Mother's Day!!!

Yes, I do realize this post is a day late, but Mother's Day had to happen first before I could write about it.

We had a super amazing fun day at Discovery Cove!!

I guess my mom's Mother's Day present is a good place to start.

Growing up, my mom always read me Love You Forever

And it's always been our book/quote. Earlier this year there was a girl on campus selling personalized canvases, and I couldn't help but buy one with this quote on it for my mom.

Anyways, on to Discovery Cove. We ate a HUGE breakfast buffet at the park, and later struggled to get inside our wet suits

The park makes us wear either a wet suit or a vest whenever we're in the water. I initially picked wet suit, because I thought it looked really cool and professional. However, as soon as I felt the sun, I realized that I would get an AWFUL tan in that thing. So I opted for the less cute, but also less covering and easier-to-go-to-the-bathroom-in vest.

My tan is still pretty bad, but at least it's a little more even than it would have been in the wet suit.

We finally finished getting ready. Which involved a lot of squeezing into wet suits, squeezing out, trying on vests, over-applying sunscreen so people looked like mimes, and a lot of laughing. We then went to swim in this awesome lazy river style river! The only difference was that we had to do the swimming so it wasn't really that lazy. Some of us had noodles, granny had a life vest, and rebels like Brian, Cinthia, and I just swam on our own. It wasn't that bad. Most of the river was shallow enough that we could walk, but there were some good long stretches of water that were too deep to touch the floor.

The water was really warm and clear blue. Of course, we wanted to take pictures, but didn't want to get our phones wet, so we had to get creative. We double zip-locked our phones and swam around with them inside our wet suits. I was really glad that we did this when we got to the aviary. Oh my goodness, that place was amazing!

There were little booths with park staff giving us bird food so we could feed the birds, it was awesome! When we first walked in the aviary, there was only on bird walking around and as soon as we had food in our hands, the place just came alive. It was beautiful. My personal favorite was the peacock.

Is that not the most gorgeous thing you have ever seen??

Look at the detail on it. It is so beautiful.

The fact that I was able to feed it was amazing. It ate my whole pot of food, then I went to get another pot of food and it ate that too! We got to see it open it's feather and do the whole majestic peacock thing. Unfortunately, I had just wrapped my phone back into it's Ziploc bags when it opened up, and by the time I got the phone out, it had put it's feathers back. It was probably one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in person.

It was a day of beautiful things, because the dolphin was also a beautiful experience.

I can't put into words how remarkable of an experience this was.

The dolphin did all kinds of tricks and we got to touch it and 'talk' to it. It even gave us a ride around the pool area.

The shots that the cameramen at the park took came out amazing, but the kiss, that's from my camera, extremely zoomed in.

I have to admit, that was one heck of an experience! And I even got a shot of me and my little brother together with the dolphin (:

And even though only four of us actually got the whole dolphin experience, they had the rest of the family get in the water to take a picture of all of us together.

It really was an amazing experience, and I couldn't have asked for a better day with my family.

Birthday? No. Birth-week!

I prolonged my birthday celebrations as much as I possibly could.

I took the whole weekend off and made tons of plans with all my friends (:

Friday was just a sleep in until way past noon. Like way wayyy past noon. Like until 6. And after I woke up, Luis and I went to Panda and picked up some movies from the Red Box.

It was definitely a no makeup, no fixed hair, jeans and a long shirt kind of day. We went back to my dorm after gorging ourselves on fried rice, chow mein, mandarin chicken, golden honey roasted walnut shrimp, and green bean chicken. We watched Django, which was pretty good, then went right back to sleep.

Saturday we woke up considerably earlier at around noon. We then watched Silver Linings Playbook, which was also really good. (anything with Jennifer Lawrence in it is good!) Then I got ready to go out with my beautiful God-daughter and best friend, Alexa. I put on this top that I bought at Wet Seal from their penny sale. It's a little too small, but for one cent and cuteness, I can stand not breathing for a few hours.

I picked her up and we went to Bistro Niko to pick up my lost purse. I was SO happy when I woke up to their wonderful phone call telling me it had been turned it! Everything was still in the purse, it was great! We then stopped by Mickey D's because I hadn't eaten all day, and since my card was cancelled, all I had were the $15 I had left inside my purse. We then went to her place to meet up with her friend, Alise.

We chilled there for a while talking about make up and movies and jobs and all that fun stuff girls talk about when they get together. Finally, the fourth person to our party showed up and we went to the dollar movies.

We watched Jack the Giant Slayer and it was actually really good. I really enjoyed it. It made me sit on the edge of my seat (figuratively) in excitement over the action, made me sigh, made me hope, made me laugh, and made me cry. That's a pretty good movie to me.

Finally the movie was over and we went our separate ways, but not before Alexa gave me my birthday presents. I swear, she knows my style so well and always buys me the cutest things!

And it always comes in the cutest packaging. She once gave my mom this gift that came in the most gorgeous gift box I have ever seen. I don't remember what came inside the box, but it's still sitting in my mom's living room as decoration.

Inside the cute box above, came this beautiful scarf. The picture truly does not do it justice. It's a bad picture in awful lighting and way too close to see the overall image, but I promise, the scarf is adorable!

So cute! I feel like these earrings are totally business world, sophisticated earrings. Perfect for me! You don't see any teenagers running around with earrings like that, however, me? I'll rock them!

After I left the movies, I went to Luis's house so we could go to the wedding reception together. It was probably one of the most Mexican parties I have ever been to, and I go to a lot of Mexican parties, trust me. They had the whole banda there playing their 5 million instruments and singing. It was fun though.
.

Luis wasn't really in the dancing mood, so I ended up dancing with his mom, which was pretty fun. There's this one song, Caballo Dorado, which is like a Mexican version of the Cha Cha Slide, only funner, that we danced to together, and I could not stop laughing! It was a great night!

Here's out picture for the night!

Then Sunday was nice too. We slept in late and went to Mass at 5.

After Mass we went to the last college ministry meeting for the school year. That was really fun. Since it was Cinco de Mayo, we had authentic Mexican food (not that Tex-Mex stuff) and ate to our tummies content. Then we had Adoration, which is such a beautiful experience every time. Adoration is probably my favorite part of being a Catholic. We then went our separate ways so I could study my butt of for finals!

Monday was just a normal day, no birthday fun. I worked in the morning, went to school, took a final, then spent the rest of the day on Hulu catching up on Once Upon A Time (I knew Queen Regina was a softie at heart!).

Then Tuesday was when things picked up again. I went to work in the morning and got to lead shift for the first time! I was really excited about that! I'm training to be a team leader (assistant manager in Chick-fil-A lingo) so finally getting to lead the shift on my own was fun and exciting. I ended up staying wayyy past when I was supposed to leave, so I could get more training in. Finally I leave and head to Chili's to meet my girls!

I have two other friends whose birthdays are also in May, Emily and Estela. So we decided that we were going to do something together to celebrate all three of our birthdays. We have been talking about going to Chili's to just get their chocolate molten lava cake since September and it still hasn't happened, so we figured that this would be our opportunity to do so! We invited two more friends, Daena and Jessica (not the shopping one, the one that I went to Rumba with. I'll just call her JP from now on because that's her nickname anyways) to come celebrate with us!

Of course, nothing ever goes as planned. Daena had a million errands to run for her mom and couldn't make it, and Estela's grandparents are in town so she couldn't make it either. It was alright though, JP brought another friend with her and the four of us had a grand time.

Me, Emily, Yane, and JP (:

We had so much food! We ordered that 3 different appetizers thing with spicy boneless wings, honey boneless wings, and potato skins. Then we each had an entree which was delicious. I had the light version of the steak, and Yane let me try one of her bacon something quesadillas which was also really good. Finally, the moment we were all waiting for came, dessert time! We ordered two of the molten lava cakes, one for us to eat then, and the other to take to Estela, since she couldn't join us and it was her birthday too.

When it was finally time to go, we turned Chili's into our photo booth. We took so many pictures and it was great. I had so much fun with my friends (:

19 Years And Counting...

First and foremost, I would like to start off this post by thanking God for blessing me with these 19 healthy years of life.

He has been so good to me, and has filled my life with goodness and blessings and joy, and I can't thank Him enough.

And keeping in line with the blessings, Thursday was really a day filled with joy.

I actually woke up in a really bad mood. Wednesday night I worked and I didn't get out until 11 30. I made it to my dorm just in time to ring in my birthday at home, at 11 57. Then I studied for my history final until around 3 (after doing the midnight birthday phone calls and answering FB messages). I finally woke up at 7, totally grumpy from lack of sleep. I drag myself over to my bathroom sink and BOOM!

BEYOND cute!!! My roommate is the best!! She wrote Happy Birthday in English, Portuguese (my language!) and German! (she lived in Germany for 10 years before coming to Georgia for college)

Look! It's Hello Kitty! Beyond adorable!!! She later drew on balloons, but I didn't snap a picture of that. It totally made my morning to wake up to that sight!

And she got me a present!

Three Victoria's Secret body mists, and a German chocolate called Kinder, that we discovered early on that we both love! She's just the greatest! I felt kind of bad, because the only thing I did for her birthday was buy her a jewelry case... Talk about being outdone!

Then I finished getting ready, and Carlin came over, along with a Starbucks gift card! Woot woot! She knows the way to my heart, that's for sure. I can now thoroughly enjoy Starbucks Happy Hour!!

Oh, and here's the outfit I bought for my birthday

With blazer

Without blazer

The blazer was already a part of my wardrobe, but the belt was purchased maybe 2 weeks before this, and so far had never been used. The dress though, so cute! When I came out of the dressing room on Tuesday, both Jessica and Karima agreed that the dress was a must have for me. I really like it. I can make it a business outfit with the blazer and some nice pumps, or I can wear it as a party dress, or even just a casual night out with friends outfit. So many endless opportunities, so much adorable-ness. And I wore the cute heels with the bow that I bought at Forever 21 on Tuesday as well. It was just a "be fabulous" kind of day!

We then studied and went to take our final, which wasn't too bad. We both closed the class with Bs even though we BOMBED the first exam (And by bombed I mean under 50%).

Finally, the final was over and off to Ihop we went! I didn't have breakfast, so Cinnabon french toast was the perfect way to start off my birthday. Oh, and the phone calls. Endless phone calls from my mom, brother, sister, aunts, grandma, et cetera et cetera, Not to mention a gajillion texts and e-mails and Facebook messages. I'm not going to lie, it does feel nice to have one day of being the center of everything.

Finally we came back to my dorm where my baby was waiting for me with surprises! He had a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me, along with a big cupcake balloon (cupcakes are kind of an insider cutesie thing between us) surrounded by smaller balloons, and a gift bag!

Beautiful bouquet from him (:

The cute bag my lamp came inside, and his card 

My new (only) lamp (:

Balloons!

Cupcake balloon!!!

It was all so cute it's a wonder I didn't squeal!

He also brought me cards from my family (long story short, all my mail goes to his house).

I loved the cards! They were so cute and springlike, and I felt as if they all matched. If only it had been warm on birthday to celebrate the spring colors... My mom also sent me bonds... That won't be good for another 30 years. I'm sure that when I'm 49, I'll be so happy to have that saved up money to send my children to college. Or, to go on a really nice vacation!

Then off Luis and I went to the Georgia Aquarium! 

I love places like the aquarium and the zoo. Animals are fascinating to me. I really enjoyed going to the aquarium. We had the opportunity to touch sting rays and anemones and sea orchids and starfish. We saw beluga whales, whale sharks, penguins, and otters. We even sat in this huge room with a giant aquarium for a while and just relaxed, watching the fish swim around. So peaceful and lovely.

I also took a LOT of pictures. Pictures of me, pictures of Luis, pictures of fish and crabs and whales and frogs, pictures of everything.

And we are that couple. The icky, super lovey and affectionate, PDA, too cute couple. We make people jealous and wanna puke and awww and ewww and whatever else people have to say about us. But the point is, it's not a special date for us, if we don't take at least one oober cute picture (which usually involves kissing). So here it is

Cue awwing and/or ewwing

Aren't we so cute? He took me to Starbucks afterwards to pick up my free birthday drink (Yes, I am a rewards member!) and I got my first Starbucks venti ever! I tried the new Caramel Ribbon Crunch frappuccino! So yummy!!!

Our next stop... Buckhead! We went to this super nice, French restaurant, Bistro Niko. It was a beautiful place, and delicious! 

The bottle of water.

Our glasses were never less than half full. The waiter was at our table almost instantly after we took a drink. And the food was beautifully plated as well!

My shrimp meal!

He even had flowers delivered to our table!!

Aren't they beautiful?? They had a card attached to them as well. 

Dinner was wonderful and delicious. (not to mention fancy!) I had the shrimp over pasta, and he had a seafood pasta. It had shrimps, scallops, calamari, and more in there. He was slightly surprised to learn exactly what calamari is...

He tried feeding it to me, but I wouldn't touch that squid thing, much less allow it inside my body. He did end up eating it, after I was done taking pictures of it.

After we ordered our dessert, he got up to go to the restroom. Restroom my foot! He came back with this beauty

SO pretty!!! He brought me a little gift bag and when I pulled this out, I couldn't believe it. This necklace, WOW. Beautiful. AND it's real diamonds and white gold! I haven't taken in off since I put it on.

Our dessert finally came.

Three beautiful and delicious profiteroles! Now, the idea behind taking me to this French restaurant is rooted in the fact that I am a francophile. If it's French, I love it! French nails, french fries, french toast, french kiss... Just kidding! None of those are actually French, but since I was 8 years old, I have dreamed of going to France. I started teaching myself French in middle school, took French all throughout high school, listen to French music, read the French newspaper, am minoring in French, et cetera. I am French obsessed.

So of course, with my French obsession, I am always trying out new French bakeries, restaurants, diners, shops, boutiques, whatever. I love it. But, there's a curse that accompanies this immersion of all things French in my life. In French, the way to say Happy Birthday is Joyeux Anniversaire. They don't use bon. Bon is good. Like good food, good friends, good. Not happy. Happy is joyeux. It made me slightly sad, but more amused, that this French restaurant with such a lovely French ambiance and French food, would mess that up. Oh well, we can't have it all I suppose.

Then after dessert, the drama started. No day can be perfect I suppose, we always need a little bit of drama. I go to reach for my purse (I was actually using the Coach one Luis had gotten me for my birthday last year) so I can reapply my lipstick, now that dinner was over, and boom, no purse. Where is my purse? I go check the bathroom I went to at the restaurant to see if I hadn't left it there. Not there. I double check the table and floor again. Not there. We pay the tab, ask the hostess if anyone has turned a purse in. Nope. We go check the car, just in case I hadn't brought it with me. No purse. I call CNN Center to see if I left it at the Starbucks (the last time I definitely remember seeing my purse, when I loaded the gift card Carlin gave me onto my rewards card). Not there either. We go back inside the restaurant and check all the bathrooms, just in case. No purse.

Needless to say, I was freaking out. I lost my Coach purse with my Coach wallet inside. My ID, debit card, school debit card, school ID, dorm key card, cash, brand new Mac lipstick, and more, all gone. Of course I called Bank of America right away to cancel the card, which took FOREVER. And by forever I mean I had to call three different numbers, was transferred at least twice, and had to listen to that stupid automated voice way too much! It took almost 30 minutes to cancel the card, and then the people kept asking me stupid questions like my account number and the 16 digit number on the front of the card. Seriously? My card is LOST, just cancel the stupid thing!

I was so stressed out that I was a bit rude on the phone. I hate rude people, and I felt so bad afterwards because of it. It's not those poor people's fault I'm an idiot and lost my purse. At least the card got cancelled before anyone could use it. I left my contact information with the hostess and the manager in hopes of it being turned in.

I finally calmed down, and we went to Luis's house to say happy birthday to his sisters. Yes, their birthday is on the same day as mine! Isn't that cool? They're 10 year old twins, and totally adorable. I gave them their presents. Each one of them got a nail spa kit and a Hello Kitty eraser. Luis's mom gave me two undershirts (which will be normal shirts over the summer... promise!) and a pair of shorts. This was really interesting because Luis got mad at her for giving me shorts, saying they were too immodest. The conversation that went down after that was downright hilarious. (Just as a PS, they're not... I wouldn't have been able to wear them to high school, but they're long enough that my mom would approve, so we're good)

Finally, we left to head back to my dorm in Kennesaw. I took a quick nap in the car and woke up definitely not in Kennesaw. A few of our friends were there: Jessica (not the same one I went to the mall with), her boyfriend Rodrigo, and another friend, Pedro. We were at Rumba!

Unfortunately, we got there a little bit too early. Whatever though, we got free entrance because it was Thursday night, and the party picked up later on.

I did have a little rebel child moment though. I have never ever done anything slightly naughty before. Never smoked anything, drank, partied hard, skipped, cursed, ran away, sneaked out or anything like that. I figure that doing hookah once in 19 years is pretty good compared to most other college kids. I will probably never do it again either, I almost choked to death doing it on my birthday! So I got to do hookah for my first time, and they let me pick the flavor, strawberry! I didn't do it much though, I was much more amused by their smokes and puffs and whatnot.

This was my moment for the night. After we got this shotgun picture, I was done smoking. I'm pretty sure I could feel my lungs blackening and the lung cancer settling in. Plus, my family has a history of asthma, and I'm not into risky behaviors. It was fun to get to do it once though, I'm not gonna lie. We ended up partying until almost 3am, and then it was time to go home, because we were all exhausted.

Overall, it was a great day, and my best birthday yet. Hopefully I'll have many more, better ones to come.





P.S. Bistro Niko called me Saturday morning. My purse was turned in and EVERYTHING was still inside! God is good!