Labor Day Weekend - San Francisco

Every year my birthday lands around or on the Labor Day Holiday. This year it landed the weekend after my actual birthday which worked out great, because it allowed me to enjoy time with my family and friends on my special day, and to enjoy time away with my husband. As some of you know and as I have stated before on this blog, my husband gifted me a trip to San Fran for my birthday and well we had a great time!! I have been to California a couple of times, but I had never visited San Francisco, all I can say is wow!! I love how nice the people are and how cool the weather is over there, nothing compared to the hot and humid Miami weather, supposedly it is like that all year round! I can not even imagine that! Anyhow I highly recommend that if you get an opportunity to visit that you do so, it's so beautiful and I am now having thoughts of some day moving out there. My recommendations for those planning to visit is spend at least 5 days there, go to all the museums get on the double decker bus tour and definitely definitely go to wine country!!!

Here are some pics from our trip, we took a little over 1,500 pictures!

Me climbing up Lombard Street, it's a lot steeper than it looks in the pic.

Lombard Street

Lunch at Fisherman's Wharf...Yummy Clam Chowder!

Sea lions on Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf

Aquarium by the Bay on Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf

San Francisco City Hall has nothing on Hialeah's City Hall...lol

It took 3.5 million dollars to build this City Hall and is taller than the nations capital building!

The Painted Ladies

better known as the

Full House Sitcom House

Its actually the Blue house

The Palace of Fine Arts

Union Square

The Golden Gate Bridge

Before walking across it!

After we walked across it...it was cold!!!

Wine Country

It was hard to pick a few pictures out of 1,500.

Note: Photo Credit to Fernando Herrera & Melissa M Hernandez-Herrera

Twenty-Six (26)

Another birthday down and my first as a wife! I must admit I was a little down this year about my day, because I realize now that I am getting older and that 30 is not too far away for me. All in all I have had a great birthday, and I am looking forward to my birthday getaway this weekend! I am more excited about using the D90 Nikon camera my parents bought me than the actual trip, but I am sure that will change once we are there! I am so lucky to be surrounded by such great and amazing people! What more could a girl ask for? I know I could not ask for anything more than what God has already given me!

Goodbye August Hello September!!!

Can you believe how quickly the month of August has gone by? Time is flying and tomorrow will be the first day of September, my birthday! Whoo-hoo!!! September is a big month for my family, not because I will be 26, but because we will be having a new addition to the family this month!! At the end of this week Veronica will be 36 weeks pregnant, which means she can pretty much go at any time, actually she can pretty much go now!!! I am praying that she does not give birth while Fernando and I are in San Francisco this weekend, if she does I will be absolutely crushed!!! I can't wait to meet Baby Ferro and I am hoping this little bun stays in the oven at least until September 9th!

Hillsong Conference 2009 - Encounter

This weekend several friends and I attended the Hillsong Encounter Conference 2009 at the University of Miami. I don't even know where to begin in describing the past two days!!! I pray that those who attended were truly blessed, I know I was!!! This was not a concert, but if it was it was the best one I have ever been to. I have never seen or encountered so many people worshiping God in my life! I pray that God do great things in this city that we live in, and open our eyes to things unseen and to hurting world that needs us!

Day 1

Day 2

Twenty Eight (28)

This year my husband turned 28, as awful as this sounds I really wanted him to turn 29 so that I can begin to plan and strategize for next year, which would be his 30th birthday, but he is only 28 which means I still have to wait another two years before planning a big 30th birthday bash!

Even though his birthday was not until Monday (the 24th) we began celebrating Friday night with our families at Grazino's in the Gables, we had an awesome time and the service was excellent! Our waiter was delightful and even gave us a complimentary bottle of champagne. It was our first experience here and I highly recommend this restaurant, we even saw Lili (El Gordo y La Flaca) and Emilio Estefan having dinner there as well. After dinner we went to a local lounge and just hung out, the dj was playing some really old school music, I mean really old school. It made me think back to 8th grade old school.

"♪ It's tiiiiiiime bassss is gonna blow your mind ♪ "

lol!

Anyhow the rest of the weekend we spent with some friends, and I took my honey out for a special dinner on Monday (his actual birthday) at Ruth Chris which he was not expecting since we are suppose to be saving for our trip. I caught him completely off guard!

While at dinner, our families waited for us in our apartment to surprise him with a cake when we got home! He had no clue, when we got home the door was left unlocked and my husband thought someone had robbed our apartment, but to his surprise it was only our family!

It's his day!!!

Happy Birthday Honey!!

Look out for some surprises and a great day!!!

I love you!!

-your wife =)

Hillsong in Miami!!!

They are here, our Hillsong Conference 2009 tickets!! We ordered them several months ago and today we finally got them!!! I am so excited!!! I can't wait 'till Friday!!! I have been listening to them all week, morning, noon, and night!!

Fantasy Football "09"

Once again it is the commencement of a new football season, people are beginning to gather, pre-season games are well underway, Sunday Barbecues are being planned, and others are preparing for their fantasy drafts! Ahh I love football!!! Today was our annual fantasy draft; a league in which I have participated in for the last three years!!! Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of our actual draft, but my picks are as follows (not in this order):

• Tom Brady (QB)
• Anquan Boldin (WR)
• Brylon Edwards (WR)
• LaDainian Tomlinson (RB)
• Reggie Bush (RB)
• Jason Witten (TE)
• Antonio Bryant (WR)
• Ryan Grant (RB)
• Anthony Gonzalez (WR)
• Tim Hightower (RB)
• Kevin Walter (WR)
• Julius Jones (RB)
• Chester Taylor (RB)
• Matt Schaub (QB)
• Darrius Heyward-Bey (WR)
• Nick Folk (Kicker)
• Philadelphia (Defense)
• Will Blackmon (Defensive Player)

Tom Brady was my first pick last year, stupid I know to pick a QB so early on in the draft, and of course he happens gets injured in the 2008 season opener, just my luck!! I got a great deal of grief for that pick last year, but I highly doubt something like this will happen again, so I decided to give him another whirl!! Looking on the bright side to his injury if he never would have gotten injured I may have never had the opportunity to have met him in Mexico!!! He probably would have been preparing for the Superbowl!

Miami Spice

It's that time of year again...Miami Spice 2009! In the months of August through September Miami's best restaurants offer 3 course meals for a $22.00 lunch and a $35.00 dinner. Although that may sound expensive to some it's really a great price compared to the the regular menu of these restaurants. I am hoping to at least visit two of the participating restaurants this year, but since Fernando and I are going to San Fran, that may be out of the questions...we have to save for our trip!!! Two restaurants I have my eye on this year are: Meat Market, and Kobe Club. Hopefully the portions are not so small as some of the restaurants we have visited in the past, so beware if you plan on doing a Miami Spice dinner. I know I want a dinner menu not a tasting menu!

My Birthday came early this year!

So once again I come home to find this on my dinning room table, mind you my birthday is not until September 1st.

I of course ask my husband what this black birthday bag is all about? He tells me to open it and find out. I open the bag to find a card and a small paper folded up with a note that says "Open me to see your gift".

I unfold the paper to find a picture of this:

That's right people we are going to San Francisco Labor Day weekend!! I am sooooo excited!!!

RCM

Last night was such a fun night! RCM Band was asked to play at another local church for there annual youth week, and we happily agreed. It was such a blessing and great to see such young people excited for God. I pray that God may continue to use us!!!

Vero's Baby Shower!!!

This weekend was Veronica's Baby Shower, and what a beautiful shower it was!! Everything was just so perfect and pretty in pink! I want to start by saying that Michelle Capo from Two Girls and a Card Shoppe did an awesome job with the invitations and all the decorations.

Tell me these are not the cutest baby shower invitations you have ever seen!

The Centerpieces & Decor

Sign In and Cake Table

I love everything she did and wished I would have known her while planning my wedding, but there will always be other events.

The Happy Parents!!

I am very happy for my cousins as they prepare for the new addition to our family, and I can't wait to meet her!!!

I still say you are going to have twins!!!

Just because...

So I come home this afternoon to find this little blue box on top of my dinning room table...

(Please excuse the mess of papers in the background)

So I ask my husband "What is this?", and he of course acts dumb saying "I don't know?!?!" If there is anything I love, it's antique looking keys, I am absolutely obsessed with them. I don't know exactly why it is I love them so much, but I just do. I think they are so beautiful, and who knows what they could possible unlock? So my husband being the great man that he is gave me this just because:

My father gave me a similar, but smaller gold key several years ago, which is right about when I believe my key obsession began. That small golden key was given to him by a family friend who helped my father a great deal in the past. It was gifted to him along with a small book titled the golden key, on his one year anniversary of being sober, and it is said to be the key to willingness. My father later gifted that same key to me, and my hope is to use that key as a family heirloom in the future. I now have four beautiful keys each of them given to me by people I love dearly. Who knows perhaps I will give all four of them as heirlooms in the future!

Thank you Honey for my gift! I love you!

Naked Feet!

So I was at Panera Bread this afternoon, and had some time to kill, so I decided to go to the Ross next door to see what I could find. Once I entered I was on a search to find some cute gifts for the winners of the games at Veronica's baby shower next weekend. To my luck I was able to find most of the prizes, but the best prize of all was these Jessica Simpson nude pumps I found. I of course bought these HOTT shoes for myself, and I'm still in shock that I was able to find these babies for only $20.00!!! I love finding bargains like these!!! Nude shoes are definitely in, and I believe are essential basic for a functional wardrobe (not that I know anything about that)! They pretty much go with everything, and that is more bang for your buck!! Nude shoes are suppose to make your legs look longer, but in my case my legs are so white it might not do the job that it it intended to.

The shoes look darker in the picture, but they are alot lighter!!!

Make new friends, but keep the old!

I believe that aside form family friends are an essential part of life. I was lucky enough to spend some quality time with some special ladies last night for a potluck dinner!! I met some of these ladies several years ago at the church I attended. We shared our lives, our tears, our joys, and countless other things with one another at our weekly Tuesday night meetings. We don't get to spend time togther much anymore due to our busy lives, but its always nice to stop from the craziness of life and find time to spend together as we used to. These young ladies will always have a special place in my heart!!!

Regina Brett of "The Plain Dealer"

I received an e-mail this morning with 45 lessons that I thought I should share. These 45 lessons were written by a woman named Regina Brett. Mrs. Brett is a columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland Ohio. She states:"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written...My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more: "

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Today Mrs. Brett is 90 year old, and I love when people share there wisdom as she has.

We are at our mid-point!

Today my husband and I make half a year of being married, it is crazy to think how quickly time fly’s right by us. In six more months we will be celebrating our 1 year anniversary! I hear the top of the cake does not taste so bad after a year of refrigeration. I wonder does being married a year mean you are no longer a newlywed?

The rumor is...

Mac is coming out with a touchscreen laptop! Now I am not much of a technological type of person, and for all I know this could be old news, but I believe this is one cool gadget! No one knows what it will really look like but I guess it would look like a giant I-phone and according to Good Morning America it is supposedly being released this October. I guess we will just have to wait and see if the rumors are true.

Baby Elyse!

The Egipciaco family, Justamante family, and Relevant Kids has a new addition. Baby Elyse was born today, and she is absolutely beautiful, she has brown hair and weighs approximately 6lbs 10 ozs. Karina spent 30 minutes in labor, and she did not even have time to mess up her hair. I hope that the day I am blessed with children my labor will be just as short.

That little boy stole my heart and I am sure his little sister will steal it too!!

Mima turns 70!!!

If anyone knows me, they know how much I adore my grandmother! I love her with all my heart and soul and I can not imagine a day without her! She called me yesterday afternoon and read a poem that she wrote in regards to family, and I asked her if she was happy already knowing that her answer was YES! I guess her birthday inspired her to write. Today my grandmother turns 70 and I pray for 40 more years of her sassy and firecracker personality to bless upon this world. I only hope that when I am her age that I am everything that she is. At the end of September God willing my grandmother will become a great-grandmother to my cousin's baby girl. The first baby in my family since we all grew up (lol). I love her excitement for the up and coming new addition to our family and all the wisdom she has to share with me. I love calling her in the late afternoon just to hear her voice, and see how her day is going and I especially love calling her at night just to say good night Mima. Most of all I love being able to celebrate another birthday with her!

Happy Birthday Mima!

Way too much food.

All I can say is bless my husbands heart! I am very grateful for the man God has given me and I could not ask for a better husband. I laughed to myself this afternoon as I opened my lunch to find what leftovers he had packed away for me to eat. I truly believe my husband thinks I eat as he does, I am girl for crying out loud!

This is what he served me.

This is what I actually ate.

Again all I can say is bless my husbands heart!

My co-worker was laughing as she watched me take pictures of my food.

Fourth of July

So my husband decided to surprise me with a trip to Disney this past weekend. It feels as though ever since we got married we barely have any time for ourselves and I figured once we were married it would be quite the opposite. I don't know if it's that we are involved in too many extra curricular activities or we just can't sit still, but it sure was nice to get away. I felt like a little kid as I packed my suit case and got all excited only drive four hours away from home. I love Disney and I love Mickey Mouse, but then again who doesn't? For the first time I looked at the Disney theme park in a different way. I thought to myself one day my husband and I will be bringing a munchkin of our own here to visit Mickey Mouse for the first time. I saw all the families walk by us and with there excited children in this magical place. Although neither one of us is any where near ready to have children I pray that God gives us wisdom when that day does come. If and when it does I will definitely not be taking them in July it was way too HOT, but then again watching the Fourth of July fireworks at the happiest place on earth was well worth it.

New Moon

So I finally finished reading New Moon by Stephenie Meyer and I am waiting for my mentee (Nathalie) to catch up to me to begin reading Eclipse. I have become so consumed with this whole twilight saga that I have already convinced several of my friends to start reading its along with me. It's funny because I never would have thought I would enjoy reading this saga as much as I have, and can not wait till November to see New Moon in theaters.

The Book

Movie Poster

The Movie Trailer

Cruzan Amphitheatre - Colplay

Third time in my lifetime I have had the oportunity to see my favorite band perform in my home of sunny south Florida. It's the second time I get to see them perform at The Cruzan Amphitheater and I absolutely love the atmosphere at this venue. I don't know if it's because you can select to sit on the grass, or because it's outdoors or maybe seeing all the differnt types of people that attend is what gets me, but I love this venue for any concert.

Has Privacy Gone Out the Window?

It seems like in today's day in age you can find out anything about anyone via cyber space. With websites, such as google, facebook, myspace, twitter, linked, Hi5, blogger, wordpress etc. it is easy to access information about anyone. You can learn about a person's personal life, find out about any past convictions, and even see pictures of there daily lifestyle. It 's crazy to think that you can connect with people in way which was not possible several years ago. Are we losing personalization in this cyber era? Is it easier to write an e-mail or call someone rather than to write a card and send it through the mail or even meet someone up for coffee? Or is this cyber era only enhancing our ways of communicating? I recently had a friend discover my blog and he told me he was surprised because he thought I was more of a private type of person, although that is true to some degree I do enjoy writing. What's the point of writing something if no one is ever going to read it? After our brief conversation I realized that perhaps we do not live in a private world anymore, but the only ones who are to blame for that is ourselves. Is it necessary to join or be apart of all of these websites?