30 Day Age Gratefully Challenge

Hello my lovely readers,

I decided to take part in a 30 day challenge about Aging Gratefully. 

#agegratefully23 was the hashtag to view everyone's posts. It really made me think about getting older and my views surrounding the process. It was uplifting to see so many woman Aging Gratefully & Gracefully.

I posted almost daily throughout November. Some days I played a little catch-up & three days I just couldn't get into the mindset. 

The topics were~

1. Hi! 

2. Cozy Comfort

3. Vintage

4. Note to Younger Self

5. Time

6. Freedom

7. Now vs. Then

8. My ___ Era

9. Topsy-turvy {no post}

10. Strong

11. Thank You {no post}

12. Imperfect

13. Bold

14. Roots

15. Vulnerable 

16. With These Hands

17. Black & White

18. Peaceful 

19. Action {not in video}

20. Wisdom

21. Change

22. Colorful

23. Thankful - on Thanksgiving

24. Rest

25. Mantra {no post}

26. Powerful

27. Vibrant {not in video}

28. One Thing

29. Reflect

30. Looking Forward

You can see all the posts on my personal IG page @stephanieleonacross

This is the video recap~Age Gratefully

Until next time...

Seattle/Tacoma

Point Defiance Park near Owens Beach

Hi Lovely Readers,

Here's a recap of my first visit to the Seattle area. My nephew and his family moved here during the summer, and my sister{his mom} wanted to check out their new house.  I got away for a day and explored Seattle.

I was winging it, so I didn't really have a plan. They live over an hour away, and I got a bit of a late start, so I missed going up on the Space Needle and going to Pike Place Chowder for a chowder flight

However, I took a ferry to Bremerton, out of the Seattle Ferry Terminal, which was an experience in itself for this California Girl. The only car ferry I have ever been on is the Balboa one in Newport Beach, which only allows, I think, 3 cars at a time. After leaving the first ferry, I turned around and took the next one back to Seattle.

They really piled up the cars inside. Once you parked, you could get out and walk around. They had a little snack bar on-site and lots of seating. It was really cool coming back as it was getting dark.

Bremerton, Washington

Another ferry

After leaving the ferry, I made my way up to Pike Place Market and parked in their garage.

Kinda eerie at night

The famous gum wall, which surprisingly took me a while to find. The market is a HUGE maze!

Ended up eating Mac & Cheese at Beecher's Handmade Cheese, since I missed the chowder 

I walked from the market to the Space Needle, since I couldn't get in then, I took the monorail back to downtown. Side note, it is a bit of a jaunt.

Thought this was a cool health inspection notification.

On our way back to Sea-Tac, my nephew was giving us a little tour of Tacoma. Well...one of my favorite movies is "10 Things I Hate About You", so of course I had to check out the high school used in the movie.  The movie is also responsible for our song...

Have you been to the Seattle/Tacoma area? What were your highlights?

Until next time

Halloween 2002

Hello lovely readers,

A cowgirl & her shadow...

Our story started 21 years ago tonight. Until that night, I hadn't really noticed Javier, nor talked to him. I just knew he was loud, arrogant and kinda scary. I really did not want to linger in the kitchen when he was there.

On Halloween 2002, I was supposed to work on a public dinner cruise, but was cut early. I had thrown together a costume from things I had, hoping that I could leave and join a "singles" cruise on another boat. 

Since I did get off early, I went on the cruise with a bunch of friends/co-workers where I was happily getting drunk, and dancing. Javier was dressed all in black, and was lurking and being kinda creepy, so I teased him and called him my shadow. 

After the cruise was over, we ventured to another party, in the building our main prep kitchen was in, and a huge event venue. Yes, both in places that we worked and yes, the drinks were flowing! One thing led to another, and you know... 

It took us until New Year's Day to figure out that we had an attraction worth exploring further, and another month for me to tie-up some loose ends. Neither of us wanted anything serious at first, we just wanted to have fun, but that went out the window when we fell madly in love and found our forever person. It really sucks that a pandemic ended our story! 

Anyways, I didn't know about this picture and that he was grabbing a handful of my ass until we were married parents. But, that was so him. In a lot of the posed photos of us, I'm usually laughing because one of his hands was not behaving. 

Have a Happy Halloween 🎃 

Originally posted on @stephanieleonacross in 2022

International Chef's Day

Hello Lovely Readers,

October 20th is International Chef's Day! So gotta celebrate the one and only, the man, the myth, the legend my husband @chefesquivel!

Javier wasn't plannning on a career as a chef. He sold shoes and sports clothes in differnt swap meets around Mexico City. When he came to the United States he tried landscaping for a very short time before getting a job as a dishwasher at Hornblower Cruises & Events in San Diego.

When he started there, he had never had a job in a kitchen. I found out many years later, he didn't even cook for himself when he lived at home, nor attempted to. However, he was a very quick study, plus he called his mom and asked her how to handle a knife, and basic kitchen tasks so he could move up to prep chef, and then eventually move to events and make tips. 

By the time I met him almost two years later, he had advanced to lead chef responsible for getting 300+ meals out on a public boat cruise with the least talented of the kitchen staff! Plus, he was working on private events where the menus were a little more varied.

He was a sponge and absorbed techniques from many different people. He had an almost photographic memory, and was quick on his feet, all which helped him as he increased his knowledge of different cuisines, and cooking techniques. Funnily, Mexican food wasn't a strong point.

As a Chef's wife, do you know the number one question everyone asks me? You know you just wondered! But no, he did not make me food at home. Yes, he would bring stuff home from work, but as he climbed the ladder, he wasn't the one preparing or cooking the food he brought home for us. What he really wanted to eat when he came home from work was a sandwich or two, and he usually had a sandwich or breakfast before he went to work, all made by me.

He did prepare all the food for our wedding, he wanted to make sure it was perfect. Plus, he always made dinner for the holidays, and special occasions, but he couldn't sit down and really enjoy his own cooking, and for those of you that had the pleasure, you know he was f*cking awesome at it!!!

Here are the places he honed his skills~

🔪Hornblower Cruises & Events: San Diego, Newport Beach & Marina Del Rey

🔪C & E Catering (our company)

🔪Sorority Gourmet & Frat Food @ UCLA, USC & CSULB

🔪The Studios: Walt Disney, Prospect, DreamWorks & Universal in their Catering/Food Service Departments

🔪Sofitel Los Angeles & the Bel-Air Country Club

🔪24 Carrots Catering & Events

🔪Paleo Zone

🔪Love Catering

🔪& lastly Keno's Restaurant/Canyon Catering & Events

1st 📷: Making eggs at a Pancake Breakfast

2nd 📷: Birthday celebration for our Sister-in-law 

3rd 📷: In the commissary in the Abbey in San Diego

Miss you Babe❤❤❤

Road Trip 2003

Hello Lovely Readers,

20 years ago we took our 1st road trip together to celebrate my 37th birthday. Before we left, he gave me my present, a Build-A-Bear bunny {I ❤ 🐇}. If you have ever been to one, you know there is a process to making them, and I would have loved to actually have seen him do the dance, and everything else. He named her "Dirty Girl" and dressed her in a little black pleather skirt, biker boots and a pink off the shoulder shirt. I still have it all.

We decided to drive to the Grand Canyon and then go to Vegas. Neither of us had been to the Grand Canyon, and it was Javier's first trip to Las Vegas. I was three months pregnant so lots of potty breaks along the way. We stayed in a cute little town, Williams, AZ on Route 66. While at the Grand Canyon, I discovered Javier's fear of heights. He freaked out a bit when me and his baby got, what he thought was w-a-y too close to the edge. We hiked a bit and had a nice picnic at the top of the south side, while watching the sunset on my birthday. 

We also drove over to Sedona, where we found his name engraved on keychain. I would always look for his name on things when we went somewhere, but even in 2003 it was rare to find Hispanic names on souvenirs. When I was a girl it was rare to find my name on things, so I knew the struggle. Side story, that's how we came up with Connor's name, and why it's or, not er. We were in a shop in Seaport Village, San Diego and I was looking at zipper pulls, and saying "C" names out loud, and we both liked the same one. I wanted our son to find his name with the correct spelling on any souvenir item.

We then headed over to Vegas. It's a different experience being in Vegas pregnant, and we did a lot if nongambling/drinking things. My bunny even got a Vegas t-shirt. This picture was taken before going up the Eiffel Tower. Shows you how much he loved me, he powered through it because I wanted to go. We has a great time on our 1st of many road trips we took over the almost 18 years we were together.

I miss him so much...

Lunar New Year

It’s the Year of the Tiger! 

But why am I posting today instead of February 1st? Well, the celebration is for 15 days, and when I was a Cub Scout Leader, I would celebrate with my boys on the first Monday after the Lunar New Year started.

I started doing a Chinese New Year Celebration 10 years ago. At the time there was a Language and Culture Belt Loop and Pin that they could earn. We lived in a predominantly Spanish-speaking area, so most of the boys either knew Spanish or Latin American cultures and I thought it would be interesting for them to learn some things about a completely different culture. 

 The first year, 2012 was the Year of the Dragon, and that first year I only had a den of six boys. They colored dragon masks and we put streamers on them plus, I read the Story of the Zodiac and worked through the requirements which included teaching them some words.

Through the years, it evolved. The belt loop and pin were discontinued however, I always read the Zodiac Story, and they always made a dragon mask. I also included coloring pages with that year’s Zodiac animal, and the last few years my husband either made plain chow mein noodles, potstickers, or we brought some in. Of course, the boys had fortune cookies, too.

I updated the “calendar” so the boys knew what animal they were (caution for late January and early February birthdays, the New Year is based on the Lunar year, so it rotates around, just like Easter, so you need to actually look it up, to see what year/animal you fall under). 

The boys always looked forward to the night and enjoyed making the masks since it was one of our “fun” nights where we all hung out together. Of course, all the siblings could participate, too. 

Since I started in 2012, and there are twelve animals in the Zodiac, and I am no longer a Cub Scout Leader, we didn’t get through all twelve~ 🐭 🐮 🐯 🐰🐲🐍🐎🐑🐒🐔 🐶 & 🐷. 

This year we would have celebrated my husband since those born in 1974 are Tigers! Which has always been one of my favorite animals😁

According to Chinese lore, Tigers are, “Brave, competitive, unpredictable, and confident. They are very charming and well-liked by others. But sometimes they are likely to be impetuous, irritable, and overindulgent. They have stubborn personalities and tough judgment, Tigers work actively and express themselves boldly, doing things in a high-handed manner. They are authoritative and never go back on what they have said.” 

My husband in a nutshell! Do you know what Year you were born under?

 FYI, I'm a 🐴

5th Anniversary

Today, Me & the Mister celebrate five years of wedded bliss!! I love you baby!

Our 4th Anniversary

Today we are celebrating four years of marital bliss!! Happy Anniversary Baby! I Love You!