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Cruisin' through life..

So last weekend I went on a 3 day cruise to Mexico for my nephews 17th birthday!

The cruise was so much fun and so relaxing but also so fast! Felt like a dream. Im dying to go on another one already.

We left from Long Beach and went to Ensenada.. 

I know big deal right?!! But it was fun and a great experience.

We left Friday and came back Monday. Friday we set sale at around 6 and woke up saturday already docked in Ensenda and then Sunday it was a day at sea.

When we got to Ensenada on Saturday we went on a "excursion" which pretty much included going on a tour bus to some building that I can't even think of the name of right now but it used to be the first casino in Ensenada and used to be right on the beach. They offered us little cups of wine for tasting and also a choice of Margarita, Corona or Coca-Cola. lol.  It was fun and interesting I suppose even though now I can't remember have the stuff our tour guide told us about the place. But the place was beautiful and is currently used for weddings and such. Basically the "excursion" was a tour bus to the "Bufadora".. Im not going to go in to detail on what that is about but it did involve lots of shopping and bargaining and some really yummy clams!!! They were so GOOD! They stuffed the  clams with cheese and like pico de gallo and shrimp and cheese and put in on the grill.. They were amazing.  I didn't get much while shopping because I knew I was going to buy something kinda pricey on the ship (its tax and duty free while we were sailing so of course I had to shop). I just got my mom a magnet and my sisters something small. My niece and I were going to get henna tattoos but we didnt have a lot of time because we basically had a hour at the shops because the bus ride there was so long because the horrible road.  Oh lord, those bus seats were so uncomfy!! So thats pretty much what we did saturday, left the ship and went shopping. The entertainment on the ship was a lot of fun! The theme was motown and the little group who did all the live shows were really good. The comedians were also hilarious!

 Saturday night/ Sunday was kinda horrible though because I woke up  saturday night thinking there was a earthquake because the ship was rocking so badly! it was horrible and ended up making me sick. When you were in the gift shops which are near the front and in the back in the comedy club you could really feel the ship rocking.. It was pretty bad. The day at sea was really really bad, too much rocking!

What else did I want to share....??

Oh yeah they had  a small version of the hasbro game show on the ship and I ended up being a contestant! It was so much fun and I can't believe I did it!

In order to get picked to play you have to answer a trivial pursuit question and if you knew the answer you had to jump up and get all excited and pretty much get the attention of the host and if you answered the question correctly you got to play. We played pretty much skee ball in to the operations guy but we ended up losing by 100 points so I just got a conciliation prize of a mini connect 4 games.

I am really proud of myself for playing , for actually standing up and answering the question and going up there! I used to by so shy and would never ever do anything like that because I was always so worried about what other people thought of me.  

BTW the question was "What holiday falls on March 17th?"

DUH! I had that in the bag.  If you sony know.. I have an obsession with clovers/shamrocks and everything Irish.

So overall the cruise was amazing and I can't wait to go on another one, one much longer than 3 days!

ps. I was pretty much a hot mess the whole cruise and didn't really do my hair and didn't end up wearing half the stuff i packed/bought for the cruise. One reason being that I felt rushed and didnt think I had time to get fully ready and I would rather have my makeup done then my hair. I backed cute little sundresses for the whole 3 days except for on Saturday and I didnt really factor in the wind... and every dress I wore seemed to catch  the wind. I tried to dress up on Saturday for the formal dinner but my hair got ruined before we got to the dinner. Another reason is that I pretty much felt out of place, there was a lot of bachelor/bachelorette parties with cute guys and cute girls... skinny girls....half naked.... I don't know I always put myself down when it comes to things like that. I think to myself theres all these pretty skinny  girls present, no one is looking at me so why even try??! And it wasn't like I was with friends, I was with family, my practically married cousin and her boyfriend , my niece and nephew and my godmother, who's gunna even attempt to talk to me when I'm with them? Plus.. they would probably rather talk to the skinny half naked girls who were drunk the whole trip.... I guess its just something Im still working on. I need to still work on being confident  and happy with myself. Get dressed up and feel good about myself, for myself, who cares about the skinny blondes. Confidence is the best accessory right?

heres a few pictures--

My niece is slow mo going down the water slide... lol

Friday. When we got settled in to the room. My go to dress lately.. love it .

Carnival Inspiration.

The Atrium

Too windy..especially for dresses

A Place we stopped during our excursion

The game show.

My amazing breakfast..French toast covered in fruit loops.. I also had filet mignon and eggs lol.. I was living it up.. sorry not sorry..

Towel animal...elephant

Random post: CONSTANT PAIN

So lately I've been having the worst trouble sleeping. Honestly, it's horrible. 

My knees and my legs hurt it seems as soon as I get in to bed. 

I would say my knees hurt and I can't sleep and I get this creepy/anxious feeling. 

Creepy feeling?! Really Anna?! Lol

I would get so mad and so upset that I couldn't fall asleep, especially since I had to be awake at 7am. I would go take some ibuprofen and 30 minutes later I was asleep. 

But I hate taking over the counter pills. My dad took so many and it started "eating" his stomach. Because it stopped working so he would just take more. Horrible.  Poor guy was in pain 24/7. 

Anyways. 

I started to notice that this feeling in my legs usually only happened once I was laying down in bed. 

You know that uncomfortable sorta painful feeling you get when your foot is "waking up" after it falls asleep?!  That's how it feels in my knees every night when I fall asleep. 

So of course I WebMD'd it and self diagnosed myself with restless leg syndrome... Lol

I know it's a stretch but all the symptoms were there. Lol. 

Anyways. 

I didn't want to see a doctor and be dramatic. 

Let's face it. They would've laughed and blamed it on me being heavy. 

What was I supposed to say?! Webmd led me to believe I have RLS?! Embarrassing. 

Anyways. I didn't want to see a doctor and I didn't wAnt to keep taking medicine so I just started to lay in the tub and let the hot water hit me until the tub filled to the top. As hot as I could handle water. 

Most of the time I fell asleep in the tub and my snoring would wake me up. Lol. 

And then I started using some aromatherapy stuff I got from bath and body works a few months ago  and it seems to really work. The tub and the aromatherapy just worked well together for me. 

I would use this aromatherapy "Sleep" lotion after I got out of the shower. Or alternate between the sleep and the stress relief one. I would just rub in on my  arms and chest before getting in to me bed. Also before bed I would use the pillow spray in stress relief and also spray that all over my pillows and blankets. The smell of all of them are AMAZING! 

Random post I know but ehhhh! 

Can't wAit to blog after my cruise next weekend. I definitely need the getaway!

WTF?!

Where have I been ?!

I honesty have told myself

Self, you will post. You will get to the level of some of your favorite plus size bloggers. This blog and the people you meet a long the way will help you on your journey to become a better more confident lady. 

and then...

I just don't blog. 

I have many distractions and many excuses.

But this is something I'm passionate about and I want to make it happen.  

Sometimes I just don't know what to blog about. Most of the time I just want to vent and I need to remind myself that this isn't a dairy/journal and no one wants to read my drama. 

I need inspiration. 

So wherever you are you little inspiration fairies , please come visit me. 

Xo

What a special birthday!

Hey Ladies!

Just wanted to share some personal stuff with ya'll!

So the 28th was my birthday...yes I am an aries..uh oh :)


Before I get started and share how amazingly special I felt the whole weekend let me give you a little background info..

Me and my mom are not close, she is not a very loving person, she's stubborn, married to a controlling jerk (my step dad), we butt head like crazy and I hardly ever see her though she lives less than a hour away (she always makes excuses). I have a little brother (21) and sister (15) who are my world, we are not as close as we used to be because of the relationship I have with my mom and step dad, but whatever, they are still my babies and I love them unconditionally.

My dad, who is/was an amazing man passed away several years ago, I was the ultimate daddy's girl and his only child.  He was always the person who made me feel special and loved, especially on my birthday. I remember he used to wake me up by singing to me and TRYING to bake me something like cinnamon rolls etc.  I left my mom, living with her I mean when I couldn't take living with my step dad and mom anymore and moved in with him. He didn't have a lot of money, he got hurt at work and wasn't really able to function because he was in an extreme amount of pain all the time. So even though we didn't have money he would always make me feel special. From the time I was like maybe 8 or 9 until 25 I didn't have a birthday party, not even a small celebration. When my dad died I dreaded my birthday because I knew it wouldn't be anything special and I was right. It was just another day. Im one of those people who think birthdays and holidays etc should be a big deal. My niece is probably going to hate me for celebrating every little thing she does lol and dressing her up for every little holiday.

lets skip forward a little bit because I am rambling and all over the place. A few years ago, I think its been about 5 or 6 years, my aunt who is actually my godmother and her family basically took me in an accepted me in to their crazy little immediate family. Since then, they have always celebrated my birthday and always made me feel special on that day. I thank god for my 2nd mom and my 4 new sisters (who are technically my cousins) and of course my nieces and nephews.

I had mentioned last year the fact that I haven't had a birthday since before I was 10 so last year I came home to a surprise party from my new family... I cried my eyes out! and SURPRISE my mom was not present and she texted me like a brat and blamed them for not being present....classy lady.


This year was even more special


The thurday before my birthday the 27th me and my sister/cousin/best friend went to Hollywood and saw Taking Back Sunday and The Used  at the Hollywood Palladium.. Taking back sunday was AMAZING and The used played caught fire and I was in Heaven

Besties...

Never a dull moment

@ the TBS Concert

Bathroom Selfies 

Concert OOTD

Anyways the concert was a lot of fun and when I came home @ 1am,  my other sisters did this for me...

Happy Birthday written in chalk in front of the door

They made me a cake :) It was place right when you walk in the door

They even decorated my desk ! There was confetti everywhere

My bed filled with balloon and confetti and a present and drawing from my 1yr old niece..CONFETTI everywhere (btw.. the other side of comforter is MUCH cuter lol)

Right inside the door... :) sign say To Anna Love the Fam

Despite the confetti and having to clean it all up days later and sleep with out a blanket for the night I was so surprised and felt so loved and so special...thanks ladies.

So on my actually birth DAY  me and my sisters went to apple bees and after we got some frozen yogurt which I had been craving! My niece was a little grumpy that day because she was tired and hungry. She loves me to death, but did not care at all that it was my birthday lol.

Menchies Froyo

Were we hungry or what?

Much needed drink.

I was  hot mess lol!! double chin much...told you she didnt care it was my birthday! lol  Miss Attitude

And on Saturday we all celebrated my Birthday as a family... 

My little man loved the decoration inside the restaurant

Me and my sisters while waiting to be seated

We ate at our family's favorite restaurant called Fonda Don Chon in West Covina..Such amazing food. This was what I had. Its a moljachete (?) filled with shrimp, steak and chicken and other amazing goodness

sisters

& of course I ended the night cuddling with little miss diva.

As you have probably guessed I really enjoyed my Birthday this year...26 actually feels pretty good!

Random Collective Haul

Hey!! Just thought I would share a few thinks I picked up recently since I am too lazy to sit down and blog and spill my heart out, even though I could really use the release, just feels like so much to type and I'm so overwhelmed with my school work and life in general! I can't believe I am going to be 26 this friday (3/28).

So I got this mouthwash and it DEFINITELY not for sensitive teeth, it hurts when I gargle with it and it made my teeth EXTRA sensitive.

MAC mineralize skin finish in "Give me sun"

The best teasing spray. Also, the best best best dry shampoo, its perfect for my red hair  in between washes

I love this moisturizer but it does make my face a little oily sometimes.

Cute litte clover rock thingy I got for my desk! Im obsessed with clovers.

Mini B&BW candles. (raspberry peach macaron, tiki beach and mohogany woods which smells like mens cologne)

Big 3 wick candles for B&BW (strawberry sorbet, and paris daydream)

Mineralize blush from MAC in Azalea in the afternoon

Azalea in the afternoon

Mineralize skin finish from MAC in Stereo Rose

Stereo Rose

MAC  prep and prime last that I use for my eyebrows-Works great!

Little tin pail with polkadots with glittery clovers that I got from Michael's

MAC Pro longwear concealer- LOVE THIS STUFF

Also picked up a few new brushes- (MAC: 159,195,168,109)

MAC face and body- I got it to use for a sort of tinter moisturizer but its super watery and not for oily skin, which I have, I do use it on my chest though when I wear low cut shirts because I have scars from acne and scars from my chest dermal I used to have right above my cleavage and i had surface piercings on my collar bone for about a month (worst idea ever)

MAC mineralize foundation

Cute little pineapple I got from Bath & Body Works that houses my mini candles- TOO cute!

Also got this from B&BW which has my hand sanitizer in it.

Cute lithe plant/cactus thing I got for my desk as well

Picked these up from Michaels as well! Im obsessed with the chalkboard stuff. These too hold my cotton balls and cotton pads