MojoPages VIP Reviewer Welcome Soiree

Hey There:

For the last fours months I've been writing reviews for MojoPages; the first 50 reviews were from different places (mostly bars, pubs and restaurants) I've been to in San Diego. Eventually it got a little more difficult to remember places and names, so I started making it a point to visit new places (mostly bars, pubs and restaurants). Turns out my efforts have been noticed and tonight I was invited to the first ever VIP Reviewer Welcome Soiree, to do some wine tasting.

The event was held at Vin de Syrah, a Spirit and Wine Parlor located on the corner of 5th and E Street at the Gaslamp. The decor is unreal, first of all the door is hidden, this place is in the basement so you go down some stairs. Once you're down there it looks like a dead end, with three walls covered in street art and one solid wall of greenery, turns out that's the door. I was about to go back up when someone opened the door for me.

I went to the event by myself and felt overwhelmed when I saw there were a lot of people milling around, there was a charity event going on with several vendors. Of course, as the Super-Star Mingler that I am, the first thing I did was head to a corner, sit and hide with my cell phone. Fortunately, there was another poor soul in the corner, feeling just as awkward, if not more, than me. He went there for a speed dating event, but got the dates wrong. He offered to get me a drink and I declined (Damn it! Will I ever learn!), but I was there for an event and finally saw some people sitting with wine glasses in front of them and I was Home. Who knows what happened to that guy, my heart goes to him since I remember my Speed Dating Experience.

The event was very interesting, I learned about two different wines, had yummy appetizers and meet some of the people I've only seen in the website. In many ways it was a surreal experience since I still feel like a small town desert girl. And there I was in a great city, at a nice place, with pretty and confident people; thankfully I do look the part. I've spent so many years learning how to dress, accesorize, hair, makeup, etc and now its all coming together. Every time I felt out of place, all I did was do a quick glance to a mirror to realize I looked just fine.

When I arrived at the event I received a goodie bag with coupons from the different vendors, as well as samples of potato chips and an energy drink. And as a parting gift, MojoPages gave us a cupcake from Cupcake Love, it was so good and on top of the icing it had the logo of MojoPages printed in edible white chocolate.


Originally I thought this would be a big event and was surprised to see it was small and somewhat intimate, where we actually had a chance to talk and get to know each other. I am honored to be included in this group and really felt VIP.

Halloween Costumes and the Zombie Walk 2010

Hey there:

My Halloween weekend was pretty interesting, this year I got to wear three costumes for different events. The cool thing is that it all came together a week before Halloween and I was able to use a lot items I already had from previous years.

On YouTube I saw a tutorial on how to do a Catrina or Day of the Dead makeup, very easy and unique, although time consuming, it took me nearly two hours to complete. I did this costume for the office Halloween lunch, this year lots of people dressed up, but I won first place (for the 2nd time in 5 years). I loved the costume even though I could not smile, eat or drink while wearing the makeup.

For this costume I used an old skirt I had from the days I used to perform Polynesian dances, paired with a red top, since the yellow top that came with the outfit no longer fits. The colorful rebozo was a gift brought to me from Oaxaca by a friend of mine. The necklace is a portrait of Frida Kahlo and put on nails that prevented me from doing any typing all day, and used a black wig so I could have the long braid with a red flower. 

The following night I went to a Halloween party with some friends and decided on an ironic costume, an angel. In this case my face was as natural as possible, I found the costume & wig at Walmart and pimped out the halo and wings with feathers and glitter. Received a lot of laughs and protests since this look was "not me" but it looks great in the pictures with all my friends. The funny thing is that mine was the scariest costume, the party was outdoors and while people were talking all of a sudden they would spot in the corner of their eyes something white approaching, more than one person jumped in fright!

The following day was the first Zombie Walk in Mexicali, Mexico organized by a friend of mine from High School. It was a great treat to participate, but also to see my friend. I felt a little awkward, definitely out of my comfort zone since I had to act like a zombie. Mainly all I did was walk as if I was asleep with a limp. I did manage to scare a cousin, an old lady and almost made a kid cry. Can't wait to do it again next year!

For this costume, I used a wedding dress I found at Salvation Army some years ago (good thing it still fit) smeared some blood in it and tore the veil. People at the event put on the makeup and a girl gave me the dead flowers since they looked better on me. This picture looks amazing, it was taken by some guy and found it on Facebook, he allowed me to tag it to my profile. Since the event I've heard from several relatives that they've seen me on TV....how embarrassing!

This was a successful, if small, Zombie Walk. 

I made this small video of the event and you can find more of them in YouTube by searching for Zombie Walk Mexicali 2010.