Halloween Controversial - The Blackface

Hello,

I really like Halloween. It's the one night a year I can put on something I wouldn't wear any other day of the year. It's the night I can be whatever I want to be. Either a slutty girl with some form of animal ears, an austronaut, a gypsy of whatever and it's fun. Until, some people ruin it for everyone.

Every year there is always a "controversial" costume. Remember Prince Harry with Nazi uniform or Chris Brrown's terrorist costume? This year who was "controversial" was Julianne Hough who dressed as "crazy eyes" from "Orange is the New Black"

It was not the character, or the costume itself that was "controversial", it was her makeup. Yes the "blackface" Back in the day (I'm talking at least 2 centuries ago) actors would paint their faces black to mock African Americans. So the blackface became offensive and racist.  

back in the day

I agree that mocking a race is completely wrong. But I'm sure Ms. Hough was only putting on a costume and to make the costume more complete she needed that makeup. She wasn't acting like the stereotypical African American. Yet she received so much hate for it.

If you want to make your costume as close to the character you put on a wig, you put on the right makeup, the right shoes, and even the contact lenses. That's the fun in Halloween transforming yourself into something you are not. If putting on the black face makeup is offensive then I assume also wearing an afro wig is racist as well. But apparently it isn't, because nobody makes a big deal out of the wig.

I'm my opinion, I don't think the blackface makeup is offensive. I might be a minority here. Because it's just makeup with a darker pigment on a person with a much lighter skintone. What makes it offensive is if you mock the race while you have that makeup on. People immediately jump to the conclusion this person is mocking the race when in reality they are just something that complements their costume.   

While some costumes are really tasteless and offensive like the girl on with the Boston marathon costume and the guys dressed as Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. Really words can't even describe how stupid those costumes are. These costumes are actually offensive to the family's victims.  No tragedy should be made into a costume.

Not just blackface seems to be offensive. Native Americans think it's offensive to wear native american costumes for halloween. They don't want you to wear their culture just for fun. Yet we don't see much articles from media outlets deeming the costume as offensive. You put on the costume and only the Native American community finds it offensive. 

You can find chinese food take out costumes and geisha costumes and Chinese and Japanese people don't like it. They would find it offensive is you start saying that ching chong kuang nonsense.  Yet again no articles of how racist these costume is.

I'm Mexican, and I don't like you wearing day of the dead makeup. Because you probably don't even know what it means for my culture. I don't like it when you put on the sombrero and zarape and if you pretend to ride a donkey while you are holding a bottle of tequila. Because these are false stereotypes of my culture. Do I find it offensive? Maybe, but I'm tolerant and I'm ok with you wearing it as long as you don't mock my culture and my people.

Mexican stereotype

What my point is, no matter what you dress up as you always seem to piss off someone. You can't simply make everyone happy.  Even Walt Disney would be offended if he saw the Mickeys Mitress Mouse costume. Because Minnie is not a mistress. She is Mickey's girlfriend for God's sake!

But hey it's 2013, by now people should be able to tell apart mockery and racism from a costume. Seriously just move on.

Prepping for Fall+ Halloween

Hello lovelies!

I know I've had my blog a little abandoned, but it's been 2 months since I don't have a computer. I have only been able to use my Dad's computer, boyfriend's or my job's computer when I have a chance. Thus it's quite difficult to blog. So I guess today I will show you a few things I've bought.

I bought the black ballerina flats I've been wanting for a while. They look so chic, I have gotten complements on them. They really look like pointe shoes! The only thing I don't like so much is that they don't have a lot of cushion, so I can't really use them to go out on a long walk.

Lately I've been having a love and hate relationship with Forever21, more of hate to be honest. It used to be my one stop shop because I could always find something pretty there. But lately I hate their stuff. It's like their clothes are for a female version of G-Dragon. You know, lots of black, with studs, spikes, bright colors, the "SWAG" and "West Coast" shirts. Not really something I like to wear myself.

I did find a few things online though, but I had to dig through the website.

I found this pullover for only $10. I like the bows in the back.

Also found this overall dress. I see this kind of dress is really popular in the Japanese magazines this fall. Apparently black and white is big for this season.

Also on found this jewellery box for only $5. It's super bad quality though. It's very fragile, and who ever painted it did a not so good job.

I'm really liking the preppy look right now. I think it looks more mature, classy but still has a bit of cuteness. I'm especially liking outfits like this.

I had not realized this, but Halloween is only a few days ago, and I have not bought my costume.
I decided I'm going to be Marie Antoinette. Since watching the movie  I had been wanting to dress up as Marie Antoinette for a while, but for some reason I never bought the costume.

Kirsten Dunst in "Marie Antoinette"

 So looking online I found this website Trashy. They have the most gorgeous costumes ever!

Like can I wear this everyday? Too bad they are around $300 each.

I've also been thinking if I should buy the white wig because it really completes the costume. I'm even considering the "hair ship" like Kirsten Dunst had in the movie.

It's really over the top, but that's what Marie Antoinette was all about!

Xo
Monica

Cancun Part 4 (picture heavy)

Hello lovelies!

For part 1, 2, and 3.

For our fourth day we also booked a tour with the same company, and after two and a half hours we arrived at our destination. We went to "Xel-ha". This tour was a little more expensive, I think around $107 each, but it included roundtrip transportation, entrance to Xel Ha, and all you can eat and drink in the park, inluding alcohol.

Xel-ha means spring water in mayan language. The place is an ecopark, which I would describe it as a mix of Seaworld and a waterpark, but natural. You can snorkel, dive from a cliff, there are zip lines, there is also a cenote on site, ride bikes in the jungle, etc, and everything is included!

Click to Enlarge!

First thing we did when we arrived we breakfast, and this was the view of the restaurant.

Everywhere you look is beyond beautiful.

I got so dark while in Cancun, the good thing is that I don't get red like tomato, I just get a tan.

After having breakfast we went to get our lockers and snorkel equipment to well do some snorkeling. The waters are crystal clear. Also it was my first time snorkeling... I know, I'm such a loser.

I regret not taking many pictures. My waterproof camera uses AA batteries, and I had 2 extra spares with me, and I charged them before leaving but when I put them on the camera the camera wouldn't turn on. I had to buy oldschool alkaline batteries and was I afraid of using the camera too much because it would drain the batteries out.

We could've spent the entire day snorkeling here there are so many colorful fishes.

After we finished snorkeling we took pictures on this ginormous chair and life jacket. The view to the Caribbean ocean is just ♥__________♥

I don't know were did the time go because after this we went back to drop off our snorkeling equipment, and then to the box office to purchase tickets for an optional activity. We walked around a little bit, ate a bit, and rest a bit.

Carbing up

So our optional activity was to.... swim with dolphins. The dolphins are just so ahfhjdsuh cute! The only thing that sucks is that it's freaking expensive $80 dlls to swim for 30 minutes. Also you can't even take your own pictures, but they take pictures for you and sell each at $30 wtf!!! my boyfriend bought all the pictures 37 of them  in a CD for $100 ¬_¬

The dolphin swim took up most of our afternoon because they take you to a room, show a video, give instructions, wait until the dolphins are ready, then everyone takes the photos, and then they sell you the pictures. We just had enough time left to shower and eat until they picked up up.

Sadly the day came to an end.  I loved the place. It got cloudy by the end of the day, there was a storm coming, so the water was not as turquoise as it was in the morning.

Once they dropped us off at the hotel we went to a little mall to buy souvenirs for the parents. Then we went clubbing. The biggest club there is "Coco Bongo" but my boyfriend didn't want to go there because it's a copy of Las Vegas clubbing scene. You know they have shows and impersonators, that week they had a Michael Jackson impersonator. So we went to the Mandala club instead. The night we arrived this place was packed, but since we went on a Tuesday night it's was rather empty.

Like in all the clubs in Cancun, it's open bar, and can you believe they close until 5 AM!?!?! It's crazy, we left until 4. I had never stayed that late partying.

Xo

Monica

OOTD Pastels for Fall

Sponsored Post

Hello lovelies!

Now that is fall (at least in the northern hemisphere)  you know what it means.  It's colder out there and  therefore you need some cozy clothes in your wardrobe. One of my most favorite fall staples are cable knit sweaters. Why? because they go well with everything. You can dress them up and down.

Most of the times they come in fall colors like burgundy, olive, navy, etc. But the guys from Oasap have this adorable violet sweater.

You can get the sweater here. It's also available in beige and orange and it's only $30.

Close up of the bows

I love that the sweater is not too thick and warm because it means I can also use it during spring, which will be so appropriate for that season. 

I put together a pastel-esque outfit with warmer clothes for a more chilly weather.

Sweater: Oasap

Shorts: Liz Lisa

Socks: I can't remember

Shoes: LC Lauren Conrad

My mom said she likes the sweater  and it's rare to come across a lovely lavender sweater. It's so true! I always have so much trouble finding lavender clothes, I'm so thankful to Oasap for sending me an incredibly lovely sweater.

If you want to buy the sweater hurry! Oasap is having a 20% off sale if you use the code climax-oasap at checkout, and as usual they offer free shipping on all their orders!

Xo
Monica

Cancun Part 3 (Picture Heavy)

Hello lovelies!

For Part 1 here.
For Part 2 here.

So for our third day in Cancun we went on a tour. We booked our tour through a company called "Experiencias Xcaret" The tour we picked is called "Xichen Classico" and costs $77 USD per person. If you ask me it's a good deal because it includes round trip transportation, food, water,  the entrance to the attractions and you are always with a guide.

We had to wake up at 5 am because they told us we were going to be picked up at our hotel at 7am. Sure they were there at 7am sharp. They took roll and and handed out bracelets, then we went to pick up other people on the neighboring hotels. It only took like 30 minutes to fill up the bus. Then we were taken to a transfer center. Once there we went into our respective buses.

The Transfer Center

The buses were really nice, they had a bathroom, seats were comfy, they had AC, TV, drape curtains and most importantly they were uber clean. Our destination was 2 hours away and in the neighboring state of Yucatan, and our tour guy let us sleep almost the entire way. There was nothing really interesting in our way.

The first stop was the "Ik Kil Cenote". Most people don't know what cenotes are so here  is a brief explanation. They are sinkholes, but since Yucatan is very tropical, when the ground collapsed the water underneath the ground was exposed, and since it rains all the time they are filled with water all the time. So they are like natural pools, and you can only find them in the Yucatan peninsula. Some cenotes were sacred to the Mayans, they used them to throw offerings, including human sacrifices, and were burial places for royalty.

The cenote is inside a Mayan community, we met modern Mayan people, and they took our picture. Since the water in the cenote is sweet and cold it's difficult to float in. I'm not a good swimmer so I rented a sexy life jacket.

The place is just heavenly.

At the top there are some birds nests, and the birds fly around the cenote and they sing. The things hanging from the top are roots from the trees and they go all the way down to the water. There are some little waterfalls, and black cat fishes in the water. Seriously my photos don't make the place justice, it's 1000 times prettier in real life. It's a little dark and the flash ruins the pictures.

There was a cliff you could jump off, but since I'm still not recovered, I didn't do it, but I photographed a complete stranger jumping off.

They told us we had 2 hours to swim and eat, we lost track of time and after we changed into our clothes we only had 15 minutes to eat. We ran to the restaurant onsite and ate as fast as we could.

The Restaurant

We made it to our bus on time. There we met again with the mayan people that took our photo and they had printed it and put it on a bottle of Xtabetun.

Xtabentun, otherwise known as Mayan liquor is a liquor made out of anise, honey and rum. It's was so deliciously sweet, and since we liked the photo my boyfriend bought the bottle. I so regret not buying a bottle for myself because I've looked for Xtabentun over here and I can't find it.

Then the bus drove around 20 minutes, and the 2nd stop was the Chichen Itza Archeological Site. Our tour guide showed us things we can buy there like this stone massage and this statue made our of some stone that is black but when the light hits it reveals gold specks.

My face melting off at 94 F.

Chichen Itza is one of the 7 New Wonders of the World. It was a Mayan city, the main structure is the Pyramid of Kukulcan.

Pyramid of Kukulcan

The Mayans were so smart, they were the first civilization that invented the "0" and the pyramid is very symbolic. Like it has four sides, representing each season, each corner points to each cardinal point. All the steps add to 365 which represent the days in the calendar. Then on the spring equinox the pyramid casts a shadow that looks like a serpent crawling down the pyramid. The serpent is called "The Feathered Serpent" is their god Kukulcan, hence the name of the Pyramid. Representing how the god Kukulcan came down from the underworld to bless their crops or something like that. The Mayans believed the Quetzal (a colorful bird from Guatamala) was sacred and if you stand in front of the pyramid and clap loud enough, the echo sounds like the quetzal.  Like I don't know how they thought of all of this and actually did it!

Our guide explained many things they don't teach you in school. But I wont tell you everything because that would be long and boring.

This was the Ball court game, only the noble and royal were allowed here. They told they played this game once every 52 years, and apparently the winning team was sacrificed as an offering to a god.

This is where the King used to watch the game.

The ball had to go through this hole

Here is where they performed all of the human sacrifices it's called the temple of 1000 columns. At the top you can see a tiny Chac Mool.

At the back of the pyramid you can see it has been damaged. Our tour guide told us that like 7 years ago a hurricane came close by destroyed that side of the pyramid.

See the damage on the stairs?

We saw a lot of lizards too

The temple on top of the pyramid

We didn't get to see the Cenote and the observatory. I really wanted to see them, but we were only given 30 minutes of free time to take pictures and shop for souvenirs.

I couldn't stop laughing when I took this picture of my boyfriend. At first he didn't get, but the thing is you see the sky? it's all nice expect for that grey cloud right above him. I told him it looked like he was doing some kind of ritual to invoke rain. So I also asked him to take my picture.

We went back to the bus and they took us to our third and last stop.

sweating like sinners in church

The last stop was to a tiny town like 30 minutes away called "Valladolid" To be honest it was a waste of time. When I booked the tour they told me it only included the 2 stops at the cenote and Chichen Itza. But our tour guide took us here, we didn't get off the bus though, but  I would've preferred to stay longer at the ruins or the cenote than to come here.

There is nothing in the town but a cathedral that was built in the 1500's when the Spaniard came and conquered the Americas, they destroyed the Mayan temples and with the same stones they built this cathedral to convert the Mayans into Catholicism. That was all to look at the town.

I mean the town is very colonial, kind of pretty, but it's not worth a visit, at least in my opinion, because there are a town of cities in Mexico that look exactly like this.

I think we arrived at our hotel around 8, we took a shower and then we got ready for dinner.

Another elevator selfie

We went back to Carlos' 'n Charlie's, this time the kitchen was open. Yay!

This place is the bomb. They are a mix between a restaurant and a club. It's super loud inside.  The waiters go around the tables dancing, and make everyone dance, then back to eat, then dance a little more and so on. Really fun, but I didn't like the service too much because I noticed they were more attentive to the Caucasian customers, especially groups of females. I told my boyfriend next time we should play it dumb, and pretend we don't know Spanish to get the same "gringo" customer service

We had tacos and pescado borracho (drunken fish) for dinner. Accompanied by a margarita and Indio beer.

This will be it for part 3. Part 4 coming soon.

Xo
Monica