Ernie's 1st Birthday

I have seriously been neglecting this blog. A lot of things have been going on lately, new job blah blah blah excuses excuses. I'm making a pack with myself from this day forward to never let this happen again. So I'll start with sharing some of the awesomeness thats been going on around here lately, most importantly, ERNIE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!! My little piggy is one. I can't believe it. We celebrated at our building's pool with a bbq and a gifts for the bday guy. His favorite gift was his life vest. He hates the water...but really liked just wearing it around. Haha

Sunday Link Love

This photo reminds me of my best friends from home. Except one of us would have remembered beach towels (not me). I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! So many good things were happening!!! Swimming olympic trials, eurocup finals (viva Espana), and Wimbledon. When I wasn't watching sports I was at the beach or pool, SoCal weather is unbeatable right now :) Here are some things I bookmarked on the web last week:

Good places to watch fireworks in LA

Watch my old teammate, Brittany Viola's reaction  to making the Olympic team!!!! God is good :)

Pictures of the week 

Missing Nora Ephron

Django Unchained looks awesome. Gotta love Tarantino!

Such a cute beach bag. Love the purple. 

So you don't have to register your dog w/ the AKC? Absolutely not. Please don't. 

Haha "slutty brownies" 

LOVE this dress.

And finally, Usain Bolt  should take a lesson in sportsmanship from Dara Torres. No excuses. Play like a champion. 

(photo via)  

Willy Nilly Silly Old Bear

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Between being sick, working, writing for Global Animal Magazine, writing my cartoon, being sick again, and getting ready for school, I'm beat. I was doing some research for my cartoon (I'm in grad school for film and television writing) and I started looking at scripts from shows I loved most as a child. Winnie the Pooh was by far my favorite. I had no idea how much wisdom that silly old bear bestowed upon my 3-year-old self. I started to tear up. The words suddenly had more meaning then they did back then. The message and core values somehow streched past the hundred acre wood and into my heart again. We never stop struggling to become better people but somewhere along the way our meaning of better changes to something like more successful and remembering to be a good person gets thrown out in the pursuit. I think we'd all be better off if we thought a little less like adults and more like children every once in a while. So here are a few of my favorite lines. (for a man who created a bear of very little brain, A.A. Milne was a genius.)  


“How do you spell 'love'?" - Piglet
"You don't spell it...you feel it." - Pooh” 


“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” 


“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” - Christopher Robin to Pooh


“Sometimes,' said Pooh, 'the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” 


“You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” 


“We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet.
Even longer,' Pooh answered.” 


“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?” 


“Just because an animal is large, it doesn't mean he doesn't want kindness; however big Tigger seems to be, remember that he wants as much kindness as Roo.” 


“If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.” 


“What day is it?"
It's today," squeaked Piglet.
My favorite day," said Pooh.” 


“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” 


PS- watching Sleepless In Seattle tonight in honor of Nora Ephron. She will be missed...

(photo from pinterest)

Six Summer Hoops

For some reason summertime makes me want to wear hoop earrings. I don't know why but as soon as June hits I want to wear big dangly hoopy earrings, which is very very unlike me the rest of the year. It may be the summer heat bringing out my inner "boricua", I have no idea, if it is i'll try to keep it in check. Regardless, here are 6 of my favorites that I've come across so far. 

{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

Santa Monica Stairs

The weather right now in LA is perfect for outdoor workouts, mid seventy's sunny but not hot with a breeze if your by the ocean. Yesterday I ran the Santa Monica stairs —a staircase on 4th and San Vincenti that is about 200 steps straight up. Then you can either take the stair back down or run back down the cannon on the sidewalk (it's about 600 meters) I alternated 1x jogging up the stairs 1x walking up skipping a step to work my glutes. I was able to do eight times before I decided to call it a day and end with a run up the cannon back to the car. This is a fun workout that can be as difficult or easy as you want it to be. (My boyfriend said he has even seen a lady doing the stairs w a baby on her back) If you live in the west LA area you should definitely try this out, you may even be lucky enough to see Matthew McConaughey looking like a sweaty mess running up them. The view from the top isn't bad either... ;)

PS- If you are not lucky enough to have a large staircase with ocean views at your disposal, any stairs will do really. Just picture yourself climbing these stairs in Santorini...with Mattew McConaughey waiting for you at the top. 

Happy (belated) Fathers Day

(I prepared this post for yesterday but I had some technical difficulties with my internet so I'll post it today. )

Happy Fathers Day to all the proud papa's out there, especially mine. Luckily while my sisters and I were growing up my dad was able to work from home. This was the best. Even though it took him some time to master the perfect braid, the time we spent with him was well worth all the crooked ones. My youngest sister cried when she was told she had to start going to school because "she didn't want to leave Papi"(now she is a big nerd, go figure). I think a lot of people feel like their dads are significantly less involved in their lives than their moms, but with our dad that was hardly the case. When I was maybe 9 years old the pool my team and I trained at in the winter had no starting blocks. It was evident in races that my starts were starting to suck. My dad and my grandpa designed and build a portable starting block for the pool. He was on the board at our elementary school. He started coaching my sister's soccer team when she was maybe 5 years old. He coached them until her and her teammates all went and played soccer in college, and still coaches her semi-pro league team today (she is 19). He always found time to listen to our hopes and dreams and encouraged us to pursue them, no matter how outrageous they seemed. There aren't enough ways to talk about what an incredible father and mentor our dad has been for us and everyone around him. Most importantly, I think he has taught us to be passionate about everything we do and to not waste time doing things we don't love. Happy Father's Day Papi. We love you. 

“Some people care too much. I think it's called love.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Sunday Funday Posts

Due to some internet difficulties at my apartment I'll be posting Sunday's post today. Does anyone else hate Direct TV with passion? Anyways, I hope everyone had a fantastic father's day weekend!!! Here are some of the things I've been looking at this week...


I'm in a baking sort of mood and this cake is delicious


New Yorker Father's Day Cartoons.


Street Food Awards!!! Los Angelenos take this stuff seriously...I'm going. 


Love all these dresses & the model's cute pink hair. 


A really good article I aggregated on how to care for you aging pet. They need just as much love as aging humans!


Famous dads and their kids. 


If I had a sewing machine I would make one of these


8 low calorie cocktails for summer


Stay-at-home dads! Hell yes!


You can now shop Club Monico  online. Hoooray


Such an interesting article on fathers, or lack thereof:

"Fathers show their daughters they are valuable and precious, and will always, always be protected and safe, but that they have guts and strength and resolve no less than a man" 

(photo from tumblr)