too much fun?
02 Friday Jul 2010
Posted in change, food & drink, health & happiness, home, sevilla
02 Friday Jul 2010
Posted in change, food & drink, health & happiness, home, sevilla
29 Tuesday Jun 2010
Posted in cancer, death & dying, food & drink, health & happiness, hope, hospitals, restaurants, sevilla
Manolo Leon’s restaurant/bar is about half-way between the hospital and my place. In fact, it’s right across the street from where Susan (aka Pipocas) used to live. And some of you may recall that it was where I went for the post prognosis party back in October 2008, when I was – mistakenly! – told that my cancer was untreatable and I had maybe a year to live. On that occasion Nog, Pablo and I splashed out on a gorgeously decadent lunch and later on met Susan for cocktails at a smart little bar across the street. So it seemed appropriate to stop off there on the way home from receiving my GOOD NEWS yesterday …
Continue reading
23 Wednesday Jun 2010
Posted in food & drink, Malaga, restaurants, sevilla, spain, wine, work
Tags
Quite a full day yesterday, what with getting Loki fixed in the morning (and a haircut for me!), followed by an afternoon here with Victoria working on some social media stuff and then an evening of wine tasting. Victoria was in town for a meeting with her wine distributor and came over here afterwards. We even tried making a few short videos and zoomer will be pleased to know that this has inspired me to try editing again … we shall see. Later on we made stops at two of my favourite places – La Azotea and Puracepa. I’d previously talked to them about Victoria’s wines and they were keen to meet her and have a tasting.
We got to La Azotea a bit late and it was quite full, so Juan & Jeanine couldn’t spend much time with us, but we opened the bottles, had a few tapas to pair with each wine, and left the rest for them to sample at a more convenient time. At Puracepa we did the same but Felipo was a bit more available because, although the place was quite full when we arrived, it soon thinned out and once again we opened the wines and ordered some food to go with them. Manolo (of Málaga apartment fame) joined us there and somehow we ended up closing the joint.
We had a great time and Victoria mentioned that she might like to do this about once a month because connecting with present and prospective clients on a personal level like this is something she’s very interested in. And well, I am quite happy to source two suitable bars/restaurants, as not every place would carry such exquisite wines. And now that we’ve had a trial run I know I would be able to organise the next wine tasting day much better.
Click on the wine bottles above to find out more about them. And if you have ever tried any of them, please leave your own comment/review (it’s a new thing we’re trying out).
I love this job! 🙂
21 Monday Jun 2010
Posted in cancer, food & drink, friends, geekiness, health & happiness, hope, internet, juggling, life stuff, photos, sevilla, work
… or in my case, several plans.
I didn’t realise what a turning point the trip to Málaga would turn out to be. So again, thanks to everyone who made it possible for me to go without racking up more credit card debt. In the end I only spent money on train fare and two lunches out, so it was a fairly cheap trip, but very rich in experiences. I think it also helped to have a couple of days on my own – and being by the sea certainly helped!
Anyhow, these are the various projects I’ve been working on since I got off chemo last summer: tapas tours, Seville website & blog (with forum), social media management, the Sevilla Store, and English classes (specifically for restaurants). So far the only ones bringing in a bit of income are the tapas tours and social media stuff – my private English classes, such as they were, finished last week for the summer. But it does look as though things are coming together…
20 Sunday Jun 2010
Posted in food & drink, friends, home, restaurants, sevilla
I’m a bit late with my post today because, well, I’ve actually been too busy enjoying my day. What’s that you say – az enjoying a Sunday??? Truth is, I’m feeling extremely well since my trip to Málaga. I came home last night with the very distinct feeling that … well, that I was happy. Really and truly happy. And so when I got up this morning I enjoyed spending time organising photos and doing some other stuff online. But it was such a gorgeous day that it was a shame to stay indoors, so Nog and I went out for a long walk. On the way home I gave my friend Bizzy a call because we were getting hungry and I remembered that I had been invited to stop by her restaurant L’Oca Giuliva for lunch one day – an invitation that included Nog – so it seemed like a good moment to take her up on her offer. We had a great time and it felt good to give Nog a treat, especially as he’d done such a good job of taking care of the boys while I was away.
So, that is our lunch up there … fabulous. Some spinach and provolone crostone, a fresh & crunchy endive salad with creamy gorgonzola dressing, and even dessert! I almost never eat dessert, but Bizzy insisted, so we shared strawberry “carpaccio” with vanilla icecream and pistachios, and a delicious tiramisu. Bliss.
After lunch we walked over to see if my virtual photographer buddy Antonio Cid was at work. I’ve known him for months now online but had never met him in person. Then I found out that he works weekends at a small bar near my house, so I decided it was time to stop by and say hello face-to-face. And of course it felt like we’d always known each other, very easy chatting, and we had a really nice visit.
And now Nog and I are back home. He’s reading and I’m taking care of some Sevilla Tapas updates and doing a few other things before I stop to make an evening snack. And then maybe watch a film and hit the hay. You know, I could really get the hang of Sundays if they were always this pleasant. Oh, and did I mention I am happy?
More on that tomorrow…
How was your Sunday?