Living La Vida Loca

As the year comes to a close, the winter festivities approach, and I begin to pack my bags to go home to Cali to get some sunny LA love, I realize that Barcelona has definitely got the right idea when it comes to living and although I am thrilled to see my friends and family, this city continues tugging at the strings of my heart and this weekend it yanked. Please take a moment to study the picture above. This past week, as I entered the house at about 3pm, stressed with a hundred and one things to do, I found my roommate and his co-workers knocked out on the couch after having cooked an enormous lunch with Rose wine and all. I couldn't help but stop from my own little whirlwind of stress to take it all in and say, "Ah, yes, relax, it's siesta time and everything is okay or at least it's going to be okay..."To emphasize how okay we really are, the same two girls who were taking advantage of the siesta hour invited Monica and me for a massage Friday night. It was the greatest thing I could do to enjoy a four-day weekend. I slept all Friday, watched a movie, slept some more, waited for Monica to come and then headed downtown to have someone remove all the excess junk from my body for 60minutes. Above are the faces of four relaxed and rejuvenated beauties ready to take on the holidays. Afterwards, we went out for some drinks, a yummy bowl of udon noodles and a drink in an old bar from the 40's to end the night. It was what I call "a perfect day" with perfect company.


And finally on Saturday, Jordi, Monica, Alex and I headed to the center on a beautiful sunny morning to see an incredible exhibit on the human body and it's functions. I was astounded at the complexity of us humans and at the same time the ease at how everything works, if we tend to it of course, and listen to our own bodies. We were all exhausted of looking at cadavers and tissues and muscles so to balance it all we had lunch at a healthy vegetarian restaurant and talked about living a slightly better life. After lunch we had a coffee and ran home to do none other than the famous siesta. The house churned with silence as we all slept, enchanted and dreaming of sugar plum fairies.

Today, Sunday, I will put on my swimsuit, go for a swim and then meet up Alex and Monica one last time to do my favorite Sunday thing, the vermouth hour. I will rest, re-organize my week, start packing and take care of me. I will sit and write my new year's resolutions as well as all the things I am so grateful for. I will shut down my computer for a few weeks and bid you farewell as I return to what I will always call home, my mom and daddy's arms. I will allow myself to feel Californian again, not Barcelonean, and I will take a break from this vida loca that I have grown to love. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and the happiest New Year. May you remember to take care of you, to listen to your own body, to follow what your heart most desires and to slow down. We only live once and so why not live fully, listening to and watching all the beauty that surrounds us?