Brazil Beach Culture

I got back from Brazil about a week ago and am still attempting catching up on work, school work, and sleep. I finally got a chance to go through all my pictures and to start rehashing all of my great vacation memories. Most of my favorite times were spent at and near the beach. Rio de Janeiro is a beautiful location, rich with colors and culture. There are so many different neighborhoods to explore and white sand beaches to relax on after a long day of sight seeing- it is truly wonderful city.

One of my favorite days was exploring the Santa Teresa and Lapa neighborhoods located north of where we were staying at Ipanema Beach. It was about a 20 minute taxi ride but definitely worth the fare! First we went to the Lapa stairs, which were a unique wonderful piece of art.

Next we attended a concert surrounded by food and beverage carts. The concert was was in support of less energy and water use, so all electricity was turned off for an hour. We got great hotdogs, tall cans, and caipirinhas! One of my favorite things was all the topping to put on your hot dog. First they are served in bags and you can put everything from peas and corn to tiny hardboiled quail eggs on them. A famous samba band that plays in Carnival played and it was really fun dancing around with everyone.

Ipanema Beach was also a beautiful there were small "watering holes" located along the beach, along with various "work-out stations", and a run/biking located adjacent to the wide side walk. On Sundays they close down one of the sides of the street so that that masses of people can walk freely. There are bands, food carts, and a lot of people having a great time. We got some beautiful sunset pictures.

The last few days of our trip we went to Caioba which is an hour away from Curitiba, where our friend Suellen is from. The beach reminded of what Mexico in the 70's would have looked like. It was completely different from Rio and was deserted because of the time of year (mid-fall). The town was made up of old hotels and a few small restaurants and the water was really warm. I've come to the conclusion that an dip in the ocean is the perfect hangover cure :)

Chromeo

Now i am not an any way a music connoisseur, I am very lucky to have a sister, boyfriend, and friends that love finding new and concert worthy music. A few weeks ago we went to Oakland's Fox Theater to see the band Chromeo.

The theater is an amazing venue and we got a great spot right against the railing before the "mosh pit area. The music was really fun, but the lead singer was REALLY cocky which took away from my over all experience. The crowd really eclectic and we had quite a few characters around us. Overall it was a good experience and i've found some new songs to add to my workout mix!

Hello Lovers!

Hello Everyone! This is my first official blog post :) After a few of my friends started posting blogs (Octavia.Minor, Lovell Avenue, and BittandWhit) I was inspired to start sharing my experiences living, working, and pursuing my MBA in San Francisco. The purpose of my blog is to see how much I can do and experience while juggling a career, education, and social life (hopefully!).

The name of my blog came from Stevie Wonder's song that features my name. My mom said that she named me Cherie because she didnt want me to have any nicknames as she hated her nicknames growing up. Despite her best attempt I've had many nicknames throughout the years (my favorite being "Cherrizle" haha).

A few months ago I turned the big 2-5 and decided to celebrate with a Great Gatsby themed bash at Rosewood in North Beach. Rosewood is a great and affordable venue with specialty drinks and an outdoor patio so it was a perfect scene for my high class affair. I got a lot of the decorations from a Happy Birthday Sign to the flapper headband that I wore from Etsy. Octavia.Minor also helped a ton with creative ideas and made a really cute specialty drink sign. I went with a peacock motif and had lots of blue and green jewel tones. What really made the party special was everyone dressing up and really getting into the theme! The "photo booth" and props also made for some hilarious memories. All in all, it was a fabulous birthday :) and I felt so blessed to have so many great friends to celebrate with!