Life Lately, March 2016

jestcafe.com-lifelately23 We went skiing to Big Bear back in January. It was the first time for Víctor and Max, and they both loved it. How could they not? There was plenty of snow and 60 degrees weather… only in California.

Max just turned 2 in October, so I didn’t think he would be able to go skiing. It was my brother, a ski instructor, the one that recommended taking him, and he was right. George and I are good skiers, so it was easy to carry Max between our legs. He was not able to ski on his own, but he still enjoyed the whole things as much as Víctor did. The best part was that we didn’t need a babysitter! We were able to ski all day together as a family.

From all the ski centers we went to, we liked skiing at Snow Valley the best. It is a smaller mountain, easy to access and with no lift lines. It is perfect when you are skiing with small children that need to go to the bathroom (or take a break) at any moment in time. jestcafe.com-lifelately22 jestcafe.com-lifelately21 jestcafe.com-lifelately20 jestcafe.com-lifelately18jestcafe.com-lifelately11Look at this little one on his mini-skies! People were so surprised to see him going down the mountain with us. He is a tiny creature! He was, without a doubt, the youngest kid on the mountain that weekend. jestcafe.com-lifelately9And here he is in the middle of Snow Summit mountain… totally exhausted. jestcafe.com-lifelately2jestcafe.com-lifelately12A well deserved meal. I have never seen my kids eat so much.jestcafe.com-lifelately19jestcafe.com-lifelately8jestcafe.com-lifelately14 Big Bear Village is a cute little town with nice restaurants and coffee shops. After spending the day skiing, it was fun to go there to have dinner and relax a little bit.
jestcafe.com-lifelately7jestcafe.com-lifelately5jestcafe.com-lifelately3jestcafe.com-lifelately16Max couldn’t make it through dinner. ha!
jestcafe.com-lifelately17jestcafe.com-lifelately13jestcafe.com-lifelately15 jestcafe.com-lifelately1Back in LA,  Max’s favorite hobby is eating ice cream. jestcafe.com--lifelately50 This is a picture of Salt & Straw, one the best creameries on the west side.
jestcafe.com--lifelately49 Hi there, Víctor!jestcafe.com--lifelately44 Did I mention Max can read? Not really, but he looks super smart here.
jestcafe.com--lifelately47I found this picture of George when he was 25 years old, so very cute, and he still has that jacket!!jestcafe.com--lifelately45George and my friend’s son, baby Andrew!
jestcafe.com--lifelately55 As some of you know, I have been obsessed with the Flower Market in DTLA. I have been there almost every weekend for the last 2 months. I know the vendors, the flowers, the smell. I love it so much, I am always finding new excuses to go.
jestcafe.com--lifelately54 jestcafe.com--lifelately53 jestcafe.com--lifelately52 jestcafe.com--lifelately56jestcafe.com--lifelately51jestcafe.com-lifelately36Hey, Max!
jestcafe.com-lifelately35 Victor being very helpful – decorating for Easter.jestcafe.com-lifelately34 jestcafe.com-lifelately33 More ice cream!!!  and filthy children. jestcafe.com-lifelately32There are a lot of hugs and kisses going around in our house.
jestcafe.com-lifelately31 Here is me trying to take a picture for my profile. George thinks is too cold. I kind of agree so I am just posting it here. Also, as you can see, I am not a fan of makeup. jestcafe.com-lifelately30 jestcafe.com-lifelately27 Eating at Maple Block Meat, the best meat restaurant in Culver City. It is just excellent.jestcafe.com-lifelately26 Max and I spending our Tuesdays together.jestcafe.com-lifelately25Having brunch at S + W Country Diner in Culver City. This place is so good it gets crowded 10 minutes after opening. You need to be there early! BONUS: Lots of  toys for kids to play with. Perfect!jestcafe.com-lifelately24 jestcafe.com--lifelately41 My friend Sarah celebrated her birthday at the Commissary in the Line Hotel. We had brunch with friends in this gorgeous place. It was fun! and the only hip thing I have done in the last 3 months, so I am sharing it here. jestcafe.com--lifelately40 Another proof that I am not into makeup. jestcafe.com--lifelately42My favorite part of the Commissary was the mismatch-vintage dinnerware they have. Look at this beautiful coffee cup I got!jestcafe.com--lifelately39Hope you enjoyed the photos! Have a wonderful day!

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That Flower Arrangement Workshop

jestcafe.com-flowerarrangement-workshop-48 As I mentioned before in this post, I decided to start doing DIY workshops for friends. The wreath-making party we did last December was so much fun that I wanted to repeat it, so my friend Charlene and I decided to do a flower arrangement workshop and it was perfect. jestcafe.com-flowerarrangement-workshop47 We met the weekend before to go to the flower market in DTLA to see what was in season. We bought a lot of flowers and created this arrangement:
jestcafe.com-flowerarrangement-workshop-49Cute, don’t you think?

The idea was to try and copy it, while giving tips in the process.

We invited 10 friends to the workshop and got the flowers, clippers, vases, and wet foam blocks. At the end of the day, each one of us took their own arrangement home.

Everybody contributed some money and brought food to the gathering. I went to the flower market the day before to get all the flower supplies. On Sunday we set up and everybody came over at 11 am for brunch and DIY fun. It was amazing!
jestcafe.com-flowerarrangementworkshop1jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop9jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop10Ranunculus galore!jestcafe.com-flowerarrangementworkshop5 jestcafe.com-flowerarrangementworkshop4jestcafe.com-flowerarrangementworkshop7jestcafe.com-flower-arrangement-workshop47These two rascals getting into those foam blocks before the workshop started:jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop8 jestcafe.com-flowerarrangementworkshop6 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop11jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop16 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop15 My beautiful friend Charlene taught the workshop. She has a special gift for finding beauty in everything she does:
jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop14jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop13 We wanted to use edibles in the arrangement, so we bought kumquats. For flowers, we got pincushions ranunculus and anemones. We found that 2-3 pincushions, 5 ranunculus and 2 anemones was enough for a frontal arrangement. Everybody ended up using more flowers because they decided to do centerpieces that could be viewed from all sides, this meant that a lot of people ended up cutting greens and flowers from my garden to be able to fill up the whole vase! That was probably the best part: foraging for beauty. Here are more pictures:jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop12jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop17jestcafe.com-flowerarrangementworkshop2jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop18 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop20jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop19 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop21jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop26 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop25 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop37jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop24 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop23 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop22jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop27 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop31 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop30 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop28jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop29
jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop32jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop34 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop33It is unusual to have these kind of meetings for friends. I think that is the reason why everybody was so happy to participate in this workshop. It is nice to do something different that is DIY related, don’t you think?

Originally, we wanted everybody to do asymmetrical and organic arrangements, but, in the end, everybody took their own creative path and followed their own vision. Here are the results:jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop35jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop43jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop38 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop46 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop44jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop45 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop42 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop41 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop40 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop39 jestcafe.com-flowerworkshop36The end.

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Olvera Street

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LA has many neighborhoods that make you feel like you are in a different country when you visit them. One of them is Olvera Street.

Before the Holidays, we took our kids here to immerse ourselves into some Latin flavor, and to get the children out of the house, because having your kids inside a 900 sq. feet dwelling all day can be a nightmare, literally.

Ideally, you will take the train to Union Station to get to Olvera Street, but, for us, the train is not the most convenient way of transportation because it takes so long, more than 45 minutes.

We went on a Saturday for the Virgen Guadalupe Celebration. There was dancing and a vigil, but the most fun part of going to Olvera Street is just walking around and having dinner in one of the many restaurants. The Street has old houses and tries to recreate a romantic idea of “Old Los Angeles”.

It also has a one-block market of  handcrafted items vendors that have been there for generations. Our children loved all the little shops and wanted to get into everything. There were so many colors and noises to spark their imagination, so it was very fun for them.

After walking around and buying some children’s guitars for $10, we had dinner at one of the restaurants. There are plenty of places to choose from. We ordered some guacamole, a couple of beers, some burritos, and we were set.

After a two-hour outing, we were ready to go back home, and felt very happy to have had this little adventure. Going to Olvera Street is a nice option for a short weekend family activity in Los Angeles.

Here is a calendar with the different community events they have at Olvera Street. As of today, they haven’t updated it with the events for 2016, but I am sure they will soon.

Here are some pictures, if you want to see:
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A Photography Workshop With Joel Sartore

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One of my 2016 goals is to learn more about photography and, hopefully, get better at it. Now that I am accountable to the millions of people that read this blog, I decided to attend a photography workshop in January and start the year on the right track.

On Saturday, I took a photography workshop with Joel Sartore at the LA Zoo. He is a national geographic photographer that is the author of, among other things, the Photo Ark, a photograph project is trying to help animals in extinction.

Goals: attend a photography workshop, done; join a book club, done (I will write more about this later); exercise at least one time this year, NOT DONE. I need encouragement, people! I can’t get it together. Can somebody create a day with 60 hours, please? 20 of which should be dedicated to reading a book or binge watching Netflix’s series like “Master of None,” which is HILARIOUS, in case you are wondering what to watch next.

Back to the real topic of this post: as you might imagine, photographing animals requires a lens with a good zoom. I don’t have a lens with a good zoom. The closest I have to a zoom is a lens that shoots 50mm, which is the same perspective that humans see through their eyeballs.  Bad news, right?

The good news is that at the beginning of the workshop we got to photograph animals that were really close to us, so I had no problem doing that (see below), but the animals that came afterwards were a different story.

With this challenge in mind, I realized that I needed to be creative about how to take my pictures, and, as I am a people person anyway, I decided to take pictures of the people taking pictures. I am SOcreative (and SO humble), am I not? Cuek.

Here are some of the results:

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The workshop was a delight. I enjoyed being surrounded by people that had my same interests. Conversations flowed easily and I learned a lot by looking at the work of others. Joel Sartore was very nice and approachable, and the whole experience was a great way of spending a Saturday afternoon. New 2016 goal: sign up for another photography workshop.

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Let Us Be Inspired By Eleanor Roosevelt

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I watched Key Burn’s documentary, The Roosevelts, during the Holidays. It has seven episodes of approximate 2 hours each one of them. You must be wondering, how is it possible for a mother and a member of the professional world to have so much time to spare? Well, I don’t.

What happened is that I felt so in love with Eleanor Roosevelt that I skipped the sections that talked about other people. That shaved off a big percentage of the documentary. Also, I put the audio through loud speakers and cleaned my whole house while listening to it. There was no need for me to pay attention to the visuals to understand what was going on, and my closet, shelves, and drawers were completely organized by the time I was done with it. An excellent way of welcoming 2016.

Most people know that Eleanor Roosevelt was a champion of human rights. She helped creating the New Deal, worked for women’s rights, African American’s rights, Japanese’s rights, and had an enormous influence in her husband’s politics.  I won’t talk about her biography, which you can find here, but I would like to mention other facts about her life that got my attention.

1) Some of her closest friends were gay women. She probably had relationships with women herself. Lorena Hickok being one of them.

2) During her husband’s presidency, her relationship with Franklin D. Roosevelt was strictly political and professional. No much love there, but a lot of respect.

3) She practically got F.D.R. elected to his third term, after giving a speech and helping him get the Democratic Nomination.

4) She was not motherly. Her mother-in-law acted as the mother of her children.

5) She didn’t put a lot of effort into her looks.

6) She was a fearful child and a passive young woman. Confidence was something she gained in her later years.

Eleanor Roosevelt was a woman ahead of her times. I wonder what would she have done with her life if she were born 100 years later.  It is not easy for me to find role models, women that I deeply admire, especially from older generations, and here I found one that I really like. Some of her story is sad. She lost her parents young, she had a difficult childhood, but overcame all that to make a real difference in the life of people less fortunate than her.

Also, how refreshing is to meet a woman that didn’t cultivate her looks, but succeeded only thanks to her mind and heart.

Are there any women you admire? I would love to hear.

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