Laura of the Valley: new year

Showing posts with label new year. Show all posts

January 1, 2015

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!

I really hope this year is full of magic and happiness for you and everyone you care about. Thank you for visiting my blog and for supporting my crazy dreams!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

December 31, 2014

I feel like I say this quite often––maybe it's just cause I'm getting older and life is happening faster than I would like––but I can't believe the year already went by! I remember sitting down around this same time a year ago thinking of all the great wishes/objectives/resolutions I had for 2014, and now I really can't understand how it all happened so quickly. I had great plans for the year, and now I know that I made them all come true because I worked hard on all of them. It was definitely a wonderful year, and that's all I can think about right now!

I received the year doing what I do best––eating, of course––with my wonderful mum and sister.

Although I didn't expect to travel a lot this year, I went to Italy with my favourite people on Earth in January...

...went to Miami to spend yet more time with my favourite people...

...and went to my beautiful hometown, Cartagena, to spend some quality time with my daddy in the summer––and eat some more!

I also spent a lot of time with my baby horse...

...cooked...

...danced...

...and even made it to the Colombian countryside to escape from life for a few days.

All of this before finally making the big move to New York to start working on my Master's degree––which was my biggest plan of the year, and probably also one of the greatest achievements in my life so far.

Once in New York, I got to see new places...

...discover what have become my new favourite restaurants...

...and see friends I hadn't seen in a very long time.

I also had my family visit several times...

...and enjoyed all the Christmas attractions––but mostly the decorations––the city has to offer.

I met some wonderful people, made new friends, and became closer with others. And they all played a very important part in what my life has become now!

But the best thing that has happened to me since I moved to New York are all the new ideas and new projects to work on. Every day, I get bombed with wonderful ideas from the people that study with me at Parsons, and all the movement of the city does nothing different than inspire me. New York is definitely the place where my mind works best and my body feels at its most. I am really glad this year brought me here.

So bring it on, 2015. I'm more than ready for you!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

January 8, 2014

The Twelve Grapes

One of my favourite rituals for NYE is the 12 grapes. It consists on eating 12 grapes and making a wish with each one of them, the moment the clock strikes 12. My friend Geoffrey says he loves it because speed is a very important factor in the game. Anne thinks it's great, so she decided to include the tradition to start 2014 in a great mood. I just think it's the best tradition you can ever get!!

However, 12 wishes tend to be a lot. I don't remember a time when I've been able to actually wish for 12 important things, so I usually end up wishing for unicorns and glitter and monkeys... This year, however, the wishes came out more naturally, leaving me only a couple of grapes to wish for things that are not so closely related to me. This --as well as my resolution list, which I wrote on the 1st––made me realise that 2014 will definitely be a great year in my life!

The Sky Is The Limit

With graduation from college coming so soon, deadlines for grad school applications happening this week, and my first travel of the year happening in only 3 days, I'd say there's nothing holding me back from achieving my dreams this year. If there's a word I'd say describes me, it's dreamer. Ever since I was a child, I remember dreaming of big things happening to me. And so far, I haven't been disappointed. I do have some ups and downs––but hey, don't we all have those?-- but I'm absolutely thankful for what I have. I think I'm a very lucky person!!!

Revealing my wishes would bring me bad luck. But I can share my resolutions. In fact, I've always thought that sharing them with my friends and family actually helps me succeed in them because I feel the responsibility, now that other people know what I'm supposed to be doing. Doesn't it happen to you?

During the last weeks of December, I realised I was feeling really thirsty before going to bed. And after doing a quick analysis to my daily routine, I discovered I was drinking too little liquid. So I decided I should start drinking more water this year. Water is good for you, since it helps you stay hydrated and it also helps other body functions, such as digestion. So, yes... Bring me some water!

Speaking of being healthy... I've mentioned before how much I love yoga, and how great it is to stay healthy. However, when I get absorbed into my college assignments, I tend to forget about it and just leave yoga behind. And this is absolutely terrible, especially because yoga helps me relief all the stress, as well as any tensions I might have from working all day in front of a computer or with my nose inside a book. So I decided I will do more yoga this year, especially during those hard study times!

One resolution/wish that has been constant throughout my entire life has been traveling. And, although I'm leaving to Rome on Saturday, I still want to know many places of the world and visit countries I've never seen. So travel is another resolution. Any cool destination suggestions out there?!

I probably haven't mentioned this before, but I'm currently applying to grad school... So if everything goes according to my plans, I will be leaving home and moving overseas by August/September. This means I will have to leave my family and I won't have the chance to kiss my sister every morning before going to school. So I think I should just try and spend more quality time with my family. That way I will probably miss them less when I go... Or I might not, but at least I'll know I spent as much time as it could with them when it was possible!

I'm also becoming more and more addicted to food. However, I'm not a big fan of seafood and I don't usually try new things out. But this might be because I haven't explored enough. So I decided to stop being a chicken and try more things out. If I don't like them, that's ok... But at least I'll know I've tried them!

Finally, I want to improve my jewellery design/making abilities. I will be taking a jewellery course this semester, and I really hope this will boost my creativity and improve my skills. I can't wait for my lessons to begin!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

January 2, 2014

Receiving The New Year

For New Years Eve, I wanted to share some time with my mum and my sister, while doing something calmed and relaxed. So instead of going out partying, we went for dinner at La Mina Steak & Lobster (which is located at the JW Marriott Bogota hotel), one of my mum's favourite restaurants in Bogota.

The menu consisted of six dishes, all of which were absolutely delicious.

We started with crunchy crab claws with a thai peanut sphere over smoked panka hot pepper.

Then we had a foie gras terrine, with bagel crunch, lychee foam, and balsamic syrup.

We moved into a warm prawn ceviche with sweet potato and manchego cheese dauphin.

By this moment, we were ready to cut all the flavour out with a red fruits and ciroc vodka sherbet.

Have I mentioned there was a saxophonist playing live all the time?

Our main dish consisted of two parts: salmon with osceta prestige caviar over cilantro mashed potatoes and red wine vinaigrette, and Surf and Turf (i.e. steak with green pepper sauce and garlic stone crab), with potatoes stuffed with corn.

I chose to drink some Chardonnay with my supper, which was absolutely perfect! I think this might be my favourite type of white wine!

Finally, for dessert, we had a pistacchio crème brulée––which was my favourite––a chocolate cake and some sort of grape flan with ice cream. I must admit that this was probably my least favourite part of dinner, in part because I was full by the end of my main dish, but also partly because I didn't understand the flavour of the flan.

Naturally, with all that food, we needed to have some herbal tea to help our digestion.

At this point, we had already spent around three hours eating, and we finished just in time to cheer the New Year. We drank some champagne and saw the fireworks in the hotel's terrace...

...Just before going back home to sleep happily, with our bellies full––until yesterday around 2pm!

Love,

Oh, and my mum and my sister wish you all a Happy New Year!

December 31, 2013

2013: The Year In Review!

December 31, already?! Can you believe that? This year definitely went by so fast! Although this means that it was a great year, because time has that particular characteristic of rushing only when you're having fun.

At the end of every year, I love looking back to what I've done. I think it's crucial to examine ourselves and our progress before starting planning on New Years resolutions and making plans for the future. And looking at old pictures from the year has got to be my favourite part when trying to discover my year's journey!

I've chosen some of my best moments of 2013 to share with you... Here we go!

I received the year with my dad at my uncle's country house. And I also got to share a great time with my fave cousin in the whole world! Definitely a good start for some quality family time!