Alien Visitors (Glimpses).

Been dealing with a lot lately and have not had time to post.

Thought you would like to see some glimpses of my parents' visit.

Hope you are having fun in the sun!

Remains of Jack London's Wolf House.

My parents meeting the horse and donkey (with my sister in the background).

SFMoMA.

Coit Tower.

Blooming tea.

China Town.

North Beach.

Transamerica Pyramid with my favorite copper building in the foreground.

Sacramento's tower bridge.

Old Sacramento.

Sacramento Bee tile.

Alien Visitors (cottage BBQ brunch).

My parents were here for the past week and a half.

Seeing them is bitter sweet, as we have fun together but are always aware of the short time we get to spend with each other. Their visit was brief and busy, coming and going between my sister's place, our home and a friend's home I had to house sit at. Besides, my dad had to go to Sacramento every other day to participate on the World Masters Athletic Championship, a track and field world wide competition in which more than 4,800 athletes from 93 countries participated.

Needless to say, we had a tight schedule and lots to catch up on.

For me, one of the highlights of my parent's visit was a brunch J and I held for them, my sister,  J's parents and his sister who was visiting from Seattle. I think we had not been all together since our wedding almost four years ago.  

For the brunch our dear friend S lent us her charming old cottage. The weather was lovely, the food was delicious, and we had a great time. 

I did not expect my parents to be in such awe at the grill! I sometimes forget how different their life is in Mexico City. After all, living in an apartment in the middle of such a big city you don't get to eat from grills in pretty gardens often.

S's 100 year old cottage.

 

Tabuleh, fruit salad and cucumber-yoghurt sauce.

J busy with his delicious chicken kabobs.

Fair.

 

Cheering up in early July (Mamika).

You may or may not know this, but I have been sad lately. Some days are better than others, almost normal, but then on days like today I feel gloomy and lonely. The remaining creature had gone outside, I was alone and a bit worried about him, so trying to cheer myself up I looked up "cheer up" online. I know, quite desperate, right? One does what one has to do... I felt silly and did not expect much. If anything, my search would keep me entertained. Amongst the babies and kittens I was feeling even worse, but then I ran into Mamika, the ultimate super hero.

Boy did she cheer me up alright! She is a lot of things I love in a single wrinkly package: an old lady with a cool sense of humor, kick ass, unafraid to make a fool of herself, game for unheard of adventures, avantgarde at 91 years old. 

The Mamika project began when photographer Sacha Goldberger's grandma was a bit sad, so he decided to propose a fun project to cheer her up. How about shooting some photos of her in outrageous costumes? Lucky for us, she agreed, and the result is the most amazing set of photos I have seen in a while.

So popular has she become that in a followup session she has found a younger lover called Mr. Papika.

I hope they make you smile as widely as they have made me.

Have a fun Fourth of July weekend everyone!

R

All of these amazing photos of Mamika and Mr. Papika are by Sacha Goldberger.