Having grown up in Puerto Rico, Husband was able to navigate the island with great expertise. So we took advantage of his skills to take us around for some inspired sightseeing. Having grown up in New England, Puerto Rico is an odd homecoming to me. Food is cooked differently, people’s style sensibilities are different. The air is different. But thanks to Husband’s side of the family, the vibe is more familiar than foreign.

Some places are very touristy, some known only to locals. For some reason I was drawn to some of the abandoned buildings. Maybe it was because I wondered about their history, and the events that lead them to what there are now.

These hills are affectionately known as Las Tetas de Cayey (Cayey’s Boobs).

Radar, Cayey

On the way down from seeing Las Tetas de Cayey, Loma del Viento, Aibonito

The church I was married in 13 years ago, Iglesia Catolica San Blas de Illescas, Coamo.

Street Art: Piraguas, Coamo

Library, Coamo

Cemetery, Coamo

Beach & Marina, Boqueron

Abandoned building, Salinas

Plantain Farm, Salinas

Salinas International Speedway

Politas Beach, Salinas

Abandoned beach house, Salinas

Street Art, Pinones

Beach, Isla Verde

Old San Juan

• Vintage 1980s dress (thrifted)
• Kenneth Cole platform heels
• Fendi baguette (thrifted)
• H&M bow belt
• Plastic bangles; Marc Jacobs bracelet; sterling silver hoops

Mira Menos

Since embarking this blog-venture, I learned that I need to better organize my growing inventory. I decided to organize my jewelry, starting with rings. For shoots we would have to sift through four different places to look for rings. I could buy a jewelry box, but I need something easy to store, and jewelry boxes are usually meant to be displayed. I actually don’t like displaying jewelry boxes. To me, nothing says “come rob me” like a jewelry box on your dresser. I just needed something functional for the fun stuff.

While surfing the internet for ideas on organization, I came across a ring holder made of household sponges. Easy to make using existing materials in my home, minor time investment, and cost effective. Just how I like it! All you need is:

• Empty perfume box (or any box with a seperate lid)
• 3-pack of household sponges (2 for $1.00 at Target)

Using my Ammo glue gun, knife, scissors, pencil and ruler, I was able to create a one-stop ring shop that I can pull out and easily put away. The nice surprise was the additional room for more rings!

Mira Menos

I love a picnic. Usually I’m always on the go and have been since my first summer job at 15 years old. From work to home to kids to everything in between (in heels).

 So I like to metaphorically dig my heels into the ground and slow down for a picnic, at least 3 times a year: Spring, Summer and Fall.  Its relaxing, and kind of fun. And yes, even the picnics are thrifty: all foodstuffs from home, a homemade blanket, carefully stored games and toys that we’ve had for years. And the best bargain: our imagination.

• Hand crocheted blanket from late 1990s by Mom and me
• Vintage 1980’s dress
• Marc Jacobs tote bag
• Vintage 1980’s fucshia pumps
• Custom headpiece by The Sin Embargo
• Vintage white plastic necklace; red hoop earrings; plastic jade bangle; plastic clear/navy blue bangle

Mira Menos

I’m a city girl. I grew up in a city, (albeit a small city). I do appreciate and enjoy the beauty of nature, but in small doses.  I never went camping as a kid. I went to a day camp, which was really going to a community center in the projects, the local park and swimming pool.  Mom grew up on a farm, so she was always surrounded by nature. She couldn’t comprehend why people would want to sleep outside when they have perfectly good beds. But with my mom hat (and shoes) on, my goal is for my children to have as many experiences as I can provide. Which includes the wilderness. Which means I had to go camping.

Camping trip #1 wasn’t fun for me. It was Memorial Day weekend, 2009. It was the worst year of my life for allergies. Bugs everywhere wanted a piece of me. Every leaf that touched my skin was potential poison, since I wasn’t sure what poison plants looked like. And it was COLD as a mofo’.  At night, I’d hear rustling noises from nearby trees and bushes, and so I kept thinking about how I could strategically get my kids and I into the car as fast as I could. I didnt sleep a wink! We had no experience with camping as a family, and relied on friends who lent us their equipment (tents, air mattresses, lighting, and grill). Despite all these modern amenities that our friends graciously loaned to us, I could only take 1 night. Once the sun came up, I woke up my family, packed our stuff and headed home!  Needless to say the kids didn’t have a full camping experience, so that meant at some point in the future I’d have to make up for it.

We asked for recommendations on the best campsite closest to home, in case we needed to implement plan B: GO HOME. I also wanted a campsite with electricity and running water. Luckily the waterfront campsites (with no water or electricity) were all booked.  This was actually husband’s first choice. I’m not sure how I could have survived!  I needed all the help I could get, so I went online and printed out a camping checklist (which looked like it was from the 80’s) to make sure we had all our basis covered. We went for a weekend, which I believed would be enough time for the kids to form an opinion as to whether they’d want to go back or not. If anything, they will chalk this one up on their life list of things they did once. 

We arrived at the site, set up, and explored our surroundings.  I saw the hardcore campers. But is it really camping when your in an RV that has a nice bed, running water, your own bathroom, air conditioner and satellite television, and internet? Yes!

Our experience with camping this time was pretty smooth and uneventful, except for the torential downpours on Saturday early evening.  We did a little fishing, swimming, hiking and alot of eating. The best part was after sundown and when the rain stopped, roasting marshmellows, making smores and just spending time with my family!  I was even surprised that we were all able to sleep 8 hours. I was a little OCD this weekend asking husband every 10 minutes if he would make sure there wasn’t any food on the ground, so we wouldn’t get unexpected visitors at night!

• Son’s khaki shirt
• Gap cropped flare jeans
• Marc Jacobs scarf used as hair accessory
• Dolce Vita for Target wedge espadrilles
• Wood earrings from NYC, vintage brass bangle, plastic Amrita Singh bangle, gold-plated cuff
• Gucci prescription sunglasses
• FIDM Tote

Mira Menos

Some friends are shocked and appalled that I still buy CDs.

My collection started in high school. CDs were expensive, so I had to be very thoughtful of buying CDs I REALLY liked. I would even try to convince myself to like all the songs on a CD to get the most “value” out of it. But as CDs became less expensive, and I discovered the good deals at Newbury Comics, my CD buying increased. At my peak, I was averaging one CD a week. At first it was to replace all the cassettes, and then as my musical interests expanded, so did my collection.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad for the invention of mp3s. I can finally create that perfect summer mix, boyfriend mix, break-up mix, rainy day mix, etc that have been swirling around in my head, but was too lazy to do with cassettes. And I don’t miss carrying around CDs. At the time when mp3 players were still too expensive for me (which meant I needed to buy a new computer), I would keep my CD player in my messenger bag, and stealthily change CDs in the bag so that people wouldn’t see my played out way of listening to music. I mastered the art of hiding my discman until I was able to buy my first ipod.

I don’t know if I’ll ever stop buying CDs. I like buying CDs because of the booklets (liner notes, lyrics, and CD art, credits). There’s also something about the tangibility of a CD that makes me feel like I really “own” the music (despite intellectual property laws). Some tidbits of my CD collecting experience:

Busco Mas