The Art of Dating: Reviving Valentine's Day

While there's nothing better than the intimacy of a committed relationship, it's no secret that monogamy can easily become . . . well, monotonous if a couple isn't willing to pair their love with a little creativity.

Valentine's Day is a great opportunity to reawaken some of the romance than tends to get lost in bills and housework, but believe it or not, even this annual observance of love and romance can become rote and repetitive--something that you have to do in order to keep your relationship strong. Obviously, this sense of "have to" is no good for keeping the spark alive. You want to be excited to spend time with your sweetheart, so changing up the ways in which you celebrate your love is crucial.

Here are a few outside-the-box Valentine's Day ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Your relationship is worth it!

Cute and Quirky

1. Pay a Visit to a Pub

A chain restaurant isn't quite special enough for this special day, but for some couples a nice dinner with expensive drinks is too formal and high-pressure. Never underestimate the power of a pub when it comes to quality classic (and sometimes not so classic--chips and gravy?) comfort food. Not only do many pubs provide great eats and casual-yet-tasty adult beverages, they also have a unique environment that is both foreign and familiar. I always find myself feeling as though I've been transported to the British Isles somehow without ever leaving my couch.

2. Dine In, But Away

It's always a great idea to skip the crowds and cook a romantic meal together, but why not make your dinner in feel like a night out? I don't just mean candles and music . . . I'm talking way out. Like, out of this country. French or Italian cooking might be the romantic go-to, but what about Thai, Greek, or Ethiopian? Transform your low-key night together into an exciting getaway.

3. May I Have This Dance?

Dance. Just do it. Go to a restaurant with live music and have a passionate twirl with your love. If you're not feeling confident enough for that, how about postponing dinner for a salsa or waltz lesson at a dance studio? Still not convinced? Stay home with a custom-made playlist and shuffle along in the dark :-)

Four more unique ways to enjoy Valentine's Day after the jump!

Independence Lake

The houseboat roof was so small I couldn't get my shadow out of the pic!

I know it's a cheesy-as-can-be title, but it never ceases to amaze me how being confined to a slightly claustrophobic floating cereal box in the middle of a body of water can make you feel more free than you've ever been. I just love the Finger Lakes and the time our family has spent on them over the years. I can think of nowhere better to celebrate Independence Day.

The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Josh had come with us :-(

 

 

Some photos of mind-blowing aquatic acrobatics after the jump!!!

"I Joined the Navy to See the World" (Okinawa, Japan)

Cody and his mom's side of the family

This week's Travel Tuesday is very special and a but odd since Josh and I are not the people doing the traveling these days. I'm sure you guessed that I'm not the one who joined the Navy, haha.

My cousin Cody, on the other hand (who I have not seen in over a year), has been on active duty for the US Navy in Okinawa, Japan. Talk about culture shock! I'm sure Europe was nothing compared to what Cody dealt with and will continue to deal with on a daily basis over in Japan. He doesn't even really like sushi from what I remember . . .

Anyway, he is officially home with us for just over three weeks! And just in time for Independence Day!

I wrote about Cody and my other military family members in a post last Fourth of July explaining my feelings on the US military. I took the post down not because it was controversial, but because it wasn't true to my "art and lifestyle" focus of the Nine to Phive blog. Anyway, my conclusion was that while I'll never condone warfare, I genuinely believe it to be a necessary evil.

I am blessed beyond words that there are people in America like my cousin who can handle the pressure of carrying on their shoulders a nation of people who need protection but who so often either forget or refuse to say thank you.

Code, I know you didn't want to go to Japan, but I'm so proud of you for doing your duty with a good attitude and making the best of this big adventure.

It's so good to have you home.

 

 

My dad has an interesting relationship with all of my cousins

Live Well, Dress Well: Fourth Festivities

How to dress for Independence Day is probably never a big question in the minds of today's fashionistas. Some charming but cliche combination of red, white, and blue is sure to do the trick.

But how can one really stand out fashion-wise in the same old shades of red, white, and blue? I mean, we all want to be patriotic, but we don't all want to look like little clones of Uncle Sam. We want to be unique as well, and hopefully (I know I do) we want to be classy.As much as I love Katy Perry and her sense of style, this is not especially classy. Definitely unique, though!

Here's an idea!

How about dressing for what you'll be doing on this day rather than dressing for the day itself?

Here are three sample outfits based on your Fourth of July Festivities.

1. BBQ Cutie

If your plans include a nice family event or any type of get-together where you want to feel a little more feminine and put-together (or want to catch the eye of a certain someone who looks juts great in his board shorts), pairing a high-waisted skirt with nautical stripes is a great way to give off a fun-loving, flirty, and slightly more formal vibe.

Add some girly and glamorous details like a sleek watch, a flower headband, and golden glads. Best to keep the shoes flat to avoid looking a little too dressy. It is a barbecue, after all ;-)

2. All Night Long

No matter how hot the day may be, you'll wish you were layered up if you're planning any type of late-night fireworks-watching escapade followed by partying into the early morning. For one thing, temperatures can plummet in the hours past midnight regardless of daytime highs. For another, bugs can't bite skin that they can't find! So cover up!

Starting with blue jeans and then adding red and white accents such as a quirky printed t-shirt and red heels (I would go with wedges since you'll be on your feet for awhile) is the key to looking party-ready without overdoing the Independence-Day pride. These star earrings are also a subtle and sexy rockstar nod to the American flag. Instead of a hoodie or sweater, bring along a jacket that looks fierce enough to amp up your night-out look.

Pro Tip: Embrace neutral accessories to keep from looking too costumey.

3. I'm On a Boat

My family members are lake people, and we are spending Wednesday afternoon and evening on my uncle's new houseboat!

If your Fourth looks anything like mine, there's bound to be a lot of swimming involved, so try working a retro bathing suit into your boating-day outfit. Layering a fun pattern like polka dots (I would probably avoid stars and stripes) under a drapey tank (or crop top) and distressed shorts is an easy recipe for a fun summer holiday look.

If you're craving a little star-spangled banner, why not just add a cool star bangle like this one? You might want to skip the earrings to avoid losing them in the water! As for shoes, they don't call 'em boat shoes for nothing! Shy away from heels and other non-sturdy numbers if you plan on being on a boat.

P.S. If you're more of a bikini girl, you can make that work, too. Just don't wear a white shirt over that soon-to-be-sopping-wet swimsuit!

 

What are your plans for the Independence Day? I hope I've given you some inspiration for ways to dress for your Fourth festivities.

Playlist for a Rainy Day

Ah, April showers and their empty promises of May flowers. I'm not sure how this month goes down wherever you live, but I know that in Rochester, NY, it is often miserably cold and altogether dreary. I'm talking just downright wet. It seems that whenever it's not raining, it's foggy and misty. What's a fashionista to do? Wear bulky boots everyday, or ruin good shoes in bothersome puddles? Heavy sigh.

When I originally wrote this post, I added at this point that I had managed to escape to Avila for this season's drippy drudgery and therefore I couldn't sympathize with you too awful much. I was not anticipating that the skies would open up and let loose rain, snow, sleet, and hail, making me only dream of the tranquility of April showers in place of this April apocalypse!

I never thought I'd say this, but I actually missed Rochester weather this past weekend.

I mean, is there anything better than a drizzly day to compel you to mix up a Chai latte, make some white-chocolate-drizzled popcorn, and curl up on the couch with your honey for a cuddly movie date? Or maybe just take a nice nap!

Last week all I felt inspired to do was write my will and Skype my family in case I didn't live to see them again . . .

If you don't have this time to spare, I encourage you to let the following playlist be a soundtrack to whatever drudgery you find yourself doing today. Some of these songs will try to cheer you up out of your soggy gloom, and others will merely commiserate with you, but all of them evoke at least one of the many emotions that go along with the dreaded rainy day.

1. "Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson
2. "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" by Credence Clearwater Revival
3. "Crying" by Roy Orbison and K.D. Lang
4. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" by Burt Bacharach
5. "Friday, I'm in Love" by The Cure
6. "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers
7. "November Rain" by Guns 'N' Roses
8. "Roads" Portishead
9. "It Will Rain" by Bruno Mars
10. "Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
11. "Remember When It Rained" by Josh Groban
12. "Brighter Than Sunshine" by Aqualung
13. "Rainy Days and Mondays" by The Carpenters
14. "Little Girl Blue" by Janis Joplin
15. "Rain" by Mika
16. "Waiting for a Girl Like You" by Foreigner
17. "Kentucky Rain" by Elvis Presley
18. "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal
19. "The Blues Are Still Blue" by Belle and Sebastian
20. "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn

Awkward and Awesome Thursday: Eat Your Heart Out

I swear I didn't plan this, but more than half of today's awkwards and awesomes have to do with food. Contrary to what this post may imply, I'm not a fat hog who does nothing but dream about food all day. I promise. If anything, this is a nudge from God for me to stop taking pictures of my Spanish food and make a freaking post about it already.


Awkward:

• Missing the Easter Sunday service because we left the house at the wrong time. Three different times. None of them right.
• Realizing that the muffin I took out of the cupboard was over a month old . . . and eating it anyway.
• All of the Facebook friends who needed to be reassured after seeing this picture of Josh on the internet. It's a European tradition from centuries prior to white supremacy issues in the US. Okay, people?
• How many cookies I eat during a typical breakfast.
• You know how rice and beans are a really stereotypically Spanish food? Stereotypes exist for a reason. Too much fiber!
• The subjunctive verbal mood. Don't know what it is? Yeah, neither does anyone else. But we have to learn it. In Spanish.
• Being told to write a Spanish rap for my Spain Today class.
• My borrowed umbrella going all Mary Poppins on me in the windy rainstorm yesterday.
• Finding out that Kinder is illegal in the United States. How can you make Nutella in solid chocolate and cookie form illegal??? What kind of person are you???

Awesome:

• Talking with Carmen's adorable relatives at Easter Dinner. 
• Holidays mean desserts in Spain, something we don't normally get :-) 
• My friends Bre and Allie live with Colombians and get fruit juice with dinner. Like, pineapple and strawberry banana. So jeally. It's water or coffee for us "Spaniards."
• Tomorrow being Friday the 13th and me not being superstitious :-D
• Celtic Women. Voices of angels and a violinist who is a pure Celtic sprite. Have you seen this girl frolicking about as she fiddles to her heart's content? Makes me miss Ireland.
• So I found this art and design blog, and it is colossal. No, seriously. ThisIsColossal.com
• Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs in our Easter candy package from my mom <3
• Just realized today that with all of the coffee, citrus, and other highly acidic, salty, and/or spicy foods I regularly consume here in Spain, I still have been IC flare-up free for almost two months. Praise God.
• My husband listening to Michael Ball showtunes all day. By himself :-)
• Writing my first article for thalo.com.

Semana Santa en Avila

The above picture from the procession that kicked off the start of the Holy Week celebrations here in Avila gives an accurate representation of where the minds of the majority of Spaniards are come Easter Sunday. They are more focused on the sacrifice of Christ's death than the impact of His resurrection, and they are certainly more concerned with the pain (emotional, I'm assuming) that His mother endured than I have ever been in my Protestant-American life.

Interestingly enough, in the words of one of my dear Spanish professors (translated, of course), "Sunday doesn't mean anything to us except that the parties are over." I'm sure that is not the mindset of every Spaniard, but it seemed as though Sunday came and went just like any other day in Spain.

Below is a video taken the first night of Semana Santa. Compared to processions or parades in the US, this one is very dark and frightening at first glance--it's nighttime, the procession is very slow, and talking is strongly discouraged. Unfortunately, due to the poor lighting, it was very hard to get a good photo of the most interesting hats some of those in the procession were wearing (Click here to see). And if that doesn't freak you out at night, I don't know what will! The explanation is quite simple: these costumes originated in Spain to show an act of penance, but it was employed by another notorious group in the US for different reasons. Despite the "creepiness" factor, I have to say I never seen anything like it, and to experience it in person, was fascinating!

 Comment below to tell me what you think!

Starving Artist: Easter Dinner in Spain

Spain is a Roman Catholic nation. Over 94% of the country's entire population has been baptized into the Catholic church. With such overwhelming church membership, it's only logical that many of these Catholic church-goers are not actual "believers" as much as they are cultural Catholics. Their parents were Catholic as were their parents before them and so on. This being the case, their lives have always been shaped by religious traditions even if whole families today don't have any personal religious convictions.

One example of these such traditions is the menu surrounding religious festivals and holidays. Pictured above is the traditional Good Friday dish called plato unico. This roughly translates in English to "the dish that stands on its own."

In what Catholic tradition does this dish find its roots?

Well, many of you are probably aware that devout Catholics are expected to abstain from eating meat every Friday during Lent. Not ones to let this mean eating less food, the Spaniards created plato unico as a way to fill up without eating meat but also without sacrificing taste. The above dish is chock full of vegetables (spinach), starch (potatoes and rice), and protein (eggs, beans, and fish). Believe me, it is very filling. There's no way you'll still be craving meat after a bowl of this stuff.

But our dinner's not done!

Almost as a break between the meal and dessert, Spaniards often enjoy sweetened fruit as a springtime holiday treat. Yesterday's fare was a bowl of strawberries swimming in orange juice and honey. It was delicious and the first berry I could remember eating for several months. Citrus is much more popular in Spain and is actually in season all winter long.

It would have made sense if this light dish was the extent of dessert following my heaping helping of plato unico, but no . . .

Say "hola" to a nice plateful of torrijas. These sweets are prepared very similarly to the french toast that is so familiar in the United States, but it is served cool and has a much lighter consistency than french toast, making it more like a Spanish variety of bread pudding. These are another traditional Easter food, supposedly developed in convents as a way to simultaneously whip up something special yet cheap for Easter dinner and also to use up leftover stale bread.

The beauty of torrijas is that they can be prepared in so many more imaginative ways than the cliche French toast. Not only have Josh and I tried the traditional egg-and-milk-soaked variety, but we have also been delighted by torrijas soaked in red wine and anise liqueur. The latter may possibly be the most delicious thing I have ever tasted . . . except maybe Mama Thurston's anise biscotti :-)

And just when you think you can't fit one more thing into your oh-so-happy belly, it's time for your post-meal cafe con leche. Don't worry, though. While this picture fails to capture how purely petite this little cup-ette of coffee is, I assure you it won't take up much room.


How was your first traditional Spanish Easter meal? Did you miss the ham and gravy? I, for one, am still too full to even think about what a traditional US dinner would have been like.

What I Wore: Semana Santa

Thrifted blouse, DIY corduroys, Payless boots, vintage earrings

You might recognize this outfit from yesterday's April Fool's post. Clearly the only fool here is me, haha. I do hope, however, that the pictures that made it into this post are a little less foolish and mostly just cute. Josh is always telling me to have more fun in photo shoots. I get so intense! For some reason smiling is a very rare thing for me in front of the camera. When you see my latest fashion shoot, you'll understand what I mean.

To compliment my fun-loving smile, I opted for simple and conservative, yet light and cheery on this Monday of Holy Week, the week preceding Easter Sunday which the Spanish call Semana Santa. So far we've been to two very interesting religious processions which were very much alike--as all of them are, apparently--but I don't want to say to much about that because we have a great video and plenty of photos coming up later in the week.

Don't forget about Nine to Phive's Spring Giveaway! It couldn't be easier to win a gift card to the incredibly versatile store, Hobby Lobby.

You can never see the earrings in the wide shots, so here ya go!

Nine to Phive Bloopers 2012

Okay...so maybe not this one

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that for every great outfit shot or high-fashion image on Nine to Phive, there are a handful of castoff photos that do not see the light of day (and for good reason!) Well, in honor of April Fool's Day, a few of these goof-ups are hitting the worldwide web for everyone to enjoy.

Some of these you will remember, and some of them won't ring a bell at all because they are special sneak previews of posts yet to come. But don't let that scare you away! I promise the pictures from the "actual" posts look much better--well, mostly.

Josh pretending to be hair and makeup on my photo shoot

Why did I think I could do an outfit shoot in athletic shoes?

The wind in Avila is no friend to a girl's hair

Or in Galway . . .

Angst to the max in Frumpy Fresh

When Josh tells me to just have fun with posing, sometimes the results are less than attractive.

 Was I supposed to laugh, or was I laughing at the silly hat? You'll never know. First High-Fashion Shoot Part 3

Sweet dreams in First High-Fashion Shoot Part 1

And just a little something to keep you awake at night . . . in Segovia.

"Let's Have a Carnival" (Avila)

 

We are en carnaval here in Avila!

Carnivals are an age-old Spanish tradition which basically embody the sentiment "We haven't had a legitimate holiday to celebrate in a couple of weeks. Let's throw a carnival!" In this case, we find ourselves in the dull slump between Christmas and Easter. The Spaniards won't have any of it. They declare a carnival, dress up in ridiculous costumes, dance in the streets, eat fried food, and stay up all night drinking. We excused ourselves for that bit . . .

 

The costumes were all so creative. Children and adults alike were completely decked out. Some in very authentic-looking store-bought ensembles, and others in adorably resourceful homemade outfits.

I have to admit, when I heard that there was going to be a parade, I didn't realize that everyone--regardless of whether or not they were in the parade--would be dressed up. I wish I had taken another peek at this post and fit right in!

Speaking of not fitting in, I was dancing all by myself in the plaza to music that was blaring so loudly that I simply do not understand why no one else would dance!

The music was so interesting. The traditional Spanish tracks they played at first sounded like a cross between and African war dance and a Celtic wedding march. It was so invigorating. Then they proceeded to play heavy bass American dance anthems whose lyrics were to trashy to be popular in the US. This is the part where I started to dance. I couldn't justify listening to songs like "I Got a Hangover" without convincing myself that I only liked it for the beat.

An "Occupy Europe" group. No kidding. They had Guy Fawkes masks and everything.

Nothing sells touristy crap like a horse head

This man was dancing with his granddaughter onstage. She got so confused when she saw that everyone was watching her!

After the parade, everyone crammed into an area that is called the Mercado Chico ("little market"). As you may guess, "little" signifies that it is probably not meant for hundreds of rowdy party-goers of all ages. I really get the impression that the Spanish like to be crowded. It makes everything seem more festive--like more of a community. As an extrovert who draws most of her energy just by occupying the same space as other human beings, I definitely understand.

Even though it had been sunny and warm for most of the day, as night fell, we again felt the nip of Avila's winter. Josh, Kristen, Ariana and I slipped into a cafe to warm up and then retreated back to our respective apartments to be lulled asleep by the songs of drunken teenagers.

Hopefully the local Easter festivities are a little more organized ;-)

Darn kids dressed as LMFAO wouldn't stop moving . . .

This guy's hair was visible from everywhere . . . I think this pic is hilarious!