Destination Paradise

It's November! Chilly weather has officially set in, but it's still lovely. Our family has been quite busy. There have been Halloween festivities (more than I think we've ever done in any country!). Piles of candy in the apartment right now. Lucas had a major Halloween event at school, my school had Halloween festivities that consumed all my energy on the 31st, and yesterday we participated in a Halloween party for expat families in our area which was a ton of fun. Performing with his classmates Lucas and Daddy with the massive bag of candy loot My costume at school Lucas is Iron Man War Machine! Carlos worked to make it look extra cool Two little superheroes decorating mandarin oranges with Jack-o-Lantern faces Demolishing the remains of the Halloween piñata Baby - We're at 34 weeks. Time is flying. Still no name picked out, but we're getting closer to figuring something out. I'm very grateful that this has been a healthy pregnan...

So here goes Part II in my rapid-fire blogging spurt to catch up to the present... Summer 2012 kicked off with Carlos taking part in his country's political process for the first time, sending in his absentee ballot to vote for Mexico's next president. Although there was widespread discontent and distrust in Mexico over the general management and final result of the election, at least we know Carlos did his part. From Summer 2012 in Korea Carlos and Lucas got to spend Father's Day together for the first time, I believe. :) From Summer 2012 in Korea Baby G #2 started growing and making her presence known From Summer 2012 in Korea Although it took another ultrasound to really confirm her gender, this one was pretty cool, if you're into ultrasounds: In a later post, I'll write about the experience of being pregnant and getting medical care in Korea, as I have plenty of things to say on the subject (mostly positive!).  In early August, I final...

Today's blog is about a belief that I often hear repeated in US culture, a belief that was recently re-affirmed by Honda CR-V commercials like this one. The premise is this: Once you get married or have a baby, that's it. Your bucket list is basically dead. So make sure to pack it all in before you take the plunge. Also, buy a CR-V to help accomplish it all. A fabulous high school friend who is a mom of two pointed out the absurdity of these commercials on Facebook and it really struck me. Nothing against the CR-V, but what a terrible message, that marriage or parenthood changes your life so much that you no longer get to do the things you dreamed of beforehand! Add to this the recent viral video parody, " We're Not Young ", which mourns the loss of the younger, vibrant days when we had goals and enthusiasm for life. This makes me sad because I believe that marriage, or even having kids, is no death sentence for adventure or accomplishing yo...

I have to admit that I prepared for this to be a difficult Christmas. Obviously after spending 4 Christmases apart from Carlos, I had to be excited to finally spend our FIRST Christmas as a married couple and our first Christmas as a family of three. Obviously those things were a big deal but as Christmas approached, they kept getting overshadowed by sadness of all that we'd be missing. See, I am from a large, lively, mostly Italian-American family (mom's side), virtually all of which lives in Chicago, and except for one year with my Guatemalan family in New York, I have never in my 29 years spent a Christmas without them!! This means that Christmas has always involved multiple family events, piles of Italian beef, Italian sausage, mostaccioli, multiple pies, multiple Christmas trees, Christmas movies playing loudly on TVs all over the house, louder relatives having a good time, AND real cannoli to top it all off. Then let's add the fact that Carlos is from a Mexican ...

Perplexed about what to do with my dress after the wedding (storing it in a closet just seemed so useless and not fun at all), I stumbled upon Trash the Dress , a newish trend growing worldwide. Basically, a talented photographer documents the bride frolicking around in her dress doing things you wouldn't ordinarily do in a wedding gown. It's a chance to have worry-free fun with the gown and create some memories at the same time. By a stroke of wonderful fortune, my talented high school friend Amy Aiello started mentioning plans to do a Trash the Dress shoot. When I found out, I asked her if she would do one with me, and she was glad to spend an entire afternoon/evening with me, my mom, and my dress, having photographic adventures around the downtown Chicago area. The results were awesome, and here are the first shots she's released. See her website, http://www.amyaiellophotography.com for more of her work: