There is this small wine bar ...

around the corner from my flat... it's right in front of the most beautiful gothic church called Santa Maria del Mar. Every saturday if you snag a table at the wine bar which is in front of the church you can catch a glimpse of what is usually some pretty garish outfits, it's almost like a wicked sport... good evil fun (see this should have been posting 666) damn. Anyway, like I was saying... today we missed the event but you can tell someone was wed today... the proof is in the petals!


The proof is in the petals


I went on a hunt for the cherry blossoms... I don't think this is a cherry tree but it's close enough!


Some people who have been working far too hard lately treated themselves to a new black jacket... I've got the proof and the funky orange boots to prove it!

Just for the record...

It's sometimes good to have some proof to defend my fatalism... my washing did blow off the line during the night and yes it was scattered all over the terrace in the morning... and no I have no idea what was lost as I've done about 6 loads of laundry in the past week. So there. stick that in optimism's pipe and smoke it!

well i made it to blog entry number 666 and now i've absolutely nothing decidedly evil to write about...so pictures instead then?

I've got oodles of jucy camera pics that I had forgotten about... behold and basque in the awe that they come from a meare camera phone... it's got less pixels than my actual camera but it comes out way better!?!?!?

Tomorrow marks the last working day here in Spain until a week next tuesday... it's semana santa and yes, we get an entire week and a day off work. All good of course unless you work for yourself! D'oh... they get me everytime!!!!


Beautiful lighting on the buildings behind my flat last Sunday


and again...


And again...


mmmmmmmmm yummy! Fried cheese and avacado (i went to the gym straight afterwards I swear)


Mashed potatoe with spinach and crutons a beacon of cheese and then the other side is guacamole... did I mention I went to they gym afterwards???

if the wind hasn't...

blown away all my washing of the clothes line on the terrace by the morning, I will indeed be impressed... winter has returned here in full force and it's been cold, windy and rainy here for the past week... I am mostly wanting spring and the lovely cherry blossoms to return... wait... do they even have those here? hmm maybe I'm just setting myself up for disapointment.

like Dearbhla used to say... it's 11 o'clock and not a child in the house is washed... but in this case it's moreso like my to-do list is busting at the seams and lethargy rules surpreme... If I had any reading material in the house that I have not yet read, it would be devoured whole. Perhaps this is a good thing... If I go one without reading material long enough I may eventually be forced to read Alfredo's books in Spanish... that would keep me running back to my to-do list!

My seestor has fallen off the blogging wagon... naughty chicken. tsk tsk.

That was quick

My 15 minutes of fame lasted just under 15 mins and luckily there were no ugly run-ins with the paparazzi outside my flat.

I'm very pleased that I have finally finished the website I build for Fredu... it's so good for him to have his portfolio online again. check it out!

back to life as per usual... best get moving before the day finishes without me!

my 15 minutes of fame

Yesterday my picture was published in the Vanguardia (the national newspaper) ... it was the shot that Juan (my friend who is a photographer) did a few weeks ago for an article about fashion and real people. To be totally honest I don't like what they made me wear but hey ho... My face does not look too monstrous so that's good... and the main thing is that albeit small, it's good to get a tiny bit of exposure for my business! Unfortunately the magazine is not available online therefore if you missed my mug, then you'll have to wait until I get around to scanning it and putting it up here.

Lane sharing etiquette- an experience in the absurd

Yesterday when I arrived at the gym just before 14h, I was hoping that I would find the pool to be clearing out as it's lunch time here. Unfortunately this was not the case. The indoor pool was full and it was clear that I would have to share a lane with someone. This is always kind of a pain only because for some unkown reason people are so grumpy when forced to share the lane. I don't get it... they are definately big enough for two people to swim in comforatably... but anyway people always act all put out when you ask them... yesterday was no exception. I always try and chose a lane where the person seems to be able to swim in a fairly straight line and are not partaking in any both arms at the same rotation style backstroke or any crazy butterfly. So I approached this lady and asked...

podemos compartir? (can we share)?

She looked up at me as if I just asked her for her last penut m&m. I was astounded... so I then said.

Vale, si te moleste tanto, puedo preguntar a este chico a lado.. ( if it is really such an inconvience to you I will ask the bloke in the next lane)

She then looked at me and said

non non dar igual (nahh it's the same)

So I then said

vale, que lado prefieres? (which side do you prefer)

And she responded

no se, entras y veremos (i'm not sure, get in and we'll see)

I was so confused, has she really just asked me to get and do an audition to see which style of lane sharing I was eligible for?????

I gave her a mildly confused look and started off in the right hand side of the lane. When I got to the other side of the pool I looked over to see if she was swimming behind me as to take a view as to if I was going to re-turn back along the same side or instead down the left-hand side... and there she was still at the other end inspecting my swimming style!!! I swam back down the left hand side and when I arrived she said to me.

muy bien, sigimos asi (very well, we shall continue like this)

I was like what the fuck? thanks for the approval. I guess she had deemed me suitable to swim in a circut instead of sharing the lane. I simply do not get it. It's way more confortable for both parties to just swim at their own pace up and down one side... but since she was in the lane first she had crowned herself the owner of the lane. People are so bizzare. I mean how egotistical do you have to be? I can't imagine ever behaving this way to anyone in public. If I'm in a lane and I need to share, I do it with a friendly smile and a nod, and then tell the person I'll take the right or the left-hand side and that's it, no more interaction required.

It's people like this that I will never understand.

Here's to hoping I don't cross paths or lanes with her again.

In the spirit of spring...

and cleaning and organising... we are making good progress with all the Ikea putting-together and thus are finally after too many months able to un-pack things properly and re-gain some sense of order!!! With this brings the un-earthing of some pictures from the way back when machine.

This picture was taken on a trip I took with Danielle and Darrell to Quebec City to visit her parents. We endulged in the delights of 'la tire' which is none but hot maple syrup poured over snow and then wrapped around a popcicle stick. It is delicious and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. See there, today I don't feel like such a bad Canadian as I usually do!

Yummy 'tire' check out the vintage hair!!!

Today's delicious dish is an appetiser consiting of a tiny portion of my favorite bean dip! Darrell, my friend featured in the picture above introduced me to the evils of bean dip many years ago... Lucky my personal chef is good at re-creating it! Especially in this more calorie reduced format!

Buenisimo!!!

Let me show you the world in my eyes...

The grey and cold northerly winds have continued to blanket the city... on the plus side it does make for some pretty pictures... even if they are only from my cameraphone!

The grey stormy clouds at the beach

The big big freshly painted boat (from the window of the gym at the front)

A few small dingys at the harbor

And... the delicious dish of the day!

The rest of the day consisted in an epic journey to Ikea... the place where all relationships are put through the ultimate test... buying small accessories for your house is one thing but a full on wardrobe and other large objects buying mission is something entirely different... we made it thorugh the selection process with a few spats but by the time we had to push the impossibly heavy cart around the isles to collect the loot.. that's when physical and mental exhaustion set in. However the goods were delivered this afternoon and now we have the ultimate relationship test part two... putting all the evil goods together!!!!!

I swear I should stuff the luxury concierge service and offer an escort/security/councelling service to oversee such trips to ikea... I swear it's a genious idea!!! Anyone interested?

As I try and claw my way out

from under my duvet at a desperate attempt to join the world of the living... I feel that there are few chances of sucess. Not that I have not been working today... no no the big blue nipple with a handly key board is keeping me fed with an on going stream of digital sustinence. (yea my laptop is a blue Toshiba). I fear surgical removal may be required... I'll keep hoping that it isn't... but as we speak I have made it to the sofa now but duvet still on hand... however cycling to the gym with these high winds wrapped in my duvet may prove a bit more difficult... nothing is impossible my mum says... what am i saying? that's a lie my mother is so pragmatic she would never say that... she would say something more along the lines of... be happy with what is possible. that's more like it! Duvet and sofa it is then!!! woo woo!

Lunch today was suuuuuper yummy but as it was soup it's not realy photo-worthy... as soups can not be served in fancy shapes.

I've not yet discussed or even admitted it here on my blog yet but if you have noticed I have updated my "Read These" links... they needed some spring cleaning and I needed to bring myself one step closer to admitting that I have a terrible and ugly addiction to reading internet celebrity gossip sites... it's fierce. I think I must read one of the sites that updates regularly over 10 times daily... I'm soon going to have to re-title this blog to 'celebrity gossip re-hab'. Then come up with some content that distracts people from reading these sites... hang on I'll be right back after I click over and see if they've got the first pics of Angelina arriving at the American embassy with her newly adopted baby boy.... But if I've removed your link and you have since re-joined the blogging world do let me know and i will put you back up!

House hunting is the new black for both miss Andrea and mr Danny... they've picked up on the trend started in Toronto by Seestor and Brian and are too now also looking to co-habitate and co-mortgagate. Which got me to thinking... I can think but of two females within my network of friends whom are not the primary income providers in their partnerships... All the rest of them bring home more bacon or significantly moreso than their partners. This is nothing but an observation not a big social commentary or a salute to feminism... I think alpha females are simply friends with other alpha females... nothing more. Just wait... tomorrow one of them will write to me and tell me they are leaving their current partner and running off to marry a rich old man... that would de-bunk my theory completely!!!

Note to self

Do not foreget your towel and then swim outside pool just as the weather turns from tropical to FREEZING! You may also want to remember to eat breakfast before going to the gym in the morning as mid- work out you will almost blackout... then when trying to ride bike home in great wind with no energy... not such a good idea either.

So that's how my day started... good one no?

Lunch however was a different story... here is today's beautiful creation from my personal chef

Fresh tomatoes were so lovely! And if you don't know my personal chef... yes, everything always has to be served in a 'shape'... because it is!

Keeping up with the picture theme... Jo jo bought me this fab lip gloss for my birthday... I was initaly horrified as I am NOT a pink person but the Barbie special edition Mac Collection is really nice!

Well aren't I a clever girl

I've made it yet another year. 31 it is then... time is ticking over a little too quickly if you ask me. I feell like it just puts a massive spotlight on all I have not yet done! I remember when I was young I used to long to be older... I had this vision you see... that being an adult meant that I could eat an entire box of chocolates in one sitting if I pleased... however I didn't seem to get much further than that thought...

I had a lovely birthday and Fredu arranged a beautiful chocolate cake for me... it was certainly sorprendentemente crojuente!!! It's my new catch phrase... it was also the message on the cake. We had a nice night out and celebrated St. Paddies and St. Sarah's birthday at this new little pub on calle Ample. Great music and a good laugh.

The other day I was walking by my bike which is parked outside near my house and there was a little post-it note stuck on the saddle. I read...

How cute... my bike is getting solicited!!! Better it than me!!!

The other day Fredu made a most delicious and opulent dish... I've vowed to start taking pictures of them all... this one features angel wings for his angelita... it was well yummy of course!

She came... she saw...



and we drank cava!! Only a tiny bit but you know it's my poison so I do heed my drinking to accomodate...

The lovely Jo jo graced us with a visit this weekend. We had a great time doing a spot of shopping and some madness at Razmatazz when we went to go and see Tiga... but all was good. She is so lovely and looking quite lovely as well!

just when you think that summer is around the corner....

having a beautiful 21 degree day on Sunday followed by a nice pallea (and I even tried the fish one!) does not for one second mean that the lashings of rain and cold that happened here today were in order... brr me no likey.

I have FINALLY been paid... nothing like having to wait until march to be paid for Nov & December Invoices... Actually I'm still waiting for those but they managed to pay me for January first but who's complaining... money is good, even if it's already spent. Well maybe a bit less good but good nonetheless.

It's seestor's b'day tomorrow she be 33! and Also it's jo jo's birthday too! Jo jo will be arriving in the afternoon... sadly I can't even collect her from the bus she is arriving on from Girona as I have an EEEEEEEEEEEEVIL meeting but hey hoe... plenty of festivities planned for the weekend to make up for that. I hope seeestor has a good day. She'll most likely be busy shopping for shoes!

My one hour meeting at the agency this aft turned into a 4h one... I swear it's like a black hole going there it always swallows time... but it's worth it as I got Feb 26th gratzia while I was there... how sad... but how good? I'm soon to find out just what the 5quid IT bag is... and how I will never have it as it would have sold out two weeks ago... but hey, don't say you heard about it here first!

We've managed or moreso he's managed to paint over 90% of the really horrible dark brown borders that were around the doorframes and the tiles between the walls and the floor... the difference is amazing... what a great idea it was to do that! Now it's just sorting out the storage or lack there of issue... then we can decorate and buy some plants... and oh yea all the other things one can do when one gets paid!

Big hugs to joey for sending me the car package from London... containing yummies such as miso soup! You're an angel!!!!!

10,000 oceans

and perhaps one of my most favorite clever video concepts... i think we've all got a bit of us in the box...

In true rock and roll style

I'm stting at home alone on saturday night... building fredu's website, watching the princess bride (dubbed in spanish of course) and also watching the eclipse... handy thing is, is that I don't even have to leave my house as the window out to my terrace gives a good view. To be honest it's kind of giving me the creeps... to me it looks blue... the bbc says it should look orange... maybe I'm blinder than I think? I think the thing that freaks me out more is when they keep saying that this will not happen again until 2029... As I've written about before, whenever future dates are mentioned it makes me kind of anxious and I freak out a wee bit... wondering what I'll be doing, where I will be... if I will still be here? Will I have learned anything? How many stupid mistakes did I make? This goes on until it all snowballs into a massive wave of anxiety that can only be calmed by convincing myself that I really don't have much interest in astronomy so really, what's the point in worrying... meanwhile the neurosis continues to spin around the deeper recesses of my brain... but luckly by that point my conciousness decides to make a bowl of popcorn and keep watching the movie... and get back to work.

That's rock and roll baby*...

* No heads were shaved during the writing of this entry... And no re-hab facilities entered.

Grey Grey Grey

That is what today's weather is giving us... my head, grey hair and tomorrow... a meeting at Grey... I hope they have the 100's of back issues of Gratzia that are still being delivered there...


View from my bedroom window (loooks like the slums!!!)


View 2 from my bedroom window (cool old chimney)

I was swimming outside yesterday afternoon and the clock/temp gague just before the gym read 19 degrees. Nice. It's about the same today apparently but because of the grey it's just not as inspiring to gym...

The past week has been very full of some of my most prolfic time wasting... watching back episodes of 2 seasons of the L word. I remember way back when, Dan and I watched the first season giggling along... then quickly fell into dispair when we realised we would have to wait another7 months for the second season to start... well it's been many years now and thanks to you tube I have made up for lost time. I had no idea they were even on season 4... but now i'm all caught up and I must once again wait like everyone else for episode 8 to go up online...

My birthday is once again quickly approaching... 31 this year... I wonder when I'll actually start feeling like a grown up? I was thinking that finding my first grey hair would do that but I'm wondering if like a lot of things they've always been there and I've just never noticed as I dye my hair too often...

I am trying to coax some positive energy into my life by repeating to myself...
something good will happen today... something good will happen today.

I'm still waiting.

I've been a good little camper

I've been trying to go to the gym every day and I've also taken to swimming 1k each time before I hit the gym. Swimming is just so theraputic for me... maybe because I'm a piscean... who know, but whatever it is, it works for me. I've got to start remember to bring my sun tan lotion as it's nice enough to swim outsite... but the sun's rays are still surprisingly strong... I don't want to turn into one of those leather ladies who sun themselves on the deck outside for hours apon hours every day.

The lovely Vero is spending some time with us this week to try and clear her head and figure out what she wants to do... lots of changes in her life right now... I'm really enjoying having her around!

Time passes so quickly and before I know it miss jo jo will be ariving to celebrate her b'day here with us! Should be fun, lets just hope we come up with something sufficiently fun to do while she's here!!!

Vero and I have undertaken an adventure, we've sent an email to invite the gossip master out for a night of the 'real barcelona' as he is here with his boyfriend celebrating their first anniversary together. If they're up for it then madness will of course ensue. Lets hope that this time the pole dancing is kept to a minimum. I hear that whomever was doing that on the metro the other day is still covered in bruses...

I have fallen hopelessly in love...




with this little guy. I've been dying to have a puppy for a long time... I finally have a flat and time to train and care for it... but as fate would have it... no money to buy it! Anyone have a spare 500 euros for me as an early birthday gift?

I feel mildly like a 7 year old scholl girl yearning after a picture of a dog... but lets face it, public humilliation is what blogging is all about right?


My afternoon today was not spent as per usual attached almost physically to my laptop... no no this afternoon I had my picture taken for a feature that will appear in one of the national newspaper's sunday magazine. I'm not sure I will make the cut as they are shooting 20 women but it would be great exposure for the business if I do! I'm not used to being primped and styled and put in front of a camera. To be honest it made me feel wildly insecure paired with the mild feeling of nausea. Thank goodness Juan was shooting the pics as since I know him, it wasn't as scary as it could have been... but it's over now and we can but pray for the mercies granted by the special hand of photoshop.

An open letter...

Dear Barcelona transport system

I'm writing to thank you for your great, efficient and clean service offerings. Your metro system is quite pleasant in comparison to a lot of other systems. However it came to my attention this weekend that there is one area of service that you have perhaps not yet properly assessed.

The spaciousness of some of carriages within the metro lines allows for ample pole dancing access. This readily available entertainment space can be unexpectedly hazardous not only to the physical being of those whom utilize it but to their dignity as well. This doesn't even take into account the visual horror/pleasure of the innocent bystanders.

Possible improvements would be perhaps identity concealing disco lights to aid in the protection of the integrity of any parties whom see themselves clever enough (fueled by liquid courage of course) to display their talent or lack thereof in the art of pole dancing on the metro after an afternoon of drinking and eating with friends. Rest assured that I can appreciate that other than padding the poles, very little can be done to protect the physical damage that said pole dancers may experience.

Thank you for your time,

Sarah

Is suicide the new black?

It's a dreaful thought but I can't help but wonder. I am so sad for both the Princess of Spain who's sister died on wednesday and also for the ever troubled Anna Nicole Smith who also departed this earth yesterday. I remember when Anna Nicole's son died just after she had given birth to her new baby I felt really sad for her... of course I do not know her but how tragic! And then a mere few months later she checks out as well. All the gossip sites are screaming conspiracy... I think everyone should just leave them be...

On a more cheery note... I was chatting with danny baby about the book miss andrea bought for herself and I when I was over visiting a week ago. Mmm good book and yummy donughts!

I literally devoured the book (I would have if I could have) it was really nice. I reccomend it to all... I even told my mum to read it during her holiday.... She was mildly sceptcical fearing only slightly that I was making her read a self help book... I assured her that this was not the case and that it is only a work of fiction. Aces to my lovely bf who nipped out while I was finishing the last chapters of the book and returned with a box of donoughts (same as the ones on the cover) he is so sweet and so were the donughts!

I only wish the book could have helped the two afformentioned ladies before they met their untimely demises...