Author: Marcia Blondin

Today is Dia del Niño, or Children’s Day, throughout Mexico. Coincidentally (maybe not!), it is the birthday of Georgia Darehshori, a dear and valued girlfriend who is in New York City with her daughter instead of here at home in Vallarta, becoming or ‘turning,’ as we weirdly say, 80 years old. Happy Birthday, darling Georgie.…

How was everybody’s weekend? Mine was great! Thanks for asking! It began inside Puerto Mágico, the cruise ship terminal, at Maripoza’s Butterfly Experience . Kevin and I met with owners Zhander D. P’ng and Wes Haws, thanks to a kind introduction by Dean Regehr, to learn more about the future of Maripoza’s by day as…

And here it is, Friday again. We must be having fun, people; the days are barely countable, and then another one arrives! Last night could have gone on for days as far as the audience at Moonlight Theatre was concerned. Azafran is an authentic Flamenco Experience: Juan Ramirez, guitar and vocals; Daniel Renteria, cajon, backup…

Last night, a few of us converged on La Catrina Cantina to listen to Patriz sing some of her fave songs while brother Artemis caught up on some texts and mom Selena welcomed each one of us. Together we celebrated their second anniversary of moving to Vallarta. We all remember that day. The first time…

Mid-week and Game Day! Scrabble at 1 pm at Qulture Galleries and PuRR Project Bingo at Nacho Daddy at 4 pm. A couple of days ago, I had a lovely reunion with Deirdre Morgan over mango smoothies. Vallarta Mirror will serialize her first book, Heart Speak, which is coming soon. Deirdre will publish two more…

I love when Universal Energies collide with perfect precision, when each person is exactly where they should be at the proper time and place and, most importantly, with one another. Such exquisite timing happened yesterday at Los Mangos Library for an Earth Day Press Conference hosted by John Benus, creator of the Campaign Against Trash.…

Warning! This is going to take some time – the weekend was chock-full of exciting things, and while it’s great to have a couple of mornings when I don’t write first thing in the day, it does create a long missive Mondays! Friday began with old home week, saying hello again to Nathan Frye and…

I just finished a quick edit of my friend Renee Armand’s column, which you can read at Vallartamirror.com this morning. She is one of those lyrical writers who changes the very air you breathe in a sentence; I love that. Renee is off to the UK for a memorial and a reunion with people, some…

Going around the conference table yesterday, Vallarta Garden Club‘s new President, Sunny Rossi, asked each board member how and when they got involved with the VGC. Almost all of us answered something like ‘by accident.’ And why have we stayed? Because keeping Vallarta beautiful is essential to all of us. If you are new to…

I am so bad at remembering to take photos when I am supposed to! I shot the one here on my way home after lunch. This guy had not moved much in the hours I spent over lunch with Mikel Alvarez at a new (for me) restaurant, eating new (for me) cuisine and ordering from…

From Miami Dolphin cheerleader to a G8 summit entertainer to a Top-8 Finalist in American Idol, Nadia Turner has done some global traveling. She wowed her audience – including her mom and her daughter, also an American Idol participant – last night at The Palm Cabaret and Bar. Nadia’s rendition of ‘Landslide’ by Fleetwood Mac…

Last Friday, about 70 of us descended upon—nope, make that ascended—Rick and Monica Miller’s penthouse terrace for their first pop-up party of this year—Stolie on vocals, guitar, harmonica, and looping provided the music. Everyone brought food and wine and enjoyed one of the most spectacular views in the city. I rode up that steep hill…

Prior to the outstanding Pink Tribute at The Palm last night, I was treated to a lovely dinner at El Dorado on the beach. It has been years since I have had the pleasure – ‘El Do’ used to be the expat gathering place for Happy Hour daily. Hurricane Kenna 25 years ago necessitated a…

Yesterday, after Scrabble at Qulture, the first stop was The Palm Cabaret for the opening of the second annual Mr. Vallarta contest. And what a line-up it was, including my favorite dancer in Vallarta, Paco! Hosted by Sebastian Coronel and Nacho Granados, 14 gorgeous guys displayed what they have spent years building in the gym.…