fun

Spring has Sprung!

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March was a busy month and April is proving to be just as exciting! I love Spring! Lots of birthdays this time of year for us and all kinds of celebrations. 

Here’s a bit of why I have been missing (besides my phone-in-toilet situation)!

My darling daughter turned 7!

  

I’m certainly no cake decorator but we did a home celebration for her!

Ice cream made with liquid nitrogen! Aptly called Brain Freeze!

Took the kids to the Dade County Youth Fair!

 
 

Visit to the ballet! My first time!

  

Bravo! Midsummer’s Night Dream cast

Coffee at Books & Books

 
 

Discovered a restaurant in Key Largo that we love called “Lucy’s”!

 
 

Third row seats to the Miami Heat vs Cavs game! Kindly gifted to us by a friend!

   

Outside the arena with my love ❤️

 

These seats were incredible! Such an exciting game!

 
 

Attended a Cancer Survivor Walk with my family 💜

 
 

My mom, my hero and favorite woman in the world! 4 years cancer free now!

 
   

Happy St Paddy’s Day!

 

Easter Egg Race

  

Tons of goodies found by Spiderman!

 

Easter sack race!

And finally we start April… I turned 36 and had a ton of fun with all the birthday festivities! Captain made it very special for me. We had an incredible weekend complete with mini golf, driving range, laser tag, games at Dave & Busters, a tennis match, wonderful dinners, movies and shopping! Whew! 

Mini Golf!

Laser Tag with my besties!

  

Awesome seats at the Miami Open!

  

   

Women’s Finals match! Victoria Azarenka serving!


   

 

Mens’ Doubles Finals Match

       

Bday dinner at the Rusty Pelican in Key Biscayne

  

Night of dancing!

  

Gaming!

 

 

Paint Nite & dinner with my Mom

  

Final product! I’m obviously no artist but boy is it fun!

  

Nature walk at Pinecrest Gardens & Farmers Market time!

 

It’s been a fun filled few weeks and I feel very loved and blessed. I have an incredible family, boyfriend and group of friends. Never imagined I’d be here. A year ago I was grappling with uncertainty, pain, bouts of sadness, unsure of a new relationship, tons of concern for my kids, anger and confusion. I can’t say it’s all 100% gone but I can certainly say I’m a good 80% better. And I’ll take that. I’m looking straight ahead and welcoming what’s in store for me and my kids.
Thank you all for checking in on me and always supporting my progress. ❤️💜❤️

Besos,

Athena

Winter is White!

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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 

My best friend’s wedding 

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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!

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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

Friday Night Fun – Live Music & Dancing

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I’m a bit late posting this but last Friday was so much fun that I thought I’d memorialize it in a post so I can look back and remember it. There wasn’t anything particularly crazy about it but it was just a fun night with friends and my lovely sister.

We went to this awesome jazzy style place that served food and grab your own bottle of wine type of deal. We had front row seats to the live band that played a mix of soul and R&B. It was one of my best friend’s birthdays (Muggle) and so a big group of us got together.

One of my BFFs (Lucy) was there with her fiancé. They had another bday celebration to attend there (people I did not know… or so I thought!). I went to go back to say hello and hang out only to find a blast from the past sitting right with them. Some douchey guy I sort of dated for a couple of weeks in high school. Ugghh!! This is why I sometimes hate going out… I loathe running into people I went to school with. (Mind you, my friends tease me because I was voted “Friendliest” in high school!) I said my hellos and then darted out of there. It was incredibly awkward. I later found out he shared with the group how we “kinda dated” in high school. Um, not something I’m proud of nor want to share with the world. Lol!

So my sis and I took off to continue partying at another part of town. They too had live music and then we jammed at the bar/club there. We danced and danced until our feet hurt. We were approached by a number of guys but no one caught my eye. (I’ve become SO picky!) We did have several guys that were worse than damn toilet paper stuck to the bottom of your shoe! 😒

Overall, a great night with great people and no pressure to find a man. Also realized that I don’t often watch live cover bands but there is something so fun about watching people rock out to music you know. I’m going to make an effort this year to do more of it!

Weekend Mantra: Just jam!! (Makes me think of Michael Jackson song!)