Bacardi break…

courtesy of Bacardi.com

Feliz lunes mis amigos.!! Happy Monday my friends.!! How was everyone’s weekend.!? Hopefully stellar.! I know mine was 🙂 I spent a lovely Friday evening with a person who is dear to my heart.! And got a thumbs up on my pie making abilities 🙂 Yay me.! Saturday was hectic from sun up to sun down running errands and squeezing in a late dinner with my father.! Let’s not forget all those workouts.! Geesh…. Though I received another lovely slimming compliment at my job, so it must be working.!

On Sunday though, I went to a goodbye party or a despidida for a very good friend 😦 I’m very sad to see her leave as we have been friends for a long while. We did our master’s degree program and most of our study abroads together while in school.! She even came to visit me during our birthday week when I lived in Mexico. And that’s why dear readers, I can’t even think of throwing stones at her for leaving me because I left first to go live in Mexico. But it’s still sad to see her go 😦

me and my birthday buddy

However, I have a new place to visit as she is moving to Puerto Rico.!!! And all I can say about that is “Hola Puerto Rico“.!!! I am totally going to visit 🙂 And so in honor of my dear friend’s departure, I decided to give Dos Equis a break and showcase a Puerto Rican rum. Now in all fairness, Bacardi originated in Cuba. But after the Cuban revolution, Bacardi moved its operations to Puerto Rico and the Bahamas so it could continue to do business with the U.S. and Britain respectively. So, in short, it’s living an expat life too.!! The video is called “Untameable” just like my birthday buddy.!! Have a great week.! Enjoy.! Y salud.!!

home sweet home…

courtesy of peloruslearning.com

What exactly does home mean.? Does it mean the place you currently live.? The place you were born in.? Or the place that fires your heart from within.?? I have to say for me the answer is…complicated. When I was in Playa del Carmen – I loved it.!! Except the part about not making and saving enough money. But now that I’m in Chicago, I miss Playa. All of it’s sights and sounds and smells.

Nico Wilmes, a friend of one of my Dutch pals in Playa, put together a fast moving clip about life in Playa.! It brought back so many memories.! I have walked many of those same beaches.! I have walked Quinta Avenida.!! I have dodged the tourists around Coco Bongo.!! jajaja… I could almost feel the magic of being there again 🙂

A good friend of mine recently asked me when was I returning home (meaning to Playa) and I told her I didn’t know. Because in truth, I don’t really know. But Playa will always be my home away from home. And it will always take up sacred space in my heart. Siempre en mi corazón ❤ Please enjoy the video.!! And your weekend 🙂

nombre de mi madre

Yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of my mother’s passing. With her birthday the other week and this milestone anniversary, she has been on my mind frequently. In her memory, I thought I would revisit this blog post from last year. Enjoy.!

howdoyousaytacoinspanish

my mom and dad – one of their last photos

It was my mother’s birthday the other day. She would have been 67 years old. And of course, Thanksgiving is around the corner. This time of year, I find myself thinking about her on a fairly regular basis. But it is no longer in sadness that I think about her. I am now able to remember all the good memories and enjoy the remembering. I believe Mexico helped me a lot with that. I know what you are thinking, “Rose, how could a whole country heal you?” Well let me share….

When my mother was pregnant with me, my parents decided on baby names. If I was a boy, I would have taken my grandfather’s name, Tom, or Tomislav. If I was a girl, my name was going to be Maryann or Mariana because my mother really liked that…

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Dos Equis treinta y tres

courtesy of dosequis.com

Feliz lunes a todos.!! Happy Monday everyone.!! I hope everyone here in the states had a joyous Thanksgiving weekend.!! And elsewhere in the world, I hope you had a joyous weekend in general.!! I had a magnificent time 🙂 On Thanksgiving, I not only got to spend it with my extended family and eat lots and lots of turkey.!! I also spent some quality time with someone I care very deeply about it 🙂 On Friday, I spent quality time with myself.!! jajaja…. I worked out, I read, I watched murder mysteries on the telly.! It was fabulous.!!!

Saturday was a little crazy.!! I guess for all that leisure time on Friday, my world needed balancing out. So my see-saw invariably tipped in the other direction and I was non-stop camote as they say in Mexico. I had lunch with my dad and ran a bunch of errands for him and for me.! I went all the way to the far northern suburbs to see more extended family.! Whew.! What a drive.! But I did get to see the movie “Big Hero 6“, so it was completely worth it.

On my way back home, I was supposed to grab a coffee with a friend, but he was too tuckered out by the time I got to his place and so was I. We decided to postpone our visit until Sunday which ended up being a good thing because we went to an underground coffee shop.! Apparently, it’s only open the last Sunday of every month.!! How cool is that.?! Now you all know I love coffee and anything secretive.!! So maybe next to being alive during Prohibition and going to a speakeasy – this is a good as it gets right here right now.!

Which brings us to Monday….I must admit it’s really hard to be working after a long weekend off. But, then again, it’s nice to have a job.! So no complaints.!! This week’s Dos Equis’ commercial is a little longer than usual. We gain more insight into the Most Interesting Man in the World including that he lives dangerously by having a cougar as a pet.! But of course he does, you didn’t think he’d have a regular domestic cat, now did you.?!! Enjoy.! Y salud.!!