Monday Hues: Pink Carnation

Red Robin was giving out pink carnations to all moms dining at the restaurant on Mother's Day...read more

I'm back and I'm covered in color!

One thing I've learned is that if there is one thing that is constant, it is change! Yep. In the fall of 2010 I closed the doors to my invitations design studio and went back to the corporate world. I often thought about deleting this blog, but due to the traffic still coming through, I left it up thinking the old content would probably still inspire visitors one way or another.

Currently, my life is a constant juggling act, with the biggest chunk of my day spent at my 9-5 job, my daily half hour commute in each direction, grocery shopping, taking my daughter to her Tae Kwon Do practice, walking the dog, and cooking for my family. The word busy doesn't even begin to describe my days.

Despite my busy schedule, I always carve out a few minutes of "me" time for the sake of my sanity and that of my family. I doodle a lot, sometimes during my breaks at work or right before bedtime. There is one creative aspect I miss though, and that is writing, sharing and documenting things that I find inspiring and projects I am working on that I hope others will find inspiration from.

One thing I really miss are the "Monday Hues" I started back in the summer of 2010. I would post color inspirations early Monday mornings to get you through the Monday blues and change those pouty faces into smiles by greeting you with a bit of color inspiration.

If I have no time to write about anything else from here on, I hope to at least be able to keep this category of my blog fresh with weekly posts. One thing I'll do different this time around, is that instead of browsing the internet for images, I will pull colors and post from my own photo galleries. Because inspiration is all around us, in our daily lives. We just need to look.

Today's Monday Hues are taken from last year's 5k Color Run at Indio Polo Grounds, on February 2014. That's me in the bunny ears and my two sisters to the right. It was a BLAST! I had a great time and was especially proud of my sister (in the orange shorts) who participated while she was close to 7 months pregnant. I would have totally ran again this year, but unfortunately, I'm allergic to pollen and dust. Yep, the next day after the run, I thought my sinuses were going to explode and I wanted to die just to ease the pain. Things start blooming around the desert this time of year (February, March) and sinus infections abound for the locals once the winds pick up. Combine that with a bunch of colorful dust thrown at you and you've got yourself 3 days of sinus pains and headaches.
I haven't given up hope though. I might try it again sometime in another city that is not as dry as it is here, and I will try wearing a dust mask. I'll let you know how that goes, when I do...if I live to tell - ha!

Happy Monday, y'all!

A Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera Halloween

This year, the entire family got into the Halloween spirit and we celebrated together with a costume party. My husband and I dressed up as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, two very famous Mexican artists from the early 1900's.

Frida's artwork is a little too dark for my taste. It expresses a lot of tragedy, as well as emotional and physical pain that she endured throughout her lifetime. But after watching "Frida," a 2002 film starring Salma Hayek (as Frida) and Alfred Molina (as her husband, Diego Rivera), I learned to appreciate her work and talent.

Below is the image of Frida and Diego we tried to recreate:
From left to right, you'll see Alfred Molina and Salma Hayek, a painting of Diego and Frida in the center, and then my husband and I to the far right.

Being the crafty person that I am, instead of buying a painter's palette that I'd probably never use again, I created the one below out of chipboard.

I cut out pictures of Frida and Diego to represent the paint on the palette, which also served as a tool to explain to people who we were dressed as, in case they were not familiar with our characters. As an added touch, I taped two used brushes on the back for easy handling, so we weren't dropping our photo props all over the place.

The party was lots of fun, and hubby and I were very proud of our homemade costumes. We only spent $9 total, which went towards his clothes that we purchased at Goodwill.

Studio Updates, Work and Paper Cranes

I recently accepted a temporary full-time job through the end of December. Aside from that I am working on completing custom stationery for 2 weddings that I booked this summer, I am finalizing a corporate order of 4,000 (yes, four thousand) invitations for a holiday party, I'm responding to daily inquiries for items selling in my stationery shop, and I have a first grader that needs help with homework each night. Unfortunately that leaves very little time continue updating the blog several times as week as I was doing, but I will try my best to do so at least once a week so don't forget to stop by occasionally to see what I've been up to!
Hope you all a great Labor Day weekend. I had a great time with my sister and the rest of her bridesmaids who also happen to be our cousins.
We got together today to help her make cranes for her wedding decor. Above is a picture of my first crane on origami paper. Her wedding is going to be amazing. They are doing such a good job blending both cultures (Mexican and Japanese) and they're both very crafty so it's gonna be a DYI wedding, with lots of style. Can't wait!

Just a few more days...

Thanks for checking-in. I took some time off and traveled across the country to the state of Illinois to spend some time with friends and family before the summer ends - but I'll be back soon! Just a few more days and I'll be back to blogging regularly. Hope you had a wonderful weekend and a fabulous week ahead.

Ciao, Mi Bella Italia

I watched Letters to Juliet with my daughter earlier in the week and it rekindled my love for a country I haven't been to yet. Not in this lifetime anyway. Oh, my Italy. I love everything about you...the food, the scenery, the language. I understand it rather well, which is why I enjoy watching movies and shows where the language is spoken, even if it's just a few words here and there. It could be that it's very similar to Spanish (my first language), or it could be that I remember more than I think I do from the one year of Italian that I took in high school and a second year in college. Regardless, I really really enjoyed the movie even though it was a little slow for my daughter, but she didn't mind. She enjoyed playing with my phone while I sighed and gasped at the photography in the film, as it strengthened the promise I made myself long ago. Mi bella Italia, I shall be with you one day.

Photo via Marite2007

Breakfast cupcakes? With Fries?

Actually, it's a biscuit with scrambled eggs, ham & cheese, topped with a grape tomato and a side of fresh Mango slices. Click here to see how and why I made them...

Taking a Personal Holiday

I'm closing the shop for the weekend to celebrate my daughter's 5th birthday. Yes, I can't believe my little baby is turning 5 and that her "fourness" (as she put it) will be gone forever as of tomorrow.

Ah, yes, it seems like it was only yesterday when I was experiencing excruciating pain, wondering why on earth must we endure such torture in passing a child into the world? I'm sorry, but personally, I think childbirth is painful, messy and yes, I dare say gross. However, after the labor, the magic begins. My little kiddo is the love of my life, my daily companion, my biggest challenge, my craft-buddy, my joy, my inspiration, my best friend and my personal entertainer.

And what better place to celebrate her life than taking a family trip to the most magical and happiest place on earth? Disneyland! She's never been there before, so I'm sure she'll have a blast! She loves adventure, and luckily she's pretty tall for her age, so I'm sure she'll be able to get on most rides. We'll be back home at night, but the celebration will continue on Saturday and Sunday as both sets of grandparents have her over for cake and ice cream.

Just as an FYI, Disney is running a promotion in 2009 where they provide your child with a free admissions ticket on their birthday! All you have to do is register your child on-line and wait for the ticket to arrive via e-mail.

Before I go, I have to thank Donna from Red Lantern Photography, for letting me know about the promo! The savings are definitely a good thing during these times!

Click here for information on Disney's free birthday admission.

Cactusberry - my new fav!

My family and I had lunch downtown Palm Springs, yesterday. The weather was perfect! Sunny, nice cool breeze, beautiful blue skies. We decided to walk off our lunch and enjoy more of this heavenly weather. As we walked south on Palm Canyon, past See's Candies, we came across a photo of frozen yogurt, topped with berries. We followed the big red arrow on the sign and it took us a place called "cactusberry".
If you haven't been there, you have to go! It's the BEST frozen yogurt I've ever had! They offer a variety of toppings, such as blackberries, strawberries, mango, kiwi, pineapple - all good stuff!
The best part about it is that it tastes sinfully delicious, but it's actually good for you!
The even better part is that they are doing their share to protect the environment by serving their delicious treats in biodegradable corn-based cups and potato based spoons!
Ahhh...a treat that is not only good for you, but good for the environment!

I can't believe no had told me about this place before. Shame on those who know about it and haven't shared the info!

Cactusberry is located at 116 La Plaza, Down town Palm Springs, California. Photo borrowed from Palm Springs Life web site.

We're on a Mission

Things seem to slow down for everyone during the month August. My mother and sisters all work for the Palm Springs Unified School District, and school's out for the summer (at their schools at least), and well...August is also my slowest month of the year, so I had a chance join them on a little trip that my mom organized to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. Unfortunately, my husband had to work Friday evening, so he stayed home, but I took many cool pictures to share with him...and you =)

Courtyard view.

Lots of beautiful flowers and religious images.

Me, my daughter Andria, nephew Damian, sister Melina, and sister Cynthia. Melina is going through the credential program to become a grade school teacher and Cynthia will be transferring to Northridge next year to become a Sign Language teacher. Andria and Damian mean trouble! Hee, hee. (I'll delete this before they're old enough to read)

Bed and stove of the 1800's.

Cynthia, Andria and my crazy brother Erik.

Mom, Erik & Cynthia resting in the corridor; to the right is what appears to be a GIANT gold fish swimming inside a gorgeous waterfountain located near the entrance.

We had a great time! I would love to go back and attend some of the envents listed on their website, such as concerts, arts and crafts for children, art exhibits and the mariachi festival.

Every parent needs a "Misseyee"

My little girl turns 3 on July 10th. She's had her birthday party planned out for the last two months or so. She tells me she's going to wear a birthday hat, everyone's going to sing happy birthday to her, she's going hit her Hello Kitty piñata and eat all the pink and purple flowers on her birthday cake! Apparently all I have to do make it all come true.

I went to look for her baby pictures today in hopes to find something I can use for her birthday party invitations. I felt awful when I came to the realization that if it wasn't for my sister, Cynthia (a.k.a Misseyee), I wouldn't own half of the images I looked at today!

What does "Misseyee" mean?
A couple of years ago my daughter learned the names of her aunts and uncles Melina (Meli), Eddie and Erik. To her, all names sounded alike, so she called them all "Eyee". But I think she also thougth that "Eyee" meant "tall and slender" which is why Cynthia was automatically an "Eyee" too, even though her name didn't sound like any of the rest, she looked like them...tall and slender.

During this time Andria also went through a phase where she called everyone Miss or Mister. For a while we were all refered to as: "Miss Mommy," "Miss Gramma," "Mister Daddy," and naturally "Miss Eyee."

Well, I just wanted to take a few minutes to thank my sister for being such a loving aunt and constantly photographing my little girl! Most of the photos above were taken by her except for: (1) Andria's Halloween picture where she's dressed as her daddy, (2) Andria's first birthday party, Hawaiian theme, photographed with her aunt, Misseyee.

Tip to all new parents
I also wanted to encourage all the new parents out there, and all the newlywed couples who will eventually become parents without a Misseyee of their own - use your camera phones and digital cameras constantly - babies do grow up fast!