills!  I also called comcast bc the bill seemed to high and they are crediting me back $12, nice!

  • Living Space:  I was starting to get bored w/my little studio...basically bc I have been lusting a bigger place, but it's time I appreciate my little space!  So I started cleaning a little and re-arranging some stuff to make it feel fresh.  Here is my little entry. 


I brought in the cigar box from the trunk of my car (which is basically my storage) and it just so happened that all these candles matched!  I also added the small frame with a couple lines from a Neruda sonnett.  The box holds my sunglasses and keys.

I still have lots to do...bc I let everything just kinda fall, but I think today was a really good start.  Like putting these up...they are lovely, but on my floor.



Also, a special shout out to Jackie...bc it is her gift that helped me get it all together.



This little notebook is filled w/a long to do list!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Dear Jackie (and others),

I hope you are doing well and enjoying your weekend.

This morning/afternoon has been internet and computer time for me. I’ve been looking at pics on facebook, browsing jobs (from Chicago to Sao Paolo), researching any topics on my mind (which included traveling jobs). Since, I’ve been on my mac for a few hours I decided it would be a perfect time to write my first posting ☺

Borrowed this pic from Irene's New Year's Eve album


As far as this past week:
Had a nice Memorial Day weekend---celebrated Eva’s birthday, ate a bunch of steak (and food in general), enjoyed the beach with Eva, hanged out with Tony (my brother), etc

I’ve been reflecting on life and what I would like my life to be. I know it won’t be perfect but knowing I’m working towards it will keep me content.

After what was suppose to be a short break from studying, I got back into making time for it. Although now (after reflecting), I’m thinking of postponing so I can concentrate on finding a new job and enjoying the summer with family/friends.

Other fun facts:
a little obsessed with Acai (and antioxidants lol)
spend some of my time in Lincoln Park Zoo
planning on being at the beach on weekends when warm and sunny (don't worry I use spf 50 on body n 70 on face)
found belgian waffles at whole foods that are close to what they have in Belgium :D
try walking as much as I can

Okay, this is it for my first post!

Thank you Eva for allowing us to contribute to your blog!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Be Kind...To Yourself


Ever since Eat Pray Love I have been in love with Elizabeth Gilbert...Yea You know How I get OBSESSED!

Anyways please listen to this talk given by her...it hit home.  We will all fail at some point in time so we must learn to be kind to ourselves.

http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Elizabeth-Gilbert-Talk-from-O-Magazines-10th-Anniversary-Video

Single Ladies...More Like Little Girls!



My coworker sent me this video of these girls dancing to Beyonce's Single Ladies and my first thought was, "Wow, they are so good! " I really liked it, but then after seeing it again and reading that there were some parent complaints about the girls' moves being too sexy ... to my surprise I agreed.  Specially after seeing Billy Elliot on Tuesday.

I absolutely believe in the art of dancing.  I think everyone should be exposed to it because it enhances your senses, it makes you feel!  So it is for that same reason that I believe these girls should not be dancing like that!  They can practice other moves, but I believe that the earlier you introduce sexuality to children the sooner they lose their child like innocence.  Billy Elliot's cast had so many very talented children that portrait quality dancing without threatening a child's being.

Also, the reason why I believe that sexy moves will awaken something in them is because I thought of all the pole dancing/lap dancing exercise classes and of what I've heard...women feel sexy afterwards...so i think that it will do the same for anyone.

There, it might be controversial...but that's what I think.

Dear Jackie,


Dear Jackie,
Since I promised I would write to you more in my 27th year...I thought about re-vamping the blog, the much ignored blog, to be our "journal" for you!  What do you think?  I plan on opening it up so eveyone can add to it! That way we can keep it all in one place and include pics!

So Jackie - first and foremost, I miss you, but I am happy to hear about all your adventures, goofy adventures!  AND also I am so proud of you for following through on your dreams!

Take care and let the posting begin!

-Eva