February 29, 2012

a paleta extravaganza.

 

i am a huge lollipop fan.

obviously.



so when the local candy store
was having a gigantic sale
i had to partake.



i bought a bag of assorted paletas 
for 15 pesos.



and there were definitely some weirdly shaped ones
but, not surprisingly, they are almost identical in taste.

there was one shaped like 
a mango
an ear of corn
 a dog bone
a roast chicken
and a mug of beer.


but they are all the same -- 
some typical flavor 
(tamarind, mango, strawberry)
covered in chili.

 


 






so delicious.

February 28, 2012

ricaleta

i found this lollipop in brooklyn
courtesy of kk --
we walked across the street to the mexican bodega
and she insisted that i try one
and i'm so glad that i did.

they are delicious.






but afterwards the store rarely had them in stock.
(does this sound like a running theme in my life?
i think so.)



but there is an amazing candy store that rcg took me to a while back
and they had them.

awesome.



the only problem is
i can't quite figure out what it is that i'm eating.


it is covered in a honey like substance, but it's hard.
and then the inside is kind of spicy.
maybe it is tamarind flavor?
maybe it is chamoy?
who knows.




whatever it is,
i want some more.

February 27, 2012

bosque de chapultepec


when i came to visit rcg in september
i was walking around bosque de chapultepec
when i found a lake with paddle boats.


obviously i wanted to be in those boats.
i wanted to be in them real bad.



but it had to wait.


until this weekend. 



we decided to make a day of it --
picnic and paddle boats.


but a picnic with a twist:
we would each make a dish or two
and surprise each other. 
plus, rcg found 101 picnic ideas
so we had tons of ideas to choose from. 




deal.
 



i made a tomato and peach salad.






- peaches
- tomatoes
- red onion
- cilantro
- lime
- olive oil
- salt & pepper






and this great dish from red cat.





- zucchini
- toasted almonds
- pecorino 
- olive oil
- salt & pepper








and rcg made a shrimp, potato, and corn extravaganza.




- potatoes
- corn
- shrimp
- olive oil
- red pepper flakes
- salt & pepper








which we mixed with a sauce of my own concoction.






- mayonaise
- sriracha
- relish
- lime juice









and, of course, we had mango for desert.
cause it's mango season, y'all. 
exciting.



lunch was crazy delicious.





and then we went paddle boating.



which was totally ridiculous
-- like most things i do --
because the seats were kind of broken
and it was difficult to steer,
but it was also pretty cool. 


we sat on this silly yellow boat
in the middle of a lake 
with about 50 other silly yellow and blue boats
in the middle of mexico city
and just drifted along.


it was oddly calming in a city of such chaos.





and obviously,
the day would not be complete without
us sitting on fake horses
with sombreros on.






crazy amazing ridiculous.

February 25, 2012

lucha libre

 


lucha libre is like the wwf.
but mexican.
with colorful masks.
and colorful tights.


and it is supposed to be spectacular. 




so on friday,
rcg and i went to arena mexico
and watched 3 hours of men
(and women)
in ridiculous costumes
throw each other onto mats
in pretend violence. 





and it was in fact, amazing. 



when we got out of the taxi
we were greeted by stands of masks:









arena mexico was filled with lots of people
all screaming obscenities at the wrestlers.
 
and there were tons of vendors 
selling everything under the sun -- 
capes
masks
gigantic bags of chips
tortas
ramen
beer
popsicles
popcorn
it was kind of insane. 
and their outfits were even crazier.
we saw guys in pink and white tights,
tiny, shiny whitie tighties,
fluffy boots, 
and masks of all colors. 
some even had fluffy hair.
there was even a women's match
(although it is questionable whether
they were in fact women.)
and a dwarf dressed up as a parrot.



unfortunately, 
even though we were in the fourth row
it was too difficult to get good pictures.
we did have this lovely tush to look at though.




supposedly going to lucha libre
has become kitschy,
and while the night was totally ridiculous
it was also totally fun.


definitely a good night.






February 24, 2012

a feast for a princess

mildred marie is three.



we had a party.




she had a tiara.

 




she had sushi for dinner.

 

she even had a candle.






and she got a catnip mouse.





she's a little spoiled. 
but she's my baby.




happy birthday kitten.



February 23, 2012

2012 -- weeks 1 through 6 -- they were kingly, old, unibrow-y, artsy, and underworld-ish

so i was told that catching up 
on my weekly "scrapbooking"
would be a huge disaster, 
but, as it turns out, 
i kind of take a lot of pictures.



so here are the first 6 weeks of 2012.






February 19, 2012

2012 -- week 7 -- it was a fat one.

so i got this idea from dolcetto confections
who got it from ali edwards
but it is a very cool one. 


the idea is that every week, 
i gather together all of the photos i have taken
and jot down some of the cool 
(or totally boring)
things that i have done
and i make a little scrapbook page.


i didn't figure out how to work photoshop
until last week though,
so even though i am late, 
per usual,
i am going to start trying to document
the comings and goings of the residents of 
choapan 10.


and when some of those residents 
are far far away in the lonestar state
i will try and document that too.

 
 because, 
after all, 
life moves too quickly,
and i can tell this year is going to be a year
of big changes
 so why not have something to look back on
when i'm old and gray?

 



February 7, 2012

diego rivera

i have lived in mexico city for 3 months
and i finally went to the palacio nacional
and saw the diego rivera murals.

about freakin' time.



but it almost didn't happen.

here's the story -- 
rcg and i go to see the picasso exhibit
and are distracted by the surprise mc escher exhibit.
by the time we are done at munal it is 4 pm.
palacio nacional closes at 5 pm.
disaster? maybe.
we start to walk to the zocolo
and get distracted by food.
(duh.)
and rcg is trying to distract me the whole walk over anyways
because he is not a diego rivera fan.
but i would not be deterred -- 
so we got there at 430 pm. 
and then had to wait in the bag check line
behind some daft, hippy white girls.




but we made it.




and it was amazing.


the big super famous mural was awesome.
obviously.


   

 

but the really spectacular paintings 
were of the prehispanic people.


 

 

 










on top of the beautiful paintings
there were cats everywhere.
adorable.