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.

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.

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.

2012 -- week 8 -- it was a packed one.

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.

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.

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.

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?

 

super s'more sunday!

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.