Pink Lady

As promised, here is what I wore to the ballet the other day. I've had this dress for a few years and love it to pieces, yet for some reason I always think it's too fancy to wear to most places. This could be because the places I've lived that are warm enough to wear it (Barcelona and Puebla) are very casual in their dress codes. And also perhaps, because I have never worn very much pink. Either way, it's a bit silly, since it's really quite a simple cotton dress.

Regardless, the ballet turned out to be a perfect occasion to give this dress its spin of the season, and I even found a colour coordinated French style mansion on the way home to really show it off!













Bonus points if you can spot the pervy Mexican man (one of many who make taking outfit shots rather fraught in Guadalajara)

Outfit:
Dress: Gift
Shoes: Liz Claiborne
Bracelet: Self-made

ballet folclórico

Just a quick one today. Last Sunday we decided to experience a bit of culture and went to the beautiful neoclassical Theatre Degollado in the city centre to see the ballet folclórico. (Spanish speakers: do you spell that with a 'c' or a 'k'? I thought k, but the tickets say c...) Anyway, it was less ballet and certainly more folk dancing, and it was a great experience. As someone who did Scottish folk dancing for years, I'm usually less than impressed by some people hopping around in a circle, but the dancing was great, there was a chorus singing sentimental songs, and a whole troup of mariachi style musicians draped in blankets and sporting enormous sombreros! The theatre itself was gorgeous, and the costumes were mouthwatering.










This picture in no way captures how beautiful these skirts were, despite my flash embarrassingly going off during it. They were so saturated with colour and filmy-translucent that it was like looking at stained glass windows in costume form.



I left the building with a thirst for colourful, full-length skirts and loose, boxy blouses. And a really thick poncho-blanket with a horse on it!

Pictures of my own outfit coming tomorrow!

Polaroid Android

You may have already noticed that I have an acute case of vochomanía, or the love of vochos, aka old style Mexican beetles. Fun trivia: the old style beetles were manufactured in Mexico until 2003 so there are many of them, still in very good condition. And many more, like the one above, in not-so-good condition...

The vintage quality and all around grunginess of these cars made them the perfect subject for my new favourite photo editing technique: poladroid, which my boyfriend found and sent me last week.

While it's not altogether serious, poladroid is loads of fun. You download a little digital polaroid machine, feed your favourite photos into it and... shake it... or wait... but we all know how that turns out. If you don't know it already I suggest you head over and get started... it's addictive!

Here's a picture of our car last year, when we lived in a less transport-friendly city... oh vocho rojo, how I miss you!


Meanwhile, back in Guadalajara, Shona and I discovered that sometimes it's good to co-ordinate your outfit...


...and sometimes it's better to contrast it


When playing with poladroid you should use pictures with some distance as it does tend to randomly crop them wherever it wants, and you may find yourself a bit devoid...

...of a head.

And last but certainly not least, a true classic!

Miss you, Sho-sho

Well, my sister left yesterday, which is a real shame... now who is going to accompany me on endless morning coffees, trek for half an hour to reach a closed pool, or humour me in my rantings about blogging and as-yet-unmade life-changing decisions for this fall? !

My unfinished manuscript is breathing a sigh of relief, meanwhile, that I'll have time to go back to editing it again, and I should be back to being a presence in all your comments sections! And from the point of view of the blog, Shona's not really gone yet... we went a bit nuts on documenting this past week! Until then, I'll leave you with an impromptu photo shoot inspired by some beautiful flowers we bought...

...oh, and Shona... you forgot your abalone ring on the microwave...



Outfit:
Dress: H&M
Shoes: Liz Claiborne

Shona:
Dress: Bedo
Shoes: Nine West
Bracelet: from Guadalajara

Tequila Sunshine

That would be Tequila the place, everyone, and not the beverage, although one thing does often lead to another...

This past Saturday we decided to do an easy day trip from Guadalajara, and Tequila is one of the best-known destinations within an hour or so of the city. We looked into the "Tequila Express" all day, touristy party-train, but balked at the $120 (dollars) per adult fare. Instead we took the local bus, which was the usual ghastly affair (stopping, starting, stopping for twenty minutes, bouncing, blaring horrible Mexican singing with backup provided by a choir of crying children). On the other hand, it did cost $30 return for all of us, so it was well worth it!

Tequila is a strikingly beautiful town, and though the tourist trade has a large presence, it seems to be a force for good here. The buildings are well maintained and painted, and the centre is full of the kind of architecture you imagine all of Mexico to be like: green shady gardens, quiet interior courtyards, and lots of colour.





















Outfit:
Blouse: bought in Cuetzalan, Mexico, last year
Shorts: my sister's
Shoes: Aldo
Necklace: Self-made
Earrings: Hand carved from Granville Island, Vancouver
Kimono fabric bag: Hand made on Granville Island, Vancouver
Purple bracelet: That would be from the José Cuervo distillery tour, and not a fashion statement!

Shona wears:
Dress: mine
Shoes: Converse
Bag: Stolen from our mother
Necklace: Mexico City
...and just to make me jealous, impeccable milkmaid braids!

errant stones

These were taken on the day I finally ventured into downtown Guadalajara... three months after moving here. In fact, I had come once before, but in hot-as-hades May, and I didn't manage to do anything on that occasion except wilt on a bench and feel sorry for myself. This time was thankfully much cooler.

I hummed and hawed over this skirt for ages, for the simple reason that it seemed pretty "'70s Mom." I decided it could be worn in a modern way, matched with the appopriate items--and promptly paired it with a blouse and bag both stolen from my mom, and both probably dating back to the '70s. So '70s mom it was, and I found a nice vintage-hued stone wall to complete the image!











Outfit:
skirt: Oysho
blouse and bag: stolen from my mother
sandals: Aldo
necklace: Accessorize (eons ago)
sunglasses (in last photo): Toronto Airport eons ago, I think.

stay-at-home weekends

First and foremost, a big thank you to everyone for the encouraging words, and to those who felt they could identify. I loved reading all your comments. My irritation with blogging was synonymous with some other irritating things this past week, but I'll spare you all my university/immigration rants! On to the pictures!

I don't get to spend every weekend exploring foreign capitals, and I wouldn't want to. After spending the past two weekends out of town and being properly touristy, I was well overdue for one spent here in Guadalajara. Of course, "at home," and "relaxing," doesn't have to mean boring-- let me show you some ways to fully enjoy a weekend in my temporary home town....

Start out at a bar located in/on an English double decker bus...


Order 1/2 a metre of beer (but bring some friends to help you with that...)




The following morning go for a crepe breakfast


Followed by a walk through a nice leafy neighbourhood


You can see all the sights, like immaculate special-edition beetles (called vochos here)


And brilliant souped-up vochos with monster wheels!


Read


Try some Mexican beer in a cooler-than-thou bar


With comic books...


Go biking on Sunday morning, when a main street is turned into a bike lane for six hours


And round it off with a home-cooked dinner and homemade margaritas... but if you dance while you shake them, blurry pictures may result!


And good margaritas certainly will!


My boyfriend made us a wonderful tortilla de patatas, or Spanish omelette, as he does every Sunday. Unfortunately my useless frying pan kind of sabotaged the appearance, though not the taste.

(And yes, yes, I mixed my margaritas on the washing machine, and this resulted in both lime seeds and tequila in the washing machine... And that may have been the cause of the washing machine flooding the apartment today, which is why this Friday night was slightly less cool than last Friday night...)

And erm, I'm not an alchoholic, just for the record...

So, is anyone coming to visit me? ; )