Be Good to Yourself

My mother once told me that "You deserve everything good that ever happens to you! Please remember what a treasure you are." Those words have lifted my spirits time and again and although she is my mother, there is no mistake that she truly believes that all of her children and of course her new Nieta are the most wonderful beings on this earth and she is without a doubt our number one fan! Life takes its' toll on all of us in different ways and we all need our own dedicated personal cheerleader. I can't explain why we live this way, but Love is a tender and precious commodity and a life without it is not worth living. But let it be known that there are many kinds of love and each kind of love, whether it be the smell of coffee on a sunday morning, the warm sun on a summer afternoon, a good siesta, a hug, mi sobrinita Guinevere, or your neighbor's british bulldog, all these loves are worth every moment and they are what we call life. As my mother once told me "You deserve everything good that ever happens to you! Please remember what a treasure you are."

I only hope that one day I have the ability to make mi sobrinita feel as treasured as I do!

Luck, Risk, and Life: Suerte, Riesgo, y la Vida

Life sometimes deals us a different hand than we are expecting

A veces hay lo bueno y de repiente el malo, nadie sabe si la proxima lleva mas suerte o mas riesgo

The Mystery can be intriguing

El misterio podria ser una tortura tambien

We must play the game

Tengamos que jugar el juego

Win or Lose

Gana o Pierda

Guilt Free

After reading an article about how humans are driven by guilt and those that do not forgive themselves are often more stressed and usually take more time to get back on track after one little hiccup. Therefore, I have made a list of seemingly harmless ideas that I refuse to feel guilty about!

Thinking that Fro Yo doesn't really count as Calories

Not really being a big Giants fan until they won the World Series

Changing for a Run but choosing to walk with Girlfriends instead

Passing on the Two Buck Chuck because it is beneath me, yet too Frugal for the $20 range vino

Singing the chorus to every song, but hum the melody and never bother to learn the entirety

Counting silly romantic novels as real literature

Feeling competitive at pretty much everything that I do

Thinking that I am really someone in the world

Liking Football for the chance to drink beer

Sleeping in past 11:00 am

Making international calls to my Chilean Friends at work and pretending it's business since I am speaking Spanish

To have vino on "school" nights and stay out past my bedtime

Make a grocery list, but never follow it

To claim that I hate reality TV, but watch it anyway

Loss sleep about losing sleep

Wanting a pet but settling for a stuffed pig animal

Sampling the unwashed grapes out of the bag from Safeway to check the flavor

Pretending that I am listening while dreaming of my next adventure

Doing the dishes in the morning

Believing that Pablo Neruda would have loved me had we met in another life time

Smiling or Crying for no reason at all

Laughing so hard that I become hysterical

Pretending that I am asleep in the car on family vacations

There a lot of things that we do that we need not beat ourselves up over and we are all human that make errors and mistakes in life. It is statistically proven that those that can quickly get over these slip ups and return back to a happy state of mind are the people that typically live a more stress free lifestyle and a better balance in everyday life. So be good to yourself!

Fulfilling my Civic Duty

San Francisco Court House
400 McAllister Street,
San Francisco, CA 94102

Jury Duty, the dreaded summons that every individual seems to try and weasel out of with one excuse or another. Yet, just as many things are often more entertaining in San Francisco, Jury Duty in San Francisco is one of a kind!

After moving around for the last five years, I was finally summoned to attend Jury Duty for a criminal case this past Thursday, and surprisingly I am disappointed that I was not "elected" to be a juror on this case.

Why?

1.) First and for most because all the vocabulary and assumed etiquette of the courtroom is quite intriguing and really does have that "law and order" feel!

2.) Although the "perspective jurors" are summoned to evaluate somebody else's case, they all seem to want to make their case the priority. Which is not a new phenomenon in San Francisco as anyone and everyone seems to have their own "version" of the story.

3.) To see if I, myself am able to distinguish the law versus my own personal opinion or moral influences and truly access the case from an objective standpoint.

The end verdict, was that I was not chosen to stay on this case but have gotten a taste of what it might have been like and definitely hope that I get an opportunity in the future to fulfill my civic duty, especially in colorful city like San Francisco.

No Te Preocupes

"No Te Preocupes" or Don't worry..... Quite possibly my favorite phrase. Every morning that I come into the office I hear this phrase from our Chilean Suppliers.......

No te preocupes, it was only a frost and we lost 30% of the crop, but don't worry

No te preocupes, we gave your order to somebody else, but don't worry

No te preocupes, someone will be back in the office after lunch in four hours, but don't worry

No te preocupes, para nada!

Oh how I miss the care free attitude of Los Chilenos that we "Norteamericanos" cannot pull off no matter how hard we try! (and yes we are all Americans just some are Northern and some are Southern :)........counting down the months until I get to go back in Feb to see mi media naranja and sip some vinito!! Extrano mi chilito!

Logic

Who knows why we think the way that we do, other than the logical influences in our lives. But what about the un-explained? What about the thoughts that are unexplained and unresolved? Do we ignore these presumptions only to rationalize them as pre-meditated thoughts and nothing more? I remember writing a letter to my mother when I was little explaining to her that I was crazy and although I was very young I cannot help but think that this element of my life may always stick with me....for there have been moments far and few between where I have actually felt "normal." I feel connections with lots of different walks of life, but after analysis I feel that my so-called category in life does not exist, or better said, cannot be defined. Walking though life without a clue of what I want, I somehow know what I need and yet there always seems to be some obstacle preventing me from what I truly seek out of life. Wondering now when I will feel those butterflies in my stomach that I long for but cannot create. Such a sensation cannot be created, however the longer we go without feeling them the more we doubt that they exist. Mind over matter, is what they say.... but how long must we wait? Must be a story without an ending for now.........

Sale el Sol

estas semanas sin verte
me parecieron años
tanto te quise besar
que me duelen los labios

mira que el miedo nos hizo
cometer estupideces
nos dejo sordos y ciegos
tantas veces

y un dia despues
de la tormenta
cuando menos piensas sale el sol
de tanto sumar
pierdes la cuenta
porque uno y uno
no siempre son dos
cuando menos piensas
sale el sol

te llore hasta el extremo
de lo que era posible
cuando crei lo que era
invencible
no hay mal que dure cien años
ni cuerpo que lo aguante
y lo mejor siempre espera
adelante

y un dia despues
de la tormenta
cuando menos piensas sale el sol
de tanto sumar

pierdes la cuenta
porque uno y uno
no siempre son dos
cuando menos piensas
sale el sol

cuando menos piensas
sale el sol

y un dia despues
de la tormenta
cuando menos piensas sale el sol
de tanto sumar
pierdes la cuenta
porque uno y uno no
siempre son dos

y un dia despues
y un dia despues
sale el soool

y un dia despues
de la tormenta
cuando menos piensas sale el sol
de tanto sumar
pierdes la cuenta
porque uno y uno no siempre son dos

cuando menos piensas sale el sol............

Trabajo y Disfruto---Chile de Nuevo

What happens when everything you wanted comes true? What happens when you realize that you have responsibilities to fulfill and that people are counting on you and looking to you for the answers?? Life is full of surprises and I cannot believe that I am back in Chile working, it has been just over a year that I interviewed with Paramount and now here I am again....and now people are asking me for information! Pidiendome cosas sobre fruta y disponiblidad...en el primer lugar seria genial, porque por fin me siento que mi papel esta creciendo a un nivel mejor pero por otro lado no soy nina, ahora tengo responsibilidades...nunca pense que esta epoca de mi vida llegara...pero fijate que ya me llego! No importa que estoy lista....es el tiempo para hacerlo no mas sin pensar!

So you see...mi vida sigue en spanglish forever and without a doubt...tengo que vivirlo!!

Work and Enjoy!

La Palta

Went to the corner shop and bought and Avocado today. It was a Propal avocado "Palta" en Chile and this is the company that I interned for in Chile for 6 months. It brought an immediate smile to my face! One, for knowing that this is the season for Chilean avocados and that Super Bowl Sunday generates insane revenue for Avocado exports from Chile and two because I am part of this global industry and it is pretty to cool to think that I may very well have walked the exact avocado grove in Chile that this avocado that I am going to eat tomorrow for lunch came from! And I bought I it from a tiny Market on the corner of my block, the world is sometimes more connected than it appears.

Chicken Feet

Who said that you had to go somewhere international to feel like you are in a foreign country? Right here in Oakland you can go to the The Legendary Palace where there are no menus and all you will hear is Mandarin and maybe some Cantonese, but who I am kidding there is no way in hell I would no the difference. Luckily, my two co-workers are from Hong Kong and they speak fluent Cantonese and Mandarin.

The Legendary Palace has amazing Dim Sum and it is so chaotic and busy that you hardly would think that you are in Oakland CA. The last time we went to Dim Sum they were out of Chicken Feet and although I was slightly relieved, I was determined to try it this time, bones and all!

At first glance it is not so appetizing, the claws dangle down, and you can see where they just chopped the foot off at the ankle. I gingerly put one on my plate and begin to gnaw on it and am kindly advised to eat the claw side first, naturally! I managed to eat two claws and spit out the bones and I am feeling very proud of myself until I look over and see that in the same amount of time my co-worker has eaten two and spit out all the bones!! Very impressive!! My two co-workers are just laughing at me without respiration, but they are quite impressed that I insisted on trying it and all the other Dim Sum was sooo Yummy! At least now I can officially say that I have eaten Chicken Feet!

2011

How time flys! It has almost been a year since I have been back in the states..... and in less than 3 weeks I will be going back down to Chile for a month to work down in our office in Santiago and I could not be more excited!! One of my good friends is getting married and I get to go to her wedding. I don't know how I got so lucky to have landed what could quite possibly be my dream job at 23, but those of you who know me, know that Travel, spanish, and negotiating have always been passions of mine and now I get to do those things for a living! What do you do..."You know, I am an Importer/Exporter" :)

I am not sure what to think, and sometimes I need to pinch myself, because, I live in the most amazing city, with the most incredible friends and have the most loving family that one could ever ask for. So I guess the only thing left to say is "Gracias a la vida."