Category: Thoughts

Dear Doctors & Med Schools, I Have Something to Say

Leave a comment

Setting: Walgreens prescription counter

I hand the technician my prescriptions and she laughs. Yup, she laughs. I ask what’s wrong.

Technician: “You’re going to have to give me a moment, I don’t know what any of these say.”

The magic is dead.

All my life I have believed this magic tale of technicians and overall medicine people having this special power to read a doctor’s handwriting. All my life I had trusted them to know what magic jelly beans I was putting into my mouth.

Lies.

What’s the point then? Why can’t doctors write clear? My theory for the secret code of the world of medicine is dead, obviously. So what’s the deal?

Thank goodness I’m not dying or anything (Although this morning when my ears and eyes were swollen I swore I was, you know, typical Thursday morning).

I would like to petition all med schools to update their curriculum with a new simple little course called: Calligraphy, the art of making letters understood by the magic jelly beans dispensers.

So yeah, here I sit at Walgreens. Waiting to be called and be given God knows what. I think I need a new nail polish… and some other five things that I surely don’t need but will purchase on my wait out.

Hello, April

Leave a comment

 

 

image (4)

Another month I go over my budget… surprise, surprise!

I love Mint.com, it helps me stay grounded, but if I go over my personal budget even when I track it regularly, how do people live without a budget?! Oh yes, they must be rich.

I can be very good one week, bring my home cooked meal to work, deprive myself of shopping and only do happy hour specials… but then there’s one day that I feel like I can rule the world and I decide instant gratification is the way to go, so I indulge in tasty meals over $8 and splurge in this cute summer dress I can’t even wear because hey, it’s still winter. March didn’t get the memo, I hope April does.

So yeah, today I say hello to a new month, with a blank economic canvas waiting to be filled with overpriced purchases of everyday necessities… life in New York City.

Here’s to April, may it finally bring Spring to us!

 

* photo and image edit by Cristina Nogueras

Being Assertive & Humble

Leave a comment

Our generation needs to keep learning. The people with the loudest voices and biggest mouths are the ones on the spotlight blasting their ideas and “knowledge” at anyone with eyes and/or ears. Seriously, I’m all for confidence and self-respect, but some people out there are way too entitled.

I have a love and hate relationship with the HBO show GIRLS, the last episode being more on the hate side. Hannah, the main character, is a writer and a little too entitled for my taste. She had been working at a big magazine in an advertorial position, was feeling creatively limited by her role and at a brainstorm meeting, she just snapped and got fired. She rambled on about how this job was basically making her rot, how her creativity was dead and so on. I found that SO rude and unprofessional. I am sorry, you may hate your job and you may feel trapped, but there is a difference between standing up for what you deserve and being an entitled little brat. Seriously, not cool.

There is a lot that we can learn from Hannah’s breakdown or little girl tantrum. We should certainly work towards fulfilling our passions, but success is also about having that perfect balance between being humble and being assertive.

Life is not easy, everybody knows that. I know she is a fictional character, but geez, I was pissed. I believe this character reflects what a lot of people in my generation act and feel like. We might need to make some adjustments and have more respect for each other. We are an awesome generation, don’t get me wrong, but we are setting ourselves for self-destruction if we keep streaming this line of fake success and self-proclaimed mavens.

Educate yourself, get some experience, be humble, stay grounded and please, oh please… just chill out for a bit.

Peace, Love & Diet Coke

 

Warning. This thing called wanderlust, it’s getting worse.

2 Comments

croatia

Oh yeah, and by the way, I booked a trip to Croatia.

As much as I wish I could say this was a crazy moment of enlightenment in which I decided to book a flight to a random country, it was not all quite like that. I’ve been wanting to jump back to the other side of the Atlanitc for a while now, it was a matter of getting around the decision of where to go (and with what money, of course).

Turns out, there is a reason for credit cards and tax returns. That reason is so that I can go to Europe. I am beyond thrilled to be able to explore a new country outside my beloved European classics like France and Spain.

It’s booked. It’s happening. It’s getting closer.

Life is too short to live on the extreme, think about it. Too much saving wont get you moving places and too much wilderness and abandonment will leave you with no savings. So take this as a sign if you’ve been saving to travel for a while, or if you’re extremely broke then also take this as a sign and open yourself a nice little savings account.

Have any recommendations about what to do in Croatia? Comment away!

Also, be sure to follow the blog on Instagram @peaceloveanddietcoke

 

Image Credit – http://www.cntraveller.com/recommended/beaches/croatia-island-beach-holidays/vis-island-croatia

 

I don’t know how to forgive. Forgive, but don’t forget?

Leave a comment

If you look at it from a physical perspective, letting go is quite easy. Holding on to a cup? Release, let it go and it will drop away from you. If only emotions were just as easily to let go of.

I have never really believed on the whole “forgive and forget” idea. It does not make sense to me. You do not need to forget to forgive, if you forget then it’s like you did not forgive at all. I believe that in order to forgive, you need to fully acknowledge what happened and be fully aware of what it meant in your life and then you make the decision to let it go. You forgive because either it does not hurt anymore or you’ve decided that there is something more important than the pain.

I’m not an expert at forgiving. It takes time for me to let go of the pain. It’s not my choice to hold on, believe me, I do not like to carry it around and remind myself about the pain of the past. Forgiving sounds selfless, but it’s really selfish. You forgive so you stop feeling hurt, you forgive to let go of the pain and find inner peace.

Maybe I have it all wrong, maybe that’s why it’s so hard for me to forgive. Maybe I do not even know how to do it.

Nothing says love and hate for me right now, like New York City

Leave a comment

love hate copy

HGTV, the cause of all my suffering. Seriously, as much as I enjoy watching people find the house of their dreams, I always end up questioning my own situation.

This couple was hunting for the perfect beach bungalow and by bungalow, apparently they meant mansions as the properties were extremely beautiful, spacious and right by the beach. As I was not watching super intently, I don’t know where it was, but it looked freaking gorgeous.

My point? The house was renting for only $1,000 a month… seriously? That is basically what I pay for my below average apartment, of course I am paying for location because for some reason I think it is the best thing ever to live 15 minutes away from a city that doesn’t even sleep.

This makes me question my situation and I ask myself, is it worth it? Why am I living by Manhattan when I could basically afford a house by the beach somewhere where the sun is always shinning and the weather doesn’t make you want to cry each morning?

These feelings are of course intensified when you are watching HGTV on a plane coming back from a teasing 3 days in sunny San Diego. I am actually considering making an official list of the why reasons I live where I live because I obviously have reasons, I’m not stupid. Maybe it can be a little laminated card I can keep in my wallet and pull out whenever I am doubting myself.

Maybe it’s my island roots screaming for sun and fresh tropical air. Having been born and raised in Puerto Rico, snowy winters are not particularly what you’re thinking of when you are laying on the warm sand.

What is it about New York City that makes everyone put up with the stupid cold weather? No one is really stuck there, except maybe the statute of liberty and even she is sort of in New Jersey. People even say that if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. So, why do we stay?

Why do we put up with crowded subways, questionable smells, rude people, overpriced drinks, overrated fashion trends and ridiculously high rent? Because somehow, with all that crap, New York City is pretty awesome. It’s a city full of cliches, twisted together with some of the best original ideas in the world.Possibilities are endless and opportunity is just around the corner, or maybe a subway stop ahead.

So for now, I’ll keep my stupid lease and I will continue to try to become better and happier everyday, aiming to discover the secret of teleportation so I can forever escape the cold, yet continue to be challenged (or kicked in the butt) by a pretty amazing city.

Image Credit – http://sketch42blog.com/2011/08/lovehate/

An Unexpected Valentine’s Day

Leave a comment

20140215-110557.jpg

Surprise bouquet at the office, delicious candlelit dinner at the fanciest restaurant with the finest bottle of wine and a night out dancing and strolling by the water…

That was not my Valentine’s Day.

I have been sick for the past week, but don’t worry I will not bore you (or disgust you) with the details.

Somehow, I was still able to have a pretty damn sweet Valentine’s Day. Boyfriend brought me flowers and some grape juice, which I enjoyed in a fancy wine glass while I ate a dairy-free and fairly unseasoned pasta on my freezing kitchen. I could not eat chocolates or any other sweets for that matter and all the dancing I did was from the kitchen to the sofa, where I killed that grape juice while we watched nothing else but the Valentine’s Day movie (permission to gag).

Yes, I was upset about the food choice and evident lack of wine and cheese. Yes, I wish we could have done the long weekend road trip we originally planned, but you know what?

Sh*t happens and you still are able to smile. I wasn’t able to stuff my face with complicated dishes, fancy cheese and gulps of wine? Eh, I saved the calories?

In all seriousness, I’m grateful I could even eat. I also had love, which is kind of the point of this so-called Holiday, so why was I complaining? Oh yeah, because I am obsessed with cheese.

57 Days of My Life, Lost to Facebook

Leave a comment

fleetingweb

Thank you Time Tech for bringing light into my life with your recent article, painting a nice picture of the time I’ve spent on Facebook.

In my defense, it’s 57 days since 2006 and I bet most of those hours can be allocated to college finals and procrastinating at the Syracuse University library. Not that it makes it any better, that’s still an average of one week a year, for the last eight years. I’m not gonna lie, that number made me want to jump from my seat and set sail in a new adventure to the unknown (or Central Park).

Here are 10 things I could have done instead of spending 57 days of my life on Facebook:

  1. Learn German, just because
  2. Take wine appreciation classes so I actually know what I’m ordering from the wine list
  3. Read that New York Times best selling book that everyone has been talking about and is not a YA novel
  4. Learn to make that delicious recipe that I saw on Pinterest when I decided to take a break from Facebook
  5. Train a baby dragon
  6. Bike from New York to Los Angeles (according to Google maps it takes 260 hours)
  7. Read the whole Game of Thrones book series
  8. Plant a tree. Actually, plant a bunch of trees
  9. Take a photography class instead of staring at pictures for hours
  10. Volunteer at an animal shelter (without stealing any puppies)

See how much time you’ve lost on Facebook here, then get on Grupon or Living Social and sign up for tango lessons or yoga, your pick.

Image credit – http://louisetaylordrawings.blogspot.com/2010/04/losing-time.html

Being Sick Sucks.

Leave a comment

That’s really all I have to say. It makes you feel miserable in so many different levels that you end up pitying yourself and feeling crappy about it, over and over again.

What’s best? Being sick during what people have been calling the #PolarVortex aka freezing temperatures that bring tears to your eyes… and freezes them.

It’s like the world saw me all determined ready to tackle my new year’s resolutions and said: “Hold on buddy, you are not doing anything”. I’ve been to the doctor more times that I’ve been to the gym; I’ve been to the doctor once. Pretty skies and cool pictures to upload? I have a selfie showing me all wrapped up on my way to pick up my medicines, does that count? Try out new recipes and baking challenges? I microwaved some chicken noodle soup last week and my medicine tastes like a questionable piece of cake.

Needless to say 2014 has been awesome so far; don’t let me go all bitter on you right now. Nobody likes a hater; I’m just putting it out there to see if somebody can pick it up and take this plague away from me. Like far away, past Long Island.

Cheers to whatever you want to cheer to!

Leave a comment

Truth is we are all a little afraid, we are all a little reluctant, but we still raise a glass and cheer for a new year to come. Years are only human creation; it’s what we do during those years what truly makes a difference. We can hope and wish for new things to come our way during this New Year, but it’s really up to you to make things happen. Of course, favorable conditions are always preferred, but don’t let everything become an excuse.

So don’t go all crazy just because that 3 turned into a 4, let’s keep having a good time and striving to be better people. God knows I am far from my end result, but who said we can’t enjoy the ride?

Buckle up, or don’t, it’s really up to you.

cheers

Peace, Love & Diet Coke.*

Image Credit – http://bit.ly/1kZ8jXh