Month: July 2018

What Living Alone Has Taught Me

What Living Alone Has Taught Me

Posted on by Steph
First selfie at 29 years old.
I have always wanted in one way or another to be independent. When I was in Middle school I dreamed about being able to drive and have my own car. When I had the car I was dreaming about having my own place. Now it has been 6 months since I moved to my apartment, alone, and I have love every moment of it.
I believe this is a part of life everyone should experience in their youth. I feel like I have learned a lot about me and about “adult” life, some positive and some not so positive, but all lessons. I want to share what I consider are the most important.

Stay on top of things

Living alone is just you and yourself, there is no one there reminding you to do things, to keep everything organized or to take care of you. There are small things that can help you feel great, enjoy the moment, and make life easy and less stressful. For example: keep everything tidy, so that you always feel good when you get home; have fast and easy recipes that you can make for yourself, even if you are tired; and set reminders to pay your bills, so that you don’t forget. Do little things like this, that you know will help you feel good.

Self care should always be a priority

It’s easy when you live alone to get home, and don’t do anything, and let the hours pass scrolling on social media, and that is not good. Yes, you could say you are relaxing, but there are better ways to give your self a little bit of love, relax and to give your body some rest. Apart from staying on top of things, have a self care routine, at least a couple of days every month. For a few hours pamper yourself and spend a little bit of time on a hobby or activity that you like and usually don’t have the time to do. I try to have a pampering night routine every week, were I like to read or watch a tv show, but you could paint, write, even take a nap, or do anything else you like and enjoy the moment.

Work hard, but don’t forget to have fun

Now I am enjoying the summer, but from January to May it was hard balancing work and school, and I was getting super stressed, I always was on hard work and productive mode that half way thru the semester my body was not happy with me. This is my most important lesson, be responsible, organized and set a time to have fun during the week. The most important part of it is to enjoy it and don’t feel guilty of the little time you are taking to concentrate on other things. During this time don’t think of the things you have to do, just enjoy it. Be smart about it, which is way I said be responsable and organized, you know what you have to do, so be diligent with your time and everything will be good.
Living alone has definitely made me more independent, has made me feel more confident, comfortable and in control. I am a strong believer that life is meant to be enjoyed and is our duty to live life to the fullest, while we are still accomplishing our goals and responsibilities, and taking care of our selves and our space. Enjoy where you are at life right now and make the most of it.
What lessons the “adult life” has taught you? Leave me a comment, I will love to know, I am still learning and getting the hang of it.
Never stop dreaming,
♥ Steph
Highlights from our Universal Orlando Resort Vacations (Summer 2018)

Highlights from our Universal Orlando Resort Vacations (Summer 2018)

Posted on by Steph

I can’t believe my two weeks vacations has come and go so quickly, but I have to say that they were awesome.

Like I mentioned in my “Looking Back and Forward to Universal Orlando Resort” that you can read here, we decided to go to Orlando again this year, because we loved it there. I will like to share with you my highlights and favorites of the trip with a little summary of each of the 5 days we spent there.

Day 1:

We arrive at the hotel around 10:00 am and they already had our room ready (that was super awesome!). We left our bags at the room, eat breakfast at Bayliner Dinner and went on to explore the hotel.

We played at the arcade, Game-O-Rama and at the bowling center, Galaxy Bowl, were I learned that I am not so good at bowling, and of course Future Hubby won.

Then had lunch, my favorite, cheeseburger with fries and a vanilla shake (I don’t know why, but I was dreaming of having that burger and shake again, which is why I had it in the first day).

After that we changed and relaxed at the Lazy River, my most favorite part of the hotel. There is so much to do, I love this Hotel.

For the evening we took out first Uber ride to Disney Springs, for a bit of shopping and dinner, all because I wanted Millennial Pink Ears for out future Universal and Disney Trip.

Day 2:

We spend all day at Island of Adventures, and when I say all day, I mean ALL DAY. We arrived at the gates 20 minutes before they opened at 9:00 am and left the park at 10:00 pm when they closed. Our first stop was Skull Island: Reign of Kong, since we didn’t get a chance to ride it last year.

We also rode all of the rides at Seuss Landing, which I have never ride before, we had a lot of fun.

We spent a lot of time at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmead, where I enjoyed a couple of Butterbeers, I had my first Pumpkin Pasty and I also bought a wand at Ollivanders, I was in Magical Paradise.

But the best part of the day was riding 4 times, 3 of them in a row, our most favorite ride ever, Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges, we where definitely soaked. We ended our day at the park watching The Nighttime Lights At Hogwarts Castle.

We finished the night having a light dinner at Bread Box Handcrafted Sandwiches, which we visited last year and I really liked. I don’t remember what I had last year, but this time I had a Hot Turkey Sandwich that had smoked gouda and bacon, it was so good.

Day 3:

Day 3 was on the 4th of July, also know as our Anniversary Day and we celebrated spending the day at Universal Studios.

Our second ride of the day was Fast & Furious – Supercharged, the park newest ride, and sadly our least favorite, we thought it was definitely too fast, as in a very short ride, and we feel like the story line doesn’t make sense and you end the ride feeling confuse, because you don’t know what just happened and can’t believe it’s already over.

We rode Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster and I have to say is close to my favorites, I just love the kiddy rides, please don’t judge, they are super fun, and I prefer to be laughing all the way than to be screaming, in mute, because I am super scared and feel like I am going to die (I am talking about you Jurassic Park River Adventure, don’t ask me what happened, let’s just say the photo of the ride talk a thousand words, thank God we don’t have it).

But I must say our favorite rides in the park are The Simpsons Ride and Men in Black, and we rode them twice. In the last one we met a Future Hubby family friend and talk to him a bit, and let’s just say, working at Universal sounds so fun! I want to work there!

The highlight of the day was, after dreaming about that moment for the past year, having a Big Pink Donut from Lard Lad Donuts. They taste so good, this is a must have if you ever find yourself at Universal Studios.

At the end of the day it was rainy and we were tired so we went to the hotel and had pizza in the room, and it was a great decision, my feet where killing me, but it was totally worth it.

Day 4:

Lazy river, pool, lunch, pool, lazy river, pool; that was our day. I am so happy that we got to use more the pools and lazy river that we did last year. I really, really, really loved floating around the lazy river again and again, it was relaxing, refreshing and just perfect. I wish I could relive this day again and again.

At night we went to City Walk and played at Hollywood Drive-In Golf. We choose the 18 “Horror” holes. There we met 3 friendly guys from Minnesota, we definitely had fun and laughed a lot, specially when they decided to talk in Spanish and started using their Google Translator. Also, I redeem my self from doing badly at bowling, ‘cause I was the winner at the mini golf.

After that we went and had a super delicious dinner at Vivo Italian Kitchen. We made a reservation online for 9:30 pm, we went around 9:20 and in 5 minutes we were sitting at the table and the place was full, so I am sure that walk-in’s had a least a 15 minutes wait time. The food and the service were great, highly recommend it.

That night we tried to go to Voodoo Doughnuts, but the line was long, it was raining and I was tired, so next time.

Day 5:

In the last day we woke up early, prepared our bags as fast as we could and then headed straight to the pool. We spent two relaxing hours at the pool, before getting ready. After that we did some more exploring in the Hotel, which included playing in the arcade again. Then sadly we went to the airport and that is the end.

I think I had more fun this time than last year for two reasons: 1. We didn’t stress about doing every single ride in the parks, we already knew what were our favorites and enjoy those the most, plus we saw a lot of shows, which was great way to take a break and rest; and 2. We spent a lot of time in the pools, which was one of my priorities this year.

I am glad we had this opportunity and that we had so much fun. Of course, you know it, we are already planning our next trip to Orlando, hopefully for 2020, since our 2019 trip will be our Honeymoon I want to do something different and more relaxing and that it doesn’t involve to much walking, so will see.

I hope you enjoy this post, I know it was a longer than usual, but there was a lot to tell, and there’s still more, maybe I will do another post about Universal Orlando Resort in the future.

Never stop dreaming,

♥ Steph

Easy Ways to Practice Mindfulness Everyday

Easy Ways to Practice Mindfulness Everyday

Posted on by Steph

Hi there!

If you don’t know, Mindfulness has become an important part of my life, and has helped me a lot (I talk more about it here). I try to practice it everyday, even if I can’t seat and meditate for 5-10 minutes everyday, which is my goal, I have found ways to incorporate it to my everyday life and routine. Today I want to share with you my favorite and easiest ways to incorporate Mindfulness in my life, hoping it will inspire you to do the same, and find ways to be mentally present.

While taking a shower

I have talk about this one a lot, and that’s because is my favorite way to practice Mindfulness. Since I can remember taking a shower has always been something relaxing for me, and since I started been more mindful about it I love them even more. Concentrate on what you are doing, on the sensations it gives you, on how it feels, smells and just take all in and don’t think about anything else, is just you in that moment.

Driving

I notice that when driving my mind used to wonder a lot, and having a stressful lifestyle, the thoughts that usually came where not positive or relaxing. When I am in the car I like listening to podcast (you can read about my favorites here), but sometimes I had to be rewinding because I wasn’t paying attention to what I was listening or my surroundings. Now I try my best to be present in the moment and to pay attention to what I am listening.

In bed, to fall a sleep

I used to not practice Mindfulness Meditation on bed, because I will get sleepy and would spend the 5 or 10 minutes trying to not fall a sleep. Know I do it to fall a sleep, without timer. I am sure I am not the only one that goes to bed and starts thinking of all the things I have to do and gets all worried for things that I can’t do or change at that precise moment. Mindfulness has helped with that. I prefer to concentrate on my breathing, my body, my bed and sheets, and go to sleep feeling relaxed (and also fall a sleep faster), than to fall a sleep feeling stressed and worried.

Mindfulness meditation can be done in many different ways, and it helps with relaxation, concentration, memory and many other things, because you are present in the moment, and not letting worrying, negative or just any thought control you, control the way you experience things and react to them, you are the one in control. It takes practice and hard work, I personally struggle to keep up my practice, but I try my best, because I know that is good for me.

I hope you can find ways to incorporate mindfulness meditation into your everyday life, and that you can enjoy it’s benefits.

Have you tried Mindfulness Meditation? Was your favorite way to practice it? If not, do you think is something you will be incorporating to your daily routine? I will love to know your thoughts, be sure to leave me a comment.

Never stop dreaming,

♥ Steph

Curly Hair: Journey and Routine

Curly Hair: Journey and Routine

Posted on by Steph
Hi there!

It’s summer, which means spending days at the pool, beach or outdoors, and not wanting to spend time straightening your hair or just spending to much energy on it. Today I am sharing my curly hair journey and my easy hair routine.
2 years ago. More wavy than curly, and it looked dry and damaged.

I have natural curly hair, but my hair was more wavy than curly, maybe because I didn’t know how to manage it properly. I used to wash it every day and I started using styling gel on my hair very young, thanks to my brother, (funny story, I wanted to have straight hair and he heavily coated my hair with gel and brush it, yes, it was kind of straight and very ugly). I later went thru a face where I didn’t do anything to my hair, I will only wear it in a very tangled bun, it was not pretty, dark times, I think I was 10 at the time. If I remember correctly, it was in my first years of college that I started using conditioners or creams to style my hair.

Before getting a trim, no curls at the ends.

Since last year I decided to embrace it and learn how to take care of it and make it look more curly and healthier. I started using products for curly hair, like shampoo, conditioner and hair creams. But I think what really made the difference was coconut oil. After I started using it I noticed my hair looked better, moisturized, shinny and healthier, and also it grow out a lot. I use one exclusive for hair and body, but, you can use any organic coconut oil and I am pretty sure it will do the same.

The Coconut Oil I have been using for almost 2 years.


I’ll tell you what I do and how I do it.

  1. Apply coconut oil to hair and finger comb it. Leave it between 5-30 minutes.
  2. Shampoo hair, concentrating at the roots.
  3. Condition hair, concentrating at the ends.
  4. Detangle hair with a wide comb, while you still have the conditioner on.
  5. Hair mask (every other wash, once a week).
  6. Gently squeeze excess water from hair. (Do not towel dry)
  7. Apply hair cream and finger comb.
  8. Take off excess water and product with a cotton shirt and do scrunching motions to define curls.
  9. When the hair is dry I fluff the curls with my hands to add volume.
The cream I recently started using and really like.

I only wash my hair twice a week. At nigh I do a very high, almost in my forehead not to tight, ponytail and that way the curls don’t break while I sleep. In the mornings I fluff my hair with my fingers, and if I feel like they need more definition or moisture I apply a little bit of hair cream. I usually like my hair better the second day, because is curlier and it has more volume.

My hair now. Curls from roots to ends.
In this past year my curls have definitely become more define and my hair looks healthier, and even more since I got my ends trim. The trick is time and consistency.

I still haven’t find something or some way to style my hair so it doesn’t have frizz, but in the mean time I am very happy with how it looks. If you have master the no frizz look, let me know what you do in the comments below.

Never stop dreaming,
♥ Steph