Family

Last week my dad turned 60 and we had the honor of hosting 20+ friends and family that flew in for a week of fiesta and fun. Being a wedding planner, I see lots of groups coming through town and living it up in general revelry, so being on the reveling side of things was a particular treat and joy, especially because we were all celebrating my amazing father.

How cool is this?  My favorite shop in town has teamed up with my favorite kid to showcase her art.  Astrid Vanya Dea-Sherman's exhibition of her "Bird" series of paintings is now showing in Sayulita's own Revolución del Sueño boutique.  The series of seven paintings feature a stylized bird character in bright solid colors with stark black outlines.  The images are rendered in acrylic paint on slabs of salvage wood found on nearby Litibu beach. 

If you're looking to improve your Spanish skills, reading children's books en español is a great way to expand your vocabulary and language comprehension. Kids' books are generally succinct, clear in their wording, highly descriptive, and accompanied by illustrations that explain what's happening, mas o menos. Bilingual books, with text in both Spanish and English, make it easy to "look up" unknown words, but with some basic Spanish knowledge and the context of story and pictures, even a Spanish-only kid's book is generally grasp-able.

Moving to Sayulita was the realization of a major dream for us, way back (almost-five-years-ago!) when. A dream of forging a new life, away from the rat race, in a place where we would have context, have a chance to offer something of ourselves to a growing community, and - most importantly - find more time for each other, the family we wanted to grow, and the ongoing pursuit of dreams.

D-I-Y is all the rage in weddings these days -- little crafty details created with love in lieu of store-bought décor and favors. My wedding group last week put an original spin on the Do-It-Yourself trend by spending one of their vacation days volunteering at Costa Verde International School and the public Kindergarten.

Vallarta nightlife, a phrase that conjures up images of foam parties, sky lounges, and... dance theater? Having an aversion towards driving on highway 200 at night, my impressions of Puerto Vallarta are skewed toward the daytime, and my days there are mostly filled with running errands, shopping, and (lately) Ameca bridge traffic.

October - it sneaks up on me each year. September always seems so slooooow, with its hot hot heat, rains, and sparse times. Septi-hambre, the locals call it. Some days it seems like September might drag on forever - some years, more so than ever. Then suddenly autumn has arrived. The sun is shining, the rains have tapered off, the ocean is clearing up, and - could it be? - it feels a degree or two cooler.

This "Back to School" week marked the beginning of Costa Verde International School's third year in operation. With a new directorial team at the helm, four new teachers on board and a host of other changes and new programs, the CVIS team is excited about the year to come. I stopped by last week before school started to chat with new Academic Director Julie Brenninkmeyer about what's in store for the CVIS community this year.