Salamanca

When I was in Spain, I took a day trip to the university town of Salamanca. A UNESCO world heritage site, Salamanca is host to one of the oldest universities in the world. It was founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León and today is still a popular place to study for students from all over the world. I got a little camera happy here as well. The architecture is incredible and history is truly in its stones...

Click to view

Yes, those are stork tail feathers! They weren't in the mood for photographs :P
Check out those spikes! No one getting in and no one getting out!
Spanish roses: gorgeous!

Spanish Victuals

This may make your mouth water!

Spain is a country with delicious meats, seafood, drinks... I could go on but instead I'll just show you. Here are some of the goodies I got to munch on. Pictures are worth a thousand words after all...
Up above you see jamón serrano, croquetas (ham and bechamel magically held together with a brad crumb coating) and really good bread.
These drinks below are called claras. It is the perfect mix of a light beer with lemon soda (like a shandy): great for summer days. The sandwiches are small bocadillos (typical sandwiches of Spain) or montaditos.
Spanish hams, or jamónes!
Huevos rotos con chorizo: fried eggs on potatoes (similar to fries but heartier chunks) with chorizo sausage...
Sepia, or Spanish style squid. I wish I knew exactly how this was made but here's my guess: seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley and lemon, grilled to perfection, fresh lemon squeezed right before eating and accompanied with a yogourt/tzatziki type dip but without the overbearing garlic flavour... It was delicious!
Bread! Pan! I eat so, so much bread there! It's delicious to dip simply in olive oil and salt.
On top of the copious amounts of bread I ate, I drank many, many cafés con leche. Spanish espresso with hot, steamed milk and a touch of sugar.
Un bocadillo de jamón con queso de brie. Quite simply, a ham sandwich with brie cheese. But oh! It's so much more than an ordinary ham sandwich, can't you tell?!
These last two were the first two courses of the wedding dinner: salad with lobster (cooked in two ways) and guacamole...
And one large but perfectly cooked piece of steak! As big as my fist... I ate it all.
My plates of food were always completely devoured... in a ladylike manner of course ;P

Playoff Makeup by Jessica W.N.

I have lots of pictures from my recent trip to Spain to share but they need some organizing! For now, let me share something about my hometown with you: this is a hockey town. Love for our team, the Vancouver Canucks, spreads far and wide, appearing all over the city in the form of jerseys as everyday wear, flags streaming from car windows, cars painted in Canucks logos, giant inflatable Orca whales strapped to a van roof, the green men*... and makeup? YES! Makeup for all the female fans who can't grow a playoff beard (very strange tradition, yes). Check out this fun and sporty look from my dear Jessica W.N



*These are the green men. Obnoxious little buggers aren't they!P.s. If you're not a Canucks fan, be bold and sport the look! ;)

Ibiza Wedding: the Details

¡Hola chicas! What a trip I had! I have lots of pictures to share with you; so much that I hardly know where to begin! I'll start backwards with the wedding. First, the details:

Lemons, oranges and pink ribbons: a sunset colour scheme...Bubbles instead of rice (click to enlarge)...

Pink tulips for the bride and a feathery hairpiece...

Wedding shoes...A white jeep with pink cans for the newlyweds!
Decorative oranges...
To find your table, you had to find the your name in the trees...

Cigars as wedding favours for the men... ...and white or striped Spanish alpargatas for the women.The table. Your place was marked with a personal menu.
Tables were labelled by Philippine locations written with silver on stone, like this one, Ilo Ilo.
Monch ended their first dance as husband and wife with style! This was their wedding song: Duende del Sur - Chambao

Flying

Ibiza here I come! I may not be blogging everyday but as soon as I get a chance, I'll share pictures with you. ¡Hasta luego lovelies!

Travelling & a Few Packing Tips

Hello ladies! Sorry for the blog silence. I've been quite busy and I don't even know what I've been doing anymore! Today I'm packing and getting ready to fly to Spain tomorrow! My cousin is getting married in Ibiza in a little over a week and I can't wait to share pictures with you! My bed is looking like this at the moment:But soon it will probably look like this:My packing tips:

1. It's much easier when you're organized! Neat piles, a list, pouches... whatever works for you.
2. Don't over pack! Especially if you have access to laundry machines. Bring some basic pieces and accessorize. It helps to plan your outfits.
3. Bring shoes that are comfy and match several outfits to minimize luggage weight. Nothing worse than blisters while you tour.
4. Always pack extra underwear!!! Keep an extra outfit in your hand luggage in case the suitcases get misplaced. Not fun, let me tell you!
5. Oh, and don't forget your camera!

Any book suggestions? It's going to be a long flight!Oh! And no one was hurt in that fire!

Images via (we heart it)

Fire

This happened at a construction site a two minute drive away from my house last night! From my driveway I could see a giant smoke plume, sparks and the orange glow of flames. It's so strange to see so close to home! Right now, the street is still closed and the firefighters are still spraying it with water. Can you believe that almost 10 hours later there is still smoke rising from what's left of the building?!
On that fiery note, here are some beautiful watercolour paintings by Stephanie Pui Mun Law that I was reminded of...

Fiery Glory

The colours of these last two makes me think of the water vs. the flames...

Two Wolves

Climbing the Dragon Gate

If you really like these paintings you can purchase prints (or even originals) from the artist's website :)