Thursday started with a mini-migraine. Not the full blown lie-in-a-dark room-kind but more of a “I need some Excedrin STAT“ kind. I called in sick to work and decided to just take it easy. Haven’t I been doing that all month long?! Jajajajaja.
At 4:30pm, Maye gave Mom and I a ride to the Art District downtown so we could attend Artwalk and go souvenir shopping. I know a lot of people scoff at the prices of items being sold to tourists, but if I owned a store, I would shoot for the moon on initial price and offer discuentos (discounts) if someone was hesitant. I can afford to support local businesses. You can afford to as well. And since we radiate good vibes, most vendors give us what I call the “happy woman discount.” Smile with the shop owners, engage with them, ask questions and learn about them.
And that’s exactly how we met Karina who owns the shop “Encanto Mexicano” located “behind the church, side of brick arches.” If you’re at Baja Brewing, just walk down the road and go see Karina! She was the good vibes kind of friendly and thanked us for appreciating the craftsmanship of the goods she was selling. I don’t know if she knows it, but she had kind eyes and a beautiful soul. I’d gladly go back and buy more souvenirs (even if I don’t need them) because I could tell it meant a lot to her that Mom and I enjoyed being in her store. I bought a table cloth to use as a beach blanket (I don’t actually have a table at home) and also purchased a wooden bowl with a painted peacock on it. When it’s safer, I’m planning on doing a Mexican-themed cocktail hour with my girlfriends to show off my souvenirs and to answer any questions they have about brujería. Apparently everyone is interested in our silly magic times! We may just be the Baja Brujas. Jajajajaja.
Some more souvenir shopping and then we headed back to the condo complex for a paella dinner party! Yep, we got invited for another group outing this week. I guess we’re cool enough. Well I knew Mom was cool…. and by genetics or DNA, I must be as well. I love dinner parties and was excited to try paella with mussels, shrimp, pork, chicken, Spanish sausage and calamari. It was delicious and the sunset provided the best backdrop to a dinner party. And while we all come from different places, different religions and political beliefs, I strongly believe that our new friends Bonnie, Ray, Bert, Nancy and Lori are all good people. We all laughed as Ray got into a political side track while Bonnie, his wife, kept reminding him “Ray, they’re from California!.” Hahaha, yep. Super liberal. Super women of color. But also super understanding that our differences are something to be celebrated. It’s all good!
Our bellies full & our wine glasses empty, we headed back to our “home” but first stopped to say hola to the beach. My mom tried to pull a fast one on me and asked innocently “I”m sleeping in there tonight?” as she pointed to the bedroom. For the first 2 weeks I slept on the couch and then we switched rooms for the 2nd half of our trip.. Sorry Lady, the bed is too comfortable. We’ll be home in a few days and you can lay in your own bed however long you need to.
Today we actually woke up at 4:30a to catch the Lyrids meteor showers but we missed our chance. We did see the Milky Way and if you squint, it looks like one of those stars is a shooting star. I’m going to go with that. Just a few more days left in Mexico and I’m already thinking about how to escape for a month when the offices open up again. Anyone know a company hiring a travel blogger?!
There She Goes... 