Re-discovering the 777 and a whole lot of snow…

Yesterday, I came back from Miami. I woke up at 5am, since my flight was bright and early and I got ready and went to the airport. What a difference from a week ago. Everyone seemed to know where they were going, there weren’t any crazy lines anywhere, and everyone seemed civilized for the most part. I got to my gate on time. I boarded the plane and to my surprise…YES!!! My plane was a 777. I love this plane. I have flown on this plane several times, but I wasn’t aware that American Airlines redid the layout of all the seats. They made Coach Class have similar seats as the ones in First and Business Class. Each seat has their own area and they have three different reclining positions, including one where you lay flat as a bed. Each seat has their own area, so you are never in the way of anybody else. You also have your own TV that allows you to select what you want to watch or listen to on the radio.

My Super Amazing and a Little Messy Seat

A view of beautiful Miami from the plane

Beautiful puffy Florida clouds

It was early, and truly I was not in the mood to watch TV. As soon as we were up in the air, I reclined that baby, laid flat as if I was on my own bed and went to sleep. Truly, truly, I have never seen such a happy flight in my life. I don’t think anybody expected this plane and people were just smiling the whole time. Even the kids were happy because they had ample room to play without bothering their neighbors. It was truly a great experience.

Thick New England clouds

White Boston

Once I woke up and we landed in powdery white Boston, I quickly got off the plane and went over to my car. To find it buried in snow. My car is black, but at that given point it was white. Thankfully, I carry a scraper, took the snow of my windows, turned it on and let it warm up and started on my way.

Driving to Providence was funny. As I was driving, chunks of ice were flying off and hitting other cars. In response to the flying chunks there was a car free zone around my car. Truly they were evading me. I can’t blame them a lot of ice flew off. Then when I arrived at my work’s parking lot, the ice was almost all gone, and I had to brace the cold one more time…ahhhh…New England…thank you for the cold homecoming…hahahahaha

Driving to Providence

Ice on the hood of my car flying off

 

Discovering Thanksgiving a la Latina…

I will post pictures from the actual dinner later this week…for now enjoy this one…

Mango & Lime is having a Thanksgiving contest for the best turkey day entry and well I am entering the race…so here it goes…

Since I arrived in the United States (many moons ago) my family has been celebrating Thanksgiving with some of my parent’s best friends. We love to spend Thanksgiving at their house because a) is a guarantee good time and b) food is delish.

All the food is cooked by Chef Jose. Now, he is not a real Chef but his hidden passion for food makes him one of the best household Chefs in Miami. He is beyond an amazing cook. He incorporates quite the menu for each Turkey day extravaganza. He takes some of the traditional dishes such as the actual Turkey and mashed potatoes and mixes them with Latin dishes such as rice with black beans (goes great with turkey) and maduros (plantains). The result is a mesh of flavors that really catapults the traditional Thanksgiving meal into a tasteful delight of colorful flavors that mesh nicely in your pallid.

This year the menu will be as follows:
1. Turkey
2. Mashed Potatoes
3. Sweet Potatoes
4. Maduros (plantains)
5. Green Beans
6. Black beans
7. Rice with corn
8. Sautéed mushrooms with crème
9. Pasta salad (antipasto)

For dessert:

1. Apple Pie
2. Pumpkin and pecan pie with a Whiskey sauce (I’m making this)
3. Bread pudding (my mother is making this)

After we stuff our faces we proceed to the second stage of our Turkey dinner…the dancing. We are Latin. And for the most part Latin people like being happy. And dancing makes us happy. So we conclude our dinner with a good 3 to 4 hours of non-stop Reggeaton, Salsa, Merengue, Samba, Tango and who knows what more dancing…at the end is about spending this special holiday and giving thanks for the many wonderful things we have…so we spend it with the people we love, we eat until we feel like we are going to pop and we dance until we drop (or until about half an hour before the stores open for black Friday)….Happy Thanksgiving to all…

 

Discovering the thing about Miami

My girls…

This past weekend I went to Miami for a very important event. A huge 3-0 birthday bash for my dearest friend, P. We had an amazing time. Friends and family gathered at Bin No. 18, a cute and very classy design district wine bar, and shared a very special moment with P.

Even though the celebration was for P, I felt like if I was in heaven. I was with the people I loved and I just had that warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy. The thing is that I love Miami and I love my peoples. In a way this post relates to a previous one about friends.

The day after the party I spent the better part of it attempting to recuperate. I remember looking up at the ceiling in my room (in my house in Miami) and just asking myself why did I even leave Miami? I love my house, my family, my crazy parrot and dog, driving through the 836 back and forth, the traffic, the fact that I can get great Colombian empanadas a few blocks from my house, the organized mess, the Cubans…I love Miami…

So why can’t I go back? For love. For love of my family and the desire to want us to be in a better place soon. So for now, my Miami will have to wait. But don’t fret…I will be back someday…

 

Rediscovering “It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing”

This past weekend was the anniversary of my birth and I went back home to celebrate it with the people I love. The celebration took place at Transit Lounge in Miami, Fl, with some of my closest friends. The soundtrack to our lovely evening was, Elastic Bond, a wonderful mixture of electronic beats intertwined with Caribbean rhythms. All in all a beautiful and steamy night of sound, rhythm and dance.

As part of that night’s repertoire, Elastic Bond, had a special song for all the birthdays that were celebrated that night. “It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing” originally composed by Duke Ellington. That has to be one of my favorite songs of all time. It reminds me of my childhood and mostly of my dad…so when I heard Elastic do a modern/Caribbean rendition of that song, I felt as my daddy was celebrating right next to me.

So…to Elastic…thank you…for the perfect soundtrack…to my friends…thank you for the perfect night…

 

Re-discovering home…

I’ll be going home to Miami this weekend…so I’ll write again when I’m back…after Tuesday…enjoy the nice summer weekend…and don’t forget put some sun block on!!!