My Holiday Week!!!

My parents and sister came to spend the holiday with me and my husband!

We did the escape room challenge and our theme was Alien Conspiracy. So we had to try and save all the documentation that proved aliens exist and we had to stop a bomb from going off! We had 60 minutes to complete the task and we were getting so nervous each task we had to do was so difficult to solve plus we were approaching the last few minutes!

We weren’t sure if we were going to finish! But we had great teamwork and was able to finish the challenge with 3 minutes left! Yay! They told us that this was their toughest escape room and had a 30% success rate so we were so happy that we finished it!

My mom is from NYC so we met up with her side of the family at a nice restaurant in Manhattan called Caffe Napoli. We had Bruschetta Salad for appetizers and boy was that delicious! For my entree I ordered Stuffed Chicken Marsala with Gnocchi and my husband ordered Filet Mignon w/ Beef Ravioli. Wow everything was so tasty!

My mother in law hosted Christmas Eve and I made the traditional Puerto Rican dish called Pernil which is slow roasted pork shoulder. It was a success because everyone loved it and there was none left! Haha

For Christmas we stayed in and I cooked a nice big breakfast for us all! We opened all of our gifts and everyone pretty much got what they wanted! One of my favorite gifts is my new iPhone 8 Plus! My husband surprised me and I couldn’t be more happier because I was so overdue for a new phone!

This was such a great Christmas and I’m so glad I was able to spend it with my family!

What did you all do for the holidays?? Comment below, I’d love to hear what you did!

My Memorial Day Weekend!

Hey everyone! I know it’s late but I wanted to share with you what I did this holiday weekend.

My husband and I was able to ride the Surey bikes on the boardwalk. These bikes have multiple seats so the whole family can ride along while enjoying the beautiful views of the beach!

We went to hang out on the beach on Saturday which was a beautiful day! The sun was shining with a nice breeze flowing! I didn’t go all the way in the water but just enough to get my feet wet!

We were able to stop by Waffle House too! They are all over the place down here! There’s almost a Waffle House on every corner haha!

Some of my in laws live in VA Beach so we had a BBQ on Sunday. We had good food, drinks, and played a few games!

After all the fun I had, I didn’t want to go back home! Plus I love being at the beach haha! Hope you all enjoyed your Memorial weekend as much as I did! 😊

Christmas Weekend With My Family!

I’m so excited that my parents and sister were able to come to NYC to spend Christmas with me! We surely had an eventful week! Here’s all what we did!

THURSDAY – DECEMBER 21

We had dinner at this amazing Asian hibachi restaurant called Edos Steakhouse located in Pelham, NY. My family really enjoyed the food and the fun show that the chef gave when making our food! We had so much food that we had an extra serving of food to take home!

FRIDAY – DECEMBER 22

I took my family to do a little shopping on Central Park Ave in Yonkers. The shopping center had a variety of stores like Burlington Coat Factory, Marshall’s Shoe Shop, and Best Buy To name a few.

My colleague told me about this creole based restaurant called The Bayou Restaurant where they have meals that are traditionally served in Louisiana! The atomesphere was pretty cool! It looked just like we were eating at a restaurant down in Louisiana with all the cultural decorations all around us! I was so excited because I always wanted to visit Louisiana so by coming here I get a little taste of it lol!

For our appetizer, I ordered Swamp and Turf which were bbq ribs with grilled alligator! Yes I said alligator! Alligator taste similar to chicken but is a lot more tender. I enjoyed it! My dad and I ordered Fried Catfish Po’Boy which is a fried catfish sandwich that comes with sweet potato chips and coleslaw. I also ordered hush puppies (my favorite!)

My sister and husband ordered Louisiana Yard Bird which was chicken in a gravy sauce and my mom ordered a cheeseburger and a side of mac and cheese. Everything tasted amazing! And I will be revisiting that restaurant very soon!

SATURDAY – DECEMBER 23

We went to an Alvin Ailey Dance Show at the City Center in Manhattan.

Alvin Ailey was a choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. He is known for popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African American participation in 20th century concert dance (dance performed for an audience that is choreographed to set music).

My mom is a dancer and has been since her teenage years. After high school, she actually auditioned and was accepted into the Ailey School and she was in the program for 2 years. So she received dance training directly from Alvin Ailey himself! She even performed at the Apollo Theater in the early 80’s to “The Beautiful One’s” by Prince. Her crew came in 2nd place! How cool is that!

The picture below is of my mom on ballet pointe when she was about 19 years old in NYC!

The Alvin Ailey performance at the City Center was amazing! When I was younger, my mom showed me the videotapes of Ailey’s classic performances like “Revelations” so to be able to see it all live was an amazing experience!

After the showing, we went to my moms old performing arts high school called Julia Richman/ Talent Unlimited Performing Arts School! And turns out that my husband’s uncle went to the same school as well! Small world isn’t it!

Later for dinner, my mother in law had a gathering at her place filled with great food, games, laughs, and fun!

SUNDAY – DECEMBER 24

My uncle took us all to their old neighborhood in East River in Manhattan where my mom and her 4 brothers grew up. My mom hasn’t been there in years so she was happy to see her old neighborhood and talk about the memories she had. She said that the movie “The Wiz” was filmed very close to their neighborhood so in between takes, the actors in the film such as Diana Ross would come to say hi and talk to the people in my mom’s neighborhood. That’s so awesome!

Later that night we had Christmas Eve dinner at my husband’s aunts house in upstate NY which was a great time! The food was delicious as always and we played a few games as well!

MONDAY – DECEMBER 25

Christmas is finally here! We had Christmas dinner with my moms side of the family at my uncles house in Brooklyn. We normally don’t get together for holidays because everyone’s family is usually doing their own thing. I haven’t seen a lot of these family members in a long time so it was very nice that everyone came out and spent time together! It was a great time for sure! I’m sure we’ll all be able to have more family gatherings like this in the future!

My parents and sister went back home this morning! I was sad to see them go but I’m so glad they came out to spend time with all of us here! They are already planning to come back very soon since they had such a great time! I’m looking forward to it!

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday as much as I did! 😊

Halloween Weekend 2017 in Virginia!

Every year my husband and I usually spend Halloween with my father n law in Virginia Beach,VA! 

We ended up going to a bar called Rainbow Cactus Company! The music was great! The drinks were a lot cheaper than here in NYC so that was refreshing! Lol

Here are some pictures from the weekend! 

Biker Chick! 🤘🏾

My husband was V from V for Vendetta!

V and Mr. Pirate(father n law)!

Mr. Pirate, Military Girl (sis n law), and V!

The awesome decorations inside one of the places we stopped by!

Broken baby doll, pirates, and 50s girl!

I really like my choker! 😜🕷

🤘🏾

What were your plans for this past Halloween Weekend?!

Comment below, I’d love to hear about your weekend! 

Pumpkin Carving! 🎃

This weekend my husband and I did some pumpkin carving with our nephews! We also had them bake cookies! Here are a few pictures! 



We all had a good time! And those chocolate chip cookies were pretty good too! 😋 I’m glad we were able to spend time with our nephews! They always put a smile on my face! 😁

Have you gotten a chance to do pumpkin carving yet? 

Photo Challenge – Glow

Cinco De Mayo Festivities!

Last night, my husband and I had dinner with my my in laws! It’s been a while since we’ve all spent time together due to the stressors of life keeping us busy. So it was nice to be able to come together and have a good time again!

Some of the things I ate were Tilapia, sweet potatoes, and creamy chicken that my sister  in law cooked. Everything tasted so delicious! Sorry I didn’t take any pictures =/ but I will try to remember the next time around! 

Then we were invited to my cousin in law’s place for a nice small Cinco De Mayo party! Our cousin made tacos and made us fresh margaritas! The margaritas were so tasty and smooth with a nice hint of lime!

Since I ate before I came I didn’t get a chance to taste the tacos but they looked so scrumptious and now I’m kind of regretting not eating one! Haha! 

What did you guys do for Cinco De Mayo?!

My Family Visits NYC!

My parents, sister, aunt, uncle, and granny cane into town from PA/OH to come visit my husband and I. 

My mom told me that they wanted to visit a few places in Manhattan but when they arrived on Friday, everyone was super tired. So we ended up ordering food from an Italian restaurant up the street from my apartment. 

It was nice to be able to relax with them. We watched this movie called Central Intelligence starring Kevin Hart and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. It was hilarious!

Saturday, I took them to a popular shopping area in the South Bronx where there are a whole bunch of stores on 3rd Ave. My family loved it and bought so many things! I ended up buying a few things too! =)

Some shops on 3rd Ave!

My sister, me, and my mom shopping on 3rd Ave in the South Bronx

 

Later that night, we had a pot luck dinner at my place and game night! My mom’s family is from NYC so her brothers and niece came out to join us for the night.

L to R: Baked Ziti by mom n law, Lemon Garlic Chicken and BBQ Bacon Chicken made by me, potato salad, and Pasta Salad made by my husband!

Back row L to R: Sweet Plantains, Spanish Rice, Spanish Rice, White Rice…Front Row L to R: Beef Stew, Chicken Stew, Potato Salad, Beans

 

My mother n law and a few of her family members joined us as well. 

We played this game called “Heads Up” which is super fun! We also played Jenga
which was harder than I thought because you need to have a steady hand when moving those blocks around! 

My family and I playing Jenga!

Sunday morning, my family headed home.

It was so refreshing to have my family spending time together because it’s been a while since we’ve all gotten together. It was such a pleasure and can’t wait to do it again! I love my family =)

My family!