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Royal T’s New Exhibit “TAG You’re It”

Royal T’s New Exhibit “TAG You’re It”

Royal T Reception for TagYou'reIT (photo by Yvonne Condes) Royal T Reception for TagYou'reIT (photo by Yvonne Condes)

Starbucks New Blonde Roast Coffee

Coffee. I love it. I drink a lot of it and I’m veryparticular about it. This week I went to a tasting of a new brew at Starbucks in WestwoodVillage. It’s a “Blonde Roast” and the beans are roasted for ashorter amount of time for a lighter-bodied coffee. Now, I drink very strong coffee every [...]

Starbucks taste test of the Blonde, Medium, and Dark Coffee (photo by Yvonne Condes) Starbucks taste test of the Blonde, Medium, and Dark Coffee (photo by Yvonne Condes)

“V is for Victory, Vatos” – Group Plans to Smuggle Banned Books Into Arizona

Posted by Yvonne on January 27th, 2012

Last week I wrote a post for MomsLA.com about Arizona shutting down Tucson’s Mexican American studies program. It’s racist and another vile chapter in the saga of terrible things happening politically in Arizona.

I saw this video on the Huffington Post and I had to share it. Here’s the full article. 

Royal T’s New Exhibit “TAG You’re It”

Posted by Yvonne on January 23rd, 2012
Royal T Reception for TagYou'reIT (photo by Yvonne Condes)

Royal T’s New Exhibit “TAG You’re It”

Starbucks New Blonde Roast Coffee

Posted by Yvonne on January 13th, 2012
Starbucks taste test of the Blonde, Medium, and Dark Coffee (photo by Yvonne Condes)
Coffee. I love it. I drink a lot of it and I’m veryparticular about it. This week I went to a tasting of a new brew at Starbucks in WestwoodVillage. It’s a “Blonde Roast” and the beans are roasted for ashorter amount of time for a lighter-bodied coffee.
Now, I drink very strong coffee every morning and sometimesall day long. At home I drink Starbucks Café Verona, which is a dark roast. ButI also buy Pike Place, which is a medium bodied coffee.
At the tasting we got to try all 3 side by side. The one Iliked best was surprisingly the Pike Place, which isn’t what I drink every day.It tasted different brewed in the store from the way I make it at home. Fresherbeans? Finer grind? I’m not sure. But it was really good. Not bitter, but strongand full of flavor.
That morning, the Blonde Roast, which is called the Verandaand packed in a pretty yellow highlighted bag, seemed a little too light for mytaste.
Then this afternoon, as I envisioned a long night looming infront of me, I decided to try the sample bag I got at the tasting. It wasperfect for that time of day. It was lighter, but still had flavor.
Starting this week, customers can order the Veranda inStarbucks stores and buy the beans in grocery stores around the US. It’s worth trying out. You may find, like me, that it’s your new afternoon coffee.

Beauty and the Beast in 3D

Posted by Yvonne on January 12th, 2012

Sometimes you just need to lay down the law. This is what I hadto do with my two boys recently when I told them we were going to see Beautyand the Beast in 3D. They did not want to go because they felt it was aprincess movie. Okay, it is a princess movie, but it’s such a good one.
The music is great. The animation is wonderful. And thestory has a beast and a lot of dark and scary elements. I sold my boys on the darkand scary elements, but mainly they went because I told them they had to.
And of course Mom Knows Best and they had a great time.Actually, they really did have a great time and they loved the movie. It didn’thurt that we saw it at a screening at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood andBeauty and the Beast came on stage before the movie started. It also didn’t hurt that there was a funny, new animated short, Tangled Ever After, that played before the film. 
Here’s a clip from Beauty and the Beast 3D that starts tomorrow for alimited engagement. 

Resolution Shmezolution: I’m Just Trying to Get Through the Day

Posted by Yvonne on January 11th, 2012

Uggh. Everywhere I go people are talking about their New Year’s resolutions. It was even a homework assignment in my son’s kindergarten class (he’s resolved to do more jumping jacks). People are talking about how they will make more money, start a diet, be a better person. January 1st is full of promises.

But the thought of another thing I “must” do is exhausting. I know I need to lose weight, but if I make a declaration, write a blog post, and tell the world it will result in me diving head first into a box of See’s Candy. I almost started a new exercise plan, but I already run and lift weights as much as my schedule will allow. Any more and it will effect my work and time with my kids.

It would also effect the amount of sleep that I get. Ok. If I have one resolution, one declaration to be made to the world it’s that I will get more sleep. No more falling asleep on the couch with my latop on my lap. No more falling asleep while talking to my husband (sadly, I’ve done this while I’M the one talking). No more bags under my eyes.

This year, while my son is doing jumping jacks, I will be napping. Go 2012.

PBS Winter Press Tour: My Chat with Ray Suarez

Posted by Yvonne on January 5th, 2012

Election Coverage- Ray Suarez

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to attend the PBS Winterpress tour in Pasadena.
The highlight for me was a panel on PBS presidentialelection coverage that included Gwen Ifill, Judy Woodruff (both via satellite),and Ray Suarez of PBS NewsHour.
Suarez took the room full of journalists to task for notasking more about how PBS will cover the 2012 presidential election. He saidthat every 4 years journalists talk about how the upcoming election is themost important of a generation, but this year politicians are arguing about what role the government should play in our lives. The future of social security and publicbroadcasting is at stake.
He also mentioned that two states, Arizona and Nevada, wouldbe getting a lot of attention in the coming months because many Latinos inthose states will be turning 18. After the panel, I asked Ray Suarez his thoughts on thevoting power of Latinos in the presidential election and the impact of theupcoming Supreme Court decision on SB1070 (the Arizona immigration law).

Road Trip to Tucson, Arizona in a Lincoln MKT

Posted by Yvonne on January 2nd, 2012
Sunset in Tucson (photo by Yvonne Condes)

I love Tucson in the winter. It’s crisp and cold and the desert is quiet and beautiful. It’s been years since my husband and I have taken the kids to spend Christmas there so this year we packed the car and made the 8-hour road trip from Los Angeles. 

The car in question was graciously provided by Ford. We borrowed a Lincoln MKT for a week and put about 1,200 miles on it. It was a fabulous roadtrip car. It was roomy and luxurious with leather seats and so much leg room.
We were able to pack two kids, 5 suitcases, Christmas presents, blankets, and pillows and we could still see out of the back of the car. Once we got to Tucson and unpacked the car, we could fit 2 more people once we put up the seats in the third row. 
My favorite features in this car-full-of-cool-features were the built in cooler that we used for cheese sticks, sodas, and water, and also the AC outlet that I used to run and charge my laptop while we were driving. I didn’t use the laptop while I was driving, but it was great for the passenger. The only thing I didn’t like about the Lincoln was the gas mileage. We got 21 miles per gallon on the highway, which seems good for a vehicle of this size, but less than we were hoping for. It drove wonderfully and we loved the GPS telling us how far we had to go. 
It was interesting to get to use all of the new technology and safety features that are available  in new cars these days. The Lincoln had adaptive cruise control that would automatically slow down in traffic. In normal driving, if the car sensed that we were approaching something too rapidly an alarm would go off to warn us to brake quickly. When backing up, not only was there a rear camera, but an alarm would sound if we were getting too close to something. And then there was the mood lighting. The interior accent lights could be changed to a variety of fun colors.
The cars features combined with my kids’ good moods and lack of traffic made for the best drive to Tucson I’ve ever had. We left late morning from West LA and arrived at Loews Ventana Canyon in the early evening. We got a great deal on the hotel and had a fabulous time there. The first night an astronomer had set up a telescope and allowed guests to look at the stars while she gave a talk. Weeks earlier, the hotel had a gingerbread making party and decorated the gingerbread men that stood guard around the gingerbread replica of the San Xavier del Bac Mission in the lobby. 
After a day visiting with friends, we took the kids to my favorite place in Tucson, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. The desert zoo has outdoor walking trails where you can see coyote, mountain lions, javelina, gila monsters, and hawks in their natural habitat. I think we did the entire 2 miles of desert path while we were there. The Raptor Free Flight was amazing. We watched as group of hawks flew from cactus to cactus and then swooped down and attacked and ate an animal on the ground. 
On Christmas Eve, we packed up and headed to my brother’s house. But first we stopped at the DeGrazia Gallery of the Sun. DeGrazia was a Tucson artist that interned for Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco and became well-known in the late 50s after Unicef chose one of his paintings for a worldwide holiday card.  The picture below is from the chapel next to the gallery.
A mural in DeGrazia’s Chapel at the Gallery of the Sun
in Tucson, Arizona

On our last day before we left Tucson, we visited Nogales, Arizona to see more family. I haven’t been there in years and  I was saddened to learn that my late Aunt Tita’s house had been torn down . It was beautiful and old and spooky and I wish it were still there so I could show it to my kids. We were able to see my late grandmother’s house from the outside and the old church that we would visit on Christmas Day.

Then we packed up the Lincoln and headed back to Tucson. It was a really wonderful trip and in a very sweet ride.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post, but I was loaned a Lincoln MKT for a week. 

What the ñ?

Posted by Yvonne on December 30th, 2011

I found this video on News Taco, The Latino Daily. I love the site and not just because one of my posts was reprinted there earlier this year. It’s because they have great content and I get to read stories or watch videos I might not find anywhere else.

To Tamale or not to Tamale

Posted by Yvonne on December 29th, 2011
Tamale assembly line

I can remember only one time that we had homemade tamales at Christmas. My mom and a couple of her friends got together and made green corn and red chile tamales. They made them once, but complained for years. The tamales took days to make, but minutes for our family to scarf them down. 

A couple of years ago, I started a tradition of making tamales for New Year’s Eve. A few of us got together and worked in an assembly line so it wasn’t too bad.

But this year, I’m tired of cooking and cleaning and while I’m currently on the mend, I’ve been sick all week. The last thing I want to do is make tamales and clean up the mess. Now I understand what my mom was talking about. She worked and had 4 kids. Making tamales was a time commitment and she had so little time to spare.

Then I read this lovely post on MomsLA about Christina Simon’s New Year’s Eve tradition to make Hoppin’ John (black eyed peas) every year in honor of her late mother.

It’s not a tradition if I don’t do it every year. So on Friday, I will soak the corn husks in water and Saturday I’ll make the masa and wait for friends to come over. We’ll spend the afternoon assembling the masa, green chiles, and cheese. We’ll drink coffee and chat. And hopefully next year, in spite of busy schedules and holiday malaise, we’ll do it again.

Making Holiday Cookies with the Kids – Video

Posted by Yvonne on December 22nd, 2011

There are so few pictures of me when I was a kid. I am the youngest of 4 and by the time I came around my parents were burnt out. There is even one picture of my sister that my mom tries to pass off as me. I vowed this would not be the case with my kids.

So when my sons were born, like any new mom with a digital camera, I took hundreds of pictures. More of the first born than the second, but still a lot.
What I don’t have is video. It just never occurred to me. When I was given a Sony Handycam at an event hosted by the fabulous Kimberley Blaine, they gave us everything to shoot a video of the kids making cookies. A Sony Handycam plus cookie mix, chef hats, and decorations. At first I thought I would do gluten-free cooking videos without the kids. It seemed too hard to coordinate all three of us doing an activity together and then documenting it. 
Then unexpectedly we had a free afternoon and they wanted to make cookies. It was so much fun. I’ve watched the video a couple of times and now I regret not taking more video of them when they were little. I hope this is a new tradition. 
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