the first swim

Goodness, I have been MIA this week. Every day it's been my intention to come here, to write, to visit your blogs... and then something comes up. Like teaching yoga, or sleeping, or really, really needing to do my taxes.

So today I'm here, with a couple of photos from last weekend which marked my first swim of the season. I love how when the seasons change we think in terms of firsts. In the southern hemisphere it's: first swims, first ice creams, first time wearing shorts all day, first time you kick off the duvet and realise you need an in between blanket. From reading your blogs, I've been seeing your northern hemisphere firsts: first pumpkin lattes, first days rugging up in cozy knits, first rains and on and on. Life would be so dull without these firsts, don't you think?

my colombia travel tips

Whenever I meet people who have travelled throughout South America, they very often tell me that Colombia was their favourite place. It's mine as well. There's something completely captivating about the land and the people, despite the country's tumultuous past. I'm happy to say that it really is quite safe to travel there now - my only safety tips would be not to flag cabs on the street (call them instead), and make sure you're in a safe place when taking money out from an atm. 

Now, on to my three favourite places and my must see's in each one:

photo via

• The Musea del Oro (the Gold Museum) is a breathtaking museum displaying Colombia's archaeological history, with a focus on gold. 
• The Museo Botero has an impressive collection of one of Colombia's most celebrated artists, Fernando Botero. Gotta love someone who only paints and sculpts fat people.
• The Zona Rosa is a happening neighbourhood filled with trendy restaurants and great shopping.
• La Candelaria is another wonderful area in the city. Perfect for whiling away an afternoon and visiting the above mentioned museums.
• Usaquén is home to a famous flea market on Sundays, definitely worth checking out.
• Expoartesanias - this is my number one favourite thing to do in Colombia, but it only happens once a year in December. It's South America's biggest art market and each time I go, I spend hours walking through the stalls and emptying my wallet. 

• Villa de Leyva is a little town about 3 hours away from Bogota by car. It's beautifully old fashioned, with colonial architecture and the cutest little shops and restaurants. My advice would just be to go to the plaza and start walking. 
• If you want something touristy, my mom suggests leaving the town to explore the Convento del Santo Ecce Homo.
• If you do go, let me know and I can help with accommodation. There are lots of nice houses to let.

• Cartagena is a touristy hot spot, so accommodation ranges from cheap and cheerful to VERY expensive and luxurious. On the cheap and cheerful end, the Hotel Tres Banderas is a great find. If you're rolling in it, the Santa Clara is a magnificent old monastery turned 5 star hotel.
• La Vitrola - one of my favourite restaurants in the old city serving up traditional Colombian fare in a beautiful room.
• La Manga is an area quite different from the walled city, but beautiful nevertheless.
• Even though Cartagena is a coastal city, I have to say that the beaches are disappointing. If you're a tourist, you will be harassed nonstop by hawkers and it's just not worth it. Stick with pools. 
• Cartagena is really all about the ambience. So get out, explore, eat the street food and take photos. A post lunch siesta doesn't hurt either.

One last note on food - I just love Colombian food! Make sure to try: arepas, empanadas, bandeja paisa, ajiaco, and as much juice as you can get your hands on (curuba and guanabana are good starts). Well, that's that! Feel free to ask me any other questions; I'm happy to help. And thanks to my mom for helping me put this post together.

on being half colombian

photos from cartagena, old and new

Recently, a sweet reader emailed me to ask if I could write some more about being Colombian, and travelling in Colombia. It's something I've been meaning to write about anyway, so I'm thankful for the encouragement! Today, I'll share a bit more about my family and our story and next week I'll write my Colombia travel tips.

My mom grew up in a big Colombian family in Bogota. Educated at an American school run by nuns, she was basically fluent in English and decided to go to university in Canada or the US. She somehow ended up under the impression that Vancouver was "practically tropical" (we tease her about it to this day) and decided to do her undergrad at SFU. There, she met my dad, a Canadian from the other side of the country.

Over the next decade or so they moved back and forth between Colombia and Canada. My dad learned Spanish and fell in love with a continent that, to this day, is his favourite place on earth. When I came along they were living in Vancouver, but the three of us moved down south when I was only a couple of months old. They never did live in Bogota though; both preferring the tropical climate and pull of the coast. For my first few years of life we lived in Cartagena, in the historic old city.

Cartagena is like a fairy tale city. Surrounded by la muralla, a huge wall built in the 16th century to protect the city from pirates, it melds colonial architecture with lush tropical colours and Caribbean influences. It is so, so hot but my dad loved it and would regularly be out riding his bike at midday when everyone else was having a siesta. I don't really remember living there, but I'm pretty sure we were having a good time. My dad leading scuba diving tour groups and my mom teaching English. But it was the 80's and the height of the drug wars. Cartagena became more and more dangerous, and a car bomb exploding near our house while I was outside playing was the last straw. We moved back to ever-so-safe Vancouver.

The funniest part of this story is that when we got back to Canada, I didn't speak any English. My Canadian grandmother remembers me as a toddler, yammering nonstop in a language she couldn't understand. Apparently I didn't mind. And I did learn English, pretty quickly.

Because my mom is the only member of her family who ever left Colombia, we went back to visit as often as we could. My brother and I loved going to Bogota to hang out with our cousins, even though he doesn't really speak Spanish and I stuck out like a sore thumb thanks to my glaringly white skin and green eyes. Nevertheless, it's a place that feels like home, every time I arrive.

I haven't been back in over 5 years now, mostly because Australia is damn far and I've been focusing on seeing this part of the world. I miss it though. Every time I hear someone South American speaking Spanish I think of my mom and her family. I can't wait to go back someday and show my husband around; I know he'll love it.

baby me
missing colombia
my family, vintage

the dinner challenge

photo credit

After feeling like we were getting into a rut with what we eat for dinner each night, husband and I decided to set ourselves a little challenge:

Each night for 7 nights, we have to make something new and different for dinner.

To be clear, this doesn't mean that each night has to be something completely new; we just have to use a different recipe. I.e. we can have pasta, but it has to be a recipe that we've never tried. We kicked it off on Sunday night with the soba noodle salad from Super Natural Every Day (my favourite veggie cookbook right now). Other sources of inspiration are: a cozy kitchen, the veggie mama, and whole family fare.

So... would any of you care to join us in this challenge? I'll be posting a recap at the end of the week.

berry

 As much as I love living in the city, sometimes I just need to escape and find wide open spaces. On Friday husband and I did just that, with a spontaneous road trip to the south coast. 

We made it all the way to Berry, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch of veggie pizza (for me) and grilled fish (for him) at the Berry Sourdough Cafe, before wandering around the main street. My favourite stop was definitely Lisa Madigan's The Store, which I found thanks to Jodi's recent post. Me oh my, it is magnificent. I wanted to buy everything, but I settled on a sea urchin candle and a cute chalkboard (I wanted the heart shaped chalkboard but husband convinced me to buy the circle...).

When the sun started to set, we headed for the beach where husband decided that a swim was in order. It was so, so cold and 5 pm but he dove right in. I stayed warm, obviously, and then we got back in the car and drove home in the dark. Refreshed.

his & hers

She is tidy and has dry skin. She likes: burning nice smelling candles before going to sleep, wearing pretty jewellery, fresh flowers and the sea.

He is slightly more dishevelled and falls asleep with a book on his face most nights. He likes: reading, wearing a watch and the mountains.

outside / inside

This weekend. Outside: 

Inside:

Listening to new Cat Power. Love.

4 simple goals

photo credit

Whenever I stop by the blog A Beautiful Mess, I always leave feeling inspired and keen to work harder. Elsie recently blogged a challenge to complete 4 simple goals by the end of the year, and I am in. Here are mine:

photo by Tim

1. Knit a blanket. There's a simple blanket that I have in mind, and I'm sure I'll be able to finish it by the new year. Hopefully this week I'll stop being so indecisive and go buy some wool!

2. De-clutter & make my home pretty. You've probably noticed that I'm on an uber spring cleaning kick. And yet, there still seems to be so much to sort through. The other day I realized that we had 2 identical duvet covers, what the what??? After that's done, I'm feeling extra inspired lately to pretty things up. I'm thinking fresh flowers, some strategically placed trays, and house plants.

3. Buy a new camera & learn to use it. To be honest, this is probably #1 on my list of priorities. I've been saving my pennies and I'm close to being able to afford a new digital slr. Then it will be time to put in practice everything I learned at the nursery.

4. Establish a home yoga practice. This is just a goal where I need to be more disciplined with myself. There's always something to distract me at home which is why I prefer going to yoga classes, but I'd like to have a bit of both for balance.

I like Elsie's idea to reward yourself with something at the end, a road trip with husband perhaps? Yes, that sounds just right.

spring cleaning: part 2

This week as the weather has warmed up and it really does feel like spring, the urge to spring clean has struck. Hard. Yesterday I took two boxes of clothes and books to Vinnie's. And I was surprisingly ruthless with myself - giving away beautiful clothes because I don't wear them. I still have a long list of things I want to do at home, little by little.

1. A purple bottle I picked up recently from the Rozelle markets.
2. I've been burning beeswax candles.
3. The prettiest teas.
4. A new nook at home.
5. Flowers from husband. I just love Australian blooms.

spring cleaning 2011

do you have a morning ritual (part 2)?

via

Just over a month ago, I wrote about trying to establish a morning ritual for myself. The most important thing to me was to try not to start my day by checking my iphone. Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, this was much harder than I thought!

My morning rhythm is still very much a work in progress, but there are a few things I've discovered:

• scraping my tongue and brushing my teeth first thing makes me feel better
• skin brushing before showering is nice and quick, and definitely worth it
• I'm the kind of person who needs a huge breakfast, sometimes two if I have to wake up very early
• staying off the internet makes my brain feel sharper
• using Dr Hauschka skincare has made me really slow down and enjoy this part of my morning

That said, after a month of experimenting, here's my updated morning rhythm:

• wake up between 6 and 8 am depending on when I'm teaching
• scrape my tongue and brush my teeth
• drink a cup of hot water with lemon while reading a book or writing in my journal
• make breakfast and a cup of tea
• if I have time, do some simple yoga stretches or sun salutes
• brush skin, wash face (a multi step process) and have a shower
• get dressed

Of course, some mornings when I have to be out the door before 7 am there's just not time for everything. Those days I do what I can, and let go of what I can't. So tell me, how's your morning ritual going?

taking it easy

Photos taken at the market by husband. Shots set up by me, still working on manual. Still not quite happy but getting closer...

Husband and I have been taking it so easy lately. After being wiped out by a killer cold last week and still having to teach heaps of yoga classes, I needed to spend the weekend recovering. Other than teaching yoga, Saturday and Sunday were spent napping, reading good books, skyping, baking, and going for a wander at the markets. I picked up my favourite green drink from Common Ground, fresh pasta, veggies and devoured a yummy tofu burger for lunch.

This week I hope to slow down even more, bake some bread, nap some more. Yes, that sounds perfect. Hope you're having a wonderful start to your week!

farewell winter

Most photos by me, a couple by Tim, one by Sonja Sipala.

Hello spring! I can't wait for longer days, warmer nights, bare legs, meals outside, and the very first swims of the season. Hurrah!