Incredible

This summer I read What is the What, an incredible novel by Dave Eggers about the life of a lost boy, telling his memories while he struggles in his new life in the states. I haven't cried so much in a long time. I was moved to see this story of a lost boys returning to Sudan as a man and hear his struggle with purpose, culture, and the future.

Thanksgiving...

Not being home for Thanksgiving it's funny the things you miss...

-waking up late to the smells and sounds of mom in the kitchen

-wearing PJs all day and channel surfing between holiday parades all morning

-searching for the deals that we aren't going to get in Black Friday ads(well, we've gone once or twice and man was it worth it! haha)

-eating the second warmed up helping of everything at about 7pm on the couch watching some marathon on cable.

-baked beans all week(my mom's recipe is the best-similar to these dark molasses beans...mmmm)

Miss you Mom and Michelle!! Happy Thanksgiving.

a bunch of flowers...

Whoa...Stella McCartney got a garden (complete with a house, tepees and galloping horses) as an

anniversary present. Nice. See more photos here.

stockings and totes

I'm thinking about making felt stockings as presents this year, filled with some sweets and maybe a book, it would be a nice surprise here on Christmas Day as the stocking tradition doesn't exist. If I were back in the USA these tote-stockings are a great idea. Better than a basket too!

Bling

December in Spain's holiday season is all about golden luxury-Freixenet Cava always has a golden holiday commercial, Ferro Rocher golden wrapped chocolates are everywhere as the luxe of the luxe of holiday sweets, and Elle's December issue cover features actresses dressed in golden Swarovski crystals. Elle's cover-Yay or Nay?

Gafas

I finally got new glasses!!

World Heritage Gems

Flamenco, Cataluyan human towers (Castellets), and Mallorcan Christmas song (Canto de la Sibila) just made it into the books as cultural gems of World Heritage. We all know (and probably love-I know I do-flamenco), but check out the other two...impresionante!

(Notice that a little kid climbs all the way to the top! It makes me soooo nervous!!)

(The tradition dates back to the Middle Ages)

Sapphire

William and Kate are engaged! I have to admit I love a royal wedding and the British royals have a special place in my heart since Lady Di is my namesake. I love that William gave his lady his mom's huge sapphire ring. Gemstone engagement rings are lovely, do you think this will start a trend?

ps...next week's Hola is a must...the royal engagement and Paulina Rubio's baby boy...hehe. We all need some escape from reality, right?

Rooftops

I love rooftops. Maybe because in my hometown we had more treetops to gaze at (not a complaint! Wouldn't change that for the world!) But I love do love rooftops too, and the these French rooftops are so dreamy! Look at the angles! They're like a storybook.

Puddles

It rained and rained and rained buckets all weekend, perfect timing for blog posts about stylish rain boots popping up lately. I got out my rubber riding boots to go out on Saturday night and the bars were afloat with other cute rubber rain boots, some bright, others with golden button details. I've been thinking about getting some more (it rains a lot here in Santiago). If only I could afford some Burberry rain boots. Have you seen them?? I want them all, but I'll just keep my eyes open for some cute red plaid ones at the traditional boot shops around the city (or put some metal details on a traditional pair? Would it work?)

Film Fest

It's that time of year again...time for Cineuropa! So excited to get out of work at 8 a few nights a week so we can see a few of the films featured this year!

Tree Time

I would love to spend an afternoon reading in one of these.

(details at BlackEiffel)

Why?

The Real Academia-the experts on the Spanish language who define grammar and vocabulary for the millions of Spanish speakers-have recently announced a few controversial changes to the Spanish language:the loss of accents on some words, like sólo-which will now only be solo. But more troubling for Spanish speakers around he world the change of the letter Y-before called "y greiga" and now called "YE". Ye??? Now ye know.

Gomera

I was watching a Spanish travel show last night and learned about the tiny island in the Canary Islands called Gomera. It's famous for avocados and bananas (I could live there forever with that diet) and other typical dishes, but I was most impressed to learn that it is home to a language of whistles! The terrain is mountainous, the people were goat herders and so to communicate from one peak to the next they whistled. The whistles even have a defined phonetics and it are taught to the children at school. Amazing. Enjoy the videos below, the first in English, the second in Spanish.

Beginners

One thing that still surprises me in Spain is how people dress their babies. No babies-r-us here-but, as we've seen before, 1) trenches and fur vests at Zara kids or 2)dressing babies in clothes so classic they could easily have been worn by the babies grandparents 60 years ago (or by their grandparents today but in a different size). Spanish baby style even makes the Sartorialist.What do you think?

The Way

Hollywood has been in town to honor the Galician roots of Martin Sheen and his son Emilio Estevez. Their family (Martin's dad) is from a small town in Galicia. It's not the first time they've been in town, a year or so ago Mr.Sheen was in researching for the film, The Way, which they made about the Camino de Santiago and filmed on the pilgrimage. Last night they premiered the film in Santiago and tonight they are off the premiere in Madrid. The Camino looks incredibleand I love that they've filmed it to honor their family.

Change of plans

Alas...our escape to the country was foiled, and we ended up being in Santiago all weekend (though it wasn't nearly as bad as we had expected-and paid off!). Saturday the Pope came through, high in his Popemobile. He passed by just up the street-so about five minutes before he arrived I headed out and got this picture as he sped by. Then we went to IKEA in A Coruña-as always it was packed packed and we had to wait and wait in lines, but we did end up getting a new living room!! They finally had our sofa (Kivik) and we got a new chair and coffee table! I can't wait to get it all put together and spend an evening on it! Pictures to come. One question though...how have your Ikea experiences been? Do you always have to wait weeks for an item to be in stock? We keep having to go back and forth because a structure is in but the cover isnt, or vice versa. Have you had the same problem?

Tiny things...

I love and quiero all of the cutiecute things that madrileña Blanca Gomez sells in her Etsy shop, Cosas Mínimas. So happy and simple. A framed print would be a lovely present.

For the weekend

The Pope is coming to town this weekend, so most of us Compostelanos (yes, I feel like I can call myself that now!) are heading our of town-although they are saying that there are still 20% vacancies in the hostels and hotels this weekend-due to the prices. Although a part of me is curious to see the Pope, a get together in the country with the old woodstove, some ribs and chestnuts, and a few friends sounds even better. I'll be wearing some homemade fall accessories-elbow patches and a lovely fur scarf or fur funnel (I got Diego a knit funnel last year...it's soooo nice! And in fur, sooo Dr. Zhivago.). Hope it's chilly!

Framed

We finally put something above the sofa...the family portrait project has begun! Next step print out lovely natural black and white shots of the family (we've framed some colorful old prints and photos for now). We also finally framed the print of an antique map of Paris for the entry. I'd love to find an antique map of Spain or Galicia too.

And speaking of frames...fingers crossed that this week I finally buy new glasses!

Almodovar on Broadway

I was watching the film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown on Version Española a Saturday night program that brings the directors and actors of a film to a roundtable discussion before and after the film (I love to hear their opinions and anecdotes). I've been getting hooked on the program, recently watching Los lunes al sol and El juego del ahorcado two films you should add to your to see list. As I was watching I was surprised to hear that Almodovar will be on Broadway! Nervous Breakdown has been transformed into a musical...seems perfect. What's your favorite Almodovar film?