Agradecida por muchas cosas y tu?

Hoy tomamos un momento en nuestras agendas ocupadas para dar gracias por todas las bendiciones en nuestras vidas. No puedo dejar de pensar en todas las bendiciones en mi vida.

Hoy estoy agradecida por mi Mami y mi hermana porque estamos con salud, juntas y felices en este día tan especial. Le doy las gracias a mi Papa que sin él no sería quien soy hoy.

Aquí va mi lista, nadie esta fuera intencionalmente…

Gracias a Joe Llamas, mi socio de negocios por tu apoyo… pero sobre todo por creer en mí. 

Carlos Platero Jr., te has convertido en una persona muy importante para mí. Gracias por ser asombroso, chistoso, agradado con el micrófono pero sobre todo por ser un gran amigo!

Antonio Warren, Gerente General de Radio Mujer Internacional, FM 95.1 Austin. Gracias por la oportunidad de tener un show en Radio Mujer, y mi nueva carrera, nunca me imaginaria que estuviera en el radio y ahora no puedo ver mi vida sin el radio. Gracias!

Agradecida por la oportunidad que nos dio Austin Film Festival por dar a Chica About Town acceso a la alfombra roja y entrevistar a todos los actores, escritores y directores de todas las películas en el festival.

Agradecida por todos mis amigos y amigos por todo el apoyo este año, hay muchos para nombrar pero ustedes saben quién son. Los quiero mucho por ser animadores, confidentes, socios en nuestros crímenes,  pero sobre todo por siempre escuchar. Ya saben que me gusta hablar!

Feliz día de acción de gracia! Les deseo muchas bendiciones a ustedes ye sus seres queridos!

Salud!

Chica 

What are you thankful for?

As we all pause out of our busy schedules and take a day to give thanks for the many blessings in our lives, I can’t stop thinking about all the many blessings in my life.

Today I am thankful for my Mom and sister, who are happy and healthy and we are together on this special day. I am thankful for my Father, without him I would not be who I am today.

So here goes my list, no one is left out intentionally….

Thank you to Joe Llamas my business partner, your support means more than you know… most of all because you believe in me.

Carlos Platero Jr., wow you have become someone so important in my life. Thank you for being an amazing, funny, taking the microphone co-host but even more for being a great friend.

Antonia Warren, GM, Radio Mujer International FM 95.1, Austin. Thank you for the opportunity to have a new career,  I never would  have thought I would be on the radio… and now I can’t even think of not being on the radio. THANK YOU!

Grateful to the Austin Film Festival for giving Chica About Town, red carpet access to all the films at your festival this year. It was an amazing time, and we loved interviewing the cast, writers and directors of all the films!

Thankful for all my friends who have been so supportive this year… too many to name but you know who you are. I love you all, thank you for being cheerleaders, confidants, partners in crime, and most of all listeners. Because you know I can talk….

Happy Thanksgiving! Many blessings to you and your loved one’s on this special day!

Cheers,

Chica 

Time... Are you spending it wisely?

“Time”

When I think about “time” I think it is something so precious, there is never enough of it; “time” can fly by in the blink of an eye. So I wonder why so many of us spend “time” on things we don’t love or necessarily care about.  And why do we do it? Is the secret to true happiness in the “time” we spend on things we love or don’t love?  

When I was a little girl visiting my grandmother in Monterrey, Mexico, I used to sit and tell her I couldn’t wait to grow up and be on my own.  I wanted to travel the world, fall in love, and have kids and most of all I wanted to work. I am sure there is something very wrong with the last part of that sentence. She would tell me “Mija you need to enjoy your childhood every moment is precious, new and full of hope. Once you grow up “time” will fly so fast you won’t enjoy your life as much as you can when you are young.”

One thing I can say for sure is Grandmothers, and Mothers are very wise. Now I wish I was back in Monterrey playing with my cousins and enjoying my childhood. Telling my cousins and my family I love them and value the time we spend together.

Today my life is full of appointments, meetings, events, events and more events. Now don’t get me wrong I love my life but the lack of “Time” got me thinking…. This happens every once in a while you know the “thinking” part.

In a blink of an eye the day is gone.  So I ask myself did I spend my “time” wisely? Did I reach out to people I love and tell them I loved them? Did I make a difference in the world? Did I change someone’s life by offering them assistance, advice or my time and just listened to them? Did I spend my “time” doing the things I love?

“Time” is precious; make sure you spend it with the people you love doing the things you love. Don’t give your “time” to anything or anyone that isn’t making a positive impact in your daily life. “Time” and life go together.

If you are making a lot of money but don’t have “time” to enjoy it… Then what is the point? Money is fluid it comes and goes but “time”… once it is gone you can’t recover it.

Spending “time” with the right person can make “TIME” stand still…..spending “time” in the right job can make your life worthwhile.

Cheers,

Chica

Can I talk???

Someone asked me if I could talk about Austin for about 30 minutes…. I giggled and said “of course I can talk about Austin… I can talk about just anything for 30 minutes” the question is would anyone listen. Most of the time if I am talking no one can get a word in edgewise. My love of reading has become a love of writing…. Which I think goes hand in hand with speaking.  

When I first moved to Austin in 1997, I moved here kicking and screaming. I am a big city girl, born in Brooklyn, I have lived in places like Dallas, Houston and Mexico City. Austin was a small town when at that time you could cross the city in 15-20 minutes in your car. There was no Neiman Marcus, and hardly a mall, well if you could call Highland Mall a shopping mall. And what the heck was a Mopac? Mainly a college town it sure has changed since 1997. 

And then just like that, in one week I fell in love…status quo… I am a passionate person so I always do things 150%! Bam just like that I fell in love with this amazing city I love to call the Oasis of Texas. I have seen it change and grow, some good some bad and yet even when I am wondering why the freeway is packed at 1:00 in the afternoon I am still happy I live in the most wonderful city in the US. 

There isn’t a weekend that can’t be spent at a festival, or just enjoying our beautiful hill country, lakes, and rivers. Amazing restaurants, and of course live music, which is what we are known for. I have since long forgotten the passion I held for my hometown where I actually grew and wondered how did I not want to live here in Austin. I pride myself in holding fast to Keeping Austin Weird, thank you for reading and listening and I hope to see you “About Town.” 

So here we are at another growth phase of our venture “Chica About Town’s podcast”… So I hope that you are reading and now listening as we launch our new podcast. Stay tuned for a launch date. 

Cheers,

 Chica,

Tall. Grande or Venti?

Tall, Grande, or Venti, Dark and Smooth… delish!

I love coffee…I mean I love it just as much as I love wine and that says a lot... Wine is another story.

I love the smell of coffee brewing, it brings to mind a time when I was little girl and would visit my grandmother in Mexico. I remember my grandmother making coffee and all of our family sitting in the kitchen having sweet bread and grandmother making homemade tortillas. It was not unusual for us kids to be drinking coffee right along with the adults. The question becomes, why in the world were we drinking coffee at the age of 5? I must ask my grandmother. Café con leche… that is how I like my coffee, strong with cream and stevia.

Now don’t get all up in arms when I say one of my favorite coffee shops is Starbucks. I can’t help it. I like the taste of the coffee from Starbucks and trust me I have gone to locally owned coffee shops but I always go back to Starbucks. My favorite time of year is when the red cups come out. I don’t know if it’s because I love the holiday season but those red cups make me happy! Just thinking the red cups are coming out soon makes me feel giddy…. Or maybe it’s the venti cup of coffee I just drank.

My daily routine is grabbing my Starbucks on my way to work. Here are few things I love about going to get my Starbucks aside from the delicious coffee. I have 3 Starbucks locations that I go to depending on where I am going. The baristas at all three locations have gotten to know me and they know what I drink. They even recognize me when I go through the drive thru. It makes me feel good to know that “my” barista has taken the time to get to know me and ask questions about my life. Sometimes I go there twice a day depending on the day I am having. It’s a place to people watch so many stories happening, so many lives made a little happier with a great cup of coffee. I have run into friends, met new friends, got a date, and been on a date…the writing possibilities are endless.  

Taking my first sip of coffee in the morning I close my eyes and can see all my family in my grandmother’s kitchen passing sweet bread, talking over each other and my grandmother making her delicious tortillas and kids running everywhere. My grandmother still lives in her house in Monterrey, México. Family, memories, childhood, these are the things that shape us… treasure the good times. 

Cheers,

Chica 

I am a writer!

When I was six years old my grandmother bought me a book in Spanish. I didn’t even read Spanish; but I quickly learned. We were on our way to Mexico City to see my grandfather. He was an engineer on the train and my grandmother would take me with her to all the beautiful cities in Mexico. My love of reading and traveling started at the young age of six. I loved the cities they would take me to, San Miguel de Allende, Guadalajara, San Luis Potosi, Guanajuato so many beautiful places in Mexico. My favorite to this day is Mexico City. But that is another story.

 I would spend every opportunity reading books whether I was on a train, plane, car or traveling with my family I always had a book in my hand. I would lose myself in the stories; I would become the heroin, the princess, the girl that solved mysteries and always the girl that saved the dog.

I loved the written word and was impressed by a writer’s skill for storytelling. Deep down I always wanted to be a writer but never thought I could possess the ability to write. I was awed by the writings of Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Judy Blume, Steven King, James Patterson, and many more. I didn’t have one favorite writer they were all my favorite. One year I read over 149 books in a school year. I was given an award created just for me because I had read so many books and no student had ever read that many. It is still an award given today to kids who read books and are able to pass a test to ensure they actually read the book and comprehended it.

I still love reading and can read in a car, plane, train or bus and can completely lose myself in the story I am reading; five years ago I decided I wanted to become a writer. I wrote a short story but I only let one person read it. They actually liked it and suggested I send it in to a magazine for publishing…but I was afraid.

It is with such unimaginable excitement that today I am launching my blog Chica About Town and I am officially a writer/blogger. So you see we can each write our stories in life and it’s never too late to make your dreams come true: so start a new career, become an entrepreneur or conquer your fears. Look at me finally doing what I always wanted to do.

I am a Latina, I am Chica About Town and I am a writer.

Thanks for following! What is your dream?

Cheers, 

Chica