casa az blogfriends meet

“Perhaps one day we can have tapas together in real life!”

Thus spake Wandering Coyote in her comment on yesterday’s post. And this got me a-thinkin (always a possibly dangerous activity) which then led to wondering about organising a ‘weekend getaway’ meet here for blogfriends who either live in the EU, or are planning to be in Europe and might be able to also pop over to Sevilla, or who own their own jets . . . whatever!

plan of action

Started working on a biz plan today. . .

Well, a couple of them in fact. All tied up with and thanks to a couple of wonderful women I’ve met at different AWC meet ups. Sort of a follow-up (addition to?) my global brainstorming session post from last January.

Anyhow, I’ve found what looks like a good biz plan template online and took the first baby steps this week to start making it more than just something that makes my eyes glaze over by page 3. This means it involves having another real person in the room with me and going through it all together. Bouncing ideas off each other to our mutual benefit. Stuff like that. It’s all looking very positive.

Now I just have to get over feeling so scared.

ladies who do more than lunch…

Some of you may recall that back in January I went to my first AWC luncheon - and last month to my second one - at which time I became an official AWC member.

Well, last night there was a ‘new members tapas night’ scheduled and so Pipocas and I thought we should drop in since we are, in fact, new members. We also decided it would be a good idea to meet for pre-drink drinks before the event just in case of … well, whatever. Then awhile later - where had the time gone? - I got a call from Rena (one of the AWC directors) while Pipocas and I were on our second pre-drink drink asking if we were still coming, so we high-tailed it over to the tapas bar that had been chosen for this event, just up the street…

yay! visitors!

My blog pal healingmagichands and her husband Jim are in Sevilla.

I first met hmh on h2g2 almost two years ago and she started her blog here on WordPress shortly after I did. Given her love of photography and writing, the blog format suits her much better than h2g2. I like it better too.

Anyhoo, they arrived in Lisbon early yesterday morning when their cruise boat landed and then drove to Sevilla … got here just in time for a late lunch at Modesto (those are post-lunch photos up there). Then a visit to casa az where they got to meet ‘da boyz’ and afterwards we took a short walk around the centre so that Ellie and Jim could work out where they were and how to get places (important stuff like the supermarket and where to find Mephisto sandals) …

Looking forward to a very nice week. It’s great when friends visit.

six feet under

Thanks to Pipocas I am now addicted to Six Feet Under.

She lent me the first series a couple of weeks ago, which I devoured pretty quickly. Then I picked up series 2 when we met for lunch yesterday (and did another dvd/book swap) at Casa Roman - missed a couple of good photo ops for the tapas blog that I’m still kicking myself about .

Also inadvertently spoiled a couple of upcoming surprises in the series by glancing through that Wiki link. But after getting through a slightly drunken post-lunch recuperation English class yesterday evening I made some Orville’s (hey - new popcorn mule coming in on Sunday!) and watched a couple of episodes. Does anyone else like this series as much as Pipocas and I do?

[Note to self: do not schedule classes after lunches with Pipocas]

japanese luncheon

I went to my second AWC luncheon yesterday.

Pipocas and I also paid our dues (man) and became official AWC members.

This was quite a different luncheon to the first one I went to at the kebab place in January. First of all, the restaurant is situated in the back gardens of the Alfonso XIII Hotel, which is the poshest place in town (even the outdoor toilets are posh!). And it turned out to be quite a pleasant Japanese restaurant, though I thought it could have done with a little more ‘ambientation’ and some of the food might have been a bit tastier (though it was very pretty). But a fine time was had by all and I might even start partaking of the book sales and clothing charity thangs.

After the luncheon Pipocas and I weren’t feeling too much like getting back to work so we went to sit outside for awhile at Catalina and drink cold water … very salty that Japanese food. We also did a book/dvd swap so yesterday evening I started watching Six Feet Under. Loved the pilot (also really like Rachel Griffiths) so I’m quite looking forward to the rest of the series. Ooooo, it’s fun having girlfriends again!

Anyhow, here are a few photos I took . . .

 

friday’s lunch…

. . . was very yummy

Went out with Pipocas again, this time to Modesto for a fabulous Friday afternoon lunch. Pipocas had never eaten there before and we eschewed the more touristy (though very pretty) outdoor terrace and upstairs dining room in favour of sitting at the bar, which is my favourite place to eat there. It’s so much cosier and you get to chat with the barmen and the guys in the kitchen. I love that.

We started off with a fritura, then had some grilled pork tenderloin in mushroom sauce and finally tried the razorback clams. Meanwhile, our neighbours were having some interesting looking things and they were very nice about letting me take some pics of their food too.

The new pics are here (photos 17-22)

birthday, etc…

Today is Nog’s 55th birthday and it was also exactly five years ago that he & I first ‘met’ on h2g2. So it seemed a good excuse reason to go back to Eslava , this time to check out their restaurant. I’d first visited the tapa bar there just a short while ago.

It was a very nice meal. . .

~ photos 10-18 ~

pipocas

Meet Pipocas - popcorn mule and international woman of mystery . . .

azahar again!

First sandals, then blackbirds and now the first azahar. . .

And much earlier than last year. I was walking home from a class yesterday afternoon and when I turned a corner I was suddenly snapped out of my reverie; I closed my eyes, raised my face to the sky and inhaled deeply. Then I looked around and saw them - the first orange blossoms of the year.

It always takes me by surprise and always fills me with joy.