"Welcome to Tijuana, tequila, sexo y marijuana. Con el coyote no hay aduana! Bienvenida a Tijuana, bienvenida mi amor." ~~~ Manu Chao

So yesterday I went down to TJ for an appointment. I had to go get some of my favorite tacos from Tijuana. It's a little taco cart in one of shadiest parts of TJ, the Coahuila, aka the Red district. This senora and her family have been selling tacos there for years. My ex and I used to go there on the weekends to eat tacos de pescado y de papa. My faves are the tacos de papa topped with rice, beans, salsa, etc. They are the BEST!! I had 4 tacos and an horchata for only $3!!! Unbelievable!

Since I was there, I invited my friend Francisco and his Dad, who is visiting from the bay, to come on down south for a tour. They hadn't been there in years so it was a pleasure to take them around my old community that I lived in for more than 4 years. First stop was the border wall over in Playas de Tijuana. They are actaully doing alot of remodeling down there. Looks like they are gonna rebuild the kiosko that was there. Every time I am there I feel so privileged to be a US citizen. I have seen tons of people and families trying to cross the infamous border. Some successfully, but most with not so much luck. It looks so simple to just cross on over at the beach, yet that area is highly patrolled by the border patrol. The pictures below show it all. 

Looks so easy to cross... 

              

                 yet SO difficult!-->>

We drove by my old house in Playas to find a huge moving truck out in front. My old neighbor, Angelica, was moving out of Playas and back to Ensenada with her parents. When I left TJ over a year ago, Angelica told me she was pregnant. I got to meet her son Alfonso yesterday. He is already 8 months old. I cannot believe how time passes! He is so cute and came to me right away. I guess I have that gift with kids where they are usually drawn to me!

Next stop on our guided tour of Tijuana was Rosarito. I think we all have fond memories of spring break in Rosarito. I know I do! Since we were down there, I decided to take Francisco and his dad to Puerto Nuevo. The little down south of Rosarito that is famous for its lobster. Usually the town is packed on the weekends, but since it was a weekday it was kinda laid back. A lot of the usual restaurants I go to were closed, so we tried a new one called Angel del Mar. It was a beautiful restaurant with an astonishing  ocean view patio and terrace. I love taking people to Puerto Nuevo to eat lobster but the ironic part is that I do not eat seafood! The lady brought out the lobsters to check out the sizes and prices. There was a GINORMOUS lobster that weighed over 6lbs for only  $60! It was insanely HUGE!

Overall, our little impromtu trip was great! Good food and good company!

So I have been told by lots of people that I should be a comedian. I really think it comes naturally for me. I love laughing and making people laugh. 

Francesca and I went to a comedy show last night at the Comedy Palace in Clairemont and we were rolling!! There was some funny a$$ material. We got to hang out with some comedians afterwards and it was great to run jokes with the pros!! Jimmy Ougyang was HILARIOUS!!!You should check him out at  www.jimmyouyang.com 
or www.funnyasiandude.com

So for the past month, my nephew Andy, has been all excited about his field trip to the strawberry patch. He asked me to come with him since I was going to be on vacation. He has been telling the whole world that his Tia Patita was going to go with him. So I came back to LA after having been there for Easter weekend only to find out that the trip had been CANCELLED!!! WHAT?? You should have seen the look on my poor nephew's face. He was SO disappointed. He didn't even want to talk to anyone. All that hype for the field trip and damn budget cuts didn't allow for a bus!! So wrong!!
As a result, my sister Roxy and I decided to take him on our OWN field trip. If he was going to miss school, I wanted to make sure it was something educational. I really wanted to go to the Discovery Center, you know that big cube in the OC. We decided that it was a bit too far. After some research and some good advice of my loyal Facebook friends, we decided to stay local and go to the California Science Center at Exposition Park near USC. If you have not been there, I highly recommend you go for several reasons.

1. It's FREE.. well they do accept donations of course
2. It's had some awesome exhibits
3. Did I mention that it was FREE!!

My favorite exhibit was the Ecosystems one. They had all the different biomes of the ecosystem like the poles, desert, river, islands, kelp forest, and global zones. My favorite was the kelp forest. At the top of the exhibit were the tidepools. They had an area where you could touch animals like the anemones, sea cumbers, urchins, and starfish. You could then go downstairs and see the kelp forest and the huge tank full of fish and sharks. We got to see 2 divers in the tank feeding the animals.
Overall the experience was not only educational but FUN!! I would recommend this museum to everyone! The best part of our field trip was that I got to hang out with my sis and my amazing nephew Andy!!

On Friday, April 2,2010, we had another Chisme Crew reunion at my house. Ingrid was here from the Bay/New York so it was a must to get together. The menu consisted of carne asada, grilled salmon, asparagus, scalloped potatoes, cornbread, a corn/squash salad and of course Sara's yummy Mexican chocolate cupcakes! Dinner was fabulous!! It was great to cook together like a family! Brings back memories of our college days. I love how good friends and good food brings everyone together.


We have all known each other for over 16 years..
can you believe that?! What brought us all together? UCSD, Summer Bridge, activism, and most importantly CHISME!!! hahahaha I am so glad that I have these special people in my life. They have been my support system throughout the years. Thanks guys.. Love you!!





Now another thing that brings us together is MUSIC.
As Madonna says... "Music... makes the people, come together!" For this group, it is karaoke that brings us together. It has become a tradition as of late to karaoke when we get together. Auggie has the Magic Mic that has thousands of songs on it. Of course we all have out favorites! Mine is "More than Words" from Extreme. They pretty much have band me from singing this song cuz I sing it too good... 95% baby!! Auggie's fave is "Creep". Ingrid loves her some Pat Benetar's "Love is a Battlefield". Stina loves anything Bon Jovi.


Brian will sing whatever as long as he is allowed to roll around on the floor and sing. And Sara, well she will pretty much sing anything as long as she can hold the mic!!









We started off the night playing band hero. It's like our dream come true.. singing, performing and playing instruments! Only we need a bit more practice. We quickly moved onto karaoke. Let me tell you that it was a late night full of laughter and song!

So my friend Mauri (who has an awesome family blog) suggested that I start blogging about all the adventures that I have. So I took her up on it. Let's see how it goes....

This last year has been a mile marker for me. I have been able to start living my life again now that I am no longer married. I have experienced freedom and fun that I was deprived of for a while. In this past year, I have been able to be Kat again, reconnect with old friends and make new ones. It has been the best year ever! I only hope to continue on my adventures!!

My friend Jons (another fellow blogger) send me this quote in an email and I really like it....

YOU ARE ALREADY WHAT YOU WANT TO BECOME!

So why not start living my life the way I want it to be. That is exactly what I have been doing.

The words that I try to live by day by day are LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE