Date Night with my Daughter and Ellie Goulding

I took my 7 yr old daughter to her first concert this past weekend! We saw Ellie Goulding perform on the Delirium Tour.

This is an album we love to jam to and when I heard she was coming to Miami, I immediately bought us tickets! 

Here’s some of the fun from the night. Loved Ellie’s performance and loved the quality time with my lil gal! We danced the entire time we were there! 

My sweet girl was pretty tired by the last few songs. After a long day of school and the chaos of the concert, 10 pm was just too late for her. She fell asleep as soon as we got in the car. 

Such a fun night! One of the best and most meaningful adventures I’ve had with my daughter. ❤️

xo

Winter is White!

I hail from Miami.

Where it is hot.

And green.

And muggy.

And rainy.

Often. 😒

Our seasons range from crazy stupid hot to annoying hot to hot to nice cool breeze then a just-kidding-that-coolness-wasn’t-going-to-last warm.

Where am I going with this?

It is winter and other places around the country/world are actually getting snow.

I wanted a white Christmas this year.

Captain and I discussed getting away for a trip right before Christmas and easily settled on Colorado. A few things fell in place and off to Steamboat Springs we went!

And it was ah-mazing!!!

The drive from Denver to Steamboat was incredible. Pictures do not do the Rocky Mountains justice. Fellow blogger Grandfather Sky warned me to prepare to be in awe of it. He was absolutely correct. 

The mountains were soooo picturesque…they looked fake!  

Then we get into the town of Steamboat. And it was just perfection. People were friendly, the town was quaint, the snow was powdery and gleaming white and there were a number of incredibly fun things to do.  

Catholic Church I came across

  

 
And several fun food and craft beer options if you knew where to go. 

Craft beer and my first ever taste of beef jerky. Not my fave.

      

   
So what does a hot weathered gal like me do in a wintry weathered location like this?

We might have checked out a dispensary for gummy bears. 

Very interesting place!

  
And tried the hot springs at Strawberry Park… 

Pic is from Explore Steamboat since we went at night and didn’t take pics.

 

And went skiing…

Only pic we took b/c I was a terrible skier!

Some fishing perhaps… 

Can’t remember if this is a brown trout or a rainbow trout!

 
Shopping!  Horseback riding in the snow?  

It snowed the entire ride!

 

Definitely hot cocoa by the fireplace. 

Hotel lobby

 
Even after all that fun, we didn’t get to do everything we’d hoped for. I would have loved to have gone snow-mobiling or tubing or had a sleigh ride to dinner… But I’ll have to leave that to next time.

So although I left Christmas eve, I feel like I got the white Christmas I was looking for. It was a wonderful getaway with Captain and really got me in the holiday spirit. 

Colorado, you “rock!”

❤️

Athena 

Colorado bound

I’m so excited to share!

Captain booked us a trip to Steamboat, Colorado! This is my Christmas gift! 🎄

  We leave today and will be gone for 5 days! (Grayheart has the kids the first week of holiday break.)

I’m going skiing! ⛷ I haven’t gone in several years and cannot wait! I can’t wait to see snow again and breathe the crisp air the mountains have to offer.

I’d love any suggestions you have of the area as I’ve never been to Colorado. I’ll be in Denver and Steamboat. I’m thrilled to get to see this part of the country!

XO

Athena the ski bunny 🎿🐰

  

Captain met the kids

After 8 months of dating, we made it happen. Captain met my kids on Halloween!

And it went GREAT!

He brought them each a little gift to butter them up. They played superhero imagination games together. Then we had a nice home cooked meal at my house together. (My kids behaved like angels! I was shocked!)

He was such a great sport. My son was Batman, my daughter and I Batgirl and he dressed up as the Joker!

Kids painting Joker face on Captain

We then went trick or treating together! The kids were so excited to hang out with him, they took turns asking to hold his hand. (They’re 3 & 6.)

 
The kids gave him huge hugs before he left and asked him to come back the next day. They commented to me afterward how much they enjoyed hanging out with him and how awesome he was. 

Captain soon after called me to tell me he had a wonderful time and felt like he loved me even more after meeting them. 

It couldn’t have gone any better. I am so grateful. (And relieved!) 🙂

XO – Athena

My best friend’s wedding

I finished spending the weekend in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, for my best friend’s wedding. And I had a fabulous time! What a change of pace from my recent travel to Europe. 

We stayed at an all-inclusive resort on the beach. Wedding took place there, too, so all the action was in one spot.

We ate like kings, drank like fish, swam like mermaids and partied like rock stars.  Here are a few pictures around the property.   

  
   
 
Then the wedding! The wedding! It was phenomenal! Let me just break it down for you guys. Lily, the bride, is Colombian, while Frank, the groom, is Dominican. If you know anything about these cultures, you know they know how to party! The two families get along great as do all of their friends. 

The ceremony was lovely. And I was so happy for their union. As far as how I felt – from a soon to be divorced person – I felt great. I love these two together and felt nothing but pride and happiness for them. I carefully listened to the vows, though, and soaked them in. If I ever take those vows again, they will be words I carefully live and love by. I will never again have anyone tell me I neglected them after I had children. (Yes, I’m still sensitive about that!) 

    

The wedding had everyone dancing like crazy! Old, young… it didn’t matter! You were going to shake your tail feathers til it hurt. The Colombians felt it their duty to pass out shots of Aguardiente throughout the night. (This stuff gives you hair on your chest. No joke.) And the Domincians were such a hospitable bunch.

  
  
 
We then went to the disco and casino and didn’t get back to our rooms til 4:30 am. That’s a late night for Mama Athena! (I won $40 playing roulette, yeah!)

I woke up the next morning with sore feet, neck hurting, legs tight, back all screwed up… you name it! Totally an indication of how serious my salsa, reggaeton and hip hop dancing was! (Translation: I’m rusty these days. Dammit.)

Wow. What a restorative weekend. Great quality time with a bunch of my best friends. Sun, beach, pool, eating, dancing, sleeping… doesn’t get better than that! 

   

Oh, and for the record… If anyone ever needs an ego boost, go to Dominican Republic! These guys are lovers by nature and will make you – as well as every other woman there – feel like you are a princess! 

 

Amsterdam – Good eats!

This is my second visit to Amsterdam and I continue to love this city so much!

I noticed a slight change in the city since my last visit in 2007, particularly the food scene. There is still an abundance of different ethnic cuisines, but I found a ton of new (what I think of as) “California style” restaurants and really enjoyed them. People tend to give the Dutch a hard time about their food but I love all the options this area has to offer!

So you all already know I basically pac-manned my way through France! Well, do not fret because I was almost as gluttonous in Amsterdam as well!

Here are some fun food pics:

Dutch pancakes – Sweet & Savory!

Cheese, please!

Hot chocolate!

Waffle a la mode complete with Nutella!

Lovely healthy dinner

And then we may have dabbled in some other delicacies while there…

While on the topic of good eats… Found this in a window front of a store! LMAO! Hope there’s no one sensitive reading!

#goorganic

Stay tuned for pics around town!

XO

Athena

Thoughts on Paris

I was in Paris for 4 days. Frankly, too short of a time.  I barely scratched the surface of this incredible city.

Paris is historic and edgy and cool and no nonsense. There’s a seedy side mixed between regular life and tourists galore. My expectations were looooow as to how friendly people were going to be so I was pleased with how our peeps were treated. I tried really hard to speak the little pathetic French I know so I think that helped. And, c’mon! Who can resist my charm?

So here are some of the interesting experiences we had, in no particular order:

– Upon arrival, we took the train from the airport to where we were staying. It was morning and we were exhausted… But then we were revived with rappers on the train rhyming in French to some reggaeton songs! Woot woot! ¡Dále!

  

– We rented an apartment with an amazing rooftop view. We had drinks, breakfast and great convo up there. Not to mention we watched the Eiffel Tower light up each night. 

  

– Another night, a group of people were jamming with a speaker on the park behind the Eiffel Tower. We jumped in, danced the night away and had a ball!!!

  

– One night (more like wee hours of the morning) outside our window, we heard some guy screaming for the police right after what sounded like a scuffle between him and two guys. I think he got mugged! 

  

– Had tea in the little shopping area where the Louvre is located.

  

– Lovely walk and quality time with my family in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

  

– I got cursed out by a homeless man while having dinner next to the window front of a restaurant. He was drunk and missing a shoe and disheveled and looking for a fight. Certainly made my night lively! Oh, and I tried escargot for the first time. 

 

– Watched break dancers off the steps at Trocadero, across from Eiffel Tower.

   

And countless other funny things that are only funny when there.  I’m sure none of these things are particularly unique but it’s some of the colorful memories I had during my slice of Parisian life.

I can’t wait to return one day!

PS – The smoking is out of control, though. Yuck!

Bonne nuit!
  

I ate my way through Paris

Damn it.

I was warned. 

I was told of the decadent desserts and crusty loaves of bread and creamy cheeses and full bodied wines… And I still was not prepared to handle what came over me when I actually came face to face with these foods (or beverages)!

My senses were on overload! Bakeries are my thing, in general. And to have one on each corner… Nom, nom, nom.

Choux pastries & Eclairs…  

  

Gelato… 

Espresso and all other delicious French roasted coffee…

  

Cheese aplenty…

  

French baguettes, rich jams and marmalades…

  

Bordeaux and Chardonnays…Nutella filled crepes…croissants…macarons…

And that’s not all of everything I tried!  How do the French stay so damn thin?

I’m now in detox mode! 
XO

I’m baaaaaack!

Hey there peeps!

I’m back! And rejuvenated! 

And happy! 

What an amazing trip…

I’m going to put together some posts by country and share some cool pictures. 

In the meantime, Happy Friday!

   
XO – Athena

When your best friend is getting married and you’re getting divorced…

One of my best friends is getting married next month. I’m so very happy for her as she deserves nothing but the greatest happiness in the world. I’d been pleased that none of the festivities have bothered me.  

But then I went shopping for items off her registry for her bridal shower this weekend. Something about that act transported me back to the time when I once did my registry and relived the excitement behind it. And then suddenly I was so bitter at Grayheart that I had to literally talk myself out of my anger.

I grabbed her items, thought of her happiness – all the while grateful she didn’t put a lot of useless crap – and then moseyed on down to the register. 

There are marriages and relationships that are successful. Mine was not. Hers will be. I don’t want to send negative energy her way.  

On a fun and positive note, she’s getting married in the Caribbean and I’m going! Woohoo!

Hope you all have a beautiful and safe Labor Day weekend! ❤️