Head West - Siblings Trip to California

Hi all.  It's been two weeks since I got back from a siblings trip to the San Francisco area.  I'm the oldest of three girls and we all flew out to California to attend my cousin's wedding and also spend two days in San Francisco.

Read more

Postcards from Milan

Milan likes to have fun.  On the way to see the Duomo of Milan, my parents and I were weaving through the beautiful streets lined with impossibly tall, incredibly old ornate buildings, the kind you'd see in most major cities in Italy, when we came across clearing and saw a modern sculpture of a hand flipping you off, placed right in the middle of the street.

Read more

Venice/ Venezia - 2 Days in Venice

When we, my parents and I, first arrived at the train station in Venice from Florence we saw the beautiful greenish water immediately.  All the canals and all the buildings fronting them, their stone steps entirely immersed in the lapping green waves. Walking alongside canal there are quite a few souvenir stands, filled with captain hats and those elaborate glittering Venetian carnival masks but as I was passing one such stand I saw for a brief second a t-shirt that featured a square shaped maze and along the bottom of the maze there was a phrase in white letters, "Venice - Get Lost".

Read more

Under the Tuscan Sun - 2 Days in Florence

I feel that to really experience Florence, one must do while also visiting Rome, at least for the first time.  Florence is really the yin to Rome's yang.

Read more

Austin Calling

 

Man, sorry for the infrequent posts.  I can't seem to find extra time these few weeks to catch up on my blog but I wanted to share some photos from my recent trip to Austin with my friend Christina, back in February.  

Read more

Birthday Getaway to The Windy City

Hello there.  I'm back up to full speed, after returning from a five day trip to Chicago with my best friend.  We both have our birthdays in October and were looking at some extra vacation time at our respective jobs.  We stayed with her family in Des Plaines, and took some day long trips to Lincoln Park, the Navy Pier and Evanston.

Read more

Head West! Trip to El Paso

Whew!  Last week was a blur.  I spent Labor Day weekend going to El Paso, TX with my parents and sister to attend my grandfather's 80 birthday party.  I stayed a few more days while my family returned to work on Tuesday.  I finally got the chance to see more about my birthplace than in all of my visits before.  I know I look white as a lily, but I'm actually half Mexican through my mother's side.  My Hispanic heritage has taught me a few things; an extremely strong work ethic, the impulse to dance and an innate sense of rhythm, and the importance of family.  We can't always get what we want and we all must suffer from time to time, but family, whether actually related or chosen, makes life worth it. 

Enjoy!

My grandparents, dancing tenderly to the mariachi music.

Read more