The Women Who Inspire Me

In my previous post, I had mentioned the name of Penelope Cruz, a famous Hispanic actress. She has been in numerous films, which have led to an Oscar winning. I feel that she is a perfect example of a wonderful role model for all women today. Penelope has always been a role model for me as well. The way she dresses, the way she answers the questions that are asked of her are things that make her stand out amongst the crowd of celebrities. However, she is not the only woman in this world that has inspired me. The following is a list of women that have inspired me in some ways or another through out my life:

Noemi Rodriguez: Noemi is my 16-year-old sister. She is a junior at Aloha High School and is a crazy cool kid. Even though she is younger then me she still has inspired me in many ways. She is my number one source for advice in life. When I need boy advice, she is there. When I need to know if something matches, she is there. When I need someone to talk to with out getting in trouble or judged, she is there. I absolutely love and adore my sister. I am positive that she will grow into a fabulous and beautiful young lady.

Jill Krebsbach:  Jill is my old youth group leader and is now a very close friend. She is someone that I not only go for spiritual advice but for life advice as well. She is in her mid twenties and has a lot of advice to give. She is such a humble person; she never judges but loves all that comes her way. She is also strong in her faith and is not afraid to show it! When I am a more mature adult I can only pray to become half the person she is.

The Trujillo Sisters: These are my mother’s sisters. They all have their own families and lives, yet they have each somehow made a huge impact on mine. Christina: She has inspired me in her kindness to all as well as a muse to allot of my work in college. She makes me want to become a more kind and humble person. Ana: She is a doctor. What more to say. She is helping me want to peruse and do better in college. Cynthia: She is a remarkable mother. She had her first child in high school, she managed to graduate from high school and go to college. She is now a manager at a dental office and is continuing to peruse her education. She has helped me understand the concept of “when there is a will, there is a way”. Cathy: Cathy is the baby of all the sisters. She is just such a wonderful person and is always there when people need help. Out of all the sisters, I had always sought out advice from her. I love all my aunts.

Sofia Rodriguez: My mother. What is there to say, our mothers one way or another has influenced us all. She is such a remarkable woman. My mother is visually impaired and still manages to maintain a household of five people. I love my mother so much! I look forward to spending time with her everyday, even if we argue it still does not bother me one bit! She is the ultimate role model! As what the popular shirts and signs say “I Love You Mom!”

Cheetah Girl Still Knows How to Work it!

Just the other day I was browsing through the internet while singing a song that got stuck in my head while I was at work. Now if you have read my bio you would know that I work at the local Claire’s and the songs that we play there are very Disney Channel and little kid oriented. It just so happens that the song that was stuck in my head was Cinderella done by the Cheetah Girls themselves. Most of you might be wondering where I am going with this but it made me wonder whatever happened to these girls, they started out being Disney Channel Stars but where are they? Then I remembered that one of them was on Dancing with the Stars. But what happened to the cute Latina girl, Adrian Bailon? Last time I saw her was on a Keeping up with the Kardashian’s episode when she was dating Kim’s brother, Rob.

 I decided then and there to Google Adrian and see what she had been up to.  One of the first things that popped up in the search engine was the Latina magazine website http://www.latina.com/ . She was featured in the UNICEF 60^th Anniversary Celebration  picture slide show wearing a strapless silver animal print dress done by an unknown designer. The first thing that popped up in my head was “wow home girl is looking gooood”.  She has most definitely come a long way from her Cheetah Girl shoes. In other words she has really grown up.

On a final note, Latina girls that started out on the Disney Channel are still working it, for example: America Ferrera, Demi Lavato and Selena Gomez.  

Your Creative Spirit

As my first entry I wish to talk about some things that have inspired me, not only for this blog but for my creative process as well. I would like to start off by talking about creativity. Imagine growing up and not ever being able to “play” as a kid? I am assuming most of you may be having a hard time imagining it. What some of us may not realize is that this so called “play” time is the time when the child’s imagination and creativity will begin to grow. There once was a study done by GH Mead that analyzed different stages that a child goes through, also known as the Cognitive Stages. With in these stages there was one called the “Play Stage” (ages 3-7). It is this stage that the child is just beginning to learn about self objectification and reflexive thinking. It is also the time that a child will begin to “play” around and experiment. This so called playing around is just the door that is connecting you from the social norms all the way to the creativity world.  I myself was extremely blessed to have had parents that embraced my creativity while growing up. I was involved in theater, musical theater as well as music. If it wasn’t for my so called “play” time where I was known to have always busted out into some random “operatic” song, I don’t think I would have actually found my creativity to be of any use. Now I am fully aware of what value it may have for not only myself but for some amazing artist such as Meryl Streep, Penelope Cruz, Isaac Mizrahi and Oscar de la Renta.

As you may have noticed this blog is called “With Latina Flavor”. And I have chosen to call it this because I do feel that this is what has and will always make me stand out in the world. I am a creative Latina and will forever be one! I will end this night with a quote said by Penelope Cruz during her 2009 Oscar winning acceptance speech; “Because Art in any form is and has been and will always be our universal language. And we should do everything we can to protect its survival!”