This is where I get to say anything I feel like saying and you get to agree with me.
We will also share stories and chocolate if you have any.
Naps are also encouraged, if shopping is out of the question.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween


They don't Trick or Treat here.
They don't have Goblins walking in the streets.
There are two Huge cemeteries here... the possibilities are there ...
Happy Halloween

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Hmmm ~ Sweden




I like the idea of Sweden in the Summer, don't you?

for more inspiration, look at kml design.

Summers here can be brutal. very hot, very dry or very humid and mosquitoes. . many mosquitoes.
Those who can, go stay at the beaches or in the cooler Southern region ... where the penguins live.
This summer, we have to think of somewhere to go too .. maybe not to hang out with the penguins, but definitely out of the city for a little while.
Too bad Sweden is so far ..



Saturday, October 23, 2010

A Plan

I have a plan. If it does not work, I will just do as much as possible with what is here and be content..or move.

I have decided to pitch this idea to The Husband. Maybe I should do it now, while I am sounding and looking my weakest and most pitiful. I have had some mystery illness that just hates to let go, leaving me weak and tired and not in the mood for anything but laying around and moaning quietly.
So .... our kitchen has a beam going across. It is painted white. I want to do something about that so it will look like the beam in the photo. We even have the French door !
I will keep our floor, I like it better anyway- it is ochre colored ceramic tile.. great big squares.
I have the black granite, the problem is the cabinets, mine are cherry.
I am going to see how it will look if I remove the doors, the interiors are all white. It might work.
The Husband will probably hate it.
Wish me luck !

Thursday, October 21, 2010

La Cocina




What do these kitchens all have in common ?
This photo of my kitchen was taken right after it was finished, it looks much more lived in now, with blue and white china on top of the cupboards and photos and things on the walls ...
Well, to begin with, they are all about the size of my living room and I want my much smaller kitchen to look just like them. As if I were able to change things, I am having a hard time deciding which I like best.
My cabinets are cherry. Formal looking.
The counters are black granite.
The walls are so pale a yellow that they just look beige and tired.
My appliances are stainless steel.
Now that my New Best Friend is the Painter, I am fiddling with the idea of colors and how to make the room look more friendly. Mine looks magazine ready but not cozy or light and inviting.. although on a cold night, it is not bad. OK, I take that back, it is cozy enough, but I want it lighter.




So what would you do ? Have the place painted a nice shiny white ? I have blue and white toile shades.. maybe toile seat cushings? Maybe a new apartment with a bigger kitchen ? What to do, what to do ..........

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Relapse

I have had a slight relapse and have put myself back to bed... hopefully I will see you soon. Besos !


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

No Longer Sick in Bed



Someone is so glad that I am no longer Sick In Bed.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Getting Better

I am getting better... finally ! I am going to the park with Pup and The Husband , Pup can do his Pup thing and I will sit quietly in the sun and soak in the warm air and hope tomorrow I am even better.
In the meantime, I am dreaming that this is where I could go in the Summer time.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Finally

                                                                                                                                      
BEFORE
AFTER
I am still sick but happy.
And today our housekeeper made the house sparkle, Pup was happy  ( he loves that woman)  and The Husband brought me armloads of flowers. I am happy with everything right now and feeling the tiniest bit better.
My goals now are to get completely well, 
and Go shopping.

I think that is reasonable, don't you ?

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Right now ...


Going on right now in my apartment: well, if it were not a Volkswagon commercial, it would be my bathroom being painted.
The bathroom door is closed. There was much sound of sanding and now it is mostly quiet, paint is being applied.
I had to get up at 8 am and even Pup resented it .. Now we are all just sitting around, waiting for It to be Over.
The Husband just got back from walking Pup and buying breakfast... he is such a good man.
I am still miserable , cough cough, hack hack... but might be improving...slightly.

Tonight's dinner .... ( there is not much to think about this morning, so while I wait for the pianter to get out of the bathroom, I will think about dinner)
Sorrentinos in Tomato Sauce.(which I would have to make)
or

Chinese
Hmmmmm.... Hot Chinese chicken soup !

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Let's all lie around and moan

When I'm sick, everyone wants to get into the act.
Let's all lie around and moan .. yeah...
Tomorrow is the Day ! Painter will be here (too early) in the morning and he has promised ( pinkie swearing was beyond my Spanish capabilities) but he did promise he will be finished and Out Of Our Lives tomorrow.


Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Memories from the Sick Mad Housewife

This is the lake in Central Park , in New York City.
When I met my husband , we went to Central Park all the time. We met in the fall, so imagine those trees full of autumn color and then all those leaves drifting down. Then winter came and my first winter in New York, a snow storm hit. A big one. There was also a taxi strike. We went with my husbands friend, who worked with musicians, to a Neil Young concert at Carnegie Hall..We walked across the park.
rateyourmusic. com
I got bored and we ended up going to sit in the Sound Truck with my husbands friend. When it was time to go home  there were no taxis but a lot of snow. Across the street, at a light, sat a limousine.  My husband asked him for a ride and so we were carried home in a lovely warm limo, instead of trudging through a snow  storm, late at night, in NYC.
When my babies were big enough to play in a big park, we took them to Central Park. We watched the children and adults, sailing their boats on the boat lake. 
My children climbed Alice and her friends, the statue in the park.
nyparks.gov
And today as I sit here, waiting to get over whatever this illness is ( South American flu bugs bite hard), I am remembering the day we walked in the park after a snow storm, there were no people around and the lake was frozen. And we walked across it. Now I look back and think to myself, how utterly insane were you and how crazy is that man you married !??
photo Steves digicam
I now live a block and a half from miles and miles of vast green parks. I am in a park every day , except today, cough cough .. And while we no longer have babies to take to the Park , to the Park Zoo, we do have a Pup who needs Park time, at least 3-4 times a day. Looking back, Parks had a big influence on our lives, where we lived, where we spent time, where our children were able to play as they grew up .. 
Life is indeed, a Walk in the Park.

Now I am going back to bed 
( I hope you liked the music, I have never heard of him but the music and the scenery grabbed my attention )

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Thoughts On a Rainy Day

On a Rainy day, ones thoughts turn to Other places. Or at least, mine do. 
I am not happy sitting indoors all day, waiting for the rain to stop. 
If I were somewhere else, I might get into a car, even if it were raining. 
But here, it is a taxi or walk. So I stayed home. 
If I were able to choose, somewhere else to be today, my thoughts turned to places I have seen lately that start my imagination going .. It might be time for me to learn a new language.. or even get back to the one I know best. If I still remember it.
Cinque Terre is awfully appealing, isn't it?
Florence does call to me .. 
But I can see myself sitting in the Place des Vosges, listening to that Opera singer who used to practice in front of the open window
I have always wanted to drive from Paris to the South and see the wild horses.
But then, sometimes , I just want to go Home.
Jason Hawks

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Color

A Blogger that I admire so very much, has had rooms painted and chosen wisely. I envy her .. not that she did it so much as that she chose wisely.
I pick colors often, we are always moving, renovating, changing our minds, and along with all that comes the need to chose a new paint color ... and I always seem to pick something that just doesn't look the way it should, it doesn't look anything like the little miniscule scrap of paper with the color sample on it, it looks darker, lighter, different, disappointing.
So now we have the painter coming on Monday to sand all his messy lumpy plastering that he did this past Monday and then he will paint the entire room ( really only the top half .. the rest is white tile and a mirror) and it has been decided that the color will be a semi-gloss white. Just plain white.
Now I worry ... what if he ( the man who may be color blind for all I know) choses a dingy grey-ish white.. or beige!! What if he says to himself, Mariano, this looks warmer than the white the Señora chose, I will get this one, it is not so White white.
And I will realize that night , when things are drying and no one is around to change it, that it is the Wrong color.
Who knew white would be so difficult?
There will be photos of my new bathroom when it is finished. You will know then if I made a mistake. Then we can all have a drink and decide how to fix things.. my next idea is black and white toile for the bathroom window shade. That will make any bad white paint job look better, no?


images CanadaHouse&Home

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Pretty Baubles !

  Do you like jewelry ? I love it. I love earrings and rings and wear bracelets all the time in the summer. 
I wear necklaces sometimes, I generally get stuck on one favorite and all the others sit in their boxes and wait for me to notice them ... me ! me ! they shout as I open the drawer, I try to pay attention to each and every one but I usually go to the Favorite. 
I am sure there is plenty of resentment in that drawer, no one likes The Favorite. 
And then I make my own so there are those too. 
It gets quite crowded and boisterous some days in that jewelry drawer !
A long time ago, I used to go shopping for presents, with The Husband.. for an anniversary, Christmas , whatever occasion could be celebrated with a piece of jewelry. 
And then one day as we walked down the street................. we discovered    LAZARO

It seems like such a long long time ago, in a land faraway, a younger me met that young man in New York City. 
The Husband and I were just browsing around the shops in Soho , we saw the small store front full of unique and beautiful jewelry. We were charmed and delighted by the young owner and designer of the jewelry, Lazaro. 
 He made some of my best and most interesting pieces of jewelry , a ring with an ancient Greek face carved in carnelian .. rings for anniversary gifts, earrings, necklaces  that I still wear .. all these years later. 
And just by chance I saw a mention of Lazaro in the NYTimes and looked to see if it could by chance be That Lazaro and it is.
If you are ever in NYC, in Soho, go look. Window lick. Enjoy.

(this is not a paid announcement)
All images from LazaroSoho.com

Saturday, October 2, 2010

What is it with men ?!!

Why do they think because they don't need a toilet to sit on , that it is OK to piss on a tree in the park in broad daylight with people everywhere.... People with children playing, people having picnics ( talk about an appetite killer) ... People walking their dogs ... yeah, that would be me.

I am not a prude. Well, maybe I am a little but not about most things. When my son was really small, he had to go and we were hiking and there were no bathrooms for miles. I let him pee in the woods.
Is this my punishment ? I get to live in a city that allows this in public parks?

I might be cranky today. Or I might be rightfully annoyed.

What do you think ?

And the morning started out beautifully with a fantastic concert by the Munich Philharmonic led by Zubin Mehta and the day was perfect, not too warm, not too cool and a pretty sky overhead.
Photos later.. of the sky, not the park pisser, I promise.

Friday, October 1, 2010

A Good Weekend ahead

Dear Diary, Today was a lovely day, cloudy but dry and a bit breezy , perfect walking weather.
After visiting a nearby Museum, we took Pup to the bakery then home to rest .. we walk miles a day and by the end of the day, we are all ( Pup's included) ready for rest.
Resting, whether it is sitting at a nice desk in a pretty room with the computer and some good music, or on the big sofa with a lap top and a television both going .. some people are SO good at multi-tasking!
Pup is usually wherever I am .. at the present, he is on the bed. snoring.
Tomorrow we are going to 9 de Julio, where Zubin Mehta will be conducting an orchestra for an audience of 8,000 plus people. Two of those 8,000 people will be The Husband and Me.
At the Obelisk, imagine, 8,000 people seated and listening to Beethoven and Tchaikovsky ,  Strauss, Bruch and Brahms !
And then on Sunday, Chinatown..
Sounds like a good plan, no?