How to Seduce your Guy in 31 Days [Days 7-15]

I promise, from the bottom of my heart, I had GREAT intentions to keep posting while I was on vacation... but the iPad was not allowing me to upload pictures. So I decided to take a real holiday and come back, beg for your forgiveness and post a 'Days 7-15' post.

Forgive me?

If so, read on! ;)

Marcos and I have a bucket list. And perhaps, since we got married so young and didn't have a chance to LIVE before we had to LIVE our life, that bucket list is even more important to us. On our list are things and places and stuff we want to inhale before we take our last breaths. [No, I am not talking about The Mary Jane]

I will tell you, during our trip to San Francisco, the ball to my chain and I were almost GIDDY at times. The five days were jam-packed and we didn't even get to see/do everything on our preplanned itinerary; however, we left feeling extremely satisfied. After all, we got to check several things off of our bucket list.

We toured Alcatraz.

We drove down Lombard Street.

We sat in awe of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset.

And we visited the infamous Winchester House in San Jose.

There is NOTHING sweeter than standing with your beloved, sporting matching child-like grins, taking everything in. The experience of sharing San Francisco with Marcos was lovely. And romantic. And thrilling. And tiring. And new. It was one big ball of emotions. It was exactly what we needed.

Back 2 Reality

We are home and I am hoping we are back on track for LIFE come Monday. In the meantime, here are a few pics.... I have a gazillion more to edit... (among other things to do, like pay bills, spend time with the kiddos, and get food back in the house).

Cali sure is pretty!

Whoa Nelly

Greetings from Rice-a-Roni Town!!!

Guys... This vacation is kicking mu butt.
And I can't add photos using my iPad....
I will be back soon with my 31 days series.... And normal, everyday posts.

Missing you all!!

How to Seduce your Guy in 31 Days [Day 6]

There are times where I simply cannot control the situation here in Casa de Ayala. As much as I want this to be about ME showing the ball to my chain mucho love, HE shows me me little ways that he LOVES me. And from our lesson yesterday, maybe that means he's feeling loved?


For day six, we should listen to the great & talented, and ever-so-wise Mario.


Not the Mario you expected?  Just so yo know... I was mostly referring to the chorus. ;)

My husband, Marcos (not to be confused with Mario), has been doing the sweetest things lately... and that reminds me that he actually does SMALL sweet things quite often. Who needs the BIG stuff, when it's the everyday little stuff that melts my heart?

Take yesterday for example. Crazy day.... better after these:

These are from my favorite shop, Bosa Donuts. It's about a 15 minute drive, but he made that drive for me. Without my knowledge, when I was on a crazy Thursday morning meeting.

Then there was the Chicken Teriyaki bowl from my favorite place, Yogi's. Then the trip to San Fran that he planned. And hanging up curtains for me. And massaging my bum foot. Buying us a treadmill. I couldn't go on....

There are so many little, everyday things he does that make me smile and and make me feel like I am loved. And I am now realizing that when I feel loved, he feels loved.

Novel, eh?

Lessons Learned:
1) This post is 75% about food? Not good.
2) The treadmill does not house clothes... nor does it house me - not even once a day for 30 minutes.
3) I love Mario Marcos to bits. I hit the jack-pot.

A Grand Enterance {Err, Exit?}

A quick post to show you how $19 curtains from IKEA can make a huge difference.

Here are some before pictures of my front door...

Last year:

A few months ago:

I really wanted to add trim - but that isn't going to happen at this point. So I did the next best thing... curtains.

Sorry about the clarity - I had to use my cell... Can't find my camera charger. Just in time for vacation... great.

How to Seduce your Guy in 31 Days [Day 5]

Sometimes the experts know what they are talking about. Would you agree?

From self-help books to online articles, you can find a wealth of information related to loving your spouse.
Of course, depending on your mindset, you can keep this particular completely on the G rating or you can go as far as Triple X. Wait... is that a movie? With Vin Diesel? Hmmm. Just checked, it is... but, it doesn't have Paul Walker, so I am not wasting time on it. I meant the other XXX...

Since I am trying to keep most of this series out of the bedroom (notice I said "most") - let's talk about general research on how to make your guy feel like your main squeeze.

There were some lists/sites that suggested that you (or me) as a wife may not be equal to her man. As if the wife isn't contributing just as much or more than the husband. For example... one list was 101 entries long that stated you should "keep the kids away from your husband during the first few minutes after he gets home from work." And "you should not bother your husband with anything for the first hour after he gets home from work." I could go on... obviously the author of that particular list did. But I won't. Instead, I am going to change it up a little.

In doing my research, I found a great online article that CLICKED for me.

Five Things Your Husband Wishes You'd Know, but Won't Tell You.
You can find the article in its entirety here, but here is the list in a nutshell, literally:

Some of those are abbreviated, so please go check out the full article by Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin. It's one I am going to keep bookmarked.

Lessons Learned:

1) Don't let the husband see this post for the following reasons:

• He likes red-heads
• He will realize that I get my "smarts" from other people
• He may decide he needs some Pistachios for his snacking needs

2) Do your research... see what other people are doing.
3) Don't be scared to try out a few things you've read about. The worse that can happen is your hubby gives you a weird look and walks away. Which gives you time to watch America's Next Top Model without him complaining about you hogging the DVR.

Stuffing the Billy's

Another sneak peak of what I have been trying to work on the past few days.
Pimpin' ain't easy folks and neither is finding THE RIGHT accessories to add to the wall of Billy's.

Here is the BEFORE:

And here is the NOW:

Yes, there is some Halloween stuff showing up on a few of the shelves. I couldn't help myself.

More to come... ;)