Barf on bread

I can't do it anymore. I cannot eat any more bread, aka "pain", as they call it here in Argentina. Hmmm....that word totally makes sense! My jeans are totally busting at the seams. My stomach physically hurts so I either have an ulcer from drinking too much Malbec or my jeans are are so tight they are crushing some of my vital organs. I'm pretty sure I look totally sexy when I have my pants unbuttoned and I am making horrible noises because I am too damn full.

The other day, Heather and I went shopping. Yes, again. The area of Palermo has some fantastic stores. They call it the "Palermo Soho", as it resembles the area in NYC. Worth noting, they also have a Palermo Hollywood. Maybe I should scope it out and see if there are any celeb sightings there.

Tuesday night, our friends at the animation company took us to the dinner and tango show at Tango Porteno. It was amazing. The dancers were so beautiful looking, the set and costumes wonderful. I couldn't stop thinking I would have snapped my ankles in the shoes they were wearing. Heather disobeyed the "no flash" rule and took these cool pics.






Of course, I was stuffing my face with the delicious dinner as they were burning ten's of thousands of calories dancing their little butts off. Muy naughty-o.

I apologize...for being so damn funny.

Hola amigos and amigas!

Today, we did some more sightseeing. I am learning many things about the Argentinians. For example, most of them smoke. I have determined that this is why they stay so skinny. Any country that brings you a bread basket for breakfast, doesn't serve veggies at any of their meals and cheese, coldcuts and steak are staples on their menus has to do something to stay so slim. Don't worry Buenos Aires, I've taken one for "the team" and gained 5 lbs for you. Damn your malbec!

It's funny. I wonder if I appreciate their archetecture so much more because our buildings aren't anywhere as near as cool as theirs. The people I have met that have been to Chicago love our city - and comment on how cool Michigan Ave is. It makes me laugh. For example, our Ralph Lauren doesn't look as cool as their's does!



Tonight, Mark had a great idea to break from his "10 steaks in 10 days mantra" and go for some sushi. Yeah!!! I did not know The BA would have such good sushi, but they did. Of course, the odd things were no edamame (cause they HATE veggies here or somethin) and all the rolls were salmon or tuna. Guess they don't love unagi as much as we do. They had different rolls than I have had before, but they were all so yummy. Clearly, we found things we like, as evidenced by these pictures. The place itself was called "SushiClub" and it was a really cool looking restaurant.





Heather and I got a little loopy at dinner, and could not stop talking about colonics and other weird crap. You know when you totally can't stop laughing and anything you say makes you laugh, that was how we were. Maybe it started when I busted out the Argentinian Flashdance look. I think Mark is totally over us.

Food - NO MAS!

Today I realized Spanish TV can actually be fun to watch. For example, "Jon and Kate plus 8" is really quite humorous watching it dubbed in Spanish. Or watching "Girls Next Door" with spanish subtitles, or even fashion TV in Spanish entertained mm for a good two hrs.

After spending the morning watching Spanish TV, we went to the Recoleta outdoor market. It's an outdoor market in the park next to the cemetery. Vendors sell all kinds of things there from purses made of newspaper to leather shoes, tea pots and painted tango pictures. You could spend hrs walking around the hundred's of booths.




On the way home, we stopped at Un Altra Volta, which is an ice cream shop a co-worker recommended. It was the best ice cream I have ever had. I tried a cone with American Cookies (basically cookies and cream) and dulce de leche grazinado. Even their cones tasted better. Muy bien!



After an afternoon siesta, we went to a restaurant recommended by some of my co-workers called Piegari. The restaurant is located underneath a highway underpass in an area called La Recova.

Holy crappers was the food good. It was Italian with portions big enough to share, but of course we got our own. We started with the best calamari ever. Unlike the states, it didn't come with cocktail sauce, but rather with a mayonnaise based cream sauce. We decided to be "Healthy" and get a side of broccoli to share. (A side note, Argentinians don't eat that many veggies. I can count on one hand other than salads, veggies offered with a meal. They have no veggies, and serve a bread basket with EVERY meal, including breakfast. Carbs overload!). The broccoli was so good and I admired that they didn't burn their garlic, the way I do every single time I try to saute something. For my entree, I had Ravioles Negros de Salmon. Black ravioli (which I've never seen) filled with salmon and covered with cream sauce, almonds and mushrooms. So fabulous and so rich. After dinner, we had to have dessert of course. So we ordered profiterole and Torta de dulce de leche (or Cheese Cake). At this point, I was stuffed beyond capacity. Here's a photo of Mark, who looks like he is the "pregnant man".



Of course, the night ended like all the other ones have, with several glasses on Malbec and my promise of "no mas food". Yeah right.

Rain, rain go away...

It feels a bit like Chicago here today, meaning it went from hot, sunny and 85 yesterday to pouring rain, chilly and in the 60's today.

While all of you were still sleeping, Mark and I went out to a cute little breakfast place and had croissants and omelettes. Some interesting things that I have learned about BA. One, you have to pay tip in cash, you cannot charge it to your card and that even American coffee here is strong as heck. I only had one cup and was bouncing off the walls. Think Starbucks coffee times 3.

After breakfast, we walked down to Florida street which is a pedestrian only street with shops and restuarants on either sides and then Galerias Pacifico, which is an indoor shopping mall. They had a mixture of American stores like Tommy Hilfiger & Timberland and other stores like Prune (which I doubt the name would fly in the States) and numerous Mr. Sweater stores. I felt at home when I saw McD's and Burger King. How come our BK doesn't look as cool as this one. The King would be outraged!





As it poured rain and we walked back to the hotel, we saw these cool looking murals in a boutique hotel. This one is of Eva Peron. Turns out it is made of bread! We also stopped in a park and saw this enormous tree. I think it would take 5 or 6 people clasping hands to fit around this tree. For scale, here is me standing in front of it. It looks like I am bald. Ha ha.







There is so much amazing archetecture in this city. Here is a gorgeous place that is around the corner from our hotel. We dubbed it "Casa de Familia Myers" because apparently, this is going to be Mark's new home.

Don't cry for me Argentina....

Today was a great day. With the exception of abruptly trying to put myself on BA's schedule to fight jet lag. Yikes!

Today, we walked down to the Recoletta area to view the famous cemetery where Eva Peron "lives". Um, yeah, I know this isn't the right word.

On the way there, we saw some great looking archetecture. One we dubbed "Miss Havesham's house" because it looked like no one lived there. It had some cool looking wrought iron fence and sweet doorknobs that looked like heads.




The cemetery is amazing. Nothing like anything I have ever seen. Rows and rows of these amazing "plots" with ornate limestone and statues. Inside some of them, they have pictures of the people and dried flowers & candleabras. Oh did I mention you can see the actual coffins. Yeah, you can. It's a little creepy, but still beautiful.















Eva's grave is actually not one of the more ornate ones we saw, but it was certainly the most decorated with flowers by her fans. Of course, one of my favorite parts is that the cemetery has many resident cats who keep the mice and rats away. You know I chased after those kittlekins!

Hola Buenos Aires!

Hola amigos and amigas. I have arrived safely in Buenos Aires, aka The BA.

Traveling wasn't as rough as I thought. That's cause I was in first class, bitches! Ok, seriously, I don't think I can ever go back to coach again. We flew into Miami and I spent large amounts of time fiddling with my electronic seat adjuster and making it go into all the positions. We had a two hour layover and I fortified myself with a free drink at the Admiral's Club. Seriously. Rich people get free stuff like this all the time.

We boarded the plane in Miami for the 9 hr flight. Again, these lovely mechanical seats, a TV at every headrest and more leg room than a midge like me needs! They bring around these warm towels for us to cleanse our hands and face and then hand me a menu that reads like a 4 star restaurant. My seatmate and I were giggling to ourselves. We had our choice for a 4 course meal. And at the bottom it said "beverages are served continuously throughout the flight". Stupids. Don't they know how much I can drink. Shoot.

After having a few glasses of wine and a delicious meal, I decided to try and go to sleep. Then those seats weren't so fun. Maybe I made the mistake of not drugging myself, but even in the "zzz" seat position I could not get comfortable. Even with my sleep mask, pillow and blankie. There was too much turbulence. Now, usually I would be scared of it, but now I was just pissed. I wanted to sleep, damnit.


And now we are here! Yesterday, we went to the animation company and then went out for drinks. The beer I had is called Quilmes Cristal. Must be the Argentinian Champagne for beers. Delicious. I have also eaten my weight in steak and Malbec just on day 1. You know I can't leave the BA without trying all the Malbec I can fit in this 5'2" body. Shizz....



Haven't been able to explore too much, but, what I have scene is gorgeous. Very European looking architecture with some French and Spanish influences. Almost everyone beautiful with a tan that puts the Fudgekins to shame!

Adios and more to come....

2.4.09 - Perez Hilton Prepare To Be Dethroned

My dream has finally become a reality. Jeff has set me up with my very own blog to chronicle my star sightings. Anyone who knows me knows I am obsessed with celebrities & reality TV. Shit, I've had a subscription to US Weekly practically since birth. I'll chronicle my L.A celeb sightings, restaurant reviews, and whatever the hell I want, cause it's my blog!

This week, J. C. and I are in Santa Monica at The Fairmont Miramar. Despite the fact that it took me 20 mins to find the wing to my hotel room, and I had to be aided by a bartender and then a bellman only to find my room was the very last room down what looks like a hallway straight out of "The Shining", the hotel is quite pretty. (boy on the tricycle, I'm keeping my eyes out for you.)

Upon check-in, I spied Katherine McPhee behind me. The sad part is I recognized her 20+ years older husband, Nick Cokas, first (I told you I read too many mags!). She is absolutely beautiful in person. Maybe they saw me staring, but Nick told her to sit down in the lobby. I wanted to say "Look douche, I'm only staring because she's the first celeb I've seen in weeks. She's famous for um, American Idol. So get your panties out of your ass, and be glad I'm giving her a second glance". But, we all know I'm a polite girl so tht dialogue existed only inside my head.

Now, I consider myself somewhat of an idiot savant when it comes to celebrities. I can see someone from 50 ft away and tell you they guest starred on "Beverly Hills 90210" on the episode when Donna lost her virginity to David Silver. So, imagine my shock when at breakfast J. said "Look, at the seat in the very back. It's the dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The guy who sprayed Windex on everything."



Isn't this my job? I mean, I was dubbed " ZoGar the celebrity blogger" back before I even had a blog. THEN, last night at dinner J. said "Don't look now, but look at the woman in white at the last table". Now, I was hoping it was someone good, because I had to go out of my way to stand up and look because I am such a midge I could not see over the other tables. I looked and was like "Yeah? Who is it?" To me it just looked like a woman with bad Restalyne injections in her lips. He was like "Duh, it's the psychiatrist from Lethal Weapon." J. is trying to take my job from me! I better step up my game, keep my eyes peeled.




(Honestly, would you ever recognize her in a pizza joint?)