Right now I'm eating mushrooms, bamboo shoots, slightly wilted bok choy and red and yellow peppers out of a big mixing bowl. I'm working through the last third - or thereabouts - of the leftovers from my hugely successful (if I do say so myself) Lunar New Year party. My current dinner is a compendium of two dishes: mushrooms/bamboo shoots/bok choy ( Read more... )

The best part about having friends over for dinner is that they fix things around your apartment. This is what I discovered tonight. My place was just near perfect, with two glaring exceptions: I couldn't get two of my burners and my oven to work, and I couldn't lower the shade in my bedroom. Well! Santi figured out my stove. Um, it turns out I was ( Read more... )

The Big Move took place this weekend and it was one of the easiest relocations I've ever done, mostly because I hired professionals to do the (literal) heavy lifting for me. The lead-up to the move was not good, as the disorder in my apartment led to chaos in the rest of my life, culminating in me forgetting my keys at the office and not realizing ( Read more... )

Friday noon. That is when the real estate brokers are coming to my office to sign a new two-year lease for a one-bedroom apartment at Arce and Ortega y Gasset. This apartment was the second of three that I visited over the weekend. The first, a cute little loft also on Arce, had already been reserved. The third was a two-bedroom whose living room ( Read more... )

I'm taking my very first sick day ever today. Last night, Dan and I ordered a spicy chicken dish and white rice from Cinco Corderos, whose food has proven reliable in the past, even if it takes forever to deliver. We watched The OC season premiere, chatted and he went home around 2. Three and a half hours later, I woke up feeling a bit funny, and ( Read more... )

I left everyone hanging about my landlord situation, so here is the short version of the story: I am moving out by January 16. The medium version is this: My landlord said my counterproposal was a joke and made me cry. If you want the long version of our disastrous break-up, which took place several weeks ago at the Aroma Cafe on Plaza San Martin, ( Read more... )

I was sleeping peacefully on Saturday morning when the phone rang at 9:30 am. It was my landlord, Isabel, calling to double my rent. Yes, you read that correctly. My two-year lease expires this month and Isabel is bitter over the undervalued rent I've been paying. I live in a snooty neighborhood in a classic French building with an antique cage ( Read more... )

Much has happened in the last few weeks. My dear friend Erin got married in a beautiful ceremony, and the first floor of Willard/1116 Foster reunited for the first time since graduation to kick off the dancing at the reception - to Madonna's Like A Prayer, of course. The matron of honor's husband asked me if Argentina is a "tropical island." ( Read more... )

This is a rare workday post to announce that I'm leaving today for Chicago and will be there through Monday afternoon. Hurrah! My dear friend, fellow ace reporter and former roommate Erin is getting married on Saturday, and I am so so SO excited. The seamstress, a slightly flaky but quite sweet and talented Uruguayan grandma named Sofia, has ( Read more... )

Last week brought the 3rd Annual World Tango Championships to Buenos Aires and I watched the semifinals and finals of the stage competition. (The other category was salon tango, which was described as old people shuffling around a ballroom, dance marathon-style. Pass!) I went with some other friends to the semifinals on Friday night and Laura and I ( Read more... )