A GIF guide to my 30th birthday

So, I turned 30. It happened! I'd love to take you through what I felt about it.

At first I was like....

It seemed like everyone around me was more excited about it than I was...

I became very contemplative about it all...

And I slowly but surely realized...

I still got it! 30 isn't old!

I'm officially a grown ass woman! I got this.

Then the excitement kicked in.

And I realized there's no better way to celebrate this milestone than with all my friends.

We celebrated in style!

I'm really glad I got over my birthday blues and embraced turning 30. I forgot how wonderful it is to feel loved on special days like this. It made me feel happy, like this...

My birthday also meant lots of tasty food and cake!

Of course I stuffed my face and felt like this...

And got lots of thoughtful, amazing gifts...

Man, I'm pretty lucky. Here's to 30.

geek on,
michelle

#TBT

For today's post I thought I'd keep it simple and do a #TBT — aka throwback Thursday — in honor of my great aunt Avelina, who just passed away. I'm very grateful to have had a fierce, independent, sassy Mexicana like her to look up to while growing up. I'll miss you, tía.

Me, my mom, brother and tía Avelina at Six Flags Great America.

12.12 - Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe

Growing up Mexican and Catholic, la Virgen de Guadalupe, or Our Lady of Guadalupe was a significant and ever-present figure for my family. It's hard to explain what she means to me, over the years I've definitely drifted away from my Catholic upbringing. However, she has remained very special to me.

I remember when I was in 8th grade and ready for my confirmation sacrament. We all had to pick a name to "adopt." I told my Catechism teacher I wanted to pick Guadalupe, because I wanted to honor la Virgen de Guadalupe. I was promptly told no, that she had no idea who I was talking about, and that it didn't matter—since she wasn't technically a saint. I went home feeling defeated and disappointed.

Throwback Thursday! My Madrina and Tia Guillermina and me at my confirmation.

So I went to the library, did some research, asked my parents some questions and wrote a page-long essay on la Virgen de Guadalupe's story and why she was so important to Mexican Catholic culture. I brought the paper to my teacher and asked her to read it. She was either impressed with my efforts, or just didn't want to deal with me anymore, so she said yes. It worked!

I know—random story—but I'll always remember that moment. It made me realize that I would never give up on something I really believed in. Especially when it has something to do with my culture.

All it takes sometimes is some explaining. And speaking of explaining, I'll leave you with this wonderful article I read this morning, that brought me to tears.

How a father explains Our Lady of Guadalupe to his daughter

geek on,
michelle

Pooped.

Just wanted to drop a note and say sorry for the lag in posts! It's been a busy and hectic time of the year but I have lots of plans for upcoming posts! Think last-minute gift ideas, DIYs, and all-around geeky holiday related goodies. :)

geek on,
michelle

Carrera de los Muertos and My Mexican Halloween

It's become an annual tradition for my family and I to run the Carrera de los Muertos 5K in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. The "Race of the Dead" is a fun event and benefits a great cause. Lots of people dress up and run in Halloween costumes, some even others paint their face Day of the Dead style.

My favorite part comes at the end. There's a bunch of Mexican street food vendors waiting for you near the finish line. Long-distance running isn't my favorite activity, but if anything can get me to sprint that last stretch, it's the promise of food.

I decided to get into the spirit and do my hair Frida Kahlo style and topped it off with some red silk flowers. As you can see in the photo above, I finished and promptly got myself some amazing flautas.

As for my Mexican Halloween...

Later that night my family celebrated mi Abuelito's 82nd birthday with a Halloween-themed birthday party. I knew if I showed up as Elaine from Seinfeld, all my family members would be like "¿Quién eres tú?" or worse—assume I hadn't dressed up at all!

So I decided to knock a costume off my bucket list and dress up as La Chilindrina from El Chavo del Ocho. If you don't know what show I'm talking about, I think it's got the record of being the most-watched sitcom in Mexico of all time. I got to say, my mom's seamstress skills came in handy — I was able to replicate the dress she wore. How'd I do?

I wasn't alone! Check out my husband, mom and dad as El Chapulín Colorado, Don Ramón and Doña Florinda in the gallery below. (Click on photo)

geek on,
michelle

End of summer refresher

Hello my geeks! How I've missed you. This has been a busy summer! Check out what I've been up to these last couple weeks.

I love concerts that take me back. And this one did exactly that. New Kids On The Block, 98 Degrees, Boyz II Men and a surprise visit from Vanilla Ice? Man, oh man. My friend Shannon and I had the time of our teenage lives, dancing and singing along.

I was really excited for the Jay Z (no hyphen) and Justin Timberlake concert in late July. I've never been to Soldier Field for a concert, and seeing the place packed and throwing their hands up for Hova gave me chills. Justin Timberlake performed lots of his older hits, which reminded me just how much I enjoy his music. Thanks Justin. :)

One of my favorite radio stations in Chicago hosted a FREE concert at The Cubby Bear later that week and I freaked when I found out it was a Ra Ra Riot show. I've been wanting to see them live and they did not disappoint. It was one of those shows where I cursed the fact that I gave up on learning a musical instrument at an early age (flute).

My little nephew is all grown up! Julian had a typical summer birthday party in my family, complete with a taco cart and piñata. I swear I could eat tacos al pastor and zanahorias en escabeche every day for the rest of my life.

August kicked off with one of my favorite events of the year — Lollapalooza! It was not as hot as years' past, which definitely upped my enjoyment of the festival. I ate a lot of food (lobster corndog for the win), listened to a lot of bands, and danced my butt off. Pro tip for anyone going to Lolla in groups of friends that have different musical tastes — invest in walkie talkies! They saved us and allowed us to separate and meet up later in the day. :)

I was all about C2E2 this year, so I had to go check out Wizard World 2013! It was pretty cool, despite the traffic mess that was any street in Rosemont. I went by myself, rocked a Marvel tee and bought myself a sweet Heisenberg t-shirt.

Mid-August, I crossed something off my 2013 bucket list... a show at Ravinia! For those who haven't been, it's an amazing concert venue where hundreds get lawn seats and picnic while listening to the music. It's a lovely time and I got to go and listen to Gipsy Kings while munching on some cheese and sipping on some tasty craft beer. Good times!

I had a great summer but I'm definitely ready for fall! Lots of good TV to watch, fall clothes to purchase, and more geeky posts for you, promise!

geek on,
michelle

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom may not consider herself a traditional geek, but I know she's got her own set of healthy obsessions. I have certain TV shows, but she's got JELLO recipes. I can spend hours browsing fashion blogs, she can spend hours outside with her garden. :)

Here's to you, mami. I appreciate and love you more every day.

I hope to be half as good of a mom as you are. :)

geek on,
michelle

Apologies and good news!

Yep, Data can't believe it either.

If you've noticed a lag in posts and shaken your fist at your screen, you can breathe a sigh of relief. I'm back! I recently started a new job and with it came a need to step back and process it all. I am so very happy for my new opportunity and am still pinching myself. This isn't a dream! If I've learned anything from this experience, it would definitely be that some things are worth the wait. :)

geek on,
michelle

Fotos y Recuerdos: Selena

This exact poster is still hanging in my childhood bedroom.

This wouldn't be a proper latina-centric blog if I didn't acknowledge the devastating day that March 31, 1995 was for me. I heard about Selena's tragic death on the radio in the car on the way to the mall with my mom. I was 11 years old and I will never forget the flurry of emotions that followed. Confusion, denial, then just pure grief. The only thing that helped was that I knew I wasn't alone. It was a comfort to know hundreds and thousands of fans just like me were mourning her too.

I grew up listening and dancing along to her music. I owned her cassette tapes and cherished them. Her lyrics were poetry to me, songs about heart break and love I pretended to know about. I admired her happy spirit and community involvement. I got bangs so I could look like her (Pro-tip: naturally curly haired bangs are not a good idea.) I was thisclose to going to her concert in Chicago in March 1995 but I didn't have enough money saved up for a ticket. I promised myself I'd go next time she came into town. She died 12 days later.

It's been 18 years since she died. I still tear up when I hear her songs and bawl when I see the Selena movie. I could go on and on about how much I loved her and was heartbroken that she was killed but for now I will leave you with one of my favorite Selena songs of all time.

geek on,
michelle

Official music video by Selena performing La Llamada (Live). Music found on the "La Leyenda" Album. (P)C) 2010 Capitol Latin, LLC. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is a violation of applicable laws. Manufactured by Capitol Latin, LLC , 404 Washington Ave. #700 Miami Beach, FL 33139

A Cocinar.

I don't have many regrets in my life, but something I definitely still dwell on is me as a tween being stubborn and ignoring my mother's requests that I watch her cook dinners. She would tell me time and time again that I should learn how to cook. That was the last thing I wanted to hear. I refused to grow up as stereotypical mexicana who was only good for cooking and cleaning. I rebelled. I'd run off to the garage, where my father would teach me about what's under the hood of a car, or one of his many handyman lessons.

I should have gone back to the kitchen. Not because I'm a woman, and not because I'm Mexican, but because I learned much too late that my mother was just trying to help me be independent. You need to eat to live, and she was just looking out for me and making sure I'd know how to feed myself. I feel so silly about it all now. Especially because the meals my mom and other women in my family cook are not dishes you'd find in common cookbooks.

Anyway, I've definitely stepped up my cooking and baking game recently, and it's not just because I've got hours of Cooking Channel and Food Network under my belt. :) I not only want to make my mom proud, but feel good about being able to make tasty, healthy meals for me and my husband. The culinary world has endless possibilities, and it's exciting to try new recipes and learn from my (many) mistakes. I'll be sharing some dishes I've made, so you can join me in my journey, catching up and trying to be the cook my mami always wanted. :)

Pictured: Crock Pot 3 Bean Turkey Chili by Skinnytaste — This chili was yummy, easy to make and my first time using my fancy crock pot. Success!

geek on,
michelle