It felt so weird to write July, we are officially halfway through the year, for me this month is to look back and reflect on what I've done, what I haven't done, what I wish I would've done and if I grew as a person, even a little bit counts.

June was quite a slow month, not much happened, but what did happened made me realise many things.

From the beginning I knew this was going to be a relaxing month, I didn't had much planned and I actually prefered it that way, I really wanted to take a few days off and enjoy what was a really short summer break, it's not over yet, but you know what I mean.
For the first days of the month I dedicated myself to do bits and bobs that had been left behind, because of my lack of time or energy, all of my work commitments were done by the first week and half, so I had plenty of time to dedicate to myself.
I finally finished re-arranging my closet and my room, that project took me so long, but it was worthy, I'm happy, I still want to change a few things here and there, like my duvet or I want to put art above my bed, but I want to really think about it before making the purchase and regretting it.
I started collecting memories, I decided that as much as I love pictures and I keep them safe in the cloud, I want to keep little things from my trips, things that remind me about the trip and that make a part of my bulletin board prettier and more personal than just due dates and reminders.
I'm finally working on two new projects, well, I'm finally re-starting those two projects, I'm working and planning most of those, it has been no bed of roses, but I like it, I like how I'm allowing this incredibly creative part of me to be free, it's nice to do that sometimes.
I started working out regularly and by regularly I mean it, in two weeks, I've only taken a couple of days off and it feels nice, I'm starting to enjoy my red face again, although the thing I love the most is taking a shower after, it feels so nice. Now I just have to work on what I eat, I'm trying to find a good balance and put more nutrients in there, I'm also researching a lot about it.
I'm reconnecting with old friends and it feels nice to know I'm not the only one struggling with time management, I've been talking and just catching up with them really, it's nice to hear how well they have been or helping the ones that haven't been that well.  (I just send "Chef" a screenshot of one of Kanye's tweets that says "and I love you as much as Kanye loves Kanye", she doesn't love Kanye)
I was lazy and I don't regret it, I feel like I needed a couple days at home not doing anything, I listened to Christmas music, stayed way too long in SnapChat, read way to many books and ate like no other, I indeed went out some days just to stay sane but I liked this break.
Out of my four personal goals, I only missed one, I don't think I was as productive through the month as I can be, I slacked a lot, that leads me to the next goals, school wise, I can't lie, I didn't did anything, blog wise, I slacked a lot too, but most of the month was pre-planned anyway, so I didn't had much space to be really creative, I missed a couple of posts.
My favourite books of the month were "When" by Victoria Laurie, "The Nature of Cruelty" by L.H. Cosway and "Lost in You" by Heidi McLaughlin
My favourite series were "Pretty Little Liars", I've trying to watch the ending of season 6 for the longest time and I'm still catching up, but I still like it a lot.
I went to four new places, all of them had to do with one of the projects so I can't share them, but it was really fun to explore more of my city, I'm really looking to do it more.
Music wise, I've been liking Stevie Wonder lately, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Bublé, Oh Wonder, Coldplay, but my favourite song of the month has to be "Salvation" by Gabriel Aplin & HEYHEY, which was recommended by my cousin's girlfriend.
Organisation wise, my two agendas are still holding strong and I love them, minimising was the right thing to do, now I don't have to be juggling around with a bunch of notebooks, I can just take one and write everything down, without worrying my poor brain about were it is.
That was my June for all of you, it was not big, but it was interesting and relaxing, next month feels like it's going to be an interesting one but we will see. Remember to keep on dreaming.

This is going to be a short one, there are few things I have to say, a lot of things to do and I think I hurt my ankle when working out this morning. Yes, I've taken my procrastination to the next level, as I'm writing this, I'm on my pajamas with one leg up the floor because I'm terrified is going to swallow up before my trip tomorrow.
Where to start, I didn't do much this week, I mostly sat down, relaxed and did nothing, I didn't even read that much, I re-read old favourites but nothing new, I tried to do a few things here and there that had to do with work, but failed miserable, for some reason my body said he didn't wanted to do anything and I listened to him.
Halfway through the week I was feeling so frustrated and mad with myself, because I'm never like this, I try to do something even if it's little a day, that way I don't stress over the little things I didn't do when I had the time, but this week I decided to not give a f*ck and now I'm paying the consequences.
I'm losing one day of the week because my mum decided to make a new trip this weekend, again, I can't tell if I'm excited or terrible tired, I'm really grateful to have this opportunities but I do miss my home, waking up late, my hot cup of tea before bed, reading a good book in bed, I have my routine and this messes it up a little bit.
On other news that are not important, I found a new coffee shop near my house, the truth is that were I live I'm surrounded by business and houses, not so many cool coffee shops to go in, but while I was walking I found one that looked great and it was amazing, the vibe was really relaxed, it had that smell of freshly grounded coffee and they make the best chai latte I've ever tried.
I've been inspired but for other projects, I've been thinking a lot about the future and not so much on what I have to do and that has brought some problems, I didn't knew what to write about this week, until I remembered that it was the last week of the month so it was a good idea to make the review and the resolutions thing before I forgot or thought it was too late.
I don't really know what next week has to offer, I really hope for great things, I'm a little bit more determined to be productive and get things done before it's too late and I have a lot on my shoulders again, we will see how any of that goes around.
I'll promise to report back next week with a more fun and joyful post, now I have to pack and print the tickets or my mum is going to kill me. Keep on dreaming.

This are the best nachos I've ever eaten

I had to distract my mum to take this picture, we were having breakfast by the beach, just on our last day.

This was without doubt one of my favourite holidays, we never get to do any of this, just being us, we always have someone else behind us, a schedule or a meeting to go to, so when my mum mentioned the plan, I couldn't help but to say yes, I put everything that I had to do and enjoyed a couple of days with my parents, we were a family that enjoyed their time together, we talked, we played, we swimmed, we relaxed.
I would do it again if I had the chance, this was quite a dreamy holiday, which I think is reflected in the pictures, I love every single one of them, this might be my favourite Photo Diary yet.

I've been working in a new project this summer, but I needed help from others, a lot of people said yes, I was going to be around the city with them, working and enjoying the making of this project, but then, there was this one day when we got clear blue skies, amazing sun, amazing weather that I couldn't say no, so I ventured myself outside.
I didn't said anything to anyone, I went by myself to a new place with nothing but my determination to get what I wanted, on my way there the only thing rounding my mind was how beautiful the day was and how much I loved some songs on my playlists.
I spent the whole day doing something I love, doing new things, going to new places but most importantly, enjoying my "me" time, I was not worried about texts, e-mails or calls, I was another person in this planet doing my thing.
On my way I realised that I had an amazing day by myself, I wasn't feeling anxious or uncomfortable, I was actually fine, I was happy and glad I did it that way, my way.
When I first discovered I had anxiety, my world turned around, I didn't knew what to do, where to go, who to talk to, I was lost in what everyone was saying, for me the only answer was to isolate myself, I went from being a really sociable person to one that hated being near other people, I became this really closed person that was afraid to leave the house and every time I had to do, I would panic.
Going from open to closed made a huge damage, I was feeling lonely, I felt like no one cared, like no one understood what I was going through, something that really didn't helped once I got into college.
When I started going to therapy, I realised how much talking helped me, there were a lot of things I was carrying and those were making me feel even worse, all of this slowly transitioned to writing, both of which became like therapy to me.
It wasn't until I was able to do simple things by myself that I realised how much I had healed, I was not the shy girl anymore, I had a little bit more of confidence and I wasn't feeling as uncomfortable when going out as I used to.
This not only allowed me to value more my "me" time, but to value the time I get to spend with family and friends, before I used to cancel or just not go to reunions out of fear of something happening, now I can proudly say that I can connect more with my friends and family, I talk with them, I don't feel scared or anxious when someone hugs me.
I'm learning to enjoy the time I have for myself but also the time I have with others, it has been a bumpy road and I'm not even close to the finish line, but one thing I'm sure about is how far I've come to go back, don't give up, maybe the road may seem to bumpy but at the end it's all worthy.

A lot of things have happen in the world in this past days, weeks, months and even years, if you have been a long reader, you know that I never adress any of them, not because I don't care, but because I know that there's people out there that don't share my opinion and as much as I love a good discussion, most of the time you only get invalid arguments and hateful comments.
We live in world were having an opinion is becoming a problem, if you don't share an opinion with the majority you are screwed, they think that you need to change the way you think, live, love, to fit their mold.
I've seen many people trying to push their opinion into other people, being active in social media, I see it a lot, people thinking that just because it's through a screen, people are not going to get hurt by the things you are saying or the way you're attacking them.
We all have the right to have an opinion and express it, but that doesn't mean that you can hurt other people with your comments, and this is not only about you sexual orientation, religion or even who you are voting for, it's about everything.
Everyday I see more and more people standing up and trying to stop hateful comments not only towards themselves for towards people they love or that are close to them and it shouldn't be like that, I don't get why we have to criticize every movement others make.
I've been in both sides, I know how it feels to criticize someone, but I also know how bad it feels when you get criticized, you are left with this bitter taste in your mouth, it's something I wish no one would experience.
Hating people for who they love, what they believe in, what they do for work or even what they eat is wrong, we all love, we all believe in something, we all work/study, we all eat, then why do we feel the need to hate someone that's not doing the same as us? Do we really want to live in a monotonous were we all do the same?
We need to create our own opinion of things, we need to research, to see things, to live in order to be able to say things, we never know when are we going to be on the other side of the spectrum, suffering from comments.
We need to learn when it's okay to say things and how to say them, there's a huge difference between expressing your opinion in a polite way and just hating on someone and everything they do, or hating on a group of people.
The world needs to learn to respect others even if they don't share your opinion, let everyone be who they want to be, love who they want to love, believe in who they want to believe, do what they want to do, go where they want to go, vote for whoever they want to vote, just be the person who they want to be.
No one deserves to be treated like that, people are going to respect you if you respect them, why not give what we think we deserve?

We are halfway through the month and almost half way through the year and that scares the hell out of me, I want more time!

We didn't follow the original plan, but that only made this trip even more interesting, at the end, we really got to enjoy our family, which was the main thing, I don't think we will be doing any more trips like this in the future, but you'll never know.

When was the last time I took a day off? When was the last time I enjoyed a cup of tea by myself without having to think "what I have to do next"?
Becoming an adult became one of the worst ideas I could ever have, not only is it demanding, it meant that I had to grow, to become what everyone wanted me to be, a nice lady with nice manners.
It gets me everytime, no matter how short my day was, it always gets to me, what if I didn't chose any of that? What if I was withdrawn? What if I continued my life like I did before? I wouldn't care about anything that would happen around me, I would let the world spin and do whatever he thinks is best.
Sometimes I like to think about what would have happened if none of this happened, what would have changed? Would I be the same lost sheep? Would he still be here? I like to think that I would be doing something different, something new, I would be that daring woman, but it's all in my head.
Seeing my house in front of me makes me feel better, makes those thoughts go away, makes me come back to reality, my reality, the one I've been living for the past few years, that reality that hit me when I was down and made realise that maybe not everything was as easy as I thought it would be.
Phone, keys, music, shoes, all out, as I step into this square that I call home, I can't help but laugh, everything about this space screams that it's ours, the colours, the old magazines, the clothes around the couch, even the mess, because we've been building this space for many years and even when for some it feels small, this is the perfect space for us.
The steam, the hot water makes the pain, the sweat, the dirt of the day go away, the deep breaths help to calm my mind as I come to the realisation that I'm back home, finally, the only place that I've hated as much as I love.
As I sit down, I wonder has everything been worthy? everything I do is to get somewhere, but am I getting closer? Am I doing it for me? Am I growing? becoming better? wiser? Am I making them proud?
So when I hear the keys on the door and turn around to see a tired face saying hi, I can't help but smile, because that's when I know the answer to all of those questions rounding my head, because if they can keep fighting even when they are defeated, I can too, because they taught me that no matter how bumpy the road was, it's always worthy getting to the finish line.
Maybe sometimes I have bad days, maybe I'm not happy all the time, maybe I laugh when I shouldn't, sometimes I get too involved, but at the end is all worthy, because I keep fighting, all of those late nights, bad coffees, bad companies, busy days, busy nights, all of that is part of me, some part of my past, some part of my future.
No matter how bad the day was, it all has been worthy, all the changes, all the sh*t, now I realise how lucky I am to experience all of this, but how hard I have to work to get them, I just have to keep on dreaming.

Having a clear mind has become an essential thing for many reasons, to help me sleep better, to help me concentrate in the task I have in front of me, to even feel better and more accomplished, but the most important being to help with my anxiety.
Sometimes we don't realise how much we have on our backs until we have something else to do, sounds weird, but when you get into a new project you have to go with a clear mind, there's no mixing up, worrying about other things, because most probably you are going to not give you 100% and your heart is not going to be in that work.
We never understand why multitasking is so bad until we see how much it can affect our work, even when you have mastered this task, it doesn't mean that you are going to do better, it only means that you have learn how not to do things.
There are many things you can do to clear your mind, most of them are really simple but we never think about them and if we do think about them, we never use them, here are some of them.
Write down what's bothering you, we tend to carry problems from our past to our future, they all are a burden, they are part of your past and that's where they all belong, sometimes we do this because we didn't find closure, writing them down helps to express how you feel about it, no one is going to judge you for this, leave it in paper and move on.
Make lists, everyone loves a good list, when you have a busy day or even a normal one is good to sit down and think what you want to do and how you want to do it, leave it in paper, you won't be stressing about remembering everything and you'll be able to focus on one thing at the time.
Unwind, take breaks, make yourself a cup of tea and relax, when you have had a tough day, getting to a familiar space where you can unwind helps a lot, don't force yourself to work when you already had enough, it only brings stress to your life. If it's urgent enough for you to have to do it on the spot, take a few minutes, take deep breaths, calm yourself and continue.
Talk, have a chat, it doesn't have to be about your problem or whatever is bothering you, talking with someone you know helps you feel less stressed, try having a small chat in between classes to let your mind relax a bit.
In case you happen to have more time, there a few more options.
Yoga has been my savior, it's been mentioned a lot this days here, but it really allows you to disconnect and focus on little things we don't think about, like our breathing and how important it is to maintain it steady and just let things go.
Run/Walk is one of those things you never give much attention to, but once you actually do it, you will see how much it works to give you a clear mind and help you to relax, plus you'll release dopamine and you'll be happier.
Take a shower, after a long day, then get into your comfiest pajama, make a cup of tea and pick a good book or movie, just let everything go in that shower and let you body relax and I assure you, you are going to have a better night sleep.
At last, I would love to remind you to not multitask, if you know you mind can be overloading, don't pressure it any more, focus on one thing, don't put unnecessary pressure over your shoulders, it may seem like something temporary but the more you do it, the more you get used to it, the more is going to bring consequences into your body.

Good Sunday! I know this is late, really late and I don't have an excuse, except that I was lazy, my summer break just started and I felt the need to relax, read and not do much of anything.
Monday was a work day, I had to go out, go to meetings and be with people, but a part of me really wanted to just stay at home and watch a good movie. Tuesday was a running errands kind of day, I went out but I still managed to be lazy and I just read all day.
Wednesday was a proper lazy day, I worked out, read, cleaned my room and just relaxed, I used the day to take care of myself, but by the end of it, I was feeling anxious and stressed, I realised how much I hated staying in home and not doing anything.
The fun started on Thursday when I went in an adventure with "Chef", I can't talk much about it, because it's part of one project I'm working on, what I can say is that it was tiring, when I go home I was in pain, sweaty, dirty but it was all worthy, I had fun, an amazing meal, a good chat and even a workout.
Friday was a quiet day, I went shopping with my mum, something that doesn't happen as often as you would think, because she gets nervous and starts pressuring me to make a choice and I hate that, but this time was actually fine, we had a good time, bought doughnuts and enjoy the whole time.
Saturday was a family day, my mum convinced us to go see the Sistine Chapel replica that it's in our city, we don't do this often but when we do it, we enjoy it a lot, we take our time. This time it was no exception, we went to eat, chatted, waited in line, laughed and enjoyed the ride, at last we decided to go to the "Monumento a la Revolucion" I always underestimated the view, but I was pleasantly surprised this time, the lights were on, the sky was dark and getting to experience all of this with my parents only made the adventure even more fun.
Those are the times were I really feel grateful for the opportunities I get and my family, right now I'm more than happy to be able to do all of this amazing things and have the support of my friends and family,
It was a short but sweet week, but I'm really hoping this one is going to be more productive and work related. Have a great week and keep on dreaming.

Three hours away from the city, you can find "Plomosas" a little town on top of a mountain, it has the most amazing views I've ever seen, the air is pure, you will not find any kind of pollution nor noise.






Unfortunatelly I can't upload all of the pictures I took, in most of them you can see my family and I've said it before and I'll say it again, that part of my life will remain private not only for me but for them. But even with that I love every snsle picture that I posted, I hope you did too.

There's this one song from Michael Bublé that says "I'm old enough, but not done hoping", welcome back, it's been a long time since the last time I wrote something before going to bed, I think it was in december when the 12 stories were going up and I needed a little bit of relief.
Where am I right now? I don't really know where I'm standing right now and I like it, I like not feeling secure of everything this time around, last summer I still had classes and a job waiting for me to be done with the semester, but this time.. nothing.
I've been realising a lot of things this past week or so, having time to think has always screwed me over, I tend to overthink things and end up in a ball crying what I didn't do, but this time is different, the only thing I could say I really "regret" is not saying goodbye to any of my french classmates, I know I'll still see them, but it's not the same.
I started to do exercise, if you know me, you know that my life during school is really active, but this time I'm facing free time, which is weird and makes me a bit anxious,  staying at home makes me feel bad, I like going out, walking around, chatting, being around people even when they don't know me.
So I decided that maybe I needed to add a little bit of activity into my life, so I started running and doing little routines, I'm still doing yoga, although today I had to stop because I was not in that mindset, I was all over the place, feeling weird and maybe a little bit dehydrated.
I've been reading a lot, a lot, I think I'm going into my 7th book this week, yeah, as I said previously, I've been having time off and what else is there to do, that's why I was so excited to start with the book club, but I'm being on and off about it, I want to prepare properly for it and I want to launch it in a better way.
You know how people say, I cannot tell you on what I'm working on? I'm that person, I drawn myself into 4 or 5 projects probably all of which will be announced sometime this autumn, some of them in October because that's my and our birthday month and I love it.
I want to make it special, plus I'm working on a birthday gift from me to me, I think it's time for another adventure Mayte's style, and I think I'm going to have good company, who knows, I just want to make it special and unique, I'm actually planning to make it a two part birthday, a part with my family and the other one by myself.
I'm also preparing some gifts for my dearest friends, I want to see some of them wasted and some of them out of their comfort zone, so that's going to be interesting, I'll be sure to document everything.
For those projects I'm also getting my friends involved, most of them will be joining (I think) and this is to show another part of them to you, it's always hard when you are working on this kind of project but the last time I did it, it went great and it's also a way to spend more time with them.
I'm also working on some changes for the blog, I don't know when either of them is going to be ready, I'm taking my time, because it has to be perfect or as close as it can get, I just figured that now that I have the time, why not do it now?
It feels so good to take all of this out of my chest, I don't talk about any of this with anyone except "Editor" and it's not as often as you would think. Have a great night and keep on dreaming.

It seems like I do one of this every month, but there always so many things going on that I don't even know how to tell them without being nosy and all over the place, you know?
First, I don't know if you notice but I've been making a few changes here and there, I added a few things, like a tab for you to find my PDs more easily, or the fact that I'm now going to be posting  books and movies recommendations, those are a lot of things I wanted to make for a long but haven't had the chance, nor the time to make them.
Second, I'm officially on summer break, finally, don't get me wrong I love school, but this semester was brutal on me, I need to sleep, eat and repeat over and over until I get bored, or until I hear about another project, who knows, I might have a busy summer...
Third, I've been organising my life, but like deep organising, I cleared my closet, my desk, my books, every space that is mine was under construction for what seemed forever, but it was just two weeks.
Fourth, I'm in the process of revamping my agenda and BJ, it was well needed, it's a system that you need to adapt to your necessities instead of letting the agenda eat you alive, I'm making it to fit my day-to-day life, I had four agendas with different things on them, that's not a way of living, I've narrowed them to two and it had been working great so far.
Fifth, I'm making changes within myself, I think that I went from full on party girl, to full on stay at home girl but what about an in the middle girl, I miss going out sometimes, going on unknown adventures, enjoying life more and more, I want to do it while I have time.
Sixth, my health is improving, but I still have a long way to go, I need to find a safe balance and work from there, right now I think that food wise has been the hardest one to balance, when yo travel is really hard to balance things, but I think that as long as I keep trying, I'll be fine.
Seventh, yoga has been something I never thought I would do for so long and enjoy it so much, the stretches have been amazing for my back and legs and I think I'm finally controlling my breathing and finding my balance.
Eighth, I've been spending a lot more time with my family and I like how I get to know them better and better every time we get together, it's quite funny, because they all are like little kids making fun of me or making me play with them, on Sunday they went up to my house for a family lunch and it was some of the funniest things I've lived, we ended up playing "Domino" and bluffing around.
Ninth, I've been talking more and more with my friends, it's not like I don't do it, but sometimes it takes me up to two days to answer a text, everytime I reconnect with them I remember why we are friends, they are amazing people that make me laugh, make fun of me and talk to me about heart breaks.
Tenth, I'm in process of changing the "About Me" tab, I want to add little descriptions about my friends, mostly to give an idea of who is who and to not mix the nicknames, some will be changing to, I'll be adding some up too, there are a lot of different things going on.
Eleventh, I'm starting fresh in some projects,it was well needed, I was running in circles in some of them, like in #VoiceForEveryone, I know what I want, but I don't want to make people feel uncomfortable, or my other project, I was writing and not liking it, so fresh starts are always fun.
Finally, there are a lot of things that are yet to come, I don't think anything new will be announced for the summer, I'm going to use this time to work on it, instead of rushing and launching something I'm not happy with, it always takes a lot of time and effort to get thing the way I want them to be, so I guess I just have to keep on working on that.
As a side not I wanted to add that I wouldn't be here fighting and pushing myself to do this things if it weren't for my lovely friends, mostly "Chef" and "Editor" that have been taking my mood changes, my anxiety and my not so big problems, I don't know what I would do without them and the way they talk to me when I'm being a Drama Queen.

We are almost halfway through the year and I can't believe it, it seems like it was just yesterday when we talked about changes and new year's resolutions, time flies.

May was one of the months were I had the opportunity to experience a lot of amazing things, I travelled a lot and got the opportunity to see amazing sceneries.









I'm more than grateful for being able to experience all of this things, this month was like no other, it had it's ups and it's downs but at the end, it was all worthy, I got to spend days with my family, eating amazing food, relaxing, forgetting about the problems that I might be having and just enjoying the company and the view, I wouldn't change any of this.