La Chilengüita

Catch-up?

2011-08-16T16:47:00.002-04:00

I feel like I'll never catch up on all the fun I've been having in funemployment if I keep taking week-long (or longer) breaks from blogging! There has just been so much going on. Tons of trámites.....which I have yet to even detail so that anyone else moving from Chile knows what needs to be done, we had a friend visiting for a week, and now we are packing up to head to Viña for the rest of our time in Chile before moving back to the States. On top of that, there is the whole job search and big secret project (yet to be revealed) that we are both working on. Oh and of course getting in some travel--we are going to Easter Island at the end of the month!--and planning our three going away parties (one in Viña, one in Rancagua and a big one in Santiago).

So in a nutshell, funemployment has been busy, but a good--make that GREAT--busy! I really want to do some recaps so that I can remember what an awesome time our last months in Chile have been. Plus I still want to write about our trips to San Pedro de Atacama and Buenos Aires--and soon the Easter Island trip too!

Vegetarian Charquicán Recipe

2011-08-03T13:00:00.000-04:00

On Day 8 of funemployment, I mentioned that I made charquicán vegetariano for lunch and that I would be posting the recipe and pictures. Well today is Wednesday and I used to post recipes on Wednesdays…so let’s get down to business!

I am taking these measurements from a Lider Express recipe that I have, however it is all relative to your tastes. I typically throw in more zapallo than I do potatoes, even though the recipe calls for half & half.

Charquicán is typically made with beef, however in my version, I use lentils to represent the ground beef. It is a very typical Chilean dish, served mostly in the winter as it will warm you right up when the temperatures are cold.

Vegetarian Charquicán

Ingredients:

1/2 to 3/4 cup dried small brown lentils (depending on how much you like lentils)

2 tbsp EVOO

1/2 onion, diced

1-2 garlic cloves, diced

1 red bell pepper, chopped in cubes

1/2 tsp. paprika

500 grams potatoes, peeled & cubed

500 grams zapallo, peeled & cubed (zapallo is a type of pumpkin widely used in Chile, it looks like the picture here—in any case I think any orange pumpkin would do, just not canned pumpkin)

1 cup frozen peas (optional depending on how much you like or dislike peas such as Christian)

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen green beans

2 carrots, chopped in small cubes

Merquén (which is a Chilean spice, you could use red pepper flakes in the US)

Oregano

Cumin

Salt & pepper

1 cup of the water used to boil the potatoes & zapallo

Parsley for garnish (optional too)

Preparation:

Boil the lentils in abundant water for approximately 20 minutes, or until done. I don’t add salt or any other seasonings. Drain and set aside once they are ready.

In a pan, add the EVOO over medium heat. Add in the onion and sautée for about 2 minutes. Add in the diced garlic and continue to sautée for 1 minute more. Finally, add in the red bell pepper along with some salt & pepper. Continue to cook until the bell pepper has softened. Once it is done, turn off the flame. This is what we will refer to as the pino, which is what it is normally called when it has meat in it for empanadas.

In a large pot, put the potatoes & zapallo to boil in enough water that all the pieces are covered within the pot. Boil over medium heat until you can stick a fork in both the potato and zapallo easily. At this point, add in the carrots, and other frozen vegetables. Boil for at least 5 minutes more so that these vegetables cook. Once they are ready, set aside 1 cup of the boiled water for future use. Drain the rest of the water. Mash the potatoes & zapallo to a chunky consistency. Add in the spices (paprika, salt & pepper, merquén, oregano, & cumin) to taste and mix in the pino. Then add in your lentils to the mixture. I added in the majority and mixed them around and then when I plated the charquicán, I sprinkled some lentils on top. You can also garnish it with parsley on top too.

Serve hot (if need be, reheat the plates in the microwave).

¡Buen provecho!

Days 10-13 of Fun Employment:

2011-08-02T16:57:00.009-04:00

Thursday, day 10, was quite busy in the morning, but ended up more chill in the afternoon. I had another doctor appt early in the morning-at 10am which is now considered "early" in my funemployment state. They were running behind though so they didn't end up seeing me until 10:45am....good thing I had my notepad with me because I started brainstorming restaurants to add to my favorite foods page. Once I finished there, I passed by a cute little tea store in the Mall Panoramico to buy a gift for our nana, who would have her last day with us the following week. As it turns out, she had really liked a Rooibos Chai Herbal tea that my dear friend Staci had given me on my trip back home in March. So I was on the lookout for a similar type tea to give to my nana. I went to Zoe, and although I couldn't find a rooibos tea, I did find a Green Chai tea. After picking out her gift, I headed back home and got ready for lunch that was planned with some ex-coworkers. One of these ex-coworkers had left the company at the end of 2010 and I hadn't seen him since. The other two ex-coworkers were my boss and another jefa on the team when I left earlier this month. We went to Baco, which is a French restaurant in Providencia that has an awesome wine menu.

Most of the menu included something with meat, however I asked for a Spinach & Cheese Quiche (Quiche Olivia as it was called). Everyone else asked for the filete a la pimienta (peppered steak), all cooked at different points. Then JJ decided to order a bottle of red wine to go with lunch.....to which I partook more than I probably should have!

(The four of us at the end of lunch.)

After another 3 hour lunch, I arrived home with puras ganas de dormir. And so I did....I took a 3 hour nap before getting up to have another once (a typical Chilean mealtime in the early evening) with B&E (my MIL & SIL), including more pompadour cake.

Friday brought about lots of movement: I had to drop off a radio that I had sold to an ex-coworker, then I had to go sign my finiquito (the document stating I am ok with my last paycheck and terminating my employment contract, which is signed in front of a notary), and right after, I went to Zumba class at the gym. In the afternoon, I had to continue packing up the house because on Saturday morning at 9am the mover was coming to move the boxes into its truck. Christian, on the other hand, had a soccer game to go play, so I was home with Dulcinea going crazy packing boxes upon boxes upon boxes and going through a million papers. To be fair, he had done stuff earlier in the day when I was off running my errands and going to the gym, so it was only fair that he had time to go play soccer with friends. Around 7pm, I started to take a break because my back was killing me, and Dulci and I just hung out in front of the gas stove to stay warm (I’ve previously discussed Dulci’s affinity for the gas stove in a different post). Once Christian got home, we went over to my mother-in-law's apartment in Recoleta for once and to drop off Dulcinea and then went back home to sleep. We figured it would be better if Dulci stayed in the other apartment that evening so that she wouldn't be in the way during the move on Saturday morning.

Day 12 brought about a very early start—up at 7am to finish preparing everything so that when the moving truck arrived at 9:30am all we had to do was take it all out to the truck. The original moving truck that my mother-in-law had booked was under the environmental driving restriction on Saturday and obviously couldn’t drive….so she found us a different guy all within minutes and basically the process was only delayed from 9am to 9:30am—time that we certainly needed. Once the truck came, with my sister-in-law in tow, the four of us (truck driver, Christian, Erica & me) started making various trips to get everything into the truck. Then Christian went with the moving truck and I drove our car to the apartment in Recoleta that my MIL owns. The reason we needed a moving truck in the first place is that our old bed, the dining room table (which belongs to Bernarda), and some other items needed to be moved to this apartment in Recoleta (in addition to our 6 or 7 suitcases filled with stuff as well as all of our food and other kitchen stuff that we haven't sold). It is a tiny one-bedroom which is perfect for when B&E need to come to Santiago to go to the doctor at La Universidad de Chile. We, however, ended up still have a ton of stuff despite our garage sale….and so the poor little apartment was stuffed full by the end of the move. We even filled up the previously empty storage unit. The move ended around 10:30 or 11am which is quite quick in reality. After that, we organized as much as we could with 4 adults and 1 dog in the apartment—which is to say that we basically put everything we didn’t need in the storage unit and stacked up everything else we did need in the bedroom & living room.

Next on the agenda was making some lunch. Bernarda had gone to La Vega (since we are a mere 3 blocks from it) in the morning to buy the items necessary for some chop suey. While we were moving and organizing, she was slicing and dicing all the vegetables to be cooked. Christian had to go run an errand before lunch and so he stopped to get some chicken for the carnivorous version of the chop suey. Once he got back, we feasted and it was delicious! Chop suey is seriously such an easy dish to put together. All the work is in chopping up the veggies, but cooking it all (especially without chicken) takes mere minutes! After lunch, we started to organize anything else that we could. I put the towels and sheets on a shelf that B&E had cleared out for us in the closet. We started to put away the kitchen items which were in several boxes.

In the evening, we wanted to treat B&E to a nice dinner out as a way to show our appreciation for all of their help and willingness. We decided to go to El Caramaño, which is our favorite Chilean-food restaurant (as you can see here).

It is located in Bellavista (a barrio within Santiago), on the street called Purísima.

It has all of the typical Chilean dishes, which are always delicious and relatively inexpensive for a Santiago restaurant.

(Me & Chris)

(Bernarda & Erica)

We started off with their yummy homemade bread & sopaipillas with pebre and Christian, Bernarda & Erica enjoyed some machas a la parmesana as well (I didn't get a pic of the machas, but here is one & a recipe if you want to check them out).

We ordered a 1.5 liter jug of borgoña to drink, which is red wine mixed with strawberries and sugar. I absolutely love El Caramaño’s borgoña and had about 3 glasses of it….and still wanted more which is probably why I don't have a picture of it--I drank it too quickly! Hahahaha!

For our main dishes we had the following:

Christian & Bernarda—Pastel de Jaiba, which is like a crab casserole dish basically filled with crab meat, onion, garlic, bead crumbs, butter, paprika, oregano and parmesan cheese (here is a recipe if you are interested).

Erica—Pollo al Trauco y Papas Fritas, which is a special chicken dish, but I don’t remember exactly what they cooked her chicken with. She had some French fries as a side dish.

Me—Ensalada Gran Caramaño y Papas Salteadas, which was a huge salad with red lettuce, watercress (P.S. I freaking love these in salads), sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and olives (which I proceeded to take out since I don't like olives-except for the green ones with the pimiento center). I threw on some balsamic vinegar and a bit of EVOO and mmmmm down the pipes it went! I had some sautéed potatoes as a side dish.

At the end of dinner, El Caramaño treated us to a bajativo on the house. Bajativos are digestifs in English, which are small shots of alcohol typically taken after a meal to aid in digestion. Christian had mint, I had amaretto and B&E had chamomile.

After such a nice meal, all we could do was come home and go to bed. We were all exhausted and having our bellies full just made us even sleepier. But not before a quick group picture:

Sunday, day 13, was a very simple day. Christian took B&E and Dulci back to Viña in the old car so that the car could be left there while we are using the parking space at the Recoleta apartment. I stayed home and worked on organizing, downsizing clothes, repacking suitcases, etc. We decided to send Dulci out to Viña with B&E for several reasons: 1. this apartment is super small and with all of our stuff it was already too small for 2 adults, let alone a dog too; 2. she has more room to run around in Viña as my in-laws’ apartment is much bigger; 3. we had too many errands to do which would have meant leaving her alone at home for very long stretches of time so either we would have been rushed in our errands or she would have suffered; and 4. she won’t ever be left alone in Viña because even if B&E have to leave, Papi Lucho (my FIL) is always home to be with her. It has been kind of weird not to have her around, but I know she is better off in Viña, being spoiled by the grandparents and tía. And to be honest, it has been a nice break just being with Christian alone. I’ll have to keep that in mind when we have a human kid, hopefully my Mom will like spoiling both human & dog children as much as Bernarda does! Hahaha!

Days 7-9 of Funemployment

2011-07-27T23:11:00.002-04:00

I swear that this fills like a thousand years ago.....but days 7-9 of funemployment were really just last week. There has been so much going on that it feels like eons ago!

So last Monday the husband and I slept in. It was his first day of funemployment so we had to aprovechar the occasion. Once we got up, we took care of some stuff around the house and then Christian went to the supermarket to buy ingredients to make lunch while I went to the gym for Zumba. We made chop suey--mine was vegetarian and his had chicken. After lunch we made a trip to Homecenter, which is the equivalent of Home Depot here in Chile, to buy some things we needed for the move like packing tape, plastic to cover furniture, etc. In the evening, we watched a few episodes of House M.D. which is our "new" teleserie. Overall, it was a pretty chill day.

Tuesday had more in store--I had a dr. appt in the morning so I had to get up relatively early to get to the doctor by 9am. After the doc, I had a chiropractor appt and then I made lunch which was charquican vegetariano (pictures & recipe to come later). In the afternoon, we continued packing the apartment in anticipation of the move (which was to be later in the week) and then had once with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law who had traveled to Santiago to help us out in the move.

Wednesday we shipped off our bed to the person who had purchased it and kept on with the packing. The painter came by the apartment to give us a quote on how much it would be to paint and the owner of the apt along with a prospective renter also dropped by. In the afternoon, my other sister-in-law came with her boyfriend to take several things her and my mother-in-law had purchased to Rancagua. So basically we had lunch, loaded up the pick-up and car and off they went. I stayed at home with Dulcinea and the nana, to take care of the rest of the packing. In the evening, when Christian, Bernarda and Erica came back from Rancagua (with a yummy cake in tow), we ordered sushi for dinner and had cake as dessert.

There is nothing like ending a long day with this yummy pompadour cake...which we proceeded to eat for the next 2 days straight! Hahahaha...but more of that is to come!

New Page for Favorite Restaurants

2011-07-21T23:20:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to create this page for a while now and I finally decided to just get started on it--a page dedicated to my favorite restaurants in all of Chile. When I say favorite, I mean the ones that I do (or would) go to repeatedly because I enjoy their food and service so much. I still need to add comments to the majority of the restaurants, but I figured it is nice to have the list with the link to their websites in the meantime!

If you want to check it out you can click here, or you can click on the linkbar above above where it says "Fave Food in Chile".

Enjoy!

Days 4-6 of Funemployment

2011-07-20T22:40:00.008-04:00

(Me & Dulci on Saturday evening)

Friday, Saturday and Sunday marked days 4 through 6 of my funemployment but boy were they jam packed.

Friday morning was dedicated to updating the sale blog, sending out some reminder emails about our pending garage sale and getting ready for lunch. A group of ex-coworkers had invited me out to lunch since they weren't able to make it to my official despedida dinner. When they asked me where I wanted to go, I mentioned that pasta would be good. And lucky enough, Lorena knew of a picá in Barrio Italia called Da Noi Trattoria Ristorante. There were nine of us all together and we had a great three-hour lunch! From appetizers with pisco sours (or in my case a mango sour) to main dishes to desserts and tea. It was a very nice time and I greatly appreciate my colleagues taking the time out of their day to take me out to lunch! I definitely recommend Da Noi. It was very yummy fresh pasta and the mango sour was amazing! Here are a few pics from lunch:

(Antipasto Da Noi)

(Provoleta, basically melted cheese with EVOO & oregano)

(Panzotti with pomodoro sauce)

(L-R: Me, Andrés, Estela, Cecilia, Fabiola, Patricia, Héctor, Manuel & Lorena)

After lunch (I got home at 4pm) I started to scramble to get the house ready for our garage sale that was to go on Saturday and Sunday. There was a TON to do. The idea was to have all of the items for sale in our living/dining room as well as our bedroom (since our bed was still for sale and we had some clothes & shoes to sell too). That meant taking everything that was not to be sold out of those two rooms and leaving it in another room. In addition, in the 3rd bedroom, I had to group all of the items previously purchased by people, but not yet picked up, so that when they came by to pick up their items, everything was ready to go. Needless to say I was running around from room to room all afternoon and evening. Poor Dulci had no idea what was going on and kept following me all over. Finally when Christian got home, we went to eat at El Huerto, which is one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants in all of Chile.

Saturday we woke up early and while I finished prepping the house, Christian went to the farmer's market for some fresh bread, farm fresh eggs and some fruit. Everything was laid out for the sale, although we were missing price tags at first. Then Christian went out and got some post-it notes which solved that issue and definitely helped sales! We had also printed up signs about our garage sale to put outside the apartment building and surprisingly we got several visitors from those signs. Everyone else who came were people who we are connected to in some way shape or form. Saturday until about 2:30pm-ish was quite busy and then after that it died down. Luckily we had bought some hummus to bring home with us from El Huerto on Friday night and that was pretty much our lunch. We still stayed around the apartment until 6pm--I read on my kindle and Christian was on his Ipad2. After 6pm we took down the signs and relaxed a bit. We had no food in the house so we ended up going out for dinner. We wanted to go to Vietnam Discovery since we have heard so many good things about it, but it was packed and I couldn't get a reservation. So we ended up going to El Ciudadano, which was a good option since I had been craving some pizza. Plus I wanted to make sure we ate at El Ciudadano before we leave Chile because I think it is a great little restaurant! We had a nice bottle of white wine to accompany our dinner and it was a great night to close out the busy day.

(Our appetizer of fried fish & calamari, called Frito Mixto)

(Christian with this crab ravioli dish.)

(My pizza which had arugula, mushrooms and cheese.)

(Our yummy dessert called "El Ciudadano", basically a brownie, vanilla ice cream and a caramel whisky sauce!)

Sunday we got up and got ready for the garage sale, but the morning started off quite slow despite the fact that we hung up the sign on the sidewalk again. It was nice to have a slower morning though because it let us catch up on stuff we needed to do. Around mid-day people started to stop by and come pick up things and we finally were able to sell the bed! That was one of two of the large items we still had available going into the garage sale weekend, since all the other big items had been sold during the previous 2 weeks of internet sales. The one large thing we have left is the stove, but I would much rather that the stove is left than the bed. Beds are just hard to store whereas stoves are not as hard. Luckily my suegra has a storage unit at her apartment in Santiago where we will be able to put the stove until it sells.

Between the visits on Sunday afternoon, I made some pumpkin bars to take with us to our friend Brittany's apartment to watch the fútbol game. Chile was playing in the Copa América against Venezuela, but unfortunately they lost. I am not a big soccer fan, or sports fan, in general, but I do like the social aspect of the games. So I am all for getting together for games and having snacks and whatnot. It was fun to hang out with Brittany and her pololo Hugo. After Chile lost, we headed home with Dulcinea and watched some House MD. We are on season 2 and trying to catch up to the current season, which I think is already season 7.

And that was our weekend in a nutshell. I am SO happy with how well our garage and blog sale went! We sold probably about 90% of the things we put up for sale....and everything that is left (besides the stove) are small items. We will have some other things to sell right before we leave, but they are things we are still using right now so I am not counting them in the 90%. The plan is to put this money aside and use it for the household things we will need to buy when we get a place of our own in the U.S.

I liked having a garage sale in my house. It reminded me of when I used to help my grandparents with their garage sales when I was little. This was Christian's first experience with a garage sale...he kept laughing at me when we were trying to price the items and how I carried around the money in the front pocket of my hoodie. I had a little purse to put the money in, just like when I was a kid and we had those banking bags with the zipper!

How was your weekend?

What is a Chilean Completo? Let Anthony Bourdain explain...

2011-07-16T19:05:00.002-04:00

I came across this video via a new blog/really cool project that I found and just had to share. It explains and shows quite well what is a Chilean completo. And as a bonus, Heather, Vuko, Chris and I visited the same local in Viña in February after a night on the town. Although I should note that none of us actually at a completo. I had a cheese sandwich and everyone else a churrasco.

Days 2 & 3 of Funemployment

2011-07-15T10:00:00.001-04:00

I have now been funemployed for a total of 3 days and so far so good. While I took the first day relatively easy, these last two days have been filled with a lot.

On Day 2, I woke up at 8:30am to the sound of Dulcinea barking like a crazy person because the nana rang the doorbell. I was still in bed and Christian was in the shower, so I had to get up and open the door for our nana. She always arrives around this time, but I am normally already up and ready for work, so this time it was a bit of a shocker to wake up to Dulci's crazy bark. I was in such a daze after getting up that it took me a good 15 minutes to actually wake up and be able to think straight. I made some eggs for breakfast again and proceeded to check my emails. Once I was done with that, I got ready and then made lunch. I made some veggie soup (a twist on from the spicy butternut soup recipe I posted here) for lunch and went out to buy some baguette bread to make garlic bread to accompany the soup. I have to admit that I really enjoyed being able to make lunch at home and actually sit down to eat it after I make it, instead of putting it in a tupperware container for the next day's lunch. I had planned to go to Zumba at the gym at 1:40pm so I ended up eating my lunch before Christian go home so that I would make it to the gym on time.

Zumba was great! This was my second class at the gym and I am really enjoying them. Luckily my gym has Zumba classes Monday-Friday and my goal over the next few week is to make class as much as possible. I am trying to schedule all social gatherings or other obligations around the Zumba schedule because I really really really like this class and it's not like I can take it just anywhere (not here in Santiago at least).

After Zumba, I showered and went for a doc appt. It was quick and painless and I was back in about 30 minutes. From there, I started sending emails to the people who are coming this weekend to pick-up the items they bought from us (since we are selling everything to move to the US). Before I knew it, it was 6pm and time to go pick-up Christian at work. So out Dulci and I went.....and I kept telling her "Vamos a buscar al Daddy, dónde está el Daddy?" ("We are going to get Daddy, where is Daddy?"). I tell you, my dog is so doggone smart. She knew exactly what we were doing and this it the first time we have gone to pick him up in over a year probably. In fact, the whole way to his office, she had me running with her instead of just walking. We entered the building, took the elevator to the 16th floor and as soon as we stepped off the elevator, she started whimpering. She was so excited to see him and wouldn't stop crying. We finally entered the reception area where other people distracted her until Christian came out. I swear that everyone in his office knows who she is...."Oh it's Dulcinea!", "How adorable Dulcinea is", "Dulcinea came to visit us!", "That is Christian's dog, Dulcinea"....and on and on it went. Hahaha....!

Originally Christian had plans to go have dinner at one of his coworker's houses. The coworker, who happens to be from Spain, invited me to go as well, and while I had originally planned on working on stuff around the house I decided to go to the dinner and have me some paella. I mean, stuff around the house can wait, I can bust my butt during the day, but these gatherings--with good people who are entertaining--that is what matters right now. Strengthening and maintaining our connections with the friends we have made here because soon enough we won't be able to get together with them whenever we want. And so I went, Dulci did too and we had a really nice time. We took a bottle of wine that I purchased at the Vendemia de Pirque a few months ago that was a Late Harvest that is local to Pirque. It is called La Misión Sauvignon Blanc from the William Fevre vineyard.

We started with delicious pisco sours made by our friend's wife and then moved on to the wine we bought. I had two glasses and probably could have drank more because it was so. darn. good. As was our company.

(L-R: Me, Aceto, JR)

(L-R: Aceto, Chris & Dulci, JR, Claudia)

We ended up running out of wine (we only had 1 bottle & 5 adults)....but that was probably a good thing, hahaha, because the morning of Day 3 when my alarm went off, I was not a happy camper. So I hit snooze and slept for a few hours more. Ahhh and that is what rocks about funemployment. You can hit snooze as long as you want.

Once I actually got up on Day 3, I knew that the gym was not going to happen. I only had time to go in the morning and I was not going to make it. It wasn't even like I was hungover, but I just didn't feel good, I was under the weather and more than that, super tired still. So I working on finishing up the emails to people who are coming to pick-up our sale items and updating our sale blog (which by the way, if you need a bed or a stove or other stuff, check it out!). I had a chiropractor appointment around mid-day and once I got home, I ate the rest of the soup from yesterday. On a side note, I swear that soups are better the second day around. After lunch, I really had to get busy with house stuff. The goal was to finish sorting my clothes. I had previously sorted my clothes into three piles: 1. yes, take with me; 2. no, I don't want; and 3. maybe, need to try on to decide. So I took the third pile, which, of course, was the largest and started trying it all on. I was able to finishing sorting it all by the late afternoon when it was time to prepare for my work despedida dinner.

At my company, or I guess ex-company, whenever someone left the company on their own terms (ie. not fired), someone from their team organizes a dinner that everyone is invited to. I have gone to two or three during my years at the company and it is nice to have an event outside of work to celebrate the person's next move. So this time it was my turn. My boss and some people on the finance team organized a nice dinner at a local seafood restaurant called Aquí Está Coco. This restaurant actually burned down in 2008 and was rebuild and just reopened earlier this year, or at the end of last year. It has been around for over 30 year and is something of a legend in Providencia (the barrio where it is located).

We were a small group of 9 in total, but we had a great time at the dinner. I know a few other people had planned on coming, but after a super rough week at work (pulling all-nighters), they were either too tired or still at the office by the time 8:30pm rolled around. At first, my plan was not to drink at all (especially after last night's dinner)....so I started the evening out with a Shirley Temple. For the picoteo, we had an empanada de maricos, machas a la parmesana, and a tabla de varios mariscos (ceviche, pulpo, salmon, etc).

Then, as I was browsing the menu to pick my main dish, I saw that they had a pisco sour de maqui as a house specialty. Maqui is a purple berry-like fruit from Southern Chile. I remember eating it when my mom and I went travelling down to Lago Llanquihue and Puerto Montt back in 2007. So I decided to try this new type of pisco sour. It was as purple as can be, and quite yummy although I can't say that I truly noted a different flavor. But I did like the color!

For my main dish, I decided to get the seared tuna with merlot reduction salsa and sauteed veggies. The tuna was good, but to be honest it wasn't as tasty as Astrid y Gaston's seared tuna. I loved the merlot sauce with the veggies though.

For dessert, I had the "texturas de chocolate" which were three different chocolate sweets--a brownie, a nutella-like spread and some chocolate ice cream along with some traditional Chilean avellanas. Sooo delicous! Give me chocolate and hazelnuts anytime and I will be a happy camper!

Besides the food, the company was awesome. We had lots of laughs, thanks to one particularly animated coworker, who also got me thinking with his question "What are you going to miss about Chile?" Now, that is kind of a loaded question and definitely put me on the spot. The first things that came to mind were:

Good pisco sours
Having all of my gringa friends in the same city (whereas, as we all move back home, we will be located all over the US)
Good public transportation between cities (onda, not like the sketchy buses back home that go city to city)
The fact that everything is in close proximity--from the mountains to the beach, it will take you max. 3 hours
Good seafood (I didn't actually come up with this one, my animated coworker did, but I agree with him which is why I have added it to the list)

I couldn't really think of anything else, but I am sure that over the next few months as we are transiting back to the US and going through reverse culture shock, I will come up with several more things that I miss about Chilito.

With that, I leave you with a group picture--slightly out of focus--but a good reminder of the evening. Thanks everyone for coming to the dinner!!!

(L-R: Isabel, Daniela, Luciano, Claudio, Rodrigo, Cristián, Tina, Me & Cecilia)

My Last Day of Work & Day 1 of Funemployment

2011-07-14T10:25:00.004-04:00

Tuesday was my first day of funemployment (shout out to Stacy for teaching me that word!) after 3 years of working for a multinational company here in Santiago de Chile. Didn't know I was quitting my job? Well ya.....I guess I haven't actually shared that news here. It all relates to our "big" news--the hubs, Dulci and I are moving back to the United States this year! So quitting my job is part of that plan. I won't get into the whys right now, that can be saved for another post.

I have to say that Monday, my last day at the office, was so surreal. I had such mixed emotions...part of me so excited to be leaving and the other part of me so sad to not be around all the wonderful people I worked with for so long. Maybe I wasn't best friends with anyone at the office, but the great majority were all really good people, with big hearts who I will never forget. I sent my despedida email out in the morning and got a slew of responses back from so many people I wasn't even expecting to hear from. And the things they said. Wow. Thanks guys for making me tear up multiple times during the day. My friend Gaby came to my desk at one point to give me a hug and there I definitely shed some real tears. It was amazing to read the emails from so many different people, all saying how much they would miss me and talking about specific aspects of my character that they found most notable. I'm not saying this to toot my own horn. It seriously surprised me. These people were not forced to respond to my email, and not even everyone did. I was taken aback by their kind words and my heart was able to smile, knowing that if all of these people believed in me then I'll be okay in whatever next step I decide to take professionally speaking.

Then in the afternoon, my boss had scheduled a meeting to go over the manual that I did for my position (to help them know how and what I did, and to help train the next person who comes in to the position...and can I just say that it was 18 pages long!) with her and my coworker. But it was all a big cover-up for a little goodbye party that they had planned with everyone on the accounting team. There were little sandwiches, a cake and some pop for all 40-something of us to share. My boss kindly said a few words about me and when it was my turn to speak, all I could say was "You all got my email this morning that described how I feel so I'm not going to say anything more." And I barely got that last word out of my mouth without choking up too badly. So we ate cake, chatted for a bit, and everyone gave me a hug on their way out. Then my boss so kindly gave me a going-away gift of things to remind me of Chile. So sweet! And all of this was during quarter-end close as well which is a super busy time for them, so I really appreciate that they did this!

So back to my first day of funemployment...to start off, I slept in until 10am. I can't tell you how nice that was, to just sleep until my body wanted to wake up. I really needed it. Then I made some eggs for breakfast, which is usually only a weekend treat since I never had time in the mornings to make eggs. I took Dulcinea for a 45 minute walk which was good for the both of us! She was tired by the end of it since she isn't used to walking so much. My new goal is to start taking her out every day so that she can get more exercise and lose the extra 200 grams she gained in the past few months! After our little walk, I made some lunch (red lentil curry) and went to the AFC to get register for my unemployment money. The AFC is an organization in Chile that is similar to unemployment insurance in the U.S. Every month, when you are working, you and your employer pay a specific percentage of your income into an account at the AFC . Then if you are fired, laid-off, or quit your job voluntarily, you can go register to get that money from your account to use while you look for a new job. I think this is only for people who have contracts with their jobs, not boletas. Now, any person who started working in Chile prior to 2002 has to register with the AFC and tell their job they want to start paying in, because it was not obligatory before that year. For all of us who entered the workforce after 2002, it is automatic. In my case, I can only take out as much money as I put in, and so I will get two months of checks. But for me, that is perfect because that is not money we were counting on!

After my AFC errand, I came home to start sorting clothes. I practically have to pack our bags now because I am trying to sort out what clothes I want to take to the US, what clothes are to donate and what clothes I want to try to sell this weekend at our open house garage sale. I have a lot of nice work clothes that I think young professionals here would be interested in since dress clothes are so freaking hard to find--or freaking expensive if you do find them.

In the afternoon, I had an evaluation at the gym and 1 hour with a personal trainer. I bought a groupon for 1 month at the new Sportlife gym that is like 3 blocks from my house. It came with the evaluation and personal trainer for 1 hour as well. At first I had signed up with the only girl profe at the gym, but then I happened to take a "pilates" class with her and it totally sucked. She was a terrible teacher, very bitchy and on top of it, she knew nothing about pilates. So I immediately changed my evaluation to one of the other guy profes. And lucky me, I got a really nice guy. After my hour of working out with him (he gave me a cardio & weight routine), I took my first Zumba class. I've been wanting to try Zumba forever, especially since one of my favorite bloggers, Gina, always talks about it! I tried a Zumba video and it was pretty cheesy, but the class was way more fun. So I plan to make as many Zumba classes as I can during this month of gym membership. There is a class Monday-Friday and I want to make at least 4 a week, plus go back to Body Pump and Yoga when I can. I want to get as much as I can from this gym membership!

And that was it. My first day of not working was actually quite movido, and from here on out, they are only going to get busier until we finish up everything with the apartment.

The American Trinity

2011-07-04T22:09:00.003-04:00

My friend Kyle shared this video which I thought was quite interesting to watch, especially with today being the 4th of July and the fact that I have now been living outside of the United States for over 4 years now. The speaker is kind of dry, but the ideas he is transmitting are definitely worth contemplating a bit.

Happy 4th of July 2011!!

2011-07-04T10:16:00.004-04:00

For the 6th year in a row, I am spending the 4th of July in Chile. Kind of hard to believe it has been that long and somehow, between moving back home for my last year of college and coming back to Chile married, I have always been in Chile for the month of July.

We were hoping that we would have already been moved back to the U.S. for this year's celebration....but here I am, freezing cold on Monday morning before work, with absolutely no plans to celebrate this year. It's not to be unpatriotic or anything, but because that is just the circumstances of this year. It isn't a holiday here and for some reason, the US Embassy decided not to do their traditional Flag Raising Ceremony on the Embassy grounds. I have gone 3 times over the past six years to the Embassy for this celebration, and I really appreciate that event. I am bummed they didn't do it this year. (They did put on a different celebration together with a gringo bar here, and I'll have a different post about that.)

I pretty much have forgotten what the Fourth of July is like in the U.S. I hope that next year we can celebrate big time so Christian can experience what it's like. I now feel like fireworks are more for New Years in Viña than for the 4th of July--which is totally a sign I have been living in Chile a little too long. Don't get me wrong, I love Chile and I especially love the New Year's celebration and the fact it is summer for New Years (but not the fact it is summer for Christmas). But I am honestly excited for a (vegetarian) BBQ and fireworks and hot weather for the Fourth in 2012.

Anyway....all of this to say one simple thing: Happy Fourth of July to all my fellow compatriots! I hope everyone back home has a safe and fun long-weekend celebration and for all my gringo friends here in Chile, cheers to you all!

P.S. Pictures from the 2009 celebration at the U.S. Embassy

Inspirational Quote

2011-06-30T23:18:00.005-04:00

"The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—

it’s all that matters."

— Audrey Hepburn

This is a quote that has really impacted me. I am trying to keep it present at all times and design my life in a way where this characteristic takes priority over all others.

Enjoy!

And I'm Back

2011-06-28T22:03:00.002-04:00

Wow. Been a long time since I've been around these neck-of-the-woods. Honestly I wasn't sure if I wanted to start blogging again after such a long hiatus, but I figured why the heck not? On one hand, there is a lot of exciting stuff going on in our lives and it would be nice to document it. And on the other hand, sometimes I feel like I have so much to say regarding specific topics that it would be nice to discuss it here.

And so I'm back.

Something that made me laugh

2010-11-30T09:45:00.001-03:00

So I've started reading Eat Pray Love, which I am loving by the way, and in the first part of the book there were many parts that brought a smile to my face. The author is a very witty writer and I have enjoyed these comical bits throughout the book. So far, the one that made me actually laugh out loud when I was walking and reading on my way to work was the following, from Story 20:

So the author is talking about how she loved to try new foods when she was in Rome. And so one day she was with her friend Luca, trying a Roman specialty (intestines of a new-born lamb) and how she comes to a point when she can no longer continue to eat it and so she pushes it aside for a salad. The following is a direct quote from the book:

"You don't like it?" asks Luca, who loves the stuff.
"I bet Gandhi never ate lamb intestines in his life," I said.

"He could have."
"No, he couldn't have, Luca. Gandhi was a vegetarian."
"But vegetarians can eat this," Luca insisted. "Because intestines aren't even meat, Liz. They're just shit."

Hahahahaha......

~Tyffanie

Thankful Even From Afar

2010-11-25T20:55:00.005-03:00

First of all--Happy Thanksgiving!!!

So it's no surprise that we are not in the US celebrating Thanksgiving today. Nope, today was a work day in Chile, nothing special for the majority of the population here. I, however, have been wishing we were home. Even if I wouldn't eat the turkey now, for me, it's not about the food. It's about the company and being grateful. Although I'm not gonna lie, a great meal just makes the day all the more special.

I tried to plan a Thanksgiving celebration with friends here just like we did last year but this time of year is complicated--there are so many events going on that matching up all of our schedules is ridiculously difficult. Not to mention that it isn't a holiday so preparing a delicious meal for 10+ people means that it has to be done on a weekend. In short, after taking a look at our schedule and talking to my friends, it wasn't looking like we'd get to Thanksgiving until January (if that)!

But I do think it is super important to remember and put in the forefront everything that we are thankful for. And that is what I intend to do....just like a million other bloggers out there. I might even try to incorporate this idea of a gratitude journal into my daily life. I was just given a super cute little flip pad for my birthday that would be perfect to jot down a daily or weekly gratitude list. Anywho, that is a bit of a tangent. Back to the point.

This year, I am so thankful...

...for my wonderfully sweet husband,

...for my crazy little fur child, even though she sometimes causes me TOO much stress like with this whole getting spayed process,

...for my family and friends back home who I miss so dearly,

...for my friends who are my family here in Chile,

...for the fact I have been able to venture around the world, or rather the Americas, and learn about other cultures,

...that two of my best friends got to come visit us in Chile this year (Nichelle & Staci)

...that our loved ones are healthy for the most part, that I have come into a new-found love of reading, that I can cook and have the freedom to choose how I eat, that my husband and I have stable jobs that are helping us prepare for the move back to the US, that I have figured out what I want to study even though the where and when aren't quite clear, that the 33 miners were found alive and rescued, for dark chocolate, for massages, for roses and gerberas and any other flowers, for late harvest wine (my fave), for the fact that we survived the earthquake, for yoga which has helped me find more balance in my life, for the ability to not be financially burdened, that I have learned so many lessons from living in Chile, that I came upon a little store called Lush, and many but many things more!

What's Wrong With Our Food System

2010-11-18T21:31:00.002-03:00

"Think local, choose organic, know your farmer and know your food."

This video was passed to me through the gringa group and while I think this kid is a bit too rehearsed in his speech, more people need to hear his message and understand exactly what he is talking about. Most all points he touched upon can be read more in depth in The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. It is a great book that will lay out all the information on not only the conventional food industry, but also the giant organic industry and small local organic industry. Then you can make your own choices about how you want to eat but at least you will have all the information to make an informed decision, instead of an ignorant one that the food companies hope we all make.

Happy Meal Shelf Life

2010-11-16T20:50:00.002-03:00

Now, I am sure most people my age remember being taken to McDonalds and getting a Happy Mean when they were a kid. I used to go with my grandparents on the weekends and I loved getting those toys. While I sure enjoyed my time and meals at McDonalds, I now know how toxic they are (hopefully they weren't that toxic when I was younger) after watching Supersize Me and now this youtube video (both of which I suggest you watch):

Just about as toxic as the link I posted to the nasty cool whip experiment a while back!

First Experience at the Vega Central

2010-11-14T18:25:00.004-03:00

After almost 3 years of living in Santiago Christian and I finally ventured to the Vega Central today. The Vega is basically a huge fruit and veggie market in the Recoleta neighborhood of Santiago. It is known for having the best variety and prices for fruits and veggies, however we had never been there for a number of reasons. They were all pretty silly reasons when I think about it now and I am SO glad that we went today! Seriously the variety is unbeatable. There were a ton of things that I didn't even recognize, especially in the Peruvian stands. The quality varies from stand to stand, but overall is great since there are hundreds of booths to choose. We parked the car on the inside of the Vega where it would be safer than out on the street and it allowed us to make trips to the car to put away the kilos and kilos of fruits & veggies that we got! Today's venture was a HUGE success--the market was way nicer and cleaner that I thought it would be. They vendors weren't shouting at us or whistling at me like I have experience in other ferias either. It was busy, but manageable.

So after a little over 50 minutes, Christian and I had purchased the following--all for about $34 USD:

7 artichokes
5 zucchini
2 red bell peppers
2 yellow bell peppers
2 orange bell peppers
1 head of broccoli
3 heads of garlic
12 huevos del campo (equivalent of free-range eggs)
2 kilos of carrots
1 kilo of pears
1 kilo of apples
1 kilo of camote peruano (sweet potatoes...or so I hope)
4 kilos of strawberries (this cost us a whopping $4!!!!!)
1 kilo of cherries
1/4 kilo of ostra mushrooms
1.5 kilos of banana
1/2 kilo tomato
1 kilo avocado

All of this for only $34 dollars! Amazing! I would say that all together we are taking about 16 kilos (or 35 lbs) of fruits and veggies! Mmmmm can't wait to get started cooking!

Halloween Costume Recap

2010-11-08T23:23:00.002-03:00

Costumes were Christian's brilliant ideas.....not only that, but he made almost all of the costumes (including my hat). The only parts we bought were the guns, handcuffs, and badges.

Follow-up article on posture

2010-11-05T20:38:00.003-03:00

Kind of a coincidence that I write about my posture today, then happen to click on the Vegetarian Times website and see an article regarding posture and why you need to improve it. Check it out here.....it has some great exercises that can be used to help strengthen your back muscles!

Working on my Posture

2010-11-05T11:47:00.001-03:00

It goes without saying that most people could have much better posture than they do. We live in a world now which is mostly sedentary and sitting in front of a computer for hours on end tends to cause us to relax back in the chair and let our shoulders hunch over. Our bodies can be surprisingly lazy if we let them and the more you let them, the more they want to be lazy. The opposite is true too though--or at least I have found it to be: the more I am active, the more my body wants me to be active. Could explain why I am hating having a job where I have to sit in front of a computer allllll freaking day long when I would much rather be moving around. Not that I am tied to my chair...I'm not. I can get up and walk around. But I can't really accomplish anything if not at my computer save the chance contract that I print out and read on paper, which I can do standing up in my small office area. And I do do that sometimes. But 99% of my work is tied to the computer and I can't stand up and work let alone be in movement and get things done.

I have noticed that in the past few years since I graduated college and entered the office world, my posture has been suffering. This is on top of the fact that I am not taking ballet classes either which were a constant reminder for years to maintain my good posture in and out of class--practicing outside of class made class go ten times better because my muscles were already used to it. I used to practice ballet anywhere I was.....especially back in high school in my English and Spanish classes. I was in a small high achieving class and so things were more relaxed. I was alway stretching, or sewing my point shoes while we discussed the books we had read, etc. In fact, they nicknamed me Dancing Blonde (my hair was blonde at the time). I remember that I actually grew about a half inch thanks to ballet, although I have most surely lost it since I stopped dancing.

My husband has been having back pain due to poor posture and so this topic has been on my mind lately. I have been trying to remember to have good posture at work even though the bad habit of slouching is so easy to slip into. I have been thinking about "pulling up", as we say in ballet, as if a string was tied to my head and was pulling me up. I walk around my office pulled up and try to remember to sit properly at my desk as well. I try to get up and move around every once in a while too, but some days you just can't get away from your desk. I use this technique in yoga too because doing yoga with proper posture and with poor posture are two completely different things. I want to teach it to Christian but he might think I am crazy. In any case, I have to think of something to help him with his poor posture and to work his back muscles to become stronger. One idea I have, that he is open to, is that he take an introduction yoga class which is for one month, twice a week. I think yoga is a good option for him since he doesn't like gyms or lifting weights. He likes to run, and while I think running is a great exercise if you like it, he still needs something that will challenge his muscles (similar to weight lifting), especially his upper body. This is not to say that running doesn't challenge your muscles, it does....but he specifically needs upper body strength and since he doesn't like lifting weights, I think yoga is the next best choice. So we'll see....hopefully in December he'll enroll. I might take the class with him just for the heck of it.....plus it will be a fun couple thing to do since he refuses to take salsa dancing classes with me. (Anyone have a gay guy friend who wants to take dance classes with me? haha....)

~Tyffanie

Still not back in my routine

2010-11-04T11:20:00.000-03:00

I had a great gym routine going until the last few weeks of August when life decided to get crazy. I was hitting up the gym 4-5 times a week, twice for Body Balance (love starting and ending my work week with this class), twice for early morning Body Pump. Then I traveled to Buenos Aires for work (def not complaining about that though), things at work got crazy busy as my team has been "restructured" meaning I am now pretty much the remaining team member (there were once 3 of us), Christian had surgery, and one of my best friends visited.....all in the span of just under 2 months. So basically my morning Body Pump classes have been thrown out the window. I went last week and was super happy I did, but have not gone since. My alarm rings at 6am and my body wants nothing to do with getting up and working out. Not to mention that on those days I do generally end up feeling more tired and wiped out. I think I may need to up my caloric intake on those days because I am pretty sure it is tied to not having eaten enough by the afternoon and thus feeling very blah.

I have been going to the gym though...even if not to my usual classes. This week has been elliptical week. I was able to get a lot of The Omnivore's Dilemma read while sweating it out on the elliptical. Then I would do abs and back work and then stretch for a good 15-20 minutes. Today I think I will do more elliptical and maybe some power-walking, or perhaps go to the Baile Entretenido class for a while. Tomorrow the plan is to double up and go to Body Balance and then stay for Body Pump. Then I can free up my Saturday to hit up the Mercado Paula Gourmet which I am super excited to check out. There are actually classes today and tomorrow that I would love to attend, but sadly they are during work hours. So Saturday it will be.

It is sometimes frustrating to me to have fallen out of my routine. I like having my gym time planned out and dedicated because I am less likely to skip it....which is why I am trying so hard to get back into it! Plus my gym membership ends at the end of January and at that point I have to evaluate whether I sign up again and for how long, or if I maybe sign up for a yoga studio to try that out for a while. So I want to get as much out of the gym as possible in these last 3 months.

~Tyffanie

A Great Food Book

2010-11-03T20:54:00.002-03:00

I just finished (today actually) reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and I must tell you it is one damn good book! While I eventually hope to write my thoughts on some of the points he makes in the book and stories he tells, I thought I'd at least write a short post to tell you to GO READ THIS BOOK in case that eventually never happens.

Everyone needs to read this book, especially if you are American. It should be required in middle/high school. It is that good.

It explains the history of four meals (as the caption below the title explicitly says) but in a way that is interesting, thought-provoking and informative....and you won't even feel like you are reading! It is as if Michael Pollan is narrating these stories to you himself. I loved living out (in my imagination) these food adventures with him and becoming educated on the history of where our food comes from--something that so many of are ignorant to.

I think I might even re-read it I liked it so much.

Allergies gone crazy

2010-11-02T10:00:00.001-03:00

I didn't start having seasonal allergies until high school....or maybe I just don't remember having them as a kid. But I do remember taking some allergy medicine during the springtime in high school and then for sure when I moved to Boulder for college. While my hometown is located in the mountains and is very green with pine trees, shrub oak, grass, etc., the greenery in Boulder was different and my allergies went crazy when I lived there. I remember going out to get my car and it just being covered in a thick yellow dust......pollen, and lots of it. After a few years in Boulder I noticed that my allergies got better, even though I still took allergy medicine sometimes, they weren't nearly as bad my 3rd and 4th years there in comparison with my 1st and 2nd years. What did happen in those last few years was that my allergies back home got worse than they had been. Apparently my body was getting used to the pollen of the different cities and when I switched it up and went to the other town, my immune system went nuts.

My first year in Chile, spent in Viña del Mar, didn't include allergies from what I remember. Perhaps the sea breeze kept them at bay. I wouldn't be surprised if it honestly helped. However since moving to Santiago in 2008, my allergies have bothered me again during the spring. And while this is my 3rd spring in Santiago, they are not getting any better. In the past, I took lots of allergy medicine. Last year I bought heaps and heaps of it to keep the headaches, stuffy noses and other no-fun symptoms at bay. But this spring, along with a lot of the changes I have undergone this year, I am trying to not depend on medicine to keep the symptoms at bay. I am tired of feeding my body medicines just to cover up symptoms instead of actually trying to fix the problem. Plus, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to fill our bodies with all these chemicals and toxins that mess up the way our body can naturally heal itself.

What I have noticed is that my allergies only go crazy in the mornings on my walk to work and in the late afternoons on my way home--basically when I am outside. At work, since we have the central air system, I don't normally have many symptoms except for the occasional sneeze. However during this past three-day weekend I was in allergy hell. Yesterday was the worst of all the days....it was also the hottest in Santiago which may be one of the problems. I was stuffy, sneezing, and kind of fog-headed most of the day when I was cooking and getting stuff done. Once I started to relax a bit and read, the symptoms subsided a bit.

I am now going to start looking for some more natural remedies for allergies. Yoga seems to be one side of the coin (for the relaxation since stress makes allergies worse), I know some local honey would probably help too (to get my system used to the pollen from the inside out) and there are some herbal medicines that work as anti-histamines. I might pick one up today just to have when my allergies get overbearing. There are also some foods that are anti-inflammatory that are supposed to help, so I definitely need to start eating them. Most of all though I'd like my body to stop reacting so harshly to the allergins.

~Tyffanie

Enjoying time with the husband

2010-11-01T20:51:00.002-03:00

Life has been quite busy lately which has meant that Chris and I don't get to see each other all that much during the week. We savor our time together on the weekends, which has been great for our relationship even though the whole routine has been somewhat a challenge. This weekend happened to be a three-day weekend (love it...I wish every weekend was the same!) and was timed perfectly as we both needed to relax and enjoy each other's company.

We had nice weather this weekend although today was a bit too hot for my liking--in the 90s. Just a preview of what summer will be like though.

I cooked a ton this weekend: vegan banana zucchini chocolate bread, homemade whole wheat margarita pizza, artichokes with ricotta on toast, fajitas with all the fixin's (beans for me and chicken for Chris), penne a la broccoli, quinoa lentil salad and chickpeas & pinto beans for later meals. I am thinking about baking another zucchini bread before bed now that the sun has gone down. Although I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning, it was nice to eat a variety of foods and enjoy them with the hubs.

Now I am sad the weekend is almost over.....I could go on like this forever!

Back at BP

2010-10-26T09:08:00.001-03:00

Today I finally made myself get up early and head to Body Pump! The last time I went, according to my food & exercise journal was Tuesday September 28th---a whole month ago!! How did that happen? I've mentioned before that things have been crazy busy and getting up at 6am has been next to impossible these past few weeks. This morning I had a serious internal struggle about whether or not I was going to get up when my alarm went off or if I was just going to sleep an extra hour. I'm glad I got myself up and made it to class. I lowered my weight back to what I was lifting when I first started since I needed to wake my muscles back up and didn't want to injure myself. It felt really good to get moving and lifting again! The fact that it is getting more light out when I leave my house helps too!

~Tyffanie

Good Sign

2010-10-21T20:12:00.003-03:00

So I picked up the Dato publication that the Providencia Municipality so kindly drops off at my apartment building every now and then as I was on my way back from work. I started reading the one main article and then browsing through the rest of the advertisements and small event publications. This week, Dato included horoscopes and so I decided to take a gander at mine.

I used to ready my horoscope everyday online.....ya know back when hotmail was the coolest email in the world? Ya waaaaaay back then. (Side note-you know gmail is the place to be these days for email.) I always liked reading that days horoscope when the day was coming to an end. Why you might ask? Well to see how accurate they really were. If I were to read them first thing in the morning, it would taint my perspective on the day, either making me act exactly as my horoscope predicted or just the opposite. But I loved the days when I would come and check my email and my horoscope would be dead-on right.

So back to this afternoon....I read what it says for Scorpio and the last sentence goes a bit like this "If you are thinking of taking new paths to take care of your body, this is a good time."

It was one of those hit-the-nail-on-the-head horoscopes.

Why you may ask?

Because I have recently taken a new route when it comes to eating: no more meat. To put a label on it would be saying vegetarian, or maybe pescatarian or lacto-ovo-vegetarian or maybe even lacto-ovo-pescatarian. Labels = limits so I'd prefer to stay away from them.

So imagine my surprise when I read my horoscope, I mean how in the world does it just happen that I make this decision (which has been in the works now for months) right when this horoscope is published?

And more than anything, I consider it a good sign for this new path I'm on.

Dave Matthews Band in Chile!

2010-10-17T23:09:00.004-03:00

Last night was the Dave Matthews Band concert here in Santiago and it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!!

I consider myself to be a pretty big DMB fan, although I used to be much more hardcore. Living in Chile, I have been somewhat removed from following the band and even listening to their music. But ever since Andrea and I got tickets to go, I have been listening to them at work nonstop. And I kinda feel like I've been betraying them all this time....or rather, betraying a part of myself that truly loves this music.

I am so glad they finally decided to come to Chile, right when I happen to be living here. It was their first time here and while Movistar Arena was not sold out, I sure hope they saw how much the DMB fans in Chile love them. I for one did enough screaming to almost lose my voice.

Suffice to say we jammed out and had a blast watching the band do its thing. I can't believe it has been 5 years since I saw them live. This was my 6th DMB concert and it definitely didn't disappoint--3 hours of seeing them so close, singing to all my favorite songs and just being bewildered at how badass of musicians they are. Seriously. Bad-freaking-ass musicians...! It was such a great reminder of how amazing music is....and we were so close to the stage, by far the closest I have been at any of the concerts!

Oh Dave.....you make me swoon....

....as well as remember the good ole times back in high school and college with some of my best of friends......

Oh and the fact that Tim Reynolds was here too just blew my mind! He is such a legend as well and to get to see him with DMB live was almost mind-blowing.

"Celebrate we will

Because life is short but sweet for certain

We're climbing two by two

To be sure these days continue

These things we cannot change"

(From Two Step, off the Crash album, which is was the last song they played last night)

Missing Home

2010-10-15T09:36:00.001-03:00

I had such a great visit with my friend Staci. I am really grateful that she came down to see us! And soon I will get to a recap of all the fun stuff we did.....it was a jam-packed 12 days.

Having her here made me feel like we were back in college again, back when we were roommates.....and then it made me homesick. I haven't been home in over a year now and while I did see my parents in December, it just isn't the same as being back home.....seeing family and friends, eating the foods I miss, seeing the Rocky Mountains,....I could go on and on.

Today it is cloudy and cold (like it has been all week) and I'm missing home....

~Tyffanie

Rescue Mission Completed!

2010-10-14T09:26:00.001-03:00

The story of these 33 miners is so touching and miraculous. Pretty much the whole world had its eyes on Chile Tuesday & Wednesday during the amazing rescue. For a great recap article, check out this article. I couldn't be more proud to call Chile my second home...from the earthquake to this mining accident the solidarity of this country never ceases to amaze and inspire me!
~Tyffanie

Miners' Rescue

2010-10-12T21:27:00.002-03:00

The rescue of the miners begins tonight and the capsule is minutes from being send down the excavation. Check out updates here. Send positive thoughts to the rescue workers and miners to have patience and good luck that everything goes quickly and safely!

Happy 30th Birthday Christian!!!

2010-10-06T07:00:00.001-04:00

Just a little shout-out to my husband for his birthday!!! I love you!!!! Here's a kiss just for you, from the night we shared our first kiss:

Still Here

2010-09-29T21:46:00.003-04:00

In case you have been wondering, yes I am still alive. Things have been busy and mostly I haven't had any ganas ("want" or "inspiration") to write when I actually have the time, but of course, when I don't have time I could write a million posts. And so that is why I haven't posted in forever.

But I figured I should stop by and let you all know that things are going good. Christian is recovering well from this surgery. His English classes are going well and I am trying to talk to him only in English (although really it just depends on the topic, mood, etc.).

The most exciting news is that one of my best friends is coming to visit this Friday!!!! Staci and I met freshman year in college and lived together our junior year. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and is an awesome friend. I can't wait to pick her up from the airport on Friday morning!

Recuperating & Trying to Avoid Stress

2010-09-10T09:44:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Christian got the ok from the doctor to come home so I went around noon to pick him up at the hospital. He is now at home and resting in bed. He has medical license for 11 days and has to go see his doctor for a follow-up next week. He is supposed to get up and move around the house during the day as well as rest. The doctor said the worst thing to do would be just lay down the whole time. He has to follow a "bland" diet so hopefully this weekend I can take the items he is able to eat and make something more exciting than crackers with jam or jello-o with fruit. He is recuperating and I am sure every day he'll be a little bit better.

I, myself, am trying to not stress out as much as possible. Work has been a madhouse. I have a lot of projects to work on (which I like) and new issue to investigate are coming up all the time but I slowly feel myself sinking under a pile of things that I seem to never be able to finish. This drowning feeling is not one which I welcome and thus I have been feeling stressed and pressured lately. This is apart from the stress of this week with Christian's surgery. I trusted the doctor and the hospital was great, but any time a loved one has major surgery it puts some deal of stress on you, even if you try not to let it. And then there are some other factors that I can't mention here that have added more stress. Mostly things out of my control, but for me, those are the worse type. Logically I know I shouldn't let these external factors bother me, but it is something I almost can't help. I am trying best I can to push any negative thoughts out of my mind, but once in a while they creep in. I have been keeping up my gym routine this week too in order to help combat the stress. But my leg started hurting this week on top of everything else and yesterday no amount of IB profin was taking the pain away. This, in turn, meant that yesterday when I got home from work I only wanted to do two things: 1. eat and 2. sleep. After eating, helping out the husband and giving him a massage I was able to go to bed.....but my mind and body were still so accelerated from everything that has been going on that I couldn't fall asleep for over an hour. And my leg was killing me. Ugf.

So sorry if I haven't been blogging much and more than that, if you are one of the 30+ people to whom I owe an email, please be patient. My inbox it out of control right now and I am trying to respond as soon as I can.

~Tyffanie

Christian is Ok

2010-09-08T19:23:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to send a quick note that Christian's surgery went well. He is still in recovery but should be coming up to his room soon. The doctor said everything went well so hopefully he'll get to check out tomorrow morning and head home to rest. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts!
~Tyffanie

The Good & Bad of the Husband

2010-09-08T09:05:00.001-04:00

The great news with respect to my husband is that he won the CORFO English scholarship which means he'll get about 3 months of super intense English classes for almost nothing! We have to pay like $200 as a deposit and to guarantee his spot, but considering he will be in class 6 days a week, 3 hours a day....that is about 216 hours in total and would probably normally run you over $2000 if you calculate that one hour classes run you minimum $10. I am so excited about this because he had to have an intermediate level of English to even get the scholarship (intermediate being between 400-600 points on the TOEIC). CORFO sent him to take the TOEIC in early July and he scored within the range and was accepted into the program! Waaahooo! This means his English is going to increase greatly in the next few months which is awesome considering we want to move back to the US in the short term.

The bad news is that today he has to have surgery for a hernia. He found a highly recommended doctor who has been amazing so far so I am confident it will all work out well. Please do keep him in your thoughts as well as the doctors & nurses caring for him (so that they are thinking clearly and putting his needs first). I'm at work for a few hours this morning and then will be taking him to the hospital around lunchtime. I'll post an update when I can to let you know how it goes.

~Tyffanie

Fourmile Fire - Boulder, CO

2010-09-07T13:33:00.001-04:00

If you haven't heard, there is a 3,500-acre fire northwest of Boulder that is eating up houses and anything else in its path. I just saw the news about it thanks to this article from the Daily Camera. My heart goes out to those who have lost their homes and everything inside, and those who had to evacuate and aren't sure what happened to their homes. I hope the firefighters are able to contain it and that the weather helps out (ie. no more wind). Please keep everyone in Colorado affected by this fire in your thoughts!!!

~Tyffanie

Domingos de Dulcinea: She's In Trouble

2010-09-05T16:38:00.002-04:00

This is what happens when my husband and Dulcinea have too much time on their hands:

{Original photo here}

Domingos de Dulcinea: Keeping the Fur-Child Warm

2010-08-29T10:42:00.003-04:00

It is no secret that we have had quite a cold winter this year. There were two weeks in July that were just frigid if you ask me. Now, while the temperatures may not reach Colorado-winter levels and maybe there isn't any snow in Santiago, the fact that the majority of houses don't have central heating makes a HUGE difference in just how cold a winter feels. I find winters to be much more colder here than in Colorado. In fact, growing up I hated to drink hot tea. Any time I was sick my mom would tell me to drink hot tea and I refused. I seriously despised it. But when I came to study abroad, my breakfast and afternoon snack always included tea and since I was always freezing, I drank it right up. That year taught me to love tea. Now I do quite enjoy a cup of tea, my preference being the berry or fruit flavored herbal teas.

One of my biggest worries last year when we got Dulcinea was how to keep her warm during the last bit of winter and in the spring. Luckily she came to us at the end of August so spring was right around the corner and since she slept with us in bed, we didn't have many issues. This winter was much more of an issue since it has been much colder. We have come up with several different ways to help our little one stay warm because despite all of her hair, she gets cold really easily.

Stay Warm #1: Doggie Sweaters

I started putting clothes on Dulcinea when she was a puppy so that she would get used to them and not try and chew them off. My parents' dog Dunkun will not wear any type of clothing to save his life and I wanted to be able to dress Dulcinea up. Yes, that was my original reason for putting clothes on her from an early age, but it has been very useful when it comes to the sweaters in the winter because they really do help keep her warm. Her first sweater was the pink and white one in the middle that her gringo grandparents gave her for Christmas. She was wearing that sweater during the earthquake too which greatly helped keep her warm when we were in the car for hours waiting for things to calm down. The two stripped sweaters are from Jumbo and fit her perfectly and the World Cup red on was a gift from my friend & coworker Gaby for Dulcinea's birthday. The red & white sweater on the left and the purple & white sweater on the left were made by Dulcinea's Chilean grandmother. My suegra knitted both of these sweaters for Dulci, using the pink & white one as a pattern. She did an awesome job and these sweaters definitely keep Dulci warm.

Stay Warm #2: Sleeping Under the Covers

Dulcinea loves to get under the covers when sleeping in bed with us. She always likes to be touching us when she curls up, whether it is by our legs or our side. Sometimes she takes turns sleeping with Christian or with me, and sometime she sleeps in the middle of us. When she gets hot, she will climb above our heads and sleep on our pillows for a while.

Stay Warm #3: Heated Rice Packs & Blankets

I made Dulcinea's first rice pack last year before we had got her. I thought it would be a helpful way to keep her warm and she loves her rice packs. My mom made Chris a rice pack for Christmas and with the freezing weather we have had, he decided one rice pack wasn't enough for Dulci and gave her his rick pack too. We pop them in the microwave for 4 minutes on high and then put them on the bottom of her bed before we leave for work. We also reheat them during lunch so she stays warm in the afternoon too. She loves them! When she hears the microwave beep she goes running and starts to bark to let you know to take them out and put them in her bed. We also cover her bed with two blankets made out of the polar fabric. She loves to get under the blankets and lay directly on top of the rice packs.

Stay Warm #4: Keeping Warm By the Fire

We have a gas estufa in our living room that is built into the wall. When we are in the living room, we light it to help warm up the area and Dulcinea loves curling up underneath the fire. I was worried at first that she would get too close and burn herself, but she is really good about staying a certain difference. Plus we scold her if she gets too close so that she knows not to do that. Sometimes if we are in the living room and we don't have the estufa lit, she will curl up under it as if to tell us that she is cold and wants us to light it. Yes, she tells us when to turn on the heater! Hahaha....

And that is how we get Dulcinea through the winter in Chile!

Buenos Aires 4th & Last Day

2010-08-28T22:31:00.004-04:00

My 4th day in Buenos Aires was Thursday which was our last day of training as well. I didn't get in a workout that morning as I was feeling super tired and thus decided to save up my energy for the last day of "class". The training was really great because it was surprisingly more technical that I had anticipated. Definitely a plus for my position and any challenges I will be facing in the next few months while my boss is out on maternity leave.

After training ended at 6pm, I headed out with some coworkers to go shopping. In all honestly, I didn't want to go with anyone because I really wanted to just feel "free" while I was shopping. You know how it is when you go out with people you don't know too well, you spend more time window shopping than making the other person wait for you while you try on clothes, shoes and look for things to buy. So although I walked to the La Florida street with the group, I made plans to meet at the corner of La Florida with Cordoba at 8:15pm so that I could go off on my own. I walked up and down most of La Florida street. My goal was to get some shoes since I had already found a dress the other day. I finally ended up buying some shoes in the Galerias Pacificas mall in the Perugia store. They were definitely more expensive than what I was hoping to spend, but once I saw them I was set on them and knew I'd regret not buying them. So here's to my new super cute flats:

That night we had a going away dinner for the whole group in a typical Argentine parrilla (bbq place). This meant lots of red meat and luckily I had thought ahead to ask the person coordinating everything if they could get me chicken at the very least. I haven't been eating much red meat in general the past few months and I definitely didn't have any cravings for it in Argentina. Some people might consider that a crime, but I just listen to what my body wants. I did eat 2 empanadas on my trip which did have ground beef, but no steaks were on my plate for sure. The parrilla where we went was so different and upscale in comparison with the parrillas where I have gone in Chile. Granted, we were in Puerto Madero, but still I found the restaurant to be really nice. It was called El Mirasol del Puerto.

They ended up offering me grilled chicken, salmon or ravoli. I chose the ravioli where were delicious. I didn't end up taking any pictures of my food as I had started feeling yucky earlier in the afternoon and then 2 hours of running around shopping made me feel worse. My throat was hurting and I was freezing cold (despite having a jacket on). I even asked for a tea, which normally makes me feel better, and nothing. I knew I was already sick and was totally bummed out. Especially since I had taken some vitamins with me on the trip, was drinking 1.5-2 liters of water per day and eating mostly vegetables. But I guess my body was worn down. So instead of living up my last night in Buenos Aires, I headed back to the hotel as soon as the dinner ended to pack and go to bed. I had to wake up at 5am since we had to leave at 5:30am to go to the airport. My flight was at 7:20am. Luckily we were leaving from the Newbery airport or we would have had to leave even earlier like the Brazilians who left at 4:30am.

I felt like total crap Friday morning when I woke up. My head was throbbing and I could barely swallow. I was exhausted and cold. We made it to the airport fine, did some damage at the Duty Free store and boarded the flight back home. I was supposed to go to work when I got back, but I was feeling so yucky that I went to the doctor instead. She gave me 1 day of medical license to rest up and had me get a test to make sure I didn't have the flu. There is a new outbreak of the flu going around and let me tell you, the test was not fun. They stuck a small plastic tube up my nose and into my throat which caused me to cough like crazy. Once they had their sample they took the tube out. Now I don't think this would be very comfortable on any occasion, but it definitely wasn't since my throat and nose were already hurting.

I spent the day sleeping and same for today. I am just trying to rest as much as I can so my body can recuperate. I got the test results back and no flu thankfully. It has been nice to hang out with my husband and with Dulcinea. She has been so snuggly this weekend, I love it!

I had a great time in Buenos Aires and hope to plan a trip there with Christian so that we can enjoy the city together! But for now, I am happy to be back home in my bed, getting better and receiving lots of cariño (affection) from my husband and fur-child.

Buenos Aires 3rd Day & Sucre Restaurant

2010-08-26T06:00:00.000-04:00

The only pictures I have from yesterday are from our dinner, but trust me, you will want to see pictures of the restaurant and more so my dessert....and you will want to eat there if you ever visit Buenos Aires too!

After going to bed late on Tuesday night (and Tues. being a loooong day), I decided not to wake up and work out early but get some extra sleep. I thought I'd be even more awake during the classes but just the opposite happened--I had such a hard time staying awake in the morning. That was of course also thanks to the topic we had at 8:30am: Consolidation under FASB ASC Topic 810, which is not easy to digest at any time of day, but definitely not first thing in the morning. After some coffee (or 3 cups throughout the day which is a record for me), I finally started waking up. Our technical accounting group had a breakout session for more derivative talk in the office in Puerto Madero. Once we finished up there, I took a cab down to Calle La Florida to hit up the Galerías Pacíficas mall and go shopping. I didn't end up buying anything in that mall (it is super expensive, but lovely and worth a visit), but I did find a cute dress in a store on La Florida. I am hoping to find more shoes today if I can steal away in the afternoon again before dinner.

Last night our technical accounting group went out to eat together. Someone recommended a restaurant called Sucre. If you are ever in Buenos Aires, GO THERE! It was amazing!!!! (Map here) One of the best meals I have ever had.

I started off with a Sucre Bellini (peach flavor):

I didn't ask for an appetizer, but if I had asked for one, I would have got the seared red tuna with the jalapeño sauce. We had already eaten some bread with olive oil and so for the main dish, I asked for the grilled vegetable lasagna with pecorino cheese and a ruccula pesto. O.M.G.!.!.! So delicious. In fact, I was so hungry and it looked so amazing that I forgot to take a picture until I had eaten the majority of it! So, needeless to say I did not take a picture. But it was the perfect vegetarian dish. I haven't been eating meat much (in fact I am worried about dinner tonight because we are going to a typical Argentine parrilla--or bbq) and this dish definitely hit the spot.

For dessert I ordered the chocolate volcano with vanilla ice cream on the side. Here is what arrived:

Here is the volcano after it erupted:

And the plate was almost licked clean when I was done with it. It was amazing. I was so full from my lasagna, but I somehow managed to polish off the dessert because it was just too damn good. I would go back and just ask for that if I could! Hahahaha....

We finished dinner early (around 11pm) and while part of me wanted to go out, the responsible part of me decided to go back to the hotel and relax a bit so that I wouldn't have another sleepy morning in the training.

I am so glad I got to come on this trip. It has been so nice to finally meet a lot of people who I only knew via email in addition to meeting new people all around. We have some really cool people working in my company and I don't think I would have ever known that if I hadn't come for this training. The derivative training on Tuesday was really great too and learning about the disclosures yesterday afternoon was new and helpful. I feel a lot more confident in my technical skills and work now.

Well, today is the last day of training. I have to get in some shopping (fingers crossed) before dinner and maybe then go out. I am sad my time is coming to a close so quickly.....before I know it, it will be noon on Friday and I'll be back in Chile. I don't want to leave Buenos Aires....!

Buenos Aires 2nd Day

2010-08-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

I started my day off yesterday at 6am with power yoga in my hotel room. I asked about the hotel gym, however it doesn't open until 7:30am and that does not give me enough time to eat breakfast and be ready for our training which starts at 8:30am. So luckily I have my new netbook and can do yoga from there.

Breakfast was your typical continental with "eggs", breads, fruits, etc. Training started out with derivatives from 8:30am to 5pm! The good news is that after having seen presentations on derivatives for the past 2 years as well as dealing with identifying them in my day-to-day, it is finally starting to click. I answered a question today and got a t-shirt from our auditors who brought prizes for those who participated. The session after lunch was a bit difficult to digest (pardon the pun), but once we had the afternoon coffee break, everything went much better.

After training ended, I ventured out to about the city with 2 Brazilians who I had just met (they are at the same training too). I didn't buy anything because we just browsed, but I hope to go shopping tonight since it is our free night. We passed by the Obelisco and Teatro Colon and then walked on La Florida street.

Last night we all went to a Tango dance show at Tango Porteño, which is right by the Obelisco on Ava. 9 de Julio. It was awesome!!!!! They gave us a ton of food (most of which I couldn't finish) and put on one helluva show. I had never seen a tango show like that before and it has made me think twice about tango. Now I need to convince my husband to take lessons with me. It is so sensual....I think it would be fun!

Empanadas Argentinas

Salmon with black risotto

Chocolate mousse with passion fruit ice cream

And now for the dancing....

Buenos Aires is such an awesome city. It has such a different air than Santiago. It reminds me of New York, only latino-ized. I love that it has tons of arts, shows, shopping (and way better fashion), and beautiful architecture. I love the styles of the buildings. It has me wondering what it'd be like to live here for a while....hmmmm......

Buenos Aires 1st Day

2010-08-24T06:20:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I traveled to Buenos Aires for a work training that will last through Thursday and then I'll be on an early Friday morning flight back to Santiago (man I wish I had planned to stay for the weekend....plop). Here are some pictures from our first evening here:

Carletto is an Italian restaurant in Puerto Madero where we had dinner.

I had the Ravioli Giuseppe Verdi which was spinach ravioli filled with ricotta cheese in a fresh tomato sauce with garlic & basil. Sooooo good! I had natural orange juice on the side and chamomile tea after dinner instead of dessert.

Today is the first day of our technical accounting training for the Latin America & Africa region. I'm headed out to breakfast and then a full day of derivatives! Tonight we have plans to go to a Tango Show. I'll try to post more pics soon!

Domingos de Dulcinea: She Arrived 1 Year Ago!

2010-08-22T12:09:00.010-04:00

One year ago today our little Dulcinea arrived to our home. We had found and met her over a month and a half before she could come home with us because we had to wait until the Chile Kennel Club went to the breeder's house to register her and her sister.

We had spent the weekend in Viña to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday and I finally decided to call the breeder one last time before we got on the bus to come back to Santiago. I had been calling on a weekly basis since we had met little Dulci and I got the feeling I was bugging the breeder, so I waited about two weeks before calling again. The breeder was so happy to hear from me, she said "Oh Dulcinea has been ready for about a week now, but I couldn't find your phone number to call you." Whether that is true or not (because she had my email address too) isn't important. What was important was that my baby was ready and I was beyond excited!

I couldn't hardly keep calm the whole bus ride home. The breeder brought Dulci to our house (since we didn't have a car in that time and Dulci is from Lampa which is a good 25 min drive from where we lived). She was so tiny and scared. For those of you who don't know Dulcinea, she is quite shy at first and then once she warms up to you, there is no going back. So she was so calm and just trying to figure out what was going on. All I could do was hug and kiss her. She was soooo cute!

We played with her, showed her around our apartment, showed her where to go potty and gave her a present--her first toy ever:

She was so tiny she couldn't even make the dinosaur squeak!

We tried to get her to sleep by herself from the beginning (my idea). I had her sleep in her bed right next to me, but she just cried and cried. So I picked her up that first night and put her on my chest to see if she would calm down (kind of like the picture below). She fell asleep quickly and that was the end of Dulci sleeping by herself...hahaha.

My two favorite beings in the whole world:

My family has pretty much always had dogs in the house so I didn't think it'd be very different to get my first one living on my own, but having Dulcinea has really been life changing. I was never the primary caregiver when I lived at my parents' house, but with Dulcinea it is different. She depends on me and Chris so much and she is like our little baby. We have had a lot of fun with her and even though it is a lot more responsibility, it is totally worth it!

I love looking back at these baby pictures of her. She was so tiny and cute. Now she is much bigger and has blossomed into quite a beauty. Her attitude has multiplied 10 times bigger than her actual size, which at times is annoying, but that is just your typical dachshund attitude. Here are some examples of her classic behavior:

Her new favorite habit is to wake us up at night with kisses when she needs to go potty. When the alarm clock goes off in the mornings, she also comes out of the covers to wake you up with lots and lots of kisses.

Her favorite place to be aside from in bed with us is at the Parque Bicentenario where she can run free and play with her park toys. She has a special boomerang and kong toy that she can only play with at the park so when we go, all she wants are her toys.

She loves it when we heat up her rice packs to keep her warm. She treats her toys like her offspring sometimes and protects them from us. She loves to push around her food bowl with her nose and spill her food. She also pretends that she doesn't like some of her food, but then she eats it anyway.

She thinks she is the owner of the 11th floor of our apartment building because she barks every time she hears the elevator arrive. She goes crazy when the neighbor gets home too. She gets so excited to go out for walks that she barks at anyone who gets in her way of getting out of the building. But once she is outside she is happy and all she wants to do is run, which is why Christian has started jogging with her.

She also thinks she is a model. Anytime Christian sets up his camera to take pictures of her, she pulls out the attitude in a heartbeat. For evidence, just take a look at these images that he took.

That is my little guachita rica....

Flashback Friday: First Day In Chile

2010-08-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

On July 1, 2006 I sat with my family in the Denver International Airport, waiting to board my first international flight to start my study abroad program in Chile. It was the start of what would be a life changing year. I always knew study abroad would offer me amazing experiences that would change me...but I didn't really expect to find my husband through it!!

I thought it'd be fun to take a trip back to that fateful 24-36 hour period of my life that began over four years ago....

At DIA with my Dad and sister.

Mom & Dad

Picture of screen at DFW Airport, waiting to board the fight to Santiago!

As we were arriving to Chile, I was pegada a la ventana (constantly looking out the window) to get a good view of this land I would call home for 13 months. It just happened be light enough out and the angle of the plane perfect for me to get this shot of Valparaíso, where I would be living & studying during my time abroad. In the many times I have flown to and from Chile in the past 4 years, I have never seen Valpo so clearly again so I definitely think it was a sign to be able to get this shot!

The Andes

Sunrise over The Andes

The room where I stayed for the first 2 weeks I was in Chile. I took intensive Spanish classes that I paid for thanks to a scholarship from Shell.

The day I arrived (a Sunday), my housemate Wiebke took me around Santiago. This is a picture of a statue in the Plaza Italia in Santiago.

We took the Funicular up Cerro San Cristobal to get an awesome view of the city (and smog) and check out the Virgin Mary.

Providencia and Las Condes from Cerro San Cristobal. Notice the construction of the Costanera Center or the Titanium building hadn't started yet.

Virgin Mary atop Cerro San Cristobal

Me at the base of the Virgin Mary with The Andes behind me.

Taking the Funicular back down the mountainside.

Telefonica (now Movistar) building shaped like a cell phone by the Plaza Italia.

I had a great first day in Santiago. I remember Wiebka took me to Castaño to get an empanada de pino (meat turnover that are typical in Chile). The only thing we couldn't do was drink pisco sour because all of the (few) restaurants that were normally open on Sundays ended up closing early thanks to a fútbol (soccer) game.

What was your first day like in Chile (or in the first country you ever visited)?

Weekly Recipe Round-up August 18th

2010-08-18T06:00:00.001-04:00

How are we already in the third week of August? Is anyone else surprised by this? Time is flying by waaaaayyy too quickly. Although since it is winter, I don't mind spring and summer coming early by any means.

Here are the recipes I've got for you this week:

Chana Masala: When I first made Chana Masala, I used this recipe. Christian and I really liked the flavors of this dish and neither of us had ever had it before. This time around I used inspiration from that first recipe I found, plus this recipe too. In the end I served the Chana Masala with brown rice. I suggest making this recipe the day before you eat it as it gets even better when the spices can sit overnight! If you are looking for turmeric, try La Chakra on Mariano Sanchez Fontecilla (hint: it is called cúrcuma in Spanish). That is where I found mine!

Lentil Tacos: I got the idea for this from this recipe, but I didn’t actually follow this recipe. I have made snobby joes (a version of sloppy joes but with lentils instead of ground beef) and so when I saw this recipe, I thought it’d be fun to try. Christian wanted ground beef so he made his meat as usual, adding in the taco spices. I boiled the lentils, and then drained them when they were done. I added some EVOO to a pan, threw in the lentils and stirred them so they could get covered with the oil. Then I added in the same taco spices and coated the lentils. We ended up having simple tacos that night—the meat/lentils, lettuce mix and guacamole in flour tortillas. Man, these were sooo good! It is pretty cool that you can substitute lentils for meat in some dishes and you really can’t tell a difference. I will definitely be making this again.

Lentil Spaghetti Sauce: Well, we certainly had a week full of lentils. After having successfully made the snobby joes and lentil tacos, I figured this would be the same. I made the sauce using the bags of Italian tomato sauce from the grocery store, adding in garlic and spices as well as zucchini. I’d have to say it only turned out más o menos (so-so). Christian did not like it and I couldn’t decide if I did or not. Sometimes you couldn’t tell a difference in the flavor as normal spaghetti, but sometimes you could and those were the moments in which I did not like it. So I’d say it is a toss up as to whether or not I’ll make this again.

Aloo Palak (Spinach with Potatoes): The author of this recipe states that it isn’t the most traditional Aloo Palak, but honestly for us it didn’t make a difference because we’ve never had an “authentic” version before. For some reason, I was intrigued by this recipe and decided to make it for lunch. I followed the recipe as is. She doesn’t list turmeric on the ingredient list, but in the instructions she does, so make sure you have some on hand. Both Chris and I loved the recipe, but we served it by itself and I think next time I will serve it with something on the side.

Healthy Carrot Cake Power Scuffins: These are to die for! OMG! So good! I followed Angela’s recipe pretty closely, except for the maple syrup I used the imitation pancake syrup that we have. Unfortunately maple syrup is hard to find here and really really expensive, so I had to go with the Good Value brand of pancake syrup. I know, it is disappointing, especially since this syrup has high glucose corn syrup, but it is what it is. Next time I might substitute honey for the syrup and see how they come out. If you are looking for the spelt flour, check out Organisk in Providencia. That is where I picked mine up. I also stirred the coconut slice into the batter instead of sprinkling it on top. These got a big thumbs up from both me and the hubs. I took two to work to let some of my co-workers try and they all loved them too! Way to go Angela, thanks for posting such a delish recipe! I snapped some pictures of how mine came out (the picture above is of the scuffins too!):

I tried to just eat 1....but it proved to be impossible!

Here is seven of the eight scuffins that survived until the photo shoot!

¡Buen Provecho!

Just Another Reason to Love Juanes

2010-08-16T06:00:00.001-04:00

I heart Juanes. Here's his latest single that I just can't get out of my head!

P.D. Juanes, si estás leyendo este posteo....vuelve al Chile pronto por favor!!!!

Domingos de Dulcinea: Princess Dulcinea

2010-08-15T15:50:00.003-04:00

I am sure you can tell from this blog, and if you know me in real life through that experience, that Duclinea is one little regalona (spoiled puppy). Christian and I just can't help ourselves. She is just too darn cute!

Yesterday we took her to the park to run around and burn some energy. The weather was amazing, 22ºC and sunny. She loved every minute of it! We met some new salchichas and it is inevitable that one always falls in love with Dulci. This time, it was Gerónimo, a standard tan 2 year old dachshund. Luckily instead of just trying to hump her like the other enamorados (the other dogs in love with her) do, he at least tried to seduce her. We would throw her toys and he would just follow her around everywhere. After a while, she actually started interacting with him which was just too funny. At one point she just gave in, rolling herself onto her back right next to him. I couldn't believe it! We were cracking up. When Gerónimo's mom said it was time for them to leave, he was sooo sad to be parting with his Juliet.

Today the weather is yucky--cloudy and maybe 14ºC. No park for us. And so Christian thought it fitting to take some pictures of Dulcinea instead. What did Dulci have in mind? Well princess pictures of course! So without further ado, I present to you Princess Dulcinea!!!

{source}

And now for a close up....

{source}

Flashback Friday: Favorite Disney Movies

2010-08-13T06:28:00.001-04:00

I am obsessed with Disney movies. I always have been and probably always will be. Just to be clear, when I say Disney movies, I am referring to my childhood movies. Those movies that occupied my Saturdays, whose soundtracks I know every word to and whose characters I wish were real (because I am referring to strictly animated movies). These are what I consider to be Disney "classics", but obviously this is just my opinion.

I plan to incorporate these movies into my future kid(s)' life. I think these are much healthier than the majority of the movies or cartoons on TV today. Granted, there are those little secret "surprise" moments in some of the movies (like the penis in the Little Mermaid castle, when Aladdin says "teenagers take off your clothes" and the dust spelling out SEX in Lion King, others found here), but I don't think kids really pick that stuff up until way later on in life (adolescence). I mean, think about the movie Grease. Such a great movie and musical, we used to sing those songs in middle school choir.....but once you watch that movie as an adult, you realize--holy sexual innuendos--the whole movie is about sex and they are all in high school! Anyway back to Disney movies. So obviously Disney is still making movies, and some of them I really like....but nothing will ever live up to my all-time favorites.

So without further ado, my all time, hands down, #1 favorite movie, ever, ever, EVER is:

(Picture from Isla Negra, Chile in August 2006. I have waited my whole life to take a picture like this!)

Any guesses?

(source)

Yes! The Little Mermaid!!!!!!

(source)

And this tops all movies, not just Disney movies.

Aladdin is my number 2 favorite Disney movie (it doesn't trump all other movies like Ariel though).

(source)

Then among my other favorite classics are:

No. 3--Beauty & the Beast

(source)

No. 4--Lion King

(source)

No. 5--Cinderella

(source)

No. 6--Jungle Book

(source)

No. 7--Snow White

(source)

There are a few movies that I know I saw and I'm pretty sure we owned them too, but they were not among my favorites to watch repeatedly:

Bambi (I am just stuck remembering this as a sad movie, one that made me and others cry and I think that is seriously why I never watched it a lot. I don't even remember the "lesson to be learned" from Bambi, I was just struck by the sadness.....although I did have a "Bambi" of my own, a motherless fawn for 24 hours back when I was little.)
Pinocchio (I remember that we played some sort of Disney game that dealt with Pinocchio when I was little but I don't remember what it was!)
The Fox & the Hound (Ditto the sad movies.)
Sleeping Beauty (I don't think we owned this movie when I was a kid.)
Lady & the Tramp

Getting up to speed with the more modern Disney movies (all still animated), I have to say that I really enjoyed Monsters, Inc. and Ratatouille. I've seen Monsters, Inc. several times and Ratatouille only once....but that will change because I thought that movie was awesome!!!!!

My sister, who was born in 1990, definitely had different favorite Disney movies than I did. I remember her loving 101 Dalmatians, The Rescuers Down Under, and possibly The Aristocats. She also did like Snow White, Beauty & the Beast and Lion King.

One of the other things I really like about the more old-school Disney movies are the lessons that they teach. For example, Pinocchio has lessons about lying, The Little Mermaid about dreaming and going after your dream, Beauty & the Beast about how there is more to a person than just looks. These are definitely things I want to teach my future offspring and I like the way the Disney movies teach them.

Now it's your turn: what is your favorite Disney movie?

(For a list of the top 100 Disney movies, click here.)

Using Google Documents

2010-08-12T21:29:00.003-04:00

I started using Google documents last year but not all that frequently, but I use them all the time now. My favorite uses for Google documents are:

Menu planning for the week in an Excel calendar because it allows me to visually see which meals I need to plan to make. I just put the title of the recipe to be made and then in the Gmail account that I made to be my digital recipe database, I put the pending recipes in the "Draft" folder for easy access. Once I use the recipe, I delete the draft message to clear out the email folder.
List of quotes to remember--every time I come across a quote that I really like, I copy it into a Google Word document that combines all the ones I like.
List of books to buy/read--allows me to create a book list of recommendations for books to read or titles & authors to read eventually.
Songs to download, list of restaurants to try, places to visit, etc.--same as above. Google docs makes it easy to keep separate lists of things you want to remember. (And yes, I really do have all of these separate lists.)
History of bank deposits, etc. or sharing budgets. In general, I don't do my budget online, but Christian and I used to share an excel document of the credit card purchases before I had my own card and used his, so that we could detail who needed to pay what.

I have found Google docs really helpful. The fact that you can access them from any internet access, that you can share them with others and that you can have multiple types of documents, organizing them in folders, etc.

I also use Google calendar to organize myself and remember important events. I have a Birthday calendar in which I put the birthdays of friends & family with reminders to give me heads up about each person's big day. I have a Health calendar where I put in my doctor appointments and reminders when I need to schedule the next appointment. Dulcinea has a special calendar where I can keep track of her vet appointments and get to them easily. If I worked for myself, I would probably schedule my work activities (actually I do this at work) because I work better when I section off my time and focus on one thing at a time.

Do you use any of these functions to help organize yourself???

Weekly Recipe Round-Up August 11th

2010-08-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago, I posted a links to several recipes that I have made as well as our review of them (likes, dislikes, changes to recipe, etc.) I want to try and keep up with posting this information for several reasons:

You, the reader, can learn about new recipes and give them a try.
For those readers who live in Chile, you can not only learn about new recipes, but how to adapt them for the ingredients that we are able to get in Chile.
It makes for good documentation in case I forget whether or not we liked a certain recipe, or what changes I made, etc.

Maybe the recipe round-ups will be weekly, maybe every two weeks. But I’ll try my best to keep up with it! For now, I’ll leave you with a few of the recipes that I have made in the past two weeks (there are too many for 1 post).

Vegetarian Paella: I posted the link to this recipe and the changes I made in this post, but since we hadn’t technically eaten it, I thought I’d elaborate a bit more. The paella was really good. The flavors intensified overnight and both Christian and I like it. I felt it needed a bit more though. Maybe chicken on the side (although that defeats the purpose of being vegetarian), or some beans or something else. The next time I made it, I might add in some other vegetables or perhaps add chickpeas and see what it gives the recipe.

Quick Black Bean Soup: My friend, Kathy, who I studied abroad with in 2006 gave me this recipe. I think she made it for a party once and I really liked it and asked her to send it to me. That was 4 years ago and I just now made this recipe! The recipe states that it makes 4-6 servings, however for some reason we only got 3 servings out of it. I don’t have a link for it since I don’t know where she got it from, but I put the recipe at the bottom of this post with my changes in parenthesis. I will definitely make some version of this soup again, but I think I will tweak the recipe a bit.

Butternut Squash & Fried Sage Pasta: When I came across this recipe, I thought “oh what a unique way to use butternut squash”. I kept imagining that this dish must have great flavors, even though I had no idea what sage tastes like. When I went to the grocery store last Saturday to buy the sage, it was nowhere to be found. Thanks Lider Express! I decided that it probably wouldn’t make a huge difference and plus we didn’t have anything else to eat. So I set out to make it. I followed the directions as they are (minus the sage) and the only change I made was to use some gluten-free pasta (rice based) instead of typical pasta. Why? Cuz we had it on hand and it was already open. I had eaten this pasta before and didn’t have any issues with it, but in this dish it was all wrong. Everything about this dish was wrong and neither Christian nor I could eat it. I was sad to throw away the butternut squash, but really there was no saving it. It had been mixed with the strange pasta and everything was contaminated. We aren’t sure if the sweetness of the butternut aided in making this a bad dish, but we won’t be making this again. It got filed under “Thumbs Down Recipes”.

Black Bean Brownies: Yes, you read that right—brownies with black beans. See the beans covered in honey and cacao? I saw this recipe a while back and have wanted to make them for a long time, so last Sunday was the day. I had to use old fashioned black beans since canned ones don’t exist here in Chile, and I think I measured out about 1.5 cups. I used ripe bananas and honey instead of the agave nectar. The first time I made them I did add the additional sugar, however with the honey and ripe bananas, it was too sweet. I topped them with sliced coconut too! These brownies came out really fudge like and only got more fudgy and “wet” as the week went on. Don’t get me wrong, they had great flavor and I really liked them, but they needed more oats to dry up a bit of the moisture. Here are some pictures of the first set:
I told Christian they were just brownies and he ate one. Then I told him what was in them! Hahaha. He liked them anyway and was surprised that you couldn’t taste the black beans. This past Friday I was invited to a friend’s house for girls’ night and I decided to take another batch of these brownies with me to see what they thought about them (again, not telling anyone what was in them until they had tried them). While everyone agreed that these healthy brownies don’t taste like your Betty Crocker childhood brownies, they all liked this “brownie” on its own. The second time around I increased the recipe a bit and changed the amount of oats, hoping they would come out more cake-like than fudge-like. I used 2 cups of black beans, 4 bananas, 1/3 cup of honey, about 1 TBSP of sugar, double the unsweetened cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla extract. I also started off putting in 1/2 cup of the oats and then increased it another 1/4 to 1/2 cup because they still seemed so wet. In the end, they baked quickly (whereas the first time around it took longer for them to cook) and while they were drier (but not too dry) they were dense. So you most definitely only needed to cut them into small squares to serve. I recommend trying this recipe and I will keep making them because while they may not have a “typical” brownie flavor, I bet heated up with vanilla ice cream, they would still be amazing!

Lighter Sesame Chicken: As indicated in the recipe, I made brown rice (arroz integral) to go with the dish, which takes longer than white rice to cook. So if you do the same thing, make sure to plan ahead. I found out a few weeks ago that the ratio on the back of the brown rice bag is off. They say 1 cup of rice to 2.5 cups of water. That is only if you want soupy rice. We make 1.25 cups of rice to 2 cups of water and it turned out perfectly. So keep that in mind. Back to this recipe—it was awesome! We both really liked the flavors and lightness of it. The changes I made were to not cook the chicken in the egg and cornstarch. Instead, we just cut up the chicken, added a bit of sesame oil to the wok and cooked it with salt and pepper. Once it was done, I added in the sauce and the green onions (instead of scallions). I’d say cooking the chicken like this made the dish even lighter than it was intended. In the end, I plated it up with the broccoli and rice and the husband loved it (I did too)! Next time I will make more sauce as we felt adding more sauce over the broccoli and rice made everything even better!

Quick Black Bean Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, rinsed and drained (I used old fashioned cooked black beans)
14 oz. can chicken broth
15 oz. can corn, drained (I used frozen corn)
14 oz. can diced tomatoes with herbs (I used cut up fresh tomatoes without the seeds.)
2 bay leaves (didn’t use b/c I don’t have it)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. cumin

Preparation: Cook onion in oil in a large soup pot. Open one can of beans, mash the beans using a fork, and scoop out of the can into the pot, along with the can of whole beans, drained corn, chicken broth, and stir in seasonings. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer the soup for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove bay leaves and serve.

¡Buen provecho!

Domingo de Dulcinea: Jogging with Dulcinea

2010-08-08T19:12:00.005-04:00

{Guest post by Christian today. His writing is in Spanish, my translation in English.}

Hoy nos levantamos a las 11 de la mañana, eso es más tarde de lo normal pero estábamos esperando que calentara más el solcito, ya que con la Dulci teníamos planeado ir a trotar al Parque Bicentenario!

Today we woke up at 11am which is later than we usually get up, but we were waiting for the sun to heat things up a bit since Dulcinea and I had plans to go jogging at Parque Bicentenario!

Nos levantamos y comenzamos a preparar lo necesario, yo busque mi nuevo reloj que indica el ritmo cardiaco, el MP4 y me puse ropa deportiva…la Dulcinea por su parte se desnudo! (claramente si va a hacer ejercicio se tendría que sacar su suéter). Nos subimos al auto y partimos rumbo al Parque Bicentenario.

We got up and began to prepare ourselves—I looked for my new watch which measures your cardiac rhythm, my MP4 player and I put on my sports clothes...Dulcinea of course was naked! (Obviously if she was going to do exercise, it was necessary to take off her sweater.) We got in the car and headed off to the park.

Para variar cuando llegamos al parque la Dulci estaba como loca…. Se emociona mucho al llegar al parque, comenzó a ladrar y hasta se le eriza el pelo de la espalda!!! De un lindo dachshund pasa a ser un Critter!!! Jajajaja...para los que no se recuerdan de los Critters aquí les dejo una foto:

As usual when we got to the park Dulcinea went crazy. She got so excited to get to the park that she began to bark and the hair on her back even stood up!!! She went from being a cute little dachshund to being a Critter!!! Hahahaha....for those that don’t remember what the Critters are, here is a little reminder:

Bajamos al Parque, puse Start en mi cronometro y le di el comando “run” a la Dulcinea! Este comando típicamente lo usamos cuando la paseamos con correa por la calle y estamos regresando al departamento…básicamente le decimos “run” y corre como loca hasta llegar a la casa. Lo malo es que el parque está bastante lejos de la casa y además estábamos corriendo en círculos. Después de trotar por 20 minutos decidimos parar ya que estaba con la lengua afuera!!!! Yo estaba con la legua afuera…y la Dulcinea como si recién se hubiera levantado!!!

When we got down to the park, I pushed Start on my stopwatch and gave the command “run” to Dulcinea! This is the command we typically use when we go for walks with her around the neighborhood and as we head back to the house...basically we tell her “run” and she runs like a crazy person until we reach the house. The bad thing is that the park is kind of far from our house and we were also running in circles. After jogging for 20 minutes we decided to stop since our tongues were hanging out. Well, my tongue was hanging out that is....and Dulcinea was as if she had just woke up!!!

La Dulcinea pocas veces paró, en algunas ocasiones asustada por las bicicletas o por los perros grandes… seriamente estamos pensando salir a trotar un par de veces a la semana. En general el ejercicio estuvo muy bien!!!, Según mi reloj quemamos 223 kCal, perdimos 27 gramos de grasa y en promedio nuestro corazón latió 137 veces por minuto.

Dulcinea rarely stopped, only a few times when she was scare of the bicycles or big dogs…we are seriously considering starting to take her jogging a few times a week. In general, today’s exercise was really great!!! According to my watch, we burned 223 calories, we lost 27 grams of fat and on average, our heart beat was 137 per minute.

Si quedaron muy impactados con la imagen del Critter acá les dejo una foto de la Dulcinea cuando esta tranquilita y de vuelta a ser una dachshund bonita:

If I scared you a bit with the image of the Critter, here is a picture of Dulcinea when she is calm and back to being a pretty dachshund:

Flashback Friday: Just Say No to Pop

2010-08-06T10:53:00.001-04:00

Freshman year of high school we had to work on a presentation to convince our audience in our English class. I think they were called "persuasive" presentations or something of the sort (that was over 10 years ago, please forgive my brain for forgetting). One of my favorite high school teachers taught that class. He was a great teacher—used a very different style of teaching and really changed my perspective through his classes (I took several classes with him: English, Art, Speech & Debate, Journalism).

I did my persuasive presentation on why I was (and still am) all for the death penalty and why I believe they should enforce it more and why I thought everyone else should be all for it too. But that is not where I am going with this post. A boy in my class, who happened to be a sophomore or junior at the time and was repeating freshman English, gave a presentation about why we should stop drinking pop. (Yes, I wrote "pop", not "soda" or "soda pop"—that is what we call it in Colorado.) I don't remember what made him stop drinking it, but considering the quantity he was typically drinking it was not an easy task (he used to drink multiple cans of pop a day, like up to a 6-pack was normal). He spoke about the headaches he experienced when he first stopped drinking it and how he longed to take a sip. Then he hold us how much better he felt once his body adjusted to the lack of caffeine, sugar and whatever else is in pop. How much more energy he had and how he lost weight without even trying. I don't remember much else about that presentation but I know it made an impact on my life because I decided to stop drinking pop shortly thereafter.

My parents never let my sister and I drink much pop. When we were little, we could share a can of pop with dinner every other night. Not even every day. I am sure things changed when I was with my grandparents or aunts & uncles, but not at home. Pop was limited and while I didn't understand my parents position on it for years and years, I am so thankful that they were strict about it. I have family members that used to drink over a six-pack of pop a day and I am thankful that I was never one of them. Anyway, so as my sister and I grew up, my parents relaxed a bit on the pop rule and we got our own pop for dinner, but I am pretty sure it was still only every other night. I also drank it when I was at a friend's house and whatnot. So when I decided to stop drinking pop, it wasn't terribly difficult. I wasn't addicted to it like my classmate, but it did mean that in social situations I'd have to explain why I had water or whatever it was I drank. I may not have been perfect throughout the years, but I definitely halted drinking 90% of the pop that I would have.

Once I was legal, I decided that the only pop I'd drink was if it was in a mixed drink—vodka tonic, or rum & coke. But in general, I did not drink pop by itself on normal occasions. My beverage of choice is water by and far. I'll take iced tea, lemonade, real juice (not this nectar crap in Chile) and sometimes a Gatorade too, but agua is my favorite. However, I'd have to say that moving to Chile seriously challenged this habit and I started drinking a lot more pop that I ever have.

Anyone who has spent a bit of time in Chile knows that Chileans love their Coca-Cola. Heck, if that stuff came out of the faucet instead of water, Chileans would all drink out of the tap! See, here no one drinks tap water. When you go to a restaurant, you ask for "agua con/sin gas" (mineral water either sparkling or flat). While you can still ask for tap water in most restaurants, you won't be able to do so without getting a strange look from the waiter. Plus in most places, a pop is cheaper than mineral water! So it is easier on the budget to drink it. My husband is a typical Chilean in this sense—he loves his Coca-Cola, or Sprite or any sort of pop available. And thus that influence affected me as well. So I started drinking it a lot more. At lunch on the weekends, or if we ate out for dinner, in addition to any mixed drinks that I ordered that would have it. I drink water all day long at work, but it was the weekend and social gatherings where I was drinking a lot of pop. Which for me, was a lot.

Anyway, I'm happy to say that I stopped drinking it again. Right around the time when I started to clean up my eating habits back in April, I decided that it was time to get back to my beloved water. So I come with a bottle of water in hand to your party, now you will know why. It all goes back to my freshman year of high school and that damn persuasive presentation. (Plus we all know pop is not good for you regardless of whether or not it is diet, zero, or whatnot. It is full of chemicals, dyes and ickyness.)

Body Pump @ 7am

2010-08-05T11:29:00.001-04:00

I took my first Body Pump class this past Saturday. I was nervous about taking it because I had heard it was super intense and was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up. It has been 2 months since I joined the gym and I started taking things slowly as to not injure myself. I finally felt that I was at a point where I could try the class out and see if I could hack it. BP is offered Monday-Saturday at my gym, in the morning on some days (Tues & Thurs), in the evening on other days (M,W,F) and around lunch time on Saturday. I figured Saturday would be the best day to go as it is typically more relaxed in the classes (not as many people go, no pressure to get to work after class or get home late, etc.).

So what did I think about the class? It is awesome (and intense)! I was molida (beat) after the hour-long class, in a totally great way though! But the great thing is that you do only what your body can handle. The idea is to start with low weight (especially if you are a beginner to lifting weights) because the class is high repetitions and to make sure you get the technique down before adding on weight. That is seriously an important part of the whole thing--you want to have good form and be able to complete all the reps before adding weight to not injure yourself. I started with the bar and 1.25kg weights on each side for all but one of the tracks. For the squat track, I upped the weight to 2.5kg on each side. My whole body was shaking after class. I took extra time to stretch out since the cool down is only 1 song long. But I felt great, even with all the shaking. I didn't feel like I had overdone it, but I definitely knew that I was going to be sore the next few days.

I decided upon finishing the class that this class is for me and I plan to take it 3 times a week if at all possible. You have to give you body at least 1 full day of rest (from lifting weights) in between classes so for me, it works best to go Tues-Thur-Sat. And that is just what I have done this week. My Tues-Thurs. class is at 7am. That is EARLY, but so far so good. Today I finished my 3rd class (using the same weights as I mentioned above) and I feel like on some of the tracks I could add more weight (back and squats) whereas on the other tracks I am still struggling with the minimum (like lunges for example). I plan to continue with the same weights this Saturday and maybe next Tues. I'll up for the back and squats and see how I do. I really prefer to go slowly and let my body adjust it self as my muscles and stamina increase.

Next Monday I'm headed to see a Nutriologo (doctor of nutrition) at MEDS to get an evaluation of my health, body fat, etc. The gym does a free monthly evaluation and sets you up on a "program", but I'd like a more thorough evaluation from the doctor. Hopefully they will send me for a blood test to check the levels of my cholesterol and all those other indicators so that I can return in a few months and see how they have *hopefully* improved. We took one of these tests in my nutrition class in college and it was awesome. We had to track our food and exercise for a few weeks and figure out if we were eating enough calories, as well as if we were getting all the nutrients that our bodies needed. I loved that class and wish I had my notes with me to start using them again. I'll have to check my hard drive to see if I have a digital version!

~Tyffanie

Domingos de Dulcinea: Robot vs. Dog

2010-08-01T18:28:00.005-04:00

Oh the hilarities that come with having a dog and a creative husband:

Flashback Friday: GoldRush Dance Team

2010-07-30T21:39:00.006-04:00

Hmmmm if you know me at all (or keep close tabs on this blog), you know I was a dancer and that I miss it more than ever. Even though I may have started my training late in the game, I advanced pretty quickly (in ballet) and seriously considered double-majoring in Dance. Actually, that was the plan all along--double major in Dance and Business....but in the end, I didn't like CU's dance program all that much because it is really modern focused (and not even like "modern" that most people think of, they take modern to a whole new level). Plus it would have taken me even longer to graduate since both majors required absolutely different classes (apart from the business & dance classes which obviously would be different). Anyway, the whole dance major didn't work out. But that didn't stop me from keeping dance in my life.

Right before Freshman year I tried out for CU's varsity dance team, Express. There were like 300 girls who tried out and it was my first audition of any kind. Needless to say I was a bit overwhelmed, especially with all the amazing dancers there. I mean, many of the girls who make this team go on to dance on the professional teams like the Denver Bronco Cheerleaders (I tried out for them too!). I didn't get on the varsity dance team, but then I auditioned for a different dance team on campus (there were 3 at that time--the varsity team, the club sports team Buff Gold, and the danceline for the marching band GoldRush). I made the cut for GoldRush and was super excited at the opportunity to dance during the half-time shows at our football games among other events.

I really enjoyed the year I was on the team and the people I met. It definitely made for an awesome Freshman year. I thought it'd be fun to share some pictures from that unforgettable year. Pardon the quality, these were taken on those old school film cameras and then scanned!

Our biggest game of the year: CU vs. CSU in 2003 at Invesco Stadium, home of the Denver Broncos. Number of people attending the game: over 71,000

Action shot of us on the field in front of everyone. I'm the girl on the left (not the one that is cut off though).

Before the K-State game:

Before heading out on the field during the K-State game:

Dancing during a different game at CU's stadium:

Two group shots....can you find me in each??

All Grown Up & Beautiful

2010-07-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dulcinea is pretty much out of her puppy stage, what with being 1 years old and all. I know they say dogs continue to act like puppies until about 1.5 or 2 years, but I'd have to say that Dulci is doing quite well. Not only that, but she was in heat last month which pretty much verifies that she is now a "woman". (Note-we are planning on getting her fixed after much debate. So the plan is for no more heats.)

Christian got some great pictures of Dulcinea on Saturday July 24th. She looks so beautiful and mature.

To see more of Christian's pics, either of Dulcinea or other stuff, check out his Flickr site or his blog.

I think we might have to get this pictures printed and framed. If not for our apartment here in Chile, then definitely when we move back to the States.

Dulcinea's 1st Birthday

2010-07-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

June 3rd was Dulcinea's 1st birthday and so we held a party in honor of her. The party's theme was a "Completada & Karaoke".

First, let me explain for those of you who don't know what completos are. Chile is known for its completo sandwiches which are hot dogs that pile on every topping imaginable: ketchup, mustard, mayo, palta (avocado), onion, pebre (similar to a spicy salsa), tomato, etc. Thus making the hot dog "complete" (which is the translation of completo). For more information, check out the Ode to the Completo Chileno.

Anyway, so the "Completada" part of the theme was an ode to Dulcinea's being a salchicha (wiener dog). The karaoke part of the theme was an ode to the fact that Dulcinea likes to sing, as can be seen in the following video:

We invited two of Dulcinea's bestest doggie friends, Panchito and Brunito, as well as some of her human friends who also happen to be our friends too. While we didn't get many pictures of the humans enjoying the party (ya know, with all the karaoke that was going on), our pro photographer did get some shots of the canine children:

The Princess Birthday Girl

Dulcinea with Panchito

The Three Musketeers (L-R: Bruno, Panchito, Dulcinea)

Next year we hope that Dulcinea can celebrate her birthday with her Grandma in Colorado since they have birthdays only 2 days apart!

Weekly Recipe Round-up

2010-07-25T20:37:00.005-04:00

Since venturing into this eating whole foods vs. processed foods change of lifestyle, I have started cooking up a storm and trying out a ton of new recipes. I mean, I don't follow a zillion Food/Recipe blogs for nothing. :) Actually a lot of the Fitness/Personal Balance blogs also post recipes too that are delicious. So I am going to start sharing the recipes I make and which ones are good or bad in case you too would like to try some new stuff!

Before jumping into the recipes I made this weekend/for the up-coming week, I'd like to revisit the ones I mentioned I'd be making in this blog post and let you know how they came out, if I'd make them again, etc.:

Curry Chopsui a la Heather: Delicious! I was a little nervous when making the coconut milk sauce because mixed with the spices, it seemed waaaayyy too strong. But once I put it on the veggies, it magically became perfect. I didn't use any meat by accident because we didn't have any chicken on hand. I served it with rice noodles instead of rice and I loved it as it was (veggies no más), however Chris definitely wanted chicken. He loved it too though, he as asked me several times to make it again and the only reason I haven't is because I need to pick up more coconut milk.
Chicken with Artichokes and Angel Hair: I was super pumped about this recipe because, hello artichokes are delish, but unfortunately this recipe did not live up to its expectations. It wasn't terrible, it just seemed too greasy or something. Maybe that was thanks to breading the chicken? I don't know, but I won't be making this again.
Indian Lentil Soup: I first made this with green lentils because I didn't have any red ones. It was super yummy and tasted even better the next day. I have now learned to make lentil soups one day ahead because they are a million times better the next day! I definitely plan to remake this recipe.

Now for the recipes that I made this weekend:

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup: Amazing soup! First time I blended a soup to make it creamy after cooking it and you definitely can't skip that step. Just make sure to only fill up your blender 1/3 or 1/2 of the way so you don't burn yourself when blending. The changes I made to the recipe were: no rosemary, no bay leaves, no chili, no celery. I used chili powder from the States and doubled up on it since I didn't use a chili pepper. I used a mix of chicken and veggie stock (from bouillon cubes). I also added some black beans that I had frozen to give it a protein boost. Those got blended too. And the perfect side dish is homemade garlic bread! Oh and I didn't use the whole butternut squash, but about 3/4 of it. I froze the rest. The hubs loved it too! Here's a pic he shot:

Red Lentils for 2: I doubled this recipe which is why it is "for two" instead of "for one" as the actual title of it. I served it with palta (avocado) on top and made it a day ahead of when we actually ate it. So yummy. You can get red lentils at Organisk. Even though I think the owner of the store is an a-hole (he is always rude to us for absolutely no reason), I still shop there because it is close to my house and has a ton of variety that you can't find elsewhere. Christian gave this a thumbs-up too.
Curry Chickpea Burgers: I love Angela's recipes, but I can't normally make a lot of them because some special products that she uses are just not available in Chile. So I was super excited when I knew I could make this. Christian at them on a hamburger bun with gringo mustard. I ate mine alone, on the side of my Red Lentils for 2. I will definitely be making more of these and probably freezing some for a quick protein when I don't have other stuff in the house.
Vegetarian Paella: Technically we haven't eaten this yet since I made it for lunch tomorrow and Tuesday along with the chickpea burgers, but I did steal a bite or two away to try it and yum yum!!! The changes I made to this recipe were: no green bell pepper (ew still hate these) and I halved the rice (arroz integral that is not quick cooking) and the veggie broth (I used 1 cup). Since the rice wasn't quick cooking, this recipe took about 45 minutes to cook up, and even reducing the veggie broth, it was moist. But not soupy. I am super excited about eating this mañana and am pretty sure I'll be making it again.

I must say, I don't do all this cooking alone. Christian has really stepped up to the plate to help me with what I need since it is a lot of work to cook this much. He normally helps me out with chopping up vegetables. He also does the dishes when I ask him (most of the time). And if we have any recipes with meat, he is the one to cut it up and cook it. I may mix the seasonings, but I really don't like dealing with raw meat. In fact, I haven't even really liked cooked meat that much lately which is why you see all these vegetarian recipes!

If you end up making any of these recipes, let me know how they come out!! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

And just for the heck of it, I'll leave you with a picture of my baby that I took on Saturday afternoon. She was in her camita (bed) next to the estufa (heater) keeping warm.

Must See: The Story of Cosmetics

2010-07-25T11:41:00.003-04:00

After watching this, I just had to post it and you MUST see it. Consider it part of my interesting links post from earlier today. Once you watch it, check out this website and click on "What You Can Do" to help fight for better products to be put on the stores' shelves.

Interesting Articles

2010-07-25T09:47:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted links to interesting articles in a while, so here are a few I have found through the various blogs I read:

Too much milk? -- Discusses the two viewpoints on milk. If you never gave a second thought that milk could be bad for you or that there was a flipside to the coin of all those milk mustache adds, this article does a great job at summing them up in addition to stating where science actually is within the whole debate.

Drinking green tea really might help burn off extra weight -- Not sure I could drink 4 cups of green tea a day, but the article brings up evidence that if true, is pretty cool considering green tea is natural.

On beans, rice, and everything you ever wanted to know about protein quality -- This brings me back to my Nutrition class in college that I took with one of my best friends Staci. If you don't know much about protein and getting good quality protein, this article will give you a basic overview.

USDA Admits Link Between Antibiotic Use by Big Ag and Human Health -- Ok seriously, this is pretty much enough for me to stop eating meat any other big ag products. I mean, really are you that greedy that it is necessary to pump the animals full of hormones just so you can produce more? That is just terrible. And I know it's been going on for a while, but I guess I was just never that conscious about it before. Oh and a big thanks to them for continuing to fuel the antibiotic resistance epidemic.

A rose may be a rose but perhaps a calorie's not a calorie -- Whoa, this is really cool. This study shows that eating the same amount of calories from processed foods or whole foods does not mean the body is effectively consuming the same amount of calories.

Artificial sweeteners, including Splenda, are not good for you -- This isn't just one article, I have come across many (like this one). And it makes me sad to find out Splenda (sucralosa) is not good for you. It has its bad side effects, even if they may not include producing cancer like aspartame. It is also super processed, which makes it not anywhere near natural. We are all better off consuming a few calories from natural sweeteners like honey, non-refined sugar, etc. than trying to be calorie-free by using these artificial sweeteners which actually may cause you to crave more sweets and bad calories. I think the hardest place for me to cut out these sweeteners is in gum, but we all know the gum in Chile sucks so it isn't as if I chew that much here anyway. If you want to get off artificial sweeteners, check here. Otherwise look at the affects of each type of artificial sweetener thanks to The Daily Burn Blog:

Infographic by Dailyburn.com

Study proves that organic tomatoes are more nutritious than non-organic tomatoes -- Even just reading the abstract will tell you the bottom line of the study. No wonder the tomatoes from Jumbo and Lider have ZERO flavor and zero color. Anyone who has started to eat whole non-processed foods can vouch for the fact that besides being more nutritious for you, they are WAY more flavorful.

Supersize Me -- Ok, this one is not an article, but a documentary from 2004. I know, I know, I am way late jumping on the bandwagon to see this movie now. But the hubs and I watched it Friday night. If you haven't seen it, watch it. We all know fast food isn't "good" for you, but seriously you will be surprised at just how BAD it is for you and more so how HARMFUL it is to your body. Props to this guy for putting himself through this. The documentary is light and sometimes funny even though it touches on a really important topic to not just Americans, but the whole world. Chileans could stand to watch this movie as well. Although I'd like to add it not only fast food, but all the bread, sugary drinks and mayo that they eat here. No wonder children's obesity in Chile surpassed that of the US, which Kyle discussed here.

Great Reads Page

2010-07-24T20:25:00.002-04:00

Not sure if you noticed, but I took off the blog links that I like which used to be to the right under my blog post archives and instead, published them on the link above titled "Great Reads".

I just got done updating it and just wanted to give you a brief overview:

Chile Expat Blogs: blogs of other expats living in Chie
Other Interesting Blogs: blogs of other people I know and/or enjoy reading
Fitness/Personal Balance Blogs: blogs related to fitness, exercise, personal balance, being healthy, etc.
Foodie/Recipe Blogs: blogs that post recipes that I enjoy
Personal/Professional Development Blogs: blogs that discuss personal & professional development such as personal finances, etc.
Stores About Dulcinea: links to all the blog posts I wrote at Who's Your Dachshund
Dulcinea's Favorite Blogs: blogs of dachshund's that Dulci likes to keep up with

I included the stories about Dulcinea as a quick reference since I am no longer blogging at WYD. I honestly don't have the time to keep up with the commitment required and it would be irresponsible of me to keep going forward knowing that I couldn't meet the time requirement. I had a great time blogging over there and wish I could keep going. But things have changed, I have other responsibilities to take care of right now and focus on and I had to make the decision. So that probably means that Dulcinea will get featured here more often, if I get around to blogging about her. I have plenty to tell, it is just a matter of sitting down and documenting it. Kind of like with everything else I want to blog about. I have a list of a ton of topics to write about, and sometimes on my way to work I even craft the post in my head.....but somehow, it just never makes it to the blog.

Anywho, enough babbling. If you want to check out some other great blogs, check out my Great Reads page.

Is There Ever Enough Time?

2010-07-19T20:42:00.003-04:00

Back in college, when I was involved with a million extracurricular activities, going to school full-time and working part time, I used to schedule out my time in an Excel document so that I could fit it all in. It was always the ideal situation of how I could spend my time and even if I didn't follow it 100%, following it 80% was a heck of a lot better than not having a schedule at all. It allowed me to use my time wisely and well, being the type-A personality that I am, was a fitting way to figure things out. It also allowed me to not have to worry about what I would do on any given day since that was already pretty much planned out. It worked really well for me back then.

I didn't think I'd need those scheduling skills again, but alas, the time has come again and I have made myself a weekly schedule. Why? Simple: too many things to do in our limited time called a week. And the things I have to do are not things I can keep putting off.

Besides work, which occupies my day from approximately 9am to 6pm (or later on some days), I have to prepare my food for the day (GM for breakfast, our lunches and snacks throughout the day) and go to the gym. In an ideal world, I would go to the gym 5 days a week and that is how I have it planned in my schedule too. But we all know that life happens and maybe some weeks (or most) I won't make it 5 days. I have learned not to be hard on myself for missing a gym sesh and instead, my goal is 5, but really anything is better than nothing.

I also have to do some Rosetta Stone every or most days. My work gave us Rosetta Stone Language classes and we have deadlines to complete each level. This means I have to be consistent in actually doing it even if the first level is really basic compared to my Spanish. Oh well, it serves as good practice.

The other obligation on my plate is working on my NSEP scholarship requirements. I was lucky enough to get the NSEP scholarship for my study abroad, but part of receiving the scholarship means that I have to work for the Federal government for 12 months in return. So searching for and applying to Federal jobs is also part of my weekly activities. I have to admit, I haven't been very good at doing this since graduation. It was hard to do when I was planning the wedding so now the heat is on to find something since my deadline is coming up. I think it would be cool to find a job where I could use my Spanish skills and knowledge of L. American cultures. Really that is the whole idea of the scholarship, however as I search for these positions, I find it is much harder to qualify for a Federal position that I once believed.

Of course, I also included things in my weekly schedule like time with Christian and skyping with my parents. The weekend is mostly left open, but I did have to include some of these not-so-fun activities on my Sat and Sun mornings just based on the fact that I have more time on the weekend to get them done.

So am I totally crazy and too detail-oriented? Maybe. But if making a weekly schedule means I can get it all done and not stress about it, then it is totally worth it to me.

I guess I should get back to my schedule. I didn't include a blog post for Monday nights :)

What is Your Life Policy?

2010-07-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

"My head isn't a neighborhood that you'd want to walk in a lone at night." Just one of the great quotes from Elizabeth Gilbert's speech that you can find here.

I can definitely say that I need more self-forgiveness. That knife-to-your-own-throat that she mentions....I know exactly what she means. And I definitely need to go easier on myself. In some ways, I think I have made leaps and bounds from where I used to be, but I still have a long way to go.

So I, too, try to do better each day with what I have. And I try not to be too hard on myself when the to-do list doesn't get crossed off, when I don't make it to the gym every day or when I am not my best on a particular day. But I think it's the intention that counts. It is all about trying.

This Is What Makes Me Nervous....

2010-07-11T16:03:00.005-04:00

....about moving back to the States: American Dream Is Elusive for New Generation

So most people know that we plan to move back to the US in the relatively short-term. And while I am BEYOND excited to go back, see my family and friends, eat my favorite food and start our life up North, I am also scared about how that life will be. Every day I feel like the news about the US economy and job market gets worse. They say "oh we think the worst is over" and then a month later, "we've hit a new high on the unemployment rate". Not only that, it doesn't seem that unemployment is affecting just one age range, but all of them.

When I was in college, we were all under the assumption, due to how the market was, that getting a job would be a piece of cake. Not only that, but you the person seeking the job, had the upper hand over the company who wanted to hire you. Why? Because multiple companies wanted you, and so they had to fight to get you, to show you why they were better than their competition, woo you, negotiate with you. Now, understand that some people really did take advantage of this, stringing companies along for the ride. I would never do that. But when you have several companies who want you and who offer great opportunities, all of which you are interested in, how they heck are you to decide?

Now, however, the job market isn't like that. At least from what I have heard from friends and from what I have seen in the news. So why, and how, can we just up and leave our great jobs here to the unknown there?

I worry that we won't live as well there as we do here. Not that we live like kings here, but by Chilean standards, we have it good. We save half of what we make, we live in the downtown business district, we have a car and enjoy social events as they arise. Compared to the average Chilean household, yes, we live a nice life here. (See Andrea's description of the segmentation in Santiago.) And so obviously that is what we expect there too.

I have voiced these concerns to Christian. Because they don't only have to do with the job situation, but also health insurance. We all know insurance in the States is ridiculous and as Emily pointed out, Chile's health insurance system is pretty darn efficient if you have private insurance. But I'll leave the health insurance topic at that for now. So what was Christian's reaction to me babbling on and on about how I feel like we are going to fail in the US? "Bueno, si nos va mal.....siempre podemos regresar a Chile." Translation: If we don't do well, we can always move back to Chile.

And you know what? That hadn't really crossed my mind. And he is 100% right. If we can't find jobs up there and aren't living the life we want, we can always move back to Chile. We know we can get good jobs here because we already have good jobs. And Christian having experience in the States (read: fluent English) will only make him more of an asset here.

But while that is an option, it is still scary and I don't really want to find myself in that position of having to make the decision to move back because of financial/job issues. So ya, that NY Times article I linked to above......it makes me nervous as heck. It makes me worry even more that I won't be able to find a good job--not to mention the fact that I don't even know what I want to do when we get back. Should I stay in accounting? Transition into a different career? What job will I love? What will Christian do? Will he be able to find something without stupid racist people discriminating against him? (In case you are wondering, we won't be moving or ever visiting Arizona so at least I don't have to worry about that.)

I guess we just have to make the jump, even though it is scary and there are a lot of unknowns. I obviously don't do with well all that uncertainty, especially when it has to do with things that are out of my control. But I feel like it is now or never. And if we don't make the jump, we'll always be left wondering. I just hope it turns out the way I see it in my dreams....

Feelin' Good

2010-07-05T21:05:00.004-04:00

It has been a little over a month since I started going to the gym again and despite the knee & hip pain, I have been feeling really good lately. Even though I had to tone my workouts down a bit and start slower than I wanted to, it has all worked out for the greater good of things. I am doing yoga at least twice a week if not more and lifting weights as well. I am continuously working on stretching out my hips to avoid the pain coming back. I can already tell a difference in how my yoga practice has improved and how much stronger I feel in general.

Green monsters have become a morning staple for Christian and me. It is a great way to start the day and I am happy to be able to incorporate more veggies into my diet as much as possible. I have mentioned how the change in my eating habits has also made me feel good, so coupled with going to the gym...I'd venture to say I don't know when I felt this good last.

I am so aware of my body and how it feels. I find myself with more patience in general. I know when to push myself and when to let things be. I have more energy.....even though I still love sleeping.

Two weekends ago, I took a Bikram yoga class in Viña del Mar. Holy mother of peace. It was divine. Just what I needed after a stressful week at work to help detoxify my whole body and mind. I can't wait to go back for another class, even though they are kind of expensive. I think it'll be a treat to myself when we go to Viña. Even though I take yoga a the gym (in the Body Balance-or Body Flow class as it is called in the US), it isn't the same. And change is good.

For the first time, probably ever in my life, working out and changing my eating habits isn't for the sole purpose of losing weight or getting "bikini ready" or any of that other nonsense that we women tell ourselves. It has been about getting healthy, about feeling good and about being the best me I can be--whether that means losing weight or not. Now, I'm not going to lie and say I wouldn't be happy to drop some inches, but that would just be icing on the cake. I want these changes I have made to be permanent, to keep me on the path of being the most healthy person I can be. I don't want to starve just to fit into size 2 jeans. I'd rather stay in my size 4 jeans and enjoy life and feel fulfilled. Pleasure in food, in friends, in family and in treating my body well. That is my new goal.

Happy 4th of July!!

2010-07-04T21:38:00.004-04:00

Happy 4th of July to all my fellow gringos!!!!!! I hope you had a wonderful day!

This was my fifth 4th of July spent in Chile, continuously......wow. And I'd have to say it was the best yet.

The day started with breakfast in bed made by my lovely husband. He made crepes filled with nutella and red-white-&-blue fruit (strawberries, bananas and blueberries). So yummy! I don't have a picture for you because I scarfed that delicious-ness down all too quickly.

After breakfast we got ready and went to the US Embassy in Santiago. The Embassy has a celebration every year on the 4th for all US Citizens and their families. In the past, it has been pretty early in the morning--starting at 9am. But this year, they started it later at 1pm with the doors opening at 12pm. It was sunny out (although still cold in the shade)--but it could have been raining. We were served a piece of Papa John's pizza, some chips & salsa, a free pop/water and cake. The Chilean Air Force Big Band played the National Anthem, "When the Saints Go Marching In" and among other songs. The US Marine unit presented the flag. Community leaders spoke about their experiences in Chile and the Ambassador Paul Simons spent his last day as the ambassador sharing stories of his 3 year stint here, including how much the American community has collaborated to help out in the earthquake relief efforts. Did I mention this was all free? Ya, it was pretty awesome and while there may not have been any fireworks or hot weather, it was a special celebration in and of itself.

Christian took most of the pictures at the Embassy, but here is one I grabbed of the two of us:

Fin del Mundial

2010-06-29T21:46:00.005-04:00

Well the World Cup may be over for Chile (and the US), but I am still going to post the pictures of our celebrations for the games!

First we have Dulcinea in her awesome sweater that Gaby & José gave her for her bday:

Here is what it looks like up-close:

The family pic I promised on the first day that Chile played:

Now, onto the work celebration pictures from the 2nd game celebration:

This would be the 42" flat screen my work is giving away to the person who guesses the winner of the the World Cup. If more than 1 person guesses right, they are doing a drawing. I picked Argentina....so let's hope they win!

Walking home after the third game last Friday afternoon:

And that is how Chile does it when it comes to the World Cup. Even though I am not a true soccer fan, I sure had a good time participating in all the fun!

Viva Chile!!!!!!

2010-06-21T12:07:00.001-04:00

Chile has won again, this time 1-0 against Switzerland!!!!!! Now we have to at have to tie against Spain to go on to the second round.

Pictures of the crazy celebration at work to come later!
~Tyffanie

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T15:55:00.004-04:00

Our family wants to wish all the Dads in our life a very Happy Father's Day!!!!

Me with my Daddy in Viña, Dec. 2009

Chris with my Dad in Viña, Dec. 2009

Us with my father-in-law, Papi Lucho, in April 2009

Dulcinea with her Granpy on Christmas Day 2009

And Dulcinea and I want to wish her Daddy a Happy 1st Father's Day too :)

Processed Food Experiment

2010-06-18T10:15:00.001-04:00

I mentioned a while back that I wanted to start reducing the amount of processed food that I eat. Mostly when I say processed food, I am referring to unhealthy and fake foods. Obviously there are processed foods sold in health stores, etc. and in some cases, processed foods are necessary just as mentioned in this article. However, not a lot of Whole Foods-type processed foods exist in Chile and normally when they do, they are super expensive. Thus, my change has been trying to eat more fresh foods. I have pretty good success in the past two months and the difference in how I feel and how much energy I have is amazing. Although it requires planning and foresight as to what we will eat, as well as actually cooking the meals, I am happy to have made the change.

I came across this article which shows an experiment of what happens to fake foods over time via Summer Tomato. You have got to check out this experiment. I once complained about having to actually make whipped cream the old-fashioned way here in Chile....and never again will I complain about it, but instead be happy to whip that cream into perfection for whatever dessert I happen to be making.

~Tyffanie

Mundial Madness

2010-06-16T09:34:00.000-04:00

Chile just won their first game in the World Cup 2010!!!!! Whaaahooo!!!

I am normally not a big sports fan, and even less a soccer fan....but I definitely have the World Cup bug this year :) It's hard for it not to be contagious.

Christian had a bunch of coworkers over this morning--at 7am for breakfast and to watch the game. I stayed for the first half and then came to work where we were also celebrating and watching the game on the 42" flat screens that my company bought just for the game. We all send in our bets on who will win 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place and at the end of the World Cup, they will be giving the TVs away in a raffle of those who guessed the winning teams right!

I'll be posting a picture later of our Mundial outfits!

~Tyffanie

Green Monster Me!!!

2010-06-15T04:00:00.000-04:00

I made a decision this weekend: I was ready to try a Green Monster and thus I needed to by spinach. When I was cleaning it on Sunday night in preparation for Monday evening, my husband and mother-in-law innocently asked me if I was going to make a salad with it. Little did they know the answer that was coming to them: "No, I am going to make a smoothie!" Everyone in the room was baffled...

I was waiting for the work day on Monday to end just so I could get home and try this new concoction out. In went the flax seed, spinach, small banana, 1/2 a pear, 1 kiwi, some blueberries, some pomegranate, 1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder, 1 container natural yogurt and some fat-free milk.

The blender had a hard time at first trying to blend the spinach. I read somewhere online that it was better to put the spinach at the bottom so that the heavier ingredients weighted it down when blending. But my machine needed some milk and heavier items to get it going before it could suck down all that spinach.

But alas, it finally finished and the Chilean Green Monster was ready. I took Angela's advice and served it in the fanciest glasses we have (newly acquired wine glasses from the Cousiño Macul vineyard since the old ones broke in the earthquake). At first, I just served one glass for me, but then Christian said he wanted to try it too. So two wine glasses filled with the Green Monster. I made him try it first and lo and behold, he liked it! Holy cow....is he trying to give me a heart attack before I even get to try mine?!?!!??!

Bottoms up......

Delicious!

Thanks Angela for the inspiration to make a Green Monster. When I came across your blog a few months ago, I thought the GMs were strange and they did not sound appetizing at all. But now, now I understand. Can't wait until my next GM!!!!

Bummed Out

2010-06-14T10:10:00.001-04:00

So I joined the gym two weeks ago and I have been super excited about going, trying new classes and getting to lift weights again. I even started pretty relaxed because I knew that if I didn't start slowly, I could end up injured since I haven't hit the gym for months now. I started taking a yoga/pilates class that is very low impact, but still a challenge. It feels so good to stretch out in that class. The teacher also has us meditate for about 10 minutes at the end and it is glorious. I have been wanting to start mediating at home but I just haven't gotten started for several "reasons" which should be read as excuses. In any case, going to this class 2 times a week is definitely helping get started and I enjoy the guided meditation. I also started going to Baile Entretenido ("Fun Dancing" as it translates literally) which is a cardio class of popular dancing. In the US that might mean line dancing and the like, but in Chile, it means salsa and reggeaton. You definitely get your heart rate up and it is a fun way to burn off stress. Especially compared to the treadmill or elliptical....both of which bore me to death.

Anyway, after the first week at the gym, my knee started hurting a bit. I decided to go easy on it and not do a lot of cardio. But it still hasn't gotten better in the week of practically all rest. I did lift weights and do abs, but no impact and the darn thing is hurting more and causing my hip to hurt too. It is so frustrating because I don't want to stop going or give up the routine that I have just gotten into, but it looks like this week I am going to have not do any lower body or abs and see if my hip and knee recover. So ya, even though I can do upper body weights, I am still bummed out.

~Tyffanie

Happy Birthday Dulcinea!!!

2010-06-03T09:45:00.002-04:00

Today is our little munchkin's 1st birthday!!!!

Feliz Cumpleaños Nena Linda!!!!

~Tyffanie

Memorable Memorial Day

2010-06-01T09:06:00.001-04:00

I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day and thanks to those of you who have and currently serve our country!

Yesterday was a memorable day for us even though it wasn't a holiday for us here in Chile. But the exciting events of the day were:

I signed up for the gym. This will help with my goal of working out 3 times per week. It is a pretty awesome gym in the same building as my work which makes it much easier for me to actually do my workouts.
We got a new car!!!!! Well, not new new, but new to us. It is a 2001 Chrysler Stratus in bomb condition thanks to a good friend who took really good care of it and invested a lot back into it during the 2 years he had it. And as of last night, it is ours! Next thing on my agenda is getting my driver's license :) And of course, you know the first thing Christian wanted to do this morning was to take pictures of it.

~Tyffanie

Panchito's Birthday Party

2010-05-30T20:57:00.002-04:00

Dulcinea's first friend, Panchito, turned 1 on May 25th and today his parents hosted a birthday party for him at the doggie park. Holy cow there were a lot of dogs, but it was certainly fun! Dulcinea saw all of her friends and got to meet some new puppies too. Christian already posted the pictures on the special dachshund website that Panchito's dad created. Have a look!

All About Food

2010-05-28T19:30:00.002-04:00

Lately I have had a new obsession with food...but in a good way. I am enjoying being in the kitchen and cooking up new and delicious meals as well as eating less processed foods. In fact, last weekend when my fave cousin was visiting (recap to come hopefully this weekend), I didn't do so well with the processed foods thing. You know how it goes when someone is visiting, you do things you don’t normally do and eat out and the whole works. Anyway, one of the nights we were in Viña, we had a BBQ/Mexican food night and we started out by eating chips and guac. The bad thing was that I started eating potato chips--for the first time in like over a month--and then I had a choripan (minus the pan—for those of you who haven’t been to Chile, a choripan is like a bratwurst-sausage type food that is eating in a bread bun similar to a hot dog bun but much better. I ate mine without the bread). As soon as I ate it, I felt immediately sick. Like so nauseous that I had to go lie down in the other room and not participate in the fun karaoke that ensued after eating the fajitas that Christian made. Just the smell of the food being cooked was making me so sick I had to go outside for a bit and then just went to lie down and sleep away the pain. It was horrible. No one else got sick, so it wasn’t like my food was bad—and it happened literally after I ate it so not like food poisoning either. So, yea, don't think I'll be eating choripans for a while. But back to the fun stuff....

I have started trying to plan on a weekly, if not monthly, basis our lunches and weekend meals with the hopes that we will use more of our pantry items and get to try different foods. Plus cooking at home is better and cheaper than eating out. I seriously have a google spreadsheet for each month and a list of recipes I want to try and I match them up based on what we have going on, what food we have, etc. I also send all the recipes I get through the various food blogs I follow to a special email address. Then I sort them with the labels in gmail into which food category they are—breakfast, sweets, drinks, main dishes, side dishes, salads, soups, etc. It is like my virtual cookbook!

For breakfast, we normally have a meal replacement shake, although twice now I have made protein pancakes (using a mix of Angela & Gina’s recipes) topped with cut-up apple, almond butter with milk and a tiny bit of syrup--heavenly!

Lunch is really the big meal of the day for us because in the evenings we like to do something small and quick--a fruit smoothie with protein powder, chia seeds & flax seeds, or perhaps eggs in a tortilla or pan con palta (bread with sliced avocado). Simple, low calorie meals that don’t take a long time to make. I hope to continue this tradition in the States, but I know it is hard because we eat reverse there. I do think that in general big breakfast and lunches are the way to go and just have a very light dinner or snack in the evening, unless for some reason you are very active in the evening in which case you would have to eat sufficient enough calories to keep your body fueled.

Some of the recent meals I have made that are:

Chana Masala---first time making Indian food! It was better the second day so I will now make this a day in advance of eating it. I put it over couscous which helps us eat up the ton of couscous I have in the pantry. For some reason, I just am not that into couscous anymore so I like to eat it with strongly-flavored foods so I don’t notice it.
Minestrone soup—I used a mix of recipes to this and since it is supposed to be made with seasonal veggies, I just used what I had on hand: carrots, butternut squash, potatoes, tomatoes, peas and onion with black & white beans.
Butternut squash & black bean soup—I use a cream of veggie or cream of chicken soup and just add cooked black beans and boiled butternut squash & potatoes (until they are softened). This is a rich and yummy dish.
Chicken noodle soup--using my mom's recipe
Quinoa and Black Bean Bake with Mozz. and Avocado—I made this super spicy and the avocado helps mitigate the spice. I also just used shredded parmesan since real mozzarella is hard to come by here.

I am totally on a soup kick with this cold weather. I want to eat soup like 24/7. Never before in my life have I been so into soup. And I can't get enough new soup recipes to try. I want to try something with leeks in it. I have never had a leek...ever...that I am even aware of......but from the recipes I have seen they look like they are yummy and I hope to try one soon. They are called "puerros" in Spanish. Kind of a weird word, but whatev.

This weekend, I am hoping to try out some curry chopsui a la Heather , Chicken with Artichokes and Angel Hair, Spicy hummus for a weekday snack, and Indian Lentil Soup for lunch on Monday & Tuesday. I’ve never had lentis either—to my knowledge—so I’m excited about trying this soup!

During the work week, I have two snacks throughout the day. In the mornings, I normally eat some sort of granola or the healthiest edible cereal I can find. Or maybe a bit of nut mix (almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds). In the afternoons, I normally eat a fruit snack. My FAVE this week has been apple with almond butter.....seriously, my small $10 jar of almond butter is disappearing faster than you can say almond butter. I bought it at Organisk, the organic market close to my house. I used to not like almond butter, in fact, trying to eat a spoonful makes me feel like I can't swallow and that is why I never liked it. But with apple you can't tell it is so sticky and with a bit of milk in the microwave it makes the perfect pancake topping too. I am hoping to experiment in making some of my own, but first I want to try homemade peanut butter....I have non-salted toasted peanuts waiting for me at home.

Basically Sunday afternoons are spent in the kitchen preparing lunch for Monday & Tuesday. Our housekeeper normally cooks us lunch on Wed. so I only have to make sure we have ingredients for something and then Wed. nights I try to make lunch for Thursday & Friday. Those meals definitely have to be simple and quick. On Sunday afternoons I have more time to experiment with new food.

Man, all this planning makes me excited for grocery shopping tomorrow!

Who's Your Dachshund: A New, Slightly Musical, Trick

2010-05-28T09:37:00.001-04:00

Dulcinea is back to showing off her tricks--check out this newest one over at Who's Your Dachshund!

~Tyffanie

Who's Your Dachshund: DD is for Destructive Dulcinea

2010-05-18T10:10:00.001-04:00

All children, human or animal, misbehave once in a while. Read about Dulcinea's behavior here, pictures included of the destruction.
~Tyffanie

Who's Your Dachshund: My Oh My We're Already in May

2010-05-18T10:09:00.001-04:00

Check out what is new with Dulcinea since the earthquake here.
~Tyffanie

Back to the Basics

2010-05-10T20:30:00.002-04:00

One thing I'd love to do is take some cooking technique classes. Not actually to learn how to cook a meal, I've got that covered....but to learn how techniques like cutting fruits & veggies because I seriously take foooooorever! Christian is wicked fast when it comes to dicing up the ingredients for our meals so I always try and recruit him to do it. I guess doing so means I don't get in as much practice, but I am much more interested in learning and practicing the correct way to do it than just trying to figure it out on my own. I'm not quite sure what other techniques would be useful.....maybe learning about herbs and spices to a point where I know its flavors and what it goes best with in my head. I do use a lot of spices in our meals, but working with fresh herbs would be awesome and I know there are a ton of spices I have never even heard of let alone eaten!

Learning how to make sushi would be pretty cool too, except I am not big on touching raw meats of any kind (again, recruit the husband) and I'd probably be worried about the fish going bad.....but it would still be fun! I guess I could always learn to do vegetarian sushi and wouldn't have to worry about any of that.

On a somewhat related note, Christian and I have been cooking up a storm since I decided to drastically reduce my consumption of processed foods. It has been nice to spend time in the kitchen with him, preparing a delicious meal and then eating it together. Yesterday, for example, we made bistec and soup for lunch (Chris the meat, me the soup) and in the afternoon we made mozzarella-tomato-basil salad and breakfast potatoes. I know that is kind of a random combination, but it was yummy. Chris then proceeded to help me finish cutting up the veggies for the spaghetti I planned to make for lunch on Monday & Tuesday. We decided to use half of the ground beef that we normally use, along with the veggies I picked out (zucchini, button mushrooms, tomatoes, & red bell pepper) and it turned out even better than normal. I think reducing the meat was key. Later this week I plan on making some butternut squash-potato-and-black bean soup to get us through Thursday and Friday which are supposed to colder.

On of my favorite things to do lately has been to build up a strong recipe collection. I can thank all the food blogs I follow for the help. I am thinking about how to best organize them all, but for now I have them in a gmail address, with labels according to if they are a dessert, breakfast, side dish, etc. I have hundreds of recipes waiting to be cooked!