John treated me to an excellent lunch at La Cabrera yesterday, then bought me this fabulous piece by Tony Valiente at the Mercado de Pulgares (flea market). I’ve enjoyed meeting Tony over the last year or so, but hadn’t stopped by to visit him in a while; I’m glad to add this crazy piece to our art collection. Folks like Tony are one of a kind – he reminds me of the people Mark Sloan wrote about it “Self-Made Worlds.”
Work this week was busy as we both tried to catch up after being out of the office. I’m the acting Consul General while my boss is out, as well as my normal duties. John and I had lunch with our friend Jenae one day to talk about our respective trips to Antarctica over the holidays – she also had a great trip. She had a penguin jump into their Zodiac boat!
Thursday night I met Lea, Katherine, and Bhavna at a wine bar – we had fun just catching up and chatting. The wine bar was interesting – it was self-serve: you put your table’s plastic card into the wine fridge’s slot, select the amount of wine, and it automatically dispenses, not unlike a Coke machine. I laughed so hard and wish I had a video of it!
This morning I had a great video chat with my friend Stacie in Paris – we worked together in DC, then she was in the country next to me while we were in Africa. She’s working hard to prepare for the Summer Olympics in France – I do not envy her, as it’s a Herculean effort to protect the huge number of US citizens who will travel there for the games.
Last Sunday I met Lea for good seafood at La Mar, then read Ruth Rathblott’s “Singlehandedly.” We met Ruth on our cruise and really enjoyed meeting her. I enjoyed her book with its thoughtful take on disabilities and how we all hide something.
John and I watched an excellent movie last night with Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, and Anne Hathaway – really fun and charming.