Are we there yet? PV to Vancouver

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

We got up at 7:30 am with no alarm clock and started doing last minute stuff around the house. We planned to leave at 9 am but didn’t get away until 11:30 am. After saying goodbye to the neighbors, we finally pulled out of the gate, fill up the car with gas and last stop at the Mega for coffee and snacks for the road. It was sad leaving our house in Bucerias but we are excited to do our next adventure. It was a stressful and windy road up to Tepic until we hit the toll road to Mazatlan. We spent over 300 pesos in toll fees to cover about 300 km of toll roads. It was worth the money because the highway is less curvy and smoother. It was around 4 pm when we entered Mazatlan in the state of Sinaloa. My first impression of the town was there were more older cars than around Banderas Bay and more air pollution. Then we hit the waterfront and it was beautiful. The road around the waterfront was lined with hotels and restaurants. It was longer and bigger than Puerto Vallarta. We came down to Paseo Claussen (Ice Box Hill) then headed north towards Los Pinos (the hotels look like the 60’s hotels on Sunset Blvd in LA), then we ended up in the Golden Zone of Playa Gaviotas. Azteca Inn is where we decided to spend the night. It is a nice small hotel with a courtyard and pool in the middle. We like these kinds of hotels when we are traveling because we can park our car in front of our room. We had a swim and met 2 older ladies who are just vacationing while their condo in Puerto Vallarta is being renovated (what a life!). They were very interested in my stories that we ended up like old friends. Dinner was at a beach restaurant called Pancho’s . You have to go through an shopping arcade to get to this restaurant. Food was good and enormous and very reasonable. The town has very little tourists but this restaurant was busy. There was a man doing a fire eating show on the beach right in front of us. I gave him money hoping he will go away because the kerosene fume was killing my appetite. I feel bad for the vendors and the business community. The swine flu media circus has devastated the tourist industry in Mexico. The government and the business community is doing such a good job trying to stop this so called epidemic to the expense of small business owners and employees of the tourist industry. I still have to meet someone who knows someone who has contacted the flu. Its early bedtime tonight and we’ll leave tomorrow when we are ready. Hopefully we will spend the night in Guaymas/San Carlos Bay.


Wednesday, May 20, 2009

I didn’t sleep well last night. There were a couple of mosquitoes hovering around me and they kept me up all night. I plan to come back again and spend more time in Mazatlan. We left early and drove to San Carlos Bay near Guaymas. It was another long drive but quite pleasant. I got a chance to drive this time. Just for 2 hours. I got to use the cruise control. It felt weird. I think the reason that John does not want me to drive is because I’m a much better navigator than him. He gets antsy when we’re approaching directional signs. San Carlos is a nice seaside town mostly visited by Americans. It looks like Beverly Hills with its trimmed palm trees and wide boulevards. It has a sign like the Hollywood sign on a hill. The sea of Cortez is so blue and peaceful and I heard it’s great for fishing. We drove around looking for a hotel for 30 minutes. We settled at a place called Creston Hotel near the beach. It is a simple clean hotel with a pool in the middle. I like this better than last night’s. I slept really well because it rained so hard and there were loud thunders and lightning. I haven’t seen rain for the last six months.
The main road through town is lined with hotels, restaurants and manicured trees. It has a marina at the end and condos farther from the water. However, the town is very quiet as a result of the economic downturn and the flu warning. Dinner was okay at a restaurant called Bananas.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

It feels fresh this morning with the rain last night. We looked for an OXXO store to get our coffee and muffins for the road. San Carlos looks pretty with the morning sun and the streets. Back on the road again, we head to the US border of Nogales. The toll roads make a big difference with driving. They are well maintained and the toll fees are necessary for the upkeep. We paid around 900 pesos ($90 Cdn$) since we started our trip. We reached the border at around 1 pm with no problem. Our car was searched but we went through okay. I felt sorry for the trucks drivers who have to line up for kilometers. The drivers, mostly Mexicans have set up their stools and cooler beside their trucks. It’s a good time to eat and socialize while waiting for their turn to be cleared at the border. I guess you make the best of the situation. We went to the first Wendy’s just outside of Tucson. We don’t eat breakfast or lunch on long drives. We figure we lose daylight hours if we stop and sit down in a restaurant. So we buy yogurt, bananas, and sandwiches and eat as we drive. This way we can stop driving at around 4 pm and rest for the evening. It was another long day of driving so we look for a hotel just before Phoenix on Highway 10. We chose the Inn Suites on West Baseline Rd. The beds are so nice and soft and wireless internet. And the best part of it is there is a huge mall right in front of the hotel. It’s called Arizona Mills. I decided we are staying for 2 nights here since we are really tired. As part of my exercise regime, I need a long walk in the mall for a full day tomorrow. Dinner was at Claim Jumper (chicken pot pie and steak), it was delicious!

May 22 and May 23, Friday, Saturday

We decided to stay an extra night in Tempe Arizona (in front of the mall). You can guess what I did the whole day (shopping what else?) I got frustrated after 4 hours because I haven’t even made it halfway through the mall. I had to go back to the car twice to bring back my loot. The hotel is just across the street but I had to bring the car to the parking lot of the mall so I don’t have to carry my bags from one store to the next. I bought almost anything from chopping board to pot holders to linens to clothes. I was exhausted and a relaxing bath was a great way to end a busy day.

I woke up early on Saturday and went for a jog around the perimeter of the mall (it doesn’t open until 10 am). We had a good breakfast at the hotel (included in the room rate). I don’t know how the hotel makes money. On the road again at 9 am using Highway 10 to Lake Havasu City. This is the water playground for the area. The Colorado River divides California and Arizona. We took this scenic route and stopped at Lake Havasu to see the London Bridge and watch all the girls in their bikinis walk the resort streets. It is Memorial Day weekend so it’s busy and the lake and river is full of campers, seadoos, speedboats etc….After a brief stop, we proceeded to tackle Highway 40 heading west. It’s a long deserted highway (duh! It’s the Mohave Desert). I’m having a terrible headache at this point probably because of the dry heat which I’m not used to. We were listening to a novel by David Baldacci, “Split Second” between our favorite cds and the local commentary on the local radio. Time flies fast this way when you’re driving. I just realized that we were driving parallel to the old “Route 66”. …Flagstaff Arizona don’t forget Wynona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino,…….Right now, Route 66 is sometimes passable and sometimes it just disappears into a dead end and reappears again after a few miles. It became so popular with motorists that it the 1960’s it was a 2500 mile traffic jam so the new bypass interstate highways were built including Highway 40. Most of the small towns became ghost towns after that. We are spending the night in Barstow and a much needed early dinner. We’ll see if we have time to go to the museum tomorrow.


May 24, 2009

This is Sunday morning in Barstow, CA. We grabbed our continental breakfast to go and headed towards Main Street of the town. The buildings are pretty old, kinda 60’s style. This road was part of the Historic Route 66. We connected with Highway 99 and headed for Fresno, CA. It was a very smooth ride until we reached Sacramento (watch for the signs and overpass). We stayed on Hwy 99 and decided to stop in Yuba City. We passed by a lot of orchards (almonds and pistachios). It was pretty going through the orchards instead of the rat race on Highway 5. It was a long drive again today. So I rewarded myself with a bag of pistachio nuts ( a great way to pass the time on a long ride).

May 25, 2009

It’s getting cooler now. I put on my khaki pants and a long sleeve t-shirt for the road. I planned our trip today so we could overnight in Eugene, Oregon. We were contemplating on staying 2 nights in Portland but we just wanted to get home at this point. We checked in at a hotel in Springfield. It was beside the Gateway Mall. It was only 6 pm so I headed to the mall. I bought presents for my daughter hoping she would like them. I’m a little bit light headed because of the long drives so I kept taking Gravol (Dramamine). The problem is I can’t sleep while we’re driving because I’m the navigator, waitress, disc jockey etc. At this point, we were almost finished with the book that we are listening (“Split Second”). We are down to the last 2 cassettes (remember the cassette tapes? Our car actually has one). The plot thickens as the end draws near and it’s quite exciting because we are trying to figure out who is the culprit. We would sometime stop the tape and discuss our own interpretation of the plot.


May 26, 2009

We were quite excited to start the trip today. This is the last leg of our adventure. The trees have turned into pines, maple and everything found in the rainforest. They look so green and fresh and clean. We finished the book. We didn’t guess who did it which made it a really good book. We got to the Canadian border with no problem. It was traffic as usual on Highway one approaching Surrey’s Portman Bridge. Yes, they need to twin the bridge. We traveled from Puerto Vallarta Mexico through five US states without any traffic jam. We hit Canada’s Highway 1 and there is the bumper to bumper traffic. Amazing! It is sunny and warm today. We met Cecily and Anthony to get our keys and we proceeded to our condo. It looked nice and welcoming. We are home at last! Thank you for travelling with us.

Total Mileage: Bucerias, Mexico to North Vancouver BC – 5, 641 kilometers
Total Driving Time: 56 hours
PS. My daughter loved everything I bought her (and some of my stuff too)

One flu over the cuckoo's nest,,,

Hello Everyone,

The recent news of swine flu outbreak emanating from Mexico has prompted a few friends to email me about our condition here in Bucerias, Nayarit. We are doing great and doing our usual routine with extra precaution. The states of Nayarit and Jalisco have no known cases of this flu virus. The Department of Education has suspended all classes until May 6 to keep schoolchildren from being infected (as a precaution). If you are tired of listening to your local Canadian or American news, here is a link to the Bay of Banderas news http://www.banderasnews.com/index.htm. It has different views of this situation. I hope that the WHO will find a vaccine and the flu will stop spreading (as the news say???)

We’ve had a long run at the Adriatico this year. We are still performing but with reduced days to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30 to 10:30 pm. Please call Adriatico at (329) 298-6038 or email at adriatico@adriaticoristorante.com. The food is great, service is attentive and the bar is gorgeous. Don’t forget the band is really good too! I will be heading back to Vancouver towards the end of May. So my last day here at Adriatico would be May 15 (I hope!).

My current band:

Armi Grano-Vocal
Julio Palacio-Keyboard
Javier Nunez/Doug Demeerleer-Bass
Danny Lopez-Drums

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who visited, recommended and supported us throughout this season. It has been a difficult year but your encouragement and company has sustained us through. I’d like to extend a big thank you to all the media members in the Vallarta and Vancouver area for supporting and promoting our show. I also would like to thank all the wonderful musicians who played with me this season, Bill Street, Gerry Palken, Richard Gordon, Eduardo Rubio, Julio Palacio, Doug Demeerleer, Danny Lopez, Javier Nunez and Georgina Enriquez. Muchas Gracias, Hasta Luego!

Saludos,

Armi Grano

Shop till you drop....

April 21, 2009


Dear Everyone,

We just got back from a weekend trip to Guadalajara, a much needed break for me and a little shopping on the side. We decided to use the highway towards Mascota which to our surprise, was a very nice and quiet road. It was windy and it took us about 2 hours to reach Mascota where we had lunch at a café called Napoles. The church in the square was beautiful and so is the town itself. After about an hour, we continued with our driving and headed east on the Highway 90/70 until we reached Ameca. It only took us 2 and half hours and I guess we were already in the outskirts of Guadalajara. The drive was quite pleasant and quiet except when we get to the towns, where they put tons of topes (speed bumps), it’s hard for the car if you don’t slow down. Since it is our first time to drive that way, I studied the map thoroughly and we got to our friend’s house in the Guadalajara Centro with no problem. I had to shop for a dining room set so that was first on our agenda for that day and I found it. Dinner was at the Sirloin Stockade which was quite good.

I woke up early the following day because we were going to Tonala. I was excited! It was a thirty minutes drive from the Centro. We found parking in the market and my eyes were already scoping the hundreds of stalls as we were looking for a parking space. It is a great market, a feast for the eyes. All the artisans display their work and are still working as fast as they can sell their wares. I found everything I wanted in the first hour of shopping. I made a mental note of everything I wanted to buy then we proceeded to walk and look at more stalls! Wow! And everything is cheap and you can bargain too.

We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant beside Kentucky Fried Chicken, it was not good I should have gone to KFC. I was excited to go back to my shopping so the food didn’t really matter to me. I bought huge vases, mirrors, paintings, lamps etc….all for 200 dollars. I was in heaven. I was so happy so I cooked dinner that evening. It was pasta with chicken, yummy. Much better than eating out.

I woke up early again because we are heading back to Bucerias today. But before that, I had to make a trip to the shoe alley which is 3 blocks from my friend’s house. It is about ten blocks of shoe stores. I was getting frustrated at first because I couldn’t find anything that would fit me. In the background, John is impatient. Then voila, I found 2 pairs in one store and another pair in the next store. I was a happy shopper.

We took Highway 15 back to Bucerias. It was a nice toll road which came to about $270 pesos. It went as far as Compostela and then we drove the Highway 200 down the windy road to the coast. I actually liked the Mascota road better and it’s free.

Hasta Luego,
Armi

Down by the riverside....

April 12, 2009

Hello Everyone,

Happy Easter , Feliz Pascua! I am still here in Bucerias and enjoying the mild weather. We attended Easter Mass at the Nuestra Senora la Paz Church which was well attended and I felt lucky to get a seat. Then we had a nice brunch at a Huichol Gallery with their organic freshly roasted coffee…hmmm and the live music of a local latin trio. The beach area is so crowded because of the long Easter weekend and the local tourists have all descended from the inland cities such as Mexico, Leon, Guadalajara. We decided to head towards the road to Mascota and stopped by a roadside seafood restaurant by Rio Mascota. The fresh shrimps and deep fried snapper was a treat! It was interesting to watch the people and children swimming and playing by the river.

We are still playing at Adriatico every Tuesdays through Fridays for an indefinite time so please drop by when you are in town.


Adriatico Ristorante-Galeana and Lazaro Cardenas Streets, Bucerias
Tel 329-298-3820
Armi Grano-Vocals
Julio Palacio-Keyboard
Javier Nunez/Doug Demeerleer-Bass
Danny Lopez-Drums

Thank you for your support!

Ciao!

Not a boring day.......

March 9, 2009

Hola Amigos y Amigas,

It’s John’s birthday today so I got him a cake for breakfast. He just realized that he is one year younger than what he thought he is. So he is extra happy. His cousin Lorena (the hairdresser) is coming in today from Melaque after a 5 hour bus ride. She promised me a really nice haircut and updo for one of my gigs. I can’t wait.

We had a very busy February and early March. Our friends Arlene (we got stuck in the elevator before, remember? ) and her husband Richard visited us. Their holiday went to a bad start because they missed their direct flight to Puerto Vallarta. So they spent the night on a plane going to Mexico City and finally to PV. It was a long day and night for both of them. But all of the stress and confusion disappeared when they arrived at Rancho Banderas on Distilladeras Beach.

The good thing about friends visiting is you get to show them around and I get reacquainted with places and discover new ones. You’ll remember Arlene from when we got stuck in an elevator. I used to work with her so we had a lot of things to talk about. Her biggest achievement this visit is learning how to boogie board. She was quite proficient after a few days.

I’ve met a lot of familiar faces while performing at Adriatico. They visited last year and came back again this year. Some snowbirds are getting ready to go back to their hometowns but hopefully the tourists are still scheduled to come this March and the Easter break in April. With the cold weather and a big dump of snow up north, you would think that people would just pack up and head to the sunny beaches of Mexico. Travel bargains and hotel discounts are everywhere because of the weak economy. I stopped watching television because of all the doom and gloom news. We have a starchoice satellite so we get all the American and Canadian channels. I believe that in due time, everything will find its equilibrium and the economy will start a big recovery. One thing with living in a small community like Bucerias, you are immune to all these news. Everyone is just busy getting their tan and walking on the beach. It’s business as usual. The prices in the grocery stores went up just because the Mexican peso is almost 15 to $1USD. It’s still cheap but I don’t know how the local people can afford to buy some of the groceries. All I know, is I’m going to be shocked with the prices when I do my grocery shopping back in Vancouver.

We are performing at Ritmos in PV on Saturday, March 15 at 7 to 10 pm. We are still performing at Adriatico on Tuesdays thru Fridays. See you at the gig.

Love,
Armi

Strollin' on the Malecon

February 1, 2009

Hola Amigos y Amigas,


It is a holiday weekend here in Mexico, Constitution Day. We were at the Malecon last night with Brian and Diane and it was full of local tourists mostly from Guadalajara and inland cities. There were fireworks display and shows along the boardwalk. Dinner was great at “La Distilleria” and the live Mariachi Band (which Brian had to be a part of, in any capacity). My good friend, Miles Black sent me a song called “Malecon” which I sing with my trio in Adriatico. It is a beautiful song and perfectly depicts the atmosphere of the Malecon.

We visited the Naval Museum in Puerto Vallarta located beside the Los Arcos Amphitheatre. It was very informative and quite a pleasant surprise. There are different artifacts, maps, pictures and miniature replicas of the ships that the Spaniards used to explore the route from east to west. What was surprising to me was a big part of the display and history was about the Philippines. The galleon used the Fort in San Blas as one of their stops. When I was in Acapulco, Philippines was also a big part of the museum of the Fort of San Pedro. They had maps and pictures of the explorers landing in the Philippines. The Philippine islands played a big part in the history of Mexico under the Spanish regime. It was the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade that brought riches to Spain by bringing in spices, tea, silk, from all parts of Asia. The names of explorers are all familiar to me from my high school history such as Legazpi, Villalobos, Magellan etc. It brought a lot of memories to me.

It is Superbowl Sunday today, so the TV is blaring with John and Doug watching the game. January is just a blur for me now. What happened to the time? Why am I so busy? I seriously need a holiday. I think I still don’t know what to do with my unregimented schedule. It’s different when you have a set time to wake up and a place of work to go every morning. I miss my fitness classes at the gym. Instead, I do my pilates (in my room), walk on the beach and around town in the morning or swim in the ocean. Not a bad trade but there is really no timetable to do those things, which really throws off my usual hurried lifestyle. I don’t even have to deal with traffic or bad weather anymore. Speaking of weather, nobody talks about weather here. Everyday is sunny. Some days are just sunnier than others. Sometimes I wish it would rain even just for an hour, just buckets of rain. I wake up early everyday although I don’t go to bed until midnight. It must be the pull of the sunlight outside. I find mornings are good for reading and checking emails. That is, if I decide not to go for my walk. This lifestyle is so new to me that I still don’t know how to slow down. I feel guilty if didn’t do any work during the day. I had to cut down the maid’s cleaning days because John and I clean the house in between her visits.

The tourists are down significantly this year. There are conflicting reports. Some say it is down 40% some say it’s 20%. My observation based on the restaurant crowd is, it is down by about 20%. The budget value restaurants are doing okay and so are the high end ones. The middle of the road eateries and bars are the ones really suffering. As they say, the rich will always have money even in recessionary times. They just have to cut down on their jet fuel consumption.

We are playing four nights at Adriatico (Tuesday to Friday) and on Valentine’s Day. It is getting busier with tourists and regular snowbirds. We will be performing at Cuates y Cuetes on the Playa los Muertos beach (Old Town) on Feb 15 in the evening. Don’t ask me about the time. I guess we will play when everyone is ready.

Hasta Luego!

Love,
Armi

Listen to the birds.....

January 8, 2009

My daughter Cecily and her husband left reluctantly for Vancouver last Sunday. The weather in Vancouver didn’t help much. I think she is already planning her trip back in April. We went boogie boarding in Rancho Banderas which is the perfect beach for this activity. It has big enough waves to push you to the long flat sandy beaches. They call me the BBQBB (Boogie Board Queen of Banderas Bay) LOL!!!!. On their last night, we went to the Malecon in PV and had dinner at the Bubba Gump Restaurant. It was okay and touristy. Then we headed to the Cuban place, La Bodega. It was so packed that it was hard to breathe inside so we decided to take a stroll on the Malecon. It was very lively and busy that evening as it is the last weekend of the Christmas holidays. We stopped for coffee and desert at Roberto’s overlooking the boardwalk and the Xiutla dancers sculpture. It was a great spot for people watching, watching the fireworks and just listening to the waves. It was a very enjoyable evening.

The evenings and early mornings are getting cooler that you almost need a light cardigan. The days are always gorgeous and warm. Yesterday, we visited friends staying at the Grand Mayan and we had a great time floating on the “Lazy River”. They have this manmade pool/river around the complex and you float around in an inner tube. John and Brian had the most fun. Yes, our friend Brian is here with his wife Diane. They love Bucerias and can’t wait to explore it. Diane loves cats so she is the most popular person in our neighborhood. The cats follow her around because she bought tons of cat food and a dish with four compartments. It’s like serving smorgasbord to the cats.

This morning, I was peeling a ripe papaya grown locally while the sunshine is peeking through my kitchen window. I couldn’t resist but admire the orange color of the flesh and when I bite into it, it was so sweet and busting with flavor, it was like tasting sunshine. I closed my eyes while savoring the taste and feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and I could hear birds chirping from my window. God loves me! My poinsettias are healthy and thriving well, they almost look like fake ones. They are indigenous to Mexico and locally called “Noche Buena”.

People ask me what I do all day. And I tell them, I’m always busy. It seems that I spend a lot of my time waiting. Like this morning. I am sitting by the pool doing some computer work and waiting for the maid to finish cleaning the house. I am also waiting for a couple of friends who are visiting from Minnesota and I’m also waiting for the Telmex guy to hook up my phone. The waiting for the telephone guy is another thing, just like waiting for the plumber or the carpenter. The Telmex office told me that they are sending somebody today so I should be home. If the guy doesn’t show up today, he will show up tomorrow. That means I have to be prepared to wait for two days for the telephone guy to show up at my house. So I wait, wait ,wait. In the meantime, I can do some laundry, study some songs, sort my charts and make some salsa and guacamole.

We are playing at Adriatico Ristorante on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7 to 10 pm and we are starting to see old friends and regular “snowbirds”.

Cheers!
Armi

Welcome 2009

January 1, 2009


Dear Friends,

Happy New Year!!! Feliz Ano 2009!!!

It’s hard to believe that today is the first day of 2009. The year 2008 has seen the best and the worst of the global economy but in the end the resiliency of human nature will always prevail. I have to admit that in spite of all the news of doom and gloom, 2008 has been one of the most exciting year for me and my family. Let’s all hope that we will all learn from our mistakes and we should look after our world better for the sake of our future generations.

We are almost settled with our house in Bucerias. There seems to be never ending things to buy. It is very helpful having a car so we can drive around and compare prices. We’ve been to so many stores that sometimes I forget what I was looking for and which store has the best price. I bought a coffee table set at Sam’s and a nice bamboo area rug from Wal-Mart. I bought most of my gift baskets from Costco and all my vases and centerpiece arrangements from a store in PV called Tlaquepaque (named after the shopping town). Waiting for the sub trades is another story. I would get a phone call that the plumber is coming in the morning so we wait all day but no show. The electrician is no better. My dryers are not working properly so I had to dry clothes on a clothesline for weeks now. But when they show up, they are very nice and they fix whatever is necessary.

There is a construction next door to our house and it is both annoying and interesting. The workers start at 6:30 am Pacific time. They said that it is the regulation time. They are building a retaining wall and the workers literally pick up these heavy rocks one by one and pile them up to build the wall. They would mix cement in a small rotating mixer and apply the mixture to hold the rocks together. They dig the trenches with pick and shovel. All of this work under the heat of the sun, and I can tell you, those guys work very hard.

We had a great Christmas with friends and family. My daughter and her husband arrived on Christmas day sans their luggage. With all the icy weather and airport chaos, I am not surprised that they lost their luggage somewhere in Salt Lake City. We had a lovely turkey dinner courtesy of John. It turned out to be the best turkey dinner we ever had and everyone had a great time. I was at the supermarket “Mega” the previous day and was frantically looking for ingredients and trimmings for the dinner. Can you imagine trying to look for rosemary, thyme and sage. I found rosemary (hojas de romero) and thyme (tomillo). No luck with the cranberry sauce. But our friends, Linda and Doug have managed to uncover a can somewhere in their cupboard.

Last Monday, we were in Sayulita and Cecily and Anthony were learning how to surf. It is a lively beach town with gentle waves that is ideal for beginner surfers. I love boogie boarding but I haven’t tried surfing. I don’t know if I can get up on the board before the wave flips me. The Mexican tourists were in full force this week because Christmas is their big holidays. Everyone from the neighboring inland cities descend to Puerto Vallarta to spend their holidays. This is quite a relief as the North American tourists are down significantly. There are a few vacancies in the hotels and the beaches are less crowded. We go to a beach called Distilladeras almost twice a week and it’s the most beautiful beach in the Banderas Bay.

We are still at Adriatico’s every Tuesdays and Wednesdays except last night which was New Year’s Eve. We had a great time at the Café des Artistes ushering the New Year 2009. I’ve never seen a lot of beautiful women in one place and lots of legs everywhere. They got to be the Four Seasons crowd. It was a great evening.

Cheers!

Armi