Breakfast tacos rosenberg tx

So I know this is a very saturated subject but I looked thru the post history and can’t find any answers. My 3.5 year old has been a picky eater for a while but as of lately he’s been refusing any protein and basically only wants bread and some sort of carb. Husband and I have gotten into some arguments because he tells him to eat his food in an authoritative tone but it doesn’t change anything. What are guys doing with Picky eaters just letting them survive with minimal or crap food?
I recently bought him some kids protein drinks with vitamins and use a multivitamin as well but now it’s worse because he wants a shake to replace every meal. I don’t do snacks only 3 meals a day. Here’s how it usually goes down.
For breakfast I’ll do eggs, bacon(or sausage) he’ll only eat the toast and a yogurt. Did waffles with fruit today, ate it fine minus the fruit. Oatmeal and cereal will not even look at it. He’s fine with toast with almond buttejam
For lunches & dinners
Sandwiches-nope
Soups-nope
Mac&cheese- nope
Anything with cheese-nope
Will eat pizza but with the cheese removed ( so just bread and sauce)
Hotdogs yes ( we did them on Memorial Day) but I don’t want this to be a regular food.
Quesadilla-nope
Tacos-nope
Chicken/ veggies/ French fries- eats only the French fries
Steak/salmon/tuna/turkey-nope
Spaghetti/lasagna-nope
Todays offender, I made ground meat with veggies and mash potatoes. I know he won’t eat the veggies but I figured the meat and mash ( it’s always been a go to meal for him) well he refused the meat. He’s only had today,waffles, pizza (no cheese) and now mash potatoes so my husband lost it. How would guys handle this? Will he grow out of it? I’ll note he’s not skinny at all but all the opposite I don’t want him to be overweight and unhealthy because of all the carbs.

We recently purchased a small lodging establishment and had to have a small grease intercept (25gpm/50lb) installed in breakfast preparing area which serves precooked (we do not have any cooking facility on site) breakfast for three hours in morning in buffet style. All items arrived precooked from vendors, and we just put them in warmer to bring them to required temperature.
The town's water department requires grease trap to be installed since we are serving food. Based on formula provided by them the size of grease trap was determined to be 50lb (25GPM), and the size was approved by the water department.
The licensed plumber we hired has it installed above ground, as he says he has done similar setups earlier in neighboring Fort Worth, TX. (Pictures attached here).
However, city (of Benbrook TX) inspector says that the grease trap can only be installed underground. The inspector is asking plumber to follow IPC 2018. The plumber says he has installed many such setups in neighboring Fort Worth area and never had issues. On the other hand, the city (Benbrook TX) inspector is referring to guideline meant for grease interceptors which are minimum 1000 lb and should be underground.
However ours is only 50lb. Because of this we are at an impasse. We had called many plumbers in the area, but everyone said they do not do grease traps. The licensed plumber we hired is the only one who even said they installed grease traps. Since we have no other reference from any other plumber who even does this kind of job, we are at a stalemate which we do not see a way out.
The building was built back in 2007, and the room where the grease trap needs to be installed is at the front of the building. Trying to put a 50lb grease trap under the floor, and then running drain lines towards the back of building to join into drainage seems a lot of work considering building already exists, and to make the setup work as per city requirement significant work has to be carried out. We need advice of experienced people here to see if there is even any provision in IPC 2018 for the setup that has been done. Or what changes would be required to current setup to where the city inspector can be convinced that the required code has met. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Shocked to have been driving around and saw they are still in business after 34 years.
Subs are $7, crispy tacos are $1.75, and those big breakfast tacos of theirs are $3ish
Seriously, congrats to them for standing thru all the ups and downs
Oh and the carne guisada plate still hits the spot. Especially for $5.75

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I was just having my breakfast and I just remembered the dream I had last night. I was in a city ( it kindof looked like Lima Peru ) and I don't remember exactly how I found out it was a lucid dream, all I remember was lucid dreaming. I remember trying some things, I was trying to fly at one point, and I also remember trying to jump super duper high, I did it and it felt awsome!! The funny part is one time I remember I really wanted to spawn a taco bell behind me and I did, IT WAS FREAKING AWSOMEE HAHAHA! I know it's just a taco bell but I was exited that I even spawneed it lol. Although there was no one at the desk so I coudnt order anything unfortunately. The last thing I remember was walking through the city just admiring the scenery, I don't know why I didn't try to talk to anyone in the dream but I'll definetly try to do that next time. The thing is I remember saying last night I don't want to lucid dream because I don't want anything scary to happen, but nothing bad happened afterall. Anyways that experience was so awsome, I'd love to try it again, oh and thank you guys for all the advice on LucidDreaming :)

Introduction: Mexico City has been a recent interest of mine ever since the YouTube algorithm started recommending me videos on this mega city. Like most Americans, I was ignorant and incorrectly under the assumption that Mexico City was sketchy and had nothing to offer for travelers other than poverty tourism. However, after watching YouTube videos and reading more about this city, I quickly learned that Mexico City, and Mexico in general, has a very rich culture and history. It also is the biggest city in the Western Hemisphere. I was locked in this point to explore this city so close to home.Booking this trip was very random, I originally booked a vacation to go to EDC Vegas with friends (insanely fun time btw) but I wanted to extend my PTO for the rest of the week after because I was already taking a day off to rest and had the Friday off for MDW.
After exploring other options in the US like possibly other areas in the south west like Utah or Arizona I quickly realized how expensive this would be. Vegas has great prices on flights so I wanted to take advantage of that and go somewhere international, due to my recent interest with Mexico City and how it isn’t too expensive, it just made sense. I booked the flight and hotel instantly so I wouldn’t think too much about it.
I invited some other friends at first and received some maybes, ultimately I knew that this would end up being a solo trip. I have some experience with solo trips, my first one was Hiroshima while I was studying abroad in Tokyo, that trip gave me my first powerful global experience that has ultimately became my goal when i travel now. I also did Denver last summer to see a red rocks show ( stayed in a hostel which ended up being the same price as a decent hotel in CDMX 🤣). I didn’t have much of a structured plan for this trip except to see the historic district and maybe teohiucan if it wasn’t too difficult to get there.
Logistics: I stayed in a Roma Norte hotel from Tuesday Night - Sunday Morning.
Interests: architecture, food, electronic music, nature, history
Day 1: Arrival
I arrived into CDMX around 1045pm via Volaris. The Volaris experience sucks, honestly worse than Spirit lol. For about an hour we were sitting on the runway not moving without AC in the Vegas heat. Apparently this is due to them not having runway rights? Not sure about this but that’s what some googling told me.
For some reason I exchanged usd for pesos at the cash exchange counters instead of using an atm to take out pesos. Not sure why I did because I have travelled internationally and know that ATMs are usually the best options. Whatever, I just took the L there. I called an Uber to my hotel after rejecting many taxi drivers.
I arrived to my hotel hungry and looked for open places to eat that were close to the hotel. I did not want to walk too far as I heard that night time gets sketchy. I ended up finding a taco place right across the street from my hotel so I went there. The place was called Taquería LOS HUARACHINES (ROMA). Ordering was a bit tough due to the language barrier but I got 2 Al pastor tacos, a plate of carne asada with about 5 tortilla, and a Coca Cola. This was an amazing meal and exactly what I wanted. The Al pastor was incredibly juicy and probably were the best tacos I had in my life at this point. I’m currently based in Texas so I’ve had real tacos before but these were just something else. I walked back to my hotel and quickly went to bed.
Day 2: Roma Norte & La Condesa
I had no official plans for this day. I was still tired from EDC Vegas so I woke up pretty late and didn’t get out of the hotel until around 1130-12. Once I did get out, I originally just planned to walk around neighborhood and see what piqued my interest. I started with a coffee. I got an iced coffee as it was hot out, I don’t think iced coffee is a thing anywhere else besides the US so this was also a little harder to order due to language barrier. Luckily someone spoke English at the counter and helped me order.
I began to walk north, I stopped at plaza rio de janiero to smoke a cigarette (I’m not a regular smoker except on vacation and when I go to raves lol). Very cool spot. My first impression of the Roma Norte neighborhood was that it was a nicer, greener, cleaner version of nyc with a European flair.
Next, I ended up at I believe Zona Rosa? It was a pedestrian only area with a lot of shops and restaurants. I stopped in a few shops maybe looking to buy sunglasses or a shirt but ultimately did not. I continued my walk.
I saw there was some sort of park near me called Bosque de Chapultec. I decided that would be my next destination to walk to. I passed the el Angel de la indepencia which was very impressive. I finally got to the park and was wowed by how nice it was. I didn’t know it was such a big destination until I got there and saw there a bunch of museos and vendors set up. I bought a pair of sunglasses as it was bright out and walked around a bit to take it in. Finally, I decided to check out a museum. I chose Museo de Arte Moderno as I wanted to see some art. I much prefer modern art over traditional art too. I really liked this museum and connected with a lot more paintings that I thought I would. About of 1/4 of the way through I realized can use Google translate to read the descriptions for some of the paintings. I wish I took down the artists who created some of these paintings but I think I can find the artists again if I really wanted to.
I went outside to the sculpture garden and this was a little underwhelming tbh. I was also getting hangry so I went through it quick. I decided to get lunch at Los Pancheros as it was nearby and the Google reviews seemed good. I ordered Plato rachero & caldo xochitl. HUGE portions and incredibly good. I really liked the soup though, it was some sort of chicken and rice soup. It took a little bit for the check to come but it finally did and I paid and left.
I ate way too much and I had to lay down somewhere so I went back to the park and found a nice place to lay where other people were. It was some sort of fountain that I can’t find on Google maps but even though it wasn’t exactly “grand” it was very chill and everyone there just seemed relaxed lol. I laid there for about 20-30 mins until I was ready to go again. I saw on Google maps that there was a castle in the park!? I really wanted to see that. I decided to walk in that direction and also passed Lago de Chapultec. Wow that was beautiful, I wish I took my rest time there lol.
I finally got to the castle entrance but they weren’t letting people in anymore as it was too late, damn. I should’ve paid more attention to the times, I didn’t realize all the museums closed at 5. I decided to finish up my park experience and Uber to the historic center just to check it out. However Ubers were very hard to get at this time as it was rush hour and traffic was insane outside the park. I had multiple people cancel on me, I also canceled on someone after seeing how long it would take to pick me up and drop me off to the historic center. I eventually decided just to walk back. It was about an hour walk back so I had to tough it out.
Not much happened on this walk, just continued to take in the city. Stopped at glorieta de Los insugentes to take a break and smoke a cigarette. I felt a little sketched out here due to all the people constantly moving. I was a bit worried about being pick pocketed but I think it was just the tiredness making me anxious. I got out of there relatively quick and made it back to my hotel to rest before dinner.
At this point I decided I wanted to go to teohiucan the next day. I explored my options for getting there and eventually just decided on Uber because I don’t really like being in a group when going to tourist sites as I’m a bit “quirky” and like to take weird routes and repeat some areas a few times I also keep an inconsistent pace so that made the group experience out of the question. I could’ve taken the bus but did not want to deal with the stress that public transit can be in a foreign country lol. For dinner, I made a reservation at the sushi place Makoto as I wanted something other than Mexican food. Fabulous place, I ordered a glass of wine, sushi sampler, and the fatty tuna nigiri.
Day 2: Teohiucan
I woke up somewhat early for this day. I ordered an Uber and was off. It was really interesting to see Mexico City outside the nicer neighborhoods. I think this is what most Americans imagine when they hear Mexico City. It looked like the COD MW2 map Favela. I wondered what life was like in this area of Mexico City. I even saw a ski lift in use to bring people up the mountain to their house maybe?
I got dropped off at Teohiucan and entered in. I skipped breakfast because I assumed they would have something there. I was half right, they had some convenient stores. I just bought a pack of crackers and a electrolit and hoped that would get me through the whole time I was there lol.I walked around all the pyramids, I was hoping to climb them but I saw they were closed for climbing, honestly a good thing, I imagine they were getting a lot of wear and tear from that. I feel like these pyramids are underrated in terms of world wonders. They’re pretty big and the city itself was apparently one of the biggest cities in the world at the time.
My favorite part about this visit was this path that you can take that allowed you to walk on the outside of the main path. It was super peaceful and you got to see the pyramids at different angles with no people around. In terms of my favorite structure, I liked the citadel a lot due to the intricate designs on it. Some random things I liked there were the jardin and the things the vendors were selling that made the animal noises 😂 I thought it was hilarious how everyone was basically spamming it in chat. I should’ve bought one looking back
I was a little anxious about getting an Uber back but I got one relatively quick and got back to my hotel. When I got back I was very hungry and I found this place near my hotel with a deal that gave 5 al pastor tacos and a cervesa for $100 pesos. Amazing deal but then I saw the al pastor looked like it was dry and has been out for awhile. Unfortunately i felt too awkward to leave after sitting, a mistake that I learned from later if you keep reading. However the tacos were still decent. I was still pretty hungry and found a street vendor selling hamburgers, I ordered con queso and it was insanely good. I ate it in a park and then got some churros from Churrería El Moro which were also good.Again I was way too full and had to lie down. I went back to my hotel and took a nap.
When I woke up I was still full but I started experiencing the first signs of montezumas revenge. However it didn’t seem that bad and I wanted to go out for a rooftop drink. I went to Supra Roma. Great vibe. I had to stand by the bar the whole time due to not having reservations but the views were fantastic and the dj was decent too. She was playing house music. I definitely want to bring my friends here if they ever want to come to cdmx. I had 1 cocktail and 2 beers there. Was thinking about talking to people there but mostly everyone was speaking Spanish so I decided not to.
I left and was gonna call it an early night but heard some more house music being played across the street at departmento. I decided why not and paid the cover to check it out. It was ok. Dj was decent but the vibe seemed kind of “basic” other than the music. Nothing too unique about this place, just a terrace playing music with young people hanging out. I had 2 drinks and left and got a torta. I made it back to my hotel around 12am and this when things started to go south unfortunately. Montezumas revenge came back and this time even stronger than earlier. The alcohol definitely did not help. It quickly kept getting worse in terms of cramping and the ability to not go to the bathroom for more than 20 mins. I think it was the Al pastor tacos from earlier today. I did not get much sleep this night and was basically in survival mode lol luckily I had some water bottles to stay hydrated but I knew I would have to venture out to get more eventually. I basically spent the whole night on the toilet or curled up in pain.
Day 3: Recovery
I was hoping I’d feel feel better in the morning and I was somewhat correct. After 12 hours I could walk again although it was definitely difficult. I managed to make it to a farmacia where the pharmacist recommended me treda. I got that and more water + electrolit. It was around 1pm so I sat outside and drank my electrolit to see if I strong enough to do some sort of activity. After about 20 mins of sitting outside I decided I definitely could not and decided to just take the L for today so I could be full strength for tomorrow. I took my treda and was able to get some rest. When I woke up I was still feeling montezumas revenge a little bit but I knew I had to eat something. I ended up using Uber eats to get consomé de pollo from this place called Toks. It seemed like a safe option as it looked like a chain and I assumed chains usually have somewhat good hygiene standards. It ended up being way better than expected and I managed to put down most of it.
After eating, I took a walk to get more electrolit. I was still a little weak so I just went back to the hotel and went to bed. I was a bit bummed I lost a day but anytime you’re in a 3rd world country you should budget a day for stomach issues.
Day 4: Castillo De Chapultepec & Historic Center
I woke up feeling a lot better. It was actually crazy as 24 hours ago I couldn’t even walk straight. I took my treda and headed out. I was debating on if I should go back Chapultepec park to see the castle or if it would take too much time as I was planning to go to the historic center today. I decided to see the castle as I was thinking about it too much to skip it.
I took an Uber there this time and paid the admission. It was definitely worth it. The castle was so beautiful and there was so much history inside. I learned a lot about Mexican history and was able to take in some nice views of the city. My favorite part were the murals inside and the jardin. After, I walked to 7/11 to get more electrolit. I also got pringles as I was hungry but my stomach was still a little rough. From there I ubered to the historic center.
When I got to the historic center I was instantly overstimulated lol. It was a Saturday afternoon so it must’ve been the most popular day. It was a lot bigger than expected too. I didn’t really know where to start so I just started walking. My first stop was actually the adidas store as I needed to get my bearings and am a fan of adidas lol unfortunately there wasn’t much in there though that seemed exclusive. I know in Tokyo they’ll have exclusive stuff but didn’t see anything like that in Mexico City, bit disappointed but otherwise it provided a place for me to take a breath. I got out and started walking towards zocalo plaza.
Zocalo Plaza was just epic. The big Mexican flag with the cathedral behind it had so much swag for lack of a better term lmao it showed off the immense pride that Mexico has for itself. I really liked this area a lot.
I continued walking and ended up at these streets with vendors. This was even more overstimulating than the other areas. So much noise and people. I stopped in a store and got a can coke and kept on trucking along.
I decided to go to palacio de bella artes. I really liked palacio de bella artes as well. The architecture and colors were stunning. The Torre Latinoamericana building was also interesting. I decided to check out the museum inside palacio de Bella artes. At first i thought it was a bit underwhelming. I was not too big of a fan of the murals and it seemed like some areas were closed. I then came across the Dioses y Maquinas exhibit by Santiago Sierra Soler. This exhibit was an “immersive cinema installation” that told the story of the aztecs getting colonized by Spaniards. It was very powerful and really made me understand some of the politics of Mexico. Also globalism in general and how colonization impacted the world. It gave me that powerful global experience that I mentioned before. I think everyone who visits cdmx should experience this exhibit to really wrap your head around the politics of the country and how it became what it is today. When I walked out I began to see the two sides of Mexico, the native side and european side and how they interact with each other.
That exhibit made me want to learn about the Aztecs more so I ended up going to museo del templo mayor. This place was also impressive with countless exhibits about the Aztecs. It’s insane to me how there was an ancient city right under us. By the time I was done there I was getting hungry so ironically I got McDonald’s as my stomach needed something familiar. I got it to go and ate it near the palacio de bella artes. I wanted to go the sears rooftop after but couldn’t find the entrance so I just walked around the surrounding neighborhood. This part reminded me a lot of Manhattan.
I walked through the Barrio Chino and thought it was hilarious tbh. I did not see any Asian people and there wasn’t much Asian culture other than the lanterns i guess lol the restaurants also did not look too good. Cool experience nonetheless.
I ended my walk at a plaza San juan to call an Uber as it was about to start raining. I found the torre de telefons de Telmex structure also super interesting. I made it home and rested before dinner.
For dinner I went to this Argentinan steak house called Gardela. A bit risky after my stomach issues but I wanted to get a nice dinner on my last night. I got a dry aged New York strip and it did not disappoint. I ordered it medium rare but it was a bit more rare than expected. I ate it anyway and was wowed. One of the best steaks I’ve ever had. Amazing service too, can’t recommend this place enough if you want a good steak.
When I got back to my hotel I was having an internal debate if I should go out. I had an early flight and was already pretty tired and full. I decided to go out anyway as it was Saturday night and didn’t get to do anything the day before. I ended up at this techno club called yuyu. Pretty intimate spot. The techno was very good and creative. The crowd was also fun, I had a few shallow conversations with people but nothing deep. Mostly my fault though as I wasn’t making much conversation. I just drank beer, smoked cigarettes, and listened to good electronic music which is a solid night for me. I headed home around 2 and went to bed for my flight.
Closing remarks:I really enjoyed my time in Mexico City. Im not sure what my expectations were for the city but they were definitely exceeded. Definitely an underrated city as there is so much culture and history but I never here much people talk about it in the states. I will definitely be back as I feel like there’s still so much to discover and it was pretty cheap to get there and get lodging.
Not gonna lie though, I was bit nervous going solo here but once I got there most of the anxiety went away. In terms of safety, just be where you’re supposed to be (tourist areas & safe neighborhoods), keep your possessions zipped up, and don’t walk at night. I felt more sketched out in most US cities

Introduction: Mexico City has been a recent interest of mine ever since the YouTube algorithm started recommending me videos on this mega city. Like most Americans, I was ignorant and incorrectly under the assumption that Mexico City was sketchy and had nothing to offer for travelers other than poverty tourism. However, after watching YouTube videos and reading more about this city, I quickly learned that Mexico City, and Mexico in general, has a very rich culture and history. It also is the biggest city in the Western Hemisphere. I was locked in this point to explore this city so close to home.Booking this trip was very random, I originally booked a vacation to go to EDC Vegas with friends (insanely fun time btw) but I wanted to extend my PTO for the rest of the week after because I was already taking a day off to rest and had the Friday off for MDW. After exploring other options in the US like possibly other areas in the south west like Utah or Arizona I quickly realized how expensive this would be. Vegas has great prices on flights so I wanted to take advantage of that and go somewhere international, due to my recent interest with Mexico City and how it isn’t too expensive, it just made sense. I booked the flight and hotel instantly so I wouldn’t think too much about it.
I invited some other friends at first and received some maybes, ultimately I knew that this would end up being a solo trip. I have some experience with solo trips, my first one was Hiroshima while I was studying abroad in Tokyo, that trip gave me my first powerful global experience that has ultimately became my goal when i travel now. I also did Denver last summer to see a red rocks show ( stayed in a hostel which ended up being the same price as a decent hotel in CDMX 🤣). I didn’t have much of a structured plan for this trip except to see the historic district and maybe teohiucan if it wasn’t too difficult to get there.
Logistics: I stayed in a Roma Norte hotel from Tuesday Night - Sunday Morning.
Interests: architecture, food, electronic music, nature, history
Day 1: Arrival
I arrived into CDMX around 1045pm via Volaris. The Volaris experience sucks, honestly worse than Spirit lol. For about an hour we were sitting on the runway not moving without AC in the Vegas heat. Apparently this is due to them not having runway rights? Not sure about this but that’s what some googling told me.
For some reason I exchanged usd for pesos at the cash exchange counters instead of using an atm to take out pesos. Not sure why I did because I have travelled internationally and know that ATMs are usually the best options. Whatever, I just took the L there. I called an Uber to my hotel after rejecting many taxi drivers.
I arrived to my hotel hungry and looked for open places to eat that were close to the hotel. I did not want to walk too far as I heard that night time gets sketchy. I ended up finding a taco place right across the street from my hotel so I went there. The place was called Taquería LOS HUARACHINES (ROMA). Ordering was a bit tough due to the language barrier but I got 2 Al pastor tacos, a plate of carne asada with about 5 tortilla, and a Coca Cola. This was an amazing meal and exactly what I wanted. The Al pastor was incredibly juicy and probably were the best tacos I had in my life at this point. I’m currently based in Texas so I’ve had real tacos before but these were just something else. I walked back to my hotel and quickly went to bed.
Day 2: Roma Norte & La Condesa
I had no official plans for this day. I was still tired from EDC Vegas so I woke up pretty late and didn’t get out of the hotel until around 1130-12. Once I did get out, I originally just planned to walk around neighborhood and see what piqued my interest. I started with a coffee. I got an iced coffee as it was hot out, I don’t think iced coffee is a thing anywhere else besides the US so this was also a little harder to order due to language barrier. Luckily someone spoke English at the counter and helped me order.
I began to walk north, I stopped at plaza rio de janiero to smoke a cigarette (I’m not a regular smoker except on vacation and when I go to raves lol). Very cool spot. My first impression of the Roma Norte neighborhood was that it was a nicer, greener, cleaner version of nyc with a European flair.
Next, I ended up at I believe Zona Rosa? It was a pedestrian only area with a lot of shops and restaurants. I stopped in a few shops maybe looking to buy sunglasses or a shirt but ultimately did not. I continued my walk.
I saw there was some sort of park near me called Bosque de Chapultec. I decided that would be my next destination to walk to. I passed the el Angel de la indepencia which was very impressive. I finally got to the park and was wowed by how nice it was. I didn’t know it was such a big destination until I got there and saw there a bunch of museos and vendors set up. I bought a pair of sunglasses as it was bright out and walked around a bit to take it in. Finally, I decided to check out a museum. I chose Museo de Arte Moderno as I wanted to see some art. I much prefer modern art over traditional art too. I really liked this museum and connected with a lot more paintings that I thought I would. About of 1/4 of the way through I realized can use Google translate to read the descriptions for some of the paintings. I wish I took down the artists who created some of these paintings but I think I can find the artists again if I really wanted to. I went outside to the sculpture garden and this was a little underwhelming tbh. I was also getting hangry so I went through it quick.
I decided to get lunch at Los Pancheros as it was nearby and the Google reviews seemed good. I ordered Plato rachero & caldo xochitl. HUGE portions and incredibly good. I really liked the soup though, it was some sort of chicken and rice soup. It took a little bit for the check to come but it finally did and I paid and left.
I ate way too much and I had to lay down somewhere so I went back to the park and found a nice place to lay where other people were. It was some sort of fountain that I can’t find on Google maps but even though it wasn’t exactly “grand” it was very chill and everyone there just seemed relaxed lol. I laid there for about 20-30 mins until I was ready to go again. I saw on Google maps that there was a castle in the park!? I really wanted to see that. I decided to walk in that direction and also passed Lago de Chapultec. Wow that was beautiful, I wish I took my rest time there lol.
I finally got to the castle entrance but they weren’t letting people in anymore as it was too late, damn. I should’ve paid more attention to the times, I didn’t realize all the museums closed at 5. I decided to finish up my park experience and Uber to the historic center just to check it out. However Ubers were very hard to get at this time as it was rush hour and traffic was insane outside the park. I had multiple people cancel on me, I also canceled on someone after seeing how long it would take to pick me up and drop me off to the historic center. I eventually decided just to walk back. It was about an hour walk back so I had to tough it out.
Not much happened on this walk, just continued to take in the city. Stopped at glorieta de Los insugentes to take a break and smoke a cigarette. I felt a little sketched out here due to all the people constantly moving. I was a bit worried about being pick pocketed but I think it was just the tiredness making me anxious. I got out of there relatively quick and made it back to my hotel to rest before dinner.
At this point I decided I wanted to go to teohiucan the next day. I explored my options for getting there and eventually just decided on Uber because I don’t really like being in a group when going to tourist sites as I’m a bit “quirky” and like to take weird routes and repeat some areas a few times I also keep an inconsistent pace so that made the group experience out of the question. I could’ve taken the bus but did not want to deal with the stress that public transit can be in a foreign country lol. For dinner, I made a reservation at the sushi place Makoto as I wanted something other than Mexican food. Fabulous place, I ordered a glass of wine, sushi sampler, and the fatty tuna nigiri.
Day 2: Teohiucan
I woke up somewhat early for this day. I ordered an Uber and was off. It was really interesting to see Mexico City outside the nicer neighborhoods. I think this is what most Americans imagine when they hear Mexico City. It looked like the COD MW2 map Favela. I wondered what life was like in this area of Mexico City. I even saw a ski lift in use to bring people up the mountain to their house maybe?
I got dropped off at Teohiucan and entered in. I skipped breakfast because I assumed they would have something there. I was half right, they had some convenient stores. I just bought a pack of crackers and a electrolit and hoped that would get me through the whole time I was there lol.I walked around all the pyramids, I was hoping to climb them but I saw they were closed for climbing, honestly a good thing, I imagine they were getting a lot of wear and tear from that. I feel like these pyramids are underrated in terms of world wonders. They’re pretty big and the city itself was apparently one of the biggest cities in the world at the time.
My favorite part about this visit was this path that you can take that allowed you to walk on the outside of the main path. It was super peaceful and you got to see the pyramids at different angles with no people around. In terms of my favorite structure, I liked the citadel a lot due to the intricate designs on it. Some random things I liked there were the jardin and the things the vendors were selling that made the animal noises 😂 I thought it was hilarious how everyone was basically spamming it in chat. I should’ve bought one looking back
I was a little anxious about getting an Uber back but I got one relatively quick and got back to my hotel. When I got back I was very hungry and I found this place near my hotel with a deal that gave 5 al pastor tacos and a cervesa for $100 pesos. Amazing deal but then I saw the al pastor looked like it was dry and has been out for awhile. Unfortunately i felt too awkward to leave after sitting, a mistake that I learned from later if you keep reading. However the tacos were still decent. I was still pretty hungry and found a street vendor selling hamburgers, I ordered con queso and it was insanely good. I ate it in a park and then got some churros from Churrería El Moro which were also good.
Again I was way too full and had to lie down. I went back to my hotel and took a nap. When I woke up I was still full but I started experiencing the first signs of montezumas revenge. However it didn’t seem that bad and I wanted to go out for a rooftop drink.
I went to Supra Roma. Great vibe. I had to stand by the bar the whole time due to not having reservations but the views were fantastic and the dj was decent too. She was playing house music. I definitely want to bring my friends here if they ever want to come to cdmx. I had 1 cocktail and 2 beers there. Was thinking about talking to people there but mostly everyone was speaking Spanish so I decided not to.
I left and was gonna call it an early night but heard some more house music being played across the street at departmento. I decided why not and paid the cover to check it out. It was ok. Dj was decent but the vibe seemed kind of “basic” other than the music. Nothing too unique about this place, just a terrace playing music with young people hanging out. I had 2 drinks and left and got a torta.
I made it back to my hotel around 12am and this when things started to go south unfortunately. Montezumas revenge came back and this time even stronger than earlier. The alcohol definitely did not help. It quickly kept getting worse in terms of cramping and the ability to not go to the bathroom for more than 20 mins. I think it was the Al pastor tacos from earlier today. I did not get much sleep this night and was basically in survival mode lol luckily I had some water bottles to stay hydrated but I knew I would have to venture out to get more eventually. I basically spent the whole night on the toilet or curled up in pain.
Day 3: Recovery
I was hoping I’d feel feel better in the morning and I was somewhat correct. After 12 hours I could walk again although it was definitely difficult. I managed to make it to a farmacia where the pharmacist recommended me treda. I got that and more water + electrolit. It was around 1pm so I sat outside and drank my electrolit to see if I strong enough to do some sort of activity. After about 20 mins of sitting outside I decided I definitely could not and decided to just take the L for today so I could be full strength for tomorrow. I took my treda and was able to get some rest. When I woke up I was still feeling montezumas revenge a little bit but I knew I had to eat something. I ended up using Uber eats to get consomé de pollo from this place called Toks. It seemed like a safe option as it looked like a chain and I assumed chains usually have somewhat good hygiene standards. It ended up being way better than expected and I managed to put down most of it.
After eating, I took a walk to get more electrolit. I was still a little weak so I just went back to the hotel and went to bed. I was a bit bummed I lost a day but anytime you’re in a 3rd world country you should budget a day for stomach issues.
Day 4: Castillo De Chapultepec & Historic Center
I woke up feeling a lot better. It was actually crazy as 24 hours ago I couldn’t even walk straight. I took my treda and headed out. I was debating on if I should go back Chapultepec park to see the castle or if it would take too much time as I was planning to go to the historic center today. I decided to see the castle as I was thinking about it too much to skip it.
I took an Uber there this time and paid the admission. It was definitely worth it. The castle was so beautiful and there was so much history inside. I learned a lot about Mexican history and was able to take in some nice views of the city. My favorite part were the murals inside and the jardin. After, I walked to 7/11 to get more electrolit. I also got pringles as I was hungry but my stomach was still a little rough. From there I ubered to the historic center.
When I got to the historic center I was instantly overstimulated lol. It was a Saturday afternoon so it must’ve been the most popular day. It was a lot bigger than expected too. I didn’t really know where to start so I just started walking. My first stop was actually the adidas store as I needed to get my bearings and am a fan of adidas lol unfortunately there wasn’t much in there though that seemed exclusive. I know in Tokyo they’ll have exclusive stuff but didn’t see anything like that in Mexico City, bit disappointed but otherwise it provided a place for me to take a breath. I got out and started walking towards zocalo plaza.
Zocalo Plaza was just epic. The big Mexican flag with the cathedral behind it had so much swag for lack of a better term lmao it showed off the immense pride that Mexico has for itself. I really liked this area a lot.
I continued walking and ended up at these streets with vendors. This was even more overstimulating than the other areas. So much noise and people. I stopped in a store and got a can coke and kept on trucking along.
I decided to go to palacio de bella artes. I really liked palacio de bella artes as well. The architecture and colors were stunning. The Torre Latinoamericana building was also interesting. I decided to check out the museum inside palacio de Bella artes. At first i thought it was a bit underwhelming. I was not too big of a fan of the murals and it seemed like some areas were closed. I then came across the Dioses y Maquinas exhibit by Santiago Sierra Soler. This exhibit was an “immersive cinema installation” that told the story of the aztecs getting colonized by Spaniards. It was very powerful and really made me understand some of the politics of Mexico. Also globalism in general and how colonization impacted the world. It gave me that powerful global experience that I mentioned before. I think everyone who visits cdmx should experience this exhibit to really wrap your head around the politics of the country and how it became what it is today. When I walked out I began to see the two sides of Mexico, the native side and european side and how they interact with each other.
That exhibit made me want to learn about the Aztecs more so I ended up going to museo del templo mayor. This place was also impressive with countless exhibits about the Aztecs. It’s insane to me how there was an ancient city right under us. By the time I was done there I was getting hungry so ironically I got McDonald’s as my stomach needed something familiar. I got it to go and ate it near the palacio de bella artes. I wanted to go the sears rooftop after but couldn’t find the entrance so I just walked around the surrounding neighborhood. This part reminded me a lot of Manhattan.
I walked through the Barrio Chino and thought it was hilarious tbh. I did not see any Asian people and there wasn’t much Asian culture other than the lanterns i guess lol the restaurants also did not look too good. Cool experience nonetheless. I ended my walk at a plaza San juan to call an Uber as it was about to start raining. I found the torre de telefons de Telmex structure also super interesting. I made it home and rested before dinner.
For dinner I went to this Argentinan steak house called Gardela. A bit risky after my stomach issues but I wanted to get a nice dinner on my last night. I got a dry aged New York strip and it did not disappoint. I ordered it medium rare but it was a bit more rare than expected. I ate it anyway and was wowed. One of the best steaks I’ve ever had. Amazing service too, can’t recommend this place enough if you want a good steak.
When I got back to my hotel I was having an internal debate if I should go out. I had an early flight and was already pretty tired and full. I decided to go out anyway as it was Saturday night and didn’t get to do anything the day before. I ended up at this techno club called yuyu. Pretty intimate spot. The techno was very good and creative. The crowd was also fun, I had a few shallow conversations with people but nothing deep. Mostly my fault though as I wasn’t making much conversation. I just drank beer, smoked cigarettes, and listened to good electronic music which is a solid night for me. I headed home around 2 and went to bed for my flight.
Closing remarks:
I really enjoyed my time in Mexico City. Im not sure what my expectations were for the city but they were definitely exceeded. Definitely an underrated city as there is so much culture and history but I never here much people talk about it in the states. I will definitely be back as I feel like there’s still so much to discover and it was pretty cheap to get there and get lodging. Not gonna lie though, I was bit nervous going solo here but once I got there most of the anxiety went away. In terms of safety, just be where you’re supposed to be (tourist areas & safe neighborhoods), keep your possessions zipped up, and don’t walk at night. I felt more sketched out in most US cities

So some of you may know that I asked regarding the Anhalt a few days ago. Now I went against all my better judgment and proceeded to actually get the thing using my coupon since I'm clearly deranged (I play secondary IJN BBs in Asia of all servers so I'm pretty much a lost cause tbh).
I'm not that great of a player and my stats have largely been weighed down by my excessively poor internet standards from a couple years back (yes if you ever had that guy who disconnected halfway into the game in 2018-2020 I'm so sorry lmao - Brunei isn't exactly known for great internet).
The Review:
Anyways, I went in with the upmost lowest of standards - and Anhalt really isn't as bad as I thought it was. In around 30 games, I've gotten a decent amount of damage done with both the HE and AP (averaging around 100,000 damage) - and despite the very poor AP pen, the AP does have really decent damage potential - provided you use it sub 13-15km and aim for the deck armor. I expected the salvos to be a lot less accurate - which isn't actually the case with 1.7 sigma and decent dispersion overall. It's very easy to get numerous 6000-9000 damage salvos in this ship in close ranges.
Mid ranges is a different story - you really start to feel that shell speed tank... BUT you also notice that the shells start to arc and plunge a lot more. Impressively despite the low horizontal AP pen of the anhalt guns, her vertical pen (as in plunging fire) is not that bad (it converts into a pretty standard penetration) and get this - compared to the Amagi she actually boasts 20-25m less vertical dispersion at 16km - her horizontal dispersion is atrocious but she has decent sigma at 1.7 and ... well 15 guns. She's like a weird mix of a viribius unitis and the IJN Battleships: high shell count - very high average damage due to shell volume and decent accuracy - but her guns are small and don't have the same potential as say a 410mm cannon breaching the citadel.
The slow shells get some getting used to but if you've used any american BB you'll be right at home. I find myself using a bit of the IJN aiming style - largely aiming for the deck in mid ranges (and above) and waterline at closer ranges. I've actually done a few training room scenarios with the anhalt and I sincerely feel that aiming for the deck at any range above 15km is the way to go, shooting the waterline will be VERY dissapointing in this ship, even against cruisers.
Her HE shells are consistent as well - though very and I mean very lacking in the damage department - but 15 guns and 27% fire chance per shell is very reminescent of a mini Mecklenberg (which for people comparing against - one of them is TX and a steel ship). Her strength in HE is the 88mm pen and very high cumulative fire chance. Also she actually has really competitive firing angles, being able to fire all her guns at around 36* off the bow, there is very little need to go broadside if you decide to brawl in anhalt - just don't do a drive by.
I personally think the biggest overlook with the Anhalt is shared with the techtree british battleships which given the current CV/submarine plague is understandable... It's the concealment. Concealment on BBs is pretty underrated and given that my most played ship is Kii and Fuso, is often underappreciated by myself as well- the conceal lets you get to places that you wouldn't normally (hint: people who've played Roma in uptiered games will understand when you catch a yamato off guard and chunk 28k damage to it). And I will admit pulling successful flanks like this is very gratifying. But as we'll go through the cons later, anhalt may be more accurate than average for how many guns she has but her true lack of appreciable citadel reaching penetration holds her back a lot.
Her armor reminds me a lot of a mix with USSR and KMS structures with very good angled performance and very small superstructure, you want to sequence her frontal 6 guns and expose the back guns to win trades by feathering your rudder as little as possible to expose the least amount of side but also to not lose too much speed. And longer ranges Anhalt boasts a very impressive casemate for her tier at 50mm, you will bounce a lot of AP with your casemate, and at longer ranges you can absolutely shrug off even Yamato calibre shells like no business. You also shatter a lot of HE shells. You unfortunately cannot shatter fire chance - which is why my build below goes fully on the fire/flooding negation, the rudder mod is a personal choice. I've found myself surviving in situations where I clearly wouldn't in any other T8 ship (much like a Vladivostok). With proper angling and awareness, anhalt can drastically limit how much damage she can receive. Huge salvos can easily ricochet on her main belt (especially when kiting) and streaks of HE fizzling on her deck armor is somewhat satisfying - until you eventually get set on fire ofc.
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CONS
Now the absolute negatives: Anhalt is not an easy ship to play - I would have much preffered a reduction in HP for a better turning radius and rudder shift speed (more akin to Viribius/Vanguard). She decelerates absolutely terribly (is slow to begin with), can't turn well and you basically need to be aware of your ship's orientation at all times because anhalt actually eats citadels very easily on broadside - contrary to every other german BB and the maps at T8 are just a bit too big for anhalt to be comfortable with it's slow speed imho and yes you'll likely be slugging HE at anything past 16km.
Anhalt is also very particular on who you are shooting at - she shares the habits that every 380mm equipped BB would have - but cranks that up to 11 because instead of factoring the main belt on ships - you'll be factoring the deck and upper belt - at least in terms of AP. While this sounds a lot like a skill issue.Tm - it's actually a pretty big negative because other Battleships don't need to do nearly as much work to get damage onto you (remember not only do you need to aim at particular places - you also need to factor that atrocious shell speed). I sincerely believe this is why Anhalt was given a 30 second reload instead of a nerfed reload thats to be expected with BBs that have more than 9 guns - her consistency comes from vomiting out shells as often as possible with decent accuracy - and yes that means your preffered engagement (at least with AP) is on someone's flank and your target having an equally atrocious turning radius. That is an absolute shit ton of conditionals to make her AP work. Thankfully her HE helps in areas where her AP would do nothing though you're very reliant on your fire starting ability rather than the HE alpha.
Interestingly, Anhalt can abuse low islands very easily with her guns when firing > 14km, her shells take an almost cruiser like arc when used at longer ranges, which combined with the very low ship height (and deck armor) in general - makes her a BB that can actually abuse some maps with a lot of cruiser camping island spots while being very safe. Again watch for torpedoes and who's close to you.
I addressed that anhalt's conceal is pretty good but this goes against anhalt main battery surprisingly. I kept saying that her main battery was consistent but that is in terms of average damage per game, remember when I said she vomits out shells? For anhalt to push as much damage as she possibly can (since you can't citadel other BBs) she wants to be firing as often as possible - and can't quite play the 'sneak around' and 'one shot' technique against other BBs (still works against cruisers). Anyone who's played the tech tree british BBs will understand this juxtaposition, since the British Short Fuse AP also means that they can't effectively citadel anything but the most exposed of light cruisers, anhalt thankfully doesn't have short fuse AP - but you're about as likely to suffer as many ricochets and shatters instead. And I have to be honest, it is incredibly frustrating fighting battleships in Anhalt - I simply just fire HE above 15km because it's often just not worth the effort personally speaking.
Her torpedo protection is ... sad. Beware of these, you can absolutely bitch slap a destroyer if you're prepared for them at close range (I've dev struck a paolo emilio even) but if you miss - you are gone.
Also learning how to land consistent long range shots while dealing with her poor mobility will take a very long time.
Conclusions
What does this remind you a lot of? Hmmm, perhaps a certain dockyard ship. Perhaps ... Marlborough. Yes I'm aware that the consensus with Marlborough is that she sucks too - but just like Anhalt, Marl has a lot of guns, good concealment, poor AP pen, and good HE salvos. It looks like a ship that's easy to play (and truth be told you can probably just spam HE and get good (not great) results) - but there's a lot more to these guns than meets the eye - in the view of a normal battleship's armament - they suck if only because they can't actually contest with other battleship armor (and that's not even mentioning being uptiered), but WG has actually given you ways to actually reach that conditional: concealment and exceptional HP Pool with decent armor. However compared to every other ship that plays with AP in this style (Vanguard, Monarch, Roma , Viribius) - she handles like a turd - and traded that almost mandatory mobility for armor and a good health pool. Her firing angles are thankfully decent enough that you can actually offset the amount of speed you would lose in order to reveal your aft guns, thus minimizing how much speed you would bleed in closer ranges.
She's a ship with a lot of quirks - her damage potential is actually quite notable purely by shell volume - but where other battleships can contest other battleship citadels within their matchmaking spread, Anhalt instead trades that alpha strike with her rate of fire and (literal) fire support. She's very rugged as well. Just be extremely mindful of torpedoes.
How to Play
Anhalt fits very definitively in the mid game to end game role, where she can aggressively push in and negate her long shell travel times. You will notice that her shell travel time spike at around 13 - 15km onwards and start to transition into plunging fire. You'll need to be aware of this and adjust your aim accordingly. At closer ranges, Anhalt's high health pool, decent main belt and deck armor allows you to duel with other battleships where you'll want to win by sheer DPM and fire starting potential, and can also use AP at these ranges to do very high penetration damage (maybe even a citadel if you know where to aim and who you're shooting). In the early game and against angled targets, you can output so many HE shells that a fire is anything but guaranteed if you can lead well, anhalt sets fires like no other BB at this tier (except maybe Monarch/Richeliu).
As a certain youtuber has said, you need to be good at predicting how your flank will conclude, your slow speed means that you need to be very situationally aware of when to retreat. Conversely this also means you need to know when to put your hull to good use in an attack. Once you commit to either of these - know that you are essentially playing the russian battleship style as you are not nimble enough to change your mind - you have a much better chance of surviving being catastrophically one shot on broadside than any other russian battleship however. Always remember that your concealment can give you ample breathing room and witha bit of luck you can sloooooowly turn away and then go into kiting formation.
I heavily recommend speccing into concealment expert and brisk on this ship, start the game off by seeing your map and your team roster, stay close to your team (3-5km from your nearest allied cruiseBB) for AA support and damage spreading in the early game. When the mid game comes around and there's been a few kills, the map opens up and you can straight line towards a possible flank spot (with brisk Anhalt reached 27.5 knots - the same as North Carolina). It's very easy to mitigate damage in the early game because of Anhalt's deck armor and range, and you can continue to abuse this in pushes come the mid/late game.
I wish you the best of luck for those who got Anhalt via sant crates or actually bought this ship when it released.
WIP citadellable battleships section - AP
Notable T8 and T9 battleships that can be citadelled by anhalt <15km:

• Amagi (<14km underneath her stern guns)
• North Carolina
• Roma (<9km)
• Vanguard (<9km)
• Venetto (<9km)
• Monarch (<11km)
• Hawke (<15 km)

Notable T8 battleships that can be citadelled by anhalt >15km (Anhalt's vertical penetration during plunging fire is ... decent enough to contest with ships with poor deck armor): Note2: Anhalt Vertical pen on her AP eats 32mm coated battleships for breakfast

• North Carolina
• Amagi
• Monarch

My build: Focusing on anhalts decent **ANGLED** armor and survivability - with extra personal precautions like turret speed and anti torpedo detection.
Is She Fun?
I'm going to be honest, I'm on the Asia server and Anhalt cannot do a push like Bismarck can with her hydro, she also can't rush down someone like Brandenburg. She's very dependent on support. And with Asia server being the defacto sniping meta - it's very very frustrating trying to get a good lead going with her guns above 16km, I regularly find myself spending a gross amount of time trying to get a good lead on a target. A lead that can be completely neutered if the target is remotely paying attention. However I've actually managed to beat Antlanticos , Bismarck's and other close range brawlers with Anhalt. It's not some close range perfect citadel one shot though, it's a back and forward HE & AP mix up where you can punish an enemy for just being near you. And you can get pretty nice torpedo hits once and a while.
I definitely feel like I'm experiencing a skill issue.TM with Anhalt. It will take many games to learn how to aim well with her. Adjusting to her low speed/handling and how to best approach duels. I mostly make.my damage in the mid/end game when fights start to get closer, but some games never even get to that point - and Anhalt is everything but satisfying until I learn to lead shells that take 17 seconds to land - and without the satisfcation that the American BB have when the shells do hit.
Anhalt is a ship that at first glance appears to be a boring HE sniper, but her monstrous health pool, decent armor, and extremely high DPM for a battleship really opens up to a strong albeit slow dueler. For those aim gods out there, her HE can do some serious bullshit in terms of fire starting, for those who are familliar with the slow US BB line, you may appreciate her strong mid game sustained fire instead of dealing with 40 second reload, and for those who enjoy holding caps, anhalt makes a strong reverse cap contester as well.

A day late but we're here, my little cheeto eaters! Remember as always to grab your bingo cards and let's get our little long weekend slumber party going. This whole fucking thing is FORTY MINUTES LONG, you're all lucky that my sibling who was supposed to spend the day chilling at my place has apparently forgotten that plan.
​

• There's a new opening style than all her other vlogs. Not sure if that's because of Morgan but also I don't care enough to go hunt down exactly which influencer she cribbed this style from. It features a lot of horse butts. Also her using her phone in bed, which I thought she didn't do because she's mindful.
  • The music she uses is this song, which is DEFINITELY not copyright-free, so have fun learning how actual copyright law works, Paige! The lyrics playing over the are "there are times when/it feels right to/run away, run away/when you ask the same old questions/every day, every day/Why do I set the stage?/Why do I find my place on the pedestal?", because I guess Paige went to the Love is Blind school of "make sure the lyrics of whatever song you use are really, REALLY literal"
• Giveaway winners! Congrats to the three people who won a pile of Paige's old garbage! Don't worry though, if you didn't win her trash, she'll be doing a lot more of these because she "appreciates [us] guys so much" and "wants us to experience some of the things that I'm so grateful to get".
  • Nothing says grateful like giving away your extras to strangers and instead of doing anything to promote them like you were supposed to in return for getting them for free, using the existence of this stuff as a way to leverage yourself up on the algorithm.
    • There's also Dairy Boy in the giveaways, of course, because no one's buying it organically.
• She explains moving Louie, it's the same stuff she said on Instagram. Weirdly horses are like the only animal I've never gotten super obsessed with, so I have no idea how BS this is, but it's almost word-for-word her IG explanation, so it's the same level of BS that was. She does word this though as it being a "charity project" and "passion project" she "donated to", because there was a dearth I guess of places to keep your horse in the rich people part of Connecticut.
  • She has to first run to get a grazing muzzle so Louie doesn't overeat in the pasture. This sets off my internal bad animal treatment alarms in a huge way, but again, don't know enough about horses to know if this is warranted.
• Just kidding! Don't let Paige into a Tractor Supply unsupervised, she's too much of a ~country girl~ to not come out with "so much shit". She also got this beef jerky that looked "so good". It's Iowa Smokehouse beef jerky.
  • It apparently looked good because all she had for breakfast was coffee. Why she only had coffee I'm not sure, since it's not like she didn't have the time to get something better. Coffee and beef jerky for breakfast sure is a choice, and one I'm sure her intestines didn't make her pay for later. This summer is all about ~hot girl indigestion~.
  • Story time! This looks like "legit, real beef jerky", which Paige knows because when Paige was in boarding school she stayed with a family who had a lot of cows and they made their own beef jerky, which Paige was of course intimately involved in, I'm sure. Anyway this makes her have such high standards, which is why she loves when somewhere like Tractor Supply (an enormous fucking chain, Paige) or a "local country mart" sells jerky because it's always better.
    • Fun fact that took me less than thirty seconds to Google, this "real" beef jerky is also available on Amazon
• More of the same definitely not copyrighted song as she packs up Louie's stuff and moves him. There's a lot of woman laughing alone with salad shots as she packs up and pretends to talk to... someone and "carry stuff" (ie: stand around touching her own body awkwardly)
• Some weird things about this whole sequence - 1) the "farm" she moves Louie to appears to have very poor, dilapidated fencing, red flag for me. 2) Paige is wearing a white shirt and then a white cardigan the entire time while DEALING WITH A HORSE and it never gets stained or dirty, which tells me she did fuck all, 3) the only guy with her is this big bald much older man who I assume is the guy starting this venture, meaning he's almost certainly who films her cantering around on Louie without her wearing a helmet laughing, which is so unbearably awkward. Like imagine asking a random older dude to film you doing that in a pure white sweater, 4) when Paige brushes Louie he sheds SO MUCH. Is that bad? It feels bad. When a dog sheds that much, even in the spring, it usually means no one's been brushing it regularly, 5) Louie has such a dip in his back and it makes me wince every time, especially when Paige shows him next to another horse. I don't know what that's from, but I hate it and it doesn't look comfortable for him.
• Nance and Baloo are at home when Paige gets back so she's just going to "throw on a little outfit" and they're going to go out for Mother's Day in Brooklyn. Paige really, really didn't want to go into the city because I guess she's suuuuch a country girl (nice, Paige) but she's doing it for her mom and to see her sister
  • Oh my god she DOESN'T CHANGE HER SHIRT FROM THE BARN, she wears a white henley, what look like blue pajama pants, and a leather coat.
  • Nance steals some of Paige's clothes (how I don't know since they're totally different sizes) and according to Paige is"slaying the boots", a phrase I will pay actual cash money to never hear Paige say again
• Next morning, return of the out of focus camera, though it may have been by accident this time because it stays out of focus. Anyway serious business Paige with her serious business glasses is starting the day with some "desk work". Is that a thing? A phrase? What the fuck is "desk work"? Has anyone who actually does work at a desk ever called it that?
  • When she's in Europe it's definitely harder for her to sit and do computer work even though she has a laptop but starting the day on her desktop at the same time as her "whole team" (WHO) it really makes a difference for them being all on the same page.
    • Okay so my actual job in real life is doing shipping and order management for a small creative goods company. I know very intimately what goes into product development, order fulfillment, etc, and Paige is just straight up saying nonsense. Like I paused and gave serious thought to what possibly she could be talking about, and I don't know what all this "work" is. If she was making everything in-house that's one thing, but that's not work she could possibly be doing or overseeing from Europe. But if she's outsourcing stuff, having it sent to a warehouse, and, then paying someone to ship it out for her, I guess she's doing... development? But that makes no sense because again, she outsources everything. She isn't doing wholesale, there isn't a lot to arrange for pop-ups if everything is outsourced and pre-made and she's only supposedly having one this summer, she only has eight products so the website maintenance is pretty easy, as is accounting, and she only really sells stuff around a drop which she does maybe twice a year.......... like genuinely I'm baffled here. It's my job to do this exact same thing every day with products that aren't jeans or sweatshirts or whatever and I'm so, confused about what her "work" is.
    • Allegedly they're on the "final push" for so many big projects and you know what, if any of these projects involve Paige actually doing anything besides feeling three different samples of denim swatches or deciding which vendor she's going to outsource oven mitts to and saying "I like this" or "I don't like that", I will issue her an apology. I feel safe in the idea that I won't have to issue her an apology, but I will keep on on offer in the off-chance I'm wrong.
    • She just finished making a line sheet (genuine lol once I looked up what that was) and apparently we are going to freeeeak out when we see her new merch - sorry, elevated lifstyle products.
    • It's denim. She's been working on denim. She shows us the final washes but it's in direct sunlight so it's all blown out and out of focus so they look mostly white? But she got the "perfect color". IDK, it's a light wash. I prefer dark wash, actually. It's a lot more flattering and forgiving. But we've already determined my aesthetic and Paige's aesthetic are not the same aesthetic. She's nobly pushed back production six months because she refused to do a full run unless the wash was absolutely perfect. It was so expensive but she needed to love love love the denim, because it's really what she's passionate about and what she wants to do, she wants to be the best denim brand out there. You know, because she's hand-making this denim herself, not just sending instructions to low-wage Chinese workers while being afforded the privilege to fuss over the perceived quality for six months because she has parents who are willing to flush money down the toilet on this. Also, for the record, but denim is like... a choice? Like what is the vision, exactly, because every clothing retailer has some version of denim and people are already super married to their faves, so how exactly is this business model working for her, here. And it doesn't look like stretch denim either, which means it's going to fit a very, very narrow group of body types. Like speaking from ample experience crying in GAP dressing rooms over my "freakish" (read, not built like a popsicle stick) as a teenager in a time before jeggings, jeans are not forgiving and easily worn by everyone. The thing about what Paige is doing so far is that it's universal enough. You don't have to really tailor an oversized sweatshirt or trucker hat to fit you. Everyone can make room for another overpriced candle. But denim??? IDK girl, you do you.
• Paige makes Olivia a latte. Olivia comes in and say it's story time about coffee. Paige asks if she should turn off the camera for this and Olivia says no so Paige continues to film herself preening while Olivia tells her a story about how messy she is frothing milk. Paige spends the entire time interrupting her to go "no! No! No! No!"
  • They look at buttons and rivets and embossed leather patches for the back, and then sweatpants leg panel samples. Baloo hangs out with them and Paige tells him he's stinky. She eats toast.
    • WHAT IS THE POINT OF ANY OF THIS. She's not DESIGNING anything, she's just doing that thing like, you know when you're choosing your racer in Mario Kart and there are a couple hundred variations of wheels and chassis and you just choose the unique combos you want to put together? She's doing that but with generic clothing. I've been jokingly referring to her stuff as "elevated Zazzle" but this isn't even Zazzle because Zazzle you UPLOAD ACTUAL ARTWORK TO. Why is she re-inventing the wheel? What improvements does she think she's making TO A PROVERBIAL WHEEL.
• Not sponsored showing off gifting time! It's not in focus at all so we can't really see any of the products (professional!). One of the products she mentions is that she's friends with CYNTHIA ROWLEY'S DAUGHTER who has nepo baby'd her way into dropping oven mitts and aprons that look like Strawberry Shortcake's rejects. Like they're cute, but they're again little strawberries on white. Like tell me none of you silver spoon-ass bitches cook without telling me by making WHITE OVEN MITTS. Those will turn yellowish and burnt after, what a single batch of brownies? Taking a piece of toast out?
  • This haul includes her tennis Tommy bag. Not sure how she got it since she brags about it being "sold out everywhere even Poshmark and depop"
  • There is sooooooo much of this free bullshit. How does she even get this much free bullshit. Why do companies waste so much money sending this to people like Paige who don't fucking care and openly give it away. What is the point of an influencer. IDK at this point I'm spiraling, this vlog is like a third of the way through and nothing has happened.
• Paige unpacks with Nance. She has so many clothes and I don't think she's worn any of them. Full disclosure that this was the point I actually got annoyed and had to take a break and play some video games for fifteen minutes because while growing up comfortably or on the upper end of middle class in a generational wealth type of town has taught me a lot of patience for people with too much money, there is at some point a limit to how conspicuous over-consumption and waste I can handle, and that point for me came when I saw how many sweaters Paige has that look like they've never been worn. And the on top of this she has a giant suitcase of stuff she's going to depop! The environment? Never heard of her.
• Paige is going to get groceries. She's needed Nance's help to do all the hard stuff she's had to do today like going grocery shopping and having soooo many clothes. She goes to Trader Joe's, then goes to a horse shop and of course buys MORE SHIT SHE DOESN'T NEED. I'm not condoning what the French did when they invented the guillotine, like that was really violent and horrible, but the point is that the longer I watch this vlog the more I'm understanding their motivations.
• Paige goes on a sunset ride with her friend Lauren, this song plays in the background as a flagrant copyright violation, I realize at this point that there's no way this video is going to stay up without Youtube copyright striking it so I have to be extra detailed for posterity and we still have so much to go and this is going to take forever. Louie's back still looks horrible and as someone with inherited lordosis, I feel for him.
• Tommy facetime! He says exactly one sentence and catches a tiny fish, for those of you keeping track on your Bingo cards.
• Nance is still over Paige's house when Paige gets back because she never leaves. Paige is wearing old Dairy Boy sweats. At this point when I scrolled down to press the play button again I realized that Nance has posted a comment about how proud she is of Paige within seconds of the video being uploaded. I live with my mother and sometimes I still need her help on stuff like yelling at health insurance until they cover stuff for me and even I am confused by how codependent their relationship is. Like doesn't Nance have her own house? A husband? Other children? Paige has spent this entire vlog needing Nance's help to do everything from grocery shopping to folding laundry and acting like a teenager. It's a rich text for a therapist to one day unpack.
  • It's Taco Monday, this is just a dumb and boring version of Paige performing the white people taco night song. Also bewildering, Paige seemingly DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO MAKE TACO STUFF. It involves almost no cooking! She even bought the spices pre-packaged! She needs Nance's help on this too!
  • Undisclosed new cooking knife brand product placement. They are amazed that it............slices.
    • OH NO SHE SAYS SLAYING WITH BOOTS AGAIN ABOUT THE KNIFE END THIS MISERY
  • Ahahhahah the reason they're so impressed is because they've apparently been cooking with unsharpened knives. Like Paige didn't know you could sharpen knives. A master chef, ladies and gentlemen!
• Oh god we're only halfway through. Paige wakes up the next morning. She got so freckly yesterday (read: she's courting melanoma and is going to age like a raisin). She's going to go play tennis at a club in Greenwich her parents are members at (Note, she shows the logo which means you can spend five seconds googling to discover it's this club. Membership is invite only and it's gauche apparently to discuss how much membership costs, but the estimate is EIGHTY GRAND A YEAR. To be clear, that is nearly THREE TIMES the average American household income. Paige is the child of people who spend more in one year to play tennis a few times a week than most people do getting fucking doctorates, which clears up a few things for me: one, I've never gotten those texts where she casually demands Morgan Wallen pay her back tens of thousands of dollars like it's $50, but I guess to her it is like $50, and two, why everything about Paige and how she acts towards people and money in this video is a million times more effective at radicalizing people on economic policy than anything Bernie Sanders has ever lain awake at night dreaming of.
  • Camera going in and out of focus during this explanation.
  • Ah she's doing it with her mom. Again. Heaven forbid Paige breathe without Nance.
  • Oh also she has to shoot an ad in the tennis dress, but she definitely likes and would go to play tennis anyway.
• More unboxing undisclosed adver- I mean PR.
  • I'm so serious, tthe flagrant wealth being thrown around in this video and the amount of free stuff a trust fund baby with absolutely no merits or skills whatsoever is getting because she has 300K followers on Instagram that she probably bought half of is like the best argument for socialism I have ever seen.
• .Paige gets dressed in the third outfit of the day to go to the dentist. The pants are pointedly too big on her so they don't stay up in the waist and create this weird enormous kangaroo pouch around her crotch. She pairs that with a toddler sized medium t-shirt for a football team she's probably never heard of, a choker that looks like something a boy band member in the early 2000's would wear but out of fake pearls, and cowboy boots. It's... the look sure is looking, let's just say that.
• Paige opines on how much she prefers to do vlogs at home, but don't worry, she won't stop doing travel vlogs for us! (Oh thank goodness, where would we be without the insights we get from them.) She feels like they add variety to her channel (what, no, we LOVE coming with you to the barn to watch you ride without a helmet over unsourced music! five times a vlog!). Sometimes she feels like there's this pressure to show us as much as she can, which explains why all we see in her travel vlogs is hotel room bathrooms, tennis matches, and the tops of various tabletops in restaurants. Anyway she feels like there's pressure because in reality she's there for Tommy. Which we KNOW, that's the entire PROBLEM, Paige. If you were HONEST about the fact that being a WAG on tour sucks and you don't get to actually see the places you're pretending to really go and immerse yourself in, we WOULD HAVE FEWER COMPLAINTS AND YOU'D FEEL LESS ANXIETY, the problem is that you have to keep compulsively lying about how cultured you are and how you really ~got a feel~ for the location. Just stop lying!!! Stop!!! Lying!!! Challenge!!!!! The anxiety you feel and the reason you have to monitor this subreddit comes from your CONSTANT LYING.
  • Ugh she would NEVER have gone to ROME if it weren't for Tommy. I think this is a ploy for authenticity but boy is it coming across as privileged.
    • I do think in her own Paige way though this entire monologue she has is about something I've noticed her talking around a lot - I think she's afraid if she stops travelling and being a WAG no one will care about her. I think she's terrified of doing what makes her happy, which is being home, hanging out with her mom, riding her horses, and spending her parents' money. But if she just let herself do the things she actually liked and stopped trying to always pretend to be cooler and more interesting than she is, no one would keep paying attention to her, because it's not like she has a sparkling personality or wit or unique point of view. Like I'm an interesting person to talk to, but if I tried to make a vlog of my life it would be pretty boring. I work a 9-5 M-F job and the most interesting part of my life is when I go to a concert or craft fair on the weekend or one of my neighbors goes out of town and I watch their cat. It's not riveting, but I also don't need to be doing fascinating things in order to be or feel like an interesting person. But people like Paige who need to always be travelling and going to events and flaunting how busy they are are often really sad and empty people. They're not doing any of the little mundane things that make people happy and spending time connecting with the people around them, they're just always moving around because they're afraid if they stop for five seconds, people will see that the only thing they have going for them is all that movement and travelling. I think Paige is constantly torn between the anxiety that comes with constant travel and isolation and putting herself on display and removing herself from the things that bring her a sense of calm and security, and the anxiety that if she allows herself to feel calm and secure, she'll lose the attention she craves. IDK seems like a thing she shouldn't keep indirectly admitting to in vlogs, seems to kind of undercut half of her material, but what do I know.
  • Also she really is going to positively contribute to Tommy and his life and career, ie: she needs to go home and feels comforted by home because that's where her mom and Amanda wait on her hand and foot and everything is about her, which she misses when she's with Tommy because when she's on tour with Tommy she has to accept that he's the center of attention and she's not.
  • Her home vlogs have been performing the best, like, significantly. Since she probably buys views and comments, this just means she likes them better and therefore buys more engagement for them.
  • Apparently her analytics are telling her that 30% of her views are coming from the "explore" feature, which she says is YouTube rewarding her for being consistent, and, uh. No. Not how that works.
    • I mean yes if you buy engagement it will put you in the algorithm more, but this is the time in the video where she accidentally self-owns. If you're an actual channel getting actual views from people who actually enjoy watching you, then VERY LITTLE of your viewership should be coming from the "explore" feature, MOST of it should be coming from subscribers or regular viewers or people who watch similar content. That's how the majority of people watch YouTube or find new videos to watch. But if fully a third of your viewers are coming from what's essentially a randomizer button, that pretty much confirms Paige is buying views and/or that a lot of viewers leave after a minute or two. Because if her content was good on its own, people would see it and subscribe, and then she wouldn't need to rely on the "explore" feature. But if she, as she says, is consistently getting a third of her viewership from that feature, than that means that a third of people are just randomly watching whatever YouTube puts in front of them and not engaging with her at all, meaning the ONLY POSSIBLE explanation is that she's essentially buying enough engagement to keep appearing on the explore page, but buying the opportunity to be put in front of people isn't actually getting her a larger audience because what she's serving them is a warmed-over turd.
  • Anyway Paige is counting on you not knowing the extreme basics and trusting that she "knows someone who used to work at YouTube who told her that's how the algorithm works"
    • Um if you don't know about social media - no one who works at YouTube or any social media company knows how their algorithm works unless they're the ones writing it, and if they do know, they're not going to tell you because that's extremely valuable, proprietary information and also there's like a lot of papers and NDAs and non-competes they'd be breaking if they did. They're telling you to upload consistently because it's good FOR THE MEDIA COMPANY. The company is trading in being a content hub, so they need people to consistently be uploading content, ie: raising the value of their site in a way they don't have to pay for. That's the entire business model of every. Single. Digital media platform. Heck, that's how most dating apps work too. The product is data. They want you to be giving them free product.
  • "I don't know, like I don't like doing things just for social media anymore?" HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH
    • And a week later you spent a weekend attending influencer parties in the Hamptons for....... what exactly. The scintillating conversation?????
    • She's very quick to say that's not the case if she has to shoot an ad! Loves shooting ads! Please keep sending her free stuff!
    • God this is taking me multiple hours but at this point I've sunk too much time in and also am convinced this won't stay up for copyright issues, so I'm taking a break to like, stretch and clean the bathroom, anything to get me moving and listening to my own thoughts which are in complete sentences.
• I'm back after cleaning the bathroom. I've been at this so long that my sibling has shown up. But I only have ten minutes to go and I REFUSE TO GIVE UP. This whole completely unhinged and unintentionally revealing rant has approximately a trillion uses of the word "like" is from 21:00 to 26:00 and if you want to watch it you can. I probably should have transcribed it for a full AP Lit level analysis, but I'm tired. If we're lucky, when Paige tries to re-upload this with copyright-free music, she'll have kept that in there.
• Paige ordered a shed! She's so excited!
• The fence looks mildly less jacked up when they go back. Paige is brushing Louie constantly in this video. Fourth time I think we've seen her do this. I feel like there's a lot more to horse care than brushing them and she only shows us this part because it looks aesthetic and she doesn't do any of the actual hard or necessary parts like shoveling horse shit, but what do I know.
  • This sequence uses unsourced but definitely copyright song number three!
  • Fun fact: Paige is the same fake brown color as Louie's dappled neck. Aw, you know how pets eventually look like their owners? Cute.
  • Shout out to Paige's friend (perhaps Amanda? Olivia? Can't keep the preppy brunettes straight anymore) who actually wears a helmet riding.
• Next day, we open with a bit of this song (not sourced, copyright infringement number four, possibly more that at this point I no longer notice tbh). Paige puts on boots to go to the new shed and realizes the vlog is going to be so long because she's never done a whole week at a time before. Because I've made it this far, I'm the best. (Aw.)
  • Paige calls Tommy to wish him happy birthday and films it, which seems... odd. Especially since she doesn't film it in a way where he can see she's filming.
  • Paige gets tea for breakfast (nutritious) and a coffee for the guy at the barn we must have seen earlier. His name is Aaron. I could do some google sleuthing and find him probably, but I don't care. Paige met him going on trail rides at her old barn. Do middle aged men usually hang out at barns doing trail rides? Just scoping out young idiots with disposable income? The whole thing seems sus. Apparently he has like seven kids.
  • Paige never realized how expensive pre-made sheds were, but it's a local business that makes it by hand! I assume the local business is called Costco And Sons.
  • More uncredited The Shins plays as Paige only loads the shed with blankets and nothing heavy or unpicturesque.
  • Another Tractor Supply run, at this point they're who really should be sponsoring Paige
  • Paige goes to say goodbye to Louie and he HIDES FROM HER IN THE WOODS
    • Girl.
    • Oh my god no wonder he's mad at her, they've been staying somewhere WITHOUT A STRUCTURE. He's been sleeping OUTSIDE. It got into the 40's every night in New England last week!!!
• Out of focus Paige talking about how she had suuuuuch a long day "running errands". Olivia didn't get to join Paige on her little horse girl excursions because she had to be at the warehouse and onboarding a new DB employee. Anyway Paloma is in town now
  • Paige learns that apparently you're supposed to be washing veggies as she prepares things to grill. PAIGE HAS BEEN COOKING THIS WHOLE TIME NOT WASHING VEGGIES. I.......... I am going to need to be sedated after this.
• Paige exfoliates and puts on a definitely not sponsored face mask
  • She's wearing skiing pajamas. In case we forgot she was a skier. Did you know she was a skier????
    • PSYCH, these are from previous ads with PJ Place but actually she really likes these and this one ISN'T an ad she just loves the product so much
• Paige is doing her makeup! We're at the end stretch! I'm almost there!
  • She took a day off of vlogging to go see her grandparents, but immediately segues into her Ulta trip. Because of her stupid grandparents, she didn't get to go to the barn, frankly how can she survive in these conditions.
  • Dairy Boy phone case plug! She was soooo specific about what she likes in phone cases and definitely didn't just choose between Zazzle, Redbubble, or (insert other brand here)
    • It's a shitty thin cover that looks like it protects your phone from approximately nothing and should cost $10 but I estimate she'll sell it for at least $40
    • Of course because Paige was so super particular about the details and business-minded when it comes to quality it took a long time to make........phone cases.......
  • Tommy calls and says hi
  • Paige rambles about her day and makes coffee. Tommy sent her peonies because he's "so cute". We see the phone cases and they're weird and ugly. More "gifting" (undisclosed advertising) that came in the mail
• Paige makes pickled red onions, every time she does it she changes the recipe a little bit even though she totally has a recipe and isn't googling. She starts pickling carrots which she says are going to "go bad soon" (that takes like six months, how do carrots even go bad?) She also does it in a water glass which, good luck ever drinking from that again without it tasting like vinegar.
• And then with no warning, it cuts off. That took me three and a half hours. It's been a journey and I hate it. If there is ever a vlog this long, I'm doing it in segments across multiple days because I'm exhausted by this much wealth and inanity. Time to go touch grass, start dinner, wash my vegetables before I do so. You know. The little things.

I recently completed my Citizenship by Descent (jure sanguinis) appointment at my local Italian Conuslate's office in Houston, Texas. Below is my write-up that outlines my experience. Hopefully, this is helpful for those currently working through the process. Best of luck to you all! ✨
Background
In July of last year, my father was diagnosed with cancer. While the news was both unexpected and frightening, my dad’s diagnosis ignited a latent desire to learn more about who he was and the ancestors that came before him. In the weeks and months following his diagnosis, I tried to connect as often as possible with my dad – I asked questions about his childhood. I asked him to tell me about his parents and grandparents. I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned.
One late summer day last year, as my dad was preparing for another round of chemotherapy, he mentioned that his grandfather, Vincenzo, had immigrated from Italy to the United States. He didn’t know much about his late grandfather. He had died before my dad was born. I spent the following days deep in the far corners of Ancestry.com combing through records in search of everything Vincenzo Panevino. It turns out my dad was right about his grandfather ¬– Vincenzo Luigi Antonio Panevino had indeed crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a one-way ticket to New York City at the ripe age of 30. Each record I uncovered unlocked even more information on my great-grandfather – he was born in 1859 in Aliano, Italy (a small, rural town that sits right near the arch of the boot). His birth came nearly two years before Italy’s unification in 1861. It was during my research on my great-grandfather that I stumbled upon the process of jure sanguinis. The more I learned about the process, the more it felt like the next logical step on my journey into the past. My dad agreed. And with that, I was off to the races on a vital record collection spree!
Appointment Recap
In March of this year, I was able to secure an appointment for this past Thursday at 9:30 a.m. This came after a previous appointment I had secured for this past January was randomly canceled by the Houston Consulate without an option to reschedule. The process of obtaining this second appointment most definitely aged me!
The night before my appointment, my husband and I drove into town. Thankfully, my in-laws live in the greater-Houston area, so we were able to spend the night at their house before driving to the consulate the following day.
The morning of my appointment, my husband and I arrived at the consulate a bit early. Parking was seamless; the cost is only a few bucks an hour and the lot is located within the same building as the consulate. With some extra time to spare, we decided to stop by nearby Fiction Coffee (literally a stone’s throw away from the lobby of the building that houses the consulate). Their coffee and breakfast tacos were amazing! I left my husband there and made my way up to the 19th floor ready to officially kick things off.
I arrived at the entrance of the consulate and pressed the red button adjacent to the doors; a voice blared out asking what I was there for. I informed the person on the other end that I was there for my citizenship appointment, and I was quickly buzzed in. Once inside, an Italian officer instructed me to place my belongings onto a conveyor belt for a security scan. Next, I was directed towards a window to a consular official who again asked the reason for my visit and for my name. After he jotted down some notes, I was let into a small waiting room and told to make my way to window number 3. While I waited for my appointment to begin, I glanced around the room. The windowless space was quite small, filled with only a handful of red chairs and multiple copies of Italics Magazine.
A woman arrived behind the glass partition and introduced herself as Margherita. I told her that I had heard so much about her through the amazing Dual U.S.-Italian Citizenship Facebook group. She let out a genuine smile and told me how thankful she was that such a group exists to help people complete this process (join if you haven't already!). After a few minutes of small talk, Margherita and I got right to work!
I began by handing over my driver’s license and passport as well as photocopies of each. Next up, was a utility bill with my name and address on it. Finally, Margherita asked me to sign all forms in front of her (in my case, that was Forms 1, 2, 4, and the Registry Form). With these initial documents out of the way, Margherita took a moment to scan my forms and acknowledged that it appeared as though I was eligible to move forward based on the forms I handed over. Margherita propped up Form 1 on a clipboard and then pulled out a secondary form that she would use to annotate each document I submitted.
We began with my great-grandfather, Vincenzo. I submitted a printout of his Italian birth certificate from PEC which was accepted. Additionally, I also had printouts of his original Italian birth record and birth index (both of which I found on Antenati) which Margherita also accepted. Thankfully, because I had read other member recaps for the Houston Consulate, I made sure to bring a certified copy of the ship record/manifest that documented my grandfather’s arrival into New York City in 1889. Margherita was appreciative that I had this and mentioned that manifest records were important to her when she was reviewing cases. Just to be safe, I highly recommend ordering this record via NARA if you’re within Houston’s consular jurisdiction. Next up, I handed over my great-grandfather’s marriage, census, non-naturalization records (USCIS, NARA, county records), and death records without issue. Because my great-grandfather never naturalized, Margherita asked if I had his A-File (Alien File) Card as further evidence of his non-naturalization. I had not found such a card during my research process. Margherita stood up and pulled out a photocopy of what the A-File Card looked like from her filing cabinet. I quickly grabbed my cell phone and searched for more info. On NARA’s website, I discovered that Alien Registration Numbers and A-File’s were not first issued until just after my great-grandfather died in 1940. Because of this, he likely was never issued an Alien Registration Number or an A-File. I pressed my phone up to the glass to show Margherita the National Archives website. She scanned the web page I presented to her and appeared to agree that I would be unable to locate this record. I was not assigned homework to collect this. Onward we went!
Although the Houston Consulate’s website states that non-line documents are optional, I made sure to bring them just in case! I had gathered certified copies of all non-line documents with translations. Margherita made a point to explicitly call out that translations and apostilles were not necessary as non-line documents were only used by the consulate staff to corroborate any information on your in-line family members. Nonetheless, she accepted everything I gave her. Similar to my great-grandfather, my great-grandmother also immigrated from Italy and Margherita was also appreciative that I had secured her ship manifest/arrival record as well.
We continued down the line, sliding through the window apostilled and translated birth/marriage/divorce/death documents for all in-line relatives and basic copies with translations for non-line relatives. When we got to my father’s documents, Margherita paused and let out a notable sigh. She stammered, “Your father, he is no longer with us, no?” I nodded. Two months prior to my appointment, my father’s battle with cancer abruptly ended. As I worked to process the loss of my dad, I continued on with this process. In many ways, I found this journey to be a somewhat cathartic way to work through my pain. I received my father’s apostilled death certificate exactly one week before my appointment. It was the final document needed to complete my application. Margherita put down her pen and we spoke at length about my dad. She didn’t seem to mind our appointment running a bit longer. She was genuine and compassionate. We are so fortunate to have her as our consular official.
As my appointment drew to a close, Margherita slid the document she had been using to notate every document I submitted back to me. She asked me to review her notes for accuracy while she went to the back of the office to officially submit my application with my $321.70 USPS money order. She returned with a photocopy of my Form 1 document which now had my file number written at the top. She informed me that I had no homework as of right now and mentioned that she would contact me via email if any additional documentation was needed. She also let me know that although the consulate had 24 months to process my application, she believes the process would likely wrap up much sooner. Margherita even told me that whenever she has moments of free time, it’s not uncommon for her to pull out an “easy” application (i.e. applicants who aren’t married, have no kids, or those with little to no homework) to try to complete it. Fingers crossed that means we’ll see even more approvals out of this consulate this year!
I thanked Margherita extensively as my appointment came to a close. We waved goodbye through the glass and Margherita disappeared into the office behind her. And just like that, this phase of my journey was complete. I walked out of the office homework-free and one step closer to my goal of dual citizenship. My husband and I celebrated afterward with an amazing lunch at North Italia just up the block. I was elated!
Closing Thoughts/Takeaways

• Margherita is extremely flexible when it comes to name discrepancies. I had a few and she never even mentioned name variations. I even had an OATS affidavit on standby but never needed it. All she seemed to care about were that key dates matched up relatively well.
• Err on the side of being overprepared. I had ship manifests, baptismal records, census records, WW2 draft registration cards, and countless other documents I found throughout my research process. Bring them all! Especially in cases of non-naturalization, Margherita needs extensive evidence that your LIRA never naturalized. Having all documentation ready to go also increases the likelihood that you’ll be one of the “easy” applications Margherita tries to complete in her free time at the office.
• Organize, organize, organize! In the weeks leading up to my appointment, I meticulously crafted a binder separated by each generation to come before me. On the day of my appointment, this binder proved to be invaluable. It was super easy to pull out each document Margherita requested. She seemed to appreciate this as well!
• Leverage online resources. This Reddit community and the Dual U.S.-Italian Citizenship Facebook group are such tremendous resources. It is through these spaces that I found an amazing translator in Andrea/lastfuelstation on Fiverr. These groups also introduced me to John Chiarelli (https://www.docutrek.com/) who was able to gather No Record of Naturalization letters very quickly from multiple counties in New York City. Beyond that, these online communities understand the ins and outs of this process in ways that no service provider ever could. I am so thankful
• Be gentle with yourself. Obtaining citizenship in a new country is a big deal that requires a bunch of work! Balancing ordering records, securing a coveted appointment and a ton of other jure sanguinis obligations can easily become overwhelming. Be kind to yourself throughout this process. You will get there. We will get there.

The last time I visited my dad in the hospital, I shared all the details I had dug up on ancestors I’d only seen in a handful of pictures. We pieced together their lives. In some sense, they were all finally real to me. To us. On Thursday, as I walked out of the Italian Consulate, I closed out an unexpected chapter in my life. Buried in the seemingly mundane vital records I had just turned over was a bridge back to little ol’ Aliano, Italy, and a connection to my great-grandfather, my grandfather, and my dad. It’s through this very process that, in some small way, I get to keep them alive.
Grazie mille to everyone who helped me along the way to unlock the past and future when I needed it most. I could never thank you enough! Now, off to celebrate with some gelato! 🇮🇹✨