The Creative Mouse

8/31/2016 No comments

8/29/2016 2 comments

I always enjoy a day out visiting new places. This past weekend I ventured into Casa Bacardí in Cataño, Puerto Rico.

After driving there, which was a pleasurable experience, since the road is properly identified and there are many signs on the way, we bought the tickets for the Historical Tour at the pavilion (shaped like a bat). Much to my surprise, if you are a Puerto Rico resident, you get a huge discount! They also offer a Rum Tasting Tour and a Mixology Tour, which are more costly. All three are available in both english and spanish! After purchasing the tickets you are given a beeper so when it is time for your tour to start, you are notified. There is a new tour every fifteen minutes, so the waiting time is not bad at all. You can enjoy your Welcome Cocktail in the pavilion as you wait for your tour. The Historial Tour includes a commemorative Bacardí cup, a Bacardí special “Welcome” cocktail, and brochure of recipes with different drinks made with the rum. For the "Welcome" Cocktail you can pick one out of the three choices offered, which are a Cuba Libre, Daiquiri, and the Tropical Sunrise.

Once your tour starts, you are taken on a train to the Visitor Center where the tour guide starts talking and answers any questions you might have. The Center is an interactive (and fun for ALL ages) museum, where, in some parts you can take pictures and videos as you learn about the rum's history. Mostly, it is a replica of the first Bacardí in Santiago de Cuba. There is also an eight-minute-long film included and at the end of the tour you are led into their Shop. The entire tour has all the essential elements for a fun time. Finally, all employees made us feel very welcomed.

If you have not visited Casa Bacardí yet, I highly recommend you do! For more information, click here. Where are you planning on visiting next?

Siempre he disfrutado de visitar algún lugar nuevo. Este pasado fin de semana visité la Casa Bacardí en Cataño, Puerto Rico.

Luego de guiar hacia el lugar, la cual fue una experiencia agradable, ya que la carretera está debidamente rotulada con varios letreros, compré los boletos para el "Historical Tour" en el pabellón (que tiene forma de murciélago). Para mi sorpresa, si eres residente de Puerto Rico te dan tremendo descuento! También ofrecen el "Rum Tasting Tour" y el "Mixology Tour", pero a un mayor costo. Todos estos son ofrecidos en inglés o español. Luego de comprar los boletos le hacen entrega de un localizador o "beeper" que le notifica el comienzo de su recorrida. Estos comienzan cada quince minutos, lo cual hace la espera sea corta y agradable. Puede disfrutar de su coctel de bienvenida en el pabellón mientras espera. Le dan a escoger entre tres opciones que incluyen Cuba Libre, Daiquiri o "Tropical Sunrise". Una vez comienza el recorrido, eres llevado en un tren hacia el centro de visitantes donde el/la guía le va hablando, explicando y contestando cualquier pregunta. El centro es un museo muy interactivo (y divertido para todas las edades), donde, en algunas áreas le permiten retratar o grabar videos mientras aprendes sobre la historia de este ron. La mayoría consiste en réplicas del primer Bacardí en Santiago de Cuba. Además, hay una película de tan sólo ocho minutos de duración. Al final del recorrido eres llevado hacia la tienda. El recorrido tiene todos los elementos esenciales para un rato divertido. Finalmente, todos los empleados fueron muy atentos y acogedores.

Si no has visitado la Casa Bacardí, lo recomiendo! Para más información, oprima aquí. Qué lugar planificas visitar próximamente?

Bacardí Historical Tour

Must-See Places in Washington, D.C.

Must-See Places in New York City

Sunflower Field

Go Kayaking in Puerto Rico

- XO The Creative Mouse

8/22/2016 No comments

This DIY is all about creating summer memories. Bring back home a piece of the place you just visited and display it to remind you of the memories you made abroad.

1. First of all, you will need PATIENCE! Collecting enough samples to create this takes some time (and many trips to the beach!)

2. All you need to purchase is a crystal vase (similar).

3. Go to the beach! I always take a Ziplock bag with me and I label it with the name of the beach and the date.

4. Do not go back home without saving some sand in the bag to bring home at the end of the day.

5. Once you get home, let the sand dry by slightly opening the bag.

6. Clean the vase and pour whatever amount of sand you want to save from that trip.

7. Label the vase with a label machine or you can do as I did and print out the name of the beach and date visited and tape it to the vase. It is very important to do this ASAP, so you do not forget later on which beach it belongs to (like it happened to me).

8. Keep collecting more sand as you visit new beaches. You will see that even if you travel to another country, sometimes the sand samples are very alike.

9. Enjoy and relish the memories of your beach trips!

...
Este post se trata de crear recuerdos. Regresa a casa con un pedazo del lugar que acabas de visitar para que te sirva de recuerdo de todos los momentos especiales creados durante el viaje.

1. Primero que todo necesitarás PACIENCIA! Recolectar suficientes muestras para crear esto toma tiempo (y muchos viajes a la playa!)

2. Sólo necesitas comprar un envase de crystal (parecido).

3. Ve a la playa! Siempre llevo conmigo una bolsa Ziplock y le escribo el nombre de la playa y el día en que la visito.

4. Recuerda no regresar a casa sin guardar un poco de arena en la bolsa para traer de vuelta al final del día.

5. Una vez llegues a casa, abre un poco la bolsa para que se seque la arena.

6. Limpia el envase y échale cuanta arena quieras guardar.

7. Identifica el envase con una máquina de etiquetar o puedes hacer como yo e imprimir el nombre de la playa y la fecha en que la visitaste y luego pegarlo al envase con cinta adhesiva. Es importante hacer este paso lo más pronto posible, para que luego no se te olvide de dónde fue tomada la muestra de arena (como me pasó a mi).

8. Sigue recolectando más arena según visites más playas. Verás que algunas playas tienen arena similar aunque sean en otro país.

9. Disfruta y recuerda los momentos vividos en esos días de playa!

- XO The Creative Mouse

8/17/2016 No comments

8/15/2016 No comments

It is finally August! Recently, I was lucky enough to celebrate another birthday. As I was planning it, one thing stayed the same. I wanted to be with my closest friends, since my family would be far away. After much thought I decided to make it about a theme close to my heart and ended up making it a Music/Music Video-themed party. So, I wanted to share with you some of the things I created for the party.

1. I dressed up as my favorite pop star, Katy Perry in Roar. I got the Rubie's Costume Co Women's Katy Perry Roar Costume online at Amazon. I waited for the price to go down and purchased it when it was in the $20's, since it can get a little pricey, up to the $60's. I added some hair-clip orchids (similar) I pre-owned to the skirt and headpiece so they would match more Katy's look in the video, since the costume's flowers are not similar at all. I had my friend draw Katy's tattoos on me with black eyeliner and strapped some craft rope to my legs, since it is part of Katy's video look, but not a part of the costume.

photo from Just Jared

2. I made finger food sandwiches and arranged Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme and Hershey's Miniatures Assortment chocolates (it would not have been MY party without it) to look like a piano. I also made some mozzarella sticks, which I labeled as drumsticks to keep the whole music theme going. Of course, I served other things, but they were not so in sync with the theme.

3. I purchased some inflatable microphones (similar) and guitars (similar) at a local party shop, which my guests used as props during karaoke.

4. The most important part of a music/music video-themed party was, you guessed it, the music! As I already mentioned, we sang karaoke (you just have to type "karaoke" in YouTube) and danced. We even performed imitating the musicians we had dressed up as and made a short film!

5. I created a red carpet with red wrapping paper at the entrance so all my guests/music artists would be well received.

6. I cut out musical notes and vinyl discs from some stencils I drew on black cardboard and made the center of the discs by cutting out circles from construction paper. I tried keeping the color scheme as simple as possible, making it red, white, black, silver and gold, which were all colors that came to mind when I thought about music and celebrities.

7. I ordered a simple white cake - because I prefer a cake that tastes good rather than a cake that just looks good - and decorated it with musical note cake toppers made out of foam, which I also bought at the local party shop (similar).

I hope this post inspires you to plan out your next birthday party. It was not as time-consuming as it looks. In the end, it is all about taking some time off our busy lives to dedicate to just letting lose and having fun with our closest friends.

About me

Follow Us

Poshmark

Labels

Recent Posts

Blog Archive