Boricua en la Lima

We are heading down to Lima this Friday. Can't wait! I am trying my hardest to be focused on work for the next 4 days but it's practically impossible. We almost have our suitcase all packed (which is a huge accomplishment since it's for 3 weeks which is practically a lifetime!). Here's a video I made at Pampers.com, you could "personalize" it by adding your baby pictures on there. See if you can spot where Gabi comes up. Since she never got picked for that Pampers ad because she couldn't do the "tripod" move at that time, this is the closest she'll ever be to being in an actual Pampers commercial.

We had our ultrasound yesterday and Gabi is having a little baby brother. I don't need to tell you that Jose was over the moon. He even got to his family in Peru before I did which is amazing! Of course he's telling everyone he hasn't thought about names to not let on how excited he is, even though he's had the name since I was pregnant with Gabi! So Sebastian Bali it will be I guess, and I'm definitely going to need some hand-me-downs since I just realized we need to buy everything now for a boy!!! So Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! For those of us north I hope we don't freeze our asses tomorrow. We're supposed to get snow even though it's 65 degrees today. Global warming... Maybe tomorrow after a tryptophan induced coma (the stuff in the turkey that makes you sleepy) I'll write the story about Gabi's adventures in potty training...

Gabi has been sick as a dog in the last few days (and same goes for her mom) so her doctor recommended that we give her long warm baths so that she can drain as much mucus as possible and therefore sleep a little bit better since the poor girl has been coughing up all night which has led everyone around the house to also not sleep very well (the only one that doesn't give a hoot and can still sleep just fine is Borges). So we've had to get creative to try to get Gabi to enjoy her long time in the bath. Enjoy! I'm most impressed by her ability to "act" towards the camera and raise her eyebrows and stuff. I really think we have an actress in the making.

The last week has been more exhausting than the normal "I'm in the first trimester and I have a 2 year old daughter" mode. Too many things going on at work combined to too many things going on at home combined with a definite twist for the worse regarding the weather has left me wanting to curl up into a ball like my cat Borges and taking like a month-long nap. In any case, I survived Gabi's 2nd birthday party. Against all the experts' advice I probably invited way more people than I was supposed to, but we got really lucky and had amazing weather which made it safe to stay out in the park right next to my house where there's a lot of space for running around vs. having to herd a bunch of cats into my house which would seem tiny with the number of people I invited to the party! Here's some video of us singing happy birthday to Gabi, her getting excited about blowing the "2" candle but quickly freaking out and not wanting to have anything to do

After weeks of no So You Think You Can Dance and only looking forward to Last Comic Standing, premiere week is finally here! My husband recently moved us from DirectTV to Dish Network (despite the fact that I endlessly bug him about it because we lost Gabi's favorite TV channel "Sprout" with the move) and so now I can actually Tivo things to both TV's in the house which means my lazy ass doesn't actually have to go down to the basement to see a recorded show. This has been a definitely plus for Dish. However, I'm still confused as to why I can't watch one show and record another, that part kinda sucks. Although now there will be so many choices in my Tivo I won't actually have to watch live TV ever again. I've even recorded several episodes of Spongebob since it seems to be the only acceptable alternative to the Sprout channel for Gabi. Which kinda makes me feel bad as a mom since I'm going from educational shows such as Sesame Street to s

Well the one loyal reader I have (thanks Tom!) pointed out today that I haven't blogged in over a month. Part of it is exhaustion-related, this pregnancy has not been easy-peasy so far. I'm always nauseous but not nauseous enough to throw up and feel better (with the added benefits of not gaining so much weight), but that's not the worst part. The worst part is the never ending exhaustion. I just got back from California and it's taken me 3 whole days to get rid of the jet lag. I think it even took Gabi less than that! The day after I got back I couldn't even get up to go to work, I had to sit in bed with my laptop all day trying to muster enough energy to catch up on email (unsuccessfully though a meager goal that it was for a whole work day!). The exhaustion is accompanied with a constant headache which is great fun. Unfortunately the only thing I can take is Tylenol and what's the point. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against Tylenol I think they

I just wanted to share the good news, we are expecting baby #2!!! I'm just 4 weeks into the pregnancy but everyone keeps telling me I already have a belly, to which I say thanks for calling me fat, this belly is from baby #1 not from baby #2....

We went to Chicago this weekend with Jose's dad and sister, and then we met up with his brother and wife there in Chicago. Overall it was a really fun weekend, although dinners were a little bit stressful because of Gabi. We took off Friday and drove up early Friday morning. We made into Chicago's entrance by around noon on Friday (we gain an hour from Chicago) but of course that's when we hit sooo much traffic. When we finally made it we had lunch at Cheesecake Factory and then took the city boat tour. We had done the architecture tour a couple of years ago and of course that one was a lot more interesting, but this one was good just because of the fact that you spent so much of it out on the lake looking back into the city scape. That night Jose and I had to hit the sack early because by the time the rest of the group was ready for dinner it was too late for us to take out Gabi. Which was OK I guess because otherwise the fact that we ate so much during the weekend wo

Which Pixar Character Are You? You are Dory. You are naive and gullible. Wait, that's a good thing. Your ability to trust any stranger is a trait not many people have, but be more cautious next time a stranger offers to buy you lunch or you might find yourself in a fishy situation. Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com What Car Would You Be? You would be a Mini Cooper. Everywhere you go, you turn heads with your charm and charisma. You're no deep thinker, but taking life seriously can be such a drag! Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

I have 5 trips in August, which I'm not very happy about, not only because it means I have to leave Gabi for all that time, but also because when the hell is one supposed to get any work done when you spend all your time on a plane? Hopefully after August is done it dies down significantly, but you never know. It seems to be so irregular! Anyway, other updates: We started trying for baby #2 last Friday, so 2 weeks from now we'll see what happens. The "girls weekend" (Gabi, my sister and me) in Indiana was very cool. We gave Gabi her first haircut (even though I'm the only one who actually notices it - I'm attaching a picture here with her an my sister), we went to the Children's Museum there which is supposed to be the best in the US and is INCREDIBLE, every 30 seconds Gabi could be heard screaming WOW! The minute we put her back in the car she feel asleep exhausted with all the stimuli! If you ever are in Indianapolis (even if you don't have children)

" I had proven, as a very young man, that power was my weakness and my temptation. It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well”.

Last year we stumbled upon Cincy Latino by mistake, just looking for something to do on a Saturday afternoon that would keep Gabi entertained for a few hours by being out of the house (she's a social butterfly just like her mami). We discovered they had the most wonderful arepas venezolanas and we said "for sure we gotta come back next year". This year we also happened on the festival by chance, since a GRINGO (no less!) friend of ours from work told us a mere couple of days before the event (where do I live that I never see or hear any advertisement about this?). Anyway, my sister was coming from Indy so we decide to give it a try, only being able to think about those wonderful arepas from last year. Unfortunately the arepa stand wasn't there this year, but they did have a wonderful Puerto Rican food stand, which of course we enjoyed even more! However, we later found out these guys are from Miami so there's nowhere for us to find them here (why they came from

As a marketer who's not much of a sports fan, I still say to my husband every time this ad comes on, what a GREAT ad. This is the definition of breaking through the clutter and having music SEAMLESSLY tie to your product story. Brilliant.

Gabi has been learning from her very patient dad where her eyes, nose, mouth, etc. is. In this first video she shows us she's learned very well. In these other 3 videos she shows us that her favorite thing to do these days is to "play monkey". Her favorite spot, though, is usually behind one of her parent's backs.

Well, I knew my Gabi was musical in many ways, but I assumed she would take after her mommy's passion for dancing. We discovered, however, yesterday that her true passion lies in playing the piano. I can't say I'm not saddened by her decision, given I wanted her to be a focal point of my new kids' dance academy, but I support her nonetheless, because that's what parents do, right? Suffice it to say, a piano is a WAY cooler toy than anything we have at home, so I don't think Gabi will have any issues whatsoever visiting the Escuderos again. Especially if Jero's mom makes paella again... I'm just upset that I won't be able to help her since I have no piano abilities myself, but that's where my friends Mara and Elika will come in. :)

Gabriela had her class picnic yesterday. It was the cutest thing you'll ever see. Even though my husband tried to bribe me with an iPhone, that's how bad he didn't want to go. And now that I saw Manuel's iPhone I really want one even though I know it's totally overpriced and they'll come out with a better cheaper one six months from now. Anyway, we were supposed to bring food and then a dessert. But of course we woke up so late because on weekends we like to sleep in so we're already running like an hour late for the thing and I'm fuming and we try to go to the Hyde Park Graeter's to get the ice cream cake but there's some race going on there so we have to go to the Graeter's in Mariemont and we said screw it to getting our own food we're way too late we'll throw in a couple of snacks for Gabi to make sure she at least gets to eat and we'll have ice cream cake for lunch! When we try to cut the ice cream cake we of course only

My nephew Jake went to sleep away camp for a week last week, he's 7 going on 8. Through the summer camp administration I was able to send him emails to say hello (although he couldn't reply) and his parents were also able to send him "care packages" (I know it sounds like an exaggeration when the kid is only going away for a week but the kids probably feel pretty homesick because often times they've never been away from home for that long). Anyway, my sister decided to send him a care package on one day which contained, among other things, a disposable camera. At the end of the week when my sister went to pick him up from the camp she said "OK Jake give me the disposable camera so that we can go get it developed" to which he replies in his most deadpan "duh" attitude (seriously): "Mom, it's a DISPOSABLE camera, you take pictures and then you throw it away. Duh!". Can you believe it? Then I started thinking to a kid who's 7.

Everyone knows I've been having my Office Space moments more and more often lately, mostly due to my job disappearing and my new job not starting until about a month from now. Among other things, I have decided that not only will I catch up on my reading, but I will also use the internet to talk with old friends and exponentially grow my number of blogs and time spent on Facebook. But most importantly I decided I was going to take advantage of my $22 a month gym membership here at work to get in shape over the next month. Especially since I'll hopefully be pregnant soon and therefore need to desperately stay away from gaining 46 lbs. like last time! So yesterday I did a crazy elliptical workout with my workout buddy and today we did yoga. I usually try to workout at the end of the day so that I can go home afterwards and not have to shower or change here at work. But after yoga today (which was during lunchtime) I decided you know what, I'm not going to change back in

The first time I read this article I thought to myself, we have truly reached rock bottom. I never thought it could get worse than where reality TV has taken us. And granted, some of the reality TV shows like So You Think You Can Dance are my favorite shows. I even have a blog about SYTYCD . But other reality shows are just an aberration. Which is what I think this might be. Are the networks that desperate for ratings? Yes of course they are. But is that the reason why they've come to this? Or will this truly make for entertaining TV? I guess only time (and the ratings) will tell... As sometimes happens on TV, the Geico "Cavemen" ad campaign was a good idea born of a lame one. The concept, says Joe Lawson, one of the writers who conceived it, was that signing up with the insurer online was so easy "even a caveman" could do it. "It was just a dumb way of saying that our website is really easy," Lawson says. So he and his collaborators added a twist: a g

We've moved on from wanting to be on the next installment of Jackass, now Gabi wants to be an olympic obstacle jumper. Daddy is her best playmate so whatever crazy thing he does she wants to do as well.

iPhone mania nears fever pitch By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY LOS ANGELES — Christopher Parr won't go so far as to bring his sleeping bag to his local AT&T store to be first in line for Apple's coveted iPhone when it goes on sale next week. But he will be there opening night to plunk down $599 for the combination iPod, cellphone and wireless Internet device within hours of its debut. "Cellphones have under-delivered," says Parr, 40, of Madison, Wis. "This fills a real void. Most Internet over the phone is a terrible user experience. I love the idea of having the real Internet in my pocket." June 29 is the day many gear-heads have marked on their calendars as iDay, the release of what independent analyst Richard Doherty calls "the most eagerly awaited consumer technology device of the last 20 years." Since January, when it was first announced, the iPhone has captivated consumers, Wall Street investors and the media as the right product a

OK so it was really breakfast. We took Mara to eat at Echo one last time before she took off for Boston. Here's Gabi enjoying the dining experience at Echo .

We went to Indianapolis this weekend because my sister's husband Tom got the guys tickets and a VIP suite for the Formula One race. We got there Saturday afternoon after saying adieu to our dear friend Mara and going to Jose's soccer game. We got there in time for dinner, which we reserved for at Barcelona Tapas in downtown Indianapolis. We parked at the Omni hotel and walked all the way to the restaurant which was a great 10-15 min. walk. The city was abuzz with the most diverse group I've seen this side of the country, all kinds of European guys (mostly) out to see Formula One racing at the US Grand Prix. Anyway, the restaurant experience was great, pretty close to the real Spanish thing. The sangria was great, and we particularly loved the "boquerones" and the "croquetas", of which we got multiple orders. It was a shame they didn't have the churros for dessert because I really wanted to try those. But I guess my weight will thank me for that la

Labeled as "your Caribbean vacation close to home", Splash Island is located in Plainfield, IN. Since the guys were at Formula One yesterday (for Father's Day), the girls decided to take the kiddos to the water park. We got there at exactly 12:02 pm, two full minutes after it had opened, and there was already a line at the door and no lounge chairs under the shade. In any case, Gabi was sort of scared of the water at first, but eventually she took her cues from her cousin Jakey and decided to test the waters. Here she is, whenever you see her repeating something 20,000 times, it means she's having FUN with a capital F. Who needs Formula One? I don't know about the "Caribbean vacation close to home", but I'll go with it since it's the closest to the Caribbean I'll be in a few months...

I remember when the ads for the iPhone came out, I was so excited I immediately went to the Apple web site and signed up to be the FIRST to hear about iPhone news. I also remember they distinctly said June'07. So where's the iPhone???? Almost as soon as I was done posting this I got the email from Apple saying it's arriving June 29!!!

So I feel like I have to comment on this cause I think it's a pretty brilliant marketing campaign in terms of changing my perception of BP Amoco, although we'll talk about whether it actually gets me to convert to using BP is in a second. My girlfriend Mara comes to me the other day with a bunch of seeds she got at BP Amoco. She said she was all excited because when she went to pay they gave her a bunch of seeds there. I said cool I'll plant them today. Here's why I think this was such a brilliant move: It fits perfectly with their "sunflower" logo that they're using everywhere. Related to this, it really supports the "trying to be green" equity that they're pushing so hard these days. My friend Gigi commented very smartly on this, she said it's not like they're saying "we're greener than we used to be", they're just saying "we're TRYING". Cause it's the thought that counts right? Sunflower seeds

This was the weekend of eating. Not like every other weekend isn't about eating, but this one was especially good in the food department. Here are the highlights: Bella Luna on Friday night to celebrate Kandis ' promotion (even though she wasn't there that doesn't mean I can't celebrate!). I had the bruschetta appetizer, followed by the meat lasagna, followed by the bread pudding (to die for). Essencha Tea House on Saturday afternoon for Gigi's baby shower. We did the European afternoon tea which was great. Mount Adams Fish House Saturday night for Jamie's engagement party. We did sushi for starters and then I had the crab & corn chowder and then a crab cake. Hmmm. Sugar & Spice Sunday morning with Gigi and her friend Lauren who was in town for the baby shower. Gigi ordered banana pancakes and I ordered chocolate chip pancakes and then we each had two of each. The banana and chocolate chip combination is indescribable. It's so good.

I was sort of glad when I first heard Isaiah Washington was probably leaving Grey's, mainly because I thought if Isiah was fired that would ensure that TR Knight would stay. Because face it, between "Burke" and "George" being on the show, I would choose "George" every time, no contest. However, when I then started hearing that TR Knight was not leaving, I sort of felt the "can't we all just get along" vibe. So I was hoping that Isiah would stay after all. So I was kinda sad when they finally announced this Friday that his contract was not renewed, and that he'd heard the news from a crying Shonda Rhimes on the phone. I have gotten to "know" Shonda through the weekly Grey's Anatomy podcast (which by the way is probably the BEST podcast I'm subscribed to and I highly recommend it to Grey's fans) so I can almost imagine how much the loss of Isaiah meant to her. Granted, I don't agree with what Isiah did

As you might imagine, I don't get out to the movies much lately, so we've become even stronger Netflix loyals than what we used to be. Turns out that's a good thing, because otherwise movie cinemas would have to stock the theater with tissues whenever I go to a showing. I've turn into a veritable tear machine after becoming a Mom. Oh who am I kidding, I've always been a tear machine! Anyway, this time the movie deserving of my tears, MANY of them, was The Pursuit of Happyness . It's funny because due to Netflix I end up watching movies once all the hype of new releases has more than subsided, and I get to re-discover what all the hype was about. In this case it was very well deserved. The movie was just fantastic, and Will Smith's performance was pretty damn amazing for a guy who started off doing comedies and end-of-the-world sci fi thrillers. As we watched the commentary (which is a great by-product of having to do Netflix all the time) I had to a

Even though I had barely done any planning with the exception of sending out the Evite , I did manage to pull off a very nice baby shower for Gigi. We did it at Essencha Tea House on Madison because we were too many to do it at the Bonbonerie . I got some decorations at Factory Card Outlet and recycled some other ones from Ida's baby shower last September. We had a great showing and the food at Essencha Tea House was really great. I had to bring Gabi with me because Jose had a soccer game but she did OK, even though she was a little tired because she skipped her afternoon nap. In any case, if anyone has a baby or wedding shower to plan, or just wants to go to eat at a nice place, I highly recommend Essencha Tea House . Oh, and the best part is that they serve breakfast all day, which as any friend of mine can bear witness to, is a HUGE plus for me. Speaking of which, after we got home and Gabi finally napped, we went to Boston Market followed by Graeter's . And tha

Well we were supposed to have game night on Thursday evening at Jero and Elika's but because Manuel didn't show up we were uneven between girls and guys so we just hung out on their deck instead. They live in Mt. Adams and have a great deck upstairs with a view of the river. Once the sun went down you could see the stars, I kinda felt like I was back in Puerto Rico in one of our beach weekends at Rincon. They just got patio furniture for their deck and as you can see from the picture with the night sky and the warm breeze it would be a "breeze" to fall right asleep. Unfortunately Gabi was too excited to go to sleep on the deck so we had to take her home around 11 pm so that she would finally fall asleep.

Granted this is very old but I got really excited when I read it so I hope even today it's actually true and that's why I thought to post it even if it was old. By Kristin Veitch Jan 29, 2007 11:55 AM T.R. Knight is not leaving Grey's Anatomy. I repeat, T.R. Knight is not leaving Grey's Anatomy. And for what it's worth, I really did try to set this story straight as soon as I saw it pop up in our message boards Friday, when a poster who claims to know someone who knows someone who works for the Grey's catering department ('cause the guy scooping out grits always has the most accurate scoop, right?) claimed that T.R. was so upset by how ABC handled the Isaiah-gate scandal he was quitting the hit show. As I posted in the boards on Friday, this rumor is not true. I have spoken with reliable sources connected to the show, as well as T.R.'s personal publicist and the show's ABC rep, and can tell you that T.R. is staying on the show. In fact, the ABC rep &

You know that show Cheaters that people only watch at 2 am when they’re suffering from insomnia? Yes I’ve been there. Although thankfully I’m not there now since Gabi’s sleeping through the night which means I am too. But I have been bummed out for a while about this guy who scammed me on eBay. My husband will get seriously pissed off at me when he reads this because it’s sort of my fault for trusting people (and rushing to do things always). When I was on maternity leave I got hooked on the AMEX Wish List thing since I was at home practically every day at every hour of the day. Beware pregnant women out there, it’s addictive, and by the way, there’s another round of its starting now on June 4th. If you have an AMEX card here’s the link for it, although I seriously warn against getting hooked on it. Anyway, the whole time my sister is calling asking, did you get it did you get it? “It” (as the eBay ads so brilliantly portray) consisted of various articles that you could get at about

Does anyone care about NBA finals anymore? There used to be a time where everyone at home would be sitting together watching the NBA finals, Gabi included (even though she has yet to demonstrate her sports enthusiasm). Today, maybe sadly so, technology has imposed many more options for me, all of which I'm happy to explore. I remember being so mad during the OJ Simpson chase because they did the "picture in picture" thingy on the TV and they had the BIG WHITE VAN on the big screen and the playoffs on the little bitty screen instead of the other way around. But alas, tonight I'd rather be blogging, or Reading my book "Naked Conversations", or feeding my seemingly growing Facebook addiction. Or actually sleeping! Whatever the case may be, I unfortunately do not give a crap about the NBA finals.

My husband and I watched Children of Men yesterday. The premise of the movie in itself is incredibly interesting, but if you don't watch the commentary after the movie, you miss out on probably the most important parts of it. While the movie is one big metaphor exaggerating our current reality and projecting what might happen to the world as a result of capitalism and globalization, the commentary after the movie was by far the most thought-provoking part of this DVD. The gist of it is that while capitalism tries to break down physical barriers in order to facilitate the free exchange of money, the result of globalization has been the actual opposite -- with physical barriers being put up everywhere, e.g. in the border between Mexico and the US. I also thought some comments about how our global economy is more like a "crack addict" than a "thinking human being who learns from his/her mistakes" were very true (though sad). There is also in the commentary sectio

This was so good I felt it deserved a little blurb. My good friend Tom and I are always talking about what it would be like to get rid of the corporate shackles and free yourself to do what you love. I have plenty of times talked about what I would do if I didn't need the money, "get busy living", and all kinds of things. I'm glad someone else out there is one the same wavelength! Cheers. Less Is More & Doing What You Love

So since I have to talk myself into how great of a time I had here instead of being in Tuscany with Ida & Lety , I decided to highlight my weekend so I can look back often and see how great of a place Cincinnati is, and how yes I might have had the time of my life in Tuscany, but there's a life here too. And as they said in Shawshank Redemption , "get busy living or get busy dying". Gosh that was depressing. Anyway, here's what we did this weekend. On Friday night we went to Teller's for dinner and then Graeter's for dessert. At Graeter's we bumped into Gabi's BBF and spent like an hour outside of Graeter's just watching them do what BFF's do. I hope Lia continues to be Gabi's BBF for a while because they are just adorable together. On Saturday the girls and I went to Findlay Market . It was my first time so it was great to experience. First we went shopping through the whole market and then we sat down for coffee and snacks while G