BAF Fashion Week

Cora Groppo!

Brittany practicing her model walk.

Our friend, Jenny, hooked us up with some passes to fashion week here in BA. Brittany, Erasmo, Nay and I all went to see Cora Groppo's show on Thursday. Their Spring/ Summer collection was impressive- incredibly complicated construction, all muted tones and a very fluid, easy elegance to the whole line. Even Erasmo who was a bit hesitant about the whole event, enjoyed it. None of us really dressed for the occasion and we definitely stood out among the super fashionable Argentine crowd attending the show. Brittany's outfit by far took first prize- there's no getup like a Patagonia sheepy vest, plaid shirt and some cargos!

Reunited!

Brittany and I at "La Bomba Del Tiempo!"

Enjoying some bife de lomo at Miranda.

I've missed Brittany terribly on this trip. Our love for surfing/ tennis/ anything that involves activity and competition made us pretty inseparable in Santa Barbara. I really can't get enough of her company. During our post graduation trip to Kauai, Brittany ended up making a last minute decision to stay on the island and has been living there ever since. Since then she met Erasmo- who is incredible, they're a perfect match! These photos are from their first few days here. They have since left for Patagonia, but Nay and I will meet up with them in Mendoza on the later end of their loop. I miss them already!

Sam Gerrity!

Nay and Sam at the market in San Telmo on Sunday.

Enjoying ice cream in San Telmo with our friends (Rodrigo- with the scarf, Robin-in the black sweatshirt and Mikey- with the brown hat) who live there. Unfortunately I made the mistake of ordering Nonna Bianca- in this photo I'm feeling a bit bitter about my decision.

Sam, Brittany, Erasmo, Nay and I spent the afternoon at the horse races.

I usually volunteer with a program called L.I.F.E (http://www.lifeargentina.org/) on Friday afternoons. Its mostly doing after school help with kids in who live in the villas (projects.) Sam came along this past Friday and was a huge hit. The language barrier really didn't matter much as he spent most of the time giving piggy back rides. This picture is blurry, but it was such a fun afternoon that I wanted to throw it up here anyways.

Sam was lucky enough to catch this special festival that happened at the farmers market on Saturday, it was celebrating the coming of spring!

This is Juan. We figured Sam could use some guy time, so Juan came over to hang with us. He should've made the blog long ago- he was our first and probably is our most loyal guy friend here. He kind of looks like my brother Joe.

Julieta is my spanish tutor who I found via Craigslist. She has turned out to be one of my closest girlfriends here and I'm really hoping she moves to California- she's considering getting her Master's there. She came with Juan, Sam, Nay and I to this incredible jazz concert at this small community center.

Julieta loves to dance and we love watching her!

Sam and I at the concert!

Brittany and Erasmo arrived the day before Sam left. We all rented blades in the park, which was really a major highlight of the weekend for me.
It's been a really eventful past week. The day after I returned from Chile Sam Gerrity, Jude and Rob's nephew, came to BA for a visit. We were introduced when he arrived at the door, but after a few hours it felt like an old friend visiting. We tried to fit in all the best parts of BA during his short visit. Sam is an incredibly laid back, easy guest and we thoroughly enjoyed his company. I'll be looking forward to him visiting California sometime in the near future!

Pelo de los Tipos- Buenos Aires

the infamous "cola"/rat tail.

The hippy version of your classic mullet- "the dreaded mullet!"

hippy mullet part 2.

Guys here in Buenos Aires are really quite liberated and seriously creative with their hairdos. The majority have some sort of rat tail- either curled, dreaded, or braided and a mullet is usually involved in one way or another. I've seen some amazing styles that I wish I could have captured on film, but will have to remain a lasting memory instead.

A traves los Andes....

the crazy camino up and over the Andes.

Portillo ski resort, Chile.

One of the most gorgeous days of skiing i've ever seen, I was thinking about getting off the bus, but it didn't stop.

SKI Chile!

view from the lodge.


A popular Chilean TV personality was at the restuarant where we ate. Manuel bravely and slightly awkwardly asked for a signature and later on, a photograph. He was thrilled. I love this shot.

Que grupo!

on the way up the mountain.

By a stroke of luck a close friend of our family, James O'brien, was going to be in Santiago for work the same time I was in Chile and invited me to go skiing with him and his business partner, Francisco, and Francisco's son, Manuel. The mountain is incredibly accessible from Santiago, took maybe an hour to get up there from the city and most of that time is spent traversing a very curvy, pretty narrow road. Being with James felt like I was hanging out with one of my brothers, I was relieved that I could keep up and really thankful for the comfortable temperatures which was perfectly suiting for my lack of "gear." Too much hot chocolate, sore muscles and a good adrenaline rush made for quite an enjoyable weekend.

Graffiti art in Chile...

Chile and the lovely Jude!

La Concepcion - 541 Papudo Valparaíso

the garden in the back!


leading into the garden....

view from upstairs.


When I heard Jude would be making an unexpected trip to Chile, I decided to take the opportunity to salir the city and cross the Andes to see her. The bus ride took 24 hours, but the part through the Andes alone was worth the trip- the mountains were stunning and after being amidst cement for so long the incredible views seemed even more magnificent. Jude had come down to take care of some business at their lovely restaurant, La Concepcion (http://restaurantlaconcepcion.cl) , in Valparaíso. They have done an incredible job restoring this historic, hillside house into a very cool, top quality cuisine destination. We spent the two weeks running lots of errands and trying to unravel an unfortunate mess the manager had gotten them into. Jude's command of Spanish and her "go getter" spirit was really unbelievable! We spent the nights chatting and trying to keep warm in their big, cold house, managed to take some Pilates classes together, drove some up the coast and had a lot of laughs- it was really a treat to be able to spend time with her!