2009 July |

Pevonia Botanica GIVEAWAY!

07/30/2009 By Jessie Leave a Comment

Are you looking for natural products that won’t break your skin out? Pevonia Botanica may be just right for you.

Pevonia Botanica is a natural skincare brand for women and men of all ages and ethnicity and for the next two weeks you can enter to win a Skincare Solution Kit, valued between $39-$58, by visiting Ms.Latina’s – Latina on a Mission site and following the entry rules before participating.

Pevonia Botanica is giving a skincare kit to one of Ms. Latina’s readers! What’s even better is that the winner will get to choose which Skincare Solution Kit they want to receive!

Remember, the contest closes on August 10th, 2009 and you must complete the entry rules in order to be considered.

Good Luck!

Filed Under: Reviews & Giveaways Tagged With: giveaway, Pevonia Botanica

Life’s Intricacies

07/24/2009 By Jessie 2 Comments

As the anniversary of my father’s death looms near, I still can’t believe it’s been 19 years. Nineteen years since I saw him laying in a casket, being 12 years old and not really fully understanding how my life had changed and how it was going to continue to transform.

Every year that goes by I tend to get down and out and thinking about everything that I did not get to share with him. Granted he was not the best father and I knew that way back then, but feel that there could’ve been hope, hope that that would have changed.

I can’t help but think of all the things that have happened in my life since I was twelve and so much that was not shared. He’s missed me growing up, graduate, get married, have a son and most importantly just be plain happy.

I often think back at the night my mother received the phone call from a detective informing her that the bodega that my father went to buy (those damn) cigarettes was held up and how he was caught in the cross fire. I remember her falling to her knees and begin to cry – I could not even begin to imagine what she was going through or how she was going to break the news to my older brother who was spending the summer with family.

How do you cope with such a loss?

How do you make your children stronger individuals at the face of such tragedy?

How is a child expected to cope with such a thing and fully understand that life as they know it will never be the same?

I am a firm believer of everything happening for a reason but for the life of me don’t understand how causing a child such pain and trauma would be a good thing. I understand that adversity makes you stronger, but it doesn’t make you immune to tragedy, pain and grief.

Another year comes and goes and the emotions are still raw, my feelings beyond exposed and the connection to a man that for a kid of 12 years old barely knew, still run deep.

Filed Under: Family & Living Tagged With: Children, emotions, Family & Living, feeling, tragedy

Reality Bites

07/20/2009 By Jessie 1 Comment

My goodness it’s been a while. I have been MIA from the blogosphere over the past few weeks to ‘find myself’.

Since my last post, I was feeling great, was faced with a fantastic career opportunity to showcase my skills as a leader and was ready to take the bull by the horns.

But something happened, something that I did not intend to happen – my mind started playing tricks on me.

Over the past few weeks I have felt beyond overwhelmed. I began feeling like I was losing a sense of who I was, felt like I was crawling out of my own skin. Everything was getting to me, being a wife, mother, homemaker, dog owner, everything. The identify that had been my own for the past 31 years was slowly ceasing to exist and morphing me into someone that I was no longer recognizing.

I began feeling disconnected from reality. I was questioning my every move, rating myself as a wife and doubting my parenting skills, as a result of all this I began suffering from insomnia (and it was not a pretty picture).

I knew that I needed to stop and get a hold of myself. I needed to put things into perspective and see things for what they were not for how they could be.

I needed to find my inner peace, find my true self again. In order to do this I decided to consult with some friends, moms, which through conversation made me realize that I was 1. not losing my mind, 2. not the only one going through this mental debacle and most importantly, 3. not a disappointment to myself, husband or son.

Motherhood is a transition that as far as I could remember has not been written in any mommy books. No one tells you of the possible emotional effects that you may have as a new parent based decisions made. For me becoming a mom wasn’t the difficult part, it the transition from becoming a working woman to a stay-at-home mom that has taken a toll on my being.

I was feeling disconnected from the real world, was lacking that adult conversation/interaction that as humans we all crave and need. With that, I decided to create my own sanctuary, meet with friends, talk to them regularly and most importantly, take time out for myself. As a mother that is the one thing that most of us do not do and is the one thing that we need to make sure that we do, do.

So as time passed and after assessing my life and everything around me, I have to say that I have been truly blessed. I am happy with the life that I have, am ecstatic about the great husband, beautiful little boy in my life and for every single opportunity put before me and with that I began getting myself back on track.

Back on track to once again being that strong, vibrant, funny (if I must say so), enthusiastic woman, wife and mother.

Anyone, who feeling overwhelmed should take a deep breath and talk to someone. Someone you trust, value and will support you through it all.

Filed Under: Family & Living Tagged With: emotions, Family & Living, feelings

Recognition

07/03/2009 By Jessie 6 Comments

I wanted to take some time out from writing about mommy hood to give thanks to those Latinos who via twitter or other forms of social media, I have gotten to know and who have inspired me and make me even prouder to be Latina.

There are many more Latinos that are great and provide me with inspiration on a daily basis that I did not mention (by not listing them does not mean that I think any less of them).

RamonBNuezJr., (@ramonbnuezjr) my rock, my inspiration (also loving husband), the one who got me hooked on Social Media by keeping me ‘always connected’

Ms. Latina – (@MsLatina) my friend, fellow New Yorker, stong and empowering Latina. The first to read and comment on my blog. Giving positive feedback when I needed it and showing me that you can do it all and still live a Latinalicious life!

Mamá Contemporanea, (@Mcontemporanea) the first all Spanish blog full of resources and information for Latinos. The one who motivativated me to translate my thoughts to all Latinos.

Modern Mami – (@modernmami), another strong, powerful Latina that shows that chieving a work-life balance and being successful is possible.

Julio Varela, known to the twitterverse as @julito77, the king of #vivaviernes, providing us with insightful information using his marketing expertise.

TargetLatino, (@targetLatino), an expert in Latino marketing, showing the world the impact/power that Latinos have in the U.S.

LatinaPrPro, (@Latinaprpro), is an inspirational Latina, providing media and marketing strategies to make things happen.

Raul Ramos, (@RaulRamos), an award winning author sharing his compelling thought provoking stories with the world

Spanglish Baby, (@spanglishbaby)shows how we need to keep our culture and heritage alive by providing our children with the necessary resources to make them proud to be Latino/a

Cuponeando, (@cuponeando)an all Spanish site providing Latinos with resources to save money during these tough times. Showing that we can live a great life on a budget.

Mama Latina, (@mamalatina)providing daily bilingual tips and provide information for parents to think outside the box.

Urban Jibaro, (@urbanjibaro) showing that Latinos can do anything if they put their minds to it. An inspirational Latino letting the world know that we are here to share our heritage and culture with the world.

KellyMullaney, (@KellyMullaney), specializing in web design and multimedia – proving that Latina women can be successful in what was once a male dominated industry.

Mami2Mommy, (@mami2mommy), a hardworking Latina mother sharing her motherhood tales via her passion for writing.

James Rivera (@JamesatBabySpot) & ZameerUpadhya (@babyspotceo) from BabySpot, BabySpot Latino. Providing parents a place to call their own and for providing me with a great inspiration, tenacity and a fantastic opportunity!

These are strong upstanding Latinos who are leaving their mark and letting others know that Latinos can do anything and be great at it!

Yes we can!

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Latinos, people, pride, recognition, success