Tax Return Wish List

Fridayyy is finally here! Yay. Kind of a little bittersweet because all of my friends are headed to big bear for snowboarding and drunken shenanigans this weekend and I’m stuck at home :[ Which is kind of okay because I am drowning in school work. Hopefully I catch up on all of it over the weekend!

I checked my bank account this morning…and good news, my federal tax return has been deposited! Now to wait on the state return.

First things first….I immediately called Target and paid off my credit card! Which is a HUGE deal. When I was a wee lass of 18 years young, I went a little credit card crazy and at one time had up to like 9 or 10 cards. Slowly but surely I’ve been paying them off and the Target one was my last one to take care of, but has been lingering around like the black plague for like a year. I'M FINALLY CREDIT CARD FREE!

 My wish list for the rest of my tax return money:

Country Mega Ticket. Tim McGraw, Brantley Gilbert, Love & Theft. Luke Bryan, Thompson Square, Florida Georgia Line. Rascal Flatts, The Band Perry. Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Dustin Lynch. Jason Aldean, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett. O.M.G. Pretty sure I’m gonna purchase it by the end of the day! [*update...as of 5:01 pm 2/22/13, this was purchased.]

And now for my baseball obsession…

Padres vs. Yankees tickets. This is the first year that the Yankees will be visiting the Padres at Petco Park. The Yankees don’t visit the West coast often, so when they do, stadiums sell out ASAP. It’s nearly impossible to get tickets at face value. This year the Yankees visit the Padres in San Diego, Dodgers in Los Angeles, and Angels in Anaheim. I’ve seen them in Anaheim. I’ve seen them in LA. My first priority is to get tickets to San Diego. Thankfully I have an advantage to making sure I get tickets because I have season tickets! They go on sale the first week of March, AND I CAN’T WAIT! Once those are attained, Dodgers/Yankees and Angels/Yankees tickets will follow.

NY Invasion. Wayyyy back in the Myspace days I joined a group called “Yankees Empire.” 9-ish years later and a lot of us are still friends. I’ve actually met up with a few of them that live out here on the West coast at Angels/Yankees games. A majority of them however, live out on the East coast and do “Invasions” at Yankee stadium. There’s one happening on July 27^th, so I’m hoping some of my return funds that trip since I’ve never been to one.

World Baseball Classic & Spring Training. The US and Mexico will be playing against each other in the World Baseball Classic on weekend of my dad’s birthday. They play out in Arizona, about a 5 hour drive. I really want to take my dad to the game for his birthday. If we’re out in Arizona alreadyyy…might as well spend the weekend out there and catch some Padres spring training games. Although, I don’t know how much training they’re actually getting since all the Padres players instagram is them playing golf.

Hawaii Trip. One of my good friends has lived out there since Sophomore year, [2003! 10 years now!] and I've been a sucky friend and not visited her. Seriously, how have I not taken advantage of this opportunity sooner and visited Tara out in paradise? This needs to happen this summer somehow.

Bruno Mars Tickets. I have'nt decided if I just liiike this guy, or if I'm completely obsessed. He's very good at what he does. Gotta give him that. My friend Caroline just loves him, so we decided going to his show out in San Diego is a MUST.

[*edit] Justin Timberlake Tickets. I just found out Justin Timberlake has announced his tour. Closest show to me is in LA at the Rose Bowl. I love this guy. I don't think I can miss it. Which means that New York invasion trip might have to take a back seat. ughhhh.

You're probably thinking I got like $5,000 back, right? Yeah...no. lol. More like $1,200 which isn't bad...but not enough to fund everything on this list. Time to start pinching those pennies for everything else!

Loteria Art Show

Before I even start this post, I want to mention that I own no rights to any of the images on here, and do not intend on any copyright infringement against any of the original artists and simply want to show appreciation for the art I was able to see this weekend. Welp, that takes care of the legalese, right? Haha. 

Being Mexican [1/2 bean in my case] is so great. Delicious food.  Killer booze. Fun music. Beautiful dancing.  Stunning art.

A friend of mine posted this article of Facebook and immediately decided I needed to go to the first event mentioned: The HeART of Loteria. 

Loteria is Mexican bingo, but instead of drawing ping pong balls with the letter and number combination, it's a deck of cards with drawings such as "La Sirena" [the mermaid], "El Diablito" [the devil], "La Rosa" [the rose], and "El Barril" [the barrel], among others. 54 others.

This game is a staple in all Mexican families, and mine plays it when we get together every holiday. There's the dealer and every time they draw draw a card on your board, you mark it with a bean, penny, or any other kind of chip you have lying around. 

The bet is usually a quarter per game to cover the entire card. There's side bets for the getting all 4 corners, or a horizontal or vertical line for usually a dime. We're not big gamblers. haha. 

So after seeing this event on the SD City Beat, I kind of did my research and my excitement grew. I decided to take my mom and grandma since my mom's birthday is on the 19th and I'll be sitting in class instead of celebrating with her. 

Here are some of my favorite pieces from the show...

Cards Pictured Above: [El Pescado [the fish], La Sirena [the mermaid], El Gallo [the rooster], La Muerte [the death], El Camaron [the shrimp], La Dama [the lady] , El Negrito [the black man], La Luna [the moon], El Pajro [the bird], La Calavera [the skull], El Borracho [the drunk], El Sol [the sun], El Catrin [the dandy], El Apache [the apache], El Venado [the deer], El Diablito [the devil]. Can't zoom in enough to read the title or the artist's name. Oops.

Again, I can't read the title or the artist of the work...major fail on my part. Especially because this one is probably my favorite of the show. I'm pretty sure every single card in the deck is depicted in this one piece of work. It reminds me of the dogs playing poker picture that we all know and love. 

I absolutely LOVE living and being born and raised in California, and this painting tugs at my heart strings. West Coast represent <3 La Mano [the hand].

This one of La Sirena [the mermaid] is extremely bad ass...It's a wood burn. So much crazy detail. I can't imagine the patience and pressure of a steady hand that mastering something like would take! 

The two above were some of my other favorites. These are by Joni Nunez. LOVE them. Lately, I've had this slight obsession with the day of the dead sugar skulls and these paintings remind me of them! The left is La Sirena [the mermaid] and the right is La Muerte [the death]. I actually purchased a couple of prints by the artist before I entered the show. She had a booth out and bought some 8x10's. Check out her facebook and etsy shop. Lots of cool stuff!   

My purchases :]

Another one that strongly appealed to me due to my love of sports was the one below. Even moreso because it was San Diego area sports. El Caballo represented by the Chargers, El Perro represented by the Tijuana Xolos, El Azteca represented by the San Diego State Aztecs, and El Padre represented by the San Diego Padres. 

 A closer look...

Some other cool ones! 

Besides the art hanging on the walls, there was an artist doing body painting, another live artist painting on a HUGE piece of canvas, another guy painting portraits for tips, plus a grupo playing Mexican music, and Baile Folklorico.

Overall it was a super cool event, a little bit unorganized but they eventually got everything straightened out. Glad I checked it out!

#willyoubemyvalentineswap

aaaand Valentine's Day is OVAH! As a single girl, I don't hate Valentine's Day...but I don't love it. It kind of just meh, another day. Mine was spent sitting in history class, followed by drinks at On Th Border with my friends. I'm sure my view on love day will change once I fall in looOOoOOove. Haha. I actually meant to blog some photos of my favorite hollywood men, but I didn't get around to it. I guess it's just something to look forward to in the future!

So, the title...#willyoubemyvalentineswap. Kayyyyyyyy, and her friend Eryka hosted a Valentine's Day swap and I figured I might as well make sure I have at least one Valentine this year...so I signed right up :]

I was Rachel over at Shooting The Moon's Valentine and I really wanted to rock this swap since it was my first ever, so I kind of stressed over it a little.

She pointed out that she likes to run, turquoise, gold, chevron pattern, jelly beans, flowers, and cooking. 

I hit up my favorite store ever...World Market and was on a mission to score some sweet stuff. I kind of had a little trouble staying within the $10 limit, so I didn't and exceeded it. Unfortunately my package kind of doesn't look like it...but it's the thought that counts, right?

[L-R Red Velvet Pancacke Mix, Turquoise Stud 

Earrings, Face Mask, Eye Mask, V-Day Jelly Bellies]

Red Velvet Pancakes: She likes to cook. I figured I'd help out with her & her husband's Valentine's day and give her something to whip up for breakfast since I assumed her Husband Jase [what a cool name!] had plans for dinner all set up and I didn't want to ruin them by sending the heart shaped pasta that I would have loved to send her!

Valentine's Day Jelly Beans: They were the second thing I saw. They were on her list and an alternative to those candy chalk hearts with love notes. Too cute.

*At this point I had reached the $10 threshold but felt it was a lame swap so I kept shopping!

Turquoise Stud Earrings: I had to get her something else so the gift wouldn't be so lame, and after stalking her blog [while still in the store!] it looked like she wears more studs than dangly earrings, so studs it was. and Turquoise...another check off the list!!

Face mask & Eye mask: The baskets by the checkout counter got me. I thought they were too cute NOT to include so what the heck, purchased. 

I was pretty excited about my purchases that I couldn't wait to get home and pack my box, write my letter, doodle some on the box, and ship out and then this happened...

I sealed my box WITHOUT my letter! Oops!

My reply from Rachel..."I got your adorable package for the valentines swap today! Thank you so so much!!! It was so dang adorable and SO me!" and I got a follow, so I'm gonna say I think I did pretty well!

On a side note to Rachel, I noticed on one of your blogs you wanted to DIY letters for your home...

Check out your local World Market! Letters were $8 each! Takes away from the DIY-ness, but they're super cute!!! IDK where showing you what I didn't get you falls on the etiquette scale, but I couldn't resist! 

Also, I did some impulse shopping for myself...

Now onto my gift!

Ever expect a package and you run to the mailbox every day to see if it's arrived and then are disappointed because it's not there? Welp, that was me for like a week and a half and was starting to think my person forgot about me...but it finally arrived on Saturday, Feb. 9th! Yay for Joni over at Blended With Love for coming through!

It was sealed with pink zebra tape, SO MUCH FUN! that I forgot to photograph.

So many awesome things! Yummy smelling lotion, red nail polish...which is awesome since I'm totally out, a little carrying case thing for pretty much anything, a huge tube of mini M&M's which I sucked down in a heart beat, 3d heart stickers which kind of inspired me to make home made Valentines but I never got around to, some sticky notes on a mini chevron clipboard [how cute, where do you find something like that?!!] and a cute rope bracelet with little charms on it! 

Definitely loved everything. Thanks so much!

Overall I'd say successful swap! I can't wait to do another one!

Insta-dump: February

With 6 classes and a full time-ish job…life hasn’t been very blog worthy so I was sitting here this morning wondering what I’d entertain my readers with. I recalled a while back my friend Kelley over at Team Gilster used to do insta-dumps…not sure if that’s what she called it but pretty much blogged about a few of her instagram photos. Stealing the idea!

1.    I shared this one on #throwbackthursday. I have a handful of favorite pictures from my childhood. This is one of them. It’s me doing a jog-a-thon thing where people pledge money per lap. I was in probably 1^st or 2^nd grade when this photo was taken. It kind of made me nostalgic and I definitely shed a few tears thinking about the good ol’ days when I had no worries.

2.    Another #tbt photo! Me and my cousin Jazmin chopping up some meat…looks like menudo and probably on a Saturday since I’m wearing a soccer uniform. Unless it’s Sunday [when most Mexicans cook up menudo] and I just slept in my uniform from the day before. This is kind of a mind bottling picture since my cousin and I have grown a lot since this photo! She just had her first baby girl in December…while still being a baby herself. Crazy how sometime’s we’re forced to grow up!

3.    String cheese trivia! Lol. It was for lunch the other day and reminded me of the laffy taffy’s and ice cream bars with jokes. The answer is 5. Shout-out to my black and blue/teal polka dot nails. It's not exactly from Pinterest, but Pinterest has inspired me to be a little more creative with my nails :]

4.    National Pancake Day. My favorite holiday! Ihop was giving away free short stacks with a recommended donation to Rady Children’s Hospital. Good cause!

5.    Bettis. Lime. Marty. Super Bowl Sunday with some of my favorites <3 Thank you Palomar Softball for introducing me to some of my best friends.

6.    Commencement details! Graduation. Graduation. GRADUATION! Finally.

7.    Ultimate Baseball Roadtrip. A late Christmas present, but probably my most favorite <3 My baseball road trip is next summer and I can’t wait. My OCD self LOVES this so I’m not aimlessly wandering cities I’ve never been to! Reading this has to take a back seat to school right now, but I can’t wait to crack it open! Shout-out to my purple and pink ombre nails! 

8.    Alicia Keys tickets :] I can’t wait for this concert. Miguel & Alicia Keys. Although I love Country music, I can enjoy some hip-hop and R&B. Alicia Keys happens to be one of my favorites! Her skills on the piano are brilliant! I’ve actually never been to a real R&B/Hip Hop concert. I usually stick to country shows which is pretty much an alllll day event. It’s going to be weird not tailgating all day and being plastered before it even starts…that’s a good thing though, I don’t want to miss this show. Haha.

9.    My not so fitted sheet. It’s making me crazy. It comes undone every.single.night for like the last 3 months. Ugggh.  

10.  I’ve been craving chocolate covered strawberries for like the last 2 months. I missed out at work one day because I was at school. It was all I could think about when I found out. I had strawberries in my lunch so I improvised. I walked to the market next door, grabbed a dark chocolate dove bar, microwaved it and dipped my strawberries. Not the best, but still pretty good!

My Super Bowl Dessert!

Mondayyyyy! I see this kid ride his unicycle to school every Monday and Wednesday and it makes me a little happy :]

Hmmm. I never ever thought there’d be a day where I blog about food…that I’ve successfully made!

I am the world’s worst cook. I can manage to mess ANYTHING  up. Brownies from a box to hard boiled eggs. Anything.

Anyways…I’ve been wanting to make this dessert from Pinterest which comes from this blog for a while so I figured Super Bowl Sunday would be the perfect opportunity!

I went shopping, and positioned them perfectly for a photo-op once I got home. I got a little eager to bake that I tore off and threw away the cream cheese boxes before I realized I should probably have them for my picture!

So the recipe is for “plain” churro cheesecake bites, but I wanted to spice it up a bit and make some sort of strawberry variation! Thanks to the help of my BFF Sara [who is the most legit chef ever] I concocted my strawberry cheesecake filling for one sheet, and then the regular cheesecake filling for the other.

Strawberry Cheesecake Filling

2 bricks of softened cream cheese

3 diced strawberries

1 tsp of vanilla extract

½ cup of sugar

1 egg

First blend the cream cheese and strawberries together to make a strawberry cream cheese.

 It didn't turn as pink or red as I'd hoped.

Then throw in the vanilla extract, sugar, and egg. Blend together to have a soft cream cheese filling. [Regular filling is the same exact thing, minus the strawberries.]

Marty mess-up: I put in a tbsp instead of tsp. Not HORRIBLE…but not the recipe. Lol. I have to put in more cream cheese into it to compensate!

Churro Cheesecake Bites 

Strawberry cheesecake filling
2 cans of crescent rolls

½ cup of sugar

2 tbsp of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees for 20 minutes

Lay out 1 can of crescent rolls into a pan. Pour the filling over the crescent rolls leaving the sides of the crescent rolls uncovered. The consistency of the filling should NOT be runny. Lay the other can of crescent rolls over the filling and then connect the sides of the top and bottom crusts together. Note *you’ll have to do some shaping of the crescent rolls to fill over the filling, but it’s not too tough!

Then mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle ½ of it over the pre-cooked dessert.

Throw in the churro cheesecake and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes of a golden-ish brown.

Marty mess-up: After 15 minutes or it baking, I realized I forgot to drop temp to 350 degrees. I dropped it to 300 to even it out. I kind of burnt it a little. Oops!

After it’s cooked, pour the remaining half of cinnamon sugar and let it sit for an hour or until it’s cool and cut into “bites” and you now have a legit awesome super easy-ish dessert :] All of the bites were gobbled up before the game even started, so I’ll take it as a good sign!

Sorry if I messed up any cooking terms and you don't understand. Like I said, I'm pretty clueless about anything having to do with the kitchen! If you're confused...revert back to the original blog with the recipe!