24 things about me

Guys, last week I entered my mid-twenties! I thought 24 years old still qualified as being in my early-twenties but my husband told me otherwise and after a playful argument I finally accepted the fact that my early-twenties have expired, and that's okay! The first three years old my twenties consisted of life changing experiences like having major surgery, becoming a wife, moving to western PA, and giving birth a darling little girl. Each of those events came with their share challenges and adjustments but without them I wouldn't be the woman I am today. My hearts fuller, I'm better with managing time and focusing on the more important things in my life. I'm totally looking forward to the new experiences God will provide me with this upcoming year!

I am a huge fan of writing lists and because it's been a long time since I've done much of an intro on here and my about me page is only a couple of paragraphs, I thought it would be fun to write up a list of 24 random things about me.

one// I was born in Long Island, New York; lived in Queens, New York for six years of my life, then moved to central New Jersey because of my dad’s job. After Michael and I got married we lived in an apartment in New Brunswick, New Jersey and then moved about 382 miles away a few months later. I really miss my family and living close to the shore but I’m also loving our home north of Pittsburgh. The small town we live in has lots of parades, friendly people and it is just so peaceful which is perfect for our family. Pittsburgh is about 40 minutes away from us and I feel really lucky to be nearby such a spectacular city! 

two// My all-time favorite scripture is “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” -Philippians 4:4

three// I have three tattoos. A half a heart on my ribs (my sister has the other half), “Rejoice” written in Hebrew and a fuchsia Gerbera daisy watercolor tattoo on my left shoulder. For some reason all tattoos are on the left side of my body, and I’m thinking I might keep up with that trend!

four// I love Thai, Mediterranean and Indian food.

five// Cleaning relaxes me. If you would have told me that when I was about 10 or 11, I wouldn’t have believed you! I was the kid who stalled cleaning her room and dreaded Saturday morning chores. Something clicked when I got married and had my own house. Sorry mom. I guess you're getting your revenge with my messy toddler undoing all my chores. 

six// My favorite genre for movies are dramas, off-beat comedies, psycho-thrillers, and of course the occasional romantic comedy!

seven// I'm dreadfully shy. However I’ve been pushing myself to be more social, make phone calls, and get involved with others. It can be challenging and sometimes uncomfortable but it’s always worth it. 

eight// My current Netflix binge is Grey’s Anatomy and occasionally Prison Break with Michael. It’s so funny because a lot of the cast of Prison Break have been patients or loved ones to the patients at Seattle Grace!

nine// I feel more natural and confident as a savory chef than a pastry chef, mostly because I am more skilled in that area but I am working on that.

ten// I love earth tones: taupe, grays, yellows, browns and greens. But my favorite colors are turquoise, most shades of purple and red.

eleven// I was homeschooled through 4th-11th grade. It was a great experience, going to school the one year wasn't so great for me!

twelve// I've been drinking coffee regularly since I was twelve years old... I don't know if this something to be proud of? I like my coffee strong with a little creamer or in the form of a latte!

thirteen// I was a vegetarian all throughout High School and a little while after. It wasn’t until I studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute and read Michael Pollan’s book “Food Rules” that I became more aware of the better quality and sustainable meats options out there. My boyfriend-now-husband is who really inspired my transition to go back onto the path of burgers and bacon though. I quickly learned that adding meat into my diet opened more culinary opportunities in my kitchen, improved my health and feel overall less restricted with my diet. 

fourteen// Autumn is my favorite season!

fifteen// I have Ulcerative Colitis and have been in remission for about four years now. Daily medication, exercise, probiotics, a healthy diet and quality sleep are essential for me.

sixteen// By nature, I am stubborn and don’t always handle criticism well, but fortunately God’s been working on me in that area. Michael makes sure of it :)

seventeen// I’m a Puerto Rican woman who barely speaks Spanish, but I think my skills in the kitchen make up for it.

eighteen// I am allergic to cats but that’s okay because I’m a dog person.

nineteen// My old-standby wine is a Pennsylvania made wine called Buffalo Blush, it goes with mostly everything and taste nice too.

twenty// I am a homebody and most of the time I prefer staying in on the weekends writing, baking, or working on a project in comfy clothes.

twenty-one// I love ice cream especially soft serve, and making me choose a favorite would be like choosing a favorite child!

twenty-two// Quality time and words of affirmation are my love languages.

twenty-three// I am a daydreamer sometimes this is a good thing because it can be inspirational and other times it can be annoyingly distracting.

twenty-four// If I had to choose between running a mile and two minutes of non-stop burpees, I would choose the burpees. I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate running.

And that's twenty-four things you probably didn't know about me!

Friday Love!

Just a few things I’ve been loving these days:

one // First things first, this weather is spectacular! Sure there’s been rainy days this week but it has been much warmer lately and am happy that summer is around the corner.

two // This post on respecting your body’s natural size. I found it to be such a positive, spot on and well written piece! I know I have moments where I’m feeling self-conscious with my body, and this post is all about giving yourself a break and to letting go of numbers on the scale. I loved it.

three // FitnessBlender’s FBooty Round 2. I just completed week 1! Much like the first round, this program combines pilates, HIIT, and lower body strength workouts with extra credit for a burnout round. It’s been challenging but so much fun. My goal is to strengthen my lower body and improve my balance and flexibility as well!

four// Adding a shot of espresso to my morning smoothie this week. I’ve been seeing it around the web for a few months now and finally did it! I will be posting a recipe in the near future:)

five // Buttermilk. I know it’s nothing new under the sun but I recently reintroduced some dairy into my diet, and it’s become essential for my fried chicken brine, cake and waffle batters! I've also been using any leftover buttermilk in smoothies and overnight oatmeal. From now on (unless I’m cooking for someone with dairy allergies), I will probably stop making buttermilk substitutes by curdling milk with lemon or vinegar. It just isn't the same!

six // This black "coconut ash" ice cream. I wouldn't say I love it because I haven't tried it but it intrigues me immensely. It's coconut flavored and has activated charcoal in it. Hmmm thoughts? 

seven // Last but certainly not least, my new cacti family. They were a Mother’s day present from Michael:) Phoebe resides in the kitchen while Georgie hangs out in the living room. Aren't they cute?

That's all I got today, have a beautiful long weekend!

Life Lately 3.8.16

I am happy that we are in March, and am hoping for warmer days ahead and trips to the park with Lydia. She still hasn’t been on a swing so it will be fun to see how she enjoys it! They were always my favorite thing to play on in the park as a kid. Swings > Monkey bars. Mainly because I was terrified of them!

Anyway life lately has been good. I have been planning for Lydia’s birthday party and am really having moments of different emotions. I'm not one to openly share my emotions but having a daughter has definitely softened me! I get emotional whenever I see old pictures of her and think about the memories attached to them. I am so grateful to have a phone to capture all those quick moments! Especially in the earlier days. She was so tiny, sleepy and just edible. Yet, I am still falling in love with the little lady she is becoming. She is inquisitive, silly, sharp and my, oh-my, stubborn! She is a little girl who knows what she wants and I pray that as her parents we can lead her towards a path of godliness. 

Back to her birthday party. I originally wanted to do a tea party theme, then I was like hm, no-no, how about a garden theme? But of course I settled on a no theme party because it was really putting a damper on my creative juices, and as soon as I freed myself from a theme I seemed to get a lot more projects accomplished. I did however settle on a color scheme. Pastels! Which have been super easy to find because Easter is just around the corner. There will also be fresh flowers, paper flowers (Michael has been doing a great job with these...), brown paper + twine, handmade banners and of course lots of delicious food, which I'm excited about!!

Anyway, aside from planning Lydia’s party, I’ve been doing my usual chores, exercising, cooking and having a huge desire to prioritize more time on this blog. I recently got a new laptop and have no excuses. It might seem like most of the time I'm placing this blog as an afterthought but it's always on my mind and something I want to make a part of my daily life. I won't complain about how hard it is to find time because I know I can make time  the for things that matter to me, and forgo the least important things. But you know what, as I am typing this I just realized something. Lydia is sleeping and this couldn't be a better opportunity for me. I am less distracted and my mind seems to be at its sharpest. This couldn't be a better first step in the right direction and you get to experience it with me! Now all I need to do is devote time to taking pictures.... :)

Um, let’s see, what else can I tell you about. Oh! Sometime last month, Aria and I started working on the 52 lists project. We got to cover cool topics such as listing our favorite characters in books/movies/shows, where we'd like to see ourselves in ten years and this week is a list of things that we like to do for fun. The author Moorea Seal even created a hashtag (#52listsproject)  that can be used on Instagram to connect with others  also doing the lists! The lists are sectioned in seasons. It is a joy to do because we learn not only about each other but ourselves! I highly recommend it if you’re like me and enjoy reflecting on life but cannot seem to commit to a daily journal. 

And now I’m drawing a bit of a blank, so this the time where I say, see you next time!

23 things for 2016

Cheers and an abundance of praise to another year of good health, happy memories, blessings and delicious food! I picked 23 things because I'm 23 years old. So here's my list of 23 realistic goals:

1. Memorize scriptures; I have a few favorites but want to add more to my memory to fall back on for encouragement, praise, peace of mind and strength.

2. Pray more; whether it is for praise, family, my congregation or big things that are going on in our country, I need to be praying more.

3. Commit more time to studying the bible; whether it’s in a group setting or on my own time.

This past year, I wrote a short list of things that trigger my anxiety and rated them on a scale of 1-10; 1 being very mild anxiety and 10 being “!!!!” anxiety. I got the tip when I was searching “how to overcome anxiety” and found it to be extremely resourceful. I decided the two that I wanted to overcome this year had to do with everyday encounters.

4.Get over my fear of calling people (that aren’t family) first, and not feeling like it is the scariest thing in the world.

5. Saying what’s on my mind (within context, of course), share my ideas with others and do it all without the fear of sounding stupid. And if I do sound stupid to them, then oh well! I may think I’m going to die from embarrassment but I haven't died from it yet.

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” –Julia Child

6. Hone my knifing skills… Relearn how to debone chicken, segment citrus, filet a fish, etc. 

7. Improve my pie/pastry and cake decorating abilities; I got the taste down, but presentation is where I lack and want to practice.  

8.Try to make more foods from scratch. Pasta, bread, stocks, and maybe even goat’s milk yogurt and ricotta cheese just to name a few...

9. Invest and use a kitchen scale for more accurate baking measurements.

10. Learn the basics of building delicious cocktails.

11. Throw dinner party or two! 

12. Take more pictures because there is no such thing as taking too many, and I did't take that many in 2015.

13. Develop recipes, perfect them and post them on this blog with confidence.

14.Create something lovely out of all the wine corks we’ve collected over the course of a year.

15. Learn a new creative skill. Perhaps sewing, pottery, or dancing? Decisions, decisions.

16. Seek out a hobby that Michael, Lydia and I can all do together. And also go on more dates with Michael, and be more present with each other.

17. Walk the Miss Zoe more. Poor thing is getting fat again.

18. Paint and decorate Lydia’s bedroom, and successfully wean her out of our room, have her sleep in the crib, peacefully and without force. Tell me, am I being overly ambitious with this one?

19. Organize the cabinets, closets and dressers. Make this the year be the year, I don't lose any important papers because they are neatly put away in their proper place! 

20.  Similar to the one above, organize the abyss  basement, get rid of the things we truly don't need and then figure out what we can do with the space.

21. Visit my grandparents in Puerto Rico sometime in the spring or summer.

22. Start a garden behind the shed in our backyard, know my plants and treat them with much love.

23. Create new traditions with Michael and Lydia for next Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

I'm feeling more inspired already!!

PS: Those are Michael's beautiful shelves in the photo above, and yes I am obsessed with them.

Lydia these days...

 Hey guys!

It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to write about Lydia, motherhood and all that good stuff… I’m happy but at the same time think it’s bananas that my darling Lydia is now five months old! I am happy because her personality grows more each day and am still amazed by how quickly time is passing because it felt like the first few weeks leading up to her turning one month were an eternity. Anyway, I am going to try my best to take a minute to reflect and share what our little chub has been up to these days…

It’s surreal to me that I am a stay-at-home mom at only twenty-two years old. Yet it feels so natural for me to be home with her. I might not always be a stay-at-home mom but right now I’m appreciating it and taking full advantage of this time I get with Lydia. She’s only five months old and is already teaching me to appreciate the little things in life like morning cuddles, being flexible with time and not taking myself too seriously. Some days can be a little uneventful, while other days are all over the place but for the most part these days have been joyful!

I am still breastfeeding Lydia exclusively and don’t necessarily keep track of how many times a day I nurse her, she basically runs the show! I also want to say Lydia sleeps through the night but that’s not always the case. She doesn’t fuss but lets me know when she’s hungry. I am not bothered by this because we’re usually half asleep during these feeding sessions and we both pass out shortly after. As far as going out on dates, Lydia will happily take a bottle of expressed milk from her grandparents and that’s been good! Breastfeeding has so far been absolutely successful, and Lydia’s got the cankles and sweet dimples on her knees to prove it. She’s downright delicious!! It’s also been rewarding for me as we have created a special bond. I find it fascinating and wonderful that not only does nursing nourish my daughter but it also soothes her when she’s feeling overwhelmed. I love being there for her in that way.

We haven’t started solids just yet, but when we do we’re planning on going for a baby-led weaning/self-feeding approach. Hopefully this will teach her how to feed herself by giving her soft finger foods to explore, grab and eat! I am mostly excited because I don’t have to buy special baby food or puree anything. Yay more time for mama! Though, I am not against those squeeze-y tubes that they sell where you can add in your own smoothies and fresh fruit purees. I’m aware that baby-lead weaning is a recipe for future messes and testing my patience but I think it’ll be worth it. I am hoping she’ll enjoy the foods we eat an early age too!

Lydia is a sensitive little soul; we learned this at around two months old when we visited Michael’s family and she cried most of the visit. It was nothing we were prepared for and nothing we had ever dealt with before. Lydia never had an issue being at my in-laws house; let alone cried when anyone but her parents held her. She seems to get overstimulated when a lot of people are around her and paying attention to her. At first this was difficult to deal with because I felt bad for Lydia and I also didn’t want my in-laws to take it personally or to not want to be around her because she was fussy or something. They obviously didn’t take it personally and now my mother in law makes weekly visits in effort to make Lydia more comfortable around her. This has helped tremendously. And when we visit my family in New Jersey, we stay more than a day which gives Lydia plenty of time to warm up to the environment and of course her beloved grandparents!

These days Lydia finds happiness in playing with her doll, being tickled, rolling all over the place and loves it when we sing to her. She really is the happiest baby! I am not kidding when I say the girl wakes up in a good mood smiling ear to ear, and just about ready to start her day. She is getting strong too; almost able to sit up on her own for long periods and when she’s on her belly she tries so hard to crawl. This often times frustrates her because she obviously isn’t strong enough yet she manages to rotate herself by kicking legs and arms around. Almost always I put in her bassinet vertically and she wakes up horizontally!

Because Lydia’s usually a happy baby the hardest thing is to witness her teething! Last week she fussed, screamed in pain and needed something to chew on constantly. I froze a mesh feeder and she sucked on it like a popsicle. I even added some frozen pieces of mango and she loved that! It was a difficult few days for us but we all got through it! On Monday when she turned five months we took her to get her ears pierced. She sat on Michael's lap while she got both her ears pierced and it went by quicker than I thought. Fortunately she only cried a few seconds and was back to her smiling self again. That Lydia and her happiness truly bring joy into both mama and daddy’s lives!

That’s all for now, 

I'm baaaack, with a boat load of pictures!

I have been somewhat distant on here…. I mean I’ve been around here and there tweaking and attempting to make this blog prettier for your viewing pleasures. I used the verb attempting only because I am not quite sure I am succeeding. Honestly I’m not finished. But I missed writing and decided I should just go public and do the boring stuff later. During my little hiatus, I have been enjoying what’s left of the summer. Can you believe we’re already in the middle of August?!

Here I’m going to allow these pictures to summarize my summer: 

Pizza... This one stars roasted beets and carrots. Lately I have been really into using pesto as a sauce rather than traditional tomato sauce. It isn't anything wildly new but it certainly lightens up a summer pizza pie, and allowed me to use up garlic scapes and basil we received from our CSA; which is a total win win.

We got family pictures done by Sandra ! 

Michael got a grill for Father's Day so he's been promoted to the grill-er of the family. Pictured is the flank steak we used to make grilled steak tacos with chimichurri; pretty amazing!!

Lydia getting kisses from her big cousin DJ!

  

Bridgefest 2015! We didn't stay long due to exhaustion from arriving at Jersey around 3am; but we did get ice cream at Days... They sell dairy-free ice cream now so I got mocha almond on a sugar cone!

Lydia celebrated her first 4th of July and got to experience fireworks : ) She had no idea what was going on but look how adorable she was with her ear muffs on... I still melt.

Cookies 'n' Cream ice cream on a sugar cone... One of my favorites I've made! I also really appreciated the Salted Rum Caramel ice cream too. I'll try to share the recipe before the summer ends; but who stops eating ice cream when summer ends? ;D

Brunch at Marty's Market in Pittsburgh before exploring the Strip District and then going to Picklesburgh. It was possibly the hottest day in July but we had fun people watching and eating chicken and waffles for the first time! I opted for the bagel and lox which was delightful.

Mom W. removed the nasty weeds and planted beautiful flowers on our front lawn.

I got over my pie baking fear and made this beauty. Classic blueberry pie! 

Lydia loves her wuelo!

I got a haircut!

Aria and I went to Terhune Orchards in Princeton with the babies (I wish we had taken more pictures) and enjoyed lunch, wine and seeing the animals.

Celebrating Michael's birthday with a BANG. We made grilled lobster (and by "we" Michael killed it and I watched in horror and made the garlic parsley butter), yucca fries with mayo-ketchup sauce, and garlicky sauteed green beans. 

Fun fun. As far as blogging goes, I'm going to try my best to set aside time for writing content on here and will commit to a post once a week... Rather than those irregular posts I've been posting throughout the month. It's not fair to you guys! Once a week doesn't sound like much but I don't wanna put too much on my plate. Hopefully I can eventually commit to twice a week? We shall see my friends...In the meantime I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer!

food diaries and self-written tips

Yesterday I noticed something unusual about myself. I’ve been in a rut with my eating habits and have noticed that the food I'm eating is making me more tired and down right “meh”. Saturday I felt bloated after eating a grilled goat cheese sandwich! I normally feel fine if I give into my cravings every now and then, but I’ve been giving in to them too often. I’ll admit I haven’t been eating enough whole foods and have been snacking on cereal almost every night. It sounds harmless but let me tell you I don’t like how it’s making me feel. It’s possible that I am not eating enough throughout the day which is making me crave carbs hardcore! There’s also the possibility that I am eating a lot of unnecessary foods throughout the day such as sweets, two cups of coffee with soy milk and too much bread…

Here are some ideas I can try:

1. Firstly, try getting enough sleep!

2. Limit wheat to once a day. I notice I feel better when I eat salads loaded with veggies, healthy fat and high in protein with maybe a sweet potato or an apple, I feel a lot less lethargic than eating a pb&j sandwich!

3. Limit coffee with soy milk to once day.

4. Limit sugar intake. (If this means limiting my baking to the weekend then so be it!)

5. Incorporating more foods containing probiotics such as goat yogurt, kimchi and kombucha tea.

6. Drinking A LOT more water throughout the day.

7. Eating a snack in between my breakfast like old times, especially if I work out a little after breakfast time.

8. Include more seasonal veggies into all of my meals. If I don’t eat any for breakfast maybe have some as a part of my post workout snack.

9. Eat whole foods that I know will benefit and satiate me.

10. Take more time to be a little more creative in the kitchen to avoid any future ruts! For example, making a pot of quinoa, chickpeas and/or roasting sweet potatoes the night before for future energy boosting lunches.

11. Lastly, ask myself if I really need to eat a bowl of cereal at 10:06pm. Really Jessica?

I’ll write an update about how I’m feeling and if these self-written tips lift up my energy and help make eating an adventure for me again!

-Jessica