Kalaya Steede

Eating in Mexico can be a bit tricky. First you have got to know where to go and to know where to go you have to know someone who knows!  Second, don't be afraid to eat stuff. 1.  My morning ritual for the best tamales in the city. Tamale Stand 2.  Then I'd pick up a smoothie which was down the street from the tamale stand and next to Luna de Queso Deli .  Oh and right next to Luna de Queso is a bakery place to get awesome bread!  You would miss it if I didn't tell you. ANYWAY, I was kind of freaking out watching him put fresh banana, and then papaya, but then came the frozen strawberries!  OMG!!!  Am I going to get sick?  But my friend said not to worry.  This is a good place to get your smoothie.  Okay surrrrre. Smoothie Stand 3.   THEN we had a great meal at Diablo Panzon . Great service, food, atmosphere, and wine.   It was here that I was introduced to my first Malbec wine.  Nice! You must go...

I'm going to try something new here.  Instead of posting a long blog about my adventures I'm going to break it down.   Remember the saying? A picture is worth a thousand words. So where to begin? In the Aeroporta of course! That is the Aeroporta in Querétaro. See me sitting there in the front?  I'm talking to some dude who lives in SMA. I LOVE this airport because it is small and only 1 hour away from San Miguel.   I then hop on a shuttle and drive on over to SMA. This way you can take it all in (although I didn't have time for that).  Honestly I was asleep for the entire ride.   What can I say?   I was exhausted from waking up so damn early that day. So if you ever have the need to spend some time in San Miguel and skip Mexico City, then this airport is for you! AND YES... I got searched AGAIN as I always do.   Why is that? Have a great weekend everyone. Namaste Kalaya

Hola everyone! Here are some pictures of my last few days in San Miguel de Allende.  There are rocks and then there are ROCKS... On Saturday we went to go see some cave paintings and these rocks were massive! I had to climb this... to get to this... Which was awesome!  It was amazing how well preserved the paintings were. Here are the rocks we found along our cave painting expedition.  All the crystal you see was found by Jesse.  He has an eagle's eye!  Those black shard looking things are obsidian. Then it was off to visit our friend Kim.  He always has the coolest things to share. When we arrive he shows us a 300 million year old newly acquired fossil.  I have never touched something so old.  It stands 5 feet tall and in mint condition.  I asked Kim if I could have it but he respectfully said, "NO!".  Oh well, you never know if you do not ask! Orthoceras  fossil Check out that Zapata t-shirt! Pic...

Yes I have returned from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico safe and sound! Was there any doubt?  hahaha!!! Oh how I have missed San Miguel and my friends who live there.   It is breathtaking when we round the corner of the hill as we approach the city and see the cathedral and all the lights below. I said to myself... Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes. I have much to share with all of you.  However, I must get everything in my head organized first.  Which is not an easy task.  Ha! I just wanted to drop a "Hola" and wish everyone a fantastic Friday.      ॐ Namaste Kalaya

I think we were in the studio a total of three days (2 half days and 1 full day).  After all, we were in Mexico and cannot spend the whole week in the studio!  Okay...well...we could but there were places to go and people to see.   First day... Like I said in an earlier post...the first day in the studio was a lot of looking around.  We decided that I needed a belt buckle since we were doing a workshop in November.  I could not go around without my very own buckle! First decision was to decide on shape and size.  Second decision was what objects were going to embellish the buckle.  These sorts of details usually plague me for days.  I just cannot make things up on the spot!  I did bring along a skeleton from NOLA but that was it.  I then went to Jesse's stash of found objects looking for things to use. What in the world would I find in that bowl of found objects?  I guess what found me were two metal objects, a ...

A river doesn't hold all the water that passes through it. I am about to share the most wonderful day we had in San Miguel.  There are no words to describe it but to say it was magical and I would very much like to have that day back.  I do know that this is not possible and as I try to hold on to things, i.e. dried flowers...as a reminder of that day, I need not carry them.  This is why I put the quote above.  Because the river does not and cannot hold on to the water.  For the river is wise and knows that the water has already shaped it.  I like to think that the people I meet represent the water in the river and them coming into my life, if even for a brief moment, has shaped me.  I will carry those moments always...oh and those four leaf clovers Kent gave us, and a rock that Jesse found, drilled and put a tube rivet through, from our adventure!  hehehehe ♥ Enter with an open heart... Foothills of Mexico. The great m...

Over the next few days I will post about our journey south of the border to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.  There is so much I would like to share but I just do not know where to begin.   I guess I should start at the beginning, eh?   We went to San Miguel for two reasons the elevation and to visit our friend and artist Jesse Bert .   Waking up in San Miguel was absolutely beautiful.  The temperature was cool, as compared to our New Orleans heat in August, and I was finally taking a much needed break from summer.  There are clouds about but it is rainy season, and there were just sprinkles every now and then, not downpours. View from the roof of our room. First thing we did was EAT!  We ate at this  scrumptious  breakfast place called Cafeteria Los Bisquets.  Yuumm...I can taste it still. Me trying to understand what they were saying! Next thing was to send Sam (my Sweets) off on his running trail.  ...