Travel Destination: Panama - Part 2

Welcome to the second part of my travel diary from Panama. It was such a fun trip and a great cultural experience. 

A kid at Heart

Christmas is long gone now and I am a little sad that it went by so fast. I normally enjoy it a little more, but for a couple of years now, I have had to work during the days previous to it and therefore my Christmas spirit has not been the highest.

All in all, I had a great time, and, even though I didn't do a What I got for Christmas post, I did wanted to mention one gift that was supper special for me and that meant a lot, especially because I am no child to be wanting one, but still wanted it and when I got it, I was ecstatic.

I got a furbacca as a Christmas Present.

2015 Reflections

It was a great year. 

A lot of important events happened. 

I will not write a lengthy post about it all. I just wanted to highlight how grateful I am for everything that has happened. 

New people came into my life, left a mark and then just left leaving a mark in my soul, teaching me to be always true to who I am, not to live up to some crazy expectations. I grew up. 

Christmas Baking: Tanya Burr's Shortbread cookie recipe

As I mentioned a couple of blog post before, in my house my mom and I are baking monsters, therefore every time we come by a recipe that seems good we are going to try and test it out. 

This year, I went a little crazy and watched every Vlogmas out there in youtube, from the people I follow and I loved each and every one of them. One of  my favorites vlogmas had to be Tanya Burrs'. She has a really home-y vibe to her and I can relate a lot with her because she seems a little geek at heart and is a complete wife-y person (not trying to sound old school here, i mean it as a good thing for sure) and that is how I am and see myself as. She did one where she baked shortbread star cookies and it seemed really simple so I decided to give it a try.

Christmas Party

On Friday, we had the annual End of Year Party of the Organization I work for and this year, we celebrated not only the end of the year, but also how we broke a Guinness World record. It was not an amazing one but we can certainly say we did it in style. We gained the recognition for "The Largest bowl of Quinoa" in the world, and it was something to talk about.

On the other hand, we had the opportunity to all be gathered together and have a good time with good food, good friends and amazing music.

I had a total pampering day before the party, which was an amazing way to start the night.

Christmas Baking: Gingerbread Cookies

Every year, my mom and I go all out with our baking game. 

We are enthusiasts with our german fruit cake, cupcakes and our gingerbread cookies. 

Secret Santa at work

Let the Christmas celebrations begin! 

On Thursday we had a little gathering at the office to make our secret santa gift exchange and it was an amazing time. 

The Best Gift

As you might have already read in my Black Friday haul (actually a whole weekend haul) I bought myself a 13" Macbook Air and it is the best purchase I have made in a while.

It is a pretty expensive gift to buy if you buy it here in Peru, but I went for it anyways because, to be honest, I don't like waiting (who does?) and after a pretty much 7 year in the want I just had to have it. 

Everything began with one of my friends at work wanting to sell her 2011 Macbook Air at a pretty good price. I was determined. I wanted to buy it from her. But still needed advice and just talk it out with someone who knows me even more than I know myself. My mother of course. So I called her and told her the deal and what was going on. She listened to me, allowed me to finish the rambling story I was telling her and just told me: "Are you sure you want to buy a second hand computer?" and that was it. Those words made me realize that I might be getting a computer cheaper but it involved a lot more than just the price.

Posting Schedule

Welcome back friends! 

Today I will write a quick little post to let you know my posting schedule for the blog so that you can know when to expect new content here.

Black Friday 2015 Purchase + Cyber Monday

I know black Friday was a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn't pass the opportunity to tell you all about the things I bought during that day and the weekend untill Cyber Monday (It wasn't a lot, but significant). 

The first thing I did on Black Friday, was, get online and see if there was any good deal. Target.com was my choice to go on a hunt for something and browsing in the online store I found a Nikon Camera which was only US$ 100. Of course I had to get it. And I did. It is a Nikon Coolpix L340 with 20.2 megapixels. I decided to go for it because, 1) I needed a new point and shoot camera and 2) I am no pro to get a super fancy DSLR camera just yet because I have cero skills with the photographing thing. After it, I have a whole new random experience with my shipping which I will let you know all about it in another post, so stay tuned for that. 

Entrepreneurship

I had been devating starting different projects, different ideas and different ways of doing business without investing much money to have an extra income besides my day job. 

Travel Destination: Panama - Part 1

After the baby shower crazy-ness, we could really concentrate in one thing. Our upcoming vacation to Panama. But take something into account...I had already packed :) 

In May, I decided it was time to find a vacation spot outside the country and really enjoy family time with the parents. They work so much, I wanted to treat them with something nice. But I did not find the right price for our holidays (hey, I am a junior analyst, I still don't make a ton of money to afford a nice vacation with a lot of luxuries) so I stopped searching. 

A couple of days later, my aunt sent me a message that said that her older son had found plane tickets to Panama for an amazing deal and she said that we should go with them. Them meaning my cousin, his girlfriend and my aunt. I called immediately. Of course. Got the number of the flight, the departure date, the return date and the flight times. Everything so that we could find spots to travel in the same flight and be all together.

Baby Shower - Baby Thais

Today, lets get into baby-fever mode for a bit because I will be telling you everything (well, maybe not everything but a lot) about my baby cousin's baby shower for baby Thais (my precious little 2 month old niece). 

Transitions.. Final destination!

So a couple weeks ago I announced the transition from blogger to wordpress into a .com webhosting and the help of my beloved team from FlexDev. 

Finally, the transition has been completed! www.stephaniearabella.com is finally up and running! So head over there  and check it out! 

There you will be able to find your favourite posts from all times since we've been together.

It has been a great journey and every change that is going on right now is all thanks to you guys and thank you for the support all these years! You have seen this blog transition and change and reinvent many times! And the end result is finally the one i have always seeked. 

It is a monday to remember, it will pass on to the history of events that have been a very big part of my life. 

Woth nothing else to add, i will leave you the link for the blog: 

www.stephaniearabella.com 

Have a great day! 

xo, 

S.A

Tough

People sometimes think that when you are a cheerful one you have no right to be mad or angry or feel crappy at moments. Last night, I got some really sad news. I was in the shower, and my phone started ringing, I didn't answer the first time, but it started ringing again. It was then when I knew that I had to answer. He told me what we were all waiting for in the past couple of weeks. It was almost predictable that at any time it could happen. 

One of the most distinguished people I've known, and one of the best professors I've had during my university life, passed away that day. 

Of all the people I've met, he was the wisest and most respected one who knew what he was talking about. He had experiences that you might think were brought up by a history book. He was an open book with everything. Transparent. Inspiring. Moving. 

If there is one thing that I learned from him though the time he was my professor, was to always stand up for what you believe in and to fight for what you want. I never saw him put a bad face when he had to teach a bunch of freshmans with no experience or little respect for what they might be learning. 

Sensei Maruy. You were an inspiration to many, the rock people needed to see to know that strength comes from within and you decide your path and you make of your life what you decide. He decided the path of teaching, of being the person who stands up for what he believed in. 

A thought: 

"When things get tough, the tough get going" 

And that is what I want to make of my life, and never give up on something. 

Have a good friday. And always say to the ones you love, that you love them. Life is too short. 

Today's rambles

It's been a couple of complicated days but amazing ones. I can't complain. Things have been running their course and time has been flying by really fast! 

Summer is amazing, the beach is another universe, where you can relax and let go of everything you have been going through in the week at work, with personal life, with friends, with lovers, with random people, with brothers, sisters, etc. 

My weekend went well filled with friends. I have been sleeping nearly 5 hours each night (or less which is ugh but somewhat fun) which is making me a little more sleepy than normal, but I am not complaining. 

This past days, I have been having a bit of a temper, my natural annoying self is coming through and sometimes it surprisses me in ways I have never imagined. Also, sorry for rambling and going from subject to subject, I have been hooked with "How I met your mother" and almost finishing the series. I don't know what took me so long to finally sit and watch it. I don't regret any of the sleepless nights and good laughs I've had lately. 

In another note, I have to say that having to be organized is driving me crazy and making my head hurt, I have no time to keep everything clean or in order, and my desk at home is just so messy it drives me nuts. I can't believe that I am saying this on the internet, but YES. I am guilty of being messy. But I am sure I can't be the only one, right?

Well i think there are some more things that i want to say but, this is too random right now. I will leave the rest for another post.

Have a great day! it is the middle of the week already. how fast does the days are going by?

Workout update: so far so good

It has been 2 days already. There is something about it that, on one hand i am sore and everythong hurts, muscles i had no idea that existed in my body hurt, i have no strength (at least not much right now), but on the other hand, it feels right, feels like a relax, to forget everything going on and just stop to concentrate in something else than all the things that hunt you.

Everything is better.

Today, I can say that I want to keep up with it. I am even buying more gym clothes to have variety and feel more confident when hitting my workout sessions. 

Lets talk about ZUMBA! Omg it is amazing. I don't really know why it is so much fun.. No wait.. I do know. Here is why. You get an instructure who is really active, moves around the mirrored classroom, is always jumping and telling you to keep it up! It is one of the best workouts out there and it so fun to be there. I am going back again on friday. And can't wait for it! 

After the hour of cardio moving my whole body, I get to my strength training always alternating one day legs and one day arms. Right now my whole body is stiff and muscles I had no idea I had in my anatomy hurt.

I will be doing some more posts about my journey and how it is all going.

Hoping you have a great day to achieve great things!

Introducing...

Today I am going to be spilling something else about the changes that my blog will be going through in the next few days. I hope that by the end of March, everything will be ready for your entertainment. 

Many things are changing, I have partenered up with the lovely team of FlexDev, who are amazing and very comprehensive with my crazy person and know how to handle my every mood.

They are helping me with everything related to technology and software and stuff that i am not normaly aware of.. So pretty much, they are my lifesavers and the ones making this transition easier.

If you want to know more about the FlexDev team, visit their webpage here.
 

So now on to the big reveal. I am moving the blog into a WordPress platform! Yes! Stephanie Arabella has now a .com domain and is almost ready for you to enjoy everything that will be happening. 

We are moving all the content that already exists in this blogger platform. Its been good while it lasted, but it is time to move on to a whole differente world of experiences. Right now, if you enter  www.stephaniearabella.com, you will be able to see that the pre-existing posts are slowly appearing. in order of date that they have been published.

It really is a big deal for me to be able to expand my blogging capacity and be able to experiment more. There will be some other surprises, but I will leave that for another opportunity.

Meanwhile, I will still be posting here due to technical developments until the end of the move of all the content.

I hope you are starting your week in a great note, cause I am.

Very Berries

I have been on a healthier note lately.

One of my obsessions?

Strawberries, cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries!

Mixed Berries

They are a really good source of antioxidants and vitamins. They give you a boost of energy and are really rich in flavor.

I love combining them with a little yogurt and some granola, which is amazing for breakfast or as a little mid-afternoon snack.

There is also a huge variety of desserts that can be made from the berries of your choice. For example, yesterday I found a great recipe from Martha Stewat's site of Blueberry cupcakes, which looks delicious. I really have to try it out and when I do, I will certainly do a review of it.

If you wnat to try it, here is the link to it and below you can see how amazingly delicious they look!

Blueberry Cupcakes by Martha Stewart

I am craving some right now! 

I hope your week is going great! and if you decide to make the cupcakes, share with me some of the images on instagram @stephkms! 

Have a great day! 

Valentine's day 2015

Valentine's day has never been my favorite time of year, but this time around, still hasn't changed much. Is not because I don't like what it means and represents, but it is just that this time come up the hearts, oversized bears that occupy 90% of the bed, consumerism at it's best, and businesses trying to get all the attention for people to spend more money than they actually have for the "idea" that if you spend the most, you'll get more love and pamper your partner. 

In the end, Valentine's day is a special occasion to celebrate all the love you have around but most importantly, it shound't be just a day, love should be celebrated all the time. If you love someone, show them by the little things you can do, or say, or just don't say, just be there. 

Sometimes actions are worth more than words and have a major impact on the people you love than those expensive gifts that anyone could buy.

I am a helpless romantic. I tend to be in-love with love. I guess you all knew that already.

But enough said about the commercial part of the day and lets get to the love part of the day.

I had an amazing day with the people I care the most and at night I got a really awesome gift of half a dozen roses delivered by someone very very special for me who came in to my life as unexpected as rain in a draught. We went out dancing with a couple of friends and it was really great getting to spend time with him and actually, having him around makes everything better.

I will leave you here with a picture.

I hope you spent an amazing weekend. Cause I surely did.