Fortunate Fridays!

Hello my dear followers!

Where did the week go? My apologies that I am just posting this at this time. Post should have been up this morning but life took over.

Anyways, here I am to share the highlights of my week and blend that with the things that I felt fortunate for during the past 7 days. And here we go:

1. A belated father's day celebration with family last Saturday --- tons of food, dancing, and a whole lot of family talk. My sister also invited one of her best friends (whom I love) and we were able to have a pretty awesome conversation. Is always nice seeing family together under one same roof. We had quite the fiesta (as typical Dominicans).

2. Having the courage to pursue the things that I am passionate about and making a living from them (as oppose to settling) -- God knows this takes courage but as the saying goes, "jump and the net will appear". This may sound cliche and I didn't quite believe it for some time but is true.

3. Learning to absolutely LOVE my own company again -- after my last relationship came to a close, I struggled to get myself "back together" (I still want to write the post about this. Feel it can help some of my readers). I thought the day would never come but I am finally learning to love myself and my life again to the fullest. As the saying goes "it is better to be alone than be with someone that makes you feel alone". I don't know what the future brings or whom I will end up with. All I know is that I believe in love and I welcome it with open arms. Until the love of my life shows up I am learning to make myself myself happy and love the life I am creating. 

4. Being laser focused on my career and business -- I've been spending a good amount of time lately not only working on being the best employee I can be and making my clients happy but also in developing the skills that will make me excel at what I do. This is super exciting to me and I feel quite blessed to have the available resources to make myself professionally better each and every day.

5. Last but not least: Free Kayaking in Manhattan --- one of my besties (Hi Jessica!) signed us up for some kayaking and although I almost cancelled (instructions said you "must" know how to swim) I went for it after reading there were life jackets involved. We had an awesome time despite getting yelled at by the guards for going too far a couple of times. It was a pretty fun day (sorry about the quality of the photos. I forgot my real camera so had to rely on our regular phones).

....after our Kayaking experience we decided to walk by trader joes but on the way there we passed by a Japanese place my friend loves so we decided to stop for some Japanese Dumplings:

...Firs time having these, and hopefully not the last. So delicious.

And finally, other Yummy foods ate this week:

Grilled salmon, Shrimp, Veggies

Chicken Fajitas (homemade)

Have you guys tried these? They're amazing

...and that was my week in a nutshell + the awesome things I feel grateful for and don't take for granted.

What was the highlight of your week? Have you ever tried Kayaking?

Thanks for reading.

Love,

Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays! {tales of a pretty awesome week, plus tons of pictures}

Good day my loves.

We have made it to the weekend! I've had quite the busy week (what's new?!) and wasn't able to post most but I made a decision to at least make it in here for my Fortunate Friday series. How was your week?

Here are some of the things that happened to me this week which I feel fortunate for:

1. Awesome book finds. So, I listen to a few really good podcasts (i'm writing a post on that very soon) and I've been getting some pretty cool book recommendations. Needless to say, I have been spending some time ordering and picking up books from my local library (one of my favorite places in the world). Here is my "books in queue" stack:

The One Thing (reading now)

The Four Pillars of Investing (pending)

21 Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires (read)

The Women's Guide to Successful Investing (pending)

The Confidence Code (pending)

The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received (read)

And here is what I am currently reading (I am hooked on this book):

2. Jillian Michael's DVD 6-Week 6-Pack: I started the week with a made-up mind to incorporate this DVD in to my life for the next 6 weeks. Monday was day one. I almost felt like throwing up during the first workout but is getting easier. Has anyone used this one?

3. Work I am passionate about and the ability to make it work: I say this a lot but I am thankful that things are falling in to place slowly but surely. Things had been scary at first but lately I have been feeling so full of life an excited to get to work as I wake up every morning. I feel like I am dreaming sometimes. For anyone out there hesitant to follow their passion, please reach out to me and I can share my personal perspective on this topic. 

Source

4. Spending time with my dad on his birthday: It was my dad's birthday yesterday so we went out for a birthday dinner. He is a fan of seafood so he choose the infamous Red Lobster. As usual, he had his seafood platter and I opted for some chicken tacos as I was not really in the mood for seafood. The tacos were pretty good. Spending time with family, and my dad whom I love so much, was truly priceless.

Don't these look good:

We HAD to embarrass him as the staff sang him happy birthday.
...that chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream was pretty delicious (whats a bday without cake?!)

 Some of the family (grandma joined us!):

5. Last but not least -- An amazing fourth of July weekend with amazing friends: I have to admit that towards the end of last week I was feeling a little down on myself as I had no set plans for the "big and exciting" 4th of July weekend. Thankfully, some 'serendipitous' and 'spontaneous' plans appeared in my life and I had one of the best weekends I've had in a very long time. I kept telling myself "live a little" and it just made me realize that I work so much that sometimes I forget to live and have fun with people I care about and that care about me. I am now working on "living a little" more often.

...It all started with a trip to PinkBerry with one of my best friends (Hi! Yosi!)

What she had:

What I had:

...we then wondered the streets of NYC, people watching and such. We ended up at 42nd street which is the capital of CRAZY (so many people around. I had forgotten how insane busy that area is).

Decided to play along and become a tourist during my time downtown. Lets not even go in to the fact that I've lived about a 40 minute train ride away from the city for 20 years and counting. I should really take advantage of the City Life more often:

We got hungry so we arrived at one of my favorite restaurants -- Havana Central:

..We weren't very hungry so opted for some appetizers (shrimp, feta & spinach, and cheese empanadas- highly recommend) PLUS some delicious sangria made to order right at our table (also highly recommended):

...amazed at the waiter's skills as he made our drink (he was also handsome, friendly, and hitting on my friend):

...we then ran in to some friends and of course had to take a picture and then proceeded to chat for hours on end.

By the time we headed home it was past midnight so we got to welcome the 4th of July right in the middle of times square. Cool stuff.

[that was my Friday-going into-Saturday last week]

On Saturday during the day I met up with another good friend of mine. We went for a walk, talked a whole lot catching up on life and then ended up at a pretty delicious restaurant in Harlem (full review coming soon):

Hi Jess! 

On Sunday I kept it low key. Went to the gym with my bestie:

...and then spent some quality time with my niece whom I love so much:

And that's all folks. That was my week in a nutshell. What are your plans for the weekend? what are YOU feeling particularly thankful for lately?

Love,
Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays {peace of mind edition}

Hey loves,

breakfast this morning <3

Welcome to another edition of Fortunate Fridays. Hope everyone had quite the phenomenal week. Nothing too exciting on my end other than work and working on self-love and personal development. I know I sound like a weirdo. But that's whats going on in my life and I'm not afraid to say it :).

Without further 'ado, here is what I feel fortunate for this week:

1. Meeting new people. My best friend invited me to a get-together with her co-workers last weekend and I had an amazing time. I have to be honest, I didn't feel like doing absolutely anything at all but best friends push us out of our comfort zone when we don't want to be pushed and that's exactly what she did. We drank, danced, socialized, and everything in between. No pictures but I do have great memories. Cant wait to hang out with them again.

random selfie

2. The new addition to my mug collection. I am a sucker for cute mugs and this is one I had been keeping my eye on at Marshall's for about 5 months. I didn't want to buy it because it was a bit pricey for a mug (around $8). To my surprise, I found it on clearance for $3.50.  I was so excited. It was the only one left. I immediately grabbed it and off I went. The crazy thing is that Marshall rarely has the cute things on clearance. When they are gone, they are gone. However, it was my lucky day.

Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen?!

3. The resources to buy ingredients and the ability to prep some yummy meals. I love cooking at home. Here are some of the foods I was able to enjoy this week.

4. My sister is okay. I found out recently that she was involved in a car accident the other night. I am so glad she is completely fine! Material things come and go but a life and health are priceless.

5. Running outside. I ran outside twice this week. The first time was crazy hard but yesterday I went for a smooth run and I loved it. Getting easier for sure. Still working on my pace/mph (have a long way to go! my goal is to get back to 9 mph) and prepping for my 10k coming up in June.

6. Bonus: Peace of mind. The other day I had an aha! moment after a sudden scare I had while hanging out with one of my friends. I realized that I have nothing to complain about. Sure, my life is not perfect but I feel like all my "so called issues" are things that I have the power to fix and improve on a personal level. I've gotten to a point where I have realized that my advancement in life is in fact primarily dependent on my faith and then me, myself and I with a bit of help from people that also want to see me succeed. I have no "outside issues" that I cannot control, and for that, I am thankful.

And that's all for now! Thanks for passing by. How was your week? Did you do anything fun last weekend for memorial day?

Love,
Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays {Family + baking + running + working, Edition}

Good morning! 

Happy Friday. 

Breakfast this morning: Organic oatmeal w/ sliced almonds, raisins, ground cinnamon, & almond butter toppings

Hope everyone had a great week but even if you didn't, guess what-- you made it to Friday! Today's post is going to be quick as I have a long day ahead of me but as always, feeling grateful for everything that happens. And here we go.

1. First park outing with the family- Family and I celebrated mother's day at the park this part weekend and had a great time.

2. The joys of baking- Was looking for something sweet to eat after dinner on Monday but there was nothing in my apartment as I usually keep junk food out of the house. Decided to go search one of my favorite blogs for a recipe and it did not disappoint (cookies lasted about 3.5 days). Baking is one of those activities that calms me and brings me 'zen'. Does anyone else feel that way?

Chocolate Chip PB banana Cookies

3. The inspiration to cook dinner- I meal prepped on Monday so this entire week I had a combination of brown rice and beans with either chicken or shrimp. And of course, my veggie on the side. Pretty satisfying.

4. First outside run of the year- All of my workouts since the beginning of this year have taken place inside a gym. I am so excited for the nice weather (finally) and was able to complete my first outside run in about 6+ months! Looking forward to more runs on nice days.

5. More billable hours at work- More hours, more clients, very excited and simply humbled and thankful for all the opportunities.

And that's all folks. Thank you so much for reading and wishing you a great weekend.

Tell me, What was the best thing that happened to you this week?

Love,
Mabelle

Fortunate Friday {Broadway Edition}

Good day sunshine!

Is Friday! Had to wake up at the crack of dawn this morning joined by a lingering cold and allergies; definitely not a great way to start my day but thankfully I am starting to feel A LOT better.

I've been drinking a whole lot of this:

Green tea simmered with a cinnamon stick, lemon, & spices: my god sent salvation!

This week was busy and productive and everything in between. Although I do work a bit on weekends I am just happy Friday is finally here. And without further ado' here is my list of fortunate happenings this week:

1. My friend is healthy again: One of my best friends sent me a random text on Monday night letting me know she was in the hospital due to some kidney issues. The message freaked me out as I have never see this girl hospitalized in the twenty years that I have known her. Thankfully she is finally out of the hospital. I plan to go see her today after work. Health is our most precious gift.

2. My Computer: So, this week I almost had a heart attack because my beloved laptop was having some issues. The screen went crazy and I seriously didn't know what to do. I booked an appointment at 'geek squad' almost immediately and then, like a miracle, it fixed itself!!! Praise the lord. The brief minutes of panic reminded me how much I rely on this tool for work and everything else. Something apparently I didn't realize until this week. Taking better care of it. Grateful for it.

3. The ability to sign up for upcoming races: Its been a while since I've ran my 5Ks or 10Ks consistently. There was a time in my life not too long ago when I used to participate in fun races all the time. Well, my efforts to bring that back are in full swing and just this week I signed up for my 3rd race of the year-- first one is next week! (stay tuned for fun race review posts).

4. My dad's new found enthusiasm for health and fitness: After a health scare at the beginning of the year my dad finally got his 'act together' and started working out consistently and eating healthy. He's actually taking it a bit overboard as apparently he's cut out a lot of stuff from his diet (insights from my mom) so I am excited to help him in this area and am actually working on a list of foods that he can feel good about eating (he avoided Gluten like the plague for a couple of months, it was pretty funny). Love my dad. So proud of him.

5. Work that keeps me busy, focused, and helps me provide for myself: Receiving tons of positive signs from the universe, Thank you Jesus. I keep telling myself to just keep on swimming.

BONUS: My first Broadway show date with my mom: This was so incredibly awesome! So, a few weeks ago I won tickets to go watch GiGi on Broadway, starring Vanessa Hudgens. It turned out to be so perfect because I was able to take my mom on a pre-mother's day date. Plus, it was the first Broadway show we ever saw together (and the very first one for her, not counting The Rockettes which we saw about 6 years ago). Can you believe we have been living in NYC for over 21 years and it took us that long to go see a show together? next goal is to get the entire family to a show. Will share a full review regarding my GiGi experience on tomorrow's post.

Other fun things that happened this week:

Finally got a manicure and two rings I found on sale at Old Navy's accessory section:

Wanted that 'white-ish' color that's trending now. I am not sure if it was the manicurist or the nail polish (Essie's baby breath) but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. But it'll do.

My friend mailed every person that attended the wedding a thank you card. I loved this so much I am framing it:

*This week I also took some steps towards something it was time for me to tackle-- Having the strength to detach myself from something that was not bringing my life much joy (more on this to come).  Still not completely on the other side of things but well on my way. Work in progress.

And that is all my friends. How was your week? any exciting plans for this weekend?

Happy early mother's day to all my readers that are mothers. Looking forward to 'joining the club' in the near future :-)

Love,
Mabelle