Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!

This year I have a lot to be thankful for. I am so grateful for all of my family, friends and opportunities I have had this year.

I am thankful for my family and all the help they have given me with my move to my new apartment.

I am thankful to my colleagues at work for supporting and assisting me to get my new role at work and to my new boss and team for taking a chance on me by giving me this new opportunity. I am grateful for all of the travel opportunities that have arisen as a result of me taking this new role all of the great people I have met along the way!

And most importantly thank you to my family and friends for all of the love not only this year but throughout time!

I hope all of you take the time to cherish all that you have and thank those who have played a part in your life.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy National Dessert Day

Hope everyone has a sweet day!!!​

​I just tasted these delicious cupcakes from Huascar & Co Bake Shop.  The flavors going clockwise were Nutty Fella (chocolate fudge cupcake with Nutella filling, Glanduja buttercream frosting with chocolate pearls toasted hazelnuts), Pink Lemonade (lemon sour cream and raspberry cupcake with raspberry buttercream frosting and raspberry chocolate curls) and Berry Champgne (pink champagne cupcake with strawberries baked in iced with vanilla-pink champagne frosting)! 

​Huascar & Co had a bunch of fun flavors and other items in the store, such as spiked tres leches cake which is one of my favorite kind of cakes!  The cupcakes were pretty tasty, more dense than fluffy, the Nutty Fella even had a filling, which was delicious. As for the frosting, I thought it was a bit hard and too bitter tasting, however they did have interesting frosting flavors to go with the different cupcakes. 

Interview with John Isner, Tennis Pro

John Isner may not have won the US Open, but he’s still one of my favorite tennis players!

Check out my interview with John Isner on everything from training for the US Open to having a baby girl!

He was the one who suggested to do the interview standing up, to get the height disparity, LOL!

Little Havana Food Tour in Miami

During my vacation in Miami, I wanted to more than just your typical beach and party routine.  After seeking out some recommendations from my new friends from Sunrise, Florida, my friend and I decided to take a food tour with Miami Culinary Tours.  They had a few tour options, but decided the Little Havana Food tour, would give us a new cultural tour in addition to some yummy Cuban Food!

Stop 1 - El Pub Restaurant

Stop 1 of the food tour was at El Pub restaurant, they are best known for their beef empanadas & coffee, which exactly what we had and a great way to start the tour!  For those of you who do not know, an empanada is basically dough filled with something, such as beef.  Variations of empanadas exist in many different cultures, such as calzones and dumplings.  I also learned about the "colada," which is a Cuban coffee that is mean to be shared (you should not have a full cup, but rather a small little shot, the size of a creamer).

Stop 2 - Cuba Tobacco Cigar Co.

Next we headed to the Cuba Tobacco Cigar Factory, where we learned how cigars were made and got to see it first hand.  Fun Fact - The owner of this factory was actually imprisoned for 20 years prior to starting this factory and was sitting on the couch in the front of the store.

Stop 3 - Domino Park

Domino Park is where all of the seniors go to play, you guessed it... dominos!  The park is a social club and the place to be during teh day for dominos and chess (but gambling is not allowed). Don’t forget to bring your ID, because they will card you!

Stop 4 - Old's Havana

We then headed lunch at Old Havana, where we had a delicious Cuban sandwich & croquette.  A cuban sandwich consists of pernil (one of my favorites!), ham, pickle and cheese, croquettes are basically fried sticks of food, usually consisting of potato.

Stop 5 - Ball & Chain

We migrated to some live Latin music at Ball & Chain for some refreshing mojitos!  Ball & Chain is definitely one of the most lively places in Little Havana, with a fantastic live band in the front of the restaurant and a pineapple theme!   They also have a nice little patio area in the back, this may have been my favorite spot on the tour - I will definitely be back next time I am in Little Havana!

Stop 6 - Yisell Bakery

On to Yisell Bakery for some guava filled pastries (pastelitos).  This little hole in the wall bakery, looked kind of small and run down, but had some great pastries, bread and was very busy with locals. The bakery was crowded in the middle of the day while we were there, which says a lot about a place.

Stop 7 - Los Pinarenos Fruteria

This fruit stand has a variety of fruits that you would not find at your local grocery store, here you can find giant avocados, green plantains, lady fingers (baby bananas), dragon fruit, star fruit and fresh mangos to name a few!  Here we had a very fresh mango smoothie, which you could tell was made right on the spot, I could definitely use another one in this heat! 

Fun Fact: this is one of the only open air fruit stands left standing AND was featured in some movies.

Stop 8 - Azucar

Time for dessert!  For the final stop of the tour we headed to Azucar for some mantecado ICE CREAM topped with guava syrup! This shop was created by a local who saw the need to create a place for tourists to enjoy the local culture, thus Azucar was born!

Along the tour, we saw many roosters, both statues and real ones, very depicting of islands in general.   

Needless to say my friend and I were STUFFED by the end of this tour.  I would definitely recommend taking this tour if you want to learn about the culture, while stuffing your face!

Toronto in July

Earlier this week, I traveled to Toronto, Canada on my first work trip... ever!  It was a great experience and I learned a lot about my new team, Travel & Lifestyle Services (TLS).  I had not been to Toronto since the North American Debate Championships (Northams) in January 2010 at York University.

My boss and I were only there for 1.5 days, so needless to say it as pretty jam packed with meetings during this market visit.  However, I was able to find some time to catch up with one of my MBA grad school friends who recently started working for AMEX in Canada!

During my stay, I stayed at the Shangri-La Toronto, a very swanky 5-star hotel chain with a gorgeous pool.  The room was so spacious, bathroom alone could have been a small studio apartment in NYC, which included a hot tub and TV built into the mirror.  The hotel concierge even left me a nice handwritten note and left me pound cake loaf to welcome me to the hotel.  I would definitely love to stay there again, can I afford it is the question!

 “Big Ass Steak” at Baro in Toronto

After Day 1, all of the managers+ went to a team dinner at Baro, a delicious Mexican restaurant in downtown Toronto.  The food here was DELICIOUS and the menu had some great names of dishes.  My favorite dishes on the menu were the steak and the the tacos, but the most amusing dish names were "Big Ass Steak" and “Eat Like Jefe!” 

CN Tower

On the way back to the hotel from Baro, we had a great view of one of Toronto's most popular attractions, the CN tower.  For those of you who know me know I had to stop and take a photo. My new boss surprisingly followed suit and took a photo on Snapchat to send to his children.

The next day was filled with back to back meetings starting at 8:30 AM to 4 PM, which I then headed to the airport for my flight - delayed about 5 hours...  However, on my flight home, I sat next to someone who taught me a bit about meditation and turned about to be a new friend!

Can't wait for my next trip!

My First Work Trip!

New Role, New Team & New Country!

On my first day in my new role in Travel & Lifestyle Services (TLS), I was able to take a business trip to Toronto, Ontario for a site visit with my new boss.  (Do not worry I did not relocate to Canada)  I would be lying if I said I was not a bit intimidated to be travelling with my boss my first few days on the job - what would I talk to him about, would we get along or would I do something silly or embarrassing in front of him?  Thankfully all of these concerns were mostly in my head as I think I hopefully made a good impression.

The trip was very quick as we had landed on Monday afternoon, around 2:30 PM, due to delays, and left by end of day on Tuesday, less than 48 hours later.  However, even in this short period of time I was able to learn a lot.  I was able to:

1. See how senior leaders at my company thing
2. Listen to a call into the call center from the view of a Travel & Lifestyle consultant
3. Hear the mindsets of what is and is not working and how senior leaders viewed these matters
4. View the company from an international perspective

Team Dinner at Baro in Toronto, Canada

As part of TLS, the team creates, fosters and manages the relationships with some of the most high end hotels, including the Shangri-La hotel where I had the pleasure of staying and Baco where had dinner on Monday night.  While we were at dinner, we learned it was the regional VP’s birthday, so of course we had to celebrate while we were there!

Sadly, while I did not have any time to explore, but I did get a much better understanding of my new team, TLS.  I excited for my new role and what the future may hold!

Check out my next post for a lifestyle focus on my trip to Toronto and stay tuned for more of my travel adventures! (Hopefully)

End of a chapter...

Today marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next as I finish my first role at AMEX today! 🎉 

Thank you to everyone for coming out to celebrate my PROMOTION with me and supported me in this role and in getting the next. I super excited to start my new role, but am going to miss you all! 💕

For the past few years, I have been working in the Corporate Planning & Analysis team, supporting the core function teams, such as Marketing, HR, Legal, Aviation and Audit from a FP&A budgeting and forecasting perspective, in a nutshell. I have learned a lot over the past few years and am excited to start my second role at AMEX with a PROMOTION in Travel & Lifestyle Services as a Manager of Strategy and Business Planning! 

Happy National Ice Cream Day!

Rainbow Cookie Ice Cream topped with Homemade Lemon Meringue from Bona Bona Ice Cream

Celebrating National Ice Cream Day at the 3rd Annual NYC Summer Ice Cream Blizzard - with a variety of NYC's most unique artisan ice cream makers and flavors.

For those of you who know me well, you know I have a big sweet tooth and LOVE ice cream!  

Today I attended the 3rd Annual NYC Summer Ice Cream Blizzard at the Grand Baazar NYC on the Upper West Side. There were so many varieties of ice cream it was hard to choose where to go! There was everything from ice cream mochi from My/Mo Mochi Ice Cream, ice cream sandwiches from Melt Bakery and Thai ice cream rolls from Minus Celsius Ice Cream to ice cream stuffed donuts from Stax Ice Cream, ice cream like cookie dough from 2 Dough Boyz and deep fried ice cream from Sam's Fried Ice Cream to name a few.   

I decided to get something new that I had not seen before (which is rare when it comes to ice cream) - rainbow cookie ice cream topped with toasted lemon meringue from Bona Bona Ice Cream! If you’re wondering, yes it tastes as good as it looks!  The rainbow cookie ice cream had bits of rainbow cookie in it (one of my favorite cookies), and the toasted lemon meringue added a nice touch, definitely a good decision made today! 

Thank you to my friend Della for indulging in my love of ice cream and attending this, despite the intense heat today!  

Until next time, stayed tuned for more ice cream and foodie adventures!  

The Forty-Five Show Inspired by the Vans Warped Tour

Tonight, Friday, July 13, 2018, I had the pleasure of attending he Forty-Five Show, hosted by Vans in NYC, which was the final stop of the tour proceed stops in Santa Monica, Chicago and Philadelphia. The Forty-Five Show is a charity art show, featuring 45 album covers created by 45 artists inspired by artists and musicians who have played on Warped Tour.

These art pieces will be sold online and all proceeds will benefit Sound Art, a non profit that focuses on putting music back into the classroom. 

​Check out some of the album covers on this post! My personal favorite was the album cover inspired by The Dickies featuring narwohls!  

Happy Independence Day!

Happy July 4th!!! 🇺🇸 

I am so happy and proud to call myself an American! I hope everyone has a happy and safe fourth! 

Happy July!

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Waikiki Beach, Hawaii

Happy July!!! 🎉

Who’s ready for some R&R beach weather? 🏖 I know I am! 😎

What do you have planned for the summer? 

In June, I took a weekend trip to Montauk in the Hamptons for my friend’s Birthday. I had a wonderful time celebrating and hitting the beach! 

This upcoming weekend, I will be headed to Vienna, Virginia for a high school friend’s wedding! I can’t wait to celebrate this momentous day with them! 

Happy Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, especially my amazing dad!

Thanks for always being up for going on one of my crazy adventures with me!

New York Edge Summer Kickoff Soiree

New York Edge Young Professionals Council (L-R): Mateo Creamer, Eileen Tublin, Rose Wisniewski, Evvie Kelley, Chris Creegan, Diana Arias, Elizabeth Tam, Robert Strang, Kinja Dixon, Kyle Deleon

Last night the New York Edge Young Professionals Council (of which I am president of) and I hosted the 4th Annual New York Edge Summer Kickoff Soiree at the Ainsworth - East Village.  I want to thank everyone who came out to support our event! 

I am so happy to say that all of the tickets were SOLD OUT!

I want to thank everyone who came out to the Summer Kickoff Soiree and helped us raise money to benefit New York Edge in providing free after school programming to students across the Greater NYC area!

New York Edge has been and still is one of my favorite non profits to work with.  They are the largest provider of free after school programming in NYC, reaching over 35,000 students in over 130 schools!

As a product of NYC public schools, their cause really hits home for me and is something I am very proud to support!

New York Edge Young Professionals Council (L-R): Eileen Tublin, Ian McCarty, Mateo Creamer, Kinja Dixon, Evvie Kelley, Rose Wisniewski, Chris Creegan, Diana Arias, Elizabeth Tam, Robert Strang, Kinja Dixon, Kyle Deleon

New York Edge Spring Arts Showcase

On Wednesday, June 6, 2018 I attended the 9th Annual Spring Arts Showcase for the non profit New York Edge (formerly Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation).  NY Edge has been one of my favorite non profits to volunteer with and this is one of their favorite events I love to attend (the other is the annual STEP Competition)

The Spring Arts Showcase featured some of the top performances and art, ranging from dancing and stepping to fashion designs and 3-D artwork.  Needless to say, I was truly impressed.  Check out the photos and video in this post!

In light of what has been happening in current events, in particular the suicides of fashion designer Kate Spade and Chef Anthony Bourdain, I was truely moved by the step performance, in which they addressed suicide prevention. 

The free after school programming New York Edge provides is very impactful, reaching over 25,000 students in 120+ schools across the Greater NYC area. The after school programming varies from sports, arts, education, music and more.  I love volunteering with such a great organization and am currently President of the NY Edge Young Professionals Council.

The NY Edge Young Professionals Council will be hosting our 4th Annual Summer Kickoff Soiree on Thursday, June 14, 2018 at the Ainsworth - East Village.  If you are interested in attending, tickets can be purchased here: 

https://sasfny.networkforgood.com/events/7165-new-york-edge-kickoff-to-summer-soiree

How to Make the Perfect Flower Arrangement

For Mother’s Day this year, I took a floral arrangement 101 class with The Wild Bunch and I made my mother a flower arrangement (which she loved).

I’ll be the first to say I do not have a green thumb, in fact when I moved into my new apartment in April I swore I would not have any plants, pets or anything they could die. However I did manage to make a pretty decent looking flower arrangement, if I do say so myself.

Here are a few take aways I learned:

Choosing Flowers

• Keep a simple color palette, but you can have a variety of flowers and foliage
• Fresh flowers have tighter bulbs and will last longer

Prepping the flowers

• Remove all leaves (and thorns) below the water line, this makes for easier arranging and a cleaner look
• Cut the bottom of the stems on a diagonal, the increased surface area will allow the flower to absorb more water
• Use luke warm water

Arranging the flowers

• Create a grid by crossing the foliage
• Insert the flowers into the grid at varying heights for depth
• Measure the stem lengths before you cut them

Maintaining the flowers

• Change the water every 2 days
• Remove stems as they die
• Recut the stems when you change the water to increase longevity of the flowers

If I can make a gorgeous flower arrangement, you can too!

Thank you to the Moxy Times Square & The Wild Bunch for a wonderful class!

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there, especially my amazing mom!  

Thank you to my wonderful mother for raising me and my sister. I do not know where I would be without you! I love you! 💕 

SASF 25th Anniversary Luncheon

Today marked the 25th Anniversary of Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation, the largest provider off free after school programming in NYC and a non profit that i hold near and dear to my heart!

SASF serves over 125,000 students in over 130 schools across NYC.  I first got involved with them in 2013 when I was Miss NY, I absolutely fell in love with them and all that they do. Now in their 25th year, they have re-branded and will now be operating as New York Edge. 

As President of the SASF Young Professionals Council, I have definitely had the opportunity to see all the progress and phenomenal accomplishments they have made over the years as well the tremendous growth my board has undergone as well.

Congratulations to the winner of the Legacy Award Nico Elmaleh and Gold Star Award winner Matthew Petrula!

I look forward to seeing all of SASF/New York Edge's continued success in the next 25 years!

Miss US Galaxy Interview with the Tulle Project

Every girl, woman and person has the ability to do whatever they set their mind to - breaking stereotypes, changing boundaries and setting the standards.  I believe that girls and women do not have to categorize themselves in behaving one way or another, in fact we can change these perceptions set upon us by society.

Check out my interview with Silvana Favaretto, Founder of the Tulle Project.   In our conversation, we discussed the importance of embracing who you are and breaking stereotypes - everything from what it is like being a woman in a male dominated industry (finance), making a difference by living by example and showing that you can have brains AND beauty!

The Tulle Project is a place for women to look and feel beautiful, feminine, and graceful—and also encouraged, connected, and empowered.  Their mission is to help people make meaningful connections, share their stories and equip themselves to be their best.  For every skirt that is purchased, one will be donated to a child in need!

My take away from what I have learned over the years is:

Don't be afraid to show who you are and take a risk, who knows where it will take you!

Happy International Pageant Day!

Happy International Pageant Day!

I am grateful for all of the amazing people I have met and opportunities I have had throughout my pageant career!

Pageantry is more than just looking pretty, pageantry has given me a lot these past years - new friends, new opportunities, but more importantly, the opportunity to get involved with the community.  After my reign as Miss NY US, I became increasingly involved with Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation and now lead their Young Professionals Board as President.

I do not think I would be nearly as involved with the community if it were no for pageants. 

I am so honored to be/been involved with the Miss Galaxy (Miss US Galaxy), Miss United States (Miss New York), Miss Tourism (Miss Empire State), Miss America and other systems.

To all those considering entering pageants, give it a shot!  And if you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out!

Happy Pi Day!

Happy π Day!!!

Call me a math dork, but Pi Day is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate!  For those of you who do not know, the Greek symbol π (pi) represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter and is equal to approximately 3.1415926535.  π is used in calculating various aspects of circles, including the area of circles, volume of cylinders and spheres.

π Day is celebrated on March 14, 3/14, which represents the first 3 digits of π.  Pi is an irrational number, continuing on for forever...  How many digits of π can you recite?

This year to celebrate π Day, a few of my fellow math loving friends from high school and I went to Bubby's and got some delicious pie!  What did you do to celebrate?