Everybody changes

We saw this as a part of a meeting at work on Friday about using music in the classroom. These kids from New York P.S. 22 are amazing-the swaying, the head bops, the chest hitting-they are really feeling the music! Tthe perfect song for life as a middle schooler, right? (Go to Youtube to see more like Bjork, The Cure, Coldplay...)

1080

If you want to learn how to cook Spanish style, there is no better book than this one: 1080 Recetas de cocina by Simone Ortega. Everything is in there. I'm soo excited to finally add it to our cookbook shelf. (p.s.-it is available in English too: 1080 Recipes)

red plastic glasses

I've really got to get new glasses. I've been procrastinating. And, I've also got some new inspiration. Maybe red plastic frames? J crew (above) and Chanel have some. Do or don't? What do you think?

Churros and Chocolate

Yummm. Check this out~courtesy of Cup of Joe and friends.

time for some sun

Too cute. Boulders Beach African Penguin Colony. Cape Town, South Africa. (from Google Images)

Writing Good English: A talk by William Zinsser to foreign students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism | The American Scholar

Diego shared this article with me about learning to write journalism for non-native speakers. I thought this portion comparing English and Spanish was quite nice. If you teach English check out the rest of the article for lots of good information about the history and style of English. Or, if you just love words check it out too.

Writing Good English: A talk by William Zinsser to foreign students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The American Scholar: "Spanish also comes with a heavy load of beautiful baggage that will smother any journalist writing in English. The Spanish language is a national treasure, justly prized by Spanish-speaking people. But what makes it a national treasure is its long sentences and melodious long nouns that express a general idea. Those nouns are rich in feeling, but they have no action in them—no people doing something we can picture. My Spanish-speaking students must be given the bad news that those long sentences will have to be cruelly chopped up into short sentences with short nouns and short active verbs that drive the story forward. What’s considered “good writing” in Spanish is not “good writing” in English.
So what is good English—the language we’re here today to wrestle with? It’s not as musical as Spanish, or Italian, or French, or as ornamental as Arabic, or as vibrant as some of your native languages. But I’m hopelessly in love with English because it’s plain and it’s strong. It has a huge vocabulary of words that have precise shades of meaning; there’s no subject, however technical or complex, that can’t be made clear to any reader in good English—if it’s used right"

Primavera

It's been awhile since the sun came out here in Santiago- making for the perfect time to dream about the terrace this spring and summer with a little inspiration from Mexico. Bright printed table cloths. Tiny tin-can cactus. And potted tomatoes, onions, peppers and cilantro for fresh pico de gallo all season.

Boy style

Every now and then Diego looks over at what I'm oohing, ahhing, and snikering about while im checking out the daily blogs. When he saw this the other day while I was glancing at Design*sponge he was inspired. He had a little moment enjoying the floors, the wood, the ceilings, the space, the typewriter...the perfection. He's hoping that one day he can have a space like this. ;)
And talking about boys...si hablas español check out his blog, where he will ponder his new found life in "el paro" (yup...he's newly unemployed-but ever so motivated about the new possibilities this is opening up for us! Hello freelance journalism and doctoral thesis!)

30 euros

There's a new cheap flight from A Coruña to Amsterdam...30 euros each way! Maybe a perfect 1st anniversary trip? Bikes, canals, and tulips.

música finale

And...not to leave you waiting too long, from Galicia a bit of indie and some more traditional sounds from The Homens and Roi Casal.




Ps...Isn't Galician bealutiful? Galician (gallego-portugués) was the language of the arts in the middle ages and King Alfonso X used it to write his poems.

música 2

Bet you can't guess where they're from...



Arizona Baby...from Valladolid, Spain.

música

Time for a bit of music from Spain aside from Flamenco. To start a band from Mallorca singing in Catalan: Antonia Font.

best make up ever

Yves Saint Laurant-Touche Eclat

I got it for my wedding and it's worth every expensive penny-although I do try to pick it up at the duty free shops in the airport where it costs about 10 euros less!

Umbrellas

I didn't get to see the Golden Globes haven't even seen the list of nominees or winners. But, I saw the link to the red carpet shots and had to have a peek...and I must say I love the umbrellas. So cute!

letra=letter

I'm on my way to my translation certificate...first test down, three more to go! (Isn't this alphabet great? I found it via google images on this blog that includes the flicker slideshow link and the interesting story of where they came from...I thought they were wooden blocks when I first saw them!)

From Galicia with love

Aside from the Inditex brands (Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, etc.) Galicia also is home of another important brand, Adolfo Dominguez. The prices are a bit higher making it a little less accessible than Zara, but the looks are well made and chic with the always appreciated Spanish eye for details in accessories. I stopped in today and found a quite a few cute things I'd love to pick up if there were a few more euros in the bank. Check out more at the website(where these photos come from)-specifically the brand U for the younger crowd.

2010

Here's to a new year filled with love, happiness, creativity, good clothes, good books, and good food!

someday...

when we have a little more money (or craigslist) we are going to buy a new couch that we can both lay on without falling off and that won't give us back aches. And when we do get that couch one like this would be nice. (IKEA- kramfors sofa)

SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!

This is what we woke up to today...SNOW in Santiago!!

Baby, it's cold inside.

I can't really complain about our piso-maybe it's old, humid but really it's perfect and cute and full of potential. But, it is cold. We dont have central heat. We have blankets and fleece jackets and at least three heaters going at once. We also use Butano-Butane gas to heat our water and cook and sometimes in the middle of the shower the tank runs out...like today shampoo in hair. When I saw these commercials last year they hit home-I guess I'm not alone.



ha...I love the penguin in the bedroom.

Ahh. Cada mañana es lo mismo. Vivo en la era glacial. Ya no aguanto este frío. Me cambio a gas natural.
Ahh. Every morning is the same. I'm living in the ice age. I can't stand the cold. I'm getting natural gas. (sounds totally lame in English!)



Ahhh. EL agua caliente se ha ido. Ya no me puedo aclarar. Y ahora por cuarto duros me cambio a gas natural.
Ahh...there's not hot water left. I can't rise myself off. And now for just a couple of bucks, I'm getting natural gas.

by the way...

Speaking of sandwiches, maybe Spain's sandwiches aren't world famous, but tostas are incredible. A crusty, thick, ot piece of bread with tomato, olive oil, cheese or whatever else you can imagine. We've been looking for tomato marmelade all over Santiago to play with its flavors on tostas or with meats. We spent some time searching for it on New Year's Eve at the Corte Ingles Gourmet shop, at Hipercor, at Eroski with no luck-then as should happen yesterday we came across it at Dia%-Spain's version of a discount supermarket. We tried it today on warm tostas with a bit of jamon serrano and the tomato marmalade was perfect a little sweet with the freshly cut, salty ham (from our kitchen! We have a pata de jamon in the house!)

Sandwiches

Mmmm. I love sandwiches. Any form of food between bread is fabulous. Arepas. Tacos. Burritos. Gyros. Paninis. PB&J. I can't get enough. And when I saw this book 'wichcraft by Top Chef pal, Tom Colicchio, I fell in love. It's on my wishlist.

Oxford

I got these shoes a few months back...and love everything about them, the wooden heel, the faded brownish-grey color, and they were made in Spain! and ps...rebajas begin again tomorrow!

Happy New Year!!

     I haven't posted in quite a while...busy with the holidays and feeling a little guilty that many of the project dreams from last year never came to be. I can A:blame it on the crazy work schedule or B:add it to the list of things to do this year. I think I'll chose B. 

    It's the last night of Navidad here in Spain tonight. The three wise men are arriving into the city right about now, and the kiddies are all sooo excited to get their presents tomorrow morning. I'm getting a little excited too...there are a few new presents under the tree! At first the thought of going out and getting more presents is overwhelming...more presents, more dinners, more party! But, as we are sitting at home tonight relaxing together, I'm getting into this looooong holiday season. And, it was pretty fantastic to have the extra time to take a whirlwind roadtrip to Lisbon to start the new year. 

May this new year be filled with love, happiness, creativity and good meals!