still alive

I swear it, I am still alive.  I'm super busy working on a project that I hope to be sharing with you guys soon (so excited!), and I can only spend so many hours in front of the computer before my eyeballs start bleeding, so the blog has taken a bit of a back seat lately.  But I am alive and well, truly.  And if you need proof, follow me on Instagram, where I have finally set up an account and am chronicling life's little pleasures in a less wordy way.  See you over there?

just do it

I ran my very first race this weekend.  A new 5K here in Madrid through the beautiful Casa del Campo.  I know 5 km isn't much to people who've been running for years, but for me it was a major accomplishment.  Words cannot describe how excited and proud I felt to participate, and finish, and with a much better time than I'd anticipated too!  So in honor of small goals and huge achievements, I dedicate this post to the runners out there, beginning and advanced.  Go on, get your run on.

Some running essentials...

swimmingly

This is where I was swimming last month.  I know I have yet to tell you all about my Super Duper Mexico Vacation, but I still haven't finished organizing all my photos and thoughts.  Needless to say, it was awesome.  I'm back in the big city now, but I'll be damned if I give up my water time.  So...

Husband and I have joined the pool!  We started this week, committing to four full months of membership (gotta get those discounts where you can, and the obligation to keep it up is just a bonus), and absolutely love it.  My pool's not as amazing as the Caribbean, but it's pretty damn wonderful.  All this has made me think it would be a good time to go over some pool essentials.

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Trust me, you need these things...

ch-ch-changes

I'm officially back!  Back in Spain, back online, back to daily life.  But it feels different, I have to say.  We've only been gone from Madrid for a month but somehow it feels like it's been much longer.  There's changes all around me: a new 5 euro bill, my local Zara completely remodeled, and a Starbucks in the basement of our grocery store, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Something internal has shifted as well, a settling of sorts, a coming to terms with change: the inevitability of it and the excitement of it.  I don't want to sound melodramatic or anything, but we're nearing the end of a big era in our lives, and steadying ourselves for the one that lies ahead.  A year from now I predict our lives will be totally different, new city, new jobs, new friends, new routines.  And while it used to just terrify me, now I'm filled with energy and enthusiasm.  I'm still nervous about it all, but it's more like pre-show jitters, lovely little anxious butterflies to carry me along the journey.

Anyway, I don't usually wax philosophical on the blog, but I just couldn't help it.  And to mark the change, I've bought some flowers for our home, something I rarely do.  (Kalanchoe, which apparently can be spelled Kalanchoë or Kalanchöe, movable umlauts? Who ever heard of such a thing?) Hopefully I won't kill this little guy, cause it sure is making me happy.  Here's to the start of (a new) something good!

alpargatas

Before leaving Spain I picked up a pair of espadrilles at my neighborhood alpargatería.  That's where they make espadrilles and other woven items like baskets for your donkey or fishing nets.  In downtown Madrid.  I love that this is still going on in the heart of the city.  And I love that folks will line up for hours (literally) when spring hits, waiting their turn to get their shoes for the summer.  And most of all, I love these alpargatas.

Details...

the villager

Look, it's a photo of my great-great-great-grandmother from Siberia.  Just kidding.  It's just me.

It's been raining a lot here and I have a deep-seated hatred of umbrellas, so I have to don a big furry hat and an oversized wool shawl to keep me dry.  When I realized I was wandering the streets of Madrid dressed as a villager from another country in another century, I couldn't resist sharing.

under the needle

Yesterday I went to my very first acupuncture session.  Apparently my liver has some issues, causing blood stagnation.  Sounds terrible, doesn't it?  Also I learned that I'm nervous.  I tried to tell the doc I wasn't, but he just chuckled and told me that maybe I wasn't nervous "on the outside".  So there you have it, stagnant and nervous, but now at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel and solutions to these problems I never knew I had.

I joke, but in reality, I loved it.  It was totally relaxing and fascinating, and I came home and crashed.  I can't even remember the last time I felt so relaxed and floaty and sleepy.  Definitely planning on continuing.

Have you tried it?  I'd love to you hear your thoughts and experiences...

clutch me

I stopped into Oysho yesterday to grab some pretty undies on sale, and inexplicably walked out with this clutch.  Of course I picked up some sale items as well.  Please.  As if I could resist.

See the details...

winter wonderland

image from travel and leisure

Amazing how easily we can get from one side of the world to the other.  We take it for granted, but sometimes it just hits me how truly awesome that is.  Today I woke up in snowy Madison.  Happy to be home.

a moisture fix

I ran out of my favorite winter daytime moisturizer.  Like, really ran out, as you can see by the ravaged bottle on the left.  This was a real disaster because I can't find Boscia products anywhere here in Madrid.  Usually I stock up on this stuff when I'm in the states, but this summer I thought, come on, there's got to be decent moisturizer in Spain.  Right?  So now of course I had to spend days researching, reading reviews and recommendations on beautypedia (I totally trust Paula) and makeup alley, and trying out all the samples I could get my hands on.  (I may have mentioned it here before: I'm a chronic researcher.)  But this is a tough one, it had to have the right spf for rainy grey winter days, it had to be lightweight but still moisturizing, it had to have a natural matte finish that leaves you neither shiny nor flat, it had to be gentle and non-comedogenic for my sensitive and acne-prone skin, and it had to deal well with sweat so I could get through my morning ballet class without any weird meltdowns.  That's a lot to ask.

But I found it!  And in case any of you out there have similar requirements I thought you might be interested.  Big thumbs up to MAC Studio Moisture Fix, it does everything I wanted, plus it smells so lovely and fresh it makes me just a wee bit happier in the mornings.

basic goodies

Today I shipped off 6 more dvds to film festivals in an ongoing process that gets more streamlined but no less annoying by the day.  To celebrate I ducked into Zara on my way home.  Picked up some superb basics, I'm kind of over the moon about them.  Check them out...

counting sheep

I am smitten with this cozy sheep sweater from Oysho.  I'm not usually a fan of cutesie animal prints, but this one got me.  Also love the boyish boxy shape, I think it would be perfect for layering over a button-down (with a pop of color on the lips)

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A few more greys from what is easily one of my favorite spanish fast-fashion labels...

death of an ipod

Do you even remember these? The ipod mini, from 2004.  Doesn't seem so mini now, does it?  But still, I have loved this little guy so much.  It was a gift to me, along with mini travel speakers, when I first came to Spain.  I planned on being here 4 months.  We can all see how well that plan worked out, can't we?  Regardless, this guy helped me through the loneliest days in the beginning, and has moved with us many times, bringing music to countless Madrid kitchens since then.  Recently, I am sad to report, it coughed and sputtered and then it was gone.  Rest in peace Mini.  Thanks for all the good times.

Loved you most for the sweet engraving on the back.

dear zara

I know you have a crazy fast turnover and that's part of why you're so successful, but please keep this coat in stock for another month so I can buy it when I get back to Spain.  Ok?  I'm kind of in love with it.  Thanks.

fruity

Summer fruit!  One of the best things about this time of year, don't you think? Strawberries, pears, apples, nectarines and donut peaches (a new discovery for me!) all pictured here from my fruit basket back in Madrid.  But I just realized I have yet to eat any watermelon this year.  Must rectify soon.

cos II - blue

I warned you.  And I am a woman of my word.  Before I left Madrid I stopped in at Cos again and stocked up.  That place is dangerous in the best way ever.  By the way, I have no idea why everything I bought was blue; I didn't even realize it until after the fact.  I promise not to wear them all at the same time, I do not want to be confused with a blueberry.  Or a teletubby.

Zoom out after the jump to see what I snatched up...

no light, no light

Yesterday our power went out.  Some mix-up between our landlord and the bank and the power company and medieval times, and we are the ones with no light, no fridge, no internet, no tv, no phone, no hot water.  And, as we reach 104° today, no air conditioning.  Today I'm posting from a little cafe near the house, but who knows when we will have light again.  Unsurprisingly, I cannot get this song out of my head.

beach essentials

I'm back!!  Almería and Málaga were ridiculously beautiful and relaxing, and through it all I ate like a champ and rested like a pro.  I'll tell you more about the trip later (with a few recommendations in case any of you find yourselves in Southern Spain any time soon), but for now I thought I'd post what turned out to be my beach essentials.

1. black bikini - ok, mine's from H&M, but I dream of having a luxurious yet basic Eres swimsuit like this one day
2. kindle - loaded with tons of fiction and nonfiction, something for every possible mood
3. baseball cap - again, mine's from H&M, the men's department, but anything to block the sun while you're napping face up will do.
4. a coverup - this sheer cotton shirt from Zara was perfect (especially since, unlike the model here, my legs are not 5 ft. long, so it was much longer on me), both for when the sun was hitting too hard, or when the wind was sandblasting us.
5. sunglasses - these, picked up in Madison last summer, are still my favorites.  My other countless pairs are feeling neglected, but I'm trying to reduce object-induced guilt.
6. sunscreen for your face - this one by Kiehl's is still my go-to here in Spain, but in the US I also swear by Peter Thomas Roth
7. peshtemal - turkish bath towels are the best for the beach; they take up very little room in your bag and are great for laying on, drying with, and wearing as a wrap.
8. notebook - for recording all the ins and outs of your trip, your thoughts or dreams, or for planning that novel that you're gonna write, one day, you swear,
9. sunscreen for your body - something with a high spf, applied liberally, every few hours.  That's how I went from Snow White to Beyonce.  Ha!  Seriously, I came back with what I thought was a savage tan but literally NO ONE noticed.  Just goes to show you how very very pale I was to begin with.  Now I just look normal.
10. a favorite pen - not your father's cherished mont blanc fountain pen, just a good solid fat pen that makes you happy, that you can scribble with even when you're weakened by hours of sun and sea.
11. flipflops - havaianas for me, always.  They never give me blisters.  But that part about them not getting hot in the sun?  Lies.  Nevertheless, I love them.

beach bound

This, folks, is where I'm headed this weekend.  Almería.  Cabo de gata.  Carboneras.  Las negras.  Playa de los muertos.  Massive expanses of open sky and water.  I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing, with occasional spurts of eating seafood, drinking iced coffee, hiking to far off beaches and laughing with my girlfriends.  I was in Almería once a few years back but it was for work, and I only saw the beach briefly before heading into the theatre.  The last time I really spent any time on a beach (not counting my wedding day, which really, honestly, doesn't count as a relaxing day at the beach) was probably 8 years ago.  I think I'm due this little getaway.

After a few days in Almería I'll be meeting up with husband to visit a friend in Málaga, for more beaches and more sitting around.  I think the boys will climb a mountain or something, but I will be lounging by the seashore.

 I'll be back in a week.  Unless of course I just stay there.  Forever.

images from mundo guides, casajo, prospain

hakei

Hakei is a spanish brand that started out as a small family leather-working business in 1946 and has since grown into a large brand with stores all over Spain (plus a few in France).  They do clothing as well as leather goods, nice solid basics, but to be perfectly honest, I always sort of gloss over the clothing because the leather pieces are just so stellar.  Buttery soft, solidly made, it's hard to go wrong with Hakei leather.  I have a number of shoes and a handbag from these guys and I'm sure I will own many more.

After the jump, some of the best bags, shoes, belts and jewelry from Hakei this season, (in a post that's taken me a week to prepare due to my achingly slow, but ever-improving, photoshop skills learned here) ...