Paradise Part 1

 

Hey remember that time I went to Puerto Rico and forgot to upload my pictures? Sorry about that. I have finally gotten my act together and here by present to you part 1 of an amazing vacation. This was my first time in the Caribbean and it did not disappoint. Look at that water! The weather cooperated despite the dreaded hurricane season and we came back refreshed and sun kissed.

We explored on our own for the most part, but we did book a guided tour through the El Yunque rain forest and it was definitely worth it. We even got to swim in a waterfall (of course with 50 of our closest friends?)

 

more to come!

 

I get it.

Had a whirlwind visit to California this past holiday weekend for a few days full of friends, sun and so much fun.  The weekend ended with me begging Mr. J to promise me that we can move to the west coast at some point in our lives.  Yes, I liked it that much.

I had the pleasure of being part of one of the most beautiful weddings ever in Santa Barbara and will follow-up with that in a whole another post.  Before I flew out, I squeezed in one day with a good friend, Jenny, who just made the move out west.  Just like we all thought, she is already all over it.  In a good way.

I had my first In-N-Out experience, gobbled up donuts at 2am at TWO different donut shops (Magee’s was better) and watched some star caliber karaoke (is everyone in LA trying to make it as a singer/dancer/model/actress?!)

There is your Cali sneak-peak.

The Line

October 2010, Ajka, Veszprém county, Hungary:

“around a million cubic meters of toxic waste were released after the burst of the retaining wall in one of the reservoirs used for the accumulation of MAL aluminium company rubbish. The spilling reached two meters high and started a destructive race trying to release its energy, flooding Devecser and Kolontár villages. Ten casualties were counted and the material damages were impossible to measure, including the destruction or irreparable deterioration of a big amount of houses, the disappearing of infrastructures and the poisoning of dozens of fields. The accident was fastly considered the biggest [environmental] catastrophe of Hungarian history.”

These striking photos were taken by Spanish photographer Palíndromo Mészaros 6 months after the  accident.  I happened to be in 45 km from the spill at the time visiting relatives in in Pápa. We willed it not to rain. Not to wash it into the Danube.

Unfortunately, it did.

Tartine Bakery

Last week I was in San Francisco which means I’ll be posting some images of my adventures. The first stop? Tartine Bakery.  A French bakery on Guerrero street that proudly bears the crest of their James Beard pastry chef award and is manned by a team of authentic hipsters that have a Parisian countryside vibe. We walked (or rolled?) out of Tartine ten pounds fatter than when we arrived.  Why? Because when you see those perfectly crafted pastries and well-plated confections you just lose it.  And after standing in line for so long (the bakery is pretty small) when you get up to the till you start ordering like a machine gun. I want “the morning bun, the wild mushroom croque monsieur, the lemon tart, the pain au chocolat…”  it all flies out like bullets at a shooting range. The brown sugar and orange morning bun tastes like a blend of a sugary donut, the heart of a cinnamon roll and three rays of sunshine. The open-faced croquet monsieur…I mean look at that image (below). Watch the gruyere drip. Words are not enough. The lemon tart (my favorite) was the crispest bite of citrus heaven with a dollop of fresh, whipped cream you will ever have. I felt like the cow was in the kitchen. I’m not a fan of chocolate but one bite of the pain au chocolat was enough to make me a temporary convert. The sinful dark chocolate refused to be confined, it oozed out of the flaky croissant with one bite. Go. In fact run to Tartine and roll yourself out. It’s some of the best baked goods I’ve had in America. Fact.