Tuesday, February 16, 2016

My Maternity Photo Shoot


I'll be honest... I was never too fond of the idea of getting photographed while pregnant.
While I was expecting Benny, I would see beautiful pictures of women posing with their giant bellies and think to myself, "Yeah, not happening, couldn't do that".
But since every pregnancy is truly different... not only did I change my mind about a few things the second time around, I noticed my weight gain with baby Tobias (who's expected to arrive March 9), was mainly concentrated in my belly area.
My face doesn't look as round as it did when I was at the end of my pregnancy with Benny. Nor do my arms and legs feel as big. I guess you can say my body is pretty much the same, with a huge watermelon protruding from the center.
So with that in mind, I started to think about how I really didn't have any memories of my first pregnancy. Then I considered the fact that I've had no significant weight gain or swelling this second time. Ultimately, I figured it would probably be a good idea to do a professional maternity photo session, especially since we don't plan on having more children after this.
I did plenty of research and fell in love with the work of Lori Dorman photography, based out of Glendale, CA.
Every single photo I saw was gorgeous so I decided to book my photo sesh. I wanted my husband Paul to be there but our schedules simply didn't coincide so I headed out with Benny and my sister Irene and had a super fun time, playing dress-up and laughing with my sister Irene and Benny. Kitti was my photographer and I am so very pleased with her work!
Here are a few pictures from my shoot. They are not meant to be interpreted as provocative, but rather as a warm and embracing reminder of the form a woman's body takes during the development of a little human being inside the womb.
To see more of Lori Dorman's work, visit her website here: Lori Dorman Photography








En español

Voy a serles sincera... Nunca me había llamado la atención la idea de ser fotografiada durante el embarazo.
Mientras que estaba esperando a Benny, me encantaba ver las bellas imágenes de mujeres posando con sus pancitas y pensaba: "No. Definitivamente no es lo mío".
Pero puesto que cada embarazo es realmente diferente... no sólo cambié de opinión sobre varias cosas la segunda vez, me di cuenta de que mi aumento de peso con este segundo bebé (que está previsto que llegue el 9 de marzo), se concentró principalmente en mi área del vientre.
La cara no la tengo tan redonda como cuando estaba en las últimas semanas  de mi primer embarazo. Tampoco siento los brazos y piernas tan grandes. Se puede decir que mi cuerpo es más o menos el mismo, con una enorme sandía que sale del centro….ja!
Así que tomando todo en cuenta, me acordé que realmente no tengo ningún recuerdo fotográfico de mi primer embarazo. Luego pensé que como no he tenido ningún aumento significativo de peso o hinchazón esta segunda vez, quizá eso ameritaba unas fotitos profesionales.
Por último, pensé que probablemente sería buena idea llevar a cabo una sesión de fotos profesional de maternidad, sobre todo porque no pensamos tener más hijos después de este.
Investigué varios sitios y blogs de fotógrafos profesionales  y me enamoré del trabajo de los estudios de Lori Dorman, con sede en Glendale, CA.
Cada foto que toman ahí está preciosa, así que decidí reservar mi sesión de fotos.
Quería que mi marido Paul se retratara conmigo pero nuestros horarios simplemente no coincidieron y nos dirigimos al estudio con Benny y mi hermana Irene.
La verdad, la pasamos genial—yo  cambiando de vestuarios a cada rato con tantas prendas lindas de embarazo que tienen disponibles, y riéndome con mi hermana y mi hijo. Mi fotógrafa fue una chica llamada Kitti y estoy muy contenta con su trabajo.
Aquí les comparto unas cuantas imágenes de mi sesión fotográfica de maternidad.
No interpreten estas fotos como algo provocativo, sino más bien como un recordatorio lindo sobre la forma que toma el cuerpo de una mujer  durante el desarrollo de un hijo en el vientre.

¡Gracias por leer!

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Mini Conversation Heart Cheesecakes!


What would Valentine's Day be without a themed dessert, right?
This year, I'm pretty much unable to do anything too fancy schmancy, given I'm literally weeks away from giving birth and not very high on energy...
But Valentine's Day is a fun time to celebrate, especially with kids.
So I decided to make my own mini conversation heart cheesecakes, inspired by a recipe I saw on hungryhappenings.com.
The recipe is easy to make (and it's really a great cheesecake recipe) but getting the actual hearts to look like the candy was somewhat time-consuming.
Nonetheless, when my husband and son looked at the dessert set-up on the table and took a bite of their mini cheesecake, their reaction was priceless and made it all worth it!

Supplies:
*Wilton Heart-shaped Mini Treat Mold
*Wilton Foodwriter (Edible color marker)


Ingredients-- (This recipe makes a set of six mini cheesecakes using the Wilton heart-shaped molds and a regular-sized round cheesecake)
For the crust:
*18 squares of graham cracker crumbs (About 1 1/4 cups)
*4 TSBP butter (melted)


For the cheesecake filling:
*2 blocks of cream cheese (16 oz)
*3 Eggs
*1 Cup Sugar
*1 Pint Sour Cream (16 oz)
*1 TSP vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Crumble the graham crackers. Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.
Spoon a tablespoon of the crumb mixture into each heart cavity and use the remainder for the big pie dish. Press the crumbs down to create somewhat of a thick crust (make sure it's even). Refrigerate.


Use a hand-held mixer to blend the blocks of cream cheese first . Slowly add the sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla.


Separate about 4-5 tablespoons of cheesecake filling into different bowls so you can dye the batter to match the colors of the conversation heart candies.


I used about 3-4 drops of food dye. To make purple, combine red and blue dye. To make orange, combine red and yellow dye.
Pour water inside an aluminum tray. The water should cover halfway up the sides of the heart mold.
Place water filled aluminum tray (with heart mold) inside the oven.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Note: If you bake a large cheesecake with the leftover filling, bake for 45 minutes.


Once you pull out the heart mold, cool at room temperature for an hour, then place inside freezer for 2 hours.
Now here is where it gets tricky. As soon as you pull the mold out of the freezer, you should carefully pull the cheesecakes out of the mold, applying pressure to the bottom so the hearts and their crusts come out easily. My mistake was that I took them out of the freezer and left them standing for about half hour, which pretty much softened the crusts and disintegrated some of them.



Next you can use your Wilton Foodwriter to decorate the cheesecakes with flirty little Valentine's Day messages. My designs were more like carvings. Again, this happened because I didn't write on the cheesecakes when the surface was harder, immediately upon taking them out of the freezer.






You can freeze the cheesecakes for up to a month or store in the refrigerator for a week,
Enjoy and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Monday, February 1, 2016

Bye January 2016!


It's February 1, 2016.
That means this year is going by super fast.
It also means, we'll have a new addition to the family next month!
I've definitely slowed down a lot. I like staying home these days to paint different furniture pieces (with the help of my mom and husband) and plan the baby's nursery. I also find myself cooking less (including breakfast meals-- our fave) and spending a lot of time "virtual" window shopping.
January was a pretty good month. I had my first-ever maternity shoot, where I dressed Benny as a dapper boy and he had fun disorganizing gowns and outfits in the studio's maternity clothing closet.
I am working from home more frequently (and spending more time with the hubby as a result) and I even managed to make it out to Ventura County for a big 50th birthday celebration where my sister Irene and I created a dessert buffet table full of donuts, cookies, chocolate and pastries!
I hope February is just as good. Sending good "Valentine's Month" wishes, vibes and cheers to everyone!
Thanks for reading!





About the only "themed" breakfast I made during the month of January :)


En espanol

Ya estamos en el primer dia de febrero del 2016, lo cual significa que el anio ya da indicaciones que se va a pasar volando.
También significa que ya el mes que entra tendremos una nueva adición a la familia!
Ultimamente ya voy a paso de tortuga para todo.Me gusta quedarme en casa y pintar cositas o planear el cuartito del bebe. También he notado que casi ya no he cocinado... ni siquiera nuestros desayunos favoritos. Y me la pasado de compras en línea.
El mes de enero estuvo muy tranquilo. Tuve una sesion de fotografica de maternidad. Ya estoy trabajando desde mi casa mas seguido y como resultado, disfrutando mas tiempo con mi marido.
Hasta me anime a viajar a Oxnard para una fiesta de 50 anios donde mi hermana y yo decoramos una mesa de dulces.
Espero que febrero sea igual de fabuloso.
Les deseo un lindo mes del amor y la amistad con buenos deseos, buenas vibras y saludos.
Por leer mi blog, gracias!