Auguest 27th: Boca Meatless Nuggets

I'm BACK!!
Wow that just reminded me of Poltergeist, now I want to watch that movie.
Any who I am be very glad to say that my family and I survived hurricane Irene with no injury to property or body and NO power outages. Good right!
Many things have changed since my last post. I am now officially a New York City college student at Baruch, a mother of a child enrolled for kindergarten and a VEGETARIAN!!
That's right I am going veggie!!I'm very excited!
After some very obvious and much needed life wake up calls I had to!
I care too much for animal to eat them. I know a lot of you maybe rolling your eyes but after getting emotional to Happy Feet in 4D I knew something was up and ever since then I have been thinking about making the change.
So far I am glad to say that I have only slipped up once! And the night I slipped I had a dream that people were eating bears, snow leopards and tigers raw! It was horrifying!
To help keep kick off my/our vegetarian life I went down to the grocery store, where people were going RABID buying massive amounts for the impending arrival of hurricane Irene, and bought some Boca Meatless Nuggets.
I cooked the nuggets and I can honestly say as a meat eater my entire life they are delicious, you can barely tell the difference! During all the times I've been thinking about going vegetarian I completely forgot about the variety of meatless products available so I was very happy when I found them.

Me and my Boca nuggets

Total First: 1!

Auguest 26th: Good Ole Samual Adams!

While I was doing minimal preparations for the New York City "welcome" of hurricane Irene I picked up some water, batteries, lighters, candles and OH yeah of course some beer.
This was my First ever Sam Adams I think. However, I am one hundred percent sure this was my First time drinking Sam Adams Cherry Wheat brew.
It is actually REALLY good!
When I get the chance I really want to go on tours of breweries especially those right here in the city and of course Boston!

Thank you for reading!
Total First: 1

• Sam Adams Cherry Brew

August 25th: Chase App

This was another one of my "I was feel like staying inside all day" type of days but I had to go the bank and deposit a check I got. Now the bank isn't far, at all, but when you are tired from running around the city all WEEK/MONTH little things just seem like a DRAG. So instead I used modern technology and deposited my check via my bank app!
It was very easy you just fill in what account you want it in, sign, take a picture and that's IT!!
When you use the app be sure to be in a well lit room.
The whole process took less time then s teller doing it and the funds were available the very next day.
Another thing is DO NOT destroy the check UNTIL the funds are IN your account, not pending.

Total First: 1!

• Depositing a check via banking app!

Wednesday August 24th: Blue Caravan

My First for this day was supposed to be going to the planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History but that didn't work because they tried to charge me way too much. :)
Instead I decided to finally satisfy my sweet tooth however, finding a place to do this was harder then it seems. We, Leilani and I,  were on the Upper West Side and I was being way too picky about what I wanted. Finally, after some advice we settled into the Blue Caravan for dessert!
I told the waitress and a woman that was there what I wanted and they suggested a dark chocolate molten cake with a scoop of ice cream. Now, here's the thing, I REALLY wanted a HUGE warm brownie with ice cream on top but... they didn't have that. So we got the dark chocolate molten cake with a scoop of ice cream and OMG! it was heaven on a really cute plate! Leilani even told me that we had to go back because the dessert was so " DELICIOUS and AMAZING mommy!" Words can even describe how yummy the cake was.
The waitress was very nice and I would go back for her alone. She was very helpful and sweet and her accent was beautiful!

Heaven!

Total First: 2!

• Going to the Blue Caravan 

• and my FIRST ever molten cake!

Tuesday 23rd: Tangled

SOURCE

Even though I personally do not like Disney that much, I did promise my daughter a movie night so when she saw Tangled was available on Netflix she decided that was the movie she wanted to see. I like the movie but not really. I think it was to heavy for children, there were certain remarks I could have definitely done with out and them showing the "mom/witch/antagonist" fall out of the tower and THUMP on the ground was too much!
My first pick at the movie was the Stockholm Syndrome! I don't know why but Disney LOVES using Stockholm Syndrome and then the fact that a "MAN" always saves the girl is so UNREALISTIC and just difficult for me to enjoy or even want my daughter to see.
The fact that the beautiful princess has LONG BLOND STRAIGHT hair and the CRAZY wicked "mom/witch/abuser/antagonist" had dark curly hair is also very UPSETTING! Then **spoiler alert** if they girls hair is cut it turns brown and is dead and ugly. UM excuse me my daughter and I and all of my family have DARK CURLY HAIR.
Hey, DISNEY I have an idea, it might be a bit too crazy for you though. How about making a movie about a beautiful girl of colour who has the type of hair that a girl of colour has, you know possibly brown or even BLACK and have a little texture to it. Just an idea.
The things I liked about the movie... it was cute for face value but I don't think I will let my daughter watch it again. We will be sticking to my personal Disney favorites, good Ole Lion King, Bugs Life, Jungle Book, Mulan, movies like that.
Total First: 1! Disney's Tangled

August 22nd: Circle Line Cruise, Guggenheim and a BEER!

So on this day I met up with my family once again and we all went to the Guggenheim Museum. Now this wants the First time I had been to the Guggenheim however, it was the First time taking my daughter and the First time seeing the work of Lee Ufan.
The First time I went to the Guggenheim was on a field trip in grade school and I can STILL remember seeing Picasso in person, breath taking for sure!
Upon arrival in true NYC fashion there was a man with a wonderful voice signing outside the museum for money.

When we got inside we used our City Passes which by the way are a BREEZE, if you are in the city they are definitely at least worth taking a look at.
The Guggenheim actually has FREE audio tour which is AWESOME because most museums charge a separate fee for them, I picked one up and realize this was my First time using an audio tour! I know I seem to live under a rock sometimes. The museum had work by Lee Ufan a Japanese artist that uses a lot of juxtaposition in his art. Personally I have a very hard time getting into the art at art museums with my daughter present. I'm more worried about her knocking something over, her telling me she wants to leave or look at something else or whatever itch she maybe having at the moment. From what I could gather from both my observations and the audio tour Mr. Ufan art is centered around the themes of nature versus modern industries, time and the use and lack of the use of space. I'm not going to lie or try to sound like a curator or anything, some of his art I understood and could relate to but some of it I just really... um... yeah...
Along with Mr. Ufan's pieces the museum had pieces by Picasso, Monet and van Gogh. I personally once again really enjoyed Picasso's art, Woman Ironing spoke volumes to me. His work also, to me, is very diverse which I appreciate because often times it seems that artist only go in one direction, which is fine but I like to see the diversity as well. I also enjoyed van Gogh's piece which the title slips my mind at the moment but it was a blue landscape and the pattern, direction and precision was very well executed.
Of course there are no photos to share because no photography is allowed in the Guggenheim.
After enjoying the art and the architecture so were off to the Circle Line Cruise!
This was my First time being on the Circle Line Cruise and it was fun and informational. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed it as did I and we got some great views of the lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Jersey and Ellis Island just to name a few. The cruise lasted two hours and they honestly flew by, I will be taking the cruise again at a later time for sure.

Lady Liberty

Chrysler Building from the cruise

After the cruise we hopped on the cross town bus and on the way there was a crazy lady that literally stood in front of the bus and wouldn't move until the driver let her on. Mind you she was not at a bus stop and made us miss three green lights. The nearest police officer just laughed at her and finally an officer on a horse came and moved her out of the way. It was very comical to say the least I mean who does that? *laughing*

 

The lady who can not be moved lol

After getting nesscary ingredients for dinner I had some Hoegaarden beer for the First time. The beer is imported from Belgium... good ole Belgium and it is really good. It has a taste to it that reminded me of a beer from Spain but I'm not quite sure which one because I had quite a few beers in Spain ...lol

First for the day:

• Guggenheim with my daughter
• Lee Ufan's art work and Audio tour
• Circle Line Cruise
• Hoegaarden Beer

August 21: Wall Street!

So for those that don't know me very well I am very into learning and one day FINALLY joining the wonderful, scary and unpredictable world of investing!
My cousin invited me to come down to Wall street with him and check it out so of course I went!
This was the First time that I ever went down to Wall street and being that it was a gloomy day probably really cut down on the crowd. I say the bull but didn't get a picture because it was still too crowded, I saw the "Wall street church", New York Stock Exchange and the Smithsonian Museum of Native American History. The placement of the museum is very um... how should I say... very metaphoric or ironic that its right next to the New York City bankruptcy court... I'm just saying.
Another thing to see on Wall street is the location that George Washington got sworn into office.
One day I want to go down to Wall Street on an early Monday morning and just people watch and eventually I want to get out onto a trading floor that's not 100% electronic so if any of you want to help me make that a FIRST!!!!! I would definitely love it! Just throwing it out there :)

Another thing that being on Wall street reaffirmed for me was the love I have for this wonderful, "scary" and unpredictable city. The architectural diversity is amazing. It's unbelievable that these buildings built CENTURIES ago are still standing and so beautiful. Like I said before the people that built these massive buildings didn't have the advanced technology we had today and they still managed to create beautiful pieces of art that still stand today.

NYSE

"Wall Street Church"

Smithsonian. By the way I had NO IDEA this was down there. lol I smell another FIRST!:)

Well it is getting very late and I still have TONS of running around to do tomorrow so I am off to bed! Thank you for reading!  And ALi thanks for the previous comment! :)

August 20th: Park Slope

On this day I continued on my doing something for the First time everyday and went and did something I honestly should have done a long time ago and that was apply for insurance for my daughter and myself.
This was my First time apply for insurance in NYC and even though I didn't have all the necessary paper work the woman was very nice and still helped us out a great deal. After applying for insurance and eating lunch my daughter and I went down to Park Slope in Brooklyn to meet our family that was in town and take them over to one of my favorite places in NYC Coney Island. This was the First time I had ever rode the R and N train and gotten off at the Union station. The neighborhood at first glance was very nice and cute. After showing them Coney Island they invited us out for pizza and did we ever get pizza lol.

We asked a guy on the street where there was good pizza and after a few suggestions his father and him highly recommend Fornino Pizza which is located right in Park Slope.
When we got to the restaurant my initial reaction was to leave because it look REALLY expensive but we stayed and even though I didn't know what half the ingredients were I ordered a pizza and it was DELICIOUS. You can taste the fresh ingredients in the pizza and the plus side was that it was big enough to feed two. The restaurant's decor and general feel was also very nice and matched the delectable food and drinks. My cousin ordered two drinks and had no idea what they were and I enjoyed one that tasted like it had grapefruit and cinnamon in it.

Chicken Sausage pizza **YUMMY**

Total First:

1. Applying for insurance in NYC
2. Riding the R and N trains
3. Being in Park Slope, Brooklyn
4. Fornino Pizza and the mysterious delicious drink

Thank you reading and even more thank you to those that leave comments. I love comments ! :)

Tom's Resturant and Saint John the Divine

Today after running some very important errands and making very important appointments, all before 1pm!!!, I was clear for the day and met my cousins in Central Park for some more sight seeing and showing them around a bit. After showing them a few spots in Central Park and we went to Tom's Restaurant. The restaurant most famously known for being the hang out of the Seinfeld cast in the famous show, Seinfeld.
Personally I have no idea if the taped inside the restaurant but if they did it wold be very difficult to because of the size of the place, its a lot smaller then it seems on the show.
I had a ham omelette and it was good. My cousins had the malt and a turkey wrap and the enjoyed their meals too.

Leilani and I outside of Tom's restaurant, Where George, Jerry and Elaine used to hang out!

 After Tom's we parted ways and Leilani and I went to Saint John the Divine Cathedral for the first time. It was pretty amazing! I think cathedrals are a true testament to what man can create and do with its bare hands. When most, if not all, cathedrals were built it was far before the invention of advanced machinery and these humongous cathedrals were still erected. However, the down side to some cathedrals is that there foundations were sometimes built on corruption.
Never the less the cathedral was breath taking and the attention to detail in impeccable. The people of these cathedrals took their time and had a story to tell. No detail was left out.

Look at the attention to detail!

From the street.

A side view.

I'm currently undertaking my third First of the day. Homemade Avocado hair mask!! I'll be sure to let you all know how it turns out!
Total First for today: 3!

• (Seinfeld's) Tom's Resturant
• Saint John the Divine Cathedral 
• Homemade Avocado Hair Mask

Thank you for reading!

WHAT a DAY!!

Empire State building at 9:30am, Metropolitan Museum of art till 3pm, Dylan's Candy Bar, then FAO Schwartz and finished the day in Central Park.
That was my day today!
My First for today were taking my daughter to the Empire State Building, going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and using a New York City Pass.
I am EXHAUSTED! To say the least.
I have some family in town and it is my younger cousin's first time in New York City and of course I want to show them around! Her and her father were nice enough to buy me a City Pass to enjoy the sights with them!
My daughter has seen the movie James and the Giant Peach before and she was especially thrilled to be on the top of the Empire state building where James landed. When I picked her up and showed her the view she smiled so hard I thought her cheeks were going to break! "Wow! Mommy look beautiful New York City!!"
It was really nice to be able to take her and I even learned that shes FREE! So we can go back anytime, until she turns six, and I only have to pay for myself.
After the Empire State Building we were off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was pretty excited and walking through there and seeing all the beautiful art was amazing and very nice. The museum is HUGE!! and can be overwhelming so if you go either go and just walk and let the museum guide you or your head is liable to literally SPIN. Unlike the museums in Madrid you can take pictures of the art in the MET, however there are a few limited areas where you are not able to. Another thing I did for the First time today was go on the Garden Roof of the museum and that provided some wonderful sights of the city as well.
After that we jumped on the 1 bus, also a First, and eventually walked over to a burger joint right around Hunter College campus. (I'll get the name and post it a bit later)

Leilani looking over the city on top of the Empire State Building

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's roof top garden.

Simply GORGEOUS! My favorite piece of art and then first time seeing anything like it, in terms of classical art not modern.

The day was wonderful and I am glad that I'm getting to know my cousins better!

Total First for today: 5!

• Empire State Building with my daughter
• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• MET roof top garden
• Bus 1
• and the burger joint

Thank you for reading and I will upload some more pictures tomorrow!

August 17th: Thai Kitchen Red Curry

Yesterday's First was using Thai Kitchen's Red Curry to make homemade Red Curry chicken with delicious jasmine rice. The food was good but unfortunately it wasn't as good as the red curry chicken I have from Thai restaurant's. However, that only means one thing! Try, try and try again until it comes out better then the Thai restaurant's! :)

Margaritaville SPIKED TEA

Since I am finally crossing things off my "To Do List" like a mad women I decided to reward myself with a little drink...or a few :)
I'm not much of a drinker and the fact that I always miss the liquor store hours maybe helps as well.
However, today I continued on my path of future planning and taking the necessary steps to make sure the plans I set in motion now will become a solid reality one day.
After so child less relaxing and appointment making I bought a six pack of Margaritaville's Spiked Tea to enjoy. At first taste I thought it was gross and then I took another sip and ... its not that bad. :)

Yes, that's my empty bottle.

My next First was trying Melona ice cream! Its a Korean ice cream that is surprisingly milky and fruity at the same time!I got it for free as I was strolling through Central Park and stumbled upon the second annual Korean Festival. Sadly, I got there too late and the food was being packed up :( but I got the ice cream for free and who can frown for long when you have ice cream, especially FREE ice cream? The bar was yummy and only 75 calories!! Yes I'm one of those that counts calories... I'll admit it.

At the end of the it was another fantastic day and I'm really excited at the continuous growth and change of my other blog Teenmomnyc.blogspot.com!!

11 Days! Part 2!

• Going to the Brain exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History
• Which reminded me of another First I forgot to blog about, going to see Bodies while in Michigan
• The American Museum of Natural History had an interactive hands on exhibit solely about the brain!! Since we are members we got in for free! I tried going before but it had recently opened and was PACKED full of people so I turned around and just left. Then the other day while on Twitter the museum tweeted that the exhibit was going to close that Sunday. I arrived at the museum as to beat the crowd and we got in to the exhibit instantly! The exhibit was very nice, informative and cool. They showed you how the brain functions how it is such a small organ but one of the most advanced on complex on the planet. The exhibit also had hands on displays and things for children as well. When you first walk in there are all this long fiberoctive like wire that have light running back and forth throughout them to display how the brain sends and receives messages while taking in messages and interrupting them at the same time. Both the Brain exhibit and the Bodies exhibit in Grand Rapids, Michigan really put into perspective how complex and advanced the human body is. It also reinforced the "what you put in is what you get out" saying.

A sculpture inside the exhibit that shows the senses.

Leilani and the BRAIN!!!

• Buying a domain name
• I have big plans for my teen mom blog! I'm actually very excited and optimistic! I knew the first step of maturing my blog into what I want it to be was by making it into a website and buying the domain name was the FIRST STEP!! Currently you can check it out at: http://teenmomny.blogspot.com/  but it is still in the transitional stage.If you have any suggestions or feedback let me know!:)
• Ordering business cards
• The next step in developing my dream is BUSINESS CARDS!! so I ordered some and they are super cute and will definitely upload a picture once the come in!
• Shopping at Cookies for Leilani's back to school clothing
• I have been a MESS with all the stress, that is now THANKFULLY reduced, and with the emotional  toll of knowing my daughter is off to kindergarten this year! So after getting a REALLY good deal  at The Children's Place, 4 jeans, four shirts and two shirts for $60! We went over the check out Cookies, a department store for kids. Needless to say not much there. I did get her a few things but I don't think I will be going back regularly. However, I did get her her very FIRST OFFICIAL school book bag!! And naturally I cried...
• Drinking Love Potion a delicious and alluring drink.
• I tried Love Potion for the very First time and now that I'm writing about it I'm actually craving it, that's how good it is. The taste is very original its a milk based drink that can be enjoyed with or with out liquor and something I will definitely be drinking more of. The drinking has its own Twitter page and you can check it out at @lovepotion214. Believe me you will want to be the one in your circle of friends that knows about this first. Because it will make you cooler of COURSE!

• Drinking Qream which is a good mixer for Love Potion
• Qream is also a milk based drink however it does have liquor in it and I didn't find it as appealing on its own. The drink is from producer Pharrell and he has designed it for the ladies.
• Uploading a piece to Travel Dudes
• A great travelers website, definitely worth checking out! I posted my first piece on here and while I will admit it isn't that good I was and still am very excited that I did it because now the following post will only get better and easier to write!

And that concludes my 11days!
Thank you for reading and don't forget to suggest suggest suggest!

11 days! Part One

Wow I have 11 days that I need to back track and blog about.
First off I would like to apologize for the delay I have had A LOT going on in my personal life lately and lots of stress. If you care to read about it you can head over to Teen Mom NYC .

As far as my eleven new first here they go.

• Trying barbacoa from a Mexican Establishment
• There is a taco shop at down the block from where I live and they make authentic Mexican tacos all the time. I tried a bit of barbacoa at Chipotle for the first time and fell in love and figured that it would taste better from an authentic Mexican establishment. For those of you whom do not know what barbacoa is, a way to prepare a shredded beef that is usually spicy. The process of cooking is long and a lot of slow cooking, smoking and humidity however the end result, from Chipotle at least it delicious! Well back to my Mexican taco store... I ordered the barbacoa and I'm sad to say I was not impressed in the slightest. I'm still on the quest for delicious authentic barbacoa but will settle for Chipotle for now.
• Using a Flip camera for the first time
• My younger sister, Lillie, has a Flip camera and when she was having her Quincenera, Hispanic sweet 15, I was supposed to record the action but never did. Sorry Billy but some of the best memories are off camera ....lol When I got back from my vacation my father showed me that he had a new Flip camera and since I had nothing better to do I took it with me to the park to video record Leilani playing. After using the Flip I want on now! It so convenient, little and has a surprisingly great picture! Plus I want some type of video recorder besides my phone so I can tape her growing up and we ca have corny family video night when she gets older and possibly wants nothing to do with me (teenage years). Lol I'm a mess.
• Unintentionally going to a Whole Foods Wine tasting
• It was the last day of one of my best friends being in the city and after dropping Leilani off with the sitter it was time for some mommy time! After urging her to pack her bag since she was taking off in a matter of hours we went out to eat with mutual friends and stopped at Whole Foods for some wine! I read the sign outside that said that they were having a wine tasting and it was delicious! All the wine was organic, sulfite free and from local wineries!  
• This was also the First time I tried organic sulfite free wines and I'm not really planning on going back. lol Yes its that good!

REALLY GOOD!!

Some of the wines

• Going to the Baruch on site child care facility
• Being that my school starts before Leilani's I had to find a place to put her for the few days that are in between my school start date and her school start date. The first place I called wad the on site campus child care that Baruch offers and was delighted that they would do it! I had to go down to the location and fill out and pick up paper work. The location is very nice! It open, airy and they even have pets! But contained of course! My daughter liked the location which made me feel a lot better. The one stipulation is a physical form and since we have no insurance or family doctor the search for a cheap CLEAN clinic began.
• Going to the Ryan Nena center in the East Village and riding the 23 and 09 bus
• After literally calling 20 clinics!I found one in the East Village that offers physicals for $35!!! But I had to go register my daughter and in order to do this I had to ride the 23 and 09 bus. I registered my daughter and myself for their services and we will be back BRIGHT and EARLY on physical day! The staff at the clinic was very nice, fast and informative. Plus the clinic was CLEAN!

• Taking my daughter to Coney Island and Friday Night fireworks
• After a VERY stressful and reflective week I took my daughter to Coney Island to finally enjoy the rides! She has been asking to go to the rides for months now and with a very fixed and inconsistent income it been dam near impossible to take her. So when I finally had money, that I will admit wasn't much and shouldn't have been spend on Coney Island, I took her!She had a BLAST she got on her very first carnival rides and got on her very first roller coaster all by HERSELF!!! yeah my kid is bad A like that! :) After the rides and some food we settled in the sand to watch the fireworks display. One thing about me is that I LOVE fireworks so I was just like a child watching the display and clapping like a crazy person! The display last about a half hour and the full moon made it extra AWESOME!

Coney Island at night

Perfect shot!

The beautiful moon

Leilani and I one a pretty intense kiddie ride

Thank you for reading and don't forget to check out part 2!!

Once again thank you for reading and dealing with my sluggish post.

August 4th: Curious George 2

I decided early on in the day that my first for today "yesterday" was going to be a movie. Then my daughter told me she really wanted me to watch a movie with her so I let her pick and her choice was Curious George 2. The movie was cute short and simple kinda like this post. :)

P.S its HOT!

the First keep coming!

So I had to split up my posting because I didn't want you guys to fall asleep on me !
The list of FIRST continues!

One thing about my sisters and I is that we are very active. We like exercise, sports and things like that so of course when we get together we're kind of like guys, we show each other workout moves and videos and talk about how "cut" we're getting lol.

Jillian Michaels!!!
I don't really like work out videos but as you may have noticed from my blog i'll try anything!
My sisters having been doing Jillian's DVD's for a while so I wanted to give it a try too. I'm not going to lie the first round I was left not very convinced but the next round I was convinced! I was sweating ! Like horribly and whining and groaning but I stuck with it.
The one thing about her videos is that they are 20 minute workouts and while they are good they leave me feeling like I want to do a bit more once a finally catch my breath (she doesn't allow resting).
If you are into workout DVD's try hers they are good and get results.

Oh I also noticed I'm a bit more diesel then I thought. I was lifting 8 pound weighs for most of the workout!

SITUATION!!
Like I said above her DVD left me wanting a bit more so I looked through Netflix and found The Sistuation's Workout. It was hilarious! I mean the guy is a total TOOL and can't form sentences too well lol. Although he is a tool his video did teach me a few new moves that I will incorporate in my work out.
I got myself into a SITUATION Y'ALL!!

Salmon Burgers and Mint Syrup.
I get sudden burst of culinary inspiration and I had one while on my Michigan vacation. Although my sister's weren't too much help when it came to making a menu Leysis and I went to D&W to get our ingredient.
We switched the menu several times and finally agreed on Salmon burgers and they were delicious Leysis and I are pretty kick ass in the kitchen! This was my First time making and eating Salmon Burgers and I was surprised at how easy it is!
You bake the Salmon, break up the meat, add bread crumbs seasoning and anything else you want, make them into patties and flip them around in a skillet for a while. That easy and SOOO good.
Since I wanted a "fancy" dinner I had to make a cocktail and we were going to make Bellinis but when we looked up a recipe it called for 2 cups of sugar and we agreed on HELL NO!
Instead we made a Guava, Ginger Ale and Mint syrup cocktail. It was REALLY good and complimented the burgers very well. I would however try to lessen the sweetness of the cocktail next time because it was a bit too sweet for my liking.

KUNG FUUUUU 2!
I love kid movies! I enjoy taking my daughter and nephew but I refuse to pay for a full priced ticket so we went to Woodlawn Mall and went to the theatre that charges $4!!!!
We watched Kung Fu Panda and I really enjoyed!!! The movies are so cute and Po was kicking some ASS! I'm pretty sure there is going to be a Kung Fu Panda 3 by the looks of the ending of the movie.

Harry Potter 7 part 2!!!!
Yes I am a member of the Potter Clan! I was actually lucky enough to attend a lecture he was at!!! My Post about Daniel Radcliffe (The boy who lived)
I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone but I will say I got pretty emotional. lol
I had tons of fun before even seeing the movie with my sisters! Lo minee COOkee! (insider)

Wow I think that covers all my FIRST for my Michigan Vacation!!
Thank you for reading and putting up with me! :)

July 30th- August 2nd

The list of First continues :)

San Chez

On of Isabel's (my sister) good friends was getting married and the bachelorette dinner was at San Chez in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I wasn't really hungry but I still ordered some very over priced appetizers and had some of their sangria. It was nice to see her friend again and she looks HOT after having her baby and very happy!

I don't really having anything good to say about San Chez so I'll just say that I wouldn't go again.

http://www.sanchezbistro.com/

Bachelorette Party!!

I wanted to have a themed party so I staged a fake bachelorette party and who would be the bachelorette other than, ME!?

Yes I had a fake bachelorette party :)

It was fun and I did feel a bit bad for "lying" to all of the people that congratulated me on my up coming wedding...lol but it was fun and kept creepy guys away but also kept the hot ones away :( lol 

McFaddens- Grand Rapids

The music was...

The drinks were...

The crowd ... gave off the vibe of a bunch of teenagers that into a club for the first time of their lives or a young frat party. There was this really fun group of guys that just didn't give a ___ at who was watching or not and did whatever their feet desired. If I didn't have heels and my bachelorette get up I would have definitely been jumping around with them!

http://www.mcfaddensgrandrapids.com/

Red Headed Slut

The shot was good but taste a whole hell of a lot like juice... lol

Taco Boy 

Two of my sisters, daughter, nephew and myself planned on going to the Grand Rapids Public Museum but when we got there the line was way to long, only had one person at the front desk whom worked very at her own pace and if we stayed in the line we wouldn't have made the planetarium show:( so we left and promised to come back another day.

We were all kinda hungry so we walked into downtown Grand Rapids for some food and we went to Taco Boy The service was quick, the food was good, the restaurant was clean and the prices were very reasonable. I had a burrito with refried beans and it was yummy!

http://tacoboy.biz/

Ming Ten

My mom and step father took us to Ming Ten a chinese buffet to meet his extended family and to eat!

The food was SOOO good they even had sushi that didn't look scary to eat. Their Miso Soup was also delicious! I would have took the seaweed home with me in my purse if I could. I tried Korean Mussels and seaweed salad for the First time and they were both very good. I will definitely go back to Ming Ten when I'm in Grand Rapids again the food was sooo good. I ate so much that I was probably full for the next eight hours!

I also enjoyed meeting my step father's family! His family is so sweet I see where he gets it from now!

Thank you for reading.. the First keep coming! 

July 27th- July 29th

Okay back to the bulk blogging! I really should have been blogging on my vacation but I was having too much fun doing nothing and everything at the same time. Its not often that ALL of my sister's and I are together! With our mom and kids!
Okay I'm just going to start listing my First.

Prickly Pear!
One night my Lillie, Isabel and myself decided to go to Meijer for an Oreo run and breakfast foods... what else would we go for? We looked crazy! My hair was EXTRA BIG! Isabel looked like a beat up cast member on Little house on the Prairie and Lillie looked like she jumped in a pile of laundry and emerged with whatever she had on. That's how we roll though lol
After walking around in circles, talking Lillie into putting back at least one of her 5 packets of cookies and asking everyone available if they had Canadian Bacon I saw Prickly Pears! They were two for a dollar and Baloo (The Bear) taught Mowgli how to eat them and he never led him stray so I had to get some! I love the Jungle Book :)

I also got Yellow Watermelon but never ate it :"( .
I ate my Prickly Pear the wrong way, yes I said the wrong way, and I had to Google how to eat it! I know pathetic but peeling the Pear, cutting it down the middle and biting into it is WRONG! Lol don't do it. Once I spit out all of the seeds and ate the "meat" of the Pear it was good. I would like to eat one from the Cactus because the one on the video was straight from the Cactus and looked extra big and juicy.

The Prickly Pear. Whole.

The WRONG way... oops

Acai Berry.
I know this was a huge trend a few years/ months ago but I never had it until now. I'm late I know lol I still don't know how to pronounce the name of the fruit. Anyhow I tried Acai Berry juice for the First time. To me it didn't taste like much... but the one I had was pretty cheap so maybe if I try a more expensive juice it might taste like something. Personally not sure what the hype is all about...? It was good though...

Meijer Lake Park
My daughter is THANKFULLY getting over her fear of water!! WHOOOO HOOO you have no idea how wonderful that is considering I love the ocean <3
Well it was really hot one day and my mother told me that Meijer's Lake was right down the street from the house so Isabel, Leilani (my daughter), Damien and I went to check it out. The park was nice and full of people enjoying the weather, water and one an other. It was a drastic change in water temperature from Lake Superior to Meijer's Lake, the water was perfect for the kids but a bit too warm for my liking. However, having the lake so close was a huge convenience!

Meijer's Lake

The water and my daughter and nephew in the foreground

July 26th: Monte's

After sleeping on a BED for a change that night my sister's Leysis, Isabel and I went out for some fun and dancing!

This was the First time I went out with Leysis and Isabel and I was very excited!!
We got ready which took longer then girls always think it will take and then we were off to Monte's for $2 you call its, being the economically savvy girls that we are!
Going out to Monte's was my First of the day!
Upon arrival the line was LONG too long  but we finally got in and made our way straight over to the bar for our $2 drinks :) One thing I noticed while in line and while inside Monte's was that girls in Grand Rapids have/like horrible unkempt Jersey/ Dallas big hair. I mean I can appreciate big hair in fact I LOVE it but what some of these girls had going on was treacherous to look at! Their hair looked like it weighed more then them!
Anyways back to Monte's I will say that the bar was fast, the crowd was nice and the music was lots of fun!
Now I'm the type of person that when I go out I don't take myself too serious. Why go out if you are just going to be so uptight and serious? I was jumping out on the dance floor and just having fun I even danced with a guy who looked really sad just for the hell of it!

It was nice to go out and not have men trying to hump you. FYI guys humping is not a dance it is a form of harassment so if you ever see me out please don't come "dance" with me if you "dance" this way. Although this one guy did get a bit fresh and he got elbowed and talked to like a puppy that just peed on the carpet. I gave him a stern NO!
Overall going out to Monte's with Leysis and Isabel was a success!
Total First 1!

Me, Leysis and Isabel

Homeboy having a BLAST

Us again.

Thank you for reading! :)

Back to bulk. Hiawatha

My dates are getting all MESSED UP!
So back to sorta bulk blogging! I have so many First its hard to keep them all in line with the date.

July 22nd - July 25th

July 22nd- 3!

This was the First day of Hiawatha and my First time being at Hiawatha.

Hiawatha is a Tradition Music Festival or what some would call a Hippie Fest. Lovers of Traditional music and good times camp out and enjoy the whole experience and event. Upon arrival the park looked soo different from the park that we first arrived to, there were tents everywhere, food vendors and performers all over the place!

After my sister Raven's flight from hell! It was time to pick her up at the Marquette, Michigan airport. This was the second First of the day and boy was it a journey. Leysis and I went to pick her up from the airport and got lost in this small neighborhood that was made up of circles and the GPS was absolutely no help we finally got on track to the airport and saw the ski slops which looked very different with no snow on them. The airport is on an Air Force base but it looked like it was in the middle of Jurassic Park! From the road it was 2 miles before we got to the airport! 

When we arrived to the campsite there were plenty of friends new and old and many more on the way! Instruments were being unpacked and memories and life milestones were going to be made but I had no idea yet.

The First day of Hiawatha, all of the sisters were all together finally and the good times began!!
That night the festival had a welcome/ get acquainted dance and the music was all traditional. I had so much fun! I didn't know how fun it would be to dance to folk music but we were all on the dance floor having a blast, all my sisters and even the kids!
This was the segway to my second First of the day listening to Harmonious Wail and they were great dancing music. If you hear their music you have to be a statue if you are not dancing.The dance made me feel like I was at the Weasley wedding... lol a Harry Potter reference The dance area was under a tent with a wooden dance floor in the middle of the field dancing under the stars and with great voices and instruments and people were playing to play not for money or record labels but for themselves and the crowd that was enjoying them.

July 23rd- Total 3!
This was the second day of Hiawatha and my daughter's First time riding a bike with NO TRAINING WHEELS!! I was so proud of her and like usual when it comes to her I got all emotional but I didn't cry. She did a great job and would stop by crashing into things lol.\

Like I stated above the festival had tons of food vendors. While I was really hungry one day Leysis and I slipped away and I bought some Crawfish Ettouffee which was delicious and my First time having Ettouffee. One food vendor even had Basil Lemonade which was really good and something I will be making in my own kitchen, of course that was my First time trying it.
Later on at night my sister Isabel, a friend Steven and I went to the main stage to hear Le Vent de Nord a   French Canadian traditional band that rocked the stage and had my jumping and enjoying it all night long. The band was great and had wonderful energy and every member was playing an instrument at all times. All of the music was in French but I enjoyed it non the less!
This was my First time hearing the band but certainly will not be the last! After the concert we went back to the campsite for more fun and listening and making our own music!
Their website Le Vent de Nord

Sorry It was taken on my iPhone in the middle of the crowd but you can still hear them:)

July 24th- 1!
My First and only First for this day was watching the Ebony Hillbillies perform!
I missed their first performance because I slept through it but I was determined to make the second one. The Ebony Hillbillies are a New York City based band that play traditional Folk music. Their energy and artistic ability was wonderful and a joy to watch and tap my toes too.

July 25th- 2!
This was the last day of festival and the First time I took a tent down...lol Needless to say I'm not going to include this as a First because Isabel did most of the work :)
We began our drive back to the lower peninsula and stopped at Shell City but it was closed:(
my First First of the day was eating at Culver's a burger joint thhat is a chain in the Mid West. Both the food and custard was really good! I enjoyed my burger and they had a great raspberry vinaigrette dressing for my salad!
My second First for this day was eating at Ponderosa in a new city... sorry I know its weak. But its all I got lol.

Being at Hiawatha was such a wonderful experience! I learned that I love the fiddle and banjo more then I could ever imagine! It opened my eyes to new music and not being so judgmental of other's at first appearance. You often times see people and judge them because of how they look and would never imagine that they are kick ass traditional music instrument players or great dancers! I also learned that Michigan is BEAUTIFUL! Like most of the country I saw Michigan as a dying state, but its not is so beautiful and inexpensive a great place for a family vacation.
Thank you for reading!

July 23rd: Holiday Inn Marquette

** If you go back to my Cliff Jumping post you can click the link to my video on YouTube, which also has videos of PAST FIRST**

Not really a big first but on this day we stayed at the Days Inn Marquette. Our mother put us in a room because the Festival and the park have two very different sets of rules and there wasn't going to be any where for all of us to sleep AND my other sister was flying in so there would definitely be absolutely no room. Unfortunately for my sister her American Airlines flight was a flight from a bad vacation movie. Complete with mice, delays, cancellations, late shuttles, horrible customer service and a dying phone all the while having a rambunctious 4 year old boy in tow!
 Anyhow on top of trying to figure out what was going on with my sister, I shopped! My daughter needed a different pair of shoes for the woods because her Nikes were getting TORN UP and because her feet grow like weeds so the pair she had where barely fitting, we found the Marquette "mall" and went to Payless. Now usually I can't stand Payless because they are so over priced for cheaply made shoes however I didn't need any thing fancy for her and although this is another "weak" First I shopped at the Marquette Payless and got 8 pairs of shoes for $13.75!! Amazing right!?
They were having some crazy amazing sale that took fifteen dollars off of a twenty dollar purchase so I got my daughter a few pairs of shoes and got myself 2 pair of flip flops.
Total First: 2!

• Days Inn Marquette
• Payless Marquette

I know theses two are weak but I've seemed to have misplaced my notebook that I wrote all my First in and could only remember these two First :)

Thank you for reading and remember sharing is caring! 

July 22nd: Cliff Jumping!

This day was a bit cooler then the previous and I heard a few days before getting to the Upper Peninsula that there was a cliff that we could jump off of and land in Lake Superior, so I was really excited to try.

To get to the cliff we biked to Presque Island from the campsite, which wasn't far at all and had great views of the lakes.  To be honest this trip to Michigan showed me that Michigan is beautiful place. When you think of Michigan you, well I thought, Uh... but now I realize the beauty of the state and all the wonderful scenic views.
Being in Preque Park was the the first First of the day.
Then my next First was CLIFF JUMPING!! I'm not even going to lie, I was all really pumped and ready to go UNTIL I got to the cliff. It literally took me and my sisters like 45 minutes to jump.
After a lot of screaming, people staring at us and just basic fear we, my sister Lilly and I, finally agreed to jump. However, I didn't realize we were counting and just jumped like a crazy person! Lol
I jumped one more time but that time I landed really bad and her everyone on the rock go: OOOOHH!! and feeling the pain shoot through the left side of my body. I literally had pain in my leg for the next day.
I would definitely do it again but I would have love to have WARMER water because the water was COLD!
The moment you've all been waiting for!!! (Not really, but here you go anyway....)

Total First: 2!

• Preque Island
• Cliff jumping

Thank you for reading! :)