muerto de risa

some cute houses for sale in denver...

two movies i watched recently...

1. Once

a low budget movie about a pair of musicians who meet and form a friendship.  she is a czech immigrant making her living through selling flowers and cleaning homes.  he is a street musician who also works in his father's vacuum repair shop.  the two are drawn to each through loneliness and a love for music.  the music is sweet.  the story is touching and real.  i liked it.  you may too.

2. Alice Neel

a documentary about the artist directed by her grandson, andrew.  she was a great portrait artist and an anti-establishment seeker of fame.  the movie is a little slow at times, but fascinating for anyone interested in art or psychology.  alice's sons are particularly intriguing.  the older one went from living in alice's bohemian home to being a right wing lawyer.  was her rejection of mainstream society worth it since she was successful in the end?  i'm not sure.  check it out.  but not when you're tired.

a happy stomach = a happy lady

life is busy right now.  people always say looking for a job is a full-time job.  well, moving back to the US and looking for a job with only temporary housing while learning to drive again (and stick for the first time!) feels like several fool time jobs. 

luckily, it doesn't take much to make me feel better.  yesterday we enjoyed a delicious dim sum lunch at the tea box, a cute little restaurant near my inlaws' house.  i sipped my iced jasmine green tea (jasmine is a magical antidote for stress) and nibbled edamame, three types od fresh dumplings, and a bbq pork bun.  we went back today and slurped hibiscus slushies. 

for dinner, we drove to the highlands (a very "hot" neighborhood) and tried out a new peruvian restaurant called cebiche.  eating authentic andean food made me feel like i was back in south america.  we started with a beef and egg empanada and a delicious tamale special (pictured above).  we drank chicha morada, made with purple corn boiled with pineapple, cinnamon, and clove and then mixed with lemon and suger. 

as our main course we had fresh peruvian-style cebiche (also known as ceviche).  in ecuador ceviche is served in more a soup while in peru the fish is marinated in similar ingredients (lemons, onions, cilantro) but served withough the soup.  ecuadorian ceviche is served with popcorn and plantain chips, in peru there are often potatoes, sometimes corn, but popcorn is less common. 

we waited twenty minutes for a fresh patch of picarones, fried pumpkin fritters served with as honey syrup.  this decadent dessert is not something for everyday, but is the perfect "i need to spoil myself because i am stressed right now" sweet.

in denver!

it feels like at least 836 days since i posted last, but apparently it has only been ten.  our drive out to denver took a little longer than planned due to car trouble but we finally made it on monday.  since arriving we waited over three hours to get our colorado licenses, unpacked all of our clothing, began our job hunts and i started learning to drive (again).  this morning i drove on real streets with real cars. 

for those of you not from the US, our drive required us to drive through new york, new jersey, pennsylvania, ohio, indiana, illinois, iowa, nebraska, and colorado.  this means we passed fields of corn, corn, and corn. 

our favorite stop was york, nebraska.  we ate in the "chances r" restaurant where we seemed to be the only people who were not intimately familiar with the lives of everyone else in the place.  if you ever eat there be careful of the spicy buffalo wings.  my mouth is still stinging.

have a great weekend!

olga's kinky graffiti

oh new york!  i will miss you. 

thank you for continuing to leave me comments despite my infrequent posting over the past few weeks.  i hope to start posting regularly again in another week or two.  on friday we will start our drive to denver.  once we settle in i should be able to spend a little more time online.

until then, here are a couple of photos from a yummy french-mexican dinner at itzocan cafe.  the restaurant was started by two chefs from puebla, mexico who after spending a number of years working in the kitchens of french restaurants decided to open a place that allowed them to create a fusion of french and mexican food.  the results are delicious.

mmmm...crispy goat cheese ravioli.

sweet corn, huitlacoche mushroom, and truffle oil souffle.

semolina epazote dumplings with roasted poblano peppers, corn, mushrooms, and tomatoes.

we also enjoyed a cold corn and apple soup that was lovely (despite not really tasting like apple nor corn) and a black bean and roasted vegetable casserole (scrumptious, but a little difficult to eat once we ran out of tortillas).