Easter Feast

When I was a kid there was one particular holiday (other than Christmas and my birthday, obviously), that I looked forward to and that was Easter. I know it may sound random that I enjoyed Easter this much but it was what the holiday meant to me. There was this tradition in which my older sisters would put clues all over the house and turn Easter into a scavenger hunt. One clue would lead to the next clue, and that one to the next clue, and so on, until my brother and I would find our very own Easter basket filled with goodies. Clues like: ¨Find the place where the king lays his head¨, and there, right underneath my father's bald head would lie another clue. So you see the excitement the holiday evoked on me! There was nothing I enjoyed more than finding surprises when waking up and that holiday gave me that thrill and emotion in doing so.
Reminiscing about these wonderful traditions I had, made me question myself in terms of what other things I enjoy when Easter comes along. Here are a few:

Ducks, bunnies and all other cutesy animals have never seemed so appropriate to have shaped into chocolate and other goodies.


Easter brunch with my family (looking forward to mimosas!)


Incorporating an abundance of pastel colors into my outfit seem ever so fitting.


French manicure.

With all this in mind, I can't wait for Easter now!

What are you looking forward to this Easter? Any special tradition you had with your family that created everlasting memories?

Product information on outfit: Top/Forever 21, Skirt/Forever 21, Necklace/ASOS, Ring/ASOS, Clutch/Urban Outfitters and Wedges/Lulu's.

Driving Miss Ella

I've always been very specific about the kind of music that I listen to in my car, in other words, you won't find any music that I don't like lying around.
While driving around the city, yesterday, I was suddenly struck by traffic. Not just any kind of traffic, 6-pm-kind of traffic (read: the worst type)!
So, I immediately turned my radio mode to CD mode and was thrilled when some Ella Fitzgerald just popped out! Trust me, my friends, there is nothing more soothing than listening to some Ella-Ella while you're stuck in traffic (Personal Recommendation: They Can't Take that Away from Me with Louis Armstrong).
Acknowledging this -in the infamous words of Carrie Bradshaw- I couldn't help but wonder, is it then that certain artists are reserved to certain situations when talking about your car? Maybe so.
For example, when I'm on my way to classes in the morning, and the two cups of coffee I had haven't kicked in just yet, it's always fun to listen to the Glee Soundtrack, just because... oh they don't need an explanation, it's Glee, the word by itself says it all!
I think music is a great way to express your mood at a certain time and sometimes, when driving, a lot of emotions are involved.
So, I invite you, take a dab on Miss Ella when frustrated, join in to the Glee Club when sleepy and may there always... ALWAYS be some Beatlemania in your car, because what the others don't fix, be certain that John, Paul, Ringo and George will do the trick!

What do YOU like to listen to in your car? In what kind of situations do you turn to your favorite genres and artists?

Hiya Papaya!

After watching two consecutive epsiodes of Ace of Cakes in Food Network Channel, I had the strangest craving for some red velvet cupcakes.

The thing is, that in Panama, I have yet found a place where they sell them, so actually fullfilling my craving would imply making red velvet cupcakes from scratch. After contemplating the idea and receiving a big NO-NO by part of my friend Domi, I decided what better way to satisfy the craving with a much healthier, lighter...


PAPAYA SMOOTHIE! It was rich and it was light and it might have given the sweet ending to an eventful day, to say the least. It's one of those fruits that is fun to say and fun to eat. So, I challenge you, next time you feel like having a red velvet cupcake, have a papaya instead, unless, of course you have a nice bakery just around your corner with red velvet cupcakes 24 hours. Otherwise, indulge in the wonderful taste of a papaya, it'll meet your expectations. Guaranteed.

Cinema Rental

This past week was a week filled with movies. From start to end I have been catching up on some old ones and enjoying brand new releases, both in the cinema with a box of popcorn by my side and in my couch with my blankie and the soothing sound of gentle rain in the background. Some of those I watched:

Chance. So, if you'll remember my last entry I denounced the cultural level in which Panama is located. I'm not going to retract that, however, I am going to say that this movie gave me hope that maybe we aren't a lost case; maybe, Panama is going places art wise. This movie, ironically enough, is a social critique to the stereotype of high class families in Panama. It follows a wealthy family through their experience of getting kidnapped by their maids. As a result of this kidnapping, the family's secret about being completely broke let's loose and they face with harder and deeper issues within the family that had been being ignored for a long time. The way it portrays the panamanian culture and mocks the social stereotype is hardly offensive, instead it adds a histerical bite to it. It has a mix of different genres: sometimes drama and sometimes comedy. It's raw, it's funny and it makes me feel proud of being a panamanian thanks to the quality and cohesive story this film has. Kudos to Abner Benaím for taking the risk!

Alice in Wonderland. Let me start off by saying that Alice in Wonderland is my favorite Disney movie because it is such a mercurial story that you can't help but wonder what will happen next. The new one? It gave me a mixed feelings after taste. I don't know if it was the 3D quality that didn't help me in capturing all the details or the high expectations I had before the film, but for me it was just OK. Nothing espectacular, but nothing horrid either. The performances by Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter), Anne Hathaway (White Queen) and Helena Bonham Carter (Red Queen) were amazing, though. The way they captured the essence of each of these characters but putting their own touch to it was remarkable. Dislikes? It had so much going on that made you loose what makes it so wonderful to begin with: the story. It was hard keeping up with the connections between scenes (and the color change they made on the Cheshire Cat didn't help either). As hard as it is for me to criticize the making of the master of bizzareness Tim Burton, I have to admit it wasn't my favorite. I liked it, but I didn't love it and sometimes, liking it just isn't enough.

Now that I've been over the new releases, let me give you a quick opinion about the old ones.

Coco Avant Chanel. I still question how was it that I didn't see this movie when it hit theaters? However, this movie captured exactly what I expected: fashion, story and romance. The way Gabrielle ¨Coco¨ Chanel faced the adversities of introducing a whole different style scheme to the time and place in which she happened to live in, just made me admire Mademoiselle Chanel even more. She had a point of view and wasn't afraid to demonstrate it, no matter what anyone said.


My Sister's Keeper. What an amazing movie! It has family, it has problems and it has love. It is such a beautiful story following the ups and downs of what a devastating disease may bring upon a family. It has laughter, hopes, dreams, sadness, but more importanly, a message: value what you have. If you haven't seen this movie, please, go to the nearest video rental store and rent it (while you're at it buy some tissues and chocolate).

Culturally Biased

It has been a week of ups and downs.
Pros:
Getting over the two intense weeks of exams.
Catching up on Sex and The City reruns.
Succesful results in my tutoring classes.
Cons:
Lack of sleep.
Not being able to find Jane Austen books in Panama.
And, shocking but true: Lack of sleep.

Today, while coming back from my tutoring classes, I decided to stop at an undisclosed bookstore to ask if they had a book I need to read for my Industrial and Organizational Psychology class. Not only was I very excited when they told me that they did sell it, but also when I spotted a Literature section in the bookstore. Unfortunately, that excitement soon vanished when they told me they were out of stock and when I came across the fact that the only authors they had under the section previously mentioned, were limitted to Ernest Hemingway, Isabel Allende and Gabriel García Marquez. Don't get me wrong, all of those are wonderful writers but their books are all over Panama. My point is that that section had no Charles Dickens, no Virginia Woolf, no Oscar Wilde and DEFINITELY no Jane Austen. I was furious. I have been looking for Jane Austen books since I can remember, not only because I'm obsessed with Pride and Prejudice (movie) and The Jane Austen Book Club (movie), but because she seems like such a fine writer and books online just aren't enough.
How is it that in this huge, well renowned bookstore were no Jane Austen books?
How is it that they seem to get boxes and boxes about Kate Gosselin's autobiography and only one miserable copy of Sense and Sensibility?
Even more bizzare is, how is it that insead of having stocks of these historical authors they have stocks of he's-just-not-that-into-you type of books?
Though they are amusing, they just don't have that literate use of words that you could only find in magical novels that take you back to other centuries.
Quite frankly, I'm frightened. I'm scared about the kind of example we are trying to portray as a country. More importantly, as a society. Is it, then, that we have lost ourselves into ¨pop culture¨ or that the culture has been lost?

I remembered being in high school and reading about John Keats and also J.K Rowling (who is one of my favorite authors, by the way). What I'm trying to convey here is that there can be a balance between classical authors and new writers, but I feel that in Panama we always go to extremes. Another thing left to be thought of, will there come a time where Jane Austen readers and Lauren Conrad fans will be able to sit together as a big family in the great dinner table of literature in Panama? I sure hope so because if not, I'll be making Amazon very, very rich.