Girls Night Out with Chi

Sometimes a girls needs a break, sometimes that break consist of a glass of wine and an uninterrupted shower (mommas you know what I mean!!) Sometimes you need to go out and get pampered – whatever pampered might mean to you. Last week I had the chance for the ultimate pampering!! The Houston Latina Bloggers were invited to Chi Academy to get a little pampering and a makeover!!

They asked us to show up with no makeup and no product in our hair – Eeek! You mean all of us gorgeous ladies showing up in our true colors? I don’t wear too much makeup and lately I am lucky if I get a chance to style my hair, so this was not a stretch for me :) Before I knew it all the ladies were there and we were all swept away for our before pictures. We giggled at the idea of taking a picture of ourselves in our natural look.  

My All Natural "Before" picture! 

Truth be told ladies we are so beautiful without all that makeup and product but it didn’t hurt that we were treated like a star, after our before picture we meet our personal hair stylist and later we were asked to meet our makeup artist!

Each one of us getting our very own stylist and some needed double duty!!

Group before Picture

By the end of the night we were ready to take our after shots! We played around and ended up taking picture after picture – all of us feeling pretty glamorous!

All of my beautiful Latinas come in all shapes and sizes, some of us get dolled up daily and others not so much, but at the end of that evening the girlie girl in us came out giggling and excited to play hair and makeup!

A super Special Thanks to the ladies that worked their magic!!  Thank you Melissa & Brianna!!

For me personally, I felt super fancy, the last time I could remember getting so much attention was the day of my wedding, 7 years ago this month!  That’s a looooonnng time! Thank you CHI for making me feel so special! 

Bloom where you are planted

A few months back Pastor Tim preached to us about praying BIG AUDACIOUS PRAYERS, since then when faced with decisions or a chance to do something or go somewhere – we take a deep breath and we remind each other – BIG AUDACIOUS PRAYERS. Over the past few months we have been faced with some decision making, some dreaming and some big ideas to bring change into the lives of our little family, in the midst of this before the outcome was revealed or before things have had a chance to be finalized I was reminded of something else – I was in my backyard, my little piece of heaven on earth and I was reminded to BLOOM. I was reminded to bloom right here, right now, to bloom right where I was planted in this very moment at this very time.

This has been a continuous way of life for my husband and I, over the past few years, when faced with an opportunity for a promotion. During the turmoil of who and when, we had to pause and be reminded to bloom right where we were planted. In other words to be grateful for our blessings – I remember talking to my husband and saying “you do your (current) job fully and honorably, don’t worry about anything else”. In my own job I’ve wondered sometimes “why”, why here and why now, over and over again I’ve realized I am where I need to be in this moment and time.

In all of our plans and dreams recently I’ve lost track again of where I am currently planted – or have I? Thankfully, I haven’t, my mind wonders and runs wild sometimes but my heart is right here. I was working in my little piece of heaven on earth the other night, checking on my plants, watering the yard, treating for bugs and cleaning up. I got carried away and before I knew what time it was, my husband was taking little bear a bath and I was outside in the silence of the evening, the sun just finished setting and I turned on the lights to our patio I sat there and just listened. Where are we going, when are we going, how are we going… to take the next step. Pray big audacious prayers, but take care of what’s around you right now, right here – take care of the blessings daily don’t take them for granted. How can you ask for more, dream for more when you are not being a good steward of what’s laid out before you now.

Not only should I bloom in the right here and now, but live life in full bloom. Make the most of where you are take care of it as if were the bigger and the better because truly it is bigger and better than where I’ve been before. 

My current chalk art for my home, as a reminder to live life in full bloom.

A special thanks to Angie Makes for beautiful watercolor flowers! 

Weekend Snapshots 7: Mother’s Day

This weekend came through fast and furious per the norm in our casa. It was of course Mother’s Day on Sunday, our whole weekend pretty much centered on the mommas. Without realizing it my hubs started my weekend off (almost) perfectly, joining me at the Pearland Pear Run. We were supposed to actually participate in the 5K run but due to unforeseen oversleeping we missed joining the run! We were there to cheer on the runners, Lety, my dad and my little brother. We also were able to get little bear signed up for the kid’s mile run, she cracks me up when she runs! She starts of full blast and gets totally bummed when she gets tired, at which point she insist on turning back – I explained to her it was the same distance either way so she had to keep going. Suddenly she catches her second wind and took off again finishing her little run.

“For those people who don’t like to run, they don’t know that you’re going to get tired and want to stop but then you get crazy and lots of energy – so they should just do it” ~ Little Bear

The rest of the day was spent shopping for Mother’s Day gifts, including my own! My hubs hinted to me earlier in the week about my gift, asking if there was anything I really wanted, like a new handbag.  I argued that I could probably get a new grill for the same cost and that is exactly what we did!! SCORE! Plus a new nail gun – DOUBLE SCORE!

Sunday was the Mother’s Day Madness 2016 :) Trust me we love our mommies, very very much! It just so happens that my hubs and I have mommies who love us very very much – which translates to a lovely art of juggling time and attention. We spent the first half of our day with my hubb’s mommy and the second part of our day with my mommy. Thanks to the crazy wait times at all the restaurants we took advantage and had a few mini photo-shots.

I was lucky and snagged a few minutes at the airport in between mommies, always a good day when we get to stop by and explore. Also, in a weekend where we are running from around, it was nice to sit with my loves and just take a breather! Most Sundays at the airport are quite and pilots will be doing “touch and go’s” we get to watch a few airplanes land and take off. By Sunday evening we all passed out on the couch we woke up sometime before midnight only so that we could all make our way to our beds and fall asleep again. Busy Busy but lots of memories made <3 o:p="">

Don’t forget to join the ladies at 3twentysix & TheReinvention of Jessica!! 

I miss the finish line!! But I am so proud of my dad and Lety for being so awesome!!

Shopping!! 

I hope you enjoyed your Mother's Day! I know we had a great one! 

Albarrán: Jewelers Reunion

A few months back I had the great pleasure of interviewing Kayleen McCabe from the DIY network’s show Rescue Renovation, it was the first time I ever formally interviewed anyone and as it turned out it was best conversation I could have had. Talking to her about her life and passion, learning about her past and what her goals are, I began to see parallels between her life and mine. I realize I do not have my own DIY show and I am by far not a contractor or public speaker, all of that a side she brought me to a moment of clarity.

She spoke about the trades in construction and how her family raised her around construction her whole life, although she was encouraged to go to college and pursue higher education. She quickly realized that what she really wanted to do was to continue to build and create with her hands just as she had been taught to do all her life.

I walked away for my interview with one main thing in mind that day, the Albarrán family. My family came to the United States in the 70’s and they knew one thing for certain when they came here, they knew Jewelry. My father, my grandfather, my great grandfather, and my uncles from generation to generation have passed down the knowledge that ties to their very fingertips as Jewelers.

This past Saturday I was able to host an evening in my home to honor the men of our family.  Due to timing and last minute planning, I wasn’t sure I would have a great turn out and in the end I missed many of my uncles that I grew up with that were not able to make it but the turnout was still great.  My 82 year old grandfather, father, brothers, uncles and aunts came over for a night of storytelling and catching up.

They reminisced about how they came to learn this beautiful art form, they spoke about the ones who have passed away and left behind a legacy of knowledge no school could ever teach them. They laughed at some of the toughest lessons learned and in the end I hope they realized that they continue to enrich our lives.

Coming to the States, they came here with a promise of a better future for themselves and for their children, they have become fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers hoping that their children and grandchildren get higher education- a better life. Truth is no matter what we do with our future I’d like for all of us to know that this trade of being a Jeweler is not a small thing, it’s an amazing art form that transcends from their generation, to our generation and hopefully to the next. I hope that the secrets of an Albarrán Jeweler are never lost, because to wear something that one has made is an honor and a privilege. 

We shared an article written in a magazine in Mexico City 1985

Enjoying the Grub 

4 Generations of Albarrán 

My beautiful Tias