LA FURIA ROJA

What a busy weekend, filled with birthday dinners, meetings, Disneyland, and a World Cup victory by Spain. Congratulations to the national team and the country of Spain. Although I wish I could have watched more of the world cup, this has been one of the craziest months of my life. This weekend was no exception. I met up with Dario Friday night for dinner at Father's Office: www.fathersoffice.com, there are two locations, one in Culver City and the other in Santa Monica. Beer and Wine on tap and one of the best burgers on the Westside. Their signature FO burger (with no substitutions) and their sweet potato fries are the best way to end a crazy week. After dinner Dario and I went to Pink Taco: www.pinktaco.com in Century City to have drinks for our friend Frosty's birthday. We ordered two pitchers of Sangria, red and white. I usually don't like white sangria, but this was an exception (it was actually better than the red) Ah what to say about Pink Taco... I never wanted to bad mouth a restaurant on my blog, but this restaurant is just about the trendy location. The food and drinks are way over priced and not that good. If you want to have an expensive drink and just appetizers while over looking the Santa Monica Blvd strip on a nice summer evening, this is the place for you. It's so trendy, you may even see a celebrity in the mix. Saturday I went to Disneyland with a few friends. I'm not going to be working for the Mouse after next week, so might as well go as much as I can, even tough I never went. The World of Color show was ok, I'm glad I didn't want for hours for that show. It's like Fantasmic but on a broader scale. Would have rather of watched the fire works show. Next week my parents are coming just the two of them and I am going to take them to Disneyland. This weekend my dear friend Maria Aldana is coming so I can let her and her family into Disneyland. It's fitting that when I started my job here at Disney, I lived with Maria and she really helped me get on my feet and she is going to be with me my last weekend at Disney. It's funny how this instance worked out. I'm going to wrap up this entry with another Congrats to Espana for winning the world cup, my predictions for 2014: Argentina!

500 Days of Summer

Just watched this movie with my cousin Kris. The movie was filmed throughout Downtown Los Angeles and even included the UCLA Marching Band in one scene. First off, thanks to Netfix for the DVD being scratched and us having to skip over one of the most dramatic scenes of the movie. I got it later when I found out Summer got married. Didn't think the movie was going to end the way it did, because I think I had put myself in Tom's shoes, hoping that my expectations of my last relationship would work in my favor as well as his. To this day my expectations haven't and I have learned to accept it. The way I ended my last serious relationship has been the biggest mistake of my life and I regret it in every way even to this day.  I can sit here and write about everything I could have done differently and what I should have done to make things better but I didn't and I can't dwell on the past. I can only look forward and learn from my mistakes. One concept that I took away from this movie was the meaning of coincidence, a striking occurrence of two or more events at one time, apparently by mere chance. If coincidence brings us back together one day then so be it, if it doesn't then so be it. Tom, I feel your pain buddy. I hope you found comfort in Autumn. Next movie in my queue...Fight Club, perfect movie for this season in my life. More to come...

Left Behind

What a great week at work, Licensing Show 2010 took place this past week in Vegas. I've been working in Licensing for the past 4 years and have not once been to Licensing show. Makes total sense right. While the majority of my team was in Vegas, the ones left behind had a great week at work. It was quiet, productive and the lunches were long. Last night, Wednesday, Mingy, Jen, Elizabeth, Yass and I went to City Sip. City Sip is a great Wine Bar in Echo Park: http://www.citysipla.com/index.php. We first heard about this Wine Bar in Los Angeles Magazine last year in the Best Bars in Los Angeles issue. We've been about a dozen times and it gets better every time we go back. Below are a few pictures of our night. We started off at the bar and then made our way to the Caprese Sliders and Cheese Plate. The food, company and the wine made the night and we celebrated our last night of freedom, until the next business trip. Today, Thursday was a crazy day for all of us who were left behind, but we made it through. Next up, my birthday in two days. Stay tuned... 

May Showers

What a May it's been. Mother's day, graduations, birthday parties and showers, rain that is. The last two weeks have been crazy busy. My cousin Noel Luis graduated from USC on the 15th. Very proud of him, even if it is from usc. The event brought my whole family together, grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents and cousins. Weekend started off at Bottega Louie: http://www.bottegalouie.com/ in Downtown LA. Although the web site needs work, the restaurant and food were great. I ordered a black and blue Mojito, which I think may have been one of the restaurant's signatures because I saw about 5 different people with the same drink. See above picture. For dinner I had the Fettuccine Belmondo, with Cherry tomatoes, garlic, arugula, extra virgin olive oil & Reggiano parmesan with a glass of House Cab. The restaurant and bar were packed and although we sat down at 9:45 and didn't eat until about 10:30, the service and the food were worth it.

Saturday, Noel, Steph and their cousin David stayed at the Hyatt in Huntington Beach: http://huntingtonbeach.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp, courtesy of my Aunt and Uncle. We bought a bunch of beers, sat by the fire place and had a nice view of the Pacific Ocean. We caught up on the past year, talked about college, life after and restaurants in Alabama, pretty random. Sunday we grabbed a Starbucks and went for a walk along the beach.

Was a beautiful morning in Orange County. Later that day 14 of us met for lunch at Sugar Shack Cafe. Food was ok. The company was what made the day. Spending the day with my mom and family, aunts, uncles and   cousins. We had a great time, and it was hard to say good bye. In life, all good things must come to an end and they did for us that day. We said our good byes, laughed, cried and hugged. We're

looking forward to next year as my brother, and three cousins all graduate next year, three from high school and one from college. The picture is of my cousins on my mom's side minus my cousin Robert who couldn't make it. Next family event, my 30th bday. Stay tuned...

Casa & MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) Los Angeles

Last weekend, my mom flew into Los Angeles to see me for a pre Mother's Day weekend. We stayed at The Omni hotel in downtown and walked to MOCA for their 30 years of Collections, ranging from 1940 until today, by local, national, and international artists. Great galleries of collections. Exhibit lasts until July 2, 2010. After MOCA, we headed over to Casa, downtown for dinner with my mom's sister, my aunt Sylvia. Sangria is ok, not as good as mine, but still good. If your into Margaritas, try THE SPICY CADILLAC: Grand Marnier, El Jimador Silver tequila, fresh lime juice, jalapeno puree and organic agave nectar. Very good.  Then we headed over to The Association for drinks with my cousin Noel who is graduating from USC next weekend. The Association is a trendy dive bar off 6th and Main in downtown. I celebrated my birthday there last year and had a great time. Try the Derby. One will keep you feeling good the whole night. Sunday we went to brunch at the Urth Cafe right across from the Barker Blocks, lofts. They actually have a Happy Hour this Wednesday May 12 from 6-8pm . Tour the lofts and have some drinks while taking in a great view of downtown Los Angeles.  As you can tell, it was a great weekend, long but great weekend. Looking forward to seeing my family next weekend to celebrate my cousin's graduation. 

In Loving Memory

This blog is dedicated to my grandmother Josie Pacheco who passed away January 10, 2010 from pancreatic cancer. She was a wonderful woman who loved her family and the Lord with all her heart. I am who I am today because of the influence she had on my life. She is now at the right hand of the God looking down on us. I love you grandma and I know we will see each other again in His glory.