Author: Marcia Blondin

Happy Monday, Happy March and to the hundreds of friends who took the time to comment on my February 28 thank-you note/love letter to Vallarta on my 35th anniversary of moving to Mexico, thank you. The only negative consequence of living in Vallarta is that time passes in ‘Vacation Mode.’ Two weeks sitting behind your…

”Robert Will Show You the Door,” opened last night in the tiny theatre at Art Vallarta. The stage could hardly contain the number of characters that sprang from this one-woman show that goes from here to London, England. Starting with the unmistakably New York accent and bouncing through various inner-city barrios with lightning speed and…

A quiet triumph occurred last night at the International Friendship Club’s meeting space when my friend Elena Hiatt Houlihan presented her book, ”An Unrealistic Life.” This project, 20 years in the making, and Elena’s entire life pushing against the mainstream, has become a fabulous testament of a woman saying ‘no’ to convention and ‘bring it!’…

This gorgeous, still cool morning follows on the heels of one of my dearest friends’ 75th birthday party last night. Garbo’s Piano Bar on Pulpito was packed with friends and well-wishers as we hugged, patted, squeezed, and piled love on Jan Dorland. Jan’s partner of over 20 years, Rob Burton, orchestrated the festivities with their…

I left my house yesterday to meet a dear friend for brunch and to pay my water bill. I hunted for an unmolested OXXO and found three still standing, unburned, and barricaded from within; lights on, and nobody home. I passed a torched OXXO and an equally destroyed Kiosko across the street, both on Morelos.…

I caught Brian’s show a year ago at the newly opened Coco Cabaret and was happy to see him once again this season. There was a noticeable change this year, however — Brian is in love with a Canadian he met on a Vallarta Beach a year ago, and he is so very happy. The…

In my shower last night, I looked down at pitch-black water sluicing over the white bathtub from my feet. I had, like the rest of the population, not been out of the house. I realized it was oily soot that had settled on my patio from at least three separate fires close to the Church,…

We sat in the gazebo at the River Cafe, had lunch, and talked for a good two hours. We couldn’t come to a consensus on when it was the last time we sat across from one another, but maybe 10 years? Christopher Riordan looked good. To me, he has always looked the same, a dancer’s…

It is so cold this morning, I can’t open my windows yet, and it’s nearly 8 am! Nice to be back with typical February weather, and I must say, I am looking forward to summer and some humidity – my cheeks crack from the dry air every time I smile! I smiled a lot yesterday,…

It’s Ash Wednesday, and you will see dozens of Catholics today with smudges on their foreheads. Forty days from now, Vallarta will be overrun with Easter celebrants for Semana Santa, mixed in with Spring Breakers. It is always a joyful chaos. This is also a warning: go shopping NOW and stock up on the stuff…

Round Two in the quest to find a suitable hunk to represent Vallarta for the coming year was completed yesterday afternoon at Coco Cabaret. We did our part, ogled, cheered for our faves, clapped, screamed between mouthfuls of popcorn, and drank several martinis in an hour. It’s the enormous stress. Waleska promoted her Madonna Tribute,…

The new Rio Cuale Wellness Center in El Caloso was inaugurated last Friday with Cuban food, drinks, dance, live music, and an exhibition of the works of painter Rogelio Perez. Lots of happy people trekked up the stairs and enjoyed the quartet and the spontaneous crush of people doing what Vallarta does best – play.…

They got married here on the beach in Vallarta eight years ago, and the city has captured their combined hearts, becoming one of their favorite places in the world to perform. Every season, they bring us a new show, with this year devoted to Knights of the Realm, and a Dame or two. ”To Sirs…

The First Annual Puppy Love Pet Parade took place yesterday at Parque Lazaro Cardenas. Thanks go to organizer Jeff Wilkie, a load of volunteers, sponsors, and to all the moms and dads of the critters that took part, take a bow(wow). On Sunday, February 15, the upstairs stage at Nacho Daddy becomes the setting for…

Between Mr Vallarta’s 12 contestants and the Gay Mixer at Studs, and my two lovely dates for the Botanical Garden for lunch yesterday, I am properly sated for now. A young, coffee-colored Cuban, Ricardo, won the ‘Most Popular/People’s Choice’ vote at Round One of the Fourth Annual Mr Vallarta contest that took place Monday at…

Robert Ryan was born in Rhode Island a while back, and Mary Porter in North Carolina, also some time ago. Their biggest connection to one another is singing professionally back in their day, but enjoying themselves more now, doing just that in the second half of their lives. They met here in Puerto Vallarta, and…

So, if you don’t play Scrabble for 11 weeks in a row, what do you get? A blockbuster, that’s what. Instead of playing Scrabble, Sharon Gerber Scherer, devoted all her waking hours to producing a Broadway Musical on the Main Stage at Act2PV. For 11 weeks. An unheard of amount of rehearsal time! Other producers…

It is so lovely to be (semi-) retired; it has been six weeks since the last issue of Vallarta Mirror was published. Perhaps this month – February is pivotal in Vallarta – someone will come forward with the drive, energy, and resources to make a PV Mirror comeback. There have been a couple of nibbles;…

At 12:30 sharp today, we begin our Scrabble Tournament, the first one of the year. January’s tourney drew no takers, so we just played regular games. A full report tomorrow of who was left standing when the dust settles! And then straight to bingo at Nacho Daddy and from there to Coco Cabaret for Brian…

Fuchsia was Yvonne Kalman’s favorite color, so when invitations to her Celebration of Life dinner were sent out, it was requested that attendees wear pink, white, or a combination of the two. Casa Yvonneka, high above the city, became a gigantic bougainvillea for the evening. Enormous photographs of Yvonne in pink-glittered frames lined the entrance…