Let's Get Cooking!

Awwww man... do I have a story for you... 

My last installment to you, my amazing followers, was quite some time ago... and boy have I been busy! 

You see at the end of Summer 2014, I decided to audition for a show that I have been quite a fan of! well... more like my favorite show on air for the past 5 years... MASTER CHEF!!!

My co-admin for Instagramers San Diego Lauren, told me all about it and so I decided, why not? What do I have to lose? I have a deep-rooted passion for cooking, learning, and life... I can do this! 

I showed up to the casting call in Downtown San Diego, bright eyed and rocking typical latina curls.

I was told to check in and tell them about a specific email I had received, and BOOM! I got VIP'd (whatever that means). 

Within 7 minutes I was told I was part of the next group up and suddenly... that positive demeanor turned to nerves! OMG! Oh my god...  

HERE...WE... GO...

To audition, I had whipped up an amazing Three Cheese Tortellini in an Asiago Cream Sauce with Crimini Mushrooms and Pancetta. It's the dish my Dad asks for on birthdays and father's day... so I figured, I can't go wrong. 

I walked in to a large conference room and began my audition process... 

I can't share any more details because well... the audition process itself is confidential... but what you must know is... 

I DID IT! I made it on the show! 

I was scheduled to leave to Los Angeles in early January and I had NO IDEA if I could even do it or more importantly, manage it financially. 

So with the encouragement of my good friend Ilo, I set up a vague crowd-funding account. I only noted that I was given an amazing opportunity that has the potential to change munchkin and my life! Remarkably, donation after donation, I was reminded how truly blessed I am. Family, Friends, Co-Workers, and yes, even special blog followers donated helping me to raise over $3,000 dollars! 

NO I AM NOT KIDDING! People believe in me! They want me to go after my dreams, even if I couldn't share any of the details! 

I left to Los Angeles on a very early morning, leaving my daughter in tears. I cried myself to the train station and just kept repeating, no pain, no gain. No risk, No reward. 

My heart was broken. I had never spent more than 3 nights away from munchkin... can I even do this? 

I was walking away form my life, my daughter, my apartment, my job, EVERYTHING... all for this amazing opportunity. Was I being selfish? Was I wrong? What am I doing? 

Well... I made it. I did it. I got that apron.... and joined the biggest cooking competition in the Country! I beat out 40,000 + chefs who auditioned for the show and can wear that proudly no matter what... 

To this day, I can't wrap my head around how unbelievable this is. I am soooo glad to FINALLY be able to share why I was gone so long, what I was so busy with, and what my dream was! 

I had the opportunity to cook for Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot, and new Chef Christina Tosi, three of thee most renowned chefs in this country. 

Guys... MIND BLOWN... seriously. 

I hope you will watch me battle it out in the Master Chef kitchen this upcoming Wednesday! The show airs on FOX primetime at 8:00pm ET/PT ... yes I said PRIME. TIME. 

Is this real life? Someone pinch me please! 

You can also watch on Hulu, as we are already three shows in! (Sorry late in the blogging game)... I have also created a new website for myself... click here to visit. 

One last thing... I need to extend a HUGE THANK YOU, to YOU, my followers who donated and who believed in me and continue to support this Single Latina Mama through all of my adventures. 

It is clear that there are oh so many more delicious adventures to come for this Single Latina Mama! 

Cheers~ SLM

The Download (Part 1)

Prepare for the longest blog post to date....Sorry guys, but I have so much drama to share with you! I will literally be doing this in Installments!

Sooooo.... let's catch you up on what you have missed in this still, Single Latina Mama's life. 

It has been what? Well, by golly, I think its been at least a couple months since I have touched base. Things, well, have been quite hectic to say the least. My life geared up in terms of work and all of my outside activities also took a turn for the exciting. 

Since my last post, I have managed to literally make history TWICE! 

No, really. I am not kidding. 

While it may be no feat to some, it is quite the feat to me and I am going to take it! After all, what better bragging rights for your kids when you are 80, old, saggy, rocking in a chair on the porch... and being able to say, well in my day.... I made History. Twice. Hehe

You see... I am the General Manager of an Instagramer community here in San Diego known as @igerssandiego. You should follow us... alright that's all the spamming ill hit you with. Maybe.

But seriously, we are doing some amazing things with this group and I have built a pretty amazing team to help this community become what it has, record breaking, and history making. I just can't say it enough! HA! 

Photo Cred: @lauren_gallaway

After an invitation by fellow blogger Stephanie-SoyMeetsGirl.com to host the second annual Haute As Ever event at the Del Mar Racetrack. This Latina Mom was also asked to be a panelist at Social Media Day San Diego!

Yep. I couldn't believe it. It was exciting to share the panel with the World's Most Connected Woman on LinkedIn Mrs. Stacy Zapar among so many others that I just oogled at in our Green Room. One of which was Social Media expert for the San Diego Chargers, Joel Price. 

I was floored. He approached me with "You are the person I've wanted to meet!" 

Photo Cred: @Chargers

No really, that happened. He talked to me about collaborating and hosting a meet at their training camp, and well... the rest, Ha! The rest, is truly history! IgerSanDiego was the first IGer group to ever partner with a professional Football Organization, better even, any professional sporting organization WORLD WIDE! Oh yeah! In the world. Boom! 

Oh but wait... it got better. The event brought in record crowds to the Training Camp with over 3,000 attendees. Moreover, the winner of a photo contest got credentialed to be on the field for warm ups and the coin toss at the first pre-season game! Lucky!! Don't believe me? Check it out here! 

The best part is, that Haute as Ever was still only one month away and planning and details were well underway! When I brought this event to the table with my team, my first thought was... what is the record for Instameets? After some research we found out the largest meet to date was in Madrid, Spain and hosted an outstanding 235 instagramers. Most meet ups that we have hosted even at some of our most popular locations can host up to 75 but never in the hundreds. Well this Single Latina Mama wanted more. Stephanie had informed me that in the past these events had hosted somewhere between 500 to 700 attendees. If I could manage to get that many instagramers there, we could easily break the record! 

So my team and I set out on a mission to host the World's Largest Instameet. 

Edit by @sdruben

Along the way, we enlisted Phil Gonzalez, IGers Founder and creator of Instagramers.com who lives in Madrid, Spain . We knew he would be excited to learn more and so we emailed back and forth for weeks. Suddenly, the unthinkable happened! Photosi Printup offered to fly Phil to San Diego! We could not believe it! Shortly there after groups from all over! San Francisco, Mexico, Arizona, Boston, all joined forces with us and even made it out to an event that set the World Record with 451 actual Instagramers and their guests. Music Art Life produced the event adding a 1940's theme, complete with a hair styling station, vintage furniture, burlesque dancers, live models, and live artists painting as the event went on. 

If you hadn't heard about the event head on over to Instagram and type in the hashtag #HauteAsEver13 for all the amazing pics of the event! We even had @DanToffey of Instagram join us at the event. You can see him pictured in our team picture below in the Striped Shirt! 

I am SO lucky. Firstly, let me say that. I have a team that I couldn't have done this all without. Lauren @Lauren_Gallaway our Feature Queen who manages our features on our account day in and day out. Dave @kiddradi our Marketing Masta, Ruben @sdruben our Graphics Guru, Heather @Heather_Amber who is our Project Princess! But who can forget our amazing IgersSD Street Team who help us with getting the word out, setup, breakdown, creative ideas, etc. (Pictured are: @sdchris, @xaperockz, @pacificyo, and Igers San Diego founder @hons24) Not pictured were our many volunteers both on and off instagram, I know I will miss many so I wont attempt a roll call, but truly, THANK YOU. 

These events all couldn't have happened without YOUR help, support, and voice! 

I hope you will join me at one of these events soon! And if you aren't part of your local Instagramer community, trust me, you should be! 

These group of people have become family! Cheers- SLM

I chose the Road walked both ways…

When don’t I keep it real? Are you ready? No, really?...

It is growing to be quite an annoying conversation truly… the one where friends, family, and acquaintances feel the incessant need to “call me out” on me being MIA (missing in action).

I warned everyone, I did.

Life, has been crazy. It is.

More importantly, I have finally been doing what you all, always do. Live life.

It struck me only recently, that the same people who get upset that I am no longer reaching out to, are the same people who usually were too busy to hang out, call me, or schedule anything outside of the ideas I threw out.

The difference here though is, I am not resentful. I understand that life is life. I understand that you have children, a job, a relationship, and GASP… Other friends. Haha sorry… I had to…

I would think, that knowing me, you all would know that I believe that everyone should be a friend. We all don’t know who needs us, could need us, or may need us at one point.

The truth is, I actually believe in community.

So while some people, lavish in their exclusive friendships, and the secrecy and anonymity of their lives.

I thrive on meeting new people, with new perspectives, and creative ideas. I thrive on exposing myself to other viewpoints that allow me to grow as a human being. I choose to blow my mind way open beyond the confines of what society dictates my life should be.

Woah… stuff just got deep.

I mean truly people. You are ALL special to me. There is absolutely no one else like YOU! Really!  

I have a friend in Temecula, whom I share only mommy texts with, another friend with my exact same birthday that understands my every weakness and dating war stories, another who only recently became my friend and in one month is like my sister, well more like beester! HAHA! (Sorry inside joke).   

You see, my point is, I need not define every friendship. These girls all know I am busy and love them very much. They all know that even if I don’t call, it doesn’t mean I don’t love them, it just means I am busy.

They all are special to me, they all have a perspective I can’t live without, and I am sure, that the same stands for you, yes YOU, the person reading this blog. Those perspectives are crucial to my existence in growth, which in turn makes you, yes you, crucial to my existence. Have I made myself clear?

In my eyes, a true friend doesn’t keep count of how many times we call, how many times I do things for them or they do for me, we are just friends, and that is that.

My true friends,  know my social butterfly self. They will understand that it’s the very reason I met them, because all of my friends have likely worked with me, been a partner in an event with me, or simply met me along the way of this beautiful life we live.

I sure hope we could all just share it without a dreaded count of how many times one of us walked the road this way, or that. Because after all, it does go both ways. Truth.

-Cheers ~SLM