We are home

I can't believe it we are finally home! We are very jetlagged, tired and confused..hahahah..we had a great trip but now its back to reality.. I don't have much energy to write much today so I will leave you with the pictures of our trip..

You can click on the ONLINE PHOTO ALBUM and click on miami trip feb 08 or simply click HERE to view all the pictures.

Travel issues on our last day

I don´t want any laughter after you read this!!!! Here goes...

We were to leave Miami on Thursday February 14th Valentines Day..by the way happy love day to all.. our flight was scheduled for 5 30 pm on American Airlines..hahahahahahaa.. we got to the airport at 2 30 pm with plenty of time to spear.. we wait in line to check in for one hour an a half, when we got to the counter the guy if tells me that if I would have read my itenarary correctly I would have seen that the American flight was operated by Iberia and that I should hurry up and get there before its too late........

We run as fast as we possibly can, with 6 pieces of luggage, 4 hand luggage, coats, running people over and dragging the kids ..literally dragging them through the entire airport.. we get to Iberia and there is no line so I think , thank God...we get up to the counter and show my paperwork.. the lady looks at it and gives me a funny look.. she walks away and comes back to tell me.. maamm..your flight is for tomorrow..the flight today is booked but maybe you can run back to American and see if they could help you.....

We run as fast as we possibly can...(pretty much read the pragraph above but the other way) hahaha.. we get to the American counter and I go back to the same guy and tell him.. if you would have read my paperwork right it would have told you that our flight was for tomorrow.. but please, please.... please.. can you book us on todays flight...I begged and begged and explained that if I had to call my dad and tell him to come pick us up he would kill me....

To make a long story short.. we are in Madrid..we had a great flight.. we are very tired but we made it. Matt will pick us up tomorrow and we should be in Alicante by Sunday...

picture flckr

The trouble with passports

Don´t know where to even begin with this one.. It all started last Thursday the day before we were to leave for Madrid, I realized that Marco´s American passport was expired and freaked out but thought ok, no problem I will renew well not really re new but get the new digital Spanish passport needed to travel..We all had to get up extra early to go to the passport office to renew and when our turn comes around (after a couple of hours waiting) I´m told I need his original birth certificate from Spain, I explain I have the American original since that is where he was born!! I did have a photo copy of a literal paper from Madrid stating he was a legal Spanish citizen but they said that was not valid!! After arguing for a while the very nice man let it slide!! Thank God right...




WRONG... when we get to the airport on Monday morning (I will write another post about the Madrid weekend) We were right on time, everything was going soo smoothly that for a second I thought.. everything is going way to smooth, something will happen.. and as we are being interrogated by the little robots of American Airlines, I´m told that Marco and Isabella need to fly with their American Passports because they are American..When I explain Marco´s passport is expired.. they are not to happy and call the American Embassy, which tells them to tell me that I must renew before flying!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so Im, having a heart attack and thinking this can´t be happening to me..but there was nothing they could do, they kindly booked us on the flight for the next day and said I should go to the American Embassy right away... I decided I should call them to find out what I needed.. Thank God I had brought Marco´s original birth certificate, because I was planning to re new his passport in the states.. they tell me all I needed was the old passport, the original birth certificate, 2 pictures and my husband!! ok, wait a minute my husband is in Alicante.. hahahahaa.. well, they said his choice is to either get to Madrid or to Valencia before 2 pm.. Lets just say Matt was not very happy when I woke him up and told him to get his ass out of bed and drive all the way to Valencia to sign some sort of authorization paper..

At the American embassy, entering is entering the freaking white house, they take all electronics away from you and literally search every part of you.. I didn´t have a phone to contact Matt, so I filled out all the necessary paperwork and had to just sit there looking at the clock and hope that Matt would make it before 2 pm... at 1 50 I was given the passport!!!

WE are in Miami right now.. safe and sound.. we are leaving for Disney in a little while so I will write more when we get back..


A mis amigos de habla española, nos vamos a disney en unos minutos y no me da tiempo de traducir.. podeis usar un traductor online come ESTE para que os ayude.. os prometo que cuando tenga mas tiempo escribire en español..

fotos flickr

We are off.....

Ok, this is the last post from Spain. We are leaving tomorrow morning to Madrid then on Monday off to Miami!! packing almost done..check...tickets in hand..check..passports...check...kids medicine to knock them out in the plane...check!!!!!

Once in the U.S I will write a couple of blogs in Spanish for my Spain friends we leave behind and want to hear all about our trip..

Nothing left to say here..

pick thanks to Djo's in flckr

Two days away from travel and nothing packed

I don't even really have time to write this post and it will be short at that. I'm freaking out, I have sooooooo much to do and no time to do it in.. I need to finish the laundry, figure out what to pack for Madrid (freezing cold) and Miami (probably nice and warmer).

The kids are so excited they don't even know what to do...Isabella tried to help me pack and took all her clothes and put them in the suitcase!!! I'M NO KIDDING!! ALL HER CLOTHES!! (SHOES INCLUDED), guess I don't need to pack for her now...

Ok, I will try to post tomorrow if not i will when we get to Miami..

picture thanks to flckr

In Miami one week from today

I truly almost forgot the date and when my mom called me this weekend to ask me how the packing was going, I said to her, "From Paris? I was only there for a day Mom" and she said, "Not Paris, you idiot for Miami" and that is when it hit me that in about a weeks time I would be off to visit my friends and family..

I have so much to do, and I really have until Friday because we are leaving right after work to spend the weekend in Madrid, since we leave from there on Monday. We are going to take advantage and see the Beauty and the Beast musical while we are there..The kids are very excited.. well , I think I'm more excited than they are.

I hope I will be able to see all of you there. Margie, are you ready for Disney?, Ana Marie, I don't have your phone number I know you have given it to me on numerous occasions, please do so again, Tom and Wanda, you lost souls I hope you re appear, Alberto and Patricia, I know you will make time to come see us, Ana can't wait to see the little new one, Leonor we will need to catch up.

Here are the details we get there Monday February the 4th, we will probalby be exhausted. I think the next day we will go up to WPB to visit Tony and family and also Evelyn will there from LA, Wed afternoon we leave for Disney and will be back on Sat, Sun the 10th is Tristan's Baptism after that we are pretty much free, so please call me to book some time. I will not have a car and will not be able to get around, so I hope you can all pass by my dads house at the beach.

Can't wait to see everyone there..

photo thanks to bridgepix

My day in Paris with Passionata

I'm still trying to recover from my very mini trip to Paris last Thursday. After years of dreaming with Paris, all of a sudden I found myself there. Although it was only for one day it was an experience I will never forget.
My bosses very nice people!!! allowed me to go to an event for the lingerie line called Passionata. I had to wake up at 4:30 am to catch a 6:30 flight that would take me to Madrid then run around the Madrid airport for more that half an hour, trying to figure out where the hell I was going to finally catch the Paris flight. I was very calm, and I'm still not sure why.

Once in Paris I was picked up in a Mercedes and taken to a very chic restaurant which happened to be in walking distance to the Eifel Tower.. I met other bloggers in my field and I was sat in a table with the Italian bloggers because there was no room in the Spanish blogger table.. We had a great lunch and wonderful conversation..hahhahaa.. ok, they had a great conversation among themselves as I just sat there nodding at everything they said.. I still think they thought I understood what they were saying..but I just kept thinking.I'm in Paris, I'm in Paris..

We then walked over to the crazy horse a sort of burlesque type cabaret bar, a famous landmark in Paris. There we sat down to watch the show..I sat very close to the stage and I'm still not sure if this was good or bad. We were all expecting to see the top models of Paris strutting their stuff, showing us all the different types of lingerie Passionata had to offer. But instead we were offered an erotic, sensual show that took my breath away.. I actually saw more than I wanted to see but they sure got the point across. IF you wold like to see part of the show just go to passionata show and register they will send you a login and password and you will see what I'm talking about.

Once the show ended we were free to venture around the streets of Paris for an hour.. I didn't see much but just walking around the streets, was awesome.On the way back home my flight was late and I didn't get home until 1 am.. tired, excited and wanting more..

Starting the New Year

It is only the second day of the New Year and there already many new exciting things happening. The first very exciting thing is Matt's upcoming concert on Friday January 4th where he will be on stage with his new muse Estefania Gralla for a Christmas concert. I will report on that this weekend.

The second very exciting thing is our upcoming trip to Miami on February 4th, we will be there until February15th. Our nephew Tristan's baptism will be February 10th and I'm the proud Godmother. In this trip we will be taking the kids to Disney compliments of my papa!!! They are so excited, everyday they ask me when we are going to Miami to see Yayo and Abi.

The other very exciting thing for me is an upcoming trip to Paris January 25th to see a fashion show, it is a one day trip for work but my dream of being in Paris and to attend a fashion show combined is way too much for me.. Thanks to my bosses Fernando and Julia for this wonderful gift.

Ok, not too bad for the beginning of the year..

Travel Websites are a pain in the ^&%$

I'm planing our trip to Miami the week of February the 4Th, so we could be at the baptism of my nephew and future Godson.

Well, let me tell you there are a million websites out there that promise to fly you to the moon if you like for a low, low cost.. yes, and as we all know it's all BS. I'm not sure if you have tried some of these websites but they are a little misleading. First of all they give you the price before the taxes.. You see "cheap flight to Miami $200" and you say WOW, let me reserve it NOW and when you hit the reserve button is when you get the big surprise!!

regular fare $200
taxes $800
sur charges $100
Internet usage charge $50
a misl charge because we can $20
electronic ticket charge $40
discount if you fly on the wing -$20
TOTAL $2,000

None of it makes sense. There are also the websites that offer you different flights some with a starting price of $200 (which we now know is really about $2,000) and some with a price of $3,000, (imagine how much it really is after all the extras) for the same flight..now who would be stupid enough to say.Hey I want pay $3000 for a flight even though there is the same flight for $200.. Give me a break, why do they even include them.!!!

As you can see I'm a little frustrated right now, but I will keep searching in the hopes of finding the perfect flight where we don't have to make 6 stops and wait about 12 hours during each one.

If you guys have any suggestions or favorite travel websites let me know, I'm in desperate need!!

photo google