Toddler Lookbook: 2014 Edition

Hey there!

As you know, I have this little rad man in my life. Also, I am not very good at taking lots of pictures (I forget, mostly!), and decided to change that this year (I guess that qualifies as a resolution?). So I started snapping away some pictures of him, and this is the result. Without further ado, I present to you A Toddler Lookbook, encompassing his five "coolest" looks:


Look at this sneaky little fella! Feeling all badass in his Despicable Me t-shirt:

Just chillin' mom. Just chillin'...

Yes, I am half New Zealander. And yes, I have awesome Spider Man sneakers that light up:

Oh mom, if only you knew what I have in mind... ha ha ha!!

Some quality time with my mama...

Oh, Tommy, you are so delicious! I particularly love how much he enjoys the little things in life, and I am quite proud that it was so well portrayed in this lookbook! That truly is how he lives his life: smiling and laughing, and not taking himself too seriously.
I still have a great deal to learn from him...

Let me know if you liked this lookbook, and if you would like to see more every once in a while :)

Why I Almost Killed My Husband Two Days After Our Wedding

Pic taken by Sean in Mexico, two weeks ago

It was December 17th. On the next day we were traveling to Cartagena, the city where we were going for our wedding on December 21st. Naturally, there was a mountain of jobs to be done before leaving for the next three weeks, so I gave Sean some jobs to do and I took on some too. On his list were things such as "Finish wrapping the Christmas presents", "Grab our passports", and "Buy snacks for the trip". We finally managed to get everything done (or so I thought) and the next day a van picked us and Sean's family up and drove us to Cartagena.

We spent the next four days busy with last-minute details, throwing up on boats in front of the in-laws (whole other story!) and then finally getting married. On December 23rd, after those blissful days, it was time to fly to Medellin to spend Christmas there. Tommy, Sean, Sean's family (mum, stepdad, brother and sister) and me went to the airport to catch our flight. We all handed our ID's at the counter and for some unknown reason, Sean decided he wanted to give them his passport, so he reached into our suitcase to find it. After a few moments, I see Sean give me his signature "You-are-not-going-to- like-this-so-I-better-say-it-fast-and-pretend-to-be-angrier-than-you" look. I feared the worst, but it turned out to be worse than that: he didn't have his passport! He didn't need it for that particular flight, but he did need it for the honeymoon, which we were leaving for three days later!

But wait a minute... "how can you not have your passport? it was on your list of jobs to do, you told me you had packed them... I asked if you had double checked and you told me (very annoyed) that you had...? are you sure?" When it hit me that yes, he was sure, my blood had never boiled so quickly. My brain immediately became busy with ways to kill him painfully and slowly: "I don't care if 'till death do us part' means two goddamn days!" was pretty much my frame of mind at the time.

Thankfully for him (and me! in the end, I do love the man) his mom was there, and I am pretty sure she was the reason I didn't go through with my plans: I don't think she would like me as much after murdering her son, right? Knowing her son's life depended on her, she tried to calm me down: "We better focus on ways to solve this, dear". I believe that little sentence right there is the reason my hubby is alive with me today: I actually did come up with a good plan five minutes later, which involved a housekeeper, a four hour trip by bus and overnight mailing. The passport finally arrived in Medellin the day before we were to leave on our honeymoon, much to our relief, and we did have a great trip, where I did not feel any urge to murder him again.

The best part? Sean is never again allowed to complain when I ask "are you suuuuure" for the twentieth time! woohoo!

Note: I was just kidding about actually "killing" him, obviously! ... Sort of.

Pinterest Roundup Of Deliciousness

I did this once before, posting my favorite brownie recipes sourced from the awesome universe that is Pinterest. Now, I want to do it again, only because I have a major chocolate craving right now, and nothing makes it stronger than going on Pinterest and finding hundreds upon hundreds of delicious stuff.

There is no specific topic for today: it is a roundup of the most delicious gain-a-pound-just-by-looking-at-them things I have stumbled upon lately.

Disclaimer: If your New Year's resolution was to lose a few pounds, you might just want to stop reading right now (I don't want to be responsible for you not keeping it. That is Ben & Jerry's job). My resolution was to enjoy myself more, so there's that...


1. Banana Chocolate Enchiladas
Oh, my stars! At the hotel in Mexico, they sometimes had these for dessert and we both became obsessed with the stuff!  For some reason I had never tried them before, and I was delighted to find out just how easy they are to make. Friday night stay-at-home date sorted!

2. Oreo Mousse
I would not share this. Seriously. If I ever get my hands on something like this, you can bet I am eating all of it! (Why gain so many calories and not even enjoy it all, am I right!?)

3. Chocolate Lasagna
I love lasagna and I love chocolate. This is a match made in dessert heaven!

4. Nutella Crescent Rounds
I may or may not have had two croissants completely drowned in Nutella for breakfast every day last week and may or may not be experiencing some withdrawal syndrome... (my husband forbid me to get any more Nutella for at least a couple of months after that  :(  but at least I know what I'll be making when I'm allowed it again)  *looks around in shame*

5. Snowman Cupcakes
Snowman season is anything but over in the Northern Hemisphere, so for those of you who are there, enjoy it with these yummy treats. For those of you melting in the heat (*raises hand!*), there's no rule that says you can't pretend it's winter!

6. Caramel Apple Crisp Cheesecake
'Nuff said (and shown!)

You are welcome! Enjoy!
Let me know if you end up making any of these... There's no question as to which one I'm making first (banana enchiladas!). I will try and do a follow-up post with some photos of how they turn out (no doubt not as perfect as the pictures!) but as long as they taste good that's fine, right?

Funny Street Signs

So, Sean and I were just walking around in Mexico, and happened to stumble upon some of the funniest signs we had seen.

Take, for instance, this one:

I thought this was brilliant! Asking for a coffee nicely will save you 50%! Some people just need a little lesson in manners sometimes.


No comment on this one, though  (it speaks for itself! haha):

I mean, who comes up with stuff like this!:

This one below was quite possibly my favorite:

This one almost made me snort coke out of my nose!

And finally, this gem: (Mexicans must really like tourists?)

I found those signs to be quite creative. They took some serious stuff (such as "don't throw cigarette butts on the ground" or "STOP") and put a funny spin to them. If we all did this more in our daily lives, wouldn't that be a much happier, more fun way to live?

Why 2013 Was My YOLO Year

2013 was most definitely my YOLO year: YEAR OF LEARNING OVERALL.

My outfit to welcome the New Year

This was by far the year where I have learned the most about myself, about what I want from life and where I want it to be headed. I feel that I now have a crystal clear vision of the things I want to achieve, and how I wish to be living my life from now on. As cheesy as it sounds, I feel proud and eager about actually working on achieving my "bucket list" of sorts.

I learned, for instance, that I actually don't want a 9-to-5 job and get sucked into the rat race, which was surprising, because I always thought I did.

I learned that I don't want my son to be raised by anyone other than me and my husband (at the moment, he spends about 3 hours a day with a nanny while we both work, as 90% of children in Colombia do). That for me was completely normal, as that is too how I was raised. I now know with full certainty that I don't wish that for my kid.

I learned that I actually can do something to be able to work for myself in the near future. This is something that up until last year I always saw very distant and difficult and unrealistic. In 2013 I realized that all it takes is to leave your comfort zone (easier said than done, but I took the plunge and feel prouder than ever!).

I learned that happiness does not depend on where you are. I always thought I would be completely miserable in New Zealand, and as it turns out, I absolutely loved it. But life had other plans and I ended up having to come back to Colombia, and I really struggled (and still do) with living here. So I had to learn to find the little things in my everyday life that made me happy, instead of focusing on how different this is to what I got used to in New Zealand. Otherwise I would have been terribly miserable all day, and that is certainly not something I want. It is not an easy job at all, and of course I don't succeed every day, but I do my best and have managed to actually be happy most of the time while being here.

I think the most important lesson of all in 2013, however, was precisely that contrast between New Zealand and Colombia. I think if I hadn't come back, I wouldn't have appreciated New Zealand as much as I do now. After living here for the past eight months, I know with 100% certainty that NZ is where I want to be, and settle down (and yes, I know I have mentioned this on here a thousand times), but I am saying it again because with the beginning of the new year, Sean and I finally decided that 2014 is the year when we go back!!! And I am absolutely thrilled and happy and excited, and a little nervous, as opposed to 2012 when I left Colombia completely devastated.

Thanks to all of these discoveries, I feel that 2014 is going to be the year of big life changes. Good life changes. Changes that are bringing me (and my husband and child) closer to what we envision. 2013 was such an important year for me, and it ended just as importantly with that little thing called my wedding, almost in a premonitory way of the awesome changes coming to my life this year.

Today, after one full week of 2014, I say "Bring it on!" and yes, it might be extremely cliché and ridiculous and all (I am rolling my eyes at myself writing this) but I think 2014 will be another YOLO year: "You Only Live Once so you better freaking start living the life you love now!"

Homemade Scented Candles

For Christmas, my very DIY-oriented mom gave away some stunning scented candles to friends and family. I thought they looked stunning, and since I am pretty much obsessed with scented candles, I had to ask her to teach me. As it turns out, it is not at all difficult. To make them, you will need:

• Tin or pot
• Liquid paraffin (the amount depends on how big your tin/pot is)
• The fragrance or essential oil of your preference (Lavender, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Lemongrass... whatever you want your candle to smell like)
• Poppy paint (optional)
• White paint and any other color you wish to use
• A strong cotton cord or string for the wicks

The first thing you'll need to do is paint your whole tin white, to even out the surface and to make the rest of the paint look brighter and stick better to the tin. At this point, you can choose to make some designs with poppy paint in order to give it more texture. Another technique she taught me for texture (shown in the picture below) is to dip your brush in the white paint and then wipe it until the brush is almost dry. Then paint the tin with several, irregular strokes in different shapes until it is all covered.

Once it has fully dried, it's time to create the actual candle. First, you'll need to make sure that your wicks stand straight once the candle is finished: what I do is stick the cords to the bottom of the tin with a little ball of play-doh, and I hold them up, looping the ends (which will become the wicks) around a pencil or some long stick, ensuring that the wicks stay in place. For big tins, I like making three wicks for a better throw.

Now, pour the paraffin and the fragrance oil into the tin. Let the paraffin solidify over a good 24 hours. 

Once the paraffin is solid, trim the wicks to your desired length (1/2 inch or so is a good standard).

Now it's time to get creative: paint your tin however you want: personalize it with a nice message for someone, comforting words (like my mom did), or even write your favorite quote on it. The sky is the limit here!

Love, Peace, Faith... encouraging words and hearts make this a gorgeous candle

And then there's this one, made for me and Sean with our wedding details on it:

Everyone who received these candles for Christmas was absolutely delighted. But since the Christmas season is over now, why not make some to put around in your house? They will certainly add a lot of character and are quite the conversation starters. 

I Am Back! Wedding, Post-Wedding, Honeymoon And Everything In Between

Whoa, has it really been almost three weeks since I last posted? Where has the time gone?
I have very clear goals for this blog, and it is one of the things I love doing and working on the most, but sometimes, there are things in life that just require our full, undivided attention, and that was December for me.

What a surreal month it was! First, on the 15th my in-laws came all the way from New Zealand to be with Sean, Tommy and me after nine months (and of course, to be at our wedding!). Then we travelled to our wedding destination, the beautiful city of Cartagena, and finally on the 21st of December, Sean and I GOT MARRIED! That's right, we did it, we took the plunge and now we are a pair of over-the-moon-happy newlyweds. The wedding ceremony was very touching, Sean said the most beautiful, meaningful words I have ever heard, and then we danced all night. That's exactly how I wanted it to be: nothing too OTT, nothing extremely complicated or traditional or cookie-cutter, just something that was simple, but fun and that people would remember, and I am certain all those things were accomplished. And Sean and I were left full of happiness, and a commitment we had long ago decided to make to each other, now official.

Sometime after that came Christmas, and Sean's family and mine spent it together (a priceless occurrence in itself!). Tommy got spoiled rotten, and enjoyed the first Christmas where he was actually aware that there is a good, old man in a red suit who comes and delivers presents. It was quite cute to watch him grasp the idea, and then be delighted and excited about it. Two days after Christmas, my mom, step-dad and brothers left with him to Disney World in Florida, so that we could have a nice, relaxing, kids-free honeymoon. And boy, that we did! We had eight days in the Mayan Riviera near Cancun, Mexico, where we just relaxed by the pool and the beach all day. And ate. And ate and ate and then ate some more. All day long we ate. But it was worth it: Mexican food is one of the best pleasures on this Earth and we certainly indulged in it.

Yesterday we arrived home, and real life has kick-started again. I won't lie: I have post-wedding blues. I had almost an entire month full of celebrations, travel, and people I love that I hadn't seen for so long, and then all of a sudden real life has to start again. But that's the beauty of life I guess: invaluable moments come and go in life so that we learn to cherish them and appreciate them more. And that is exactly what I plan on doing: grabbing all those beautiful, unforgettable moments from last month and keeping them in my heart forever. Moments such as these:

1. Me with my gorgeous bridesmaids, getting super excited before the ceremony:

2. The loving look of my husband, while I was saying my vows to him:

3. Tommy wanting to make a toast to us during the speeches (raising his plantain chip!):

4. The embrace of my brother, who was also one of Sean's groomsmen:

And many, many more....!  I will perhaps share a little bit more about the wedding, but don't worry, I will most definitely not drown you in wedding posts or pictures at all.

Starting today, I will continue blogging as often as I was last year (every weekday, if possible!). I have some great ideas I wish to develop too (a lot more tutorials and recipes, for example), and a lot of fresh content for this year, so make sure you come back everyday and check it out! It feels really good to be back to bloggers world; it is by far one of my favorite activities and I always look forward to sharing what is on my mind every day. Thank you for reading this and making it so much more worthwhile.