Summer 2009.....so far

This summer has gone by so fast, it's crazy. I have barely had enought time to catch my breathe and take it all in. Here's a summary of what I've been up to so far....

Vinnie celebrate his 4th birthday on June 22. He got plenty of love and lots of treats. I think we were making up for all his other birthdays that we have either forgotten (his 1st!, so sad) or didn't get him a cake. But Vinnie forgives us, as long as we keep the treats coming.

We went up to the Bay for a few days in late June. Marco, my brother, and I decided to take a boat ride on the bay. It was really cool, especially going under the Golden Gate Bridge. I definitely left my heart in this city.

David, Marco's old college roommate, married Yana on July 25th. It was a beautful wedding, in full Greek style! Yana is Greek and David is Korean, and they could not be more perfect for each other!

August 8th we made the treck down to Irvine to see my most favorite band in the whole wide world. Yes, ladies and gentleman, I FINALLY got to see No Doubt in concert. I can now die happy :)










While we have had a busy summer, we always leave time for relaxing. Vinnie is, of course, a pro at sleeping and lying around. You can always count on him to hang out with you.

30 going on....

Wow, it’s been a long time. Not sure what happened, got busy and didn’t have much to write. But I’m back, I think! Hopefully there's still readers out there, I promise to be better about posting!!!

This past weekend was Marco’s birthday, the big 3-0! And to celebrate we drove down to San Diego for the weekend. We got a pet friendly hotel so that our favorite bulldog could join us. We had a lovely time eating, walking Vinnie, and just relaxing. It was a nice break from school and work. But it being a milestone birthday, I got to thinking where I expected to be in life by the time I hit 30. I asked Marco and his first response, “I thought I’d be done with school by now.” Yes, it’s been a long road.

I still have 2 years to go before my 30th b-day, but in college if you had asked me where I would be by the time I was 30 I would have told you that by 30 years old, I would be a doctor, married, with a house, and kids. Oh, how young and naïve! I’m working on the doctor part, even if it is a different type of doctor, I have the married thing down, but everything else is still a few years away. Isn’t it funny how you plan out your life when you’re young and it rarely ever turns out that way?

I was speaking with one of my undergrad students a few weeks ago and she was feeling confused and lost. She knew she wanted to go to dental school after college, but she kept hearing everyone else plan every detail of their next ten years. I guess she was just more realistic and was staying open to new opportunities. Smart girl! My response to her: “the things you want today, the plans you make now, and the person you are now will be completely different by the time you graduate in 2 years, let alone 10 years from now!” I think it’s good to have a general plan and set goals in life, but maybe it’s more important to remain flexible and be ok with your plans not completely falling into place.
I know this was the case for me. I could have never predicted some of the things that I have gone through. But you roll with it, and in the end, I truly believe that everything works out the way it’s supposed to.

And with this, I leave you with one of my favorite quotes, simple, yet so true:

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans
-John Lennon

Another day in LaLa Land

It’s Spring Break! My main goal is to catch up on sleep. Surprisingly, it takes more than a couple of days to catch up on the sleep deprivation experienced from week 10 and finals. Aside from sleep, Marco and I are using this week to relax and have fun. So on Tuesday we went to have lunch at a café in Los Feliz and then visited the Griffith Observatory. We had a late, late breakfast at the Alcove Café. The place was really cute and the food was pretty good, but I wasn’t crazy about the seating arrangements. Most of the sitting is outside, which was perfect for the high 70 degree weather we were experiencing, but it felt really cramped. Most of the patrons were a “Hollywood” crowd, meaning everyone was pretentious, holding their scripts in one hand and cell phones in the other, trying to look cool. Not really my scene, but if you’re in LA, you’re going to run into these places.

After that we took in the amazing views at the observatory. You can see all of LA, downtown, the Hollywood hills, and even the Pacific Ocean. It was nice to see the city from up high. We also explored the inside the observatory, which was just remodeled about 3 years ago. It’s a cool place and reminded me of my childhood trips to the planetarium in SF. The observatory itself is an awesome building. If you all remember, it was the backdrop of Paula Abdul’s video Rush, Rush, the one with Keanu Reeves. Marco had You Tubed the video a few days ago, so while standing outside of the observatory, Paula Abdul’s song kept playing in my head! It was quite annoying after awhile, I couldn’t make it stop! Watch at your own risk!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbU1fKXxqvY



And this brings me to my other exciting star studded news! Exactly a week ago, Marco and I took Vinnie for a walk at the Grove. It was about 9pm and everything was closing down so we were heading to the parking lot when this petite woman dressed in black stopped to pet Vinnie. She looked up at us for a moment to ask us Vinnie’s name and who else was it but Paula Abdul! My eyes got wide and I looked over at Marco, who just winked at me to tell me “yes, it’s who you think it is” but kept his cool and acted casual. Here was Paula Abdul, petting Vinnie and giving him kisses, and there I was, a little shocked, slightly speechless, and without a camera! Oh, I suck! Before I knew it, she was gone. So now I carry my camera with me all the time, you never know who you might run into (or who Vinnie might kiss)!

What if....

It seems like every time around finals, Marco and I start contemplating our choice of returning to school. We envy the working professionals, having the whole weekends to themselves, enjoying the lazy Sundays. We try to imagine where we would be had we stayed in the Bay Area and continued to work. How much do you think we would be making by this time? Would we have a house of our own by now? What about babies, would we be ready for a new addition to the family? I’m sure we would be happy. As long as we’re together we always make the best of things. But I think there would be this little voice in the back of our heads whispering “what if?”

Marco is the type of person that needs to be at the top. He likes to be the shit. And I love that about him, his ambition. I think I’m also like that, although I sometimes need a little kick in the you know where to get me going. I have high goals for myself, but I get lazy and need motivation. That’s where Marco comes in. :)
At the end of our conversations, I always come to the conclusion that we’re in exactly the right place for us. Whatever comes out of grad school, we at least need to know that we tried it and gave it our best. I believe things happen for a reason and everything that needs to happen, does.

Guilty conscious

This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday. And being the good Catholic girl that I am, I went to receive the ashes for lent. I contemplated not going, but this extreme guilt came over me. Ok, so I'm not really a good Catholic, I don't go to church, I don't pray on a regular basis, but I am a good girl, so I figure that's gotta count for something!
But growing up my family did go to church every Sunday. When I was about 6 or 7, my mom used to work on the weekends so every Sunday at noon, I went to Spanish mass with my grandma and tia. To this day, I cannot follow along a mass in English, it has to be in Spanish so I can remember all of the proper responses.
I remember sitting in the pew, wearing a pretty dress and following along with all the sitting and standing. My favorite part was when we got to shake hands with the people around us. Oh, and then there was the pan dulce afterwards. At about 1pm, everyone would congregate outside of the church or downstairs, where they had coffee and bread.

Now, I hardly ever go to church. I am still a believer, just not a do-er. And then there's the guilt. Oh, does it ever go away?!?

Writer's block?

I think I have had writer's block for the past couple of weeks. And not just for my blog, for school too! I have a big paper due at the end of the month that I have been putting off. My excuse is that I don't like the class, but the paper topic is something I really am interested in. So why can't I write? I've been contemplating this question and came to the conclusion that I am scared. Yes, scared of forming ideas and writing them down on paper. Scared of possibly making a mistake or having something not make sense. Fear that I might suck. And this fear has apparently translated to my blog.

But I am slowly getting over it. I better get over it quick, I don't have a choice! I need to have confidence in what I write and realize that in no way does it need to be perfect the first time I write it down. So I'm starting with this blog, hoping that my juices will start flowing and this will get me writing! More posts to follow!

At Last

I came home from a long day of class and turned on the tv. Luckily we have DVR so Marco was nice enough to record the coverage of the Neighborhood Ball for me. When President Obama and his wife Michelle came out and danced, it was beautiful. Beyonce was perfect singing Etta James’ “At Last.” And I cried, through the whole dance. Something about the dress, the song, the first dance, it was like Obama and the country had just gotten married. And I think that’s how most people felt, all of the hope, the love, the optimism of a new couple starting their life together. As you watch them take their first steps together, you realize the couple is heading into a union that will have its difficulties, yet through love, hard work, and faith, you know they will make it through. So to you President Obama, the country says “I do.”

Happy couples

I read an article on Yahoo today about things that happy couples do. According to the article, happy couples:
1. Talk to each other
2. Flirt
3. Get stupid together
4. Declare your independence
5. Share a spiritual moment.

It got me thinking of the things Marco and I do to stay a happy couple.
Considering the Yahoo article, I think most of them are really true. Marco and I definitely talk to each other. Sometimes with school and work we’re away from each other the whole day, so we always make an effort to talk in the evening. We take Vinnie to the coffee shop and sit outside, just catching up on our day. Or before going to sleep, we’ll spend time talking in bed, recounting the day’s events. I would say talking was important when we were dating, and it’s something we’ve kept up as we head into our 5th year of marriage.
Can you believe it’s going to be 5 years in May?!? So I must know what I’m talking about ;)
Anyways, back to the article, I think flirting is also really important. Maybe not flirting per se, but I think saying I love you and sharing affection at least once a day is key. Even if it’s just holding your partner’s hand when you walk, or telling them how nice they look today, keeps the spark alive, like when you first started dating.
And for Marco and me, laughing is a big deal. Having a good time, telling silly stories, and always joking around is something I love about our relationship. Of course there are many more things that go into a happy couple, but just my two cents on some of the things that work for us. What works for you?

Recovering from Winter Break

Yes, I know, it's been awhile. Again. But I blame it all on my crazy family.
Around the holidays I get to travel and see my family and my new family on Marco's side. And this often stresses me out. Marco and I laugh about it, but when we go to Las Vegas to see Marco's family, I have a relaxing time, while Marco is stressing it. And it's the opposite when we go to the Bay Area. I get all tense while Marco can hang back a bit. But I figure that's why we get to share presents with each other around this time of the year, if we didn't receive gifts from our family members, we'd end up choking each other. Presents make everything better :)

So enjoy the pics below of our travels. We spent some time in LA, Christmas in Las Vegas, and New Years in SF. Needless to say, my little Jetta is racking up the miles! And apparently the blog won’t accept more than 5 pictures (how dumb is that?!?) but I think you get the picture ;)


Vinnie in front of our Christmas tree. Even though we weren't going to be here for the actual day, Marco and I set up a real tree. I love the smell!

Marco's Mom and me, doing some shopping at the Las Vegas outlets. We spend a considerable amount of time at these outlets, and it's not all shopping. We like to take Vinnie because it's outdoors, so it gives us a chance to walk him. People love to stop and pet him and even take pictures with him. Yep, Vinnie is quite the celebrity!

Marco and Vinnie. You can feel the love.

Enjoying a chilly day at the Pier in San Francisco with my brother.

My Dad, Marco, and me in front of the skating rink at Union Square. I think the skating rink is fairly new, they usually have it down at the Embarcadero. But I think it was a nice touch. Really gives it that winter in the city feeling.