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photographs by blissfulkaos  

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have you ever been in a situation where you had last minute company and didn't know what to offer them? i don't know if it's because of my culture or it's just proper etiquette all around, but i was raised to always have something to offer guests when they come over.

one thing that i found to be so easy to whip up (and look like the hostess with the mostest) when company comes over unexpectedly is a little cheese platter. most of the ingredients for a simple cheese platter are ingredients that you can always keep on hand in your refrigerator and pantry, making it super easy to put together a bougie cheese plate for your last minute guest!

my girlfriend stopped by the other day unexpectedly and i was able to whip up this spread in literally 10 minutes. i took a wedge of my favorite Parmigiano Reggiano and placed it on my marble cheese board. then i added a jar of honey, some pasta de guayaba (guava paste...every respectable puerto rican has guava paste in their fridge!), some nuts, some crackers (i currently had garlic roasted pita chips), and whatever fruit you have on hand (which i had grapes). pair it with some wine and you'll have yourself the perfect impromptu wine and cheese girl's night!

i absolutely love cheese and literally always have some on hand. because of the long aging process, Parmigiano Reggiano is naturally lactose-free which is a plus for our household. junior is lactose intolerant so having lactose-free options on hand is necessary. it also is easily digestible and the perfect source of both protein and calcium. you can read more about that here.

follow me here: instagram ||  facebook  ||  twitter  ||  bloglovin  ||  youtube  ||  pinterest
photographs by blissfulkaos  

follow me here: instagram ||  facebook  ||  twitter  ||  bloglovin  ||  youtube  ||  pinterest
photographs by blissfulkaos  

1. i did my makeup very different for these pictures.  i've been playing with eye shadow lately and i'm still deciding how i like it.  it's so weird to see me without a winged liner or smoked out eyelash line.  
2. i'm living for white pants in the fall.  who ever invented that rule no white after labor day?  
3. these booties were $16.99 at burlington and can you believe i debated not getting them?!  i can't even believe that myself!  how could i ever leave them behind!  true story, i ordered a similar pair on amazon in my size but when they came in, they were way too big on me.  so i gave them to my mom.  i was so jealous every time i saw her wearing them.  but then the universe was all like nahh i gotchu! and i found these!  thank you, universe! (similar here and here )  
4. i have about three sweaters similar to this one that i'm wearing.  what can i say, i like what i like!  give me all the autumn toned sweaters.  please and thank you.  use my code ohsheslovely20 for 20% off your purchase on shein.  don't sleep on them!  affordable clothes and decent quality.  no worse than zara and a fraction of the cost!  
5. junior and i went to see the comedian joey diaz last friday.  we had the late show and waited around with the hopes of getting a picture with uncle joey.  and guess what?!  we got a picture with uncle joey!!  i gave him a big hug and he told me i was beautiful ;)  

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photographs by blissfulkaos  

today is junior and my fifth year wedding anniversary.  we are no longer newlyweds!  and it sure does feel that way.  old, married couple over here!  ;)  five years feels like such a long time, at least for me, for now.  (i can't imagine how i'll feel after 10 years, or even 20 years!)

we've have so many ups and even more downs in these past five years of marriage.  it's been five years of struggling, five years of rough patches, five years of arguments, five years of disagreements, five years of tears, and heartaches and hopelessness, and drama.

most people don't know, but junior and i married "young" so i can leave my house a married woman.  it was what my mom wanted and i was conditioned to live my life according to what she wanted from me.  we joke that our marriage was an arranged marriage, but it was arranged by us.  this was a hard truth that we learned, yet we laugh about it now because we actually made the decision to stay married to each other.

if you read my post from our anniversary last year, i didn't even know what to say.  how to put into words how i felt about marriage or the struggles.  year four was the hardest year of my life!  we grew so much in this past year of marriage and i'm so goddamn proud of us.  i had every intention in my mind to just give up but my heart didn't let me.  why is marriage so hard?  why doesn't junior understand me?  the answer was easy, i didn't understand myself.

it's true what they say, you can't love another person without loving yourself first.  and i had to go through it to really understand it.  and now here we are, happier than we've ever been.  actually communicating through our disagreements and getting over them within the next minute.  supporting each other in ways that i've only dreamt of.

a few weeks ago i was explaining to junior how when i dream of moments and then realize i'm living through them, i have an outer body experience and think this is it!  it's happening! i'm living through this moment that i've been dreaming about for so long!  i've dreamt about having a happy marriage for longer than i can remember.  having a teammate and a partner, loving me and supporting me through everything.  and i know junior has always loved me, but it's now that i know it's happening!  it's really happening!

i've dreamt of this amazing, imperfect life with my partner and i am now living it.  oh, what a beautiful feeling this is!

junior abraham, thank you.  thank you for sticking with me through all the downs these past five years.  thank you for being patient with me as i found myself (and continue to find myself).  thank you for opening up to me and trusting me.  thank you for giving me the love that i've dreamed of all of my life.  i love you forever.