June Photo-a-Day 13 to 16

Day 13
Art: 

Day 14
Time: About to get ready for work.

Day 15
Yellow: Emergency phone

Day 16
Out and about: A day at the zoo with my GF and her kids.

Stay tuned for more photos.

Much love,

Photo-A-Day: June

June photo-a-day starts tomorrow, and I will be participating again.

For those of you who don't know what photo a day is; it's a fun photo challenge started by Chantelle aka Fatmumslim, back in January. All you need to do is follow the list and take a photo for each day of the month. Once the photo has been taken you can keep it to yourself or share at various places on the net.

I will be sharing my photos here on my blog and in a public album on Facebook/Trinicountrygirl/June Photo-a-Day Challenge. (an maybe flickr)

Visit Fatmumslim for the how to's of the challenge

Here is the list

Do enjoy, and stay posted.


Much love,

Love is...

I was having a conversation with a girl friend yesterday, about a common saying about love. 

The saying goes, "be with the person who loves you, not the person you love".

I absolutely hate this saying...I hate it!!!! 

Maybe I don't fully understand what the saying is about (I hope so), because what this says to me, is be with someone who loves you and hope that you eventually love them back.

I think it's selfish, so you are to deny the person who is in love with you LOVE, your LOVE, the LOVE of another? In a relationship there is nothing that hurts more than when you love someone who doesn't love you back.

So here is my saying, "be with the person you love, who loves you back"

what love is to me

What do you think about the saying "be with the person who loves you, not the person you love" ?


Much love,

Mother's Day

One of the things I look forward to in this life is becoming a mother, to bring a life into this world. To be responsible for someone's upbringing, their safety, their health, the way they grow up in this world. To bestow on them the same type of love my mother bestowed onto my siblings and myself. There is nothing greater than the love a mother and child shares.

To all the mothers out there, I tremendously respect the role you play in the lives of  those dearest to you....your children.

Happy Mother's Day

card from ShareHolidays

Would you trade being a mother for anything in this world? What would that thing be?


Much love,

A Month Well Spent

So the B'Day month is over *yea I'm 30* and I think I'm in withdrawal. This month has been the most fun I've had in a looooooong time. It was filled with some of the things I luv to do and some hair pulling instances, but I survived it *super woman stance* 

Queen Me

I planned, I prepared, I cried, I cursed, I drank, I sang, I ate, I ran around naked in a drunken stupor, the Mr sprang a surprise on me, I had fun at the beach, I was admired by guys, I had loads of cake, I spent time with the people that matter, I almost got a lap dance...lol, but the most important thing is, I had FUN!!!

The Mr & Me

My B'Day week started with the Mr. taking me to dinner, i was pleasantly surprised, and shocked shitless when we arrived at a sushi restaurant and he was willing to try sushi. That night was a great night, a night full of wonderful surprises. 

My girls, Me & some Nylon Pools

However the star of the week was the girls lime weekend getaway in Tobago. My girls, Desta and Mary, and myself did Tobago crazy!!!!!!! 

Beaches, mini villa and pool to ourselves, free drinks at a bar, weird museum down the street, three foot Suzie (the watch dog at the villa), wine, bikinis, car trouble, B'Day dinner, gyrating by the pool, big mosquitoes, almost missing our flight home, cake, running through the rain, embarrassing moments, me hungover, tasty food, late night talks, loud singing in the car,  gyrating in a bar, not wanting the weekend to end....the list goes on and on.

This was the best 30th B'Day ever.....lmao

Below are some of the memories we captured.

B'Day Cake

FUN!!!

The drinks

Bhagi rice cook-up with pigtail and fried plantains

The Kimme Museum

Pink Salmon

Kiss cupcakes

FUN!!!!

The Pool

Beautiful sunset

How fun are your B'days?


Much love,

Cake

For the last two months, I have been totally obsessed with cakes. I've been looking for the perfect cake for my B'Day. The perfect cake to reflect my transition in to womanhood, my new found maturity, my femininity. 

In previous year I' have always organized my own B'Day cake, simply because I know what I like and what would make me happy on MY special day. I'm not really a cake person, but at the same time, my B'Day cake must look and taste good, I must be happy and excited about it. There this one place here in Trinidad that I always get cakes from, whether it be for me or someone else. The Kiss Baking Company has some of the best cakes ever (in my opinion). The texture is soooo soft and moist (one of the best cakes in my book). 

Over the years I've gone through some many cake phases that every B'Day was just something completely different. I've had the plain and marble cakes covered in fondant and royal icing, a cheesecake sampler and a double chocolate fudge. I've even had a frozen chocolate cake (I didn't think I would like it but it was surprisingly good). Last year, because I felt playful, I had a plain cake covered in blue fondant with two little yellow ducks at the top. It was extremely cute and I was extremely happy.

My 2011 B'Day Cake

This year I've decided to have two cakes. Because I plan to be out on the day of my B'Day,  with my girls having fun, I'm having cupcakes; and when the weekend fun is over I'll have my real B'day cake at my parent's home with my brothers.

The cupcakes would be from Kiss, but my friend's mom will be making the cake for me. It  would be an 8" by 6" tall, Pineapple  flavoured, pink royal icing swirled cake.  The swirl design is pictured below. (I'm very anxious about this cake)

Pink Swirl Cake 

I came across this design months ago on Hostess with the Mostess. Since then, I've been obsessed with it. I've looked at the photo of this cake every single day, I can't wait to see it materialize. 

Are you a cake person? Do you prefer cupcakes over normal cakes? Which do you prefer fondant, royal icing or butter cream? 

Much love,

A day at the laundromat

Sometime over the last two days, while I was at work, my washing machine died. I knew this was about to happen and have been begging him for a new one weeks now, but for some reason men like to wait till it isn't working any more.

So today I decided to try a laundromat. I've never been to one before, so this was definitely going to be a first time experience for me.

I packed all my dirty clothing, jumped in my car and made the 20 min drive to the laundromat. I got there, and apart from the owner (who was very busy looking after laundry others left to wash), there was one other person and myself there. I was thrilled about that, it meant I could use as many machines I need to cut down on the time I would be there.

It's not much to look at,
but it got the job done

As soon as I walked in, the other customer greeted me, she is one of the nicest persons I've ever met. She is an older woman who had just completed her wash, but was kind enough to stay back to explain to me about the machine sizes, how much clothing to put, how much detergent to use, time and cost. 

After she helped me set up my wash, we sat and talked. She told me she had just started coming there and that I was lucky that there weren't any other customers, because normally there are a lot of people there. She was so friendly and helpful. We shared some more small talk, a few laughs, and some chocolate covered rice snacks. She then informed me she had to go home to prepare lunch, so we wished each other safe and pleasant weekend, and she left.

That lady reminded me there are still nice people out there. The funny thing is we talked up a storm but never exchanged names.

It's extremely wonderful to me nice strangers. 

When last did you meet a nice stranger?

Much love,

Two Simple Words

Thank You!!!

These are two very simple words, but they mean a lot. Growing up,  saying thank you, please, may I, good morning, good evening, etc... Were some of the words our parents taught us. These were to groom us to become respectful, well mannered adults.

But for some reason as we grow old we forget how important these simple words are.

Gratitude demonstrates an appreciation for the kindness, benefits you have received, all the simple pleasures you were afforded in your life.

We tend to take for granted many things in our lives, our co-worker, our friends and mostly our families. The people that help make our days go by easier, persons who offer a shoulder to lean on and kind words.

This year I've made it a goal to be more grateful.

~ Thank You Mom & Dad for all the values you instilled in me and the support you give to me.

~ Thank You to my sibling who have given me fun times, straight talk and a whole lot of annoyance (love you guys).

~ Thank You to my 'Mr.' for the experiences he have given to me, the good times and the bad.

~ Thank You to all my friends who have been there in my times of need and and times of joy.

~ Thank you to my co-workers, taxi drivers, canteen staff and all the other people who I interact with on a daily basis, you guys make my day go by easier.

~ Thank You Lord for LIFE!!!

Do you demonstrate gratitude? What are you thankful for?

Mcuh love,

Kindness begets kindness

There is still kindness in the world.

Amidst all the anger and hatred in this world, there are still a lot of people who are kind to their fellow man.

Today I experienced kindness from others so many times that it lifted my spirits. I encountered all these uplifting experiences at various places, such as, at church, at the chicken depot, some random guy in the grocery, the guy packing my bags at the counter, the guy who sold me yams and sweet potatoes, a guy in the ATM, so many episodes of kindnees in one day are very rare. 

It reminds me of this video i saw a couple of weeks ago. Life Vest Inside

Kindness begets kindness

Be kind to another.

Much love,

Photo A Day Challenge January: Day 15

January 17 - 8:47pm - Mayaro

Happiness

After a feeding

This photo is a couple of days late because I was having some difficulty expressing happiness in a photo. I'm still a bit unsure but, last night, while visiting my friend and her new baby i felt happy (very simply put, I felt happy). The sight of them cuddling, playing and feeding made me happy. I smiled, I even wanted to cry a bit. My friend looked, happy and contented, her baby girl looked healthy, full of energy and eager to explore. I felt so happy that I could share in their life (plus babies are so darn cute).

Follow fatmumslim on her photo-a-day challenge.

Come back tomorrow.

Much love, 

Locked In

After a night shift, one of the most relaxing things for me is a stroll on the beach. To feel the early morning sun on my face, the coolness of the sand, the wind caressing my body and blowing through my hair, the coldness of the water against my feet, the smell of the ocean...

I'm always at peace when at the beach, especially early in the morning.

Sadly, this morning I was not so fortunate, as the gate to the beach was locked. But I still got to enjoy the wind and sun on my face, and the beautiful view.

Here are a few photos of the view

Hope you enjoyed the views a much as I do.

Photo a Day

Source: Fatmumslim

Come January 1st I'll be joining Chantelle of Fatmumslim and a few other bloggers in a photo a day challenge for the entire month of January.

I'm very excited about this challenge for two reasons:

 1. I love taking photos and

 2. I will be getting a new camera soon

You can join us and share in the fun. 

Post photos to Facebook, Twitter, your blog or where ever you choose.

Have a look at Fatmumslim to see the how to's of the challenge.

So stay tuned for the photos (I just hope I can keep up every day).

Much love

Busy as a Bee

The Christmas hustle and bustle has officially started for me, and I must say, there is no enthusiasm at all. There is cleaning, painting, shopping, packing and organizing to be done. 

These are some of the things I'm not to thrilled about doing, but guess what. I do it for my family, because come Christmas morning when I awake, all the hustle and bustle would have been wroth it.


Make the best of the season, and enjoy it.

The people who matter the most

Two Saturdays ago, I had the best ever weekend in a long while. I absolutely love, enjoy and cherish spending time with my family.

My family on my dad's side had a small family get together at my Grand-mom's house. She's our matriarch, a strong woman, a woman we deeply admire.

This side of the family is extremely large, so “small gatherings” aren't so small. My Grand mom had 12 kids, from whom she got 40 plus grand kids and a growing number of great grandchildren.

We also celebrated my mom's birthday as well; I must say she is aging gracefully.

Mom and me

We had a fun filled day with good food, homemade ice cream and a cooler of drinks.

My dad, as always being the center of attention, entertained us with endless stories from when they were younger. Coming to think of it, even though we've had endless family get-together's, we've never really heard the same story twice.

So while my dad entertained his siblings and the more mature folks downstairs, we the "young people" (average ages 18 to 35yrs) had some very simulating conversations in my Grand-mom's living room. The two which were the most enjoyable and knowledgeable were on Spirituality/Religion and roles of the husband vs. wife. There were differences in opinions and perspective and we shared stories to support our opinions. 

However the thing I admired the most is that we had these discussions without any anger or vexation towards one another for the differences in beliefs and opinions. We were respectful and open minded to the other's choices and views on the topics.

I must say that these conversations have been the most thought provoking I've had in a while and I'm proud of the way we handled it. It shows that we are maturing. We are no longer the Galera girls and boys; we are the Galera women and men. We are the third generation of Galera's and our name will remain strong for generations to come. We represent strength, intelligence and beauty.