Vacation Hangover

It's been a while since I've had a real vacation. When I say "real vacation" I mean being gone for a significant amount of time (not just for  a weekend) and pretty much unwinding and disconnecting from the regular everyday world that I'm use to. I'm not only jet-lagged but also going through a Vacation Hangover. I don't even want to think about what Monday (tomorrow) has to offer. Especially with this weird Houston weather we are having, please take me back to the beach!!You would think that as many times as I've traveled and said good bye to family and friends, this would just be another "see you later." I was honestly taken aback by myself when my eyes just welled up with tears thinking of all the people I was leaving behind. The only thing that kept running through my mind was: "I can't wait another 5-6 years to see these people again."I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older, or because of all the "live life moment by moment" I've been practicing throughout 2016, but this was the hardest goodbye for me to date. I went on this trip as a different person. This time around it wasn't just going on different adventures, it was actual bonding on our mini excursions. Getting to know my cousins from hearing their stories of their daily grind and taking in who they are by just simply being in their presence. As eager as I am to get back to my "American life," I didn't want to leave them behind. I think the thought of knowing where I was headed and where I was leaving the people I loved behind was what got me the most.A lot has happened since the last time I went to the Philippines. I remembered praying hard for a job. Since then, I worked at Maxim for 3 years, bought a car, started a business that is coming to its 3rd year and I moved out with BJ into a dreamy apartment. Seeing my cousins and relatives in the Philippines, it seems as if nothing really has changed for them, as if I have no idea what has happened to them during this time. Of the 6 years that I last saw them, so much has happened and I don't want to live another 6 more years without having experiencing life together. I want to know all their ups and downs as well as ours.Ending 2016 and starting 2017 with my family in the Philippines was the recharge I needed to get me started for the upcoming year. Thank you for the memories, the laughs and your presence that allowed me to have the best Holiday Vacation ever! I'm very blessed to live this life with the strongest support system you can imagine.

See ya'll again real soon!

FPSF - Part 1

Three years ago, BJ and I walked down Allen Parkway to Houston's own Music Festival. This was my first Free Press Summer Fest experience. I was determined to go because The Postal Service was coming out of hiding after several years and they were headlining the festival. Such Great Heights is my ultimate favorite song, so there was no way I was going to pass this up!! There's always that sense of "now I can die happy" after witnessing your favorite band perform live for the first time.When we passed through the gates of Free Press, the first thing I noticed were the food trucks. At this time, Sticky's was only an idea that could possibly happen. I looked down the street at all the food options and thought (I probably said it out loud to my brother as well), "Damn, that's pretty cool to be a part of something this big, I hope we can do that one day." Even last year when I saw all my favorite food trucks lined up, I couldn't help but feel a little envious... especially seeing how long their lines were the entire day. *cha-CHING* 🤑June 4, 2016.... Sticky's Chicken will make its debut at Free Press Summer Fest! Needless to say, I'm pretty damn excited! I know Free Press doesn't compare to all the popular festivals like Coachella, ACL or Lallapalooza, but it's a music festival in my home town and Sticky's gets to be a part of it! We might not have the perfect weather for an outdoor event like this, but there's always a sense of pride when you get to participate in a huge event right in the heart of your beloved city.This week will be an interesting week of prepping.To be continued.... 

Stop Waiting

In my opinion, the best yoga teachers are the ones who tell a story before practice. Most will have you in child's pose as they talk and set the theme for the class. The quick anecdote helps you to create an intention for the practice if you don't already have one and it also allows you to find some sort of focus throughout the class.Last week, I took a class with one of the more difficult yogis. Her moves are slower, but more deliberate, therefore making the class more challenging. As always, we started out in child's pose and she spoke about Happiness. She continued to describe happiness as an emotion that you create, not something you wait for.For example:"I'll be happy when I get that new job because I'll have more money."instead of waiting to be happy, you can create it by thinking..."I'm happy to currently be working, allowing me to pay my bills."Today, I had to practice creating my own happiness. The food truck life is by all means not easy. It's one thing to be an entrepreneur, but to be one in the food truck industry takes you to a whole new level of challenges. To put it simply, if your truck isn't working, you're not making money.This morning I took the truck into the shop and left the keys with the mechanic for a $400 maintenance job on the brakes. Three ours later I received a phone call that the "maintenance job" would end up being a "you are in dire need of fixing xyz situation that's going on", which in turn is going to cost me at least $1,100. *sad face*It took a while for all of this to settle in, but eventually I had to dig deep to find the silver lining. The truck will be expensive to fix BUT I'm happy to know that I can afford to pay for it, and soon enough, my drivers will more importantly be safe! I Stopped waiting. I literally sat at my desk, looked at my vision board and started smiling with Whitney Houston signing me back into a happy state of mind. The rest of my day was amazing.Lesson learned? DON'T WAIT TO BE HAPPY! If you're waiting now, you'll never find that happiness. Happiness isn't a moment in the future, it's a state of existence in the present. Create your own happiness and truly appreciate what you have now. As cliché as it may sound, you are to be in THIS moment for a reason, so create that happiness and enjoy life for its simple existence.