sunday lunch on lincoln road

it's so rare for us to venture outside of our little coral gables that it felt like we were on a trip today. we headed to south beach and ended up on lincoln road. after strolling east and west (and shopping for jewelry at 'so good'), we sat down at a small outdoor tapas café called 'maya'.

i love the weaved chairs and enormous outdoor fans {so south beach}.



















a simple glass of water is all i need to keep me happy on a warm so fl day.

on second thought, having these two ragamuffins near me is much better than the aforementioned { :) }

happy sunday to everyone

27 years ago today...

my mother went to heaven. i miss her now more than ever. every year i miss her presence with more intensity. i'm sad that she never got to see me grow up to be the woman i am today. i'm sad that she never experienced the joy of being a grandmother to two amazing little boys. i'm sad that her life ended at 30 - too young. but mostly i'm sad that i can't look at her beautiful, smiling face and feel her arms around me. i miss having a mom.

mami, i will love you forever. these past 27 years seem so long...and not long enough. until we see each other again, te mando un beso y un abrazo...xoxo

Sorry I pulled a "Hoffa" on You Guys

I'm alive and well folks. July kicked my butt, that's all. I vacationed at the beginning of the month ( by that I mean I stayed at home and TRIED to rest ;-) and then the kiddos got sick. Both of them. A virus that ended in a nice bout of CROUP! Oh yeah! It was oodles of fun at my house last month.

The kids are FINALLY better, and I am thoroughly exhausted. I do have tons to share with everyone about what I've been up to, and it involves saving lots of money :-) I'm sure that is something we can all benefit from.

I hope to be back to posting next week once I catch up with other commitments and take the boys to Nick Jr Live! this weekend. Thanks to all of you that wrote asking how I was doing. It's nice to know I'm missed. So hang in there, and I'll see ya soon.

-Dania

It's Their Party, and I'll Cry If I Want To!

Sometimes when I want to blog about life, "life" gets in the way. I managed to survive the epic production that was A.J. and Benjamin's joint birthday party. And boy do I use the word managed loosely. First of all, it was like 100 degrees outside and the party was at a park.

I know what you're thinking. A park? In Miami? In the SUMMER!?

No I'm not on crack, I just wanted to give my outdoors-loving boys a chance to spend some time, you know, OUTDOORS!!! While the actual party was indoors for the sake of all the adults and elderly family members attending, the bounce house and inflatable slide were not. Let's just say those two devices saw very little action. I can never get kids out of a bounce house, and this time I could barely get them in it. I practically begged my son to jump for a minute or two. That was all he could manage without needing a spatula to get out. I swear those kids were melting before my very eyes!

Those who know me well will certainly attest to the fact that I throw a mean party. It doesn't matter what the event may be - a bridal shower, wedding reception, baby shower, baptism or kids birthday - all my parties are well-oiled machines. This event was no exception, but for some reason it totally kicked my butt. I was drained at the end of it all. I had a headache all day Monday (probably stress-induced) and I literally cried at the end of the night in pain. It hurt that much. And I don't cry, not even when I was in labor. In light of all this, I've decided to forgo any large scale events for the foreseeable future, and just keep it simple and all in the family. My poor little head can't take any more mega productions.

"Mami": My Favorite Person Ever

Re-printed from my January 15, 2010 post on Señora Cartera
.....If you ask folks who their favorite person is, many would undoubtedly answer that their mothers are. I definitely fall under that category. My mom will always be my favorite person. She fostered my love of fashion, handbags in particular, and taught me from a very early age to work hard for anything I wanted. She believed nothing is out of our grasp if we put our heart and souls into attaining it.

13 yr old Queens transplant(1968); teen bride(1970); loving mom(1974)
I only had my mom around for a short time. She passed away when I was eleven years old. Even though I've spent the majority of my life without her, I've always felt her presence in it. I can't listen to a 70's song, browse through a thrift shop or go shopping for a bag without thinking of her. It's inevitable. When I was a little girl, she was my idol (aside, of course, from Andy Gibb). Her favorite things became my favorite things. Her tastes became my tastes.

Case in point. Here are a few of my mom's "favorite things" (and mine, as well) - a sequined disco tube top, vintage Gucci clutch and the ever beautiful Diane von Furstenberg. DvF was her idol, the woman she molded her style after. My mom read her book entitled "Diane von Furstenberg's Book of Beauty: How to Become a More Attractive, Confident and Sensual Woman" so many times, I lost count. In fact, she would quote it all the time. Kaftan tops, chunky necklaces and wide-bottom pants were my mother's wardrobe staples. She loved her suede fringed hobo as much as her box-shaped handbag or Gucci envelope clutch. She was an amazing disco dancer (she and my father won many dance contests in the late 70's). I would sit on our red velvet sofa for hours watching them practice their routines. In my eyes, she was a goddess. Fierce when it came to style, but sweet in every other respect. She was, by far, the kindest human being I've ever encountered. A true "flower child" at heart. Perhaps this is the reason why, after 26 years of being apart, my mother remains my favorite person. Her sense of style and devotion to fashion were admirable, but it was her outer as well as inner beauty I'll cherish the most.....

And They Say the Second One is Always Easier to Deal With.....

Yeah, right. They haven't met my "cookie" a.k.a. Benjamin Andres Padron - my second son. I could totally make this post about me and how, two year ago today, I gave birth to my Benjamin, and how his birth was so much more "enjoyable" than my first-born was (and I apologize for using the words "birth" and "enjoyable" in the same sentence), but I won't.

To all my friends and family who swore up and down that the second child is calmer and easier to deal with...you can all suck it. Evil people lulling me into a false sense of security when all the while I was actually carrying around the spawn of the devil! OK, so he's not quite Damien or anything like that, but he is a little devil. MY LITTLE DEVIL. He is beyond precocious, but he keeps me on my toes. If my first son made me a mother, my second is teaching me how to be one.

To him I say "Happy Birthday". I love you my "gordito" so very much and wish for you a lifetime of health and happiness.

Taking Time to Cherish my Little Man on Tuesday Tag-Along

When my day seems to get the best of me, and I'm ready to throw in the towel at this thing called "motherhood", along comes a moment like this with my little holy terror baby. I live for these moments. They make all the sacrifices worthwhile.


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I had lots of fun on my first Tuesday Tag-Along last week, so I'm back and determined to find more great blogs to follow. If you're stopping by from TTA and like what you see, then "tag-along" on my journey and let me know you are so I can return your kindness. If you're not here from TTA, try it out! You have nothing to lose, and only new friends and followers to gain. Head over to Twee Poppets to add your linky.