50 Things that make me Happy :)

1. Putting almond butter on anything and everything.
2. Sabado Gigante on Saturday evenings. 
3. The Ocean. I just love the gentle and mellow yet powerful nature of the waves. I am sure that one day I will live by the sea.
4. Waking up every morning at 5:53am sans alarm. Sometimes I go back to sleep, but the idea of my brain being so punctual just mesmerizes me!
5. Getting a foam mustache with green tea latte. 
6. Necia my cat.
7. Necia walking on a leash in the park. We've made so many friends!
8. Necia massaging my belly. 
9. Mister Softee's melody. 
10. Dancing! Specially salsa. Can't get the Cali out of the girl.
11. Dogs in elevators. They are always so happy to see you come in, even if they have never met you before. Why can't we wag our tails at strangers the way dogs do? The world would be such a better place.
12. The smell of freshly brewed coffee.
13. Avocados.
14. Barré Burn classes. Yes, that shit burns your butt! The good burn tho...
15. Old ladies with extravagant outfits. 
16. Smiling at strangers. 
17. When a stranger smiles back at me. Extra points if the stranger happens to be male and handsome ;)
18. The Temple of Dendur at The Metropolitan Museum. 
19. Barnes and Noble in Union Square. I can spend hours there browsing at books. 
20. Facials, massages, hair washes...you get the idea.
21. The first kiss and all the subsequent kisses.
22. This song. 
23. The scent of fresh lilies. 
24. Hitting zeroes on the scale at the salad bar (freak!)
25. Buying socks.
26. Practicing yoga.
27. Playing futbol. 
28. My mom's lentil's soup.
29. Washington Square Park early in the morning.
30. My birthday!
31. Listening to audio books. Now I am into Eckhart Tolle, not only he's one of the best spiritual teachers of this century but his mellow voice has the capacity to relax me like no other. 
32. Coconut popsicles! 
33. Coconut body cream.
34. Drinking piña colada by the poolside of the Standard Hotel in Miami. Pure bliss! 
35. Soap bubbles.
36. Snowboarding! Yay!
37. Fresh laundry scent.
38. Ginger cookies. 
39. Croissants with black coffee. In Paris. 
40. Napping in the park after lunch in the middle of a summer work day.
41. New York City. The good, the bad, and the ugly. 
42. People that don't give a crap about what others think. Today I saw a girl wearing a Wonder Woman cape walking down 5th Avenue. She didn't think she was Wonder Woman, she was indeed Wonder Woman!
43. Squirrels a.k.a. the fancy rodents. They look all elegant running around the park like a rat with a fur coat. 
44. Getting a cold shower in the middle of a hot summer day.
45. Burning incense. Dragon Blood scent to be more exact. 
46. Dreaming that I fly.
47. Waking up from a bad dream and realize it was a nightmare. Phew!
48. When the Starbucks barista draws a smiley face next to my name.
49. Taking off my shoes when i get home, and my socks, basically getting rid of all clothing!
50. Guava and mozzarella cheese sandwiches. FYI this is my specialty, so feel free to stop by anytime soon. Meeting with friends is my all-time favorite thing that makes me happy!

Eternal Summer 2015

Au Revoir Summer!

Thanks for everything you brought us. Good luck in southern latitudes and I hope you miss us so much that you come next year a little earlier full of life and beautiful energy. 

As a South American girl living in New York you know how much I miss you when you are not around. However, I must admit that I have developed a strange love affair with your colleague, Mr. Winter. But don't get jealous, you are still my one and only!

Love you always,

G

Amateur life guards provided to you by Guachafita Productions. 

Infinitas gracias a Guachafita Films & Co. por las fotos, las risas, la compañía, y el inmenso amor que me han brindado por años. Love you guys, let's keep this eternal summer in our hearts for ever. 

Happy Tuesday! and Wednesday!

..and Thursday, and while you are it happy Friday!
And let's don't forget the weekend!
Wait and how about happy Monday? (Did you forget about this already?)
(God damn it just have a happy life!)

Thanks to my beautiful partners in crime. I love you all.

Juntas Tolima, Colombia Diary #1

Live like someone left the gate open!

All pictures by Seth Casteel 

Mexico pseudo-diary Part Deux

Quite often I've found myself torturing my brain with unanswerable questions: Why did my dad die so young? Why can't I sneeze with my eyes open? Why do I wake up naturally every morning exactly at 5:53? Why do I get one ugly black hair that not even laser seem to be able to kill on my chin every month? And lately I've asked myself multiple times: How (and why!) did I end up living in Philadelphia away from my family, friends, and the life that I've build in NYC for the past fourteen years? 

I'm one of those persons that seems to have mastered the art of riding life's wave with relatively easiness. I like to call myself a professional life surfer. I have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow, 99.9% of the time I don't have a plan, and basically I try not to worry about anything. I just wait for the wave to take me places. This might sound like an ideal life philosophy but the truth of the matter is that I envy people that have a plan. I was once asked by my therapist (you don't call yourself a real New Yorker until you get your own therapist a.k.a. a "friend" that charges $250 an hour for listening to your shit and keeping a straight face all most of the time) where do I see myself in five, ten, and twenty years. I freaked out. I was sent home with a note pad and a pencil and I was told not to come back until a detailed plan for the next twenty years of my physical existence in this planet was written down. Needless to say, I never saw that man again. 

So here we are, three girls in Tulum, Mexico in a beautiful hotel, drinking Margaritas and trying to figure out our very different yet very similar lives. Trusting our internal GPS i.e. gut feeling, sixth sense, voices in my head, imaginary friend with our most important decisions and basically not coming to any conclusion but to ride the wave and enjoy it as it comes. We finished our trip as clueless as we started it but with the firm believe that we are in this world to be happy not in five, ten or twenty years but today. 

Philadelphia, city of brotherly love, thanks for adopting me as one of your bastard offsprings. After six months of walking your streets, nearly being run over by a truck, falling down a flight of stairs and eating the freshest food I've had in the US (sorry NYC, Philly's restaurants rock!) I'm starting to understand why I'm here; I can't quite put in words yet, but the surfing conditions have never been better. 

With love,

Gloria

hApPy MonDaY!

Tulum, Mexico

All Pictures by CoCo #2 AKA Maritza Fantasticus

Operation "Stay-Warm"

(All pictures from: this funny blog )

“To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.” 

Bessie Anderson Stanley