This weekend...a little late.

Strolling through Palermo.

Horserace.

Gorgeous trees letting the light in.

Jacaranda.

Weekends in Buenos Aires have a magical way of flying by and dragging on at the same time.
I wouldn't trade them for anything.
Over the weekend we...

Went to the Gran Premio horse race where I ate kettle corn and lost a 20 peso bet on a horse named El Bullanga.

Had a long brunch with fresh squeezed orange juice and architectural sketches on placemats.

Started and finished The Sun Also Rises. (How had I not read this before?)

Visited the barrio chino for peanuts, tofu and hot sauce.

Since we last spoke...

We traveled to Mexico for a lovely wedding.

I've given a eulogy at the funeral of my brilliant, adorable grandfather.

We've packed and moved out of our Phoenix apartment.

I've swam in the Atlantic ocean and eaten at my favorite restaurant in SF.

Two grandmothers have been visited and the best of friends have made me laugh.

I've witnessed my mom's uncontrollable giggle fits, drank beers with my dad, and taken a roadtrip with my brother.

Oh, and we moved to Buenos Aires.

It's been a crazy rollercoaster these last few weeks.

I'm so glad to be here in Argentina, and am trying to soak up every. single. minute.

Over the weekend...

We barbequed with good friends.

Went to bed early.

Stayed out entirely too late.

Treasure hunted in thrift stores.

Rode bikes late at night.

Prayed that our car's A/C would miraculously start working when PHX hit 110. (Yep, that didn't work.)

Floated around the pool looking up at the light reflected off the water and dancing on the orange trees.

Red bird of paradise.

Happy Monday!

Do you hear that? It's my heart fluttering.

Oh, me.

Last night I bought a big airplane ticket.

To a big, beautiful faraway city.

Kev and I will be spending this fall in Buenos Aires.

From August to January.

While he studies, I'll be working. Very remotely.

We've rented a sunny little apartment and are settling all of the details now.

August 6th can't come soon enough.

Buenos Aires. via weheartit.

When treehuggers live in hot places...

We survive the heat sans A/C for as long as humanly possible.

Apparently, this is too long for wine.

A bottle of '67 Rioja that we'd been saving slow cooked in the desert.

And when the climate gives you bad wine...
...you make tinto de verano.
(This is a classy way of saying wine + Sierra Mist)

Much more refreshing for dining al fresco anyways.

Last night's dinner + tinto de verano + gorgeous night weather.

Beauty in the face of poverty.

This is an art project taken on by two Dutch gentlemen in the 'O Morro' favela outside of Rio di Janeiro.

What a beautiful way of giving the people another reason to be proud of where they come from.

Over the long weekend...

We marched for human rights in Phoenix.

Drove to Tucson and stayed with a friend at the Rattlesnake Ranch.

Hiked the desert at sunset.

Visited the San Javier Mission, Nogales and AZ wine country.

Grilled and toasted the day outside under sparkling lights.

Inhaled a heavenly slice of banana creme pie at my favorite Tucson hotel.

March against SB 1070. A stream of people four miles long.

Tucson desert hiking.

San Javier Mission.

Mural at the Nogales border.

Wine tasting.

If only all weekends were three days long.

I want to be remembered...

On Monday I read the most beautiful tribute to Margaret Moth, a woman I had never heard of.
She was a camerawoman for CNN in the world's warzones. She was a camerawoman before there were camerawomen. She was gutsy, funny and full of life. I cried as I read what her colleagues had written as a tribute to this trailblazing woman. If people remember me in any of the ways that Margaret was described, I will have led a successful life.

In this lifetime...

Northern Lights found here.

Bioluminescent beach via www.ohjoy.org.

I would love to spend an evening or more under the Northern Lights, and go for a night swim in bioluminescence.

Both are on my life goals list, and both seem so magical and otherworldly.

Over the weekend...

Bougainvillea + Sunshine

shadowy self portrait + wild flowers

up close

making friends with neighborhood cats

rain in the courtyard

flooded yard

This weekend gave us everything we needed.

Sunshine and long walks.

A rain-filled day perfect for snuggling in, eating soup and cleaning house.

We sent packages to good friends and went to see the new Alice in Wonderland. In 3-D. At the IMAX.

 I feel old admitting it, but it was pretty intense seeing anything that huge. Beautiful movie, though.

Love songs and percocet.

I hurt. My shoulder is full of surprises.
This song makes me so very happy, though.
It's the ultimate love song.

Today I am thankful for...

Chewy oatmeal raisin cookies with an extra dash of salt.

Water served at room temperature.

Man-scented deoderant.

The bougainvillea outside my window.

Roasted cauliflower.

My dad's visit to Phoenix over the weekend.

Lessons learned from sugery, part 2.

Today I washed my hair in the bath tub. With one arm glued to my side (more out of fear of intense pain, than due to actual intense pain) and a red keg cup in my free hand, I struggled with my innate clutziness. It was frustrating. I fought down my instinct to let the right hand assist the left. I dropped cupful after cupful of water on my matted hair until it was wet enough to add shampoo, then awkwardly lathered, one-handed. We were nearly out of conditioner, and extracting a quarter-sized blob into my hand felt pretty close to a miracle. That's when it struck me: I was kinda enjoying myself.

Lessons learned from surgery.

Shoulder, three days post-op

On Friday I had surgery. My first. I had no idea what to expect. Well, I expected pain. And that I would probably wish for my mom to be by my side (even though I'd reassured her countless times that I would be fine. Really, fine). The procedure would stitch up a cartiledge tear in my shoulder, hopefully giving me back a relatively pain-free yoga practice. It has been so long.

I did not expect to learn so much from this surgery, especially in a groggy, pain pill-filled somnambulant state.

Pulling off the gauze and pressure wraps from my surgery I was overwhelmed with nausea, light-headedness, chills. I was sore, sensitive, raw. My husband gently, gently unwound the bandages. Carefully he helped ease me into a warm bath and sponged the iodine and adhesive off of my aching shoulder. He clumsily tied my hair back and passed a warm washcloth across my face, easing the sleep out of my eyes. I sat, slumped, swollen, and weary while he took care of me. And he did the same all weekend--making me exotic varieties of smoothie when I didn't feel like eating real food, helping me carry the same four pillows back up and down the hallway as I grew restless sitting in one place, and never once complaining.

I did miss my mom this weekend. She is the most nurturing person I have ever met, and I am always happy to have her near. But this weekend I fully realized that marriage has made me a part of a new family. A family of two. With much love and much respect in our hearts, we will take care of each other through the painful times and the sweet times. And occasionally be surprised when they are one in the same.

Together at Last

This is my bike. She's a real champion. A friend.

She is strangely unnamed.

She's just joined me in the desert along with the rest of the belongings that we'd left languishing in storage until we had the time to drive them cross-country.

We finally moved into an apartment that is reasonably sized for two full grown human beings and has more than one closet.

I am ecstatic.

There are still boxes strewn about, but it already feels like home.

Zen Desk

Image via http://youaremyfave.tumblr.com/

This afternoon after fighting the procrastination and non-productivity beasts for a few hours, I cleaned off my desk at work. My inspiration came from this post by Gretchen Rubin, the happiness guru.

And you know what? She was right. I feel more calm and ready to tackle tomorrow's work day already.

Now on to unpacking that suitcase that I've been neglecting....

Beautiful Mind

Over the holidays, Kim Peek, the inspiration for the movie 'Rain Man,' passed away. His obituary in the New York Times has been popping up in my mind ever since. They said that Mr. Peek had "an astonishing skill that allowed him to read facing pages of a book at once — one with each eye — he read as many as 12,000 volumes. Even more remarkable, he could remember what he had read."

His story is a reminder that there is so much that we still don't know about the miracles and mysteries of life. And so much that we shouldn't judge.

And just like that...

Photo found here.

My blogging hiatus has come to an end.

Think I got a bit overwhelmed by the combination of travel, holidays, work, and the Best of 2009 list.

Very, very excited about 2010 and the goals I've set for myself. Maybe more on that to come...

One of my resolutions involves dusting off the beautiful sewing machine my parents gave me for Christmas last year and re-learning how to sew. Marisa's project over at New Dress a Day has been seriously inspiring. My obsession with thrift stores can be justified if I can remedy ill-fitting pieces.