Search Results for "day of the dead"

My sister was here in August so I was planning way ahead when I did this Day of the Dead sugar skull look. But it’s something that I really wanted to do with her since I saw her recreate the look I did for NBC Latino last year. There was no time better than the present.

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My Day of the Dead makeup certainly got more elaborate than it was last year! It was a whole family affair. And did I mention it was a lot of fun too? It’s really an awesome experience when you’re hanging out with your favorite people and creating art while listening to music. From going over ideas, buying makeup and dressing up — these a great things to do as a couple or a family.

Day of the Dead is a beautiful tradition that originated in Mexico and celebrates the lives of those who passed. I’m Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian so it’s not a tradition I grew up with nor did I really know about it until I moved to Los Angeles. The first time I’d heard of it was during a visit to my son’s kindergarten class. The children were making sugar skulls. Intrigued, I looked it up and immediately fell in love with its history and approach toward the idea of death, which completely differed from how it’s perceive in America.

Embracing this new tradition in my life, I think of my grandmother this time of year and how much she contributed to my life with her generosity and love. She’s always there watching over me and her grandson, who she got to see be born before she passed. That was an experience she always wanted. Her life is certainly one I celebrate, as she would have wanted me to. After all, in the 11 years she battled cancer, my grandmother stayed strong and lived life with passion.

If you’re celebrating Day of Dead this year, and would like to see a step by step makeup tutorial, I made two versions. One for guys and one for women!

So … I decided to do a recap of some of my blog’s highlights of 2013. It’s been a full year to say the least. I’ll try my best to be sum it up. My memory decided it was going to quit after I tried to overload it with dates and numbers, so they’re not in a strict order or anything.

I started off 2013 with a trip to Michigan with Ford, and had the best time ever (even though I got sick with a cold mid-trip). I got to visit the Henry Ford Museum , which houses the Kennedy car, Rosa Parks bus and Lincoln’s chair. One of the most unforgettable experiences I’ve had at museum.
My blog was given a facelift, and I started adding more style posts. Just for fun. I love clothes, accessories and all that good stuff. Little did I know that these pictures would open up a few new doors. Putting these images all together has given me lots of new ideas for 2014.
Ah, The MoMA. I went to NYC twice in 2013 (or was it once in the end of 2012?). It’s my hometown and I can never go without visiting at least one of my favorite museums. This particular trip was for the LATISM conference, which was held a few blocks away from MoMA at the Waldorf. We were working with our client  but during a lunch break I stopped by to see a few Pollocks and Cezannes.

I became a beauty blogger for Babble. Starting with my post about turning 40. Oh yes, I turned 40 is 2013 too!
This is from my trip to Miami. Part work, part fun. My boyfriend (who once lived in Miami) took me to Morakami in So. Florida. Beautiful place! He flew back here for a visit, and I took him to Huntington Gardens for Japanese Zen beauty. This was the last trip before he finally moved west.

A few months into working with Babble, I also started contributing to their Style Channel. I also wrote a few posts

Lots of cool art shows happened this year, like Hush. You can see more art stuff here.
My Day of the Dead posts were a lot of fun, and were featured on and NBC Latino.
And recently I was listed in Babbles 100 Best Blogs of 2013, which was truly an honor to be in such great company.

Putting these images together has given me lots of inspiration for the new year. In the beginning 2013, I had several goals for the blog but left room open to explore – some ideas worked, some didn’t. That’s the great thing about blogging. It’s just an organic process that just progresses through time. I’m super excited about 2014, and all that awaits! Here’s to a prosperous new year!

Inspired by all of the Day of the Dead and Halloween black and white face painting (especially for my son’s costume), I thought I would do a bit of nail art. I actually found that my hand did a lot of shaking when attempting to line my nail so I tried this design several times. The hat and gloves were from a Halloween party we went to the other day as a couple. Sadly, my picture did not come out very clear but it’s definitely a look I would love to re-create for the blog. But in the meantime, if you’d like to try this nail design, I posted a mini tutorial on Babble.

Last week we attended ¡Vivan Los Muertos! event at the Autry Museum, which is one of my favorite museums. I love their collection, and I guess being originally from the east coast, I find there’s so much to learn about California history – its origin and culture. Of course, you can’t talk about the history of California without celebrating its Mexican roots. You can’t honor Mexican tradition without including the Day of the Dead! I’ve been celebrating all month starting with this makeup tutorial (which was just featured on ) and this one and … I was also asked to do a tutorial for NBC Latino. You can see the full story HERE.

Tell me there’s going to be an Aztec procession, and I am there. After hosting a potluck, which by the way included a couple of my favorite food bloggers (post to come), I grabbed the hubby, my son , his friend and Vianessa, and headed out the door to The Autry. I’m not a huge Halloween person but I can definitely get down with Day of the Dead festivities. Music, guacamole, vibrant art, costumes, celebrating life and remembering the dead? Yes, yes, yes.

GUEST POST/PUBLISHED WORK

- Beauty and Style Contributor: Babble

- Lifestyle Contributor:

- The Sacred Feminine and BHLife: A Los Angeles Art Show - MomsLA 2012

- On-going CBS Best of Los Angeles 2012

- On-going Latina Bloggers Connect, 2011-

- Occasional contributor Spanglish Baby

- An interview with artist Jessica Lagunas in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month for Powerful Latinas, September 2011

- Featured Curator on Kirtsy September, 2011

- An Interview with artist Steve Espo Powers for Catalysis Projects, May 2011

- A Love Letter to my Mother for New Latina’s Mother’s Day Week, May 2011

- An interview with artist Ichiro Irie for Catalysis Projects, April 2011

- Avocado Takedown for Click Latina, April 2011

- Art exhibit: Noche Bohemia for Click Latina, November 2010

- Latinos Living the American Dream Red Carpet event for Click Latina, October 2010

- An interview with Gallerist Carlos Chavez-Andonequi for Click Latina, September 2010

Urban Art for LACMA’s Evening for Educators

INTERVIEWS/PRESS

- NBC Latino video – How to create a Day of the Dead look

- Buzzfeed –

- Interview at NBC Latino – 2011

- Interview at  Jes Sofia Says, April 2011

- Spotlight Artist at New Latina October, 2010

- Brown Betties Gazette

MainLine Today: 25 people to look out for

Keeping my weekly wrap-up promise. Except in this case I need to wrap up three weeks because it got so crazy around here. So. Hmmm, where to begin? How about with this plate of sausage and clams?

Not only did I go to BlogHer a few weeks ago to catch up with friends and colleagues, I also celebrated my birthday with my best friend of 31 years at Black Bird Tavern in San Jose. Actually, a few friends joined us for dinner, drinks and a bit of party time. The bestie lives up in San Jose working as a Forensic Scientist, and I wish I could see her more often. She is pretty much my other half. I mean, having a friend since the 5th grade doesn’t happen that often. My son and I miss her tremendously. In fact, he’s taking a trip up to see his Godmother in a couple weeks. While I was up in NoCal, he stayed here in LA with Kevin and embarked on a bit of guy time filled with super hero movies and a fun Ford Mustang Clay Model Event, where the guys got to see a live clay modeling demonstration.
Sports, cars and movies are on my son’s lists of interests. So much so, that he was hired to write about movies for my friend’s blog. He’s already written several posts and is working on two this weekend. I’m proud of him for taking his favorite topic and turning it into something productive. He still has much to learn about social media and how all this works, but I do feel he’s gained an understanding of what goes into telling a story about an experience, writing and meeting deadlines! (which is a bad word in teen speak). Ya, he’s only 14. But he’s very vocal and he’s a teen with lots of opinions … so this is a perfect age to teach him the power of his words and the responsibility of maintaining an editorial calendar, which helps him with organization and accountability – A skill that is so needed in high school. I just love watching him think about how to word a particular thought or concept, and then ask “hey mom, what do you think of this paragraph?” I’m all ears.

And this adorable little one is one of the reasons why it’s been extra busy. My sister. She’s visiting from South America and we’ve been dabbling in a bit of site-seeing, art projects, trips to the salon and lots of quality time. She was born in New York but raised in Ecuador in a city called Ibarra. Over the years, I’ve talked with her on the phone, Skype, Facebook and sent her her favorite clothes from the states. The distance hasn’t been easy for me after being there for her birth. She’s always on my mind. But now I have her here and I get to spoil her in person. This is also a great experience for my son, who uses a translation app to talk to her and likes to prepare milkshakes and grilled cheese sandwiches for their lunch. Even though she’s his aunt, he loves being more like a big brother. Somehow they make the communication work. In fact, they’re in the midst of a pillow fight right now so I don’t even know if this post is making any sense anymore. How my friends with multiple kids write several posts a day is beyond me! But I love it, and can’t get enough of their laughter.

Last week, I managed to get out for a few hours to check out Latino Fashion Week. This was the best picture I was able to get as I mostly shot short videos, I love, love, love Lazaro. I’ve admired his work for years. The fabrics, the drama, all of it … and to see his work live down the runway was breathtaking. We were invited by to capture the event. Tu Vida is a new app created by Latinos for Latinos and Latin culture aficionados and is designed in an “ask-and-answer” format so everyone can share what they’re up to with one another. My friends and I had a lot of fun navigating through the app while checking out the gowns we want to wear.

Welp, it looks like I’m going to need to wrap this up. The kids have been teaching each other tongue twisters in English and Spanish – Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal and Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers have been on repeat as I try this typing thing. Hope you guys have a great weekend. To stay in touch, follow us on . Until next week, muses!