Fragment: NAPA VALLEY

OK. So, first things first! A little word on Napa, California:

The reason that I stopped blogging in the first place was because I travelled to CA to visit Pushy and spend the holidays. I went for 2 weeks and sadly spent the first 5 days SICK :-/ First, I got food poisoned and then, I got the flu (due to the weather change, I suppose). So the first days weren't all that HAPPY. My very good friend RATONCITO came with me to CA and I felt so guilty that I was sick; I kind of ruined the plans
:(

Anyways, between little moments of feeling better and feeling terrible, I was able to enjoy some amazing restaurants and a couple of wine tasting experiences ;) I must say that, just like I imagined, Napa Valley is my kind of place! Food and wine are the main characters of the valley's culture, and two very good friends of mine ;)

The views are heavenly! Vineyards everywhere, beautiful homes, mountains, lots of greenery, cozy little towns here and there. Wonderful restaurants and bars with very professional staff. Lots of wine to taste! It is certainly a must-be-lived experience.

Amongst the fabulous restaurants that we visited are the following:

COOK (St. Helena), SMALL WORLD (Napa), CHOW (SF), FARM (Napa), BOCADILLOS (SF), Q (Napa), VILLA CORONA (Napa), THE ORCHID CUISINE (Healdsburg), WASABI & GINGER (SF).


We also visited a couple of cute towns like Calistoga, Sonoma, Napa, St. Helena, Yountville, and Healdsburg. And of course, I was a happy camper every time we found antique shops, flea markets and/or goodwill stores! This gorgeaus vintage headpiece I found at a goodwill store in St. Helena. I'm so in love :)

Pushy's little home was adorable! It is soooo tiny but oh, so perfect! His home is on a farm/small vineyard; such a peculiar place to live :) I loved it! I spent lots of time making my button bracelets there while Pushy worked and while I recuperated from all my sickness. I got some good work done, so that was GREAT!

We visited San Francisco a couple of times, but only on my way to the airport did I get to see the GOLDEN GATE. However, it was night time, so I couldn't get any pictures :( Ratoncito DID get his photos at the Gate and took this wonderful picture!

As of me, I only got the toll receipt as an evidence that I crossed this super famous bridge! ;)

Fragment: THE Birth DAY!

I don't know why, but for some reason, I've been hesitating to write about my birthday. It's been 6 days already, and I hadn't felt the need or the desire to write about it. The weird thing is that I had such a beautiful day, and at night time, I got EXACTLY what I'd wanted! So why wouldn't I want to share with you guys how my birth DAY went? Now that I think about it, I might have the answer...but that must be kept ;)

Well, in sum, my niece and nephew woke me up at 7:30 am, calling to sing "Happy B-day"! What a wonderful way to start the day :) Then, my sister asked me to get ready so we could go have breakfast! Yes! Had she read my blog? That was exactly what I'd wanted first thing that day: have breakfast at a nice cafe. WISH GRANTED! My sister, my lolos (niece+nephew) and I went to PANAVI; a cute little cafe with country charm and city glamour ;) There were baskets full of different kinds of breads, and the sound of the coffee machines blended in with the chattering of the privilegded guests. So, between the freshly baked bread and the brewing coffee, you could imagine the smell in this place was to die for! We had a wonderful breakfast!

My aunt called me while having breakfast, and I told her we'd go visit her and grandma. We spent a nice couple of hours talking and just spending family time.

At one point, my cousin arrived with a cake, so I got to sing "HAPPY B-DAY" and even blow a candle! I didn't think I'd get to do that this year :) I didn't make a wish, though :-/ My mind went totally blank before blowing the candle...Is that bad?

We left my aunt's house to go have lunch at the mall. Then, sister dropped me and my lolos off at my house. We watched ANNIE! What a great little girl :)

My good friend Smaydin picked me up at 8pm, and we headed towards my "planned" part of the day ;) I looked exactly how I'd wanted to look: a sweet short dress, tall boho sandals, butterfly headband, and a faux-pearl necklace wrapped around as a bracelet for some whimsy ;) I asked Smaydin to also wear a short dress and a headband, and she did! I love her! I gave her a wristlet made out of tulle topped with a white feather butterfly.


We had an exquisite meal, a wonderful bottle of french wine and non-stop CONVERSATION! It was such a girly moment...just what I needed :)

The restaurant closed at 12am, and we still hadn't stopped talking and laughing! So, Smaydin suggested we get more wine...GOOD IDEA! We got another bottle of wine, 2 plastic wine cups, sat at a park and talked 'til there was no more!

It was a fun, relaxing and interesing day, as my brother had wished for me ;)

Fragment: MY Born-DAY...turning 25!

Remember the little trip to Zara I might've taken? Well, I took it today! Ahhhh, so much delight in one place!! I wanted a couple of things, but of course, I could only choose one with the excuse of making myself a b-day present ;) This is what I got ---> aren't they gorgeous?! Funky and cute...really, really like them!

So my born-day is in a week; I will be turning 25...wait a minute! Isn't this when the "quarter-life crisis" should be taking place? But, but, but...I think this will be my "5th quarter-life crisis anniversary day"!

Seriously, everyone that knows me is fully aware of this: I've been dealing with the quarter-life crisis since my sophmore year in college! I think it has something to do with what Kim tells Michael in the movie "THE LAST KISS" (click on the link below and FF to 1:40 minutes):



"The world is moving so fast now that we start freaking out way before our parents did...cuz we don't ever stop to breathe anymore..."

Wow...what a trailer, what a movie! I soooo recommend it! It's one of the most realistic Hollywood movies I've seen. I don't know much about films, but I'm a fan of independent films because of how REAL they are, and this movie reminded me of indie's...ABSOLUTELY love it! Especially at this point in my life...speaks so much to me...

So for my SUPER quarter-life b-day, this is what I've got planned! I'm going to wake up early and have breakfast at some nice coffee shop (still haven't decided which); will hang out with my family (sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew) for a bit, perhaps for lunch (?); will catch a matinee of "Nights in Rodanthe", which I've been waiting for by the minute (can't wait to see it!); will go home, shower, wear a sexy black dress, with a sweet butterfly headband I made, 'whichgoose' inspired :) (OK, so not even close to her fantastic creations, but it was fun trying!); will go out to "La Cave del Rey" for a fabulous dinner, at a fabulous place, and drink lots of WINE; will probably go home to sleep after that ;) mmm, but I think it's a nice day...just like my outfit for the night, it's like a mix of innocence and adulthood altogether...the matinee mixed in with wine at a fancy restaurant...the sexy dress mixed in with the cute butterfly headband...

.................25..................yep! I think that's what it represents for me right now....the MIX of it all...of all that I've been, up 'til this moment....*a girl breaking in to be a woman*....like a BUTTERFLY.....................

"La Cave del Rey"

My new favorite place...a hidden gem...a tiny, french restaurant called LA CAVE DEL REY.

I found this place a year and a half ago, when I first got here. I remember my little brother and I had just had a big argument with our mother and our big sister about how we weren't doing anything productive with our lives :-/ In the middle of the heated conversation, I needed to get out, so I did...

I got out of the house and started walking and walking, aimlessly. Very few times, if ever, had I walked around the streets of my residence. I began walking fast, as fast as my heart was pounding. But as I started to walk around the unknown, I started getting distracted, so my heart slowed down, and so did my steps. And it is when I slowed down that I began to appreciate little details that I'd never noticed before. I even started to enjoy the moment...it helped me forget the argument that I'd just walked out from.

In this moment of discoveries, I noticed a little blackboard hanging from a wine color ceiling...it read, in chalk written words, La Cave del Rey-RESTAURANT FRANCES. When I got closer, I looked inside what looked like a little cave, through wine color, translucent curtains, and I saw something beautiful...I rang the bell, "I HAVE GOT TO GO IN!" What is this place?! A slim, mulata girl greets me, opens the iron gates and lets me in. I was mesmerized...............

.......a roofed terrace with a few white cloth covered tables; green, wooden chairs; random, antique findings scattered everywhere (lamps, frames, dressers, mirrors, vases); frescos painted on the ceiling, as if you just entered an old, european church; polished cement floor.....then, there was an entrance to an even tinier part of the restaurant, where it really looked like a cave, and where they have their wine reserve, the bar, the kitchen, the bathroom (behind a wine color curtain) and just 2 tables! It is such an enchanting place........


Well, to go on with the story, I went in, sat at the bar and ordered a glass of wine (wine always makes things better). There was no one but me at the restaurant, so the girl served my wine and stood right there in front of me. She saw my teary eyes and asked if I was ok. Never had I thought I'd want to talk to a complete stranger, especially at a such emotional state, but for some odd reason, I did...I started venting out with her and let me tell you, it was fabulous. Then, she began telling me her life story, which made me feel a whole lot better about mine ;) (what a screwed up life!).

Well, I must have spent at least 4 hours in there--it was early afternoon when I arrived, and left when the night had taken over. After a couple of wine glasses and a whole lot of dialogues, I left (just so my family wouldn't get too worried, but if it were for me, I think I would've stayed a couple of hours more in this oasis....).

Here's the tiny back part of the restaurant, where the wine reserve is. I am sitting here with my clarinet professor and my cuban, clarinet friend. We had lunch at La Cave almost every day he was here! The lunch is fabulous and affordable...but dinner is kind of pricey :-/ Can't be too perfect!

"L'Atelier de Tom"

My first class was such an experience...and anything that gives me an unexpected, out-of-the-ordinary moment, j'adore!

Tom is such a character. He is my teacher and the owner of the school. The minute I entered L'Atelier de Tom, I knew I was in the right place...it is so wonderful to feel that, an instant click that makes you move forward without a doubt despite you entering the unknown. It's like you belong there...something feels familiar although you've never been there before. This is how I felt.

The school is really Tom's house, in which he converted a small annexed cottage into a language school. The little school has 2 classrooms; there is a shelf full of books, a TV, videos, a radio and CD's; there's also a fridge full of sodas, juices, water and beer (?!); and my favorite part, Tom's office, which consists of a tight hallway that looks like it used to be the kitchenette of the cottage...so funny!

Tom is tall and slim, has a huge smile which he uses at all times, and is VERY outgoing and loud :) He is from Bordeaux, and lives such a european lifestyle despite having lived in DR for quite a while. Ok, enough about Tom...I come into the classroom to see only 4 students other than me and I immdiately love it! I love intimate settings, I work better in this style ;) The group is small but very diverse. There is an older woman, who's more advanced than the others, but wants to keep attending the Basic French (?); there's another one, a couple of years younger, who's attitudy and acts like "Mrs. Know It All"; there's one a little younger than this last one, who seems like a working woman, a secretary or something, maybe it was her uniform (?); then there's a younger one, but a bit older than me, who's not dominican, looks european, not sure from where though, and was talking about how to lose her baby fat...and lastly, there's MOI!

So everybody immediately starts speaking french! WOW! Wait a minute...TOM! DO YOU REMEMBER THIS IS MY FIRST CLASS?!?!?! He didn't seem to care...ok! Some were speaking better than others, they would talk about random things, I could tell, and help each other, sometimes even correct Tom...it was interesting, but I was so lost! But I suddenly remembered that in my first conversation with Tom he did mention that the technique he uses at his school is very conversational, very coloquial, learning by just talking a lot about whatever they were doing, seeing, hearing or even eating. So I guess I was just being thrown out there, I had to "swim or drown". In situations like these, the brain becomes more alert, instincts of defense awaken, and without me having total conscious control, my brain started making connections, and even formulating little sentences or questions! I'd never spoken french before! So I guess this technique really works! However, I am a very structured person as well, besides me loving spontaneity, so I am not sure for how long the throwing me out there will work for me.

Anyways, now to the prime moment of the day! In the middle of the random conversations, I hear the words vin and chocolat...mmm, I wonder what they are talking about! And suddenly, the older woman brings out a black bag and starts giving out chocolate bars. Tom, on the other hand, stands up with such emotion, like he just started a bet with someone and is sure to win. He brings out a jug of wine! WHAT?!?! We start eating il chocolat and drinking le vin, and the class just went on regularly, as if nothing out-of-the-ordinary was happening! Meanwhile, I was loving the class already ;)

Let's see how the rest of them go............................Bon Soir!

Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return and you may remain in ignorance.