Very Honorable Mentions

The Exhibit & Product Halls during Hispanicize 2012 were chock full of vendor booths and chock full of coffee. (sorry, couldn't resist)  Needless to say I enjoyed visiting the hall at least twice daily during the conference , but my favs have to be:

GoDominicanRepublic.com 

My first husband (yes, there've been more than 1- here's the link-catch up!) was Dominican.

Ok, si, was my first husband, is Dominican, and the father of my two eldest children.

They are proud of their heritage and I'm glad of it.

   

Kiara Cespedes w/BB

Ministry of Tourism DR

I've visited the island and enjoyed it's beauty, food, culture and people.  Like this beautiful young lady they humored esta Crazy Cubana and made her feel welcomed.  BB will take her children to their father's homeland one day for the yearly "Encuentro"; I know they'll love it.

VisitOrlando

BB actually chased these poor Minions as they were going into an elevator. 

I was promised they'd return for a pic, and they were good to their...silence.

This one's for you My Little One!

They also gave us a chance to play dress up- Orlando style

 

Little did we know they were planning on doing this:

Babushka's at 1:08 w/cafe in hand. But of course. 

SOI TV

 Babushka unfanned!

You saw it here first- BB without her face coverup schtick, but nunca without her

"JU SO FONII!!!"

; )



Babushka Besos to all.  Cuidensen.

Right on Target

This post will be a silent post- no words just pictures.  Pero first, an intro.

 Queee???  You thought I meant  the whole thing sin palabras??  JU SO FONII!!! 

 Remember, soy Cubana.

This is my way of saying Mil Gracias to Target  and its' marvelous Team Members.

Hispanicize2012 wouldn't have been the same without your cool ways.

 

wonderful ambiente and fun place to hangout 

the calm before the storm


  





Oh si, a massage chair...

 

y BB relishing the possibilities!

Snacks



Could there be anything more perfect for this CubanChinese Babushka??

Salvation 



Mr. Bryant Freay



Ok, si, maybe there was something more perfect...

after 4 days of nonstop events and panels this was soooooo needed and appreciated.

I asked him how many marriage proposals had he gotten- he just smiled.

BB would have proposed to him herself, but then realized she could have given birth to him.

Retiro lo pensa'o.

; )

So what happened to my wordless post? 

Ok, esta bien-

I'll put my experience at the Target Luxe Lounge down to dos palabras, two words.

QUE RRRRIIIIICCCCOOOOO!!!

And for a Cubana, that's as close to wordless as you're gonna get.

Babushka Besos a todos.  Cuidensen

Babushka's Booty

And Boy there's a lot of it!  Hispanics believe bigger is better and if you've got it share.  Oh si, we are a giving bunch and in Miami BB's booty was impresionante. 



BB's Hispanicize 2012  Booty

Que???  What did you think BB was talking about??  Oh.  JU SO FONII!!!

Ok, si, bueno...

 that one  is impressive too, especially after a visit to Miami, but I was talking about

Hispanicize 2012

  and the great goodies attendees received.

As you can see from the picture there were many great sponsors and plenty of swag,

but this post will be a shoutout to the sponsors of the main events. 

In no specific order I gratefully list:

DISNEY

 They gave all of us 2 park hopper tickets- Oh si they did!!!

PLUS 

 BB received 4 adorable Mickey shaped chocolate dipped rice crispie treats

for 4  adorable grandbabies. 

Disney's details- ya can't beat it.

CLOROX

 

for their wonderful and slightly wacky

(think virtual bowling, scavenger hunts, etc.) reception party

BLACKBERRY

The BlackBerry Black Carpet- National Latino Film Showcase.

Where we got to preview films, dance, drink and definitely be merry.

McDonalds

Yacht cruise anyone??

BACARDI

Mingling in a mansion- oh my!

Babushka's booty be bountiful, beautiful and bastante

because she dared to dream, dared to ask,

and dared to eat that extra helping of life!

How big is your booty??

; )

Babushka Besos a todos.  Cuidensen.

P.S.  Martinique my Muse informs me this will be the first in a series sobre Hispanicize2012.  

Of course this suits me perfectly as there were so many experiences,panels,and events! 

Let's just say Babushka is still bushed- but still so happy that I joined that baile.

BB's an Original, but Ms Olivia is the Real Thing.

Saw her at the bus terminal and knew right away I was seeing my future self.  Older but oh so stylish, she meshed the retro past with the boldness of today and gave it a flair of her own.  She was marvelous.

Traveling with her two daughters and her granddaughter, you could see she had loved and lived and continued to do both with grace and a natural air.  I was all excited with plans and strategy for the Hispanicize 2012 conference and was in my own little world- and then I saw Ms. Olivia who reminded me what my real world should be.

Here was a woman who had found her way a long time ago, was comfortable in her skin, whose very essence exuded "this is my style, this is my life, this is me- and I like me".  Her beauty - inner and outer brought tears to my eyes.  Have you ever sensed the presence of true beauty?  The knowledge of self worth and the radiance of self acceptance- THIS is true beauty  and Ms Olivia embodied it.

I had to take a picture of her, to remind myself of what is possible, to remember what I aspire to be,  and so I shyly approached my new idol to ask her permission.  Ok si, I hear you- "BB, You- Shy?!?  JU SO FONII!!!"  And you'd be right 99% of the time to doubt, but this was the 1% of our human race who had actually attained self love and BB was in awe and humbled. 

She graciously heard my petition, smiled, and told me she'd discuss it with her daughter.  Her daughter of course wanted to be assured of my sincerity and asked why I wanted to photograph her mother.  I explained how I wanted to capture her mother's style and love of self.   Apparently she believed me because she came looking for me when we had a stop over and I didn't give her a chance to change her mind.

Ms. Olivia was pure joy when she posed for the camera as was I that she had allowed me the honor. I believe her daughter had known her mother was exceptional and thanked me profoundly for noticing.  But how can one not notice?  It would be like not noticing the Lady Moon as she shines and shimmers, not noticing her beauty naturally escaping and filling our nights. No, I'm the one who is thankful to Ms. Olivia for her example and hope this does her justice as she inspires us all to embrace our lives and ourselves. 

Babushka Besos a todos.  Cuidensen.

Life is but a dream

Row, row, row your boat- gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream.

Wow- how deep is that? Almost scary the simplicity and how "in your face" that is.

¿Que creen?  What says you? Should we go gently but with a smile on our face?  No se, I'm Cuban- the smile esta bien, pero the "gently"?  Ok, Si,  I hear you.  "Pero BB dear, you're getting older you should start doing gentle." JU SO FONII!!!  Slower mayyyybbeeee pero gentle?  So sorry, can't do it.  It's not in my constitution, not in my soul.

Perhaps it was all the sofrito, but I need a bit of "oomph" in life, a bit of spice.  I need the passion, the energy- everything felt and done with every atom of my being and down to my very essence.  There is no gentleness there, for even in a tender caress the intensity of my beliefs come through, and though "this ol' gray mare ain't what she used to be", she can still give a pretty good kick!

 "Life is but a dream"?  No, no, no- it's not how most interpret that.  Life is not something that happens to us while we're in a dreamlike trance.  Bueno, if you think about it, maybe that's why it's usually interpreted that way- because most people are living lives that were pre-programmed by someone else.  Por fa gente, MAKE your life YOUR dream.  Set your own sights, chart your way, and since you picked the destination, don't fight the voyage.  Si, in this way you truly can go merrily down the stream.


BB is living her dream merrily, still with gusto, focus and style.  Perhaps the pace has slowed and the baile I dance is now a waltz, but the choice of song is always mine.

Babushka Besos a todos.  Cuidensen.

P.S. The video is from YouTube titled "Viennesse Waltz".  A waltz performed by the SUU Ballroom Dance company during their 04 Spring concert  Music by Goo Goo Dolls, song title Iris, posted by willowbrook32. BB thanks them all for the brilliance and beauty of this piece.

Harrroooo Duh Duh Duh- Goodbye

As soon as she saw him at the pound she was in love.  A rusty colored,  all feet, big laughing mouth with dos enormous eyeliner lined eyes that seemed to laugh too, this mutt was what my little one chose.  To me he looked goofy, cute, but goofy.  I wanted her to pick the older Collie in the next room but she wouldn't budge; she had seen him and knew they belonged together.

After the animal shelter had given its o.k., we went back a few days later to pick up "Rocky".  How she came up with such a tough name for such an obviously goofy ball of fur, feet and muzzle was beyond me, but that was his name.  As my little one held him in her hand cooing his name, his tiny tail seemed to be thumping yes, yes each time she would say Rocky, so I guess he liked it too.

But a rosa by any other name is still a rosa.  The dog was a goofball.  Oh si, give him the big he-man name, but he was still goofy.  The times he would be running on our ceramic tiled floor, try to stop but ended up sliding across the house...  I swear sometimes he'd do it on purpose.  BB hears you saying it- JU SO FONII!!! but I think he did.  He was just too cute being goofy, and when we'd laugh at him he would always open that big mouth of his and let his tongue hang out- as if joining us in the merriment.

When we moved up to the South, Rocky fell in love with the 5 acres of land he had now permission to run.  And boy did he run them- and everyone else's acres too!  In Miami he would shoot out the door if given the chance, so up here he happily spent the years investigating all happenings in the great outdoors.  He loved his escapades, but would always spring out of nowhere when he saw our car coming down the road.  By this time he was almost 5 years old; his ears would flop with each pace and his grin with the flopping tongue would greet us.  My nickname for him- Duh Duh Duh 'cause now he was a big goofball.

Now don't confuse being a goofball with being dumb- they are definitely two different things.  He would have done his animated kins Astro and Scooby proud on so many occassions!  The times we would catch him jumping off furniture when we were entering a room- or how about the times I'd find an empty Starbuck's  cup upon my return to a room?  Yes a goof, but definitely no dummy.


Oh the many tales and adventures we have shared these past 11 years dear Rocky Rook.  How we both  enjoyed seeing our Little One grow, how we enjoyed living out in the country, how we both grayed gracefully, and how we agreed that nothing beats that extra squirt of caramel  in a Frappuccino.

Mil Gracias for all the love.

3/11/2001 - 3/27/2012 

Babushka Besos a  todos.   Cuidensen.

Groaners

First it was cross dressing, then lovers, and now groaners.  I can hear y'all now- "What kind of a blog is BB starting to write?"  JU SO FONII!!!  Oh si, funny y mal pensados!  Clean those minds and follow me on one of the pleasures in life... laughter.

I know- gotta wait till you clean yourselves off from the gutter visit...

Groaners, those bad jokes that are so bad they're good.  Some of them have actually caused BB to guffaw!  To those whippersnappers who don't know the word "guffaw", think of it as a heartfelt, belly moving LOL.  Bueno, now that you know what they are, let Babushka share some of her faves with you.

What's furry, has whiskers and chases outlaws?

A posse cat.

A horse walks into a bar and the bartender asks, 

"Why the long face?" 

What lies at the bottom of the ocean and twitches?

a nervous wreck.




Why couldn't the bicycle stand up by itself?  

it was too tired. 

Ok, ok, I know- I promise they'll get better.




What did the grape do when he got stepped on?

He let out a little wine.




and lastly- 




If a fire hydrant has H2O on the inside, what does it have on the outside? 




K9P.




  Vamanos!  
Come on now, I know you chuckled- at least rolled your eyes.  
And I know y'all have quite a few in your repertoire.
Who doesn't love them?


They're quick, straightforward, and a little bit cheesy.


Remind you of someone?


; )  




Babushka Besos a todos.  Cuidensen.

P.S.  The majority of the jokes were found on  "Really bad jokes" - he has "a million of them" http://www.angelfire.com/fl/JackCraig/HUMOR-REALLYBADJOKES.html