Last minute Christmas Shopping Ideas / My Top Three:
Zumba is not the only cardio workout out there. Try taking up some ballroom dancing classes. Learn the classics , stop being a wall flower. Great posture and etiquette so get your dance shoes on! Contact Kevin Rios or Maria Torres
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Need some appetizers or a full course Puerto Rican meal for your holiday parties? Contact Maria Morales for those festive meals!
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Eagle Ridge Mall has all the right items for your last minute shopping! Bring the kids to the carousel while you chow down at the food court after a break from shopping! All major retailers at this mall and great deals!
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My last blog of the year .... I will be off for a week along with most you!
"Las Octavitas" ... who said we stop celebrating on Christmas Day!
Some of us at this point , just 2 days from Christmas Day , feel like we forgot someone's gift or a party , etc. But something old is new again.
While being raised in NYC , we celebrated always what was Santa Claus , but being Hispanic we celebrated Three Wise Men (Los Reyes Magos) as a second round of gift giving. We would have water and hay or grass in a shoe box and place this under neath our beds . In the morning we would wake to a gift , symbolizng the same that was performed on this day of JAN 6 to our baby Jesus.
I happened to be a lucky kid on my block since it also happened to be my birthday. So I would get a party plus more than one gift!! But then the next day we were off to school. This all changed once I moved back to Puerto Rico at the age of 28.
Las Octavitas! What the heck?! Well these eight days of merriment continues for 8 days after the JAN 6 celebration. More parties and more gift giving or those missed in the previous ones here was the opportunity to still get some holiday gifts. Singing , trullas (caroling) , food and just plain old family/friend fun.
I had to Learn a new holiday tradition: Just an FYI I wish to share with you
Víspera de Reyes is the eve of El Día de Reyes (January 5th). Traditional Catholics meet to pray the rosary and to honor the three Wise Men (saints in the Catholic faith). The children get ready to receive gifts from the three Wise Men by collecting freshly cut grass to put in a shoe box for the Wise Men's camels to eat.
Día de Reyes is on January 6th. This is much like Christmas on the mainland. Children wake up much too early to check out what Baltazar, Melchor, and Gaspar left them. Family and friends gather to celebrate.
January 6th - Saint Gaspar's Day of Feast
January 7th - Saint Melchor's Day of Feast
January 8th - Saint Baltazar's Day of Feast
Octavas and Octavitas - on January 9th (after the last of the Kings days) and last for eight days. Originally these were more religious in nature and were used to glorify the Reyes and the Christ child. Coplas were dedicated to the magi. Copa: "Se fueron los Reyes con mucha alegría, vienen las octavas - Dios nos de salud para celebrarlas." Octavitas began right after the Octavas and were eight more days of continued adoration. These were a prelude to la Cuaresma (lent).
More recently . . . . if you received a visit from a friend or relative on Three Kings' day, you are supposed to return the visit eight days later. Today most families choose this day to take off the Christmas decorations and "officially" end Christmas.
These were new traditions adopted by me and I still practice them today. My non hispanic neighbors call it me being lazy in taking down my decorations LOL , but they have gotten a quick lesson on it.And humor me and my family.
But do not forget to make your resolutions for the NEW YEAR! 2014 will be an awesome year I feel it the air.
While being raised in NYC , we celebrated always what was Santa Claus , but being Hispanic we celebrated Three Wise Men (Los Reyes Magos) as a second round of gift giving. We would have water and hay or grass in a shoe box and place this under neath our beds . In the morning we would wake to a gift , symbolizng the same that was performed on this day of JAN 6 to our baby Jesus.
I happened to be a lucky kid on my block since it also happened to be my birthday. So I would get a party plus more than one gift!! But then the next day we were off to school. This all changed once I moved back to Puerto Rico at the age of 28.
Las Octavitas! What the heck?! Well these eight days of merriment continues for 8 days after the JAN 6 celebration. More parties and more gift giving or those missed in the previous ones here was the opportunity to still get some holiday gifts. Singing , trullas (caroling) , food and just plain old family/friend fun.
I had to Learn a new holiday tradition: Just an FYI I wish to share with you
Víspera de Reyes is the eve of El Día de Reyes (January 5th). Traditional Catholics meet to pray the rosary and to honor the three Wise Men (saints in the Catholic faith). The children get ready to receive gifts from the three Wise Men by collecting freshly cut grass to put in a shoe box for the Wise Men's camels to eat.
Día de Reyes is on January 6th. This is much like Christmas on the mainland. Children wake up much too early to check out what Baltazar, Melchor, and Gaspar left them. Family and friends gather to celebrate.
January 6th - Saint Gaspar's Day of Feast
January 7th - Saint Melchor's Day of Feast
January 8th - Saint Baltazar's Day of Feast
Octavas and Octavitas - on January 9th (after the last of the Kings days) and last for eight days. Originally these were more religious in nature and were used to glorify the Reyes and the Christ child. Coplas were dedicated to the magi. Copa: "Se fueron los Reyes con mucha alegría, vienen las octavas - Dios nos de salud para celebrarlas." Octavitas began right after the Octavas and were eight more days of continued adoration. These were a prelude to la Cuaresma (lent).
More recently . . . . if you received a visit from a friend or relative on Three Kings' day, you are supposed to return the visit eight days later. Today most families choose this day to take off the Christmas decorations and "officially" end Christmas.
These were new traditions adopted by me and I still practice them today. My non hispanic neighbors call it me being lazy in taking down my decorations LOL , but they have gotten a quick lesson on it.And humor me and my family.
But do not forget to make your resolutions for the NEW YEAR! 2014 will be an awesome year I feel it the air.
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