07 Wednesday Jan 2015
Posted in birthdays, food & drink, friends
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Pink wouldn’t have been my candle colour of choice, but then I got sung Happy Birthday to in Portuguese and was given a complimentary bottle of cava, so what the hell. This was the end of a perfect birthday lunch, and I am now too stuffed to say any more but to thank my friends who joined me today. And also to the Vineria San Telmo for such a fabulous feast. It was all lovely. Off to lie down now… 🙂
06 Tuesday Jan 2015
Posted in christmas, friends, holidays, Malaga, malaga getaway
the usual suspects: Fred, Victor, Andrew & Arpy
It’s Birthday Eve! Plans have been made for fun stuff to do with Sevilla friends mañana. But today I thought I’d feature some of my Málaga friends, who also happen to be some of my favourite people in the whole world: Fred @fredshively, Victor @welovemalaga, Andrew @andrewaforbes and Arpy @andalucinda. This is a photo taken at our “official” Christmas Lunch.
Most of you probably know that a couple of weeks ago I arranged a last-minute Málaga Getaway, specifically so I could see the amazing “cathedral” Christmas lights in calle Larios with my own eyes. And of course to see my Málaga friends. I met up with Fred & Arpy, and Victor, on different occasions, and also met David @irlandesnmalaga for lunch one day with his lovely wife Kasha and baby Kira (officially the prettiest baby in the world!), which led to us meeting some new friends thanks to the fabulous Annie @anniebennett. After lunch we stopped by brand new Cafe Estraperlo @cafeestraperlo for “coffee” (really more drinks) and even ended up in one of José’s infamous Instagram selfies…
José, Mark, me, Kasha, baby Kira, David
But back to the Christmas Lunch. This took place my last afternoon in Málaga and came together all very last minute (for a change!) with Andrew, bless him, being able to make it after all (wouldn’t have been the same without him). The venue was Bar Nerva (that post needs updating!), a favourite family-run bar with delicious homestyle Andalucian cooking at its best. Here’s what we had for lunch. Nice touch was getting a frozen grape in each glass of wine to keep it chilled.
Anyhow, during that lunch I sat back and watched these guys, all of them so smart and witty and charming and fun and lovely, and suddenly I had tears in my eyes thinking how lucky I was, especially as they had all come together that afternoon on my account. It was definitely a “George Baily moment” and I totally felt like the richest girl in town.
Thanks guys. This was my best Christmas in a very long time.
Also… the next time anyone disses Twitter. I’ve included everyone’s Twitter handle here because that is where I met all these lovely lovely people. xx
05 Monday Jan 2015
Got some lovely loot for Christmas and also an early birthday present, both from the lovely Sledpress. Always a surprise and always a thrill to open. Since I live with a “humbug” I’ve learned not to ever expect presents at home, so it’s extra special when something arrives at my door like this. Thanks Sled. xx
27 Saturday Dec 2014
Posted in christmas, food & drink, friends
Christmas day was extra jolly this year with the addition of “Christmas orphan” pals Angie, Ryan and Markus, who joined the Casa Az gang for a 12-hour Christmas lunch, which included lots of food, drink and even festive films. Thanks for coming guys – you really made my day!
18 Thursday Dec 2014
Almost exactly eight years ago (in January 2006) I spotted Azar sitting on the sofa in front of my flatmate Peter’s laptop and reached for my camera. Later that year the pic became my first internet avatar when I started this blog. Anyhow, on Instagram they have a thing called Throwback Thursday (TBT) and people post old photos of themselves, or past travels, etc. And I remembered this photo as it recently came up on my friend Sledpress’s blog. Turns out it’s not only special because it features the love of my life, but also because it brought Sled over to casa az to check out this woman who had a black cat as an avatar, and thus our friendship began. Thanks Azar, you magical darling boy.
casa azahar 