Late afternoon snack...

Langostinos from Argentina! Deeeelicious! Perfect with a glass of white wine.

Toilet Leak

My friend had a minor problem. A toilet leak. He's currently in Austria. Unfortunately the leak was quite big causing the toilet to overflow and head downstairs and also into his bedroom. What a disaster. If you zoom into the picture you can see that tube is spraying water. 

56.76 € later, a new one. Now lets see how much damage there will be to the hardwood floor. The worst part about a leak is not being home to discover you have one.  

Rain

Before. It hasn't rained here in weeks. I'm actually glad it will finally rain!

The calm after the 'storm'. It didn't rain that much but I wish it did. We could use some clean air. And the smell after a rainfall is just lovely. Fresh. Clean.

Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough scoops of heaven...

This is unconditional love. Perfect for all occasions: heartbreak, small treat, or just because. 

Red Cabbage with Apple

I finally tackled the cabbage tonight thanks to my friend in Toronto who sent me a nice recipe. Cabbage is not a common veggie in North American; only common recipe you'll find it in is coleslaw. But known to be very common as part of the Asian diet. Contains Vitamins A, C, E, B. Who knew. This recipe is delicious and easy to prepare...find it here. It was nice to try something new but perhaps next time I should look up a recipe before spontaneously buying groceries.

All chopped up...

Cooking with the white wine vinegar and the other ingredients.

Voila! Don't forget the glass of wine.

The Red Cabbage Saga

Last week I bought red cabbage and it's still sitting in the fridge...for two reasons...one: I don't know what to do with it...two: I haven't had time to cook. I still don't know what to do. This was my attempt to cook with new ingredients and a hint of colour to my food. Cabbage rolls? Maybe I should just stick to staple foods.The worst part is having to cook for yourself. What to do with so much cabbage?!

Stop eating animals...

The district of Gracia is always fighting/protesting/demonstrating for something...this is very GRACIA!

Oriental Rape

The title might catch a native english speaker off guard but it's really innocent in Spanish.
rape (en español) = monkfish 

Stack of 10€ Bills

This is what 1000€ in 10€ bills looks like. This was a small production for mobile tv that we were shooting at the beach.  

ad's on my blog

I'm a little bit shocked (perhaps the more accurate word is 'entertained') by the ads being placed on my blog...

Love ME

I guess everyone wants to be loved! Everybody loves somebody sometime...?

Viblioteca

This has become a regular hang out spot for me. It's a wine/cheese place off of Calle Verdi. They have an extensive selection of wines to choose from and a variety of cheese and other munchies. But so far I've just been going for the coffee and a place to do some quiet reading and soul searching. I will have to tap into my love for cheese and wine one of these days but until then I will continue going there and let my mind wander.

Austrial Airlines Commecial Spot - Symphony

This is a cool AD I found for Austrian airlines; very creatively done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asC-mqE25-M

TMB - waiting for the bus.

I guess to much partying for that fella...but looks like that lady really wants a seat!

BCN Fashion

Check out this new Youtube channe:

http://www.youtube.com/bcnfashion

A friend of mine is designing 10 pieces along with 2 other women for a fashion show this fall in Barcelona. The channel will follow and document the girls as they design and prepare for the show. It's all very exciting!!!

Make sure you subscribe to the channel to stay up to date with the progress.

Spanish small talk...

I made the mistake of asking our cleaning lady where she's been since I haven't seen her in about a month and whether she was on holiday. What I thought was small talk turned into a twenty minute conversation. She was clearly not on holiday. In fact she had to fly back home (Chile) because her father was having open heart surgery (corazon abierto), which took 8 hours. Her trip consisted of only that. gracias y adios, she repeated. That's all she did. She explained that the weather in Chile was hot but not too hot and her and her brother had no place to sleep except on the floor (suelo). I thought the woman was going to start crying. I'm sure I missed bits and pieces of the story but what an emotional journey for this woman. Well now she's back to work and hope she's at ease. Mind you her dad is 87 years old. Not bad at all. Oh and this conversation was fully in Spanish. Yikes!

Viva España!

Spain wins the world cup! That's old news. What happened after is perhaps making more press all over. Reporter Sara Carbonero while interviewing team captain Casillas, received a surprising and totally unexpected kiss from the team captain, live, on national television. Well I guess there's no more hiding it from the press. They are dating. One of the most sensual, spontaneous, emotional and some say romantic moments on TV this year, by far. Who needs a rom com. No doubt this will for sure further her career. It's moments like these that make me believe how amazing Spain and its people are. Full of love, character and life. Screw the press.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Y9cYmv-og

summer weekends

I love summer. So much life and so much love in the city like no other time of the year. The pants come off and the shorts come on (unless you're the infamous naked man. In that case everything comes off except tattoos. but good for him. He's got a penis. and he is proud! wooo hoo). For the rest of us, shoes off, flip flip flops on. This is summer in Barcelona. The city is just hustling with tourists and locals hoping for a glimpse of the sun and some eye candy. This Saturday my lovely Swedish friend and I started aimlessly walking down Passeig de Gracia (one of the biggest shopping streets) and found ourselves at Vincon, one of my favourite shops here. Although I can't afford anything, it's nice to look at. I call it the very expensive and designer IKEA. Everything you can imagine for your home and more. Cute things. Practical things. Comfortable things. Useless things. They've got it all. They also always have a unique window display that draws attention. We also managed to discover a small gallery inside. This is the store where dreams and ideas start to unfold of a life we may or may not have some where down the road. We continued walking to more shops and found our way at H&M. It's rebajas time. SALES SALES SALES. Also H&M pricing is much more to my liking at this point in my life. and the journey continued onwards to the beach. After a day of walking. What more could you want than a pitcher of Sangria while people watching and admiring the view. Priceless. mmm. Summer. I like.

Spiderman...lost?

I wonder if this was the evolution of the Statue of Liberty...

The current window display of Vincon. Photographs from BCN.

Louis Vuitton does South Africa.

1.5l of love. aka sangria.

Public Space Etiquette

People who know me know that I have a lot a lot a lot of patience. It takes quite a bit to tick me off. All I ask is for some common courtesy while in public spaces such as the bus or metro. This evenings bus ride is what prompted me to post this. I was sitting in the back next to three girls who decided to blast music from the cellphones. I think it's really cool that you have a cell phone and I think it's cooler that you have a cell phone that plays music. But honestly. Get some fucking earbuds (look i found some fruity ones to match your fruity taste). That's what they are made for. I don't need to hear what your listening to. Sure you think it's cool that Beyonce can put her hands up (up in the club) and that new girl thinks your love is her drug, but keep it to yourself. The bus is not a disco. Do you see disco balls? Do you see flashing lights (only in Kanye West's song)? Exactly. On top of that...you can't deeeeeeejay for SHIT. I mean FOR SHIT. So shut it. Or get some earbuds. Deal? Gracias y bon dia.