Author: Marcia Blondin

Happy Easter, everybody! I hope the Big Bunny leaves you loads of yummy chocolate treats and that your bonnet wins a prize at lunch, and if you are brunching somewhere fabulous, you have tons of mimosas to wash everything down. Traffic is heavy, as is the rule on our narrow streets during any holiday, and…

Angeloo is a twelve-year-old wunderkind, a winner of the So, You Think You Can Rise? talent contest a bit over a year ago. He started out singing at Open Mic at Incanto and can be found around town singing where and when he can. He does have school. His dad Oscar is with him always,…

Humpday, middle of the week, and only a few days left to play with my baby sister Patrice before she flies back to Canada for the summer on Easter Sunday. One of our rituals – and we have created many specific for Mexico – includes the Tuesday tianguis in Coapinole (what a haul yesterday!) and…

The annual MAC Awards (Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) concluded last week in New York City. How fun to read the list of winners and recognize three of them from their performances this season in Vallarta: Nicolas King (Major Artist), Tracy Stark (Best Song), and Natalie Douglas (Major Recording). Previous Mac winners David Sabella…

The Vallarta Botanical Garden is just 20 years old, barely around long enough to raise one good-sized tree, yet it has won every major award possible in our entire continent. Going up against revered Gardens like Butchart’s outside of Victoria on Vancouver Island, which has flourished for over a hundred years. And some pristine Gardens…

Dinner at Il Pesce Cocina de mar has been long overdue and wildly anticipated. As we suspected it would be – everything was perfectly cooked and delivered to the table by expert, caring wait staff. I ordered what I always do – the homemade fettuccini with three kinds of mushrooms and truffle oil. My superlatives…

I am still reeling from Midnight Radio, the benefit held last night at The Palm Cabaret to help Jordon Carnegie recoup expenses due to the cancellation of his blockbuster musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The outpouring of love was almost overwhelming, with every performer in town who was not working last night showing up…

Today is busy, starting with a walk and workout, then Scrabble at Qulture at 12:30, followed by Colina Spay and Neuter Clinic Bingo at Nacho Daddy at 4 pm. Patrice and I will go directly from there to Il Pesce Cocina de mar for dinner with Kevin and Rob at 6, and then the four…

A couple of decades ago, one of the guys who used to walk the Malecon with a bunch of us early in the morning said the only good thing about meat was that it tasted good. Patrice and I climbed the stairs from Guerrero up to Gringo Gulch and around the corner to Hacienda San…

It’s the weekend! That’s actually kinda funny to get excited about, but in our tourist town, we genuinely try our hardest to make every day feel like a weekend. From the look of my schedule, it seems we are quite successful in achieving that goal. On the agenda are Dabit Azofeifa and Ale Matus tonight…

What a lovely concert yesterday at La Catrina Cantina with two old friends, Diego Guerrero and Tonny Kenneth, reviving their show from Incanto. Very close to a full-house enjoyed some original tunes from Tonny, some Spanish language ballads from Diego, and soaring harmonies in a couple of duets that gave me delicious shivers. Then Tonny…

Patrice and I spent hours and very little money at the tianguis at Coapinole. All I need is a lifetime of days off to deal with the amount of sewing projects that are piling up. To give you an example of the bargains, I paid 10 pesos for a new Tommy Bahama men’s shirt. Subsequent…

I finally caught the Burlesque show at Coco Cabaret on what turned out to be their closing night. I had heard it was funny; hilarious is more like it. I also heard it was well done; cleverly brilliant is more to the point. Writers JT Horenstein and Tamale Ringwald teamed up, took the 15-year-old movie…

I am still reeling from last night’s concert, Pop Can, at Nacho Daddy. I expected to hear a bunch of surface moldy-oldies from my Old Country of Canada. What I was not expecting was my fierce reaction to hearing them. What set this concert apart from all others were the anecdotes of the Canadian musicians,…

An American couple stopped me in front of the V399 condo a couple of days ago. I am always happy to help anybody with directions, but this woman said, “I am pretty sure I took a picture of you at Casita and Garden, so, can you hang on a minute?” as she scrolled through hundreds…

I spent a couple of delicious hours yesterday with Diana Frances on the beach for breakfast at Langostinos. With our toes in the sand and Diana’s working vacation rapidly coming to a close, we dissected her Improv workshop and the outstanding presentation made by her five students at the theater at Arte Vallarta. She loved…

Deborah Darr, former Broadway singer and dancer, now dance teacher, painter, and fabulous woman who I adore, and I finally got together over mango smoothies and traffic noise. We traded heart stories for a couple of hours and reluctantly hugged goodbye; a week today, she flies back to Chicago. I will see her again at…

My dear friend, writer Sandra Bradley, and I, could hardly squeeze into Patricia Gawle’s Gallery over the weekend to see new and exciting art exhibits. This large space can barely enclose the explosive energy of a number of painters, sculptors, and sewers. Here’s a problem. That word s-e-w-e-r means two different things, but pronounced like…

Marieann Meringolo had her opening night at Act2PV‘s Casa Karma Red Room. She brought all of her music with her from New York, handed the charts to pianist Mark Hartman, took a rehearsal and launched into their first collaboration. Marieann doesn’t like to perform without her musical director of 25 years, however, Mark and Marieann…