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!