Day 22: Family Bonding Day! Cuuuute!!

Upon arriving home from school for comida, I was greeted with the idea of going to the Factory (outlet mall) this afternoon on the one condition that I made cupcakes before it was time to leave. Haha! I quickly ate up and got to work making my masterpieces. I have to admit, it's been since Christmas time since I made cupcakes (after you have a Gigi's or a Bloom, they're just not the same...), but mi madre went all the way to the store to find magdalena molds and everybody was pretty damn excited to try these mysterious "cupcakes." This word does not exist in Spain, so they kept trying to call them "Moo-fins," to which mi padre would quickly inform the perpetrator that, according to my blog, "moo-fins" and "cupcakes" were nothing the same and in fact were in an ongoing fight against one another. Hahaha. So cute.

After I successfully filled the house with the sumptuous aroma of freshly baked chocolate cupcakes, we piled in the car and headed towards the outlet mall. I'm used to open-air outlet malls that are kinda crappy but have good deals. This one, however, was in a very chic sort of mall and quite nice. Maria and I split off from Cruz and Jesus and basically made a beeline for Desigual. Hell. Yes.

We scoured the place and tried on piles of clothing and got input from Cruz, too! Needless to say, Maria and I both left with a bag full of goodies and met up with Cruz and Jesus, who informed us that there was a deal on fake Chucks a few stores down. Maria and I both picked out bright yellow ones and deemed ourselves "shoe sisters" - hee hee. They were my little treat for the day and I thought it was adorable they bought me yellow shoes! <3 I adore mi famila so so much. Maria got me eye shadow and nail polish too a few stores down.

Jesus was doing a little shopping, too... hee hee hee...

After shopping we stopped and got tapas to tide us over 'til dinner. We went home for a quick change into our new outfits and quickly left to celebrate Jorge's birthday! Aww! It was an adorable family affair - hee hee. Below is a pic of Jorge with his new Ray Ban sunglasses he got for his birthday...

FAMILY PHOTO - AWWWW!!! <3 I wonder which one is the American... oh, wait... that's pretty darn obvious... >_<

Maria, Me & Jesus! CUTE!

When we got home, everybody waited for me in the living room to frost and sprinkle the cupcakes so they could try them. Here's how they turned out:

Cruz eating her cupcake...

Jesus' cupcake vanished in about five seconds...

I realize sharing my love of cupcakes with mi familia is a pretty major thing. I mean, most Europeans don't even know what cupcakes are, much less have tried them from a professional cupcake lover's own Pillsbury Funfetti mix! But still -- this is one of those rare cases in which I feel even a bajillion cupcakes aren't enough to express my gratitude to mi familia for taking me to the factory (iloveshoppingomg) and buying me little treats (aww!! <3) and taking me with them to Jorge's birthday dinner (cute!) and making me giggle (not that this is a hard thing to do... but they genuinely seem to enjoy my giggle and that makes me happy) and being patient with my Spanish when I get all in a a confused tither(damn)  and being way cooler than the other familias and joking with me when I leave at night that they'll "probably just see me tomorrow, then" (cuz it's so true) and making really yummy food (forreal) and judging the awful fashion sense of the news anchors (it's hilarious and makes the news interesting) and reading my blog (that's so sweet) and folding my underwear (I still think that's weird, but I bet the first time I do laundry and have to put away my own underwear, I'll fold them just to feel like I'm back here)  and.... damn. I <3 living with them.

I'm looking forward to my next random family bonding day -- but til then I know a million more adventures await! YAY!


XOXO
Jet-set Cupcake

Day 21: The Two Cultured Girls and a Fiesta

Our last day in Asturias and Megan and I were the only two "cultured girls" who cared to take a historical tour of the city of Comillas in Cantabria rather than laze around on the beach pretending to tan for a few hours. We're THAT classy - lol. A few pics of our afternoon:

Statue in an old cemetery -- pretty sure this is the angel of death or something similar?

Megan getting her picture taken amidst the gorgeous hydrangeas.

Group picture of Danielle, Me, Megan and Cristina - our directors and us girls.

Camino de Santiago! I totally wrote an essay on this last semester! Sweet! It's the third biggest pilgrimage in the world!

My first, real life GAUDI! <3!! "Vicky, Christina Barcelona," anybody??

Fausto asked for a pic of the two "cultured girls." Hee hee.

The bus ride was long. I got bored. Hence, this photo.

Upon returning to Alcala, did I sleep? Did I rest my weary feet? Did I take a much needed shower? Of course not. I left straight for Torrejon to meet up with L and check out the big fair!!

It was a hoot and a half and it was hilarious to see rides I new well sprinkled with rides and games that screamed "You're in SPAIN, Bi*ch!!" For example - the bull ride which tries to throw you off to the beat of the music. It's hilarious to watch and I almost peed my pants watching the tiny kids get thrown from the bull and their moms and dads trying to grab them but falling off as well. Hee hee hee.

XOXO

Jet-set Cupcake

Day 20: "Going Dora Explorer up in this Bi*ch"

{[( I iz exHAUsted. Therefore, this entry will mostly be a photographic account of my Saturday in Asturias. Phew! )]}

I'm not gonna lie; I wanted nothing to do with waking up. I somehow made it to the bus and passed out. So when I woke up and we ended up on top of a mountain, I was not enthused. Mountains = Hiking ...and... Hiking = Being Awake. BUT, after about five minutes I realized sleep could wait. There were copious amounts of cows everywhere you turned (and, in turn, cow pies – yum), lush greenery abound, sweet little perfectly turquoise lakes and clouds touching the peaks. I've never claimed to be much of a nature enthusiast, but this was honestly breathtaking.

 

 It's a Mine! OMG!

 It's a cow! Thumbs up!

 Bunches of Stairs! Woohoo!

We ran through a mine, galloped up mountains, listened to Ryan sing, “The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music,” took a million pictures and tried to see how close we could get to the cows before they tried to charge at us. Amazing.

 Hooters Girl stance - you're doin' it right!

 Prettttttty!

 Madre Mia, we're just so attractive. Gotta love the wind-blown look!

 Skipping along. . .

 Tra la la!!

 Um, I <3 this picture!

 Artsy? I tried...

A few hours later, as we drove back down the mountain, we saw sheep (two black ones, too, but no pink ones – lol), sheepdogs (adorable!), horses in the middle of the road and about a million more cows. Hee hee. So cute. If I were an animal, I'd love to live here!

 It looked like all of the cows had just gotten off their tour bus and were ready to take some pictures!! Haha!

 Sheep Dogs and the token Black Sheep! Awww!!

 Amazing.

Next it was off to a crazy cathedral and a little church build inside a cave on the side of a huge rock. Oh, Covadonga cathedral... you're awesome (thanks, L). Covadonga is (apparently?) the name of the Saint patron of Asturias, the Virgin of Covadonga... at least according to some sources. These facts have yet to have been checked out for validity. ;) Haha.

 Gorgeous Cathedral.

 Cueva (cave).

 MY FAVORITE PICTURE SO FAR OF SPAIN. (It's currently my desktop picture.)

 Majestic!

Next it was off to a tiny town on the ocean -- Ribadesella -- for lunch and free time. A few of us decided to take a hike up to a little old church on the top of a mini mountain and then Megan and I wandered the streets. We got a smoothie and I bought shoes. YAY SHOES!

 So much wind! And Ocean! Yay!

 *Ocean*

 The girls sitting on a cannon - hahaha.

 Yay! I <3 Andy!

 These flowers are stunning!

*PAUSE* UM... I ADORED this little horse. He stared down at us as we were walking along a path and he just kinda stood there, gazing as if he were some secret, wise wizard and was wishing us a peaceful and prosperous journey.  <3

Looks like pictures from an equine-loving "Pushing Daisies." HAHAHA!! ^_^

 *More Ocean*

 Chocolate Raptor Walk?! o_O I think so!

 "We're going Dora Explorer up in the Bi*ch!" - Megan

I got cute, pink sandals that are "very Spanish." Yay! ^_^

Vegetation NOT growing in your boat -- you're going it wrong, Red Boat.

I'm sure there's plenty more that I'm forgetting, but jeeze louise! All this traveling business is exhausting! Time for this little cupcake to go to sleep!

XOXO

Jet-set Cupcake