SAN DIEGO,CA VACATION - Day 1

Happy Friday my amazing friends. Im so glad that I found the Blogger application for my iPhone and I'm able to blog while I'm on vacation. Both of my boys are sleeping and I have time to relax. So I decided to share some pictures with you!

A lot of you have been wondering, where have I been? My hubby decided to surprise us with a last minute low key vacation to San Diego, CA. I'm in love with this place. Today we spent the day at Coronado Island and Seaport Village.  Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Seaport Village

Coronado Island

And after taking a long nice shower I found my two boys snuggling and sleeping. I know what a tender moment, right? I guess I will be sleeping in Logan's pack and play tonight! 

If there is a place where I will move in a heart beat, it will be San Diego. I'm excited to see what Adam has planned for us tomorrow! So I will be taking more pictures and posting them soon! 

Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to see more pictures. 

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend. 

Besitos

COLOMBIA CHICKEN & RICE - ARROZ CON POLLO COLOMBIANO

Hello my amazing friends. Today I'm so excited to introduce a little piece of my beautiful Colombian culture. I will be sharing with you one of my favorite dishes called Arroz con Pollo (Chicken & Rice). This is one of those dishes that is special to me in so many different ways. It reminds me of many family gatherings and brings back beautiful childhood memories. Living in AZ and in a different country makes me crave all of the different dishes I grew up eating. I'm sure many of you who live far away from your home country sometimes feel the same way. There is something about food that helps us stay closer to our culture and roots. That is the reason why I'm so passionate about cooking. It inspires me to experiment and recreate those dishes that I love.  Unfortunately my family never shares recipes. So it makes the job even harder for this girl! 

This is such a unique and delicious dish that if you ever ask me what Arroz con Pollo (Chicken & Rice) tastes like, my answer will be, you will have to try and experience it yourself. This dish has a little of everything, rice, chicken, veggies and a special sauce that makes it just divine! This dish is not only super easy to make, but is nutritious, affordable and can feed an entire army! I have the feeling that this dish will become your new family favorite. Trust me, once you make it and your family tastes it, you are hooked for life! There are many versions of this scrumptious dish throughout South America, but this specific recipe is the one that I grew up eating in all of my family gatherings and special events in Colombia. 

For those of you who know me and read my blog on regular basis, you already know that I love telling stories. Yes, I'm the kind of gal that can talk all night and never run out of things to say. So I do have a cute story about this dish and this is one of the reasons why it's so dear to my heart.  My husband grew up here in the United States and when he was younger he served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints  in Panama. As many of you know, Panama used to be part of Colombia back in 1821. So they kept a lot of our Colombian traditions and culture. During my husband's mission he ate this dish so much that it became his favorite. When we meet, he never imagined that his future wife was Colombian and that my parents loved making this dish. On our second date and after knowing a little more about him and his past, I decided to invite him over for dinner at my parents house, whom I was living with them at the time. My mom liked Adam so much that said to me, "Paola, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach and I'm going to make him the best Arroz con Pollo that he ever had, and you are going to tell him that you made it!" Oh no, I never thought that our second date was going to make my husband realize that, "I was the woman of his dreams"and close the deal! He was convinced after that night that I was the one and two months after he proposed. Yep that dish was sure the way to my amazing hubby's heart. What I was not expecting was that I would be asked to make it one day! I get myself in a lot of trouble sometimes. (Ooops). So I had to learn how to make this one very good for him. I'm glad that this dish is so special to both of us and most important every time my husband eats it, it reminds him of his mission and brings back to him very special memories. 

To conclude, since I live in Arizona and many of the ingredients that are used in Colombia are not sold in grocery stores here in Phoenix, I had to replace some of the products. The good news is, that it still tastes the same and it is still delicious!

Enjoy! 

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INGREDIENTS 

10-12 Servings

Chicken

1 Whole rotisserie chicken, shredded 

Rice

6 cups water 3 cups long grained white rice (prefer Jasmine long grained white rice)

1  tbsp olive oil 

1  cube chicken flavor bouillon 

½ tsp Turmeric powder

1/4 tsp salt

½ cup cilantro, chopped

Vegetables

2 tbsp olive oil
1  cup carrots, chopped 

1 cup peas

1  red bell pepper, chopped

1  green bell pepper, chopped

1  yellow onion, chopped

1  cup Spanish olives (stuffed with minced pimientos and sliced)

½ tbsp minced garlic

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1/4 tsp salt

Sauce

1  15 oz can tomato sauce
1  cup of ketchup

½  tsp ground cumin

½  tsp all purpose seasoning

1/4 tsp salt

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DIRECTIONS

Chicken

• Before you start preparing this scrumptious dish shred your roasted chicken and set it aside to use later. This will save you a lot of time.
•  If you couldn't buy a roasted chicken, cook 3 boneless chicken breasts in water for 40 minutes. Once cooked, drain the water and shred them once the chicken cools down. 

Rice

• Boil 6 cups of water in a medium-large pot at medium heat. 
• Once the water is boiling add the olive oil, chicken flavored bouillon, turmeric powder, salt, cilantro, rice and stir well.  
• Reduce heat to medium low and cook for 20 minutes covered. 
• Once cooked, mix the rice, cover, and set it  aside.

Vegetables Step 1

• Boil water in a medium pot at medium heat. Once the water is boiling add the carrots and cook for about 3 minutes. 
• Then add the peas and cook for 5 more minuted. 
• Once cooked, drain and mix with the rice. Cover the rice and set aside.

Sauce

• Warm the tomato sauce in a small pot at medium heat, add ketchup, ground cumin, all purpose seasoning, salt and stir well.
• Add the shredded chicken and coat the chicken with the sauce all the way. Set aside for later use.  

Vegetables Step 2

• Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large pot at medium heat and add the onions, cook for 2 minutes. 
• Once the onions are soft, add the garlic, green and red bell peppers and cook for 3 minutes.
• Add salt, olives and cook all the vegetables for an additional 4 minutes until they're all softened.
• Add the chicken coated in the sauce and cook for another 2 minutes or until the chicken is heated thoroughly.

Final Step: Time to assemble your Arroz con Pollo! 

• Mix all of the ingredients together and Tada!!! You are done! 

That was so easy ! Now go ahead and take a bit! 

I hope you guys enjoyed preparing this recipe. Now you can officially say that you have cooked a scrumptious Colombian dish! There are so many different ways to assemble your rice. This is my favorite way to decorate my dish. It is so simple. If you would like me to show you, just write a comment. I will add a video or some pictures to make it easier for you to follow.

I cant wait to hear your thoughts about it.  If you decide to make it, please let me know how it turned out. I would love to see some pictures of you taking that first bite. So go ahead, have fun, email them to me or you can become my friend on Facebook and share your pictures there too.

Cheers, 

SWIMSUIT COVER-UP? NOT A CHANCE!

Hello friends! Today I'm so excited to share with you another fashion secret of mine. I decided to finally reveal the truth behind one dress that some of you, who personally know me, love and wish you had in your closet. So next time you see me, you will no longer be wondering, is it a dress, skirt, shirt, cover up, what is it?  The reason why I decided to feature this dress is because no matter how I accessorize it or how I wear it, I get compliments every time.

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been to a store and seen a dress that you absolutely love and once you get so close to take it off the rack you find out that is not a regular dress? Perhaps it's a swimsuit cover up? Did you buy it? Some of you might be knodding your head saying ,yes, or maybe this has never happened to you before. Well, my friends, it has happened to me a lot of times. The sad part is that sometimes because of my lack of creativity I have left that gorgeous dress hanging on the rack and I walked away thinking, oh it's not a dress. Pity! NOT ANY MORE! I learned my lesson the hard way. Today I want to encourage you to be a little more brave next time you go shopping. Good news, that swimsuit cover is a dress, and YES, you can wear it and rock it how ever you want. No one will ever know that is "not a dress," unless you tell them. Shhhh that will be our secret! 

When I saw this dress, I knew I had to the get it. I had the feeling that someone else was looking at it. Let me tell you a short story how I found my dress. And if you are a mom, you can probably relate to me in so many different ways. Imagine this scenario.  Here I am shopping with a 2 year toddler who wants to get his little hands on everything. I'm constantly distracted by taking things away from his hands, offering treats, new toys and giving up on the whole shopping experience. Right before I decided to walk out of the store, I decided to look back, and there he was, hanging in the rack calling my name. It caught my attention so much that I decided to go back and start the whole shopping experience again. So here is mommy negotiating with Logan another episode of Elmo, just so I had ten more minutes to shop. If you have ever been to a TJ Maxx store you probably know how busy it gets during Saturday mornings. I think I picked the busiest day of the year to go shopping. The store was packed but luckily the dress was hanging in a rack near to the restroom, so I had to think fast. I immediately started speed walking, jumping over all kind of obstacles, squeezing between people and saying to Logan as loud as I could, don't worry baby we are almost there, I know you need to go potty! All of this just so that I could get to that dress before anyone else.  Yep, I'm guilty, I used my baby as a shopping tool, but just this time, I promise! Turned out that this was a simple dress, but the fabric was soft, comfortable and the price was amazing. Unfortunately it wasn't what I was expecting, it was a swimsuit cover up. I was tempted to leave it, but I didn't. I needed a swimsuit cover up any ways.

That night my husband decided to surprise me with a date night. I probably spent a long time looking at my clothes and thinking, I have nothing to wear. I wanted to dress sexy but modest and look beautiful, but nothing in my closet was inspiring me. Suddenly I spotted my swimsuit cover, some nice high heels and  a nice black jacket. Bingo! He took me to the nicest restaurant and I did not feel under dressed at all. On the contrary I was feeling exactly the way I wanted, beautiful and confident. Oh this dress was a total success! Short story, I really nice lady approached me and said, "excuse me, I saw you when you walked in and I couldn't resist telling my husband to look at that stunning young woman. I love your dress! Do you mind if I ask you where you bought it? Did you buy it at Caché? I think my daughter would love a dress like yours!" Oh I felt so special, especially coming from this gorgeous sophisticated woman. So I'm sure most of you are wondering, what did you tell her? Well, knowing that I didn't buy it at Caché and that it was a $7.99 dress, I just smiled and said, you are so kind, thank you so much for your compliments. It was a gift from my mother and I'm not sure where she bought it! That night we spent hours talking to that couple, we exchanged contact information and left the restaurant. They were visiting from England and we became really good friends. Claire.. I'm sure if you are reading this article and wondering why I didn't tell you? I'm sorry, I was embarrassed to say that it was a swimsuit cover up that cost me $7.99 and was not a dress! I love you! 

I love this story, and I have many more, but I will focus on the dress....... Ready? And here is that AMAZING dress!

Dress: Cristinalove ( TJ Maxx) 

Yellow Blazer: Platino (Centro Andino, Bogotá, Colombia)

Black Blazer: Ann Taylor Loft 

Black T-Shirt: Down East Basics 
Black Dress Shirt: E.K Designs (Ross) 

Belt: Ross 

Shoes:  Kenneth Cole Reaction (Ross) 

Sunglasses: RayBan (Sunglass Hut) 

Watch: DKNY (Macy's) 

Bracelet: I made it 

Erarring: ICING (Paradise Valley Mall) 

Did you noticed something about these pictures? I'm wearing the same dress, accessories and shoes! I was able to use one simple "dress" and wore it in four different ways. All I did was to wear a different color blazer, wore a simple black t-shirts and a black dressy shirt. How easy was that? I bought one swimsuit cover for $7.99 and was able to mix and match with what I already had in my closet and the outcome was, four gorgeous different looks.

So next time you are at the store, be open minded, be creative, be adventurous, be brave. If you see something you like at a really good price, buy it. I guarantee that you too can be creative.

Hope you were inspired my friends. I would love to see pictures of you trying one of my fashion secrets.

Send me an email or become my friend of Facebook and I will feature you on my next Readers Spotlight!

CRAVING FALL AND INSPIRATION. THEME OF THE WEEK - FASHION #1

I woke up today thinking and dreaming about fall and suddenly realized that fall is just around the corner! We officially start fall on September 22nd, only a month away! This morning I caught myself day dreaming about fall fashion, perfect weather, opening my house windows, driving with my windows down, camping, running errands without breaking a sweat, longer nights, outdoor activities, yummy fall food and drinks, pumpkins,  my favorite fall home decor and fall colors.  Immediately I started thinking about getting ready to transition into fall and gathering some fun fall ideas ahead of time.

I'm so inspired today and I want to share that feeling with you. So I will be posting every Friday some cute fall ideas and cravings until September 22nd. I have found some fun and adorable things that reminds me of fall and makes me want to crave it even more.

Theme craving of today is, drums rolling..........................FASHION #1

Here is a sneak pic of some of the many outfits that caught my eye. More to come so keep visiting my blog!

FASHION

VIA 

VIA

        

VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA 




VIA



VIA


VIA




VIA




VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA

VIA

And finally this dress in my closet! I wore this dress to church last Sunday and had no intentions of featuring this picture on my blog. To make the story short, my hubby took this random picture just for fun because he thought I looked super cute that day. That was a nice compliment!! Our sacrament meeting at church starts at 9 am and I usually have to wake up at 6 am to get ready, make breakfast, and make sure that everyone is dressed and  ready to go. That day we all slept in and woke up at 8 am. So after taking care of everyone else, I had 10 minutes for myself. Talking about a productive day! 

 This is probably one of my favorite dresses that I constantly wear  during the year. The grey color allows me to mix and match with colorful scarves, belts, accessories, boots and heels. In other words, this is what I like to call a Combat Dress, it goes with everything, any occasion and it is super comfortable. 

 Dress: Desert Broom (Ross)

 Belt: Calvin Klein (Outlet at Anthem AZ) 

 Shoes: Jessica Simpson (Macy's)

 Sunglasses: Kate Spade (Nordstroms Rack) 

I hope you had some fun looking through this fashion post today. It was like eye candy to me! These outfits are absolutely gorgeous and I can see myself wearing all of them. Which one is your favorite?

 I will continue to share with you some fashion inspiration findings through out the month. But next week we will focus on something else. How about some fun and creative fall crafts and decorations? 

So what makes you think of fall? If you would like to share your fall craving and would like me to feature them  in one of my fall posts, just send me an email or become my friend on Facebook. I love comments and hearing from all of you. 

Have a fantastic weekend everyone