Mexican National Day and Hello Weekend

The temperature has finally dropped which means that I can now switch out my summer wardrobe for my winter one. My summer wardrobe is multi-coloured and contains about 80 dresses, 50 of which I don't wear. One day, beautiful, slightly transparent, brightly hued dresses, I will wear you again. What always strikes me when I do this big switch is just how much black I own. Sure there is a little royal blue and some brown but otherwise seulement noir. And I am ok with that.

The Kid slept better this week. Sure, he somehow ends up in our bed in the middle of the night but at least he is falling asleep in his own room and not running out like a methed out banshee every 5 minutes. However, and there is a however, the other morning around 4 a.m., the Kid crested like a magnificent whale onto me. 45 pounds of kid knocking the wind out of you while you are fast asleep will lead you to scream very very bad words. This morning he woke up at 3:30 in the morning and sat at the foot of our bed and chatted to himself in his own language. I decided to head to his room and sleep on the pullout couch. The pull out couch is not comfortable. We aren't sure why he woke up so early but this afternoon he took a nap which means he will be partying past 10 tonight and I will be moody and unable to watch my stories in peace.

On Thursday night I finally got to set foot onto the palace grounds around the corner. It was a last minute invite to a Mexican National Day celebration and when I heard a) there was going to be tequila and b) it was going to be at the palace around the corner I said "SI!". I met my friend G.G. at the gate to the palace and walked up to the main doors. We walked through the under passage of the palace and made our way into a large garden. It's amazing that this place is in the middle of the city but feels like you are in the country side. There was a margarita station to the right and food to the left and shortly after arriving, a mariachi band showed up. Of the approximately 7 band members, only one was Mexican, the other were Slovak. Love Europe! G.G. and I got some margaritas and then commandeered one of the high tables. This is key any time you go to a garden or cocktail party. You mark your spot. You grab that table and you always have someone on watch. Sure, people can stop by and place their drink or plate there for a little while, but you make sure to give them the eye if they look like they are getting a little too comfortable. I chatted to some friends and after I picked up my second margarita, I did the inevitable. I spilled the whole damn thing allover my dress. GAAAHHH! The good news is I was wearing an orange maxi dress (I texted one friend I looked like a life boat from the Titanic) so the margarita blended... but for the rest of the night I smelt like lime, tequila and shame. At one point the Mexican ambassador made a short speech and kicked of the El Grito ceremony. An opera singer that I have met before sang the national anthem with a soprano and it was beautiful. One friend took a deep breath just before they started and whispered "It's a long anthem." and when they stopped singing he breathed out and said "That was the short version." The mariachi started up again and I totally felt like I was on holiday in the warm summer night, soaked in alcohol. By 9:30 they started cleaning up and turning off lights and it was time for me to grab my swag (sent someone else to pick it up for me because lazy) and walked back home. It was a pretty idyllic evening.

Today has been a bit of a lazy day and I only ventured out once to get some detergent. The wind is strong and there are lots of people picking up hazelnuts. There is a hazelnut tree in the park and when we first moved to this apartment, I assumed people were picking up after their small dogs. It wasn't until later that I realized they were foraging. When I walked down to Bipa today, I passed a few more hazelnut trees and people were crawling under cars to pick them up. I think I will continue to buy my Nutella thank you very much. I do have to say that I do find it very charming that people even in a capital city do this. Chestnut season is around the corner and if you aren't brained by the green stars of death that go dropping full force from the trees, you are in for a treat. The main items that people focus on here in Austria are: bärlauch (bear garlic), chestnuts, hazelnuts and eierschwammerl (mushrooms). At Naschmarkt they even have an office that you can bring your mushrooms to so that they can tell you which ones you shouldn't eat so you don't, you know, die. How twee!

The other day my Internet kept shutting off at home. I was not a happy camper and the Husband was out so I had no one to talk to so I decided to watch some TV. I ended up watching Buffy which I adore. I also realize that Spike would be too young for me now and Giles is totally my type. WHAT IS HAPPENING!? This is what happens when the Internet doesn't work! I get sad. Yes, I know I should be grateful for the Internet we have now. I don't think I will ever forget ye olde dial up which sounded like the spawn of a dying swan and a car alarm (by the way, you don't hear many car alarms anymore. Why is that?). But still, watching that show made me realize that time has passed. Speaking of time, I better run and put away the rest of my summer clothes and hang up the rest of my winter ones. I wish you all a fabulous weekend!

Comments

  1. Take this as a compliment: I've been really busy of late so have not had time to catch up on the blog (this is like my equivalent of treating myself to a good gin and tonic [or two, or three, or four, or five] after a long day without the headache!) but when I heard about the #Brangelina split just now I immediately came to check in on what Tova might have to say, haha! (I seem to have adopted you as my go-to celebrity-bomb analyst.. I have also noticed a new trend of thinking up appropriate GIFs in my head as I go about my life - must get this from the blog! :) (I had the most excruciatingly painful, God-awful phone call with someone I have a crush on the other day [to say I had a phone call is an exaggeration - after he answered with a 'Hello' I just stuttered on the phone and let out squeaks every now and then in an attempt to formulate words to the point of him telling me to take deep breaths and would I like to maybe text him what I wanted to ask?] I am fast approaching 30. I wanted to go into hiding but then was comforted by the fact that had it been Tova she would have just written something tremendously witty afterward and paired that with some hilarious GIFs!) Hope you're having a fabulous Tuesday! L x

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    1. Wow I'm functioning so incredibly well this week that I now realise it's actually Wednesday.

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  2. Hi Laura! Sorry for not commenting sooner! It seems like the busiest month ever! What a cringe-worthy phone call! :) I have definitely been there! Unfortunately I haven't had time to dissect Brangelina on the blog but hopefully tonight! Thanks for reading and for commenting!

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