27 January 2010

Goddess of .. Where In The World Wednesday - Volume 4 !

Public Service Announcement : I want to welcome all new bloggies, there's quite a few newbies around here (now 46 followers, yay!). Make yourselves at home :o), comment whenever possible (wink, wink) and enjoy the ride !


So, without further ado, it's that time again bloggies !

The 4th edition of Where In The World wednesdays !
(Jessica @ Classy in Philadelphia started this feature)
"Basically, each week I will post a new picture of me in some place I've traveled to (or if not me, a photo I took at a place I traveled to).
If a lot of people participate, it will be a fun way to see where some of our favorite bloggers have traveled! It doesn't have to be recent, it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just anywhere you consider traveling!"
Today's feature : As you may know, if you've been reading for a while, I took my mom on a trip to Philadelphia in April 2009. We were celebrating her 60th birthday ! The picture on the left was taken next to the Reading Market Terminal, our first stop in the city.. where we enjoyed some delicious cheesesteak sandwiches .. I'll be baaaaaack ! The second picture was taken in front of the gorgeous Swann Memorial Fountain, in Logan Circle.. right next to the Philly Free Library. I was so exhausted that day, it was Easter day .. we had breakfast at Sabrina's Café & Spencer's too.. later we visited the Rodin Museum and in the afternoon, Eastern State Penitentiary .. ohh and we stopped for a snack.. cinnamo-sugared donuts & locally-brewed chocolate beer at The Belgian Café. It was a loooong day, but totally amazing !

Flowers blossoming near Reading Terminal Market
&
Swann Memorial Fountain in Logan circle

My delicious cheesesteak sandwich @ Spataro's Cheesesteaks
 in Reading Terminal Market
&
Cinnamon-sugared donuts and locally-brewed chocolate beer @ The Belgian Café
located on the corner of 21st street & Green street

Excuse the late post but fotoflexer did NOT cooperate with me today.. Actually, I even tried preparing the photos yesterday .. and even then, fotoflex was being a little witch. Urgh.

Kisses & much love,

15 January 2010

Goddess of .. Feel Good Friday - Volume 2 !

Welcome one and all, to the 2nd edition of the
"Feel Good (About Yourself) Friday" !
{read all FGFs here}

Every week (or so) I will post something to feel good about and you can do the same on your blogs. It doesn't have to be anything complicated, maybe just list some things you like about yourself and invite others to do the same :o)

Think of "Feel Good (About Yourself) Fridays" as a day to shamelessly toot your own horn, to cut yourself some slack & to pat yourself on the back and say "good job" ..

Click to see all Feel Good Friday posts

Grab the "Feel Good Friday" button
by copying the code in the box below
and pasting it in your own blog post..
Come on, dooooo it, you'll feel goooood !

...


Today's Feel Good question  :

What's your favorite personality trait about yourselves, bloggies ?
Why ? And how do you exploit it best ?

My answer :

I'd have to say the fact that I'm generous.

I like it because it comes naturally and whenever I give, however way it is, it makes me feel really good and like I should be proud of myself. I think it's a great quality to have and I always appreciate it when I recognize it in others. Even though most generous people don't do it for the recognition, I think it's always nice to feel appreciated.

I use this characteristic best by doing volunteer work I think. Volunteering doesn't require much of an effort for me (except to look for & find the volunteering opportunities but not the work itself) and I love to know that in some little way, I am helping someone who needs it. Everyone needs a helping hand at some point and I think I have been very fortunate, so far in my life, not to need much help .. so I have the strength and energy to help others.


What about you bloggies ?


I'm impatiently awaiting to hear about your best personality traits. Make sure to showcase your personality and true character this weekend, you'll feel goooood !

Ciao,


These awesome people participated in this week's "Feel Good Friday".. Write your own feel good post and come back here after to add your link



14 January 2010

Goddess of .. Snail Mail is the Best Kind of Mail !

And Bloggers are the Best Kind of People !

Seriously.

I got some wonderful snail mail yesterday regarding

Mark your calendars people, that was a great day :o)





I can't believe how lucky I am.
I started reading blogs and blogging in March 2009 and already, I've won 2 giveaways.
The first one being my "Cherry Blossom Girl" print

Anywho, just wanted to thank you, Suz !
The card was very sweet and I loved getting snail mail :o)
I'll be heading to Starbucks this weekend to enjoy some lattes.

Everyone head over to Suz's "30 before 30 List" blog .. you will love it :o)


13 January 2010

Goddess of .. Where In The World Wednesday - Volume 3 !

The lovely Jessica @ Classy in Philly started a feature called :


the Where In The World wednesdays !
{Click here to view all my WITWW posts}
"Basically, each week I will post a new picture of me in some place I've traveled to (or if not me, a photo I took at a place I traveled to).
If a lot of people participate, it will be a fun way to see where some of our favorite bloggers have traveled! It doesn't have to be recent, it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just anywhere you consider traveling!"
Today's feature : Back in May 2007, Miguel and I took our first (and only) vacation together. I had just finished my bachelor's degree in Law and I had a few days off before my prom. We agreed on a warm / beachy destination.. St. Pete's Beach (just outside Tampa) in Florida. I believe we were there from April 30th to May 4th .. so around 5 days. It was a blast and the weather was perfect, every. single. day. around 85 degrees.

That's me, on the beach at sunset, right in front of our hotel,

{A couple more pics to show you our dream vacation spot}

1. The Hotel (with a revolving restaurant on top)
2. St. Pete's beach (beautiful and not too crowded in May)
3. View of the beach from our room (on the left side we could see Boca Ciega bay, beautiful as well)
Okay bloggies, enough nostalgia for today, I'm craaaaaaving the beach these days and this is not helping !

Have a great one !



If you participated in today's Where In The World Wednesday, add your name and direct link to your WITWW post to the Mr.Linky below ! ... If you didn't participate, shame on you ;o) !

Jan. 13th 2010 Where In The World Wednesday Participants :

8 January 2010

Goddess of .. Feel Good Friday - Volume 1 !

Welcome one and all, to the very first edition of the
"Feel Good (About Yourself) Friday" !

Hi bloggies (You're looking good today!),

I am launching this new feature, and hope that you will all join me, to help us all further develop our self esteem because frankly, we're all REALLY awesome and I think we just don't know it yet ! I don't need to tell you how important it is to know your worth in order to realize your dreams and get what you really want out of life, right ?

Maybe, like myself, you know this perfectly well but you're struggling with it .. no worries, "Feel Good Friday" are here to help. Every week (or so) I will post something to feel good about and you can do the same on your blogs. It doesn't have to be anything complicated, maybe just list some things you like about yourself and invite others to do the same :o)

Think of "Feel Good (About Yourself) Fridays" as a day to shamelessly toot your own horn, to cut yourself some slack & to pat yourself on the back and say "good job" ..

Click to see all Feel Good Friday posts

Grab the "Feel Good Friday" button
by copying the code in the box below
and pasting it in your own blog post..
Come on, dooooo it, you'll feel goooood !

...


Today's Feel Good question  :

What's your favorite physical attribute about yourselves, bloggies?
Why ? And what do you do to feature it ?

Think about it this way ..
If you could only keep one physical attribute from your body in this life,
to transfer to your new body in your next life,
which one would you pick ?

My answer :

I'd have to say my lips.

I like them because I think the shape is perfect. The top lip has just the right curve and shape around the cupid's bow, it's not flat and boring. The bottom lip is just full enough to look delicious (if I do say so myself) without looking fake, hehehe.
I usually just keep my lips bare during the day at work because it feels better that way (and bright or dark lipstick/gloss can be a little too much for the office) but I looove putting some Sephora lip gloss when I go out at night.. right now the pink-o-lada color is my favorite shade !

I usually go for light pink shades because I think it suits my skintone (super pale), eyes (light blue) and hair (blonde) better than dark colors and makes my lips look even plumper (is that a word ??). *smoooch*


What about you bloggies?

I'm impatiently awaiting to hear about your best features and beauty tips / secrets. Make sure to showcase your beauty this weekend, you'll feel goooood !

Ciao,


These awesome people participated in this week's "Feel Good Friday".. Write your own feel good post and come back here after to add your link


6 January 2010

Goddess of .. Where in The World Wednesday - Volume 2 !

The lovely Jessica @ Classy in Philly started a feature called :



the Where In The World wednesdays !
"Basically, each week I will post a new picture of me in some place I've traveled to (or if not me, a photo I took at a place I traveled to).

If a lot of people participate, it will be a fun way to see where some of our favorite bloggers have traveled! It doesn't have to be recent, it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just anywhere you consider traveling!"
I haven't been posting this feature regularly yet because it seems like all my good travel pictures are not digital. Can you believe it ? I haven't been traveling to very interesting destinations since cameras started using digital formats. HAHA.. not funny, lol. Mama needs a vacation. Anywho, it might be a while before I decide to scan pictures of my trips to France, Italy or Greece .. so until then, it'll mostly be pictures of little trips around the good 'ole U.S. of A.

Today's feature : My parents offered to take me on a roadtrip accross New England when I turned 18.. and aside from the constant bickering between my parents .. I remember I got to live one of my biggest dreams at the time : Surfing !

I remember being sooooo sore the day after .. my abs and arms were ripping apart but it was an amazing experience and I'm so grateful I got to try it.

In fact, I even added "try surfing again" to my 30 before 30 list .. I loved it so much !



Hahaha, good memories .. Wetsuits I look so dorky !


4 January 2010

Goddess of .. A fresh start for 2010 !

It's 6:17am.
I pulled an all-nighter but I did it, hehe.

I hope you like the new template for the blog. I originally wanted to make it all pretty by January 1st but the custom header image thingy was difficult a bitch to make (it took me days).. because I am not at all Photoshop-friendly (or Photoshop is not at all Aritza-friendly .. if you will). Anywowzer, I was determined to incorporate that specific image because it. rocks. my. socks. OFF.

...

Here's how the Holidays went down for me

December 23rd : Housewarming party at Lolita's - Major Success, about 15-20 people were there and it was fun. The food that Lolita and I cooked was really good, I was kind of impressed we pulled it off.

{Only halfway done with the clean-up at that point ..}

December 24th : Christmas Eve celebration with Mom and her bestfriend. We had a five-course dinner at a very fancy hotel restaurant .. it was simply delicious. And then, as a gift to all of us, I rented a room in that hotel, where we exchanged gifts and drank some bubbly !

{3 people, 50 presents, sounds about right}


{Make-up station for the Belle of the Bal}


{Have I ever mentionned how much I lurve hotel beds ?}

December 25th : Christmas Night dinner at Lolita's dad's place. It's always a good time when we go there .. espescially because her dad is a wine specialist / expert (the man does that for a living, my hero). So uhmmm, amazing food, amazing wines and a jacuzzi, enough said. I died and went to heaven.

 
{Lolita and her cousin giving me the Bunny Ears}

{One third (!) of Lolita's Dad's wine cellar.. I'll be baaack}

{Fettucini, Linguini, Martini, Bikini}

December 26th : Boxing Day - Shopping bonanza. I bought plenty of work clothes because it was necessary and some pretty pretty boots because I'm worth it, hehe.

{Mama bought some hawt boots}

How 'bout you ? How were your holidays, bloggies ?
 

P.S. It's now 7:53am .. ouch .. no beauty sleep for me. We hip hop and we don't stop.