Amazon Kindle

My husband, along with virtually his entire family, loves and - more importantly - understands electronics. This is perfect for me because I enjoy having things that make life easier but I have no idea what is out there, much less where to buy it or how to set it up. This is also great for me because it means that I tend to receive amazing, technologically advanced gifts that I never even knew existed. I am quite spoiled in this regard. Although there are quite a few things that I could put in that category (my iPod, laptop and cell phone to name a few...) I need to shed light on one item in particular because I think that expats are really missing out on this delightful piece of technology. The Amazon Kindle.

My 1st generation Kindle

My Kindle was a Christmas gift from my in-laws in 2008 when I was still commuting to work on the train everyday. The Kindle is a product of Amazon (there are others out there by Sony and other companies) that wirelessly downloads books, magazines and newpapers from anywhere in the US in under 60 seconds. The newer versions of the Kindle offer 3G global coverage, making it even more appealing to expats the coverage is good in over 100 countries, and holds a longer charge (up to 1 week of reading on one full charge) than the previous models. This is especially good for those multi-day flights or for the backpacker who won't be near a power source for days on end. There are literally hundreds of thousands of titles to choose from with more titles being added every day. The Kindle also has the ability to connect to your computer using a USB cable for people like me who have the older version and live outside of the country. The device itself is lightweight and easy to use - especially easy on the eyes. The screen reminds me of an Etch-a-Sketch, that matte finish screen that makes the text really easy to read. Oh Kindle, here are the reasons I love thee:

1. For my former commute, I didn't have to carry an enormous book with me on the train.
2. It is small enough to keep in my purse all the time for things like waiting at the doctor's office, taking a lunch break or sitting at a cafe.
3. Before we moved to Buenos Aires, we lived in a relatively small apartment where we barely had enough space for our own things, much less the space to store all of the book that I read.
4. Now that we live in Bs. As. it is hard to find English bookstores that carry the titles I want. Not an issue when you have a Kindle.
5. When I'm out of the loop with regard to current good books, I can go onto the New York Times bestseller list straight from the Kindle. Not only that - but you can download a "sample" of a book before you buy it for no cost!

The downside of the Kindle is that it's not cheap. You pay one price for the device (unless you get it as a gift - thank you Thom and Lornie!) and then pay separately for each book that you download. The book prices vary, but the most expensive I've seen is $9.99 for a new release hardback NYTimes bestseller. Not too bad if you consider that most of those books on the shelf are < $20.00 when they first come out. I have been stopped on the street, on the train and by people in stores to ask if I like the Kindle and my answer is always an overwhelming YES. If you are thinking about getting one for yourself or as a gift for someone else don't think twice. They will love it.

Mother's Day Extravaganza

Happy American Mother's Day! I never really thought about it, but Mother's Day is not the same day in all countries. In Argentina, Mother's Day is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday in October, which makes sense if you want to keep the whole springtime feel of Mother's Day in May. Yes, October is Argentina's spring - since it's located in the lower hemisphere the seasons are opposite. This is a fact that messes with my head - I had no idea the impact that weather has on my sense of time.
So, this Mother's Day weekend was spent with some of my favorite people, doing all sorts of fun, springtime things. (The picture to the left is me and my mom in 2008 at our wedding rehearsal.)



On Friday, my mom and I joined my friend Julie, her mom and her beautiful baby Caden on a trip to the Waterfront in Alexandria. I have to say that I really miss living close to Washington, DC - there are so many beautiful and historic places to visit. Old town Alexandria is also home to the restaurant I took Jon to for Valentine's Day 1996, Chart House. A girlfriend and I decided we would treat our guys to dinner Sadie-Hawkins-style. This was way before credit cards and I had no idea the price range of the restaurant, so I was sweating the fact that I didn't have a whole lot of cash with me. This is the first time I've been back to the restaurant since, and I have to say, it's a great location. We had a lovely time, we'll have to go back there one of these days.

On this day, we all met Julie's husband Dan for lunch and then walked down to the water to enjoy the view and the day, both of which were pretty great. I was lucky get to spend some quality time with baby Caden, who has changed pretty dramatically since I last saw him. (Picture on the left: Caden David before I moved to Argentina. Picture on the right: Baby-blue-eyes himself 6-months later.) It is an amazing reminder as to how fast time flies to look at how much a baby changes in 6 months. I just love his fair hair and blue eyes, not to mention that they make him a total head-turner. Julie has complete strangers come up to her to compliment her on a beautiful baby. He was such a good boy the whole day we were in Alexandria, and I even got to be in a few photos with the little chick-magnet.

Happy Mother's Day to beautiful new mom Julie, who is doing an amazing job.

On Saturday, my newly-engaged friend Sarah (Congratulations!) came to visit and we got to look at some gorgeous wedding dresses. I won't give away any of the details, but I have no doubt Sarah will look amazing in whatever she chooses.
We are all so happy for Sarah and Josh!

Saturday night I had the rare treat of actually having family AND friends together in one place on Saturday night, my parents and I met up with Sarah, Julie, Julie's mom and her younger sister for dinner. I went to school out of state, so it is extremely rare for our families to be able to mingle, I am so glad that the night worked out. Now that Sarah, Julie and I all live in different cities (and countries...) it is also becoming more rare for us to all be together - so this was truly a treat for me to have two of my best friends together, and to have my parents there too was a great added bonus! Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, it was 50 degrees outside, but we made good use of the blankets the restaurant provided us and we braved it out on the patio of The Clifton Store.

As for Mother's Day itself, we had a nice dinner and dessert at home, just the way we like it. My years of restaurant experience have trained me to loath going out to dinner on Mother's Day and Valentine's Day - dinner at home is much more relaxing. It was a great day, weekend and reunion of many people that I haven't seen in a while. I can't wait for more reunions to take place later this week when my youngest brother Robbie comes home from college and I head up to New Jersey to visit first-time-homeowners Kristen and Chip.

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful Mom!

Argentine Import Ban

Tonight I received an email from my friend Heather (thanks Heather!) with the big news that my familiar Bs.As. grocery stores are going to look a little less familiar come June 1st. Argentina is officially banning the importation of products that have a "Made in Argentina" alternative. Say What?! Any product that is has a similar cousin that is made in Argentina will no longer be offered in our local grocery stores. Some of the items that this article pinpoints are Pringles, Tabasco sauce, Jif peanut butter and Philadelphia cream cheese. The only item on that list that I'm really worried about is the cream cheese because I have yet to identify an alternative and it goes into a number of my go-to appetizers.

The original article in the Argentine Post refers to a ban on such things as Italian imported pastas and Spanish prosciutto. This is wild, considering that in the US the international food aisle is the recent popular hot spot of shopping - even if there are items in that aisle that are also produced by local distribution plants. It doesn't say much about these equivalent products, if the government has to mandate that there cannot be any competition. What would we do without authentic Italian/Asian/Mexican cuisine? I guess I'll find out. My suitcases may be a little more full now when I return from the US...

Philly 10-Miler

My second order of business was to participate in the 2010 Blue Cross Broad Street Run, a 10-mile run down Philadelphia's Broad Street. You may remember from my Training Day post, this is the second year in a row that I have participated with our friends from Virginia Tech. Since Jon wasn't with me this year, I drove up to Philly with our friend Rick and stayed with our gracious hosts, the Mayes's. It was a really nice time, I got to see two of our friend's little rascals, like Harper Mayes (pictured to the right with her beautiful mom Kelli), who was just a peanut the last time I saw her and Leighton Hill (pictured to the left, with her georgous glowing mom Kelly - who is now expecting another little girl!) who is a mini grown up now. We had a great carbo-load dinner on Saturday night and then went to bed pretty early to prepare for the 8:30am race time.

The race took place Sunday morning, and due to the crazy last-minute-madness of last year we left at 6:30am to get to the starting line in time which translated to a 5:30am wake-up call. We were all hoping for a nice day after last year's rainy race day, but we got a little more than we asked for when the Weather Channel called for record heat in Philly. We got to the race with a few minutes to spare, even after we fared the insane port-o-potty lines. There were 30,000 people registered for the race, so it takes a while to get to the starting line. The nice thing is that your race time is recorded based off of a chip in the race bib provided in the race packets, so there is no huge rush to cross the starting line. At the time that we crossed the starting line, it felt like it was about 80 degrees with 75% humidity, it was miserable. Philly did a great job of accommodating the heat by setting up extra drink stands and opening many of the fire hydrants along the race so that we could run through the mist, which was nothing short of a godsend. Everyone finished the race, even though it was much more difficult than last year, and I am proud to say that I ran the entire race. I didn't beat my time from last year, but I came respectably close (somewhere around 6,040-something's place). It was so hot that we didn't take the time to pose for a group photo, but I got a few shots with Chip and Rick and a few more at our tailgate. We had a great time hanging out, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that cold drizzle beats 90 degree heat. I'm happy to say that I finished the race, and I am proud of all of our friends that trained, ran and finished too. It's a real feel good weekend - although I'm still having trouble walking because my legs are so sore. Until next year's ten-miler...

Adieu, Mme Verret!

My first order of business when I arrived back in the US, was to head back to my previous place of employment, Patton Boggs LLP. I worked in the Human Resources Department of Patton Boggs for just under 3 years before we relocated to Buenos Aires and as much as I love having time to explore our new city and write this blog, I definitely miss my job. It was great to see everyone, but my main reason for heading to the city was to bid farewell to my previous boss, Louise Verret. Louise has a special place in my heart for several reasons, the most obvious of which is because she gave me a chance in the world of HR when I was interesting to leave the restaurant business. She went on a hunch and my word that I would work well in HR, and gave me an opportunity to prove this. What I didn't expect was to become such great friends with my new boss, although this was a great perk for me. The picture to the left is Louise and I at our wedding back in 2008, she and her husband John were real troopers through the 100+ degree heat.

Louise started with Patton Boggs as a secretary and worked her way up through the years to end up as a Personnel Director at the Firm. After almost 40 years, she retired on Friday, to spend time with her husband traveling and gardening. My hope is that her travels will lead her to South America, namely, Buenos Aires at some point soon.

My Mom and I met Louise and Joann (one of my more recent bosses) in Georgetown at a new restaurant called Ris. This is a new addition since I have left DC, and I think it's a great new place. The menu is small, but there are some interesting dishes and everything that we ordered was delicious. We sat outside on a beautiful Friday afternoon with the only disturbances being the multiple ambulances headed to George Washington Hospital during our meal. Here is my tiny French-Canadian boss with her farewell lunch, a "Fred Flintstone" lamb shank that was about the size of her head. Our lunch was great, filled with reminiscing and stories of Louise's future travels. It was wonderful to see Louise, and all of my other ex-coworkers at the Firm. I owe a lot to Louise and was glad that I could make it in time to see her off on her last day. Good luck Louise! You will certainly be missed!