Le Cocotier

The Girl That Painted Fences

Today I spent the day painting, I've been taking on little paint projects around the house to avoid having to go out and look for work. Nothing too crazy, practical things that need some love from time to time like tables, doors, candle holders, fences and walls. It totally relaxes me, it's like a meditation therapy and also helps pass the time while I wait for a girl.

A troubled punk-hacker girl. 

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

I have become a huge fan of the Millenium trilogy from the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson. 

Props to my friend Diego for having introduced Lisbeth Salander to me, the brilliant computer hacker vigilante who's been the victim of tremendous injustice since a little girl. In the first book of the trilogy, 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', we are introduced to her character, Lisbeth the daughter of a brutal psychopathic Russian secret agent named Zalachenko. At age 13 she's locked up in a psychiatric ward for attempting to murder Zalachenko, who was of great importance to the Swedish secret service. She's declared insane and socially incompetent by the government in order to protect his father's identity and dirty work.

The second book 'The Girl Who Played with Fire' explores themes of revenge, moral issues, legal power and justice with a cliffhanger ending in which Lisbeth has been buried alive. Now I eagerly expect that the third book will deliver the climax all of us fans deserve! 

Reasons why I love this trilogy are the clever ways moral issues are treated, it's really a smart and exciting spy tale that deals with 'violence against women and the men who enable it', as described by Michael Blomvkist, Lisbeth's friend and lover. A ingenious fast paced, funny, complex and very satisfying read. Highly Recommended!

 

There is a Swedish film version of the film I need to go out and rent. Soon I'm sure Hollywood will follow with a glossy cheapened version. I'm already scared.

Anyhow, wanna see how my masterpieces are turning out?

Fence that divides the backyard from the garage. Almost done until I ran out of paint. Will finish tomorrow.

Next my little girl coming down the steps to the yard. Finally we have something she can hold on to and protect her, this one I did finish!

And finally Mia's new table, this one took me a few days but I finished it today, tomorrow I have to get gloss finisher to protect it because it's going on the backyard. It was originally all brown and boring. I think she liked it.

  

  

Now I look at everything around the house with buckets of paint on my eyes. Mmmmh... what should I decorate next? 

Speaking of tables for the backyard, with summer fast approaching I am looking to revive the yard that's been left to die alone. I found the cutest adirondak chairs for children at Cost Plus today. They are next on my to buy list.

My goal is to create a great space outside for Mia to enjoy. 

 

On another news, last night we had a lovely dinner with great friends at a super cool place in downtown Los Angeles. 

Church and State, a trendy French bistro without all the French snobbery. Rustic, loud and delicious,  I had the Tarte Flambee, an Alsacian specialty that reminded me of my times in Strasbourg, where that's basically all I ate, that and pasta with tuna. We'll try to go back, that is we ever find it again. The company was superb I must add.

www.churchandstatebistro.com 

Oh well, time to end this one.

I hope tomorrow will bring you joy and a fabulous start to the weekend.

Hasta Maniana.

LOST. The End is Near

 

As with every Tuesday, I wait all day for 9:00 pm for my weekly dose of LOST. This time it's bittersweet because the end is fast approaching, The other night I even had a dream I was on the island. I have no shame to admit that it's not the first time I've had dreams with my favorite show, My Only Favorite Show...      I don't do much TV these days.

The reason why I'm talking about it is because tonight we get to watch it at my dear friend and ex neighbor Liza W. She's one of my favorite people here in LA and we finally get to see her new apartment tonight. You can check her amazing pin up work at her myspace and facebook pages. She's absolutely gorgeous inside and out. www.myspace/elizabeth_welchman.

 
  

Credits to: Tim Hunter Photography.

LINK TIME!!!

This first collection of links are associated with one of my biggest passions in life!!!

F A S H I O N

Lately I've been obsessing with Parisian designer Isabel Marant, her printemps-ete 2010 collection is all about Sexy/Boho little mini skirts, fabulous prints, bright colors, gypsy accents with a rock chic vibe. She's become sort of a cult designer among celebrities and the cool crowd.

 

 

 
 

I'm also obsessed with all things Morocco, my dream destination. Every year when it's time to go to Italy I dream we'll be able able to take a quick flight to Marrakech. Peut-etre c'est ete?? I guess I'm going to have check out the new Sex and the City sequel, against my better judgment.

This image is from the blog Moroccanmaryam, I adore.

 

One more thing, Tie dye prints, Ikat, Batik...Love, love, love the surfer girl look right now.

These are some images from the Blumarine Summer 2010 Collection.

 

  

 

www.sexandthecitythemovie.com

www.proenzaschouler.com

www.isabelmarant.tm.fr.com

www.bluemarine.com

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/travel/11hours.html

Fin de semana en la playa

Quiero compartir aqui unas imagenes de mi hija este fin de semana en camino a  la playa. 

Las imagenes en el cesped son caminando en Santa Monica hasta llegar al mar. Estas fotos fueron tomadas con el iphone...not too shaby!!! Lamentablemente no fue suficiente camara para el momento en que dos delfines cruzaron al frente nuestro, a pocos metros de la orilla. Increiblemente jugetones, sabian que la gente en la arena disfrutaria del espectaculo. Esas son las ventajas de vivir en Southern California. Hasta puedes ver delfines un dia cualquier.

 

 
 

 

Vale comentar que por ahora solo jugamos en la arena, el agua no se ha calentado aun.

Recuerda sobre todo con los pequenines en este verano, Full sunblock!!! Alta proteccion. Yo recomiendo el que uso con la Mia, Neutrogena Babies, es suficientemente espeso y le protege sin agentes quimicos que amenacen su delicada piel.  

How I came into the path

 
 

For as long as I can remember I've been looking for a way, an answer, some kind of light that would guide me spiritually to make some sense of the why and how of our existence. I know I'm not alone in this quest, it's actually the eternal human quest. In my personal and humble experience I went from studying obsessibly christianity in my early teenage years, to learning about the torah and esoteric teachings, the freemasons and hinduism, wicca and native american ways of thinking. Then for a while the questions in my head stopped. My head went quiet. I worried myself with the material and more immediate world for years, without caring much about the answers I always seek.

And then I crossed paths with Tibetan Buddhism, and something clicked. 

The dhamma or teachings is a non aggressive, no nonsense, moral and philosophical system which demands no blind faith from its adherents, demands no dogma or superstitious rites and ceremonies, but advocates a discipline of pure living and pure thinking to gain wisdom and freedom. 

I like to talk a little about Buddhism from time to time, not only to keep me motivated and current with my practice but also for you. Maybe you will find it enlightening or interesting at least. I mean no preaching, just sharing.

The four noble truths are the essence and fundamentals of the teachings and basically tell that:

1. To live is to suffer and the existence of impermanence. 

2. The arise of suffering because of cravings. Craving sensory stimulations, craving existence or even non existence gives rise to confusion and frustration. Craving and clinging, desire, I want, I want, I want! We suffer because of our attachments and even the attachment to the idea of the 'self' which is a delusion.

3. Good News! The cessation of suffering is attainable. The third noble truth expresses the idea that the suffering can be extinguished by ways of attaining dispassion, by eliminating our attachments.

4. The path to the end of suffering. A path of self improvement, The Middle Way, not to thrive in self indulgence nor self mortification. Through meditation and following the discipline of the Eight Fold Path one can achieve Nirvana, or freedom.

I know, fascinating, challenging and simple in all its complexity.

I am in love with the dhamma.

 

Until the next post!

Namaste...

Between headaches and a healthy appetite

I feel that I'm going to have the need to change the language on this blog from time to time depending on the subject and/or my mood. Forgive me for switching between Spanish and English, it's going to have to be that way...for now at least. Maybe in the future I will ramble a little in Italian as well.

Today I woke up with a side splitting headache, I hate days like this, outside is cloudy and sad. No chance for recovery, the garden is all wet; the toys that spent the night out, covered in wet leaves; the patio chairs soaked. I spent the day in the house barely doing much. I should go get my head checked. At least I managed to pay some bills.

Since I got back from Quito, somehow I put on almost five pounds of extra meat around my thighs and stomach... Thing is, I can't keep from eating or thinking about eating. My friend Sarah warned me about this time: when the baby becomes a toddler our hormones go back to the post pregnancy stage and sadly our metabolism slows down madly. Strangely enough Luca says he likes me better like this. It's a good thing I guess. He doesn't buy into the skinny LA girl syndrome. He likes his girl with a healthy dose of curves. 

Yesterday I made a yummi banana-chocolate chip bread. The other day I made an onion focaccia to die for.

LA RICETTA:

1tbsp active dry yeast / una cucharada de levadura activa 

1tbsp sugar / una cucharada de azucar

1 1/2 cups warm water / 1 taza y media de agua tibia

1/2 cup olive oil / media taza de aceite de oliva

1 1/2 tsp salt  / 1 cucharita de sal

4 cups bread flour / 4 tazas de harina de pan

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion / media taza de cebolla picadita

Coarse sea salt for sprinkling / Sal de mar 

 

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment sprinkle the yeast and pinch of the sugar over 1/2 cup of the water and stir to dissolve. Let foam at room temperature about 10 minutes, if it does not foam...the yeast is no good...Add the remaining water and sugar, 1/4 cup of the olive oil, the salt and 1 cup of the water, beat on medium speed, add another cup of the flour, stir in the onion beat for 2 minutes, swtich to the dough hook or if you don't have one, start mixing with your hands old fashion style. Add the remaining flour until the dough is moist and slightly sticky, 6 minutes or so. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

Put parchment paper on a baking sheet and brush it with oil. Turn the dough on the sheet and with oily fingers flatten into an oval 2.4 cm thick. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let it stand for 30 minutes.

With your fingers make deep indentations all over the surface, drizzle with olive oil, cover and once again let it seat for 30 more minutes...I know bread needs it's time, that's the beauty of it. An exercise in patience and dedication. Preheat the oven at 424F or 220C. Sprinkle the bread with the coarse salt and bake the bread for approximately 25 minutes until it's lightly browned. Serve at room temperature cutting it into squares. You can vary this recipe adding cheese, herbs like rosemary, basil or oregano and olives.

One of my favorite things to eat when we go to Milan is the focaccina. Now you can make it at home and impress your family.

About a fantastic trip to Ecuador

During the month of March and April we had the fortune to visit Quito and stay at my parents house. Luca hadn't been there yet so it was a trip full of tremendous expectations...Needless to say it all went ten times better than what we had imagined. He really fell in love with almost everything about the city, the people and the culture. 

Here we are at Arasha Resort. A two hour drive from Quito takes you to a magnificent tropical paradise. I totally recommend this place for a weekend or a day on the way to the coast. They had a fabulous spa where I got a great massage that almost got cut short when Mia barged into the facilities calling ma! ma! ma!

For more info go to: www.arasharesort.com.

This image below is from the carretera to get there, a highway of sorts, only one way lane on each direction, without median or division. Luca was put off a bit seeing how we drive...The scenery nevertheless is breathtaking.

 

It's always so emotional to come home, this time more than ever. It makes me question everything, and this time I wasn't alone in my confusion, Luca coming from Italy, felt a kinship with my people, after all we are all latin and have the same values, traditions and habits. Even though we both love Los Angeles and the lifestyle there, we have a very small support system and our daughter could potentially grow without much of a family, so after this visit we are slowly but surely coming up with a plan...A Plan for The Future Mrs. Robinson! 

 

 TO SEE MORE IMAGES  AND MEET MY FAMILY GO TO THE ALBUM: 

"A FANTASTIC TRIP TO ECUADOR"