World Peace | 81

World peace is something I've always been hopeful about. For as long as I can remember, since I was a child and before I saw how cruel the world can be, I would always ask for world peace on birthday wishes and letters to Santa. There are a few times/things when I have strong faith or hope in, and this is one of them. 

I always thought people were nice and friendly. Then I slowly started learning about war. September 11, I didn't understand it. I learned that just how in kinder we fight for the best crayons, people in the world fight harder over bigger things. And those fights unfortunately end up being fatal. 

I don't like the fact that as the years go by, many of us live in fear. Ironically living in the land of the free. And as much as I don't want to, I do live in fear. I hear a loud noise, I hear someone screaming, I immediately think I have to run and hide somewhere. I don't want to live like that, we shouldn't have to live like that. Living in fear is basically letting the enemy win. I'm only 20 years old, and as I'm starting to realize what it is I want in life I have many more fears. I used to think that only people involved in crimes would "pay the price". But no. Innocent lives have been taken in the most normal situations. Theaters, schools, even church where it's considered a place of respect. And it's not just in places like Mexico or Colombia. It's in our own homeland, sometimes in our own city! 

If and when I have kids, that will become a bigger worry. Wondering if my children are safe in school. When I was a kid, the only drills we were taught were "stop, drop, and roll" and going under the tables protecting our heads. Students now are being taught what to do in case "a dangerous person comes to school". Whether kids understand the situation or not, it's already stealing their innocence. Earlier this year LAUSD closed all schools due to bomb threats. A tweet became viral after a teen said he picked up his little sister from school, after his little sister asked what was happening he simply said it was because he missed her and wanted to spend time with her. A teacher in Mexico singing to her students which were on the floor while a shooting was happening outside. A mom who posted a picture of her 3 year old daughter standing on top of the toilet. At first the mom thinking this was adorable and innocent, later realizing her daughter was showing what they had to do if they need to hide from someone. As kids, my brothers and I were told that we go to school to learn and make friends and have fun. The biggest worry for parents was what color (behavior) card their child got for the day. 

Why can't the news ever show good and happy things. Seems like every day we are further and further away from world peace. It's not just steps that are being taken back, it's miles. If we were ever close to it, we're sooo far now. I want to believe and I continue being a firm believer that one day we won't have as many wars, as many killings, as many innocent lives being taken away. It can be me being "stupid", or me just having a lot of faith. I'm not going to deny that we're in a pretty bad place. People (including myself) say that life sucks and life has horrible things. But that's not really true. Life is beautiful. You experience many wonderful things such as friendships, relationships, family, nature, celebrations, achievements, etc. Unfortunately there is an obstacle that every day seems to get bigger and bigger. I wish I knew how to make a difference. I wish we could all work together and bring people together to be understanding and even if we're not all friends, we can at least learn to respect one another. 

As I said, life is beautiful. Instead of fighting, why can't we celebrate our differences? Many things such as sports and food are blind to culture. Soccer brings people together, and even though we go for opposing teams in the end we're all there for the same reason. Think about the "commercial" Regal Cinemas have before a movie starts. Where different people are arriving to the theater and talking about snacks and what movie they're watching. Different color, ethnicity, and age. But once the lights go down, they're all the same. Same thing with food, we all love to try food from different cultures. Trying tortas ahogadas from Mexico, eating panes con pollo from El Salvador, ravioli from Italy, ramen from Japan, etc. We don't discriminate when it comes to that, why do we discriminate with other things? 

I wish we could share ideas and traditions and recipes. I wish we could celebrate each other's differences instead of killing one another. I wish we could be understanding of things. I wish we could go out without fearing we won't come back home. I wish I wouldn't grow more scared every Fourth of July. The world and life isn't ugly, people make it like that. If you have any doubts, go to a park, lake, admire nature for a bit, hang out with friends and family, play with animals. We have beautiful things around us, and I wish that beauty could continue to grow so we won't have a lot of hurt around us. 

Orlando Shooting | 80

(photo taken: June 14, 2016)

This post has been long overdue despite the fact that it's only been a week. It might be a good thing because I won't be as aggressive, at least I'll edit it out. But I do have to give a warning...

DISCLAIMER: If you get easily offended, stop reading. If psycho people like this person have the right to obtain deadly arms, I have the right to say what I want to say without people starting chaos! So...you've been warned! 

Don't know where to start so I'll just start with this: WHY CAN'T PEOPLE BE OPEN MINDED AND BE ACCEPTING? I don't remember who I heard this from, most likely a YouTuber, but "as long as you're not causing harm to yourself or others, do what makes you happy"! I'm a strong believer in that. These people weren't doing anything wrong. They're not living life "wrong". In fact they're living it to the fullest by being who they are instead of being afraid and depressed, suicidal, etc. The majority of them had good jobs or were in good paths or a bright future. What's the difference, yes it's "same sex", but it's still love which is what this world desperately needs! People worrying over the fact that two men or two women are in a romantic relationship, but keep in mind there's also people who get involved with their own siblings or cousins, then having children with both mental and physical disabilities. You're not anyone to tell someone who they can and cannot love. You can't control someone's lifestyle, you can only be accepting and supportive. During those days a mom was talking to some reporters and she just broke my heart. 36 hours til she found out her son had died. She was proud of the life he was living and the example he was giving. He organized the LGBT group in his school and had done many great things. And in the end, in tears and bawling, she pleaded for everyone to "just get along, why can't we accept each other and love each other?" They were just ordinary people having a fun time, seems like we're not allowed to do that anymore. 

I know many people take the "religious approach". And see, I don't want to disrespect any religion or belief, unless it's completely morally wrong. "God doesn't love gays", have you personally talked to God about his likes and dislikes? You're against two people of the same sex loving each other, but you're preaching and believing in something you've never seen. It's said somewhere in the bible, from what my grandma says, that if someone does something horrible (example: a massacre) and if they're truly sorry about their actions, God will forgive them and let them into heaven. I'm sorry, what? If God can forgive and accept someone like that, He can love and accept people with different "interests". The popular saying, "Dios dijo Adan y Eva, no Jose y Juan"...I don't know if it's popular among you guys, but everyone in the neighborhood would say that. Anyway, let's say that's what God says. God also says one shouldn't lie, steal, should honor their parents, shouldn't commit adultery, etc. Yet everyone does that! There's siblings all with different dads and the same mom, you have people stealing from each other and holding false testimony, marrying their 3rd partner in like a 5 year span. They're also going against what God says or what's in the bible, but why is it that they don't suffer the same as these innocent people?

I don't know how many more lives need to be lost, I don't know how many more parents' hearts need to be broken and how many more massacres need to occur in order for change to actually happen! On Sunday morning, June 12th, I woke up and checked my phone. Since I have my notifications on for breaking news, I began seeing the words: BREAKING NEWS, ORLANDO, CLUB. As I was scrolling through it and turning on the news, unfortunately the first thought that came to mind was "another one"? As if this is something that ALWAYS happens and it's normal. That's what it's become. It's all you hear about: shootings, killings, guns, etc. I don't want to be living in a place where things like this is the norm. I don't want to be living in fear. I'm 20! I want to enjoy going out in the day and night without having to fear for my life. I want to be able to enjoy fireworks without worrying if it was fireworks or gun shots. I don't want the future generation to grow up with this mindset and being afraid of exploring and being themselves. This is supposed to be the land of the free, we can't live in fear.

By now I lost my train of thought and don't know what else I had to say. But I think I covered the most important key points. Let me know what your opinion is! I'm shocked at how much this tragic event has hit me. Every time I see or hear something related it brings tears to my eyes and it's something I keep in my mind. I don't know what's it gonna take for actions to replace words. Because I'm honestly tired of hearing "my thought and prayers are with the families", if we act on this there wouldn't be a need to say that. 

Beauty | 79

(photo taken: April 10, 2016)

I feel like lately I've been spending a lot of time thinking about MANY things and debating with my own self. All of the things I've been wondering about are important in their own way. But today's is going to be about beauty. I don't know why I'm introducing it as if I'm on a talk show..

I've never understood why flaws make a person beautiful. You think of flaws as imperfections, as things that make you ugly. But I finally understood why it makes you beautiful (or handsome because beauty isn't limited to just women). Think of flowers for a moment. There's many many different type of flowers. Different colors, different shapes, different smells, and we still find them lovely and can brighten up pretty much anyone's day. So if we see flowers in that way, why don't we see each other like that? Just because someone is different does not make them ugly. Freckles, stretch marks, birth marks, from physical to internal flaws, it all makes us who we are.

We all have this perfect idea of how we'd like to look. Whether it's slimmer, thicker, taller, shorter, lighter, darker, different hair/eye color, etc. Let's say you do become that "perfect" vision of yourself. Perfect isn't always great. Perfect is sometimes boring. It's like you're coming out of a factory, ever heard that saying, "fue mandadito hacer"? Let's start with something simple as eye color. I love green/blue eyes, I wish I could have them or at least hazel/caramel looking eyes. If I were to have that I feel people would just like me because of that. If we're looking at it in a romantic relationship, they'd enjoy looking into my eyes and saying the most cliche things comparing them to the ocean and what not. But no. I have dark brown eyes. Simple, poop color eyes. So that makes Milton work hard to "conquistarme". lol I don't know if I'm getting my point across. I feel I'm trying to give so many examples but I'm not really explaining myself which makes me want to stop writing..but I've gone too far. 

Being you, being the way you are, you know someone will be your friend (or partner) for the right reasons. They'll dig deep and get to know you instead of just being with you because of your body or your looks. Am I explaining myself? Probably not. But anyway, I think we all need to accept the things we can't change about ourselves. If you complain about having fat or not having a slim stomach, there's workouts for that. But you can't complain about the birth mark on your shoulder, you can't complain about things that came to you naturally. You don't like them because not everyone has it. You don't like it because you're different from everyone else. AND THAT'S THE POINT! You're not supposed to look the same as someone else. You're your own person! Just how we all have different thumbprints that identify us, we all carry something different on/within us to make us DIFFERENT! 

Just embrace it. I'm me, you're you, he's him, etc. What you complain about yourself, other people would want. You think someone's perfect from head to toe but even they have insecurities. 

I hope I explained myself..

Food Tag Questions | 78

(photo "taken": May 12, 2016)

I hate how bad I've been slacking on my blog, knowing that in the beginning I would religiously post every day, even twice on some days! I love tag questions, although no one ever "tags" me in them or I never "tag" anyone in them, they're just fun. So instead of the usual "get to know me" ones, I decided to do one on food! I love food, I just can't eat a lot..the irony. Well, let's get started!..And feel free to comment your response for any question! 

DISCLAIMER: MAY CAUSE HUNGER!!

1. What's your favorite breakfast?

I love chilaquiles or birria for breakfast! Ultimate Mexican breakfast! If it's something "American" take me to Norms or Dennys, a hashbrown is a must!! If it's at home..I don't know I'm not a big fan of breakfast lol 

2. How do you drink your coffee?

I wish I could drink it black and be a wild chick. But no. *decaf* I've recently been doing it in water rather than milk, so I like adding vanilla coffee mate creamer, BOMB! Starbucks: DECAF iced Americano with sweetener and a splenda..

3. What's on your favorite sandwich?

(Subway) Turkey or Oven Roasted Chicken (if I want to go the extra mile, a turkey bacon guacamole, or a chicken and bacon ranch melt!) on jalapeno bread with pepper jack cheese toasted..lettuce, spinach, jalapenos (extra), cucumbers, mayo, and chipotle southwest! 

4. Soup or salad?

Hmm, I don't like either. I'll take the salad if it's packed with chicken and only spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, and carrots..that's about it. I'll take the soup if it's pozole! 

5. What's your favorite cookbook?

I'll have to buy one because I need to learn how to cook!..

6. No more sweets or no more harty foods?

Umm..? I guess no more harty foods because I'm not sure what the question is asking and I don't want to google it.

7. What's your favorite cuisine (country)?

Mexican! American..Italian maybe..in that order.

8. What's your favorite food movie?

There's food movies?

9. What's your most guilty pleasure?

Fatty stuff. Specifically chocolate donuts, hot cheetos with cheese, and nachos packed with stuff! 

10. What's your greatest inspiration source?

Since I'm all into Youtube right now..Jeanine Amapola, Kathleen Fuentes, and Claudia Sulewski!

11. Cooking at home or going out for dinner?

Everyone says I'm always eating out. I don't cook but my mum makes some BOMB food! But I also like eating out. But I'll take homemade food, always takes the win!

12. High end or low profile?

...

13. What's your favorite restaurant?

Actual restaurant will probably have to be Colori! Never go wrong with the Chicken Pesto Sandwich!

14. I do my grocery shopping at..?

Food4Less and Northgate! Ralphs-cuando hay especiales o tenemos cupones! 

15. The tastiest food I've ever eaten was..?

CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! I've been thinking about tinga quesadillas from CPK so that! But then again Sweet N Spicy Chicken from New Moon, Azada Tots from Coronado, Mini Skillet Bowl from Taco Bell, Monster Tacos from Jack..the list goes on and on! 

16. What's your favorite cocktail?

Umm, I'm not 21 yet so I don't drink. But I do like Stella Rosa!

17. Coffee with George Clooney or Heston Blumenthal?

Not a fan but George Clooney just to make my mum jealous. And to ask him about his tequila..for my mum.

18. What should not be missing in your kitchen?

We're Mexican so nunca faltan las tortillas y frijoles..that's a must! Ohh and cereal too.

19. What's your favorite snack?

If I'm being healthy: apples with peanut butter or tajin, grapes any fruit. If I don't care that day, chips or cookies!

     

20. What's on your pizza?

I'm a simple gal, I don't like many things. LIGHT tomato sauce, pepperoni, cheese, jalapenos (baked, not just on top), sprinkle some parmesan cheese, maybe chilli flakes, or ranch, depends on my mood! Chicken Alfredo Pizza from Pizza Studio is bomb btw!

21. What food do you really dislike?

Nopales! And many other things but nopales are always the first thing that pops up! Never tried it actually..

22. What's your favorite food blog?

Actually don't have one and I don't know why. Should look into them!

23. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

I'm not really spontaneous..I thought the buns from The Bun Shop were weird so I guess that. Plus the Shop Fries are BOMB! 

24. What's on your food bucket list?

Mexican Pizza! I really want to expand my options and be open to many dishes!

25. I couldn't live without..?

OXYGEN!..what else? 

Apple of His Eye | 77

(photo taken: April 7, 2016)

Yes I'm finally back with another blog post! I either blog every day, twice a day maybe, or I don't blog for months..there's no in between!

So earlier this month, Milton and I were walking around downtown..like always. These three chicks came up to us, early to mid 20's maybe. They asked if we knew English and Spanish and if we could translate for them. Milton did the talking because I'm always quiet. The girls were talking with a Hispanic man in a wheelchair. They said that a few days prior they talked with a man in a wheel chair who has been paralyzed for nine years, they prayed all together and he was able to get up and walk. They wanted to try the same thing with this man and just share their message and the joy they had.

Now let me tell you real quick, although I'm not "Catholic", I'm also not an atheist. But when I hear these things I need to stop myself from rolling my eyes. I'm not judging, but if all it takes was a prayer, wouldn't hospitals be empty? There wouldn't be as many people with such horrible illnesses. But I mean hey, if your faith is that strong, then that's great. I just don't believe in that stuff. Let me add that the man NEVER said he was paralyzed. He said that his legs ache when he tries getting up, but he didn't say he was immobile. So the 3 girls decided to do a prayer while holding the man's hands. They helped him get up and said his legs didn't hurt too much. They were so amazed and happy..but once again, I'm not being an ass about this, but he never said he was paralyzed or anything!

One of the girls stayed talking to him while the other two turned to us and thanked us for helping out. There was one with an accent and an Asian one. I wasn't ignoring them, but I also didn't want to be there. By this time more people began to surround us wondering what was happening while two guys were playing the guitar and the other singing. The girl with the accent began talking to Milton about faith and what his thoughts were while the Asian girl and I were standing there. I kept nodding and smiling every now and then, but also kept looking away. I was able to see the other girl staring at me. I just thought, "damn she thinks I'm the devil, she sees my sins!" 

She turned to me and asked me if I believe in Jesus, among other questions. I never really gave a definite answer because I honestly don't know what I believe in regarding religion. I have so many questions and doubts. She then reached into her bag and asked if she could give me something. I accepted the paper (picture above) and thought it was nice. "You are the apple of his eye" it said, me being dumb I thought she was talking about Milton and I, I thought that was sweet and smiled while looking at him. I guess she knew I had a different meaning because she asked if I knew what it meant. That's when it came to my head that she meant "His"..as in God. I'm like ohhhhh. 

She said she enjoys drawing things like that, and that when she saw me she felt that this belonged to me. Now here's where the psychology kicks in because they make you want to feel "a calling" I guess. She said that looking at me, she knew that the paper was for me. I'll just quote everything she told me..

"Looking at you, your face, something tells me this is for you. God is always looking at you and he's so amazed and proud that you're His daughter. He's your #1 fan in everything you do, every step you take. He's always cheering on you saying, 'yeah that's my daughter, I can't believe I created something so beautiful!' He's always rooting for you and is always so excited to see what your next step is!"

See what I mean? Making me feel beautiful lol While she was telling me all this I kept saying "nope, no, not at all" in my head. And I did feel a bit emotional. Why? Let's be honest, I'm doing nothing with my life. Am I happy about it? Hell no! Haven't been able to get a job, I'm still unsure about going to school, like what have I accomplished? And I wanted to tell her I haven't done one thing to make myself or anyone proud. So why is she going to stand here telling me this when it's not true? And I did feel like a horrible person but at the moment I was confused a bit but mostly mad because it was kind of throwing it in my face in the way that someone is always cheering on me whenever I do something. WHAT IS IT THAT I DO?? 

I kept nodding and smiling, but that smile said it all I guess. She went on and asked me what it was that I knew about God, if I wanted to build a relationship with Him, what I thought happened to us once we pass away. And let me be honest, if it was a different scenario, if it was in a room and not in the street I might have started an actual conversation. But I wasn't about to talk about my "faith" or concerns in the middle of Downtown! So I kept my answers short and I kept looking over at Milton trying to give him that "let's leave" face. And after a while we did. 

Did I keep the sign? Yes, it's in my room. I felt maybe it would give me some type of motivation to go to school at least, or try and find some other opportunity. I've tried sooo hard to find a job, the jobs I'm so passionate about don't even give me a chance because I get nervous or shy. That shouldn't determine my abilities and passion I have towards something! I'll save that for another post. I explained to my mum what happened and she said she knows what the girl saw. That whenever we have a conversation regarding religion, I have a look of uncertainty on my face. A look that is pushing away but at the same time interested, a confused look. And I guess that is true! 

Syrup Desserts | 76

(photos taken: December 06, 2015)

And here we are again. Discovering another "hyped up" place.

Syrup Desserts. I thought everyone knew about this place, but I've come across people who haven't heard of it. As the name says, this place serves desserts, coffee, I'm not sure about sandwiches...maybe...maybe I'm wrong. As requested, we were originally going to review/vlog about our experience here...but that never happened. 

Coming here was out of the blue. Milton and I walking around Downtown (as usual) and we finally found it. We weren't really searching for it, but we got there and decided to try it out. Appearance wise, this place is legit! It's has dark walls, chairs, tables, has a nice dark vibe to it. There's a second floor which is small, more private which was nice! Since it was our first time being here, we didn't go big on ordering something. I have a thing that if I try a new place, food, coffee, etc., I'll get something small and inexpensive. If I don't like it, at least I didn't waste money. And if I do enjoy it, I can always try something new next time!

The chick there seemed nice. She gave us the menu, we just chose the red velvet cake. I was obsessed with it, but I think this experience ruined it for me...and the one from Lemonade. *future possible blog post on that* She said we could sit where we'd like and she'd bring it to us. It was probably dumb for me to think they were making it at the moment. We went to the top floor which gave us a view from downstairs. She left for a while, we thought she'd bring it soon. Spending time talking, taking pictures and stuff, we realized it was taking a while. She was back taking orders from two people. She kept standing at the counter on her phone. No biggie, they'll probably bring it fresh I thought. 

So by this time I think 15 minutes passed and still...no cake. This entire time she was waiting at the counter on her phone. It wasn't busy. No one was ordering anything. I see her putting her phone away and get the cake from the display window. She cut the slice, put it on the plate then went to the back for the ice cream scoop. She still took a while, by this time I was thinking "damn they must be making their own ice cream or something". I didn't mind too much because there was no rush, but it's still inconvenient. But hey, would you rather have your cake done quick or delicious?

She finally brought it up to us. I was excited because I mean come on, look at it, it looks so cute and good! A few snaps (to later complain about it) and we both tried it. Dry. Not moist. Cream was odd. No good. Cake should be fluffy and moist and basically taste like what clouds would taste. This was hard and dry. Probably as dry as doing the cinnamon challenge! Yes you can say I'm picky, but even Milton agreed it was bad. My cake spot is Adams and Figueroa! This was either $6 or $7, so I didn't want to toss it away. The ice cream was even melting...and it wasn't hot. 

The whole time the worker was standing there I thought she was waiting for the chefs to bring it or something. She was just chilling for about 15-20 minutes and ended up giving us a dry piece of cake from the window. If she would have given it to us at the moment, I wouldn't have been too angry. But why waste others' time for crappy dessert? I left pretty upset and disappointed, I wasted $6, I could have bought a burrito with that!! Milton wanted to order a coffee at first, but he didn't want it anymore. I know a lot of people eat crepes or waffles here, but I'd rather look for another place or do it myself.

California Pizza Kitchen serves the same thing: slice of red velvet cake and a scoop of Haagen-Dazs ice cream. That's $7 and sooo much better! It passes the cake taste with it being fluffy and the cream being delicious, no melting ice cream. If you want red velvet, go to CPK instead!

Ohh Syrup Desserts. Time consuming. Dry cake. Not fresh. Sometimes all it takes is that first impression.

Tierra Mia | 75

(photo taken: December 5, 2015)

I feel so many of you will disagree with me because everyone is obsessed with Tierra Mia. The first time I heard about it was because of the Horchata Frap hype. Horchata isn't my fave, I'm more of a Jamaica type of gal! But any who, I heard everyone talking about it and saying it was the best, forgetting about Starbucks because this new place is bomb and I don't know what. If I hear someone talk great about a place I'll want to check it out. But when it's a bit too obsessive and I feel EVERYONE is talking about it, all over social media, it doesn't make me want to go. I immediately hate the place without even stepping inside. Just like the hype over Clifton too. 

So after a few years, I finally stepped into Tierra Mia. Milton and I went to the one downtown, of course where else would we be? He ordered a regular coffee and I just ordered the chocolate croissant thing. Nothing really stood out to me on the menu that I wanted to try. 

The little dessert was really good which is shocking because I don't like chocolate too much. I honestly didn't think I'd like it. I tried Milton's coffee, that was crap. At first it was too hot so I wasn't able to get the taste. But afterwards it just tasted so weird. It tasted like if it was watered down. Even after trying to fix it with milk and sugar, it just had a bad taste to it but which was really disappointing. Inside the store there's this whole story about where they get their coffee beans from and stuff. Apparently they need to get them from another place.

I wasn't going in there with high hopes, but I was willing to give it a shot. I'd only go back for that chocolate croissant because it was delicious! I feel if your regular coffee doesn't taste great, that should say something about your "special" drinks. If you guys have some suggestions for good drinks (NOT the horchata frap or any ice blended drinks) let me know! And maybe I can give it another try.