more than words - literally!

PHOTO BY DEVIN WILSON

Today's challenge topic is: a vivid memory. Oh, how I have so many delightful memories of my life - living in England, Brazil, and the States... However there is a BIG one that means so much to me and, no matter how it happened, it will always be one of the most important moments in my life: the moment Chris and I said "I do". 

I really don't think any of us know what our life will be after we get married - at least I didn't. Most of the time we imagine that marriage is magical because we now have someone special by our side to go through life with. Not that this isn't true, however there are so many other special things that happen after you make this huge commitment to your significant other. The challenges you go through together in the first few years of marriage, may seem difficult but trust me, it will be worth it! After that you will no longer be able to see yourself without one another and will have the strength to fight together whatever comes your way. 

Anyway... the moment. Yes, I was a nervous wreck and could barely keep myself from bursting out in tears (I'm a cry baby). I remember the entire ceremony just saying these words to myself: keep it together. you can do this! Of course there is only so much you can contain yourself from doing, and I am not the best at restraining myself from showing my emotions... Sure thing, I couldn't hold my tears much longer and they busted out loud in.... laughter! I swear I'm not kidding. I do tend to laugh when I'm nervous, so that is my explanation to the whole thing. 

I am glad people laughed a little, as did Chris, and the ceremony continued... with the vows. Even though I was very embarrassed by the whole situation, it worked out well. After letting all the emotions out, I was able to, sensibly, say my vows out loud :) Even though it was kind of embarrassing at first, it was typical Mariana, and I knew that the people present loved me for who I am. And as of Chris, well he has seen his share of Mariana moments... and knew exactly what he was getting himself into.  

What about you? Anything you vividly remember? Please do share - I would love to hear all about it! 

Here is to a lovely weekend ahead filled with sunshine, pools, and adult beverages! 

xoxo,

m

sometimes all you can do is let go...

I am back to the Blog Everyday in May challenge! And today the topic is: Letting go... I sure have a few things on my list that I would love to get rid of - personality wise - however, I will focus on one little thing that I have been working on changing as of lately.

Control. One word that holds me down and makes me crazy. If I had to pick one great flaw in my personality this would definitely be it. I hold the weight of the world on my shoulders, and sometimes I wish I could just let go. Most of the time responsibility gets the best out of me and it takes away all my sweet smiles... I take it upon myself to control life - mine and other peoples - and if it ends up not working out exactly the way I planned it (which most of the time it doesn't), I freak out! Freaking out involves, no sleep, countless stomach aches, and crazy attitude towards everyone around me (sorry Chris!). 

Not a very fun situation to be in, right? In the past year, this has happened a handful of times (more that I care to count), and I have learned that this is not the way to live life. How crazy is it that we think we can control life? As if every little thing that happens around us can be predicted... No way this could EVER happen that's for sure. Therefore, I have decided to embrace life as it comes - as crazy and stressful as it can be - and let go! 

Letting go, will allow me to enjoy the present more and not live counting down the seconds for the future. Be happy with what I have accomplished so far and not frustrated that I am not where I imagined I would be. And most of all, it will bring back my playfulness and allow me to be the outgoing person that I love being!  

What would you let go?

xoxo,

m      

                                                 

simply smile

Happy Tuesday lovely friends! We are almost half way done with the week and the Blog Everyday in May challenge. Today's theme is 10 things that make me happy. This is an easy and colorful one! 

Enjoy...

1. Fresh flowers

2. A clean house

3. Gold accessories

4. A toast with dear friends

5. Mindless chit-chats with loved ones

6. Cuddles in bed 

7. A perfectly set table

8. Color and good type

9. Eating a healthy home cooked meal

10. Endless hugs!!! 

How about you - what makes you smile? Is it a familiar smell, a simple phone call, or a comfortable bed filled with love and cuddles?     

xoxo,

m

p.s: picture taken by the very talented Devin Wilson

dear neighbors, i am sorry.

Day 13 of the challenge! Here we go... Issue a public apology. Since this has been a pretty frustrating day for me, I decided to write my apology in a funny way. I did not feel like dragging a long and emotional "I'm sorry" letter to a long lost friend, family member or lover.  

I will address this letter to my downstairs neighbors. I do not have any right now, but have in the past. Therefore this letter is to them.... 

"Dear downstairs neighbors,

I am sorry. 

Sorry if I have ever woke you up in the wee hours of the morning, or the night with my elephant style "stomping". 

Sorry that even though I am only 5'1", when I walk it seams like it is a 200 pound women instead. I do not mean to walk that loud and even though I try to make my way lightly and smoothly through our apartment, it most likely will not make a difference. 

Please note that you are not the first person to feel irritated by this fact. My husband can never seem to wrap his head around the fact that I am that loud and my family... well, let's just say somethings are hereditary! (I get it from my momma...) 

Maybe one of these days we can grab a cuppa coffee and you can get to know the sweet and petite side of me!

Sincerely,  

Mariana" 

Ha! I wish I could actually send this little note, since I am very aware of how loud I am and how I probably irritate everyone that has ever lived one floor down from me. 

xoxo,

m

p.s: picture taken by the very talented Devin Wilson (our wedding day).

10 words

Hello lovelies! I have been sooooo lazy lately (seriously!). I think this might be the first weekend in about two months that I have absolutely nothing to do for school.... and we all know what that means: I am not doing anything else either ;) 

However, I need to get back on track with this Blog Everyday in May thing... so here we go: Describe yourself in 10 words... Oh gosh, this will be interesting! 

Hope you are having an incredible weekend and that you are lucky enough to be hugging your lovely mommas. And if you are interested in getting to know me a little bit more go here and here.

xoxo,

m

one sweet and simple moment

Day 9: A moment in your day. It did not take me long to think about this one... It was just last week that a sweet and simple moment happened in my life. 

Chris got a job to film a commercial for a resort in the mountains and asked if I wanted to join him. At first, my response was obviously no... He would be working all day and what the hell would I do for 24 hours BY MYSELF? However, the more I thought about it, the better the idea sounded. We had a free place to stay and I would have the entire day to lounge around and enjoy the lake view (did I mentioned there was a pool??). 

The day ended up being wonderful. I went for a morning run, ate lunch outside on the patio, and went for a late afternoon swim. What a sweet moment it was. Even though it was only one day, I came back refreshed and ready to take on life. 

Have you ever experienced a getaway with no one else but yourself? If yes, please do share... I would love to hear where you ended up.

xoxo,

m

p.s: check out the challenge here!

p.p.s: while I was writing this post it took me back to my very first post (sigh!) here. 

afraid of

Oh my! I have reached day 7 of the challenge...Thanks for following on and leaving such sweet comments. 

The question today is What am I most afraid of. Kind of a scary question itself right? I think so... I started reading a few of the other blogger's post and it all seemed pretty accurate to me. Some said they were scared of cockroaches, others of tsunamis... and a lot were describing their fear of loosing loved ones. I can agree on every single item of their lists! After reading a hand full I couldn't help but wonder, am I really THAT afraid of every single thing in life?? I may be exaggerating here, however I did realize that life itself is a pretty scary thing. Don't ya think? All the little challenges, the responsibilities, pressure... Oh man! I don't see a tiny cockroach beating that... 

Even though I am very afraid of life, I am absolutely, ultimately in love with it! It fills me up, it brings me strength, it teaches me to be a better and stronger person, and sometimes out of nowhere it delivers sweet gifts to my doorstep. 

PHOTO TAKEN BY MY LOVELY HUSBAND CHRIS HODGES

How about you are you scared of that beautiful blue sky? :) Or just spiders, horses, cows, garbage disposal (yes, ma'am! I think I can write a whole new post on this one)...

xoxo,

m

dream a little dream

Hello and Happy Monday bloggers! Today is Day 6 of the Blog Every day in May challenge (yes, I know I kind of ignored yesterdays post, but come on it WAS Sunday and all I wanted to do was watch Mad Men). However, today I am back and the question for this post is: "If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question 'what do you do?' "

This totally relates to my last post. I have always been a creative person, but I was always all over the place. The joke in my family is "what will Mariana want to do next." I have always wanted a bit of everything and I don't think my perfect job actually exists... Anyway, I managed to go from a Literature major to Publishing and now I have found myself in Marketing. Not sales, but a more creative side to Marketing.  This surely does represent my love for design, print and web media, and everything that goes into consumer engagement.  

I think that I am far from having a perfect job and career, however I am a dreamer and I am sure that eventually everything will come together in perfect grace. "Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy." {Sigmund Freud}

xoxo,

m

I didn't always know

Day 4 of the Blog Every Day in May challenge: Favorite quote!

This is definitely my favorite quote ever! I have always had so many dreams and it has always been hard to focus on one specific... therefore this quote represents everything that I am! On my every first post (here) I talked about how easy it is to trace the common path in life and base your life decisions on it. However sometimes there are moments in life where you stop and look back and realize that maybe it is okay to get lost for a little while or deviate from the beaten path if that means you are after something greater. Something that will bring you happiness and complete you as a person. This might just be the moment when you connect to who you really are and have the opportunity to be the person you have always wanted to be! 

What is your favorite quote? 

Happy Saturday friends. 

xoxo,

m

friday awkwardness

Happy Friday Bloggers!! This past month, I joined the Better Blogger Network and so far it has been amazing. I have interacted with so many other bloggers and today I stumbled upon this blog post. It is a challenge... and I have decided to take it! I will be blogging everyday this month (maybe I am crazy, but right now it seems doable..). I am a tad bit behind so even though this is day 1 for me, I will follow the challenge...

Day 3: "things that make you uncomfortable".

PICTURE TAKEN BY MY LOVELY HUSBAND CHRIS HODGES

Oh, this is a hard one... You would think that as soon as someone asks you this question you would have a list pop up in your head with every single thing that makes you uncomfortable, right?! NO. It was pretty hard to come up with this one... One thing that I can say makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable is being hot. You know when the humidity is unbearable and the sensation you have is that you are melting like a Popsicle? Yep! I hate it and on a day such as this you will find me laying on a couch somewhere in the air conditioning - and I will not move. at all! 

Another thing that makes me extremely uncomfortable (and I have a hard time admitting it) is when someone I do not know that well is feeling sick and I am next to them... I don't know why but I feel awful and I never know how to react. My first instinct is to get as far as possible... Pretty bad, right? For some reason, I get nervous and I panic. So, beware... If you ever feel sick around me I will most likely step away from the situation. (hehe) I promise I will get help though!  

Okay, friends, that is all for now! You are more than welcome to join the fun... Tell me what makes you uncomfortable! I promise I will not judge... Come back tomorrow for more "blog every day in may" challenge. 

xoxo,

m