Dreaming of White Christmases and decked halls...

Christmas is indeed just around the corner, with barely 10 days left until the holiday is upon us I've been busy trying to get all of my shopping done! Next year I will try not to wait until the last minute...try being the operative word. For those far away (and one special person very close by) I've done my shopping online...the rest I'm doing right here in town.

Decorating the tree was very fun! My sister-in-law went for a red-white-black-and silver theme this year and the ornaments are very pretty and almost vintage style. The tree is tall and beautiful if I do say so myself. A touch that I had not previously thought of myself was my sister-in-law's idea of hanging large ornaments from the ceiling and they look absolutely wonderful! We were able to procure six large ornaments in a package from Costco and used only 5 along the crease of the ceiling. There is truly nothing I love better than Christmas decorations!

So, I've yet to do my Christmas baking and also have to get some cards written out but all in good time! :-) Most of the cards I need to send are local so I'm not so worried. Christmas Eve promises to be a fun day! I'm going to be having a mini movie marathon with my dear friend and hope to be able to bring him some baked goods for the occasion. We will no doubt be watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, California Raisins Christmas Special and more. On Christmas Day in the evening we'll watch It's a Wonderful Life and one other film which I cannot remember at present. I am eager to see how well received my gifts are to their recipients. For the following Christmas I hope to be better prepared.

I think I will begin my Christmas shopping for next year in June or thereabouts. At the very least for my nieces and nephew to whom I want to be able to give several gifts next year. I do hope that I will be better off financially by then. At any rate, I suppose it is the thought that counts when giving gifts. I hope to have another post for you all tomorrow. Enjoy your week and I will greet you again soon!

Cheers!

Tuesday Tutorials on a Wednesday....

I had a very busy day yesterday and was not able to get a tutorial going but better late than never I say! Since I am not the only one who does 'Tuesday Tutorials' I thought it would be fun to google the term and see what comes up. Here are the top three:

1. Indie Fixx by Jen Wallace- I really love the layout and her posts! This 'Tuesday Tutorial' about printables is just adorable: http://indiefixx.com/category/tuesday-tutorial/
2. Melly & Me: Fun Fabulous Design by Rosalie Quinlan and Melanie Hurlston- These sisters have a 'Tips & Tricks: Tuesday Tutorial' series that has some excellent tips of all kinds! Great sewing trips, beautiful design!
3. Ali Edwards has some great scrapbooking tutorials for their 'Tuesday Tutorial' series and they are very informative. 

I really enjoy seeing what others are doing and with Christmas not far off getting ideas and sharing them is a plus! Here are a few of my Christmas tutorial favorites from around the web:

Button Wreath Tutorial by One Crafty Mumma...

cinnamon scented sachets by homemade by jill...

Paper Christmas wreath from the red thread Christmas Tutorials...

I can't wait to share my own tutorials for Christmas with you guys soon! It's going to be awesome! Have a great Wednesday!

Cheers!

***Note***: Crafting photo from Hoopla Now.

Music Thursday: The Birthday List...

If you're like me then you love music and love creating playlists that have some kind of meaning or significance. So, yesterday I had this wonderful idea to compile a list of all the #1 pop hits of August 12th for every year beginning on the year of my birth, 1981, and ending this year. Here is the list:

Aug. 12, 1981: Jessie’s Girl- Rick Springfield

Aug. 12, 1982: Eye of the Tiger- Survivor

Aug. 12, 1983: Every Breath You Take- The Police

Aug. 12, 1984: Ghostbusters- Ray Parker, Jr.

Aug. 12, 1985: Shout- Tears for Fears

Aug. 12, 1986: Glory of Love- Peter Cetera

Aug. 12, 1987: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For- U2

Aug. 12, 1988: Roll With It- Steve Winwood

Aug. 12, 1989: Right Here Waiting- Richard Marx

Aug. 12, 1990: Vision of Love- Mariah Carey

Aug. 12, 1991: (Everything I Do)I Do It For You- Bryan Adams

Aug. 12, 1992: This Used to Be My Playground- Madonna

Aug. 12, 1993: I Can’t Help Falling In Love- UB40

Aug. 12, 1994: Stay- Lisa Loeb

Aug. 12, 1995: Waterfalls- TLC

Aug. 12, 1996: Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)- Los Del Rio

Aug. 12, 1997: I’ll Be Missing You- Puff Daddy/Faith Evans/ 112

Aug. 12, 1998: The Boy is Mine- Brandy and Monica

Aug. 12, 1999: Genie in a Bottle- Christina Aguilera

Aug. 12, 2000: Incomplete- Sisqo

Aug. 12, 2001: Bootyliscious- Destiny’s Child

Aug. 12, 2002: Hot in Herre- Nelly

Aug. 12, 2003: Crazy In Love- Beyonce ft. Jay-Z

Aug. 12, 2004: Slow Motion- Juvenile ft. Soulja Slim

Aug. 12, 2005: We Belong Together- Mariah Crey

Aug. 12, 2006: Promiscuous- Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland

Aug. 12, 2007: Big Girls Don’t Cry- Fergie

Aug. 12, 2008: Leavin’- Jesse McCartney

Aug. 12, 2009: Waking Up in Vegas- Katy Perry

Aug. 12, 2010: Love the Way You Lie- Eminem and Rihanna

So, those of you born on August 12th between those years can use this list to make your own! I think compiling a list for good friends and family makes a great birthday gift! What do you think?

Cheers!

Tuesday Tutorials: Making a hand-made fall themed postcard...

I adore autumn! It's my favorite season. So when I heard about the fall themed postcard swap I was all over it! The task was to create a handmade postcard with an autumn theme and I thought I would share how I made mine with you. So here we go!

You will need the following:

• Mat stack of your choice (I used the 'Once Upon a Time' mat stack from Die Cuts with a View)
• Brown Crayola Marker, basic colors collection
• Autumn Leaf stickers (for texture and relief)
• Autumn themed stickers

For some card making inspiration I used the following magazine:

Card Maker magazine...

And here are the steps:

1. Make a rough sketch of how you want your postcard to look, I drew it in my notebook.
2. Choose your card stock mat according to your theme, I really liked the light backdrop this particular mat created for the embellishments I used.
3. Choose your stickers according to the theme you've decided to use (I used these photo stickers my father had given me as a gift).
4. Begin placing your leaf accent stickers where you have sketched them on your mat.

     5.  Choose something to write, a message according to your theme (I used a simple message from the 

          Card Maker magazine).

     6.  Place embellishment stickers on mat according to your layout.

     7.  Continue to embellish postcard and write message you chose to use on there as well using a brown

          Marker or another autumnal color.

     8.  Finish placing embellishments and write personal message on the opposite side of your postcard.

And here you have the finished product:

Enjoy! Cheers!

***Note***: In my second steps collage a few photos were labeled incorrectly, sorry for the inconvenience but you get the general idea! 

Days in Cheney....

I just finished posting to my newest Spanish language blog, El recetario de Nadia, and decided to do a little blog surfing and found another blog from a fellow Washingtonian called Fresh Fruit. I love the images on there and think you should really check Becca's photography out. I love blog surfing because I always end up finding something interesting and there is one blog I found a while back that I love and want to share with you: A Day in the Country. The blogger is the owner of an organic blueberry farm called Missing Goat and I really want to visit the farm one of these days! So, if anyone wants to join me on a trip to South Surrey in the future by all means let me know!

Well, other than those wonderful links I want to share with you this photo I found on facebook, author unknown:

Conscious Shopping Wednesday: My new local loves...

I love to shop locally as most of you know so today when I went out for a walk I went to good old Ben Franklin and bought a couple of things for a postcard exchange I am going to participate in. The host is the Wonderful World of Postcards group on facebook. I bought some really great embellishments and a mat stack that will be the perfect size. For some inspiration I got some magazines and am super happy to get started!

I've been shopping here and made a few purchases at our local grocery store and have stayed pretty local of late. Made some cookies yesterday as well! More to come later...

Monday Musings: New things happening...

I finally have a moment to write to you all once again! I have missed blogging and was craving the right moment to do so. I have much news to share with you all! First, I just had my 29th birthday last week on August 12th which was really fun! I am really excited about this last year of my second decade on earth, beginning the third decade seems like a really exciting time for me! Here is a collage with some of my favorite photos from the actual day of my birthday:

I really enjoyed the day! It was very fun and full of love! Beyond having a new year added onto my life I also got a new look! The day before my birthday I was treated to a day at the beauty salon by my friend Mireya. Here are the results:

So, the other news is that in a week and a half I will be boarding a plane once again headed to Spokane, WA this time. Lord, it only took me about a half a year to get there which had been my original plan but I am glad it is finally coming to fruition and that I got to spend time here in Venezuela. Anyway, thought I would share with you just a bit of what's been going on in my life these days. Tomorrow I will write again!

Cheers!

PS: If you want to know more about my move and all that jazz visit the Notes section of the blog's page on facebook!

Saturday Special: It's Been A While

It's been a great long while so I thought I would share some thoughts of what I've been up to lately. In a word: MUSIC. Whether it has been taking the girls to their classes, attending their concerts or attending other concerts and the like, everything has had to do with music lately. I really enjoy such events and being around musicians, there is something so passionate about instruments and those who play them. Taking the girls to their music lessons is something that for me is precious as well and I love to encourage them in this area.

I've had the great opportunity of meeting many different people during this time and I love it! It is fun to hang out with the girls and take them here and there. Now that summer vacation has officially begun for them it should be interesting to see what things we end up doing. I've had the pleasure of continuing to work on my photography as well and have been working a lot on photographing the events I attend. I am still nowhere near being a pro but I do enjoy it very much! I had the great fortune of being able to get some really great snapshots in on one occasion while I was waiting for Andrea to get out of music class one day. In the building complex where she has her classes there are many works of contemporary art around and I love photographing those sculptures. There was one in particular called PANDORA which really appealed to me and I took several snapshots of her. Here is one for you to enjoy:

I absolutely loved photographing this sculpture and there are so many sculptures all around Caracas that are worth photographing...I have yet to discover it all!

I love spending time with the girls because they make an adventure out of any little thing! In the above photo we were at the mall looking for some new clothes for Maria Alejandra's end of the school year party and Andrea and I seized the opportunity to take a cute photo while waiting.

Tomorrow I will attend Andrea's end of the year choir concert and also La Traviata in the evening which I am really excited about! What exciting things will you do at the close of this weekend?

Cheers!

Monday Musings: I took the week off...

Last week was pretty crazy so I took the week off from blogging and how I have missed you all! I've done all sorts of fun things and cried with the Italy fans when we were eliminated from the World Cup Tournament but we will RISE AGAIN!!! Beyond that, I've been hanging out with my little girls and having a blast!

I have the fun task of taking them to music classes and bringing them home, helping them out with their homework and such things...last week we had a long weekend and I spent it watching movies with them, playing, going to concerts and participating in their grandmother's birthday party!

We watched Nanny McPhee (I confess I had not seen it and think it is very cute), 17 Again and several episodes of Phineas and Ferb on youtube! So, needless to say, I am LOVING my life in Caracas! It's absolutely wonderful! This afternoon I get to meet with Maestro Yevgeny Bushkov from Russia before he goes into rehearsals for this Wednesday's presentation of the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela), it is their 80th Anniversary celebration this year and there have been scores of wonderful concerts and presentations! On June 20th I went to the ballet with the girls, they presented Carmen which was just awesome and gorgeous! Here is my fave photo which I snapped from the event:

Please visit my Perez Liscano Photography page on facebook to view more photos of the spectacular event! It's such a joy to be able to share such things with you! Anyway, I must get going, got some more things to do but wanted to share these things with you!

Cheers!

Fantastic Friday: Just another day in Caracas...

Oh the joys of a Friday! It's nice when you've been paid and have some money to spend and most of my money went to much needed things like: shampoo, conditioner, baño de crema (which is a deep conditioner), lotions, soap and other such things. For next week I'll stock up on other things and some more soap but in the meantime I think what I bought today was sufficient.

I took Andrea to music class today as well and afterward treated her to some ice cream at Mc Donald's! She really enjoyed that and I am glad she did. She's such a cute kid! My one treat for myself today was a really beautiful fan I bought which called my eye when I was taking Andrea to music class, I bought it from an informal street vendor (there are plenty to be had here in Caracas) and I love it! It's black with gorgeous fuscia sequins and embroidery.

What's next on my list of things to do you ask? Tonight: watch "Because I Said So", tomorrow: clean my room and possibly go to the National Art Gallery or go catch a play at the old Ateneo Theatre, Sunday: it's Father's Day and I hope to talk to my father a bit but will be attending Maria Alejandra's choir concert and later that afternoon taking the girls to see the ballet production of "Carmen". That is my weekend in a nutshell! Hope you have a fantabulous weekend too!

Cheers!

Conscious Shopping Wednesday: Local Artisans

Living in Caracas has opened my eyes to wonderful new possibilities as well as wonderful new markets! I love to shop! It is part of who I am and it is inevitably engrained in me but I am not a "mall shopper" or even much of a "department store" shopper (although I love the very chic Beco here). I am most definitely a boutique and artisan craft shopper. I LOVE boutiques and things made by hand and in Caracas there is no shortage of boutiques of all kinds.
On Sunday, May 3rd I had the great priviledge of attending a market/bazaar I had discovered a couple of years ago in one of my previous extended stays here in Caracas. The bazaar is called El Tarantín and is a great place to get to know local artisans from all over Caracas and Venezuela. Artisans and vendors showcase their goods and one can shop under the open air market of the Municipal Market of Chacao (one of Caracas' many municipal sectors, sort of like a burrough) for all sorts of great things.

There were so many wonderful things and I just have to share a few of the photos with you all:

The atmosphere was fantastic, everyone was having a great time browsing and shopping and I believe that for the next event I will definitely be taking some more cash to get some other goodies! I made one purchase, a set of flower barrettes for my niece Alyssa:

The event was a huge success and I was able to meet Liliana Saenz, one of the organizers, who had given me permission to photograph the event for this blog. I cannot wait to bring you the future events that are hosted! Liliana was most helpful and all the vendors were really nice about being photographed. There are tons more photos you can check out on my photography page on facebook, Perez Liscano Photography in the Arts and Culture Caracas album. Anyway, I will be trying to write more and more about these cultural events and all that jazz!

I love life here!

Cheers!

Tuesday Tutorials: Make it your own!

I can't believe it is already June! Yikes! Where has time gone? For me it has been a whirlwind ride of teaching and going to cultural events lately! I've been so busy that when I get home I am too tired or too spent to even think about writing a post but here I am back again from the woodwork!
I've been working on making this room here my own (not an easy task since there are so many useless things lying around here that I am trying to figure out what to do with) and have commenced by decorating one side of the shelf for me to enjoy and look at!

If you read my post in April about collage making, then you will recognize the first piece on my shelf-side collage. I used that collage as a starting point for this particular decoration piece:

What else did I use, you ask? Well, I have an ever growing collection of postcards and trinkets people send me so I started to use them as the basis for my collage. Among the ones pictured are a postcard from Socks for Happy People, a postcard my parents brought me from Lima, Peru, and a few little cards from Paris my friend Martina sent me! I am a very visual person and having a bland room is not my idea of fun!

In order to not harm the shelf nor harm the pieces I am using I decided to use mounting tape to get them up there. It peels off fairly easily when I want to change something around and is less annoying than regular scotch tape.

Thank God for creativity and ingenuity! It's the little things in life that inspire me most! Have a bright and cheerful day! What decorating plans do you have for this summer? I'd love to know!

Cheers!

Fantastic Friday: Rain, rain and more rain!

It rained pretty much all day today! I did some laundry early in the morning and thank God that was dry but I didn't have such luck with my second load! After placing it out to dry I went to get a couple of things at the panaderia and to meet up with a friend and voila! It stared pouring down rain! My clothes was, of course, soaked and since it rained all day since it is still up there wet and I will probably have to take it down early tomorrow morning, bring it here and put it through the rinse cycle once more...oh well!

Other than that, I had a pretty busy day running about here and there, taking my little friend Maria Alejandra to and from ballet to music class! We had fun at the end, despite the rainfall! I got an Italia bracelet to be decked out in World Cup gear and fervor (that's my team) and Maria Alejandra was happy because she is also a fan of Italy! After that we got ice cream sundae's at McDonald's and headed back to the building! Here are some shots we took today:

Maria and I show off our bracelets...

Maria and I at McD's!

Ahhhh...sundaes!

Maria enjoying her sundae...

Life... ♥

Hello friends! It's been a while since I last wrote! Life has been whizzing by and somehow I got caught up in the moments. Today I just want to share a little bit of what I am enjoying these days....

Catching up with old friends on Monday...

Received a letter from a friend in Germany on Wednesday...

Aren't the German postage stamps lovely?

The postcard my friend sent me....

and the little tour/travel cards from Paris she included as a token...

Today I played around with the cam and different shelf shots...

my tea/candy jar...brought this from the US with me...

...and of course, CHOCOLATE! I bought these two today.

I've also been updating some photography on my Perez Liscano Photography facebook page. I added an album called {a rose is a rose} and it has some beautiful shots! Check it out and if you're on facebook and like what you see become a fan as well! I've also added a few things to the Mes Petites Creations facebook fan page as well! Other than all that I've been teaching my little students English and hanging out with my Grandma.

Cheers!

Tuesday Tutorials: Food-torial! Peanut Butter, Banana and Honey Sandwich

I love peanut butter and bananas! So today I wanted to share with you a tutorial about making some really yummy and peanuty snacks. Here is the list of ingredients in pictorial form:

Wheat + Oatmeal Bread

One banana...

The goodness of Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter....

and honey...lots of honey...

This bread is one of the best healthy breads in all of Caracas... I love it!

So, on to the assembly:

Spread some peanut butter goodness on both slices of bread (this is an open faced sandwich).

After spreading all that good peanut butter, slice the banana and place it directly on top of the covered slices of delicious bread...oh, la, la! Finally, drizzle some amazing fresh honey over the bananas, letting it drip onto the peanut butter and voila! The finished product is below in all it's glory!

Bon apetit!

Monday Musings: Baking Enjoyment and New Projects

About a week and a half ago I'd bought some bananas and, as with almost everything else I tend to buy fruit-wise, I didn't eat them all in time and alas they started to get brown and mushy. Well, one of my favorite things to do with mushy bananas is make banana bread and that is what I did. I generally use the Betty Crocker recipe but this time I used a recipe that my grandmother likes which was included in a cookbook compiled by the Trinity Wives Club back in 1958-ish.

The recipe I used was the first one on the page pictured here, Banana Quick Bread. I have to say it was fairly easy to make and turned out quite good! I love the fact that instead of stating that nuts are optional it calls them nutmeats, isn't that cool? I love old cookbooks! While new ones are often beautiful and full of color, it's the older ones that hold interesting pearls of wisdom and anecdotes. This one in particular is full of Bible verses, poems, prayers, helpful hints and the like. I have decided to take on the task of retyping the book and later making it into a new book with pictures and all. I plan on making each recipe and adding photos to them, keeping the original text of each page. It's a labor of love really.

My beautiful retro style Banana Bread and it was good!!!

Home-made goodness...

Well, I will let you now how this project progresses over time! I leave you now with a funny picture I took of myself and a magnet I got in NYC with a food sample! Enjoy!