Category: MUSINGS

Wine, Cheese & Friends (Pasta, Shrimp & Hot Dogs too)

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What do I love more than wine and cheese? Having wine and cheese with friends, old and new.

As you may or may not know (everyone’s busy, I get it) I have a new camera and of course, I’m eager to explore all the possibilities. It’s not as easy as it looks, I’ve yet to find that perfect light but I’m enjoying the journey.

Back to the wine and cheese.

I love the Holidays. Considering the crappy weather, it’s a season full of color and life that allows us to reconnect with people and gives us an excuse to put pretty things together. Seriously, think of all the things you do in preparation for the Holidays! I love the hustle, from getting the perfect gifts to finding the perfect outfit for your company’s Holiday party (which is tomorrow and I do not have).

holiday dinner setup red candles

I may have a passion for capturing beautiful moments, but my friend and old coworker Citlalic has a passion for creating them. Her house is full of exquisite details that come together to build a lovely home. She has the perfect amount of patience to make sure that everything is perfect, which I love to capture!

salami cheese gouda guacamole olives nuts dinner setup

I must say I am very proud of my two cheese picks, Nettle Meadow Kunik and Aged Gouda from Murray Cheese Bar. Boy, were they good. My worst nightmare has a name and that is “lactose intolerant”.

pigs in a blanket homemade

We also made pigs in a blanket! Not my best assembly, but that doesn’t affect the taste! Who knew this was so easy? Just cut little hot dogs and roll them with Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.

shrimp alfredo pasta

I look at this picture and I am hungry all over again. Citlalic cooked this delicious creamy shrimp Alfredo pasta with homemade sauce, props to her because I’m usually lazy and just buy the sauce at the store. Check out the recipe here.

holiday dinner setup red

I look forward to the day that I have the capabilities to set up a table like that. I don’t even own a table cloth at the moment. I miss my mom’s kitchen where I could find napkins of every color and glasses for any occasion. One day, Cristina, one day.

Happy Holidays! 

That One Time Lena Dunham Made Me Cry

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lena dunham quote

I love things that make you feel something. Getting people to react is such a beautiful thing, it means you are acknowledged and in one way or another, taken into consideration.

I just finished reading the introduction to Lena Dunham’s new book “Not That Kind of Girl” and I cried. Yes, I got tears in my eyes (and may have even made some type of noise). They were not tears of sadness, but more like those tears you release when you experience an “AHA” moment.

I may not be familiar with all of Lena Dunham’s beliefs and political views (I guess I am about to find out) but she has already moved me by opening up about her struggles and hoping to touch at least one life on the way. She may get a lot of negative comments due to her “over-exposing” or “exceeded” nude scenes in her show, but in just one simple introduction she has exposed herself in a way that we should all learn more about.

I admire people that come forward with their struggles, not for feeding their attention needs, but in a way that it is humble, genuine… and available. We all know we live in a world where appearances matter and the part you play is what you become in the eyes of society. What a beautiful and liberating thing it must be, to be able to comfortably be yourself and strip away from worries and judgment.

I don’t believe we can ever reach that ideal world that is somehow judgment-free, worry-free and happy all together. I do, however, like to believe that we are in a journey of becoming better humans, better souls. I like to believe that we are able to overcome obstacles and pick up little bits of happiness along the way.

Life is not easy and I question everyone who pretends that it is. I am hungry for genuine people and I am happy to say I am blessed to have found plenty throughout my life. I like people who are real, in every sense of the word.

If Lena Dunham’s book is not as good as her introduction sets it up to be, at least I’ve already been moved.

Embracing your weaknesses

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pisces

So this is probably the 4th post I’ve started to write tonight and I just can’t get myself to focus on something, I feel like my brain is just tossing and turning without the ability to choose one thing. I’ve also been over-thinking a lot of things, which in my life is nothing surprising.

You see, I am a Pisces. You may say what you want about astrology, I may not fully believe in it myself, but I am a Pisces in so many ways.

I can be indecisive at times, sometimes more times than what I’m proud of. I can take one little thing and over-think it to the max.

We live in a society that demands perfection, even when perfection itself is not natural. Whether it’s perfection in the form of physical appearance, intellectual or emotional strength, there is still an overarching demand to go above and beyond. Why? I don’t know. It’s like we’re in this constant competition of who is the best, and who can win? Whoever is perfect wins, because if you are perfect you must be the best there is, of course.

We live in a society where it is not socially acceptable to air and embrace your weaknesses. It even takes a little effort to write about it here. Nobody is perfect, you’ve heard it a bunch of times, but do you believe it? I sure see a lot of people sucking up their weaknesses and playing the part on a daily basis. I see as well, however, people getting exposed in ways that make you question if they are sharing their weaknesses or thriving on pity.

I want to be a strong person. I believe I am most of the time, especially when needed. I may not be a strong person at the gym and I may be lazy a lot of times, but I believe that I am strong when I need to be. I am just tired of people being afraid of exposing their human side. I want to explore what it means to be strong amidst your imperfections and shine between the cracks.

Yes, I may display a lot of the weaknesses that characterize a Pisces, but I can make the strengths shine too. My mind wanders a lot, but it goes to amazing places.

Image credit – http://society6.com/krize/signs-of-the-zodiac-pisces_print#1=45

Happy Friday

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Maybe it’s the good book I’m reading, maybe it’s the lovely fall weather or maybe is the interesting people that walk by, but coming to Washington Park after work today was the best decision I could have made.

There’s something about being in noncommercial public spaces that makes me happy. I can just sit here and chill without getting a cup of coffee or the pressure that I need to be quick because someone else needs my seat. You see, I have two hours to kill while I get to meet my friend for dinner and I decided to sit on a bench and read (well obviously I’m writing this now, but you know what I mean).

It’s pretty awesome to see this city come alive on a Friday evening. You can sense people are happy or maybe I’m just happy and can’t notice anything else or maybe sad people don’t come to this park.

I may hate this city at times, it’s fast pace insanity and all, but it’s pretty awesome and for now, this is where I want to be.

Happy Friday, y’all.

Mine is about to get even better with tapas and good company, cheers!

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Five Easy Ways to Make the World a Less Sucky Place

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you rock

Sometimes the smallest things can bring the biggest smiles. Also, one of the options below made my day today.

  1. Write random notes for people – Sticky notes, postcards, your pick. The weirder, the better
  2. Open doors for people – Even if it means an extra 2 seconds of standing there awkwardly waiting until they arrive at the door
  3. Say thank you to everyone – Even if they don’t hear it, even if they don’t seem to even want to hear it and even if they might not deserve it
  4. Donate – From time to time, put down $10 or $20 for that friend who is selling shirts for a fundraiser or that other coworker who is doing a run for a special cause… you spend that at the bars anyways
  5. Offer food to people – You don’t have to get fancy with this one, it’s as simple as extending your bag of chips and saying “Want one?”

So there, my 2 cents.

 

Image credit – bit.ly/WUdsHR

#TBT Glory Days?

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Some people say that your glory days should not be behind you, that you must live in glory every day. I leave it up to you to decide that, but in my life there’s definitely some glory that has left and will never come back. Like the tan I like to believe I had when I lived in Puerto Rico.

I miss performing and/or making a fool of myself in public. I don’t know how your schools were, but I went to some pretty cool schools in which it was actually expected for you to put up skits and parodies on a regular basis. Whether it was at Girl Scouts camp, ballroom dancing, school pep rallies, college dance showcases or talent shows, me and my friends would put up a show.

Why did I stop?

I want to believe that I still can go back to it if I really wanted to, but it’s not that easy. Time is not a renewable source and something about all the effort that it would take for me to go to a dance class and be part of a dance group again makes it feel like more of a job than a hobby. I used to happily go to talent show dance practices on the weekends, no complaints. Then again, I had practically no worries and dancing meant spending time with my friends.

I do miss dancing, but I guess I’m also feeling nostalgic for the simplicity of being able to do what you wanted to do without limitations or complications. Now every single decision has a consequence repercussion, your time is scarce, yet you still spend it lounging around playing silly games. I do still have the same 24 hours on each day, what has changed?

Oh yeah, I grew up.

Obviously, I had to make my mom dig out some embarrassing pictures of my short and questionable artistic career

(Gracias mami!)

Cristi bailando7

Although I don’t remember, I’m pretty sure the dance me and my friend are performing in the picture above was choreographed like 2 days before and was a result of a very productive dance night full of laugh attacks interruptions (or paveras).

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I’m actually not embarrassed of this picture, I’m actually pretty proud of it, not gonna lie.

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In the picture above, I was playing the queen. All I remember from this play is that my husband, the king, had issues with his molars.

When did we grow up?

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That's me. Inside my mom's belly. When she was 25, one year younger than I am now and completely normal. (I love you mommy)

That’s me. Inside my mom’s belly. When she was 25, one year younger than I am now.          Totally normal, right? (Hi mom, I love you!)

Between the babies and the engagements… how did we get here?

In last’s week’s hunt for a nice #TBT picture that will make me happy, yet will not make any of my friends or family members die of embarrassment, I found myself going down an intense walk down memory lane.

What were we thinking in High School?

First of all, how I sat for basically 6 hours listening to new information and thinking is now beyond me. I can hardly go by 1 hour without checking my phone or reading a random news article (and by news, I mean Twitter).

I started thinking of all the awesome things I did during my school years in Puerto Rico and realized that there were a few memories that I had forgotten about.

Are we hitting that age?

I was thinking of this girl I was friends with during a summer in Girl Scouts camp, we got pretty close and now I can’t even remember her name. I actually can safely say I hadn’t thought about that summer camp in years.

We are now looking at life in years, not months or even weeks. Everything seemed to happen slower before, maybe because we had different mindsets or maybe because each year was more distinct and easier to tell apart from another, because obviously you are a totally different person going into 10th grade from 9th grade.

Now, we’re looking into friends we have not seen in years, and it’s ok because that’s apparently how life is. Everything is merging now, time is blurry and quite tricky. I’ve been working in Manhattan for two years now and although some may say two years is nothing, I struggle some times to pin point when certain things happened.

I guess it’s downhill from now, or uphill, up to you.

How did people keep track of life before Facebook?

Guess no Facebook meant more interesting High School reunions, where no one had to pretend to be impressed by your life situation because they had already stalked you extensively the week before.

So, are we… grown-ups?

I sure don’t feel like one sometimes (and by sometimes, I basically mean I never do). I guess we are always growing up, whether you think of it as becoming more mature or in all reality, aging.

Seriously though, am I an adult?

Post-vacation depression, it’s a thing.

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Raise your hand if you arrived back from a vacation saying, “Woah, so glad that’s over. I never want to vacation again.”

I can’t see you, but I know only fools would have their hands raised.

Post-vacation depression is a thing, I say this with all of my non-scientific knowledge. It is a consequence of real life hitting you in the face and saying, “Welcome back, you sucker!” It’s also a very confusing moment because you know you have to be grateful for the amazing time you had, but you are also miserable and decide to keep complaining anyways.

The thing with traveling is that, once you pop, you can’t stop.

Sure, you have wonderful pictures, videos and souvenirs to remind you of the amazing time you had, but in reality all you want is to go back and live everything again… and more.

 

“Oh, I wish I had visited that spot!”

“I wish I had more time in this city to explore this and that.”

“That restaurant was amazing, I want to go back and order this other plate.”

“Man, the weather was sweet, I wish I had another day to enjoy it.”

“Now I know two words from the language, need to go back and practice!”

 

Can you relate? I may sound like a little girl throwing a tantrum, but that’s kind of how it feels at times. You can ask my boyfriend for examples, like the fit I threw at the Dublin airport coming back from our most recent trip. There may have been a tear or two involved.

Now, with every return to real life, there are responsibilities and realities that hit you in the face. This means content from my vacation will be slowly coming up, but I’ll make it good for you all. Below is a little preview from Croatia, drool away.

If you are experiencing post-vacation depression, I’m more than happy to vent together.

Peace, Love & Diet Coke *

imagePlitvice Lakes National Park, the clearest water I have ever seen.

image (1)View from the wall in the old town of Dubrovnik, or as some of you may know it, King’s Landing.

photoSplit, Croatia. It was odd for me to not have sand in the beach, but still, it was beautiful.

Check out more pictures of my trip in Instagram @peaceloveanddietcoke

More here soon!

“Great things never came from comfort zones”

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comfort zone

This has been my mantra for this past month. Not only is my big Europe trip right around the corner, but I got a new job and started a new professional journey (basically the reason why I have abandoned this blog for a few weeks) but cry no more, I’m back! (Only to leave in a week, but still!)

I also went home to my beautiful Puerto Rico and got to spend some wonderful days with my family and friends. It was really the perfect way to end a great chapter in my life and freshen up to start a new one. So really, I can’t complain. Sure, I’m peeling from the sun even though I am still technically white and sure, my bank account has taken a hit, but I’m sure I’ll live.

I try to stay away from all things cheesy (except when they actually are cheesy, yum.) but lately I’ve just been feeling like I have so much to take in from life (besides new work information, of course). Sure, I stress about things all the time, that’s just how I work. Who knows? This may be the nice weather talking, but life is good right now. Long gone are the days of miserable weather complaints and in are the sunny, sweaty walks to work. Ah, sweaty summer bliss.

But back to being corny,

Life is crazy, unpredictable and if you let it be, it can also be beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, below are some pictures from La Isla del Encanto that I took during my last visit home (yes, I get to call paradise home). I always love giving out recommendations for travelers that wish to visit Puerto Rico, so feel free to shoot me a comment or tweet me any questions!

IMG_6283Yes, me and my boyfriend might have started a cheesy tradition of taking travel pictures with our feet #noshame – This was before our kayak tour at the bioluminescent bay in Fajardo. Tour started during the day, through the canals and into the bay to watch the sunset. Then, I was once again amazed by the beauty that is the bay’s natural glow. Third time doing it and it’s still worth the sore muscles!

IMG_6299Right before our journey! This picture has no filters, you can see how the sunset light glows in the water, giving it a nice natural tone.

IMG_6303Credit for this one goes to my dad (@josenogueraspr)

IMG_6335Hyatt Hacienda del Mar in Dorado, Puerto Rico

IMG_6352Basically, a little corner of heaven, right here.

IMG_6387It wouldn’t be complete without a food picture, wouldn’t it? For my boyfriend’s birthday I took him to a delicious restaurant in Dorado called El Ladrillo (The Brick) – I had been there when I was little and fine cuisine for me consisted of plain rice and chicken, coming back was absolutely amazing. Not only is the food really good and varied for all tastes, but the restaurant itself is beautiful. They have a true art collection within the space.

Be sure to follow my Instagram for more pictures that don’t make it to actual posts – @peaceloveanddietcoke

Main image credit – http://www.etmusiquepourtous.com/2012/11/07/16191/jpeg/

All other pictures taken by Cristina Nogueras ©  Do not copy or repost without attribution

 

 

I’m feeling positive & I’m going to share it

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“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs.

Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that.

Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

– H. Thurman 

Just let those words sink in.

I don’t normally write posts like this, but when something overwhelms you, you need to share it. The world does need more people who are alive, truly alive. You may not know where you will end up, you might not even know how you’re going to get there, but life works like that. It’s about figuring out what makes you smile and what makes you feel that rush. Do you know that rush? It’s the one you feel when something is exciting, when you are working towards something you believe in or something that you find completely amazing. Personal, professional, physical, doesn’t matter.

Think about it right now, what makes you come alive?