from heartbreak to harmony: the birth of my first album, "to build and defend my happiness" 🎵💔

how i turned my pain into a musical journey (and why you should listen)

Hi, this is me! This is a picture from when I first moved to San Diego at my old apartment in Golden Hill, 2021.

hey mi gente,

picture it - golden hill, san diego, 2021: me, sitting in my bedroom surrounded by a sea of crumpled papers, half-empty coffee cups, and a guitar that's seen better days.

the air's thick with the scent of cafecito and desperation, and i'm pretty sure my neighbors and roommates are tired of hearing the same four chords on repeat. it's giving "sad boy with a guitar" realness, but make it puertorriqueño.

fast forward to now, and i'm about to spill more tea than the boston harbor. buckle up, mi amor, 'cause this is gonna be a wild ride through the past three years of my life. think less "eat, pray, love" and more "eat vegan ice cream, cry, and write songs."

in august of 2014, i entered a relationship with a wonderful man. picture this: obama was still president and i was young(er), dumb, and full of... optimism. we built a beautiful life together for 7 years. heh, a relationship that lasted longer than most people's undergraduate degrees, and probably involved just as much caffeine and existential dread.

i was madly in love with him. like "write your name in hearts all over my notebook" in love. but as the years progressed, things started to slowly stall. it wasn't like a telenovela drama where someone cheated with an evil twin. nah, it was more like watching paint dry, but the paint is your hopes and dreams.

it ended in may of 2021, and let me tell you, it felt like someone had ripped my heart out, stomped on it, and then tried to shove it back in upside down.

but you know what they say: when life gives you lemons, make a goddamn coquito and add extra rum. or in my case, make an album that'll have people ugly crying in their cars and loving every second of it, hopefully.

so here we are, mi gente. me, spilling my guts to you like we're at a sleepover, passing a bottle of cheap wine. (side note: anyone else miss sleepovers? just me? cool.)

get ready for a journey through heartbreak, self-discovery, and maybe a few terrible puns along the way. because if i can't laugh at my pain, what's the point of having a blog?