Empanadas

Tonight I was craving empanadas. I ordered delivery from a place I've never tried before that was offering a promotion of $23.90/dozen (with an exchange rate of U$S 3.80/peso, that works out to about $6.30 USD).

OK, like I can eat that many, gross. But the price was right.

The delivery guy showed up on his little motorbike, face wrapped in a scarf under his helmet. It's winter, as I keep reminding you. Go ahead and gloat in your summertime bliss.

Anyway, I ordered nine different kinds (they offer more than twice that many varieties), and I was wondering how I would tell them apart. Some places make them in different shapes. But this place had the cleverest idea of all: Brand them.

This one is "QA" queso and albahaca (cheese and basil).




This one I just had to try --

"PC" for panceta and ciruela (bacon and PRUNE with cheese). Although the "bacon" was more "ham." Still, an interesting taste combination.

I was to-tally a fat, lazy pig and ate these on the couch. Poor little animals were going nuts.

To my right.

And to my left.

Tô

The other night we and some friends of ours went to Tô (long "o"), which boasts the FIRST and ONLY sushi conveyor belt in Argentina. It offers "Frapanese" cuisine (French/Japanese). I read an interview of the owner in a newspaper, and since then I've wanted to hit this place up.

I'd never seen a sushi conveyor belt in real life, and let me tell you, it's a great invention. The sushi was priced at about 5 different levels, according to the color of the plate they were served on. So we just took whatever appealed to us and our server collected the plates. We also ordered some amazing stuff off the menu.


Great atmosphere, super-hip. We met the owner, who is a super-cool guy. He's from the Ivory Coast of Africa so speaks French. We were with a couple who served in French-speaking Africa in the Peace Corps, and another couple who speak French, too (the husband is from France). So the conversation started out with me speaking to the guy in Spanish, then switching to English (thank goodness) then he switched to French with the others. Wild.

We had 9:00 p.m. dinner reservations which is sooooo early in Argentine time -- we were pretty much the only people there. But by the time we left around 11:30, the place was full.

Come Visit Me!

http://airfare.travelzoo.com/international-airfare/614144?utm_source=top20_us&utm_medium=email_top20

With deals like these flying around the internet, and FREE LODGING (heck, free food in the kitchen!) you have no excuse not to COME VISIT ME!!!!

p.s. I always thought the name "TravelZoo" sounds sketchy, but I have it on good authority that they're totally legit.

How Dumb Can I Look?

I laid down on the floor and the puppy and kitty decided I was a nice place to rest.

OK, so I post this because you would not believe I got those sweet, hip, ZEBRA-STRIPED, low-rise skinny jeans at Wrangler! Something about being in another country opens your mind, even to retail experiences.

We saw a Wrangler store in a local upscale mall (Unicenter) and went in out of curiosity. Let me tell you what, this is not your cowboy's Wrangler! They have some pretty cool stuff these days.

I ended up buying these jeans and a great featherweight knit dark-purple-and-black-striped long sleeve that I wear all the time!


And this pic I post just cuz honestly, how dumb can I look? This was after Embassy 4th-of-July partying (on the 3rd) till all hours, waking up at 7:30 a.m. for horsebackriding, a few hours of nap and then another 4th of July party. With the same asymmetrical chignon hairstyle. I promise it looked cool in real life! And all the bobby pins helped it last 18 hours.

P.s. do you love my Casio watch? I got desperate; with one nice watch that broke in 2004 that I carry around in my purse to one day take to get fixed, and a new watch Neil ordered eons ago that hasn't arrived yet. Anyway ...

The flowers were given to me to take home as we dismantled the Embassy party decorations. These and other gorgeous arrangements of roses, orchids, etc. were all over the palace, it was beautiful! Unlike my face paint!

The arrangements were huge!

June, The Month of the Chair

Did you let June pass you by, not knowing it was the month of the chair? Me too.
(Look at the ad in the photo above)

This beautiful wingback caught my eye through a store window one night last month on my way home from ballet.

The stark white is so beautiful. I think it's white leather! The matching ottoman is so cute, and when I saw it displayed with this velvet burnout-upholstered chair, I fell a little bit in love.


Although I have an Embassy-provided wingback, and I hate it, so uncomfy. But it's not white leather!!

(What's With All The Posts?)

(((I have a bunch of pictures piling up, and for some reason it's not taking 3 hours to upload one photo, whoo hoo!!!!!!)))

"Don't Diet; Use a Laxative!"

I'm thinking this is the Argentine womens' motto. From the commercials I've seen, complete with animations, they seem to equate yogurt with miracle laxative powers.

Nobody seems to be pointing to the massive amounts of meat, pasta and vats of dulce de leche they're snarfing.

Although I must say, Argentine women are generally quite thin and body conscious. There is a plethora of workout facilities, exercise classes, Pilates studios, plastic surgeons, etc.

But a couple aisles in the drug store mentioned in the previous post caught my attention.

Tell me we don't have selections like this in the U.S.:

LAXATIVES

DIGESTIVE AIDS

DIET PILLS

Of course, this could all stem from the traditional desayuno (breakfast) of cafe con leche and/or mate (sort of like herbal tea) and cookies/medialunas/crackers/alfajores/toast/ with dulce de leche.

This is the "breakfast" section at the drug store -- mate, cookies, crackers:



Oh yeah, and don't forget to wax!

Baby What?

You know the joke about baby oil being fresh-squeezed from babies (like olive oil from olives)?

I ventured into a drug store recently and saw these Johnson's baby products on an endcap. They gave me a good little laugh.


Baby milk?


Baby colonia (baby colony?? Oh, nevermind, cologne. Wait, what???)


Baby fecula?!?!?!? Gross. I don't care if it's "natural." If it weren't for the familiar packaging, I would really be wondering what this is.

Strange Habits

When it's time for bed, Ellie and Boludo go to their "room" -- the guest bathroom. Ellie has a little cat bed thing she ends up in by morning, but at bedtime, she goes straight for the sink.



And she goes nuts when I turn the water on. She's fascinated by it.



Then there's Boludo. He sleeps in his kennel. Boring!!

Nasty

Buenos Aires has a problem with dog crap on the sidewalks. This was the biggest one, or multiples I should say, I've ever seen. It was on the footbridge over the train tracks. Why would a dog wait until he's on the footbridge?? And it looks like someone already stepped in it. Nasty.

Ready For The Races

So we got Boludo a little jacket for these cool, rainy winter days of July (Buenos Aires = Southern Hemisphere, remember?).

I always thought dog jackets were silly, but ever since we cut his fur, I feel like he's so liiiitle, and his fur is so thiiiin.

I thought he looked so jaunty, like a little racehorse.

He didn't like it very much, and wouldn't move once it was on him.

He even ignored me.


And tried to visualize himself in a "happy place."

He was pissed. He wouldn't even come when I called him, or play with his rawhide.

Eh, he'll get used to it :)