Community service: Thanksgiving for the Homeless

Every year Taller Puertorriqueño hosts their annual Thanksgiving for the Homeless event. During the event you get a sense of happiness and sadness. Yes you're serving the community by donating to a good cause, but at the same time there are so many people that enter their building who are homeless. However on a positive note (again), I'm glad to see so many people donate clothing and their time. This year's event will take place on Wednesday, November 21st from 12 p.m. - 2 p.m. If you can't donate any food or clothes, Taller PR is also looking for volunteers the day of the event to help serve the food. *See flyer above for more information and contact info* 

Some 3 Kings Day Celebrations

I never grew up celebrating Three Kings Day but ever since coming to Philadelphia that's all I see and hear about in December/January. Various countries around the world apparently celebrate Three Kings Day. Each have their own customs and traditions associated with the holiday. On the twelve days leading up to Three Kings Day, many children in Latin America dress up in king costumes and go door to door in their neighborhoods singing carols...on and kids get more gifts too. -_-

Here are some Three Kings Day celebrations I came across in the Philly area:

• Three Kings Celebration at Taller PR. Music, presents for children, a theatrical presentation and a parade with the Three Wise Men.  Featuring the local “Bomba and Plena” traditional music group los “Pleneros del Batey” who each year assist Taller to bring this important celebration to over 150 children and their parents. Pre-registration required/Celebración tradicional de los Reyes Magos con música, obra teatral y regalos para los niños.  Requiere que los niños se pre-registren.  3 p.m.* (215) 426-3311
• Three Kings Alumni Mixer. Please join the Latino Leadership Institute Alumni Association for ran evening of networking and celebration. Light refreshments will be served along with great music. A perfect time for the alumni to catch up, the LLIAA board will also present their 2012 calendar of events.

•  Centro Musical is collecting toys for Three Kings: new unwrapped toys for ages infant to 15 year old.  Items can be dropped off at Centro Musical, 5th and Lehigh until January 4.
• Salsa Caliente! sees its second installment to kick-off the New Year and close the Christmas holiday season on Friday, January 6 with the sounds of Elvis Bonilla y su Orquesta and Tony Maldonado y su Orquesta (Painted Bride Center).

The holidays con familia y amigos

The holidays are pretty much the same every year, but you always want to do something different. So what I just said made no sense right? The idea is to spend time with your family and real close friends and celebrate the year. Although 2011 wasn't what I expected, I'm putting it all behind and hoping for a better 2012. Christmas is always a weird time because you think people are expecting gifts and what not, but the holiday isn't meant to be about gifts; that's just what America did to it.

And then there's New Years. Growing up it would always be a family function but then I realized it was supposed to be a huge party with friends! Although sometimes I feel bad I haven't spent NYE with family in years, it's okay...that's what Christmas is for right? I try not to drink so much before 12 a.m. because I can get very emotional and that's a no-no these days. But after 12:05 a.m. it's all fair game. Sure I'd like to watch some fireworks in Philadelphia, but I'd rather watch it on TV somewhere warm with mis amigos. Then there's a NYC celebration....hhmmmmm?

Foto del dia: Posada

Tonight my jobs' posadas came to a close at Xilantro Restaurant in Wayne, PA. A learning experience, the four day posadas were extremely fun. Seeing people keep their traditions alive felt so good and also seeing children participate. For videos, photos and more visit www.holaciudad.com.

Hasta el proximo año.

The busy bee game

So wow. I remember playing this game as a child (above) nonstop and it was amazing. My dad had these old a** cards tucked away in a drawer and I would always say, "Papi quiero jugar el juevo de la abeja." And sure enough we played for a few hours. I would really really really hate it when I would get those damn minus points with the bees, but when you got the queen bee it was fun. My dad would of course always judge us by our moves but oh well.

I miss times like these when we would play simple card games. Now with motion censored games like the Wii and Kinect (Xbox), we seem to have lost our love for the originality. However, as you get older you get back into the board games like Scrabble and Monopoly. Of course I picked the longest games ever but they are still fun when you play with the right people. Here's to the holidays!

Event: Phila. Hispanic Chamber Toy Drive

This Thursday the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's  Professional Mentoring Network program is hosting the 3rd Annual Toy Drive Mixer in partnership with Asociacion de Puertorriquenos en Marcha (APM). Obviously a great cause, they help our less fortunate people who unfortunately can't afford toys. All of the toys will be donated to APM's Gift of Love toy drive that will benefit low-income children in the Philadelphia area.  This event is an opportunity for PMN members and the general membership to connect in a social environment while contributing to the local community in need during this holiday season.  Last year, over 300 toys were donated to APM and our goal is to donate even more this season! 

Date: 12/15/2011
Time: 5:30 PM TO 7:30 PM
Wells Fargo
123 Broad Street
Philadelphia , PA 19109

Event: Posadas in Norristown, PA!

Sure it's a work event but who doesn't appreciate holiday cheer! A first time for the station, Telemundo Philadelphia is hosting Las Posadas Navidenas, a traditional Latin American Christmas festival, in Norristown, PA and the surrounding areas. This year's holiday celebration will take place on December 16, 18, 19 and 20 starting at 6 p.m. each day. All four posadas will be at restaurants; click the picture above to find out more info on locations.

The Posadas promise to include lots of holiday and family traditions including Hershey's hot chocolate and Hershey's Kisses Chocolates provided by The Hershey Company. Each Posada will begin and end at the confirmed locations. Throughout each procession, attendees will sing traditional Mexican holiday music while knocking-on neighborhood doors requesting to join the group. Each celebration concludes with the traditional breaking of a piñata.  So come out and celebrate with us! You're bound to be on TV :).

Día de Acción de Gracias @ Taller PR

Earlier today I volunteered at Taller Puertorriqueno's annual Thanksgiving for the homeless event. I wasn't going to but I left work early and was able to make time. Sometimes we take for granted what we can easily obtain like food, water and shelter. There are hundreds of people who go without any of these every day.

Taller Puertorriqueño’s staff organizes this annual warm dinner and provides clothing and canned groceries to over 300 people in need. There was food was donated by Shining Star Restaurant and Cousin's Supermarket as well as plenty of water provided by Keystone Mercy. I was happy to see other volunteers as well spend at least one hour doing something very selfless.

Interested in other volunteer opportunities? I'm sure you can call their offices or any other local agency in Philadelphia for opportunities. And please don't volunteer because you have to, volunteer because you want to. There's a huge difference. I hope as you sit tomorrow while stuffing your face you remember to thank friends, family and even coworkers. The people we meet in our lives cross our lives for a reason; whether good or bad it's still for a reason. Cherish those memories. Hasta la proxima!

Holidays with Comcast

The holiday season is here...sort of and everyone is looking to decorate their casa. But no casa isn't complete without a 2,000 square-foot LED screen right? Well “The Comcast Holiday Spectacular” has turned into a must-see attraction in Philadelphia during the holidays and with newly shot scenes of The Nutcracker featuring the renown Pennsylvania Ballet, a Winter Wonderland, and the majestic sounds of a 64-piece orchestra; it’s sure to delight visitors from around the world.  Since its debut in 2008, almost a half million people have experienced this incredible show of holiday imagery, music, and more.

The show can be seen at the top of each hour at Comcast Center from Thanksgiving Day through New Year’s Day. Daily, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., 15-minute shows at the top of each hour. (Shows are not presented on weekdays at 5:00 p.m.). And yes it's free for all you people who love to ask, "How much?" It's a good "stop by" type of attraction on your way to a museum or something similar. 

Take a look at last year's video highlights:

Mom's decorating paid off

So as I sit here at the airport ob my phone I started looking at some photos I took at work. My job had a corporate contest to decorate our reception area and yep...it was my job to decorate. Luckily I had 18 years of experience because growing up mom loved doing this stuff for almost every holiday.

I went to two differnt stores and bought a whole bunch of junk. With a small gameplan I decorated to the best of my abilities. And surprisingly I received a lot of great compliments from our staff and the cleaning crew. I guess all that preparation growing up paid off :).

So if I don't win ill be pretty upset lol. Below you'll find some of the photos with poses from our intern.

In case you missed it: Three Kings Day

Three Kings Day was a few days ago and it was celebrated throughout the entire nation. In case you don't know what exactly some Latino cultures do during this time, see the video below. Enjoy!

A new year - 2011!

Who would have thought New Year's Eve. could be a warm evening?! This past weekend I wasn't blogging because I was spending time with friends in sunny Miami, FL. It was the first time I spent a good amount of time in Miami for vacation. It was time well spent doing random things all over South Beach. This year let's forget all the negative things in our lives and just spend it with positive people. Don't hate, just spend this year with those that matter and you love. At the end of the day, live your life porque tomorrow is never promised. So start the year with shaking! haha

Reflection - Family Time

This past weekend was family time...but it was different. The parental units and I went to visit the hermano and the GF in the DMV. It was the first time our parents spent XMAS in another town since 1980. Imagine that. The wekend was good, relaxing and tiring but nonetheless fun.

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Everyone's favorite scene: Nativity

We all love to decorate during Christmas. Yet our families love it even more! But what even more do our religious parents love? Of course it's the nativity scene. But why? Well it's because in my family el Divino Niño who gives us the gifts, not Santa. But baby Jesus does not come out until Christmas Day. I used to wonder where my mom hid him but then I realized it was behind the CD case. Eghh. Merry Christmas mi gente!

My drink of choice (for now)

The holidays are upon us so that gives us an excuse to want to drink more. My absolute drink of choice, most likely Aguardiente: Cristal. Sure some of you might not like it but it sure does pack a punch. How is someone supposed to drink it? Well the only way I know of is straight shots! Be careful, this drink sure does sneak up on you. P.S. Yes it does taste like liquorish.

Fotos con Santa

What's the holidays about? It's about taking your kids to get gifts and their photos with Santa of course! This Friday, December 18th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. WWSI Telemundo/holaciudad invite you to Pennsy Flea Market (1600 S. Warfiend Street, Phila.,PA) for a good ol' fashion family celebration. The even will include arts & crafts, prizes, a *dun dun dun* clown and of course photos with Santa. Photos will be available online at holaciudad.com after the event.

Cooking for others

If you know me well, you know I don't cook...much. In fact, after a 2 year hiatus, I recently started cooking more and more (but for myself). Sure I probably should have learned from mom and grandmom, guess I was too lazy eating :). Instead of purchasing food it would be great to entertain guests with delicious recipes...Latino recipes at that. Thankfully Daisy Martinez has a new book and according to her, it's all about organization, organization, organization.

Daisy's Holiday Cooking not only offers extremely user-friendly recipes, but also groups them together by menus, ten in all, each with a theme. Although Martinez is Puerto Rican, she has great Peruvian, Mexican, Chilean, Venezuelan, Caribbean, Spanish and Mediterranean dishes. An actress and model before following her passion into the French Culinary Institute, Martinez launched her career in the food world as a prep-kitchen chef on the sit of Lidia's Italian American Kitchen. She soon became the host of her own PBS series, Daisy Cooks!, and her cookbook based on the show won the title of Best Latino Cuisine Cookbook in the World by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Juanes gives thanks

Kudos to NYC and the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade inviting Juanes to perform at the parade. This marks the first ever Spanish-language performance in the parades 84 years! According to a post on LatinoGossip, "More than 3.5 Million Spectators On The Streets Of Manhattan and a Broadcast Audience of More Than 50 million viewers nationwide will watch him sing in ESPAÑOL!!"

Now that's a win for Latinos (and Colombia!).

Happy New Year

Feliz Año Nuevo! I'll be out of the office (again) celebrating in New York City. Until next year! Maybe I'll try some new things for the blog. What would you want to see?

Feliz Navidad

I'll be out of the office until Monday so no "Grinds My Gears" posts! Remember, there's still time to win tickets to see The Spy Next Door.

See you el lunes!