Dominican!

Dominican was AMAZING. We spent eight beautiful days playing in the sun, drinking fruity drinks in the pool, eating the most delicious fruit I've ever had, reading a million books, getting couple massages, PLAYING WITH A MONKEY, etc etc etc. The weather was perfect everyday and the resort was fantastic, everyday they would cover our room in fresh flowers and send bottles of wine at night. 

 View from our patio

See that farmers tan? Yeah... that's what we needed to work on. 

We did so many cool things, too. We went snorkeling (MY FAVORITE) and scuba diving (a little weird as far as the breathing/ear pressure went, but still cool), the water is so crisp and blue and there were millions of fish and they ate from my hand >:). We drove our own speed boats which was awesome because it reminded me of being a kid on Long Island and we would go out all the time on my grandpas boats and he would let me drive and just THAT FEELING, ugh, that feeling of being completely out in the open water where it's so damn peaceful and fun and the smell of the ocean and your face being splashed with water and hair turning to waves I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH.

FISH TEA PARTY

We also went out on buggies through the countryside which was absolutely BEAUTIFUL but also awesomely gross because we were driving through huge mud puddles and getting smacked in the face with giant mud balls and we had to bathe in something like a river but not quite. 

Half way through and not nearly as dirty as we became. Chuckie had to throw his shirt and backpack away!

It was just great. It was my first time at an all inclusive resort and while it isn't my favorite type of vacation (I'll never give up my several-cities-in-one-trip traveling), it was exactly what we needed after this busy year. Resorts are like this weird alternate universe, the grounds are exquisite and people are doing everything for you and everywhere you turn there is a fruity drink and live music and buffets and fancy restaurants and the nicest people you'll ever meet, it was so strange but so cool. It came at the perfect time since Chuckie has been studying his ass off and having a week straight of uninterrupted ~love~ and fun time was exactly what we needed. 

Why I didn't take my husband's last name

My second article (but first "real" one other than beauty) was recently published on Feminspire, and I wanted to cross-post it here so that I always have it. A lady from Huffington Post Live contacted me about it telling me she loved it and wants me to be a part of their live segment about it! This is probably the coolest thing in the WORLD because I visit Huffington Post literally everyday for news and articles. I'm not even sure I'll be able to because of work, but still, it feels amazing to be asked and it has left me feeling totally inspired.

When my husband and I decided to get married, I had a lot of inner turmoil about changing my last name. I had always planned on changing it- aside from it being what women traditionally do when they get married, I never felt attached to my name, and hated having one that was impossible to pronounce correctly.  Yet anytime I would have the thought process of “I’ll definitely take his last name, it’s a good name and it will be the easiest thing to do since it is what’s generally expected” my mind would scream at me “NO! No! This isn’t right!”.  I don’t have any judgement toward anyone going the traditional route, the beauty in it is that we have the right to choose, but the more I thought about it the more I realized why I was rebelling against it.

Why are only women expected to change their last names? It seems to be so ingrained in us that we don’t even question it. You get married, you take his last name. Women give up their family name that they have had their entire lives just to take on a mans family name, yet society would never dare ask a man to leave his behind, even though you become a part of each others family regardless. The gender inequality in this tradition is just too much for my feminist mind. I couldn’t stop going back to the thought of women being seen as a man’s property, and the tradition that women leave their family to join their husbands. And although our country is still moving at a very slow pace in legalizing gay marriage, for the states and countries that do allow it, where do gay and lesbian couples fall into the mix? When the lines are based less on tradition, is it a sense of freedom to choose whichever name you would like, or is it harder because the legal requirements expect you to jump through hoops?

Aside from integrating into each others family, I thought marriage was about creating our own family, me and him (and our animal children). Neither one of us should be expected to take on the others name, but we wanted to share a family name. We wanted to share our own family name. We knew it might be an issue with his family (he is the third, after all), but it isn’t their decision, and it doesn’t even affect them, so why worry about it so much? Most people just ask, “what’s the point?” which sends me off into a feminist rant, and I’ve even had a friend say we are taking away from our future childs family history, to which I could only reply, “seriously???” because really–HOW?! Anyone can find information about their ancestry, changed names or not. We aren’t secluding ourselves from our families, we are just adding a new name to the mix.

The hardest part was coming up with a new name. We threw around a few fun words, but nothing felt right, nothing stuck. We finally decided on using his last name (which is a common word, thankfully) in Portuguese (my heritage), that way we both get to keep a part of ourselves, while also melding us together. I love our decision, I love that we both feel that we have ourselves in tact, and I’m excited to be the first Semana family in our family tree.

feminspire!

The ladies over at feminspire (one of my favorite websites) recently asked me to become a regular contributor and I am THRILLED. I definitely don't fancy myself a writer and I was doubting myself (as usual) if I could even come up with content that would be on par with the other ladies, but TO HELL WITH SELF DOUBT, I can do it. I CAN DO IT. It feels so wonderful to be a part of a collaboration with such smart, inspiring women and I can't wait to be more involved. I'll probably be cross posting some articles, but I'll try not to too much!

Oliver says hello

In other news, I'm still super into my new job because I keep getting free stuff (lol I mean, just being honest) and I'm still obsessed with Old Town. I've been hanging out with the babies a lot lately and Monique and I have been having lazy nights in with Sons of Anarchy (you know how I feel about TV) since it restarts in a few weeks. I sense a TV post coming soon....

DC brunch, booze, and zoos.

This weekend Chuckie and I ventured up to DC to hang out with a few fabulous ladies I know. Kristen picked out Firefly for brunch, a GF-friendly restaurant that was delicioussss. 

Mushroom & cheddar omelette, home fries

Several mimosas later we decided to go to the zoo. Let me tell you what, I love the zoo, LOVE IT, but every time I go all the animals go into hiding and we see maybe 10% of the animals. WHY? WHY ANIMALS? Let me also tell you that walking around a zoo in 90 degree weather after a lot of mimosas probably isn't the smartest idea. We lasted maybe an hour before we were all "soo... about those bars up the road...". 

Possibly my favorite couple ever.

HOW CUTE ARE THEY? I love this so much. 

BTW that panda is me.

We went to a few different places, I got a delicious brownie (the first delicious one I've had IN MONTHS, THANK YOU BABBY JESUS), ate some delicious mussels, and everyone had beers the size of their heads.

It was such a great day. I love those ladies so much and the two Charles were so in love. Now I just have to set a plan in motion to get Eva to visit her grandma in Fairfax more often...

Sunday was rainy and gloomy, so Chuckie and I cuddled up to watch the Hunger Games. It may not have anything on the book, but I will still watch it 700 times in the next year, I'm sure. I then had THE. BEST. reading of my life. Holy crap. One of the ladies I know who does spiritual work was so impressed with him that she asked him to come into town and give readings and I'm so glad I got to have one. Five minutes into the reading he stopped what he was saying, looked at me and said, "why are you so afraid of ______?" (one of my Big Time Issues) I probably picked my jaw up off the floor ten times during the reading. He helped me realize A LOT and I feel like it was just as much a therapy session as a reading. I'm going to be doing some work with him soon and I'm SO excited. I think this was the extra push I needed to get off my butt and start doing some of the work I need to be doing and I'm so looking forward to it.

Currently.. because I am THE WORST at anything else.

This month is shaping up to be the best month we've had in a long time. I love my new job! The girls are amazing and the hours are flawless AND I work on the same block as a cupcake shop with the most delicious GF cupcakes AND a gelato shop. It's the little things, right? I also just really love being in Old Town, and if we stay here past May (when our lease is up) we'll probably move back up there.
Chuckie got a new job that is exactly what he wanted and like, double the money which is GREAT. Everything is coming together! The beginning of the year was so rough that this is feeling extra great right now and I'm appreciating it a lot. Here are some other things that are making me happy lately:

The cutest portrait ever by the amazing Sara

Fabulous days by the water with friends

The cutest kids in the world

Don't be fooled by these bland looks, it is actually 

mascarpone gelato and AMAZING.

A fabulous post

I had a great post written up for today (by really great I mean it's about tv and vampires) but then my friend, Tanie, wrote the best blog post I've seen in a very long time and I think everyone needs to read it. It also includes a FABULOUS video by Bronny. Props to you, ladies, you go Glen Coco!