Allie in the South of Spain

Having an IKEA located not too far from where I live has been bad. Very bad. Granted we are going to be furnishing a new place (hopefully) soon but let´s be honest, when I go there I always end up buying more than what I planned on getting. For me it has become the European version of Target (which is a black hole for money). Last night we went because as members of the IKEA family club Jose received a coupon in the mail for 9 euros off a 90 euro purchase. We went for a rug (which we had seen before and planned on getting) and not much else. But they are smart merchandisers there at IKEA. If you have never been know that you have to walk through the whole store like a maze to get to the check-out. It is IMPOSSIBLE not to find something on the way that you absolutely need (or are able to talk yourself into). Yesterday we ended up with some Christmas serving bowls (since we have none), wrapping supplies (which we will use this year) and some things I rummaged out of the "opportunit...

Jose and I put up our tree already. I know it is early but I just couldn´t wait after we bought the tree itself. I needed to test it out in our space and see how it would look with the few ornaments we have. We definitely need to add to our collection but I can say that what we have so far at least has meaning. We need some fillers but our little tree is looking good. I like that each ornament has a memory attached to it. Growing up my mom would put our school picture in an ornament each year. Soon the tree was full of them and there was not room for much else. I will do this someday with my kids as well. Until then we have our just starting out ornaments which include: -2 little marshmallow snowmen that were Christmas gifts from my mom last year. She said that she walked into Bed, Bath and Deyond and the first thing she saw was them hanging right next to each other which might not be so weird if they didn´t have our names on them. First it is hard to find our names on personali...

Okay so admittedly it sounds from the title of this blog post that Jose likes to sleep commando. This is not true. We both wear jammies to bed. In fact, without central heating you are pretty much forced to wear the least sexy flannel pjs ever when the temperature starts to dip. That being said, Jose is anti wearing pajamas anywhere outside of the house. I am not exactly a proponent of going places inappropriately dressed but occasionally I will be too lazy while taking out the dog in the morning to change into real clothes. This drives Jose crazy. He will put jeans on even if it is 5:00am. This is definitely a cultural thing. Here in Spain the only people that wear house shoes (aka slippers) and pajama/sweat pants outside are gypsies. That is one of the ways you can spot them. They will be outside dressed too casually and are not working out. I have had to adjust. I mean, sometimes who has the energy to put on real pants? Jose has made me promise that in the new apartment I will NOT g...

There is a really cool store here in Seville where they re-sell old furniture. Since we are moving soon and need to furnish our new place, we go every once in a while to take a look around since you never know what you might find. By old furniture, I mean European old (a lot with prices to match), like hundreds of years old. Most of the pieces are huge, wood, imposing. A lot of them are real antiques. Those we usually overlook both for their style and what they cost but we have found some things worth taking home, like a cool wicker chair for our bathroom. Recently we found this piece: I think it used to be the upper part of a writing desk since there is a slat that slides out at the bottom when you have the doors open. I liked the style and plan to use it as a buffet in my dining area. It needs a little work, some sanding and probably some paint and feet to make it a bit taller. I look at this as a challenge. I think I will be able to do this project myself...

After José read my last blog about the Christmas Bucket List he pointed out that none of my plans were that ambitious, that we would quite easily accomplish all of them. Am I to take that as a challenge? If so, accepted. Here are a few things I am adding to the bucket list: 1. Go to the "cabalgata" or parade that happens on the 6th of January in celebration of Los Reyes (the 3 wise men who brought gifts to Jesus). This is the actual day that most people exchange gifts here in Spain. Santa is getting to be a bigger phenomenon here but the Reyes are still very popular. They are the ones who children write to asking for toys. We will need to attend their annual parade where they ride on floats throughout the town tossing gifts, candy, balls, stuffed animals etc. This year I hope not to have to fight any children for what they throw our way. 2. During this holiday season will also be José and my one year wedding anniversary since we were married on December 30th of 20...

One of Jose's good friends is getting married in a few weeks (you might remember my post about us going to bachelor/bachelorette parties a while back). Today as we were wandering around the city center I found the perfect hat to wear. I have mentioned it before but here in Spain a hat or hair piece/decoration is a necessity at weddings. It is an accessory that you wear just like shoes, bags and jewelry. They are part of the style and flair of what you decide to wear. I LOVE THEM! At my wedding in Michigan my sister and mother-in-law both wore them (called tocados in Spanish) and then at my wedding in Spain my sister, mother and aunt wore one as well. Here they are looking gorgeous:     Tocados come in all different styles, colors and sizes here. You usually wear one in a complementary shade to the dress you wear. The tocado (which comes from the word touch) just adds that something extra to your outfit. They are a wonderful accessory and often tim...

We may or may not soon be house poor, at least for a while but I figure when is the best time to have that experience if not when you are young and just married? Doesn't everyone have a tale about just starting out with their spouse and what they had to suffer through? I am sure Jose and I will have a similar story and it is certainly not that I think we will have it as bad as some people. We are still living fairly comfortably but we are going to have to be more conscious of our finances and where our money is going. We are trying to plan for the future. Gasp. In that spirit we are going to be having Christmas on a budget this year (since a lot of our cash flow will be going out in the form of a new apartment, furniture, paint etc., a sacrifice we are more than willing to make). First of all I think Christmas spending can tend to get out of control and we don't even have kids yet. It is our first Christmas being married, we won't be going to visit the family...

Every year for Thanksgiving people like to remember all the things for which they are thankful. There are a whole lot of obvious ones like family, friends, health etc. but this year I am trying to think outside of the box. Sort of. This year I can honestly say that I am thankful for home (in several senses actually, not just the roof over your head idea though that is obviously very important). Here in Spain there is a lot of controversy going on about people being evicted from their homes after being foreclosed on. I see it on the news every day, people who are desperate and have nowhere to go. They are out of work and have been for a while. They have kids or are elderly. It is sad, sad, sad. I am thankful to have a place to live and to have security. Today I was also touched by the thoughts written in one of my new favorite blogs. The author wrote an article about a time in college when her family did not have a home and how it influenced her to become a bl...

After my post yesterday about the raccoon invasion I thought I would take a moment to talk about  my parents and their love for animals in general (since I mentioned the cat door and their nocturnal visitors, I thought I would explain why they have one in the first place). My parents have a problem, though they blame it on each other. They are suckers for animals. Though we always have had pets, they have reached a new level. They have 3 cats right now, none of which were theirs originally. It seems as if cats gravitate to my parents since they know they will be taken in and well loved, treated like kings. First there is Dolce a.k.a. Tubbers or Tubba. He was once my sister's cat who moved in with my parents when he began to have behavioral problems at her apartment. He is enormous. He has no claws since he was an indoor cat until he moved in at the lake. Now, though my sister hates it, he ventures outside and cats around. He looks like he is wearing a tuxedo with his white belly...

Jose recently brought to my attention that there is an invasion currently happening here in Spain. These creatures multiply rapidly, can live in a host of environments and are creepily human-like. All I could think when he told me was, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" What is it that strikes fear into my heart? Well, I will tell you. Raccoons . You might think these little mask faced buggers are cute. I once did too. They are NOT! That is how they suck you in. If you have ever had one caught in your trashcan (which happened ALL the time when I spent summers working at a local park) you have probably experienced them very angry. They hiss and spit like little demons. I imagine they all have rabies and are more than willing to share. Plus they have those creepy little hands. Like a little person. Ugh. Not to mention that they seem to be attracted to me. Jose and I decided last summer to go camping. It was a first for him and I hadn't been in a long t...

When I was growing up my mom was the queen of holiday decorations. Every time a new holiday rolled around, out came the themed cookie jar, cut-outs, window clings, figurines, trees, calendars etc. I was anti-decoration for a while but I must be getting to be more like her every day since I am starting to do the same, bit by bit. I am starting to accumulate my own collection of holiday decorations, some bought and others crafted thanks to the various blogs and websites I follow. Though here in Spain they don't celebrate Thanksgiving it happens to be my favorite holiday of all. I just had to have one little space to remind me of this day bt I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I decided to keep it simple. I chose our glass cabinet so that they doggie doesn't decide to chew on anything while we are at work. Here is a picture though it is a bit hard to see since we are still missing our camera cable and I had to use Jose's phone:     First I printed out the ...

This weekend Jose and I attended a bachelor and bachelorette party respectively. He and a group of about 10 guy friends headed to El Puerto de Santa Maria in Cadiz to spend the night partaking in some low level debauchery. Most of the guys that went are attached (either married or dating) and knowing them I am sure they kept it safe and clean. The girls met up for an Italian feast and a few drinks in Sevilla. Even with the rain we had a great time. One of the things that people tend to do here when celebrating a bachelor/bachelorette party is to dress up the future bride and groom. Often times it is something embarrassing that they have to wear for the whole night. Sometimes everyone in attendance dresses up in a themed costume (once we saw a party dressed as cows). Whatever the case may be, it definitely draws attention to and defines the group as out to have a good time. The bachelor this weekend wore a Where's Waldo costume that Jose and I picked up in Michigan during a after...

Last time I wrote about our apartment I said we were just waiting on the bank to okay our loan. Well, it looks like we may have to wait a much longer time if we continue on the same route we were on. We have run into some problems with getting our mortgage through the bank that we belong to as customers. Though we haven´t lost hope yet, it came as kind of a blow to us and our plans to be moved in by the end of this year. Basically we were given a loan but not the amount that we had asked for. Times are tough here in Spain. Unemployment is close to 25% and here in the south of Spain it is even higher. Banks are being cautious and in our case I would say overly so. We are young, both working, have NO debt and have a pretty good down payment but still don't seem to fit our bank's profile. I have to think that in the U.S. we would not be running into these problems. It is frustrating especially when we see that there are already people living in our brand new building. We are...

I recently read an article in which a woman talks about how her family creates a bucket list during the holidays of the things they think are most important to do, see, eat, visit etc. She says this is a way to accomplish your Christmas goals without getting too stressed out. Though it is still early, I have been thinking a lot about Christmas this year since I won´t be going home to spend it with my family. On the other hand, this will be José and my first year celebrating as husband and wife. We will also be able to be with his family and partake in their traditions. However, it is important to me to begin to create our own as well. So I have decided to take the Christmas Bucket List idea to heart. First I must mention that there is NO way we will have a white Christmas here in the south of Spain, no matter how much dreaming I do. The temperatures do cool off quite a bit but are still too mild for the white stuff. After having spent one holiday season here while we were dating, I c...

This weekend a good friend of José´s grandfather passed away. He had been sick for a while but it is always a hard thing to experience, even as an adult. Three of my grandparents died when I was fairly young. I remember them and their funerals but I am not sure it had the same impact on me as would have been if I had been older. I am very sorry for this friend also because this happened a month before his wedding. It is a sad situation and I am praying for him and his family. José and I traveled to his hometown after work to attend the funeral on Monday. First I was surprised by how quickly they had the mass and burial. All of the funerals I have gone to in the United States were at least a day later, giving people time to plan first. This seemed to me to be quite fast. When we got there I also noticed that there we NO children involved in the mass or burial. As I mentioned, I was pretty young when my grandparents passed and I went to the funerals. Here in Spain the family of the dec...

If we are to gauge the success of a wedding by how terrible you feel the day after, I would say my sister's wedding was a GREAT time. The ceremony was very nice, held in an old theater, with beautiful vows written by the bride and groom. The reception was a blast. The decorations (thank you again Pinterest) were all done by my mother and sister. Crafty ladies. The food was good. The music was rocking (DJ Kurt Russell did a great job) and the bar was open. I have to say that the toasts given by the maid of honor (my other sister Chrissie) and the matron of honor (me) were inspired. Jose and I had a wonderful time and enjoyed having the chance to see people on our short trip home. A wedding is a great way to be able to chat and reconnect with your loved ones, though I am sorry it was only for a few minutes with some people. I am very happy for my sister and new brother-in-law. Their vows were beautiful. They make a great couple, though it is going to ta...

When I was back in Michigan for my sister's wedding, I was lucky enough to be able to cast my vote in the recent election (though I had originally planned on voting absentee). Obviously everyone has an opinion on politics whether it is well informed or not and I am not going to share my own personal views here. (We all know that Facebook is the real venue for spouting off on the state of things in the world and NOT for pictures of parties, your pets and status updates about what you ate today or a ste-by-step breakdown of your daily schedule). Anyway, what I do find interesting is the European/Spanish view of the election and its outcome. This morning I heard that 75% of Europeans were behind President Obama in his bid for re-election. Here in Spain people seem overjoyed. The coverage of the campaigns, voting and outcomes has been INCREDIBLE for me to see, especially coming from a country that seems to really not give a damn about what is happening outside our own political real...

This year Jose and I will be spending our Halloween flying back to Michigan for my sister's wedding. Luckily, though, this weekend we had the opportunity to celebrate a bit when we were invited to a costume party with some friends from work. We didn't want to spend much on our costumes so we worked with what we had around the house. Jose ended up dressing as a nerd. We had a pair of sunglasses that were already broken that I fixed with tape. He wore a super hero t-shirt and shortened up his pants. Then we stuck a bunch of pens in his pocket. Ta-da: Nerdy Jose. Money spent = $0. For my costume, I decided to go as Medusa. I had seen a picture on the internet of someone else whose costume was much more complicated and expensive. I went to the local chino and bought a bag of plastic snakes that I then placed into my teased hair with bobby pins. Then I used some dark eyeliner, threw on a black dress I already had and done. Money spent = $2.00. All in all, we had a great time with ...