Another survey...

Again stolen from T =)

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:30 am

2. How do you like your steak? medium well

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? 500 Days of Summer and I really enjoyed it

4. What is your favorite TV show? Right now I am really enjoying True Blood. I also like Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Gossip Girl & Survivor.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Where I am right now... in SF although I wish I had a bigger apartment

6. What did you have for breakfast? I had fruit salad which was made up of mangoes, kiwis & strawberries.

7. What is your favorite cuisine? If I had to choose it would be Mexican, Japanese & Thai

8. What foods do you dislike? I was going to say beets but I had them in a salad at Perbacco's and they were really good. I guess I will say nopales.

9. Favorite place to eat? Lately it's been a thai place by my office. Oh and Cha Cha Cha's in SF. Love their sangria!

10. Favorite dressing? blue cheese

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? 2009 Toyota Matrix XRS which I really want to trade in for a smaller car.

12. What are your favorite clothes? jeans, tshirts & pj pants.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Spain & Australia

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? isn't it supposed to be a glass? =)

15. Where would you want to retire? I don't know. I've never even thought of that.

16. Favorite time of day? Friday 5PM

17. Where were you born? Mexico City

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Soccer & football. Also swimming but only during the Olympics.

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? not concerned

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? not concerned

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? Anyone who chooses to complete this.

22. Bird watcher? Yeah, I gotta watch out that they don't crap on me while they are flying around

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night owl

24. Do you have any pets? no.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Not going to Spain like I had talked about (sad face) but I am going to go to Las Vegas & Mexico in December. But Spain will be an option next year.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? a cocktail waitress. that's what happens when you watch too many telenovelas when you are a kid.

27. What is your best childhood memory? hanging out with my cousins in Mexico

28. Are you a cat or dog person? neither. Well, that's not true. I like dogs. Cats... I am not a fan.

29. Are you married? nope

30. Always wear your seat belt? Yeah

31. Been in a car accident? yes

32. Any pet peeves? People trimming their nails at work. Eeek!

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? artichoke, canadian bacon & pineapple.

34. Favorite Flower? I really like gerbera daisies but lately I have been getting stargazer lillies for my house I also like tulips.

35. Favorite ice cream? Coffee from Haagen Daaz.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? In N Out

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? none

38. From whom did you get your last email? FB notification

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Sephora

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? not that I can think of

41. Like your job? meh... it's ok

42. Broccoli? yummy!

43. What was your favorite vacation? Going to Cancun three years ago

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? my friend and her husband. Had a really good time.

45. What are you listening to right now? True Blood soundtrack. Surprisingly good.

46. What is your favorite color? black & purple

47. How many tattoos do you have? None.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? You read this, you are tagged

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 10:18 pm

50. Coffee drinker? sometimes but not as much as before

Products I am Using

Stealing this from T =)

Shampoo: I am using two different products - Aussie Moist Shampoo & Bed Head Moisture Maniac Shampoo. I go back and forth between these and find that they work really well on my hair.

Conditioner: Same as the shampoos - Aussie Cleanse & Mend Conditioner & Bed Head Moisture Maniac Conditioner.

Styling products: Depends on how I am styling my hair. If it's curly, I will use Enjoy Shaping Lotion, Paul Mitchell Round Trip Curl Definer and Bed Head Headrush. If I straighten it, I will use Bed Head Superstar Leave-in Conditioner, Bed Head After Party Smoothing Cream, Kiehl's Superthick Volumizer. I also use the Sebastian Shaper hairspray.

Shower Gel: I don't use shower gel. Been using the Lush bar soaps in Honey I Washed the Kids, Karma, Rock Star & I Should Coco. Very moisturizing!

Body moisturizer: I use the Lush massage bars in Strawberry Feels Forever & Soft Coeur. I also use the Bath & Body Works body moisturizers in Sweet Pea & Cherry Blossom.

Deodorant: Dove Aerosol Deodorant

Fake Tan: I am Mexican and don't need it =)

Cleanser: MAC Wipes to remove make up, Shu Uemura Cleansing oil and Origins Never A Dull Moment Skin Brightening Face Polisher

Toner: None.

Exfoliator: St. Ives Apricot Scrub & Mary Kay Microdermabrasion

Primer: MAC SPF 50 Primer & Illamasqua Primer

Foundation brush: Been using MAC Studio Fix Fluid & MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation

Concealer: MUFE 5 Camouflage Cream Palette #1

Powder: MAC MSF Natural in Medium Dark

Blush: Benefit Coralista or MAC Dollymix

Bronzer: MAC Refined Golden Bronzing Powder

Highlighter: MAC MSF Shimpagne

Eyeshadow base: Too Faced Shadow Insurance & MAC Painterly Paintpot

Eyeshadows: MAC MAC MAC!

Eyeliner: MAC Fluidlines and MUFE Gel Liner

Curler: Shu Uemura curler

Mascara: Mally Roncal

Lipstick: MAC High Tea

Lipgloss: MAC Ample Pink Plushglass

Nail Colour: all the matte formulas from OPI & Zoya

Like T, I am continuing with my search for finding my holy grail beauty products.

Shopping is my middle name

I took advantage of a Zoya & Urban Decay sale and got the following goodies.

Zoya - Anaka, Posh & Loredana. Both Posh & Loredana are part of Zoya's Matte collection. Excited to try them out. Urban Decay - Ammo palette with full size UDPP, Fringe eye shadow & a sample of UDPP. The Urban Decay sale is going on until 8/20. For a 30% off coupon enter the code FNFF1 at checkout.

Sent from my iPhone

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest

I was totally surprised this morning by a package I received from my cousin who is living in Spain. She is the one who recommended that I read the Stieg Larson books (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo & The Girl Who Plays with Fire). I had talked to her and told her that they were really good books & I read them in about a week. Each book is like 500 pages but I was hooked. I had mentioned that I would have to wait until October 2009 for the 3rd book to come out in English. Well, this morning I received the third book in the series. However, it's in Spanish. I haven't read a book in Spanish in so long but I am so intrigued that I can't wait to start reading it. I will probably finish it by October :-) This last book is 850 pages long.

Happy Anniversary Part Deux

I left the last entry talking about being around people who were like us. Throughout middle school and high school I never felt like I fit in. Because I moved here at such a young age and emerged into the culture so rapidly, I lost my accent so most people didn't realize that I was Mexican. During my middle school and high school years, it was difficult fitting in because I wasn't Mexican enough for the Latinos in my classes. I didn't like banda music, wear Ben Davis pants and flannel shirts & wear crazy ass black eye liner. Sounds stereotypical but that is what the majority of the Latino kids in my school were like and I was not like them. But because I did like Spanish rock and didn't have an American childhood as compared to the other kids in school, I couldn't connect with the American kids. I was sort of stuck in the middle. It's hard enough to fit in while in high school and adding the fact that I wasn't the type of Mexican kid people expected me to be didn't help. Middle school and high school flew by and to be honest, I have no desire to think about that time in my life. During those years I had a tumultuous relationship with both of my parents due to my teenage hormones, my grandmother passed away and that is when I found out my dad had cheated on my mom. I don't have those awesome high school memories that most people have. I started working when I was 15 so if I wasn't at school, I was at work. I started working as soon as I could because I wanted a way out of my parent's house. A positive of those years is that I was more responsible and mature than most kids my age. I had a goal and was trying to do everything I could possibly do to reach it. I have to admit that I was fairly lucky not to have faced a lot of discrimination during those years. I think because of my lack of accent and the fact that my skin is lighter so I really don't look Mexican I wasn't as exposed to that. I know that both my parents were because they both have heavy accents. I guess I lucked out in that aspect.

After high school was over, I worked all summer long and left for college. This was a big deal to me because I was paying for it on my own. My parents both told me that they would not support me financially if I went to a school so far away. They wanted me to go to the local community college or local state school. But as a teenager the only thing I wanted to do was get the heck out of my town and since I had gotten accepted to a school in Orange County, I decided to go for it. With savings, grants and student loans, I was able to finance my first year in college and pay for my dorms. To me this was a big deal because most of my cousins had had their parents pay for their schooling or had dropped out of school. This was something I could be proud of. But what happens when an 18 year old who had very controlling parents leaves the nest? You guessed it…PARTY TIME! I will always remember my first year on my own as the most fun I ever had. I met a lot of really cool people during my first year but I partied too much. I did a lot of stupid things and put myself in very shady situations. I partied myself out of my student loans and got kicked out of school. I think I was mesmerized in the fact that I was free to do what I wanted to do and what I wanted to do was have fun. I went to raves, frat parties, made Tijuana runs with my roommates, experimented with recreational drugs and had a good old time. I stayed in Orange County for another 6 months after my freshman year and was working two jobs barely making any money. That winter I went to Mexico for Christmas break and I remember seeing some of my cousins who were all in school and getting good jobs and realized that I was throwing away a great opportunity that I had been given. I moved back home and didn't really want to go to school so I got a job at a bank. I sort of settled down a bit and was responsible once again. I went back to school and concentrated on what was important in life.

I am still a resident of the US but have started the paper work to become a citizen. I am proud of my Mexican heritage but I have lived 2/3 of my life in the US. I think it's time that I become a citizen. I am not sure why I was opposed to it but during the past election, I was rooting for Obama and was upset with myself that I couldn't vote. I think for quite some time I took for granted what I had been given. Even now at times I forget how much I struggled in my first few years here and how hard I had to work for things. This country truly is the land of opportunity but you have to work for it. It isn't given to you.

Happy Anniversary!

My first experience on a plane was 20 years ago. In July 29, 1989 my mom, sister & I boarded a plane to come to California to meet up with my dad. I was 10 years old and had no idea what was going on. All I knew was that I was going to get to see my dad after not seeing him for a few months. That decision taken by my parents completely changed my life. It has been a roller coaster ride with its ups and downs but I am forever grateful for the opportunities that I have had by living in this country. I don't know what my life would be like if I had never moved here. Would I have been like the majority of my girl cousins who are married with kids? Is that the sort of life I would have had? Would I be as independent as I am today? Would my parents still be together? Would my mom even be alive if she hadn't had the surgery she needed? These are some of the questions that I ask myself as I reflect back on the past 20 years. I have been a US resident for 2/3 of my life. I have grown up in a household that was a mix of traditional Mexican values and a very different culture which I experienced while I was not at around my parents. I will never take for granted the experiences that I have had since living here.

It wasn't always easy. When I moved to my town, there wasn't a lot of diversity. In my fifth grade class, besides a few Asian kids, I was the only other minority. No one else spoke Spanish and my English was very limited. When I try to think back on how I managed to get through that first year, I just don't remember all the details. I do remember my first day of school and how intimidated I was. Coming from a Catholic all girls private school to a coed public school where I didn't know anyone or spoke the language. Since we had moved here mid –summer, we didn't know what the school attire was. I showed up in my best clothes because my mom was under the impression that that was the way kids dressed. I had on a hideous flower print dress, knee socks, Mary Janes and my hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail. As I walked into class, I remember being stared by everyone and seeing that no one really looked like me. Every kid in class was wearing very casual clothes. I felt so out of place. Add to the fact that I couldn't really speak with anyone I became instantly became the odd person in the class. My teacher Mrs. Franklin, who I remember fondly, was so nice to me but really didn't know what to do with me. There weren't any ESL classes at that time and the material wasn't available in Spanish so what she decided to do was sit me down in front of the computer. I used to play Oregon Trail & Mavis Beacon. There was also a fishing game which names I can't remember. Since math is universal, I excelled in it since the private school I had gone to was more advanced in that subject. That was the only source of comfort I had for the first few years. To this day, it still amazes some people that I can do long division in my head or some advanced math without using a calculator. As that first year went by and kids got to know me, they were nice to me but I had no real friends. How could you be friends with someone who you weren't able to communicate with?

Luckily, Mrs. Franklin's daughter in law was Puerto Rican and knew how to speak Spanish. My parents ended up hiring her as my tutor after school. I would meet with her and we would go on walks and she would point things out to me and that is how I started to learn English. She herself was not a teacher so that was the best way she thought that I would be able to learn. And I did. The next year when I got to middle school and they offered ESL, I was only in the class for one year and then I was able to hold my own with the other kids in the regular classes. Homework during those times was such a chore. Because my parents' English was also limited, they couldn't understand the assignments that I was given. Even though I didn't understand what the handouts were about, I still had to complete them. Here is what would do: we would get the dictionary and translate everything into Spanish and complete the assignment. Then it would get translated into English. Did it make sense? Who knows… we did the best we could. And this was after my mom and dad had been at work all day. Those nights were always filled with tears and frustration from all of us because homework had never been that hard for my sister and I before. Since we didn't have any other family in town, the weekends I would spend it at the pool in our apartment complex playing with my sister or we would go to the Mission in San Francisco to eat and be around Mexican people. At that time, that was the closest place to find people that had our own customs and spoke the language.

To be continued...

I heart Shu Uemura

Their ads always amaze me. The bottom lashes are SO amazing!