San Diego Public Market

If you haven't heard or donated already... last chance to help fund the San Diego Public Market!

"Seattle has Pike Place Market, London has Borough Market, San Francisco has the Ferry Building and Barcelona has La Boqueria. It’s time San Diego, with its year-round growing season and vibrant food scene, got a public market of its own and you can Kickstart it into being right now!"

We've been going through withdrawals after frequenting the fantastic ones in Spain... so excited for this!

Mercado de San Miguel

Yes, those oysters are the size of Mary's hand! 

La Boqueria

Místico: Healing Aromas

We were both reading Michener on our trip and his recollection of the intoxicating smell of oranges along the Spanish coastline corresponded perfectly with our own journey. In the Medina in Marrakech, Candice stumbled into an herb shop with the most incredible collection of essential oils. With oranges still on her mind, she picked up a couple of vials of orange blossom essence for herself and Mary. Such a treat and perfect for creating a new memory with an old favorite.

Orange is a solar oil that inspires frivolity. Spiritually, it can help the subconscious mind to show itself and unite with the conscious mind, bringing awareness to the present moment and releasing energy to remove blocks. Ideal for manifesting your deepest desires.

The citrus notes also help dispel mosquitoes, making it the best oil we can think of to wear during this unusually hot and humid summer we've been having! It is a phototoxic oil but you should be fine in the sun if you are just dabbing a bit on.

Sabroso: Summer

Some summertime favorites: bougainvillea, dining al fresco, long days at the beach, summer sunsets.

Arte e Cultura: Mexican Indigenous Textile Project

Our dear friend/family, Barbara, who resides part of the year in San Miguel de Allende, is always turning us onto something or other usually related to Mexico. A few years back, we were directed to this super comprehensive site dedicated to conserving the indigenous textile memory of Mexico.

"The Mexican Indigenous Textile project documents the traditional dress of Mexico’s Indigenous people. This effort began in 2001 and is on going. The idea is to leave a solid field based photo ethno- historical work of the first 15 years of the 21 st century.

I have been finding more and more villages with only one person that continues to wear traditional indigenous costume. In the Tehuacan Valley there were at least two villages and in the Otomi region of Tenango de Doria another three village. Further down the road in the Tepehua regions only 80 women are know to wear their traditional costume.
Embroidery and weaving is has a very long tradition in Mexico and in many cases where traditional costume has disappeared the women continue to embroider and sell traditional looking blouses and skirts. I cant help but feel a sense of urgency in the documentation of these peoples."

We could literally spend hours browsing this site and probably already have. It's nice to go back to when we are missing Mexico. Maybe our next adventure will be a tour of villages we've yet to visit?

Místico: Saint Anthony, Patron of Lost Things

When something goes missing in our family, Saint Anthony gets turned upside down until it comes back to us. Mary lost a piece of her favorite bracelet in Palm Springs last weekend and so we pray to you, Saint Anthony, to return it!

St. Anthony, St. Anthony, please come down. Something is lost and can't be found! 

Last Night in Marrakech

Our last evening in Marrakech was the stuff dreams are made of. Fatima and Aisha spent all day cooking us up the most scrumptious feast. When we returned home from our day out, they were laying down rugs and pillows in the middle of the riad while Abdel was lighting candles and setting up the film projector. We got dressed in our caftans, looking forward to a quiet evening in. After dinner, we all cozied up and snuggled on the rugs while Abdel served us ice cream, making us feel like little kids at a slumber party. We watched La Dolce Vita projected on the riad wall until we eventually fell asleep under the stars. We could have stayed like that forever. Candice captured Mary wishing on a star and can only imagine it was something along those lines. It was such a magical night, one that's going down in the books. Now you understand the tears that fell upon leaving...

Voyage: Marrakech

The day came when we would finally arrive in Marrakech and it was an absolute dream, everything we had hoped for and more. It was the one city that every one of us felt a strong connection to. Maybe we were all Berbers in a past life? Either way, we soaked up every minute of our week there. We could spend days trying to describe the feel of the city: the food, people, architecture, colors, scents and sounds but we wouldn't do it justice. The little turtle that lived at our riad was named Shukran and it was a word that we were happy to learn as we would be saying it over and over again throughout our stay. Shukran Marrakech, we brought home a piece of you in our hearts and it goes without saying that we will be back.