If I was in the CHI...

Days like yesterday make my think about what would have happened if I were in Chicago. I guess it is a good thing that I wasn't there, because it would have been pretty tempting to try to get face to face with those two and see their faces. But besides that I would have loved to be able to just do what I used to do -  drive up and down Lakeshore Drive.

To me, Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline are a natural high. It was love at first sight when I saw a lake that looked like an ocean with the most beautiful skyline laying besides it, it just made me relax. The traffic you would ask? I can care less, when I am on Lakeshore Drive I honestly just enjoy the view, and I am happy I did this every second I was there because today I miss it so much.

On a day like today, I would have called my friends and went for a run at the lake front (weather permitting of course) or just have gone out for a coffee to pour my heart out while sitting by the window of my favorite coffee shop. I miss the people watching, the elegance of the coats, being able to dress up even if I was just going to the grocery store, my Saturday trips to the Green City Market, and how simple was to just dress up and go, because no matter what the mood was, there is always something great to do in a city like Chicago.

I wish I was in Chicago on a day like today; the good news is that my wish will come true in just a few days. I will be in Chicago by the end of the week, I will sit on the lake front bundled up in winter clothes to just contemplate my "happy place" and charge my world with the energy that only Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline can give.

Until next post!

CM

The friend code...

Most of you know I use this blog to pour my heart out, and lately I've had some life challenges that I would like to call "growth opportunities". Well my peeps, prepare to read as this post is a good one!


I guess this is not written anywhere, but there is for those with principles what is called a "friend code" where boundaries are established when it comes to dating friend's ex's. To someone with some sort of principles it should be unacceptable to date the recently separated wife of his very good friend. Well I guess my ex does not have those types of principals; so ladies and gentleman hide your Husbands, Hide your Wives, because these two know of no friend codes.

Let me remind you that I walked out of my engagement after a nasty fight with my ex where he told me very nasty things about how he felt about us because of me not making money. When I told him why was he still with me if he felt that way, he said - and I quote "why would I break up with you if you don't have a job and I will still HAVE to pay for everything" (I had just lost my job again) leaving me with no option but to walk out. I don't want to be with someone just because he feels trapped, if you love someone set him free if he's yours he will come back if not he was never yours. Within a few days I was apologizing and asking him to get back together - In my mind I was still blaming myself even after all the horrible things he had said. This just happened a little over 2 months with the man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with.

Well 2 weeks before that happened one of the married couples that we used to hang out with had split up their marriage of 17 years. My ex was really good friends with them even before I came into the picture but we took a couple of trips together and hung out often so when the separation between them happened WE were of course a shoulder to cry on. I considered her a friend so it was ok. I have to say that we kind of sided with her and we withdraw a bit from him, but at some point I realized that she was calling my fiancée way too much and kind of stopped calling me. She was asking him to have lunch together as they worked close by. At that point I stepped in and asked him to stop that as I thought it was very inappropriate. 

Well was I right... Today I received a call from her husband telling me he had run into them this morning while they (his soon to be ex-wife and my ex-fiancee) were checking out a hotel downtown. The occasion you may ask? Yesterday was her birthday, so knowing my romantic ex he wanted to make sure he wined and dined her just like he only knows. That is something that he is really good at; impress the ladies with romantic nights that cost tons of money.

Of course I left a nasty voicemail calling names in a rage, I am only human and I feel very hurt that out of thousands of single men and women out there these two had to go this low. But my pain had to be minimal next to our friend's pain, after 17 years of marriage his soon to be ex-wife (because they are still not legally divorced) was now sleeping with one of his best friends. 

I just don't understand what leads people to make such poor choices. Because this is not bad enough my ex has the nerve to call me saying that he doesn't appreciate my v-mail and name-callings and that he can date whom ever he wants because he is a "free man". Then he proceeds to threaten me to report the car that he agreed I would take (and pay for when I could) as stolen, and starts threatening me with going to my immigration hearing and other family stuff. Really dude? You get caught doing something as low as that and you are upset at me?

I guess its nothing personal as he also threatened our mutual friend too, when he ran into them he took a picture of them loading their luggage in what used to be MY car... oh the irony! and then posted it on his Facebook... Oh the power of social media! Obviously they were on the down low and they are not so proud of what they are doing. IF YOU ARE SUCH A FREE MAN AND CAN DATE WHOM EVER YOU WANT THEN GO ON WITH YOUR LIVES AND LEAVE US ALONE.

All I can say is that karma is a BITCH and sleeping with friend's soon to be ex-wives is not cool, there are plenty of people out there, so this was a really poor choice.

Would love to see comments on this post, I think the "friend code" topic is quite an interesting one.

Being busy makes me proud!

"Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true"

I am so excited about my new life. Even though I just moved to a new city where I literally had just ONE friend, I have managed in just 2 months to make new friends and start building a network of people with similar interests. This week has been super hectic and I have been booked pretty much every day working on things I love like social media, health & nutrition and of course the very much needed ME time at the gym.

I have been attracting everything that I want to be surrounded by. I just took a project working with a life coach who focuses in powerful tools to make your days amazing ones. He has what he calls the 11 day challenge, a series of action steps that help you start your day with inspiration, gratitude, joy, and the feeling that you are in charge of your life and not the other way around. The best thing about this project is that I need the utmost positive mindset, which is very easy to do when working with someone like Alex Obed.

I also started a new venture in the health & wellness arena which we all know I am very passionate about. Our team consists of a Naturopathic Doctor, a Chiropractor, a life coach, a boot camp trainer and moi! I am dying to add a nutritionist to the team, which is actually in the works. The point is that my focus lately has been in positive thinking and things that I am passionate about. This makes life so much more exciting and has made my mood the best EVER!

I even had the chance to go out to a local bar with my friend Jackie, and boy was that fun! What a different crowd there was but I am learning to appreciate the positives of a small town and I am learning how to have fun everywhere I go even if it isn't exactly what I would have wanted it to be.

I welcome all of you to go to the 11 day challenge link and take this challenge yourself, I would love to hear comments about what your thoughts are. Feel free to follow Alex Obed in Twitter, we are starting to build his twitter community and I am sure he will be happy to see new followers as well as interact with them.

This is it for now, but I will keep posting updates about these wonderful projects as well as any other tools that I think would impact your lives in a positive way.

Till the next post my friends!

CM

Another trip to Chicago!

I didn't think I would be back so soon but I guess that's what the universe wants! I am going back to the cold weather next Thursday and will be staying through the weekend to make it worth while. I am excited to be able to see everyone again, but the real reason that I am heading that way is for immigration purposes... Is it possible? Yes it is! after this visit I will be all ready to submit my application for the Citizenship in April =) I have been waiting for this for a LONG TIME!

So yes peeps, I have my party hat on and all my good vibes and awesome energy ready to welcome this as one of the biggest and best news of 2011! Life keeps getting better and better, and that is what happens when you surround yourself with positive thoughts and good energy!

So now I am going to quote Charlie Sheen and say "I am a winner", lol!

Happy thoughts for all of you =)

XOXO
CM

Serenbe... I think I am in love!

I would describe myself as a city girl, I crave a city skyline, hot spots, fine dining, etc. but when I see a town like this one it just makes me forget about all the madness of the world. It makes me feel in peace, and I can see myself living a life where I walk to the farmers market, I know my neighbors, I work from home, I paint and sculpt (yes, I know), go to bikram yoga and most importantly; a life where my little one is raised in complete harmony, playing outside with tons of other kids with no craziness or dangers.

This is what you see when you walk through the streets of Serenbe, people are friendly and the town is quiet. Everyone knows each other and it's just the cutest little place to live. Apparently, this was started by ONE guy that bought a lot for himself, started expanding and all of the sudden built his own little town. All homes are energy efficient and the 3 restaurants of the town adopted the from farm to table model.

Here is my slide show, I hope you like it!

Veggie Recipes

So today I went to the local farmers market to get my veggies for the week, all organic and fresh whole food. Now I have to come up with recipes to use all of these delicious picks without wasting a thing. One of the key elements is kids friendly meals so I can feed Sophia as well.

Today's recipe is a whole grain pasta with a veggie sauce, I will do my best to estimate measurements for the ingredients, but honestly I just threw whatever looked good... the results? A delicious meal that Sophia devoured with no whining and a smile on her face! And that my friends is a winner =)

Ingredients

* 2 cups of whole wheat organic spirals
* 1 tbsp of chopped garlic
* 1/2 cup of chopped onion
* 1 cup of fresh broccoli
* 1 cup of spinach leaves
* 1 cup of chopped tomatoes
* 1 cup of pasta sauce
* EVOO
* Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and rinse. On medium heat in a sauce pan pour EVOO to taste and add chopped garlic and onion and sautee for about 5 minutes until onion is clear, now add tomatoes, salt and pepper. After tomatoes are soft add broccoli and cook for another 5 - 7 minutes. I personally like the broccoli's consistency to be hard so I just cook it for about 5 more minutes, once the broccoli gets really green I add the pasta sauce. For this I use whatever I have in the fridge, this is just to make it a little more saucy but the flavor will come from your fresh ingredients.

Once you are ready to throw the pasta in, add the spinach and stir; add pasta, stir and serve! If you are like me then cheese is a MUST, today I used parmesan because its what I had on the fridge but little squares of mozzarella go great with this recipe.

My munchkin loved it, which makes this recipe a MUST try =)

Still awake...

Isn't it lovely to drink diet coke while the Oscars? Well now I can't fall asleep! Arghhh! Maybe I should go back to Celine Dion or Gwinnett and their performances. Oh well, I guess I will try to figure out analytics for my blog. I just wanted to say HI!

XOXO!

CM