Shameless Plug: il Presidenzialista

I'm back from a nice 4 day Thanksgiving weekend up in Gig Harbor, WA with some very good friends who I consider family. I'm going to post about that later though. This post is to plug the Italian's blog. I had been meaning to do it a while back, but never got around to it. So it's my great pleasure to send you over in his direction. His blog is both in Italian and English. His thing is politics but his posts will run the gambit. I am so happy he decided to put up his own blog because he's brilliant! Yes, I am biased, but seriously, he is! Ok, so go have a look and say hello or ciao ;)

il Presidenzialista

And here is his opinion of Starbuck's Espresso.....haha!

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It's not really a holiday because we don't get the day off and nothing closes, but it's fall and the beginning of the holiday season and I love it!! I have already admitted my addiction to Mellowcreme Pumpkins, because you know, it's all about the candy! But I also love the costumes that people come up with. I have many great memories of Halloween. I remember going trick or treating in San Marino and South Pasadena, some pretty affluent neighborhoods of L.A. (well, at least the closest ones to my neighborhood) Some of these people would actually put out a bowl of money and we would reach our little hands in and grab as much as we possibly could. At one of my former employers, on Halloween we had a contest. Each department was given the task of coming up with a theme. Well, I jumped at the opportunity and orchestrated the whole thing. I turned our department into Skid Row. There was trash everywhere, newpapers, cans. Even plastic rats and little houses made of cardboard with graffiti. It was great! Everybody dressed like bums. I blacked-out a couple of my teeth, ratted out my hair, put make-up on my face to make it look dirty. I even had a plastic booger. Ew! Then I had to take a little something from Eddie Murphy in Trading Places and rolled myself around the office on a crate with wheels. It was pretty hilarious. I'm proud to say that we won first place! Second and third place were the 70's and the jungle.



So in honor of my favorite pagan holiday, I'm going to post some funny costumes. First is a costume designed by some medical professionals, who almost always have a sick sense of humor. I couldn't help but laugh the first time I saw this:



Next we have the dirty old man, retired Hooter girl costume:



And how about a little Magnum P.I.



This next costume had me in stitches. I dressed as Wonder Woman when I was a little girl. Lynda Carter was my idol. I even had the Wonder Woman Underoos! Remember those?



Well, I hope I didn't look like this when I wore them!



And for the cutest/funniest costume, a character from a movie that I found funny, although the Italian didn't particularly like it, we have little Nacho Libre. Isn't he soooo cute!!







I'd say it's a pretty good rendition, don't you think??



One more cute one that I just couldn't resist posting. Isn't that just the cutest little lobster you've ever seen??!!



Where ever you are in the world, whether you celebrate Halloween or not, I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend. Now go have some candy, guilt free!

16 de Septiembre "El Grito"

El Grito or "The Cry," was originally delivered in 1810 by Mexican national hero Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a parish priest in the village of Dolores. With "El Grito," Hidalgo openly declared his support for independence and rallied the local indigenous population to rise up against Spain.

There are conflicting reports of exactly when Hidalgo delivered the cry, whether on the evening of September 15, 1810, or the morning of September 16. El Grito is traditionaly read by the Mexican president in Mexico City at 11:00pm on September 15, while Mexico observes its Independence Day on September 16.

Friday night there was a reception at the Portland City Hall for Mexicans in the Media and the Latino Chamber to start the weekends festivities. My BFF J is owner of Latino Perspective magazine. She mentioned something about free food and an open bar. Que?? Free food and drink??? I am SO there!! Various Mexican restaurants were respresented there. I had a little bit of the food and it was all really good. Chicken mole, beans, Salsa Verde with Chicken, rice, carnitas....yum! I stood in line to wait for the fresh tortillas that were being made, but by the time I got close to the front of the line, I had finished everything on my little plate so I got out of the line and settled for hearing they were good.

I used to have a dress like the little girl in the first picture. My Mom put me in Folklorico Mexicano dancing classes from the time I was a little girl, until I didn't think it was cool anymore. I was the typical teenager, so I had to rebel. The truth is that I perfomed dances from every region of Mexico and we even traveled to different cities for my performances. There are pics of my dancing days at my Mom's house, but I don't know if they will ever make it to this blog..maybe, we'll see!

We met some other friends there and J took the hubby and kids. I took plenty of pics. No food shots though, that would be too cruel.
The Mariachis were great!! Ironically, they started singing a song that reminds me of my Dad almost immediately after we got there. They made their way around the crowd and ended up having a Mariachi Jam Session of sorts. Some of the restaurant employees let loose after everyone was fed. It was really fun to watch!

Here's a little dancer and J, A and me, the 3rd wheel.....

After a few free Margaritas, the pics started to get a little silly....



Hahahaha! Good thing I haven't told J about my blog yet...she's liable to kill me for this one!! All in all it was a fun night. Good friends, good music, good food and drinks.....what more could one ask for? Actually, there was one person missing that would have made this evening absolutely perfect....I miss you chiquito!