manterest?

sure feels this way... 

So, picture this: you're with your best guy, and you take out your laptop/ipad/kindle/whatever and which is the first site you check? NO, facebook is so five minutes ago. Pinterest, of course. As your manfriend sees this, he inmediately proceeds to roll his eyes, cross his arms and reach for the remote control. He knows he is now (or at least for the next 15 minutes) as good as invisible. If there are memes out there about this, I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this scenario. 

Why is it that women LOVE Pinterest while men just don't get it or hate it? I'm not even going to try to solve this riddle of the sphinx, I'll just settle with the thought that it's probably one of those "men are from mars, women are from venus things", who cares, let science (or at least someone else) solve this conundrum. I WILL though, give you a tip next time your brother/dad/significant other/random dude complains about Pinterest. Kindly direct them to either one of these two websites: Cracked and The Chive. They're both hilarious in their own way, and a great find for us girls too.

hi-la-rious! from cracked.com 

CRACKED:

This one's an oldie but goodie. Cracked is an online humor "magazine", that's been around for as long as I can remember. If your guy likes random funny stuff, pop culture and zombies, THIS is the site for him. It's nothing at all like Pinterest, because its focal points are both articles and photos, but even if your guy is a lazy reader, he'll love this. I like that it has new content every day and a ton of trivia stories.

Sample Reads: Images You Won't Believe Aren't Photoshoped, People With Real Mutant Superpowers, Movies That Put Insane Work Into Details You Didn't Notice, Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen, Photographs That Shatter Your Image of Famous People

I sent my boyfriend a pinterest invite over a year ago. He has never pinned a single thing. 

THE CHIVE:

I was introduced to this site by my boyfriend about three months ago, and it's GREAT. It features a ton of slide shows on a lot of topics like humor, food, technology, movies and a huge favorite: hot girls. You might roll your eyes every time you see your guy oggling a girl online (guilty), but stop kidding yourself and just face it that men love looking at hot women in teeny bikinis. Don't worry though, it's not like it's Playboy, and for every picture of a boob you find on this site, you will find about four others of mouth-watering sandwiches, people falling down, funny animals and even badass babies. 

Sample Reads: I Wish I'd Been There, The Best Thing In Life Are Sandwiches, You My Friend Have Made a Very Good Point, Babies That Don't Suck  (told you!), and it wouldn't be a guy-site without some Kate Upton ...cue *eye roll*

Ryan Lochte, olympic eye candy

Today was Ryan Lochte's final day competing in men's swimming at the Olympic Games. In honor of this, here are some pictures of him, some of course, shirtless. See you next time in Brazil! :)

Ryan, the body

Apparently he loves to tweet, check out this story from New York Magazine with a sample of his "best" tweets.

Ryan, the face

Too bad Olympic swimming only happens every 4 years

Can I ask you a question?

Hi readers! The blog has been officialy open for two months, so I'm celebrating a mini anniversary around here! The response I've received is (by far) a lot more than I had expected, words can't express how awesome it feels every time someone tells me that they read something and even better, that they liked it. The beginning of this project was especially hard, not really knowing what to write about, or those moments of doubt when I think to myself "seriously, who will want to read about this?!". Those latter ones are the worst, twice I've come so close to just closing down the blog, but something always makes me stop myself, usually someone like you who's reading this right now :) 

The blog scene is really growing here in El Salvador, and I love that fashion blogs are really starting to make a splash. I know Bloom isn't a fashion blog in the strict sense, but fashion is one of my greatest passions, so it makes me happy that through this project I've heard from people out there who are interested in the same things. I hope you keep on reading and more importantly, I hope you enjoy reading the blog. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I'd really love to hear from you and what you'd like the blog to be about.  THANK YOU for letting me share this with you, seriously, you're awesome and the best thing to happen to me since those mini nutella packs at the supermarket (instant happiness)

One last thing, I have a HUGE favor to ask you. Please help me build a better blog by answering this short poll! It's only a couple of questions long, and anonymous in case you're shy :) CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE POLL!

Teen Choice Awards

Last night while I was channel surfing I stumbled upon the Teen Choice Awards. It's been a while since I sat through a teen awards ceremony, and the results were well, interesting. My top 10 thoughts throughout the two hours I stuck with the show were the following:

1. Demi Lovato's ponytail was insane. Reminded me of My Little Pony a bit. Why is this girl famous?

2. Speaking of which WHY IS KRISTEN STEWART FAMOUS?! She's so awkward and seems to hate that she has to be there and be nice to people. I get that she's Snow White pretty, but what the eff, pretty girls are a dime a dozen in Holllywood, non?

3. Out of the entire cast of Glee they picked Artie to host? He and Demi are the two most awkward hosts ever. Chris Colfer's there, why didn't he host? Kurt is way cooler. 

4. I'm so old, I have no idea who half of these people are. They must be out of Disney Channel shows or something? Maybe I don't watch enough TV. Mini wave for me!

5. Someday, I hope I look as good as Nina Dobrev looks in a dress. I've heard she does a lot of Pilates. Should I take up Pilates? Who am I kidding, I don't have it in me to do three hours of Pilates a day. Pilates is such a great word. Pilates.

6. Speaking of Nina Dobrev and people who I didn't know where on TV, why are there two Nina Dobrevs?! There's another girl at the show who looks just like her. Will the real Nina pull a Slim Shady and please stand up?

7. Selena Gomez looks really cute in pink. Best dressed girl at the event. She's like a healthy version of Miley Cirus. Selena, please don't do drugs and take naked pictures of yourself that end up on the internet, you seem so nice.

8. Everybody's so tan on this show. I need a tan ASAP, my skin looks green. 

9. Pauly D is the DJ of this party. Seriously? You should've gown with the lesser famous Knowles sister. Why do all of these teens scream when they talk about Pauly?! Do they want to be him??? I'm worried.

10. Who are those two little girls with Ellen DeGeneres? They are so sweet they make me diabetic.  Amazeballs. 

today I will be happier...

...than a pig under the sun! Happy friday :)

incredible

Love flowers? Love Dior? Watch as over one million flowers get installed on the walls of the salon for Dior's Couture 2012 show. It's totes amazing. 

DIY Monday: Cake Stand!

Hi everyone :) Sorry I've been a little absent from the blog, but my day job has been keeping me busy and my computer broke down! I've been a little bit of a victim of Murphy's law lately, but whatevs.. I've you've got a pinterest account, you must have noticed by now a lot of random pins featuring lovely dessert tables. Most of them are for children's or bachelorette parties, and while I don't have kids nor am getting married yet, that hasn't stopped me from wishing I had a cake stand, aka an uncomitted girl's dessert table. If I can't have an entire table, at least I'll have a cute place to put my weekly cupcake. 

This reminds me of a Sex and the City episode where Carrie so wisely points out "Think about it. If you are single, after graduation there isn’t one occasion where people celebrate you … Hallmark doesn’t make a “congratulations, you didn’t marry the wrong guy" card. And where’s the flatware for going on vacation alone?" Albeit we do celebrate birthdays every year, we only get one tiny celebration a year?! So join me and make your own cake stand and have some cake and celebrate "I am fabulous" day! :) 

(Boyfriends, husbands and kids welcome but not required) 

Sorry, but I had no cake this weekend to top it off

Materials: 

1 candle stick 

1 cute plate 

Glue gun 

It's a no brainer to make, you just take your gun and glue your candle stick to the back of your plate. You have to be somewhat careful when handling it, because the glue gets hard and breaks with time, but it's not like you use a cake stand every day, so it should last you a while. And if it breaks, you just take your trusty glue gun and put it back together again, it's no Humpty Dumpty!

I bought all my materials at a hardware store (Vidri) for less than $10. Beats the ridiculous prices of over $35 I found for cake stands at our local shops and online.

Sunday must reads!

So, that was fast. I really can't believe it's effing july. In honor of having survived the first six months of 2012, I've decided that today I'm staying in bed and having nutella. Everything is better with nutella. 

Because I'm not tired of these yet, here are two more top knot tutorials!

The cutest hair cut gone wrong...

The BEST cookie baking tip I've learned this year

Here's a cute dog for you, like a sir

In this heat, I've been craving ice cream sandwiches!

For the men in your life, the rules to always being a gentleman

MORE nutella! This time, in cups.

Have a great july! :)

leaving on a jetplane

So I'm going out there and seeing more! I'm going on a much needed vacation (stress even landed me in the hospital last week, I thought that was a Hollywood fabricated excuse for celebrities to take time off work, but turns out it CAN happen, "celebrities, they're just like us!" boo hoo). 

Sooo I'll see you next week with pics from my trip, have a great week :)

Me voy en unas muy merecidas y necesarias vacaciones hasta la próxima semana (hasta terminé en el hospital por estres hace unos días, y yo que pensaba que esas eran excusas de actrices para no trabajar, resulta que SI es posible que pase ugh!)

Así queee las veo pronto con muchas fotos y noticias, que tengan una linda semana :)

why everyone should watch downton abbey

Now that all of my favorite shows have wrapped their seasons, I find myself with a lot of free TV time. I'm not a huge TV fan, but there are a couple of shows I watch loyaly every week: Mad Men, Gossip Girl and Revenge. During last winter's hiatus, I discovered the PERFECT show to fill my TV void, and now I want to share it with you: Downton Abbey. You've probably heard about this british show before. Lots of designers, from Ralph Lauren to Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton have shown Fall-Winter 2012 collections heavily influenced by early the early1900 fashions shown. But the gorgeous clothes are only a small part of why I love this show. 

For those of you who haven't heard of it, Downton Abbey follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants during the early 1900s (think Titanic era). I'm a sucker for english period dramas (doesn't everything sound prettier in a british accent?). I loved the Pride and Prejudice movie and watch it every single time I catch it on TV, and this show reminds me of it. It's like every Jane Austen novel rolled into one neat and pretty looking, well-dressed package. 

You know another reason I love this show? (I've said "love" about a zillion times in two paragraphs, sorry I'm a woman obssessed) THE CHARACTERS, especially Maggie Smith who plays the Dowager Countess: she is one bitchy lady and I love her for it! Among her best lines: "I'm a woman and I can be as contrary as I choose!", "Don't be so defeatist dear, it's so middle class!" (to her niece). Everyone, even the servants, are snobby on this show. I find their snobbery very amusing, because this is no Toddlers and Tiaras, this show is highbrow and complex and it almost makes you feel smart for watching it. It's full of historic references and accurate period information, from the sinking of the Titanic to World War I, think of it as a History Channel Lite. 

On the opposite end, the show is oh so telenovela. All of the characters have at least one dark secret, which conveniently for our amusement, always pop up at the most unconvenient times. There are love stories everywhere: from the rich girl who falls for her driver, to the servant who falls in love with the married buttler. The villains are beyond evil, and the insults are great! You can feel smart and guilty for watching this show at the same time! And I've never been on crack, but this is what it must feel like. You just can't stop watching it. One weekend, I was sick with the flu and watched an entire season in a day. It's just that addictive. 

So what are you waiting for??? Give this show a chance! The characters are fabulously wealthy, have great taste, live in gorgeous houses and have rich people problems. It's addictive escapism.

***note: sorry for not writing this post in spanish, but I think it would've been too long :)

quickie: SATC!

FYI, Sex and The City premiered today on HBO exactly 14 (YES FOURTEEN!!!) years ago. I still can't believe that number, the shock..! I was catching a rerun last night (the one when Miranda gets braces), and that episode along with a ton of others still feel so current to me! Here's BuzzFeed's take on the ways the show would be different if it were still on the air today. I couldn't agree more that Carrie would be a blogger instead of a newspaper columnist. Read all 28 ways here!

FYI, Sex and The City salió al aire por primera vez en HBO un día como hoy hace CATORCE años. De verdad que no puedo creer que este show que me encanta tanto sea tan...viejo. Justo ayer estaba viendo un episodio y siempre me siento identificada con el mensaje! La página BuzzFeed hizo un recuento de las 28 maneras en que el show sería diferente si estuviera al aire hoy. No puedo estar más de acuerdo con que Carrie tendría un blog en lugar de una columna en el periódico. Lean todo el artículo aquí!

be right back!

I'm planning (AND hand-making) the decor for a friend's bridal shower this weekend, so I'm rushing and using EVERY SPARE SECOND to do so! I'll be back on the weekend with pics and tutorials, see you soon :)

Estoy planeando (y haciendo a mano) la decoración para el té de soltera de una amiga este fin de semana, así que estoy corriendo y usando CADA SEGUNDO  para hacerlo! Regreso el finde con fotos y tutorials, las veo pronto :)

nostalgia monday: remember the 90's!

Clueless. Smiley faces. Hanson. Saved by the Bell. Koosh Balls. Game Boys. Devon Sawa. JTT. Lisa Frank Notebooks and Stickers. That Limo with a Pool in Beverly Hills Teens. Little Foot. Now and Then. The Spice Girls. Backstreet Boys vs. NSync. 10 Things I Hate About You. Any of these ring a bell? They should if you grew up in the 90's like we did :) We don't know about you, but there were times while growing up when we couldn't wait to be grown-ups. Now that we are, we sometimes wish we could be kids again. Remember when you had two whole months off to do nothing? Such simpler times... So to cheer up your monday, we leave you with a slide-show the people over at Tres Sugar have put together about being a girl growing up in the 90's. Girl Power! 

(ps. we always thought Posh was the best Spice Girl and Kevin was the hottest Backstreet Boy, BSB4VER)

Click on to the slideshow HERE!

Clueless. Caritas alegres. Hanson. Salvado Por La Campana. Koosh Balls. Game Boys. Cuadernos y Calcomanías de Lisa Frank. Devon Sawa. JTT. La piscina en la limosina de los Bevery Hills Teens. Piecito. Now and Then. 10 Things I Hate About You. Spice Girls Backstreet Boys vs NSync. Te suenan conocidos? Deberían si creciste en los 90's como nosotras :) Recordamos como cuando eramos niñas alguna vez quisimos ser grandes "para hacer lo que quisiéramos". Ahora que ya somos, a veces quisiéramos volver a ser niñas aunque sea por un día. Se acuerdan cuando tenían dos MESES de vacaciones en vez de solo dos semanas? Juventud divino tesoro (jaja)... Así que para alegrarle su lunes, les compartimos este slide-show hecho por Tres Sugar, sobre recuerdos de infancia de ser una niña/adolescente en los 90's! Girl Power!

(ps. nuestra Spice Girl favorite siempre fue Posh, y pensamos que Kevin era el Backstreet Boy más guapo, BSB4EVER)

Para ver todas las fotos, haz click AQUÍ!

we love you mom!!!

Whether you celebrate mother's day today or on sunday, we send you huge amounts of warm and fuzzy feelings for you and your mom :)

Ya sea que celebres el día de la madre ahora o hasta el domingo, te deseamos a ti a tu mami un lindísimo día :)

our FIRST week in pictures

Si no nos siguen en twitter, les compartimos nuestra primera semana online: organizamos una piñata, shopping finds y postres riquísimos :)

In case you're not following us on twitter or missed something, we break down our first week as bloom: we organized a little girl's birthday party, shopping finds and some delicious treats :)

Twitter: @bloom503

bloom loves mom: mom dates

¿Cuando fue la última vez que pasaste un día completo consintiendo a tu mami? No hay mejor oportunidad para hacerlo que este día de la madre. Por ser día hábil tal vez no puedas disponer de todo el tiempo que quisieras, pero te recomendamos planear algo especial para el fin de semana. 

Si a tu mami le encanta la cocina, sorprendela con una clase! Las dos pueden pasar un buen rato aprendiendo algo nuevo (+1000 mil por disfrutar comérselo con un cafecito más tarde), sin tener que preocuparse por el lado negativo de la cocina: limpiar y lavar platos. 

Si quisieras ir a una clase con tu mami, te recomendamos a Cooking Art, donde podes escoger entre clases grupales o en pareja ($10 por persona para grupales, $12 por persona para parejas), los grupos son pequeños de no más de 12 personas, pero te recomendamos tomar la opción de pareja para hacerlo más especial. La escuela pone los ingredientes así que no se tienen que preocupar por nada, aunque recomendamos llevar un delantal y un lugar para tomar apuntes. Nosotras hemos probado las clases (yum sushi!) y las recomendamos un 100%. Si tomás la opción en pareja, podés escoger el platillo a preparar de entre miles de opciones dulces o saladas (pasteles, pies, galletas, cupcakes, cake pops.... la lista sigue!)

Toda la semana vamos a estar hablando de mamá, y les tenemos otro mom date el día de mañana! 

Si queres saber la lista completa de clases disponibles y el horario de Cooking Art, mandamos un correo a lifestyle503@gmail.com, o directamente a Cooking Art productosculinarios@gmail.com, tel. 2248-3899, están ubicados en la Col. Lomas de San Francisco.

Here at bloom we think that a great gift for mother's day would be to go out and have an all-girls bonding day! If your mom's a foodie, surprise her with a cooking class. You two get to have fun learning something new (+1,000 for getting to eat it after), without having to worry about the down side of cooking: cleaning and doing dishes. 

If you'd like to treat mom to a class, try Cooking Art, where you get to choose between group or one-on-one classes ($10 per person for group classes, $12 for one-on-one). They provide the ingredients so you don't have to bring along anything, though we recommend taking an apron and a pad to write down any tips and tricks. We've tried a group class before and they're great (we learned how to make killer sushi rolls), the groups are small with no more than 12 people per class and last about two hours. For the occasion, we'd say spring for the one-on-one classes. You get to pick whether you want to make a sweet or a savory dish, and they have a huge offering (cakes, pies, tarts, cookies, cake pops, sushi... the list goes on).

Check back with us all week! We have another mom date idea for you tomorrow and more ways to make mom's special day the best one yet!

If you'd like the full offering of classes and their schedule, send us an email at lifestyle503@gmail.com or contact Cooking Art at productosculinarios@gmail.com, phone number 2248-3899. You can find them at Lomas de San Francisco.