10 Months of Alfie

It’ crazy how fast kids grow. Everyone tells you but you don’t really get to grasp it until you see it unfolding right before your very eyes. In the last month alone, my baby has really surprised us with how quickly he’s growing.

A few days before Alfie turned 9 months, he started fully crawling. He would drag himself “boot camp style” all over our floors prior to this. It wasn’t long before he started lifting himself up and walking while supported/assisted. Now at 10 months he’s not far from balancing his little body on his own. He follows us wherever we go and we love hearing those baby hands slapping on the floor making their way around the corner. We crawl under the tables and chairs, we scare each other around every corner of the house and we laugh and laugh. Continue reading “10 Months of Alfie”

The Things That Matter

Upon recently losing a loved one very near and dear to your heart, you can’t help but reflect on your own life. This has recently come to mind due to the unexpected passing of a family member of mine whom I loved and admired very much. In light of this event, I thought it would be nice to write about the importance of the things that matter. Call me a hippie, but for me, it’s all about LOVE.

If I were to tell you that life is very simple, would you believe it? In my opinion, life IS very simple. Life is simple when you love purely, authentically and completely. Life is simple when you surround yourself by those that make you happy and don’t put you down. Life is simple when you accept yourself for exactly who you are and live on fearlessly. Life is simple when you don’t sweat the small stuff. Life is simple when you live with purpose. Continue reading “The Things That Matter”

My Vision Board

Hi everyone!

Have you heard of vision boards before? If you haven’t, a vision board is an actual board meant to help you organize your goals in the form of images. You can use these boards in reference to anything: your life, a business, a specific event or project…the list goes on. You can make one at home or on your computer, with just about anything that you can imagine. If you Google “Vision boards” you will have thousands of examples at your disposal!

What do you want? Joy? Love? Abundance? A restaurant? A pet ladybug? Your board can have whatever you want on it! By putting this board together, you are turning your thoughts, intentions, and desires into concrete images. And in turn, by seeing these images on a daily basis, you can then have a clearer focus towards attaining those results.

I am a very visual person; therefore, making a “life” vision board for myself made complete sense. So I finally sat my bubble-butt down and made it happen! I’m very happy with how it turned out! Here it is (in no particular order). I have also provided explanations below. (I numbered the images from left to right). Maybe this can help you get your vision board started! Continue reading “My Vision Board”

Baseball Wife Birthday

Hi everyone!

The response to my blog post about Becoming a Baseball Wife was astounding! It really is incredible how showing vulnerability and imperfection openly manages to reach deep into the soul of others. This is especially true in an age where every #selfie and Facebook profile picture has been carefully tweaked to show your “best self” (I’m no exception). It’s impossible not to think that everyone else has got it together and you are the only one that’s dragging behind (again, I’m no exception). This is why I want to share the following story with you.

My birthday was this past Sunday March 30th. The Monday before my birthday, my husband comes home with a gift bag and a Happy Birthday song. He then says, “I don’t know if I’ll be here for your birthday, so just in case, I want to celebrate with you today!” While some would feel devastated to hear this, I, on the other hand, melted in his arms. That’s incredibly thoughtful of him and I was not expecting it at all. He went on to explain that he suspected his upcoming work trip would be extended and he didn’t know when he would return home. I gladly agreed to our Monday pre-birthday celebration without hesitation and with the same giddiness as if it were the actual day. We ordered pizza, watched Disney’s Frozen, drank wine, talked and of course I sang “Let it go” and “First time in Forever” a million times while pirouetting through our living room. Typical.

Continue reading “Baseball Wife Birthday”

Linky Links | SJP, Target, First Kiss, Listen Linda & more…

Here are a few links that caught my attention during the past week. Everything from a quick Q&A with Sarah Jessica Parker in her home, an exciting Target partnership announcement and a hilarious 3 year old kid overnight sensation. These are not to be missed! I love them so much that I wanted to share them with you. Click away and enjoy! :-)

My favorite HGTV Design Star, Emily Henderson, has just been named Target’s Home Style Expert! So exciting! What a tremendous partnership!

73 questions and a quick tour of Sarah Jessica Parker’s townhouse in NYC. Cute!

Continue reading “Linky Links | SJP, Target, First Kiss, Listen Linda & more…”

How One of My Songs Helped a Young Girl Heal

You’ve probably heard the saying “Music Heals”, right? Well, I want to share with you something that recently touched my heart. The next paragraphs will tell you how Naem, an inspiring 27-year-old girl from Medellín, Colombia found the courage to fight for her voice by using one of my songs, and in turn taught me a lesson or two. I can feel my throat tightening already…

Continue reading “How One of My Songs Helped a Young Girl Heal”

10 Last Minute Valentine’s Day Ideas

It’s not too late!

Valentine’s day might be a “Hallmark Holiday” but I think it is a great way to say I love you to those that matter most to you. Saying positive and feel-good things is never a bad idea. In case you haven’t planned anything yet, here are some last minute ideas that might help you out no matter what your relationship situation is. Oh and you know what? I also made a playlist on Spotify of lovy dovy songs to share with you! Check it out HERE! Continue reading “10 Last Minute Valentine’s Day Ideas”

La Mesa está Servida – Pizza & Pasta

PIzza hecha en casa

I LOVE Italian food. Love, Love Love it! Anything with mozzarella, basil and tomato just makes my mouth water. So why not share some absolutely delicious recipes found at Yahoo!? I’ve included a recipe for a homemade wheat pizza and some pasta with pesto sauce. I tried the pizza already and I have to say it was really tasty and light. You should try it! Plus, I love how the cooking is presented in these videos. The recipe ingredients and steps are on the video as well as on the blog entry on Yahoo! Enjoy!

Pasta al dente con pesto

A mi me FASCINA la comida Italiana. ¡Obsesión total! Mi debilidad es cualquier plato que tenga queso mozzarella, albahaca y tomate. Por eso, decidí compartir con ustedes unas recetas facilitas de comida italiana de Yahoo!: Pizza hecha en casa y Pasta con pesto. La pizza con masa integral es muy rica y no cae pesada para nada. Aún no he probado el pesto, pero lo estaré cocinando prontito. Hazle click a las imagenes para ver los videos (que están super lindos :-). Los ingredientes y los pasos a tomar estan listadosen el blog de Yahoo! y en el video. ¡Espero que lo disfruten y buen provecho!!

Thank you for reading! Gracias por leer mi blog!

Z~

6 Things to Consider if You’re Planning on Getting Plastic Surgery

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635490_phnst (Photo credit: Digi_shot)

I’ll tell you a little story… Back in 2004 a representative of the Miss Puerto Rico Petite Pageant asked me if I wanted to compete for that year. I shut it down immediately because it wasn’t something I was interested in. After they insisted, I took a meeting only to bolt out of there when they told me that they would have to plump up my boobies. I think I laughed out loud as I picked up my purse. Sorry boys! That just wasn’t going to happen. I was, and still am happy just like this, A cups and all.

That said, I understand that plastic surgery can be a touchy subject. I’m ok with plastic surgery only if it’s done for the right reasons. What do I mean by right reasons? Read on…

1. Make sure that whatever it is that you are planning on changing is something that you’ve thought about for a really long time. By long time, I mean years and years. With this, you will be able to differentiate impulse from reality. Suggestion: Use the age of 21 as a benchmark. If at the age of 21 you’re still thinking about breast augmentation then go ahead. If you’re doubting it, extend the benchmark to 25. If at 25 you’re still doubting it, then that’s a clear sign that you’re probably better off not doing it. My mom always said “When in doubt, say No”. I refer to that all the time and it works!

2. Make sure that  you are doing it for yourself. You should not, by any means, go under the knife because a boyfriend, a parent, or pageant is telling you to do so. This is your body NOT theirs.

3. Consider that some of these surgeries are serious. You may need general anesthesia, you are being cut open and your body needs a long time to recover. Oh, and you will be in pain or discomfort for a while. Think about it. Is it worth it?

4. Can you afford it? Big one. Don’t do it if you can’t afford it. Just don’t. You have to make sure your are financially secure first. What if you suffer some complications after surgery? An infection perhaps? You might need to cover that on your own.

5. Have you considered counseling for those drastic plastic surgery procedures that you are yet unsure of? Maybe there is an underlying issue that’s clouding your judgement.

6. Get an excellent plastic surgeon. Look for recommendations and talk to ex-patients. Make sure the doctor is fully qualified and once there ask as many questions as you can. Your doctor must be attentive and make you feel comfortable. If he/she says “Ain’t nobody got time for that” RUN.

Remember that all celebrities look amazing on the cover of magazines because they are AIRBRUSHED! ¡Asi cualquiera! I encourage you to first love yourself! You are beautiful & unique! Watch this short video “All Airbrushed Anyways” on how this is affecting what women think of themselves. The very best way to be happy and beautiful is to feel it! xoxo

Credit: MAKERS.com
Credit: MAKERS.com

This post is inspired by a recent article published on Endi.com (El Nuevo Día –  Local Puerto Rican newspaper) about our Miss World, Nadyalee Torres having undergone plastic surgery to improve her nose and breasts. While she looks great, I just hope she did it for herself and not for the pageant. Read article here (in Spanish).

Nadyalee Torres Miss Mundo Puerto Rico

Thanks for reading! Click on the Follow sign (bottom right) to subscribe to these posts via email!

Z~

Welcome to Zania.net!

Hello beautiful people & welcome to Zania.net!

On my first blog post I would like to tell you a bit about who I am, what this blog will contain and why it is coming to life.

My name is Zania. I’m 30, married and living in Miami, FL with my husband and my brother. I just resigned from my job in corporate America for two important reasons; 1) I was miserable and 2) I wanted to put my talents to work 24/7. After years of being numb at work I decided it was time to snap out of it and be true to myself and work towards achieving my dreams. I’m now working from home, building my brand, starting a business and starting to blog (amongst other things). I’m also in search for the highly sought after “flextime”. I figured this would come in handy for when I have kids in the future. Thankfully, I have my family and friends to support me while going through this risky part of my life. Could not be more thankful to have them in my life. {For more on my background click HERE}

Here at Zania.net my goal is to share with you a few of my favorite things such as beautiful spaces, inspirational moments, pieces on women empowerment, curiosities and who knows what else could be posted! I’m in the process of learning about myself and figuring out how to move forward with all of the ideas that clutter my mind. I thought a blog provides a platform where my ideas could be made public while in the process maybe help or inspire others. I’m scared as heck but excited to find out what the future holds! I am fully aware that it won’t be easy, and it will take me some time to find my voice, but that only makes me want to work even more. Stay tuned if you want to join me on this journey!

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day!

Signature_Zania

Have you taken a leap of faith like this before? Tell me about it! I want to listen and learn! Comment below. 

¿Ház tomado algún tipo de riesgo que te haya aterrorizado? ¡Cuéntame! ¡Quiero escuchar de ti y aprender! Los comentarios van a abajo.