#19 Sketch daily

Have I done it? No. Not really. Not as much as I wanted.

Do I keep on trying? Yes. Often. It is frustrating, but inspiring at the same time.

I did not tease you here to look at a half accomplished item. I am not THAT self centered... Instead I have something new that I am trying, something that I am liking a lot, something that reminds me daily of the beauty of the world around us.

365 Days in Color. This is my daily dose of happiness. This is another way of sketching. I really, really, really like this project.

I am keeping a record. You can sneak a peek if you want.

Don't ever forget to keep your eyes open, and your camera ready.

#7, #30 and # 41

I am finally feeling one hundred percent myself and I have some free time to post on my neglected blog!

I am happy to report that the list is a never-ending source of smiles, and that, of course, makes me really happy! November has been so far a very productive month for the list as we celebrated Fernando's birthday on the 8th, and I got inspired by a couple items on it.

We planned and schemed, we wanted to surprise our dear Fernando with something pretty special. What to do? Where to take him? What to cook? Circumstances decided for us on several fronts, as he arrived at 8:00 AM local time, after a 24 hour LONG trip from the States. We were not going anywhere, we were going to take it easy and just enjoy each other's company. I decided to cook a Spanish inspired meal: a great Paella (overflowing with seafood) and Galician Octopus (#41), with some wine and a crème caramel for dessert. Not bad, I tell you, not bad. The Octopus is easy to cook, as long as you buy it fresh and clean from the seafood vendor you don't have to worry about a thing. Just boil, boil, boil (2 hours) and then, cut, cut, cut into little pieces. Cool, season, and let sit for a while... delicious!

When it came down to what to give him for his birthday, we wanted something original and unexpected. You know, something that he doesn't need, something that he has not even imagined... Well, the idea came to me on one of those beautiful clear days of fall while watching glider planes lazily travel the wide blue sky. A ride on a glider plane! The Alps and the lakes from a birds-eye point of view! We had our gift! He was surprised, yes he was! #7 accomplished!

#30 is half done... my half, that is. I love dancing; it is in my blood. My boys? Not so much. I guess I am the true Colombian of the three. On Fernando's birthday I managed to get them to join in the fun, if only for a while. I think this one is going on the list again, I am not giving up on them and the fun that is dancing together.

What it is

It is beautiful at the moment, a mild, sunny, blue skies kind of beautiful.

It is interesting, reading "The Lost Symbol" and learning about things hiding in plain sight.

It is colorful, participating in 365 Days in Color, opening my eyes and really looking.

It is intelligent, listening to The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.

It is busy, starting my new art class, complete with a companion blog.

It is fun, learning how to play tennis, and applying myself to something different.

It is creative, the series of drawings I am making inspired by my surroundings.

It is informative, travel guides I write for ItalyItalia.

It is lovely, baking with Nicolas, and watching favorite old movies.

It is wonderful, having good friends for a visit.

It is exciting, that my "sis" has asked me to be her son's Godmother!

This is what it is.

One day (#28)

Remember the list? I do. Every day. December is almost here, and I have so many more things to do...

Well better not to think much about it, and just keep on doing. As I said before, the list will change, and it will grow, and it will diminish, and it will be a reminder, but what the list will never be is an obligation. And with that out of my system, here comes #28: Cronicle a day in our life with pictures.

This is just a day, not a "I will remember forever" kind of day, it is just a simple day. This is a Sunday in our home, in our town. The loving fabric of our lives.

Good morning my sweet dog. We are up early on Sundays, let the boys sleep.

Sunday's breakfast always includes pancakes, good coffee, and today we have some leftover sour cream cake. Yum!

All ready for a sweet family breakfast.

Nicolas and I reviewed his math, and he explained to me what he had to do. I am glad I was able to help!

Then we were off to the town's flea market, always an opportunity...

for pictures, and treasures...

even if you don't buy anything.

We came home to eat a light lunch of pasta alla amatriciana, salad, bread, and off course vino. All that spice sure makes you thirsty!

While the boys watched Formula-1 (they like cars, what can I say)

I went to the computer to write some emails, and somehow I ended up on Facebook. Suddenly an hour had gone by...

Did you know that pasta is a runner's fuel? A run by the lake with Fernando... I should be more specific: we run at the same time, but we don't run together... I can't keep up with his pace... Moca keeps me company.

Apperitivo while watching the sunset, then arepas made by Fernando, some reading and Angels and Demons to bring the night to a close -with more vino, off course.

Some things I have learned lately (a list of sorts)

Even after three straight days of rain the sun will come out and shine on you.


When your butcher tells you "brutto ma buono" (ugly but good) referring to the cut of meat you are buying, you better listen because you will cook the best Arrosto di Vitello (Veal roast) ever!

There are treasures to be found everywhere. My latest? this beautiful Alessi fruit holder which I found at the second hand store for a fraction of its price! It was new and in its original box!


You can laugh yourself silly after cooking disasters, or so I have been taught by Julia Powell of the now famous Julie & Julia. A fun read for foodies and bloggers alike.

Running with friends is the best therapy one can have.

Listening to good music while browsing Flickr and choosing favorites is the ultimate creative buster.

My dog dreams of running.

I am doing

Trying to find my green thumb, as my sunflowers are dying and my herb garden is looking sad... It is hot here.
Reading "Demasiados Héroes" by Colombian writer Laura Restrepo. I loved her previous novel "Delirio", but her latest is leaving me unsatisfied.
Starting "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, I am ready to fall for it. So ready!
Listening over and over again to Radiolab. I highly recommend this particular addiction...
Listening to Federico Aubele. Dreamy.
Planning our anniversary trip to Spain, and looking forward to our hotel, and the food we'll eat.
Crossing items of my list. #38 Perfect my mojito recipe. DONE! Did I mention is is hot here? So, as a token of my appreciation to you my faithful readers, here is my very own (tried and tested) mojito:

BEATRIZ' MOJITO:


Fresh mint leaves (about 6 or 7 per glass)
Lime (juice of half a lime per glass)
Simple sugar syrup (1 oz per glass) recipe bellow.
White rum (2 oz per glass)
Crushed ice
Club soda

Muddle the mint leaves together with the lime juice. Be careful not to destroy the leaves, just break them slightly to release their flavor.
Add the simple syrup and rum. Stir.
Add ice up to 2/3 of the glass.
Add the club soda to top it off. Stir again.
ENJOY!

Simple sugar syrup:
1 Cup water
1 Cup sugar

In a small pan, bring water and sugar to a low boil. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until sugar disolves. Cool down and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep up to 2 weeks.

Outdoors

YES! We have been spending a lot of our time outdoors. The weather is at its best; the rain has finally left, leaving behind a beautiful carpet of green and flowers everywhere. Our little yard is getting spruced, the table, the chairs, the canopy ready for the long afternoons. On earth day we planted some flowers, geraniums on the balcony, bright colorful flowers by the kitchen window, and I got my long awaited sunflowers too! I get to cross # 17 from the list!


We also splurged on two lounge chairs for the garden. Now we do as the Italians do, we sunbathe every chance we have and clearly we are getting a little bit of our Californian color back. I was fading away to snow colored whiteness... winters are long around here... But Spring is here to stay, unlike last year when everybody was talking about having an early winter- or Dutch weather- when it did not stop raining for the whole month of May, and then it kept on raining for the whole month of June... Not something I want to remember.

The chairs are placed facing our gorgeous view of the Swiss Alps, which can be a bewitching scene. I am making mojitos to celebrate the weather (#38), so far I am buying the mint at the market, but come the new moon, we will be planting our herb garden (#34) to keep us stocked for a while. I only wish I had an ice dispenser in my fridge... HA! Keep on dreaming, she says!

Reading Sense and Sensibility, and wondering how things are going to work out for all involved. Listening to Macaco and loving it. Getting ready for my trip to Barcelona where I will meet with four of my childhood friends. Loving life and running.

#3 and #12, and a book giveaway!

The list keeps on providing me with material to write about. If I had known this before, I could have made so much progress with my little blog. I am happy to report that I keep crossing items off the list; days pass, before I know it I will be celebrating another birthday, and it will be time to make a new list! I better hurry then...

#3 Read a Jane Austen book: Emma was the chosen one, as it was a free download on eReader the first time I tried ebooks. Two things come to mind: 1) How was it that it took me sooooo long to read a Jane Austen book? And 2) How was it that it took me sooooo long to try ebooks?

I do not have to write about the sweet time lost between the pages Bits of Emma. I enjoyed the multilayered descriptions of a place and time long gone, the humorous criticism of tradition, the attention to detail, and the keen development of all characters. Next will be Pride and Prejudice, I am sure I will enjoy it too.

I must sidetrack here and write about my ebook experience. I never thought I would like to read an ebook, not in a million years! I love books, I love how they feel, how they smell, I love the tactile experience of reading. I have books all over the house, we are big fans of libraries and bookstores, and we are known to spend our money carelessly when it comes to the printed word. Yet, I am a fan of technology, and I am practical too. So, here I am, in Italy, with a very limited access to books in English or Spanish, then my friend Debbie tells me about downloading documents onto her iphone, and soon after this I read this post by Sara Rosso, and I just had to try. It was easy! completely and utterly easy! I created and account with eReader, then I browsed their free books, downloaded two of them, and in less than 15 minutes I was reading- reading on my iphone, mind you. The book goes wherever I go, it is not bulky, it doesn't weight, and I am saving a tree.

I will not stop buying real books; there are some things you cannot get from a digitalized copy of a book. But I am also paying for ebooks now. I like to have the two options, it makes sense to me. If you want to know more about ebooks, formats, or anything geek related, you MUST visit Sara's When I Have Time blog, where she shares all her knowledge in all things technological. Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy fame. Check her blog, but I suggest you come back and finish reading, as I am giving away a book.

#12 Read an unlikely book. Unlikely to me, at least. I have become part of the huge parade of followers of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. All my friends with daughters were talking about the books as the best thing since chocolate covered coffee beans, my facebook was alive with all the talk about the teenage vampire, you would have thought they were talking about Mr. Darcy! I decided to check what all the buzz was about, and after two downloads and many long nights, I am definitely smitten. I can identify with Bella in all her wanting. This unlikely heroine will break the rules with passion, she will follow her heart to a larger, unknown, more interesting world. I can hear echoes of her in my past, if not my future. There, I wrote it out loud. No shame in liking an unlikely book.

And finally for the book giveaway. Who by Fire by Diana Spechler is one book that you won't be able to put down. I first read about it on this post at Bleeding Espresso, and I was intrigued. I bought the book in the States with the idea to donate it to the now defunct Sisterhood of the Traveling Books, and I truly want someone else to enjoy this story of family, religion, and humor. If you want to win, please leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. CST (Italy time) on Friday, March 20, 2009. I will mail this book anywhere. It is time to de-lurk!

Happy reading!

#9 Run a half marathon in Italy

Remember the list? I get to cross a big one off the list: running a half marathon in Italy!


Back in January when I wrote my list, a half marathon was a safe item to accomplish as I have been running one a year for the last three years. What I did not know then, was that Heidi, my running partner, had set herself the challenge to run a full marathon this year. So yes, I am trilled that we ran a beautiful race, that the weather was gorgeous, and that I had great company (my husband Fernando ran it too), but this race was only the half-way mark! We are training to run a full marathon in May! What about that? I think I should give me extra-points!


We ran the Lago Maggiore Half, which is a beautiful run if I ever saw one. We started in Stresa, the charming town on the shore of the lake, with a gorgeous view of the borromean islands, and the snow covered mountains in the background. The sun was shining, and the wind took a day off for us. Fernando is a faster runner than we are, so we did not run together, but Heidi and I kept a good pace for 12 kilometers. I had to slow down a little as I was not feeling one hundred percent well, but I finished the race!


It is a wonderful life.

42 things I will like to do before I turn 43

Inspired by the amazing Andrea and her love of lists, I have decided to make my own list.

These are things that I love to do, or that I wish I could do, or that I dream to do. This list is like a sketch of the year to come; it will change, and morphe, and deconstruct itself.

I am screaming my wishes into the wind, and by doing so, I am.


1. Finish "the painting" for Fernando. BTW the picture above is his.
2. Teach Nicolas some YO-YO tricks.
3. Read a Jane Austen book.
4. Send a handmade postcard a month. (If you want to be in the receiving end of this project, leave a comment on this post.)
5. Visit il Giardino dei Tarocchi, the monumental project by artist Niki de Saint Phalle in Tuscany.
6. Bake bread.
7. Surprise Fernando.
8. Handprint some pillow covers -inspired by the fantastic Lena Corwin and her book Printing by Hand.
9. Run a half marathon in Italy.
10. Print my "good" photos, on good paper, frame them and hang them.
11. Frame my friends' artwork, so we can enjoy it.
12. Read an unlikely book.
13. Wordpress my blog!!!
14. Make gnocci from scratch.
15. Go to Morocco.
16. Make another stop motion movie with Nicolas.
17. Plant sunflowers.
18. Write the storyline for a child's book.
19. Sketch daily.
20. Learn how to take pictures ttv.
21. Cook with Nicolas once a week.
22. Use Rosetta Stone to learn french.
23. Take another ceramics class.
24. Cook melcocha with Fernando and Nicolas.
25. Go hiking near Monte Rosa.
26. Cook rabbit.
27. Organize my music library.
28. Cronicle a day in our life with pictures.
29. Organize my art lessons in a notebook.
30. Dance often with my boys.
31. Watch La Dolce Vita
32. Learn how to knit.
33. Go to La Scala.
34. Grow a herb garden.
35. Give Yoga a try, once more.
36. Declutter.
37. Reconnect with friends.
38. Perfect my mojito recipe.
39. Solve the bathroom window "problem."
40. Teach Nicolas about his ancesters.
41. Cook pulpo a la Gallega (Galician octopus.)
42. Visit ROME.