Cheila Likes

alright. let me lay it out for you.
i like paper plates. there. i've said it. i generally feel a distaste for them and i can't abide by them for everyday eating BUT since we've packed up all our dishes, i have to say, it beats washing for these last 2 weeks.

Poaching. i like poaching. no not the killing kind of poaching. like cooking chicken, in water...and vinegar....and onions....and french gray sea salt....and pepper.

i like the "Nance". It is sharp. it is creamy. i makes my mouth happy. i'd almost rather eat it than the cheese. GASP!

i like my weird girl.

i think she looks like the movie "fear and loathing in las vegas". notice the knife....and dangling cell phone.

i like my pansies this summa.

i like cats in boxes. it's good.

ps-
i also like blueberries of which there are no photos cuz i ate them all.
i also like dill pickle cashews from target.

Treshon's Last Walk

Yesterday was our farewell day to Treshon. It was a terrible feeling knowing that it was his time and we were the ones deciding to pull the plug. In fact, we went back and forth doubting our decision all week. We've just never been in the position where we had to decide.

and this last week was actually pretty great dog-wise. No the pooping inside didn't stop but we paid much more attention to the old timer and we gave him insane treats and we reminisced about his younger days because before Tulia, this spotted pooch was our baby.

So we took him together to the park for a last walk and he died later in the day on nate's lap and when he came home without the dog we all cried. and then we ate excessive amounts of pizza and watched not one but two comedy movies.

he is dearly missed. love you tre.

Emotional Eating

yes, i engage in emotional eating and who can blame me when there are buttermilk biscuits around. But what about the exceedingly frequent icecreaming that's been taking place? AND what about the fresh fries and big fat chicken cheesesteak from Speed's that I ate with the family for lunch? and how bout the picnicking and the fancy mixed drinks and the desserts and...and...and...well I've spent all my junk food days and it's time to get back on the eating better wagon. I've strayed miles away from fresh produce even though we have a csa share this summer and even though it's prime healthy eating season! i'm at my wits end and to top it all off, i have not exercised in weeks. there. a purge of sorts. now please give me the power to be free of bad-me-food for a little while. please.

The Summer is What's Goin' Down

summer is the time when everything kicks into overdrive. It's like people are more alive. at least that's what I think. plus there's lots more life and abundance which brings me to the joy that can be found in eating berries.

At my moms she grows alot of berries and these little freaky looking white mulberries drop to the ground like nuthin. Tulia however wished to ride on Nate's shoulders and pick the best sun ripened ones for herself, which if i may say, is a top drawer activity for a 4 year old.

we happened to visit on a saturday when my mom was having a luncheon and in many a dish, when currants are in season, you will find these lovelies draped like lace on something tasty.

a lunch like this is worth an hour trip west.

later there was camping with friends with a little of this

and a bunch of this...

and some of this.

and just yesterday tulia and i suited up like Thelma and Louise for a convertible ride with Gina

in this. (on loan)

and what else? oh ice cream. every day. and no exercising. time to get to zumba. now if you'll excuse me, i need to go finish the rest of the fluffer nutter ice cream.

A Good Movie For Smart People

First of all this is not a recommended film to watch when you have vertigo. i came out of it sick and dizzier than ever. update on my vertigo is that it's still here. still dizzy. gets better as the day goes on and then starts again in the morning. i'll wait it out.
BUT let's talk about this movie. i loved it. not only did it demand my intellectual attention, it demanded my visual focus with an almost iron fist. Awesome rotoscope style with almost no plot but a perfect plot in some ways. and it got me thinking. thinking about what kind of thinker i am. sometimes this film was so grammatically technical that I had trouble focusing on it, just like when you read a text book. and then other times i was so into the conversations that i found myself nodding my head. and in the end, i sort of felt like a big dummy. like man, i couldn't talk like that if i tried. but I began to consider that there are intellectual thinkers and speakers and passionate thinkers and speakers. not that these don't overlap, but rather coexist on a line of measurement with passion on one end and intellect on the other. and i most definitely lean heavily to the passion end. which in the end, i am perfectly happy about. ok then. what do you think?

Enough of This Pretense- Let's Talk About the BEACH!

Please. I mean please. just soak it in with me. this was pure paradise and sincerely believe me when i tell you that we realized this in full and thanked our stars for being able to be there.

To feel the ocean wind, to smell and taste the salty air, to see the colors of the water and clouds, and hear the waves that hugged the beaches all day and night. a true blue delight.

Luquillo was described online as being an ideal family beach area. Luquillo was described by our host at the guest house as being a depressed beach town for locals. I prefer the latter. Local people really make you feel like you're really somewhere else and not just a tourist. I felt so happy there and the people were very happy there too. Smiling at us and saying Hola at every turn. Calling me "mi amor" at the bakery when I asked which pastries were the best or what lunch to get. Please notice the family in the photo above. Many families there were often seen swimming together in circles. i loved that.

I've never seen Tulia more happy and full of joy than on this beach. it made me so happy too.

This is the view of the strip where you could find us everyday swimming and being happy.

nate and Tulia tried to snorkel a bit but seeing as tulia can't hold her breath under water and didn't feel too comfortable with the breathing tube, she didn't really get to do it. Nate however, did go out and said it was the most amazing display of tropical fish he had ever seen. I refrained as I get unusually skittish and creeped out by fish touching my skin.

and now for some blog dessert. The fruit was ripe and delicious and perfect, just like good tropical fruit should be. Many blended drinks were made with rum which was astonishingly cheap, $8 a bottle. I won't tell you how many fruity rum drinks we made but i will admit that one day the rum drinks were concocted as early as 10:30 AM!!

We cooked alot of our own food but tried to stay within the Latin realm so platanos were made daily and tulia scarfed them like a maniac. note to self- buy these today.

We put these beauties out on the patio to ripen in the sun the second day in Luquillo. By our last day, they were the sweetest ripest things in town. pure pleasure i tell you.

and a dessert for the eyes. Here is a gorgeous bloom in our back yard right after a rain. In fact, it rained every day we were there....IN THE SUN.....FOR 10 MINUTES ONLY! crazy.

Cat Power and Flower Power in San Juan

On the walk around the base of El Morro, what do you suppose was hidden in bushes, rocks and even UN-hidden out in the every open space?

cats,

cats,

and more cats.

cat foot prints embedded in concrete.

oh yes, and more cats.

Now onto other wild specimens. flowers.

of course they were everywhere. and of course they were beautiful.

dainty or bold

or dainty AND bold. i admired them all for after all, flowers are divine.

after walking around half of the point of the el morro fort (a long and extremely sunny yet not unpleasant walk), we realized that there was no entrance to the top and had to turn around.

no matter. Tulia entertained herself by stomping in puddles.

here is a random shot of us in front of a fountain unrelated to el morro.

back to the top. this famous little tower-ish lookout is famously plastered on all the licence plates in PR.

and our smiles were famously plastered on our faces as well. almost the whole time. thank you dear universe for the love of my family.
love,
cheila