About Your Girl

I am a chatterbox with a rapidly-filling passport, a closet full of self-sewn clothes, a kitchen shelf collapsing under the weight of my cookbook collection, and fresh new running and swimming hobbies.

I’m the oldest (and, at 5’1, the shortest) of four sisters, a classy Puerto Rican chica with a serious aversion to Rosie Perez and all things leopard skin (especially seat covers).  I’m good at being a wife about 75% of the time, with a Mr. Laura who is good at being a husband 100% of the time.

I currently live in Trinidad and Tobago with the smarty-pants husband, whose job search led us here, and our coconut-chasing dog. I’m no stranger to the suitcase life, however, and have lived in the UK, Canada, Spain, Puerto Rico, and a sweet assortment of US states (Arkansas, North Carolina, and New York.)

Though I’ve moved so many times that I can never remember my own address or cell number anymore, and I’ve lived out of boxes for so long that I’ve forgotten which belongings I actually own, home is always where the family is and where dancing in the kitchen happens, and that’s Western NY and Puerto Rico for me.

I keep myself entertained by:

• preparing for sewing binges:  hoarding fabric, making sketches, browsing patterns, matching designs to fabric, and changing my mind a million times before I even put scissors to fabric.  I’m trying to be less haphazard and working through sewing selfishness issues, to varying degrees of success.
• obsessing over running:  I never thought I would be able to run and so I am just beside myself that I can!  It makes me happy and pleasant to be around, has brought back waistaliciousness, and gives me a focus for gadget-and-gear love.  Though your girl may not be marathon material, I do want to get a bit faster and I’m looking forward to running a 10K soon (and a half-marathon someday, hopefully before pigs fly).
• obsessing over swimming:  I’m fulfilling my Ariel/Little Mermaid dreams (with lots of sunscreen, of course) and would love to be brave enough to sign up for a sprint triathlon someday.
• surrounded by a pile of cookbooks/in full-blown food-planning mode: how I will I manage to eat all the tasty meals I want to each week (and still fit in my jeans at the end of it)?  I love to read cookbooks and make messes in the kitchen, and will be posting “recipes” regularly (if you can call them recipes—I don’t usually measure.)
• getting over nose injuries caused by falling asleep with a book on my face—that’s what being a bookworm who stays up too late will do to you.
• wondering if I’ll ever properly learn to use my camera (it’s a Canon IXUS 70, very sexy and trusty, but not rocket science by any means), which is a handy excuse for any less-than-stellar pics you may see here.
• counting down the days until my next visit home, sigh…

Oh–and after a bout of grad school and a string of office and administrative jobs, I now keep myself fed, in work, and happy as a freelance writer and editor, working from home–but always in real clothes.