365-14 Are you ready for Valentine's Day?

It's a month away, but every where i go now i see hearts and bears -- and when shopping in a Mexican market you'll see the Virgin de Guadalupe in there too...

365-13 Blingy Boots

These are some blingy (and pointy) boots. Made for interesting window shopping.

365-12 Piñatas

For all those parties during Christmas  through Candlemas there is an ever abundance of piñatas. For each party there must be  a piñata full of traditonal goodies - oranges, peanuts, cookies and of course candy.

365-11 You can tell its still Christmas season!

In some U.S. Mexican Catholic homes Christmas doesn't stop on Dec. 24 and 25. It continues on with another celebration on Jan. 6 to celebrate Kings Day - when the three kings found and paid homage to the Christ Child. This is when the Kings bread or Rosca de Reyes is served (similar to the one served during Mardi Gras) and includes a small baby Jesus inside the bread.
The person who gets the baby Jesus in their slice of bread gets the honor of hosting the next Christmas season party on Feb. 2 (day of Candelaria or Candlemas) to dress and take up the baby Jesus from his honored place in the manger. He will then be kept in another place of honor all year until next Christmas Eve when he will be put down again to symbolize his birth.
At the local Mexican market you had your choice of baby Jesus statues in case you didn't have one already --

365-10 Elote or Corn-in-a-Cup

We had a hankering for Elote or Corn-in-a-Cup. you might ask what is the big deal about corn in a cup? it's not just as it sounds. It's roasted corn (while still on the cob!), then the corn is sliced off the cob and served in a cup. You then add some mayo or sour cream, parmesan cheese, salt, lime juice and hot sauce (salsa valentina usually). It is the best corn you've ever had!! You may have seen local food carts that sell these in some mexican markets, fairs or gas stations.

You can also make this at home by grilling your own corn-on-the-cobs and following the steps above or frozen corn (following cooking instructions and then add toppings) or use canned corn.

365-9 It's snowing!!

I know by now most people are probably sick of snow but this is our first snow of the season. Supposed to snow all day and into the night --- once it's done i'll have had my snow 'fix' for the year.

365-8 She said Yes! to the dress

In October i posted the news of my daughters engagement. Well she found her dream dress! We had planned on spending the day going to a couple of dress shops. She knew what she wanted as she had seen it on a Spanish soap opera (La Dueña) and had reearched it online. She managed to find it at this one shop so we went there first. In addition to the ruffled one she had set aside 3 or 4 others that she liked and planned to try them on just to make sure. Well she tried on the ruffled one and it looked beautiful on her. Then she tried on the second one -- it looked nice too, but not as nice as the first. So that sealed it. She really had her heart set on the first one anyway and when you know what you want and it feels right, why go through anymore.
Now we just need to take care of all the other details.

365-6 present

Today is Dia de Reyes or the day of Kings. The day when the Three Kings finally arrived to pay homage to the Baby Jesus. In Mexico this is celebrated by children leaving out their shoes in order to receive gifts from the "Reyes", just like when they left gifts for the baby Jesus. Mostly the gifts are coins, candy, small toys - because really how much can you fit inside a shoe? I wish we would have had this custom here when my kids were little - would have been way less expensive.

Today upon arriving at the office i found a gift of sorts - a feather on my desk. I'm sure it was inadvertently left by the cleaning crew -- but it's a neat feather and will go into my craft supply box. Perhaps it will find its way onto some mail art.

365-5 Texture

Just for kicks, while sitting at the light the other day waiting for it to change from red to green - i took a picture of this. Could it be a rug, pillow, car upholstery? nope, it was my skirt material...

365-4 Creepy house for sale

This house has been on the market for awhile - before it was put on sale i didn't even know there was a house here there was so much brush and trees covering it all up. Very creepy. It will take someone with loads of money to clean up the land and build a new house here. i doubt this one is any good, it has not been taken care of.....i did like how the green stands out from the dark, grey, dismal color...

365-3 Aromatic memories.....

Do you have moments when sometimes just the smell or aroma of something will trigger a certain memory (i.e. pine=Christmas) or if of food, you can "fill up" just on the smell of it.....Coffee is one of those for me....i love the smell of fresh ground coffee. i ground a bag at a time and the scent of it just fills me up and i've had my coffee 'fix' for the day. What does it for you?

365-2 Here comes the sun

You know it's going to be a great day when you can see the sunshine coming through...

365-74 Safety First*

Mommytography 365 Assignment 24: Laughter

In taking a walk downtown, came across these guys who look out for the average citizens safety. Boy do they love to ham it up for the camera!

365-34 Tiny reflections

Spring blossoms 365-2

 Check out the pic of the day for 365 Photo Project  - Spring is truly here and these little blossoms are a welcome sight!