It's so hard to say Goodbye.....2010 recap

I could begin this post with all sorts of excuses, apologies for my tardiness and lack of consistant threads... but I'm sure you are used to my erratic posting schedule by now.... so I'll just hang my head and move on.

2010 has been an insane, remarkably amazing year for my family and I... nothing too traumatic has happened. Only momentum and positivity. Here's a snapshot of 2010's moments to remember. *note: not all of them include alcohol.

January:

 

Good friend, OSOK, representing from Califas with Tribal Gear here in GDL. 

*highlight of the night: besides the massive hangover despite our willingness to share, some random bum ran off with our bottle!!! Straight ghetto style!

February:

Highlight of the year: Stupid Graffiti kids pay their dues....

 

Moosecake got to go fishing with Dad in AguaMilpas... the best place for bass fishing here in Mexico. Reasonable rates. Good food. Good times with Daddy.

March:

Friend Will came down, got tattooed and afterwards... we headed out to Puerto Vallarta. (Barra de Navidad was also a highlight this month) I ♥ this photo with Little One. 

Monterrey Tattoo Expo.... with the heavy hitters... Babo X Bob Tyrell X Indio X Chakal. Amazing time... thuse the "Checa Wey" on my fingertips!

April:

 

Beautiful closure to an exciting month. Little Sis' n Darren.

May

I loved the Mother's Day show at the kids' school. Little One was straight vaquero!!!

June

 This month we welcomed baby Frankie into the Family. Way to follow through Sis #2! :)

Hubby, Little One, and Moosecake.... all with birthdays in a row. We had a small party, with piñata, of course, and insane amounts of candy. *sniffle sniffle.... they're getting so big!

July

Summer started off with a bang. Disneyland and Yosemite were followed with all sorts of activites to keep the kiddos busy (and off the freaggin' computer!).  

 But the best photos were during their free time. :D

August

 

Mexico City Tattoo Convention was full of amazing talent.When not tattooing, we checked out the Zocalo and a few of the major museums in the city. And after that... party time!

Mexico City, I'm surprised we survived! Good times! 

September

September was too many events to narrow down. Tons of pictures... from the kids' starting a new school, the Guadalajara Tattoo Show, our shop's anniversary party, the London Tattoo Show, my birthday in Amsterdam... I need to write a blog post on that trip alone!!!  Nonetheless... a few highlights.

 New year. New school. Thank God the education outweighs the uniforms!

 Guadalajara Tattoo Expo.... somehow ended up at the club with the hubbies carrying our purses!

 

 Our shop's anniversary party was a success.....and ended quite well. :)

 London Trip... this was in Paris after waaaay too many shots of absinthe.

 And this one ♥. On my birthday in Amsterdam. Turning 30 was perfect.

October

 Demon Child and Iron Man on Halloween. Remind me how fun adolescence is. 

Cervantino!!!  Guanajuato, Guanajuato is definitely a place to check out during the month of October. Besides the obvious party vibe, the city transforms into a melting pot of various art, theatre and music from all around the world.

November

Newlyweds came down to GDL and join us for Thanksgiving. The higlight? of the night was a bottle of wine without a bottle opener. Hubby and BIL tried everything to open that bottle. How many tries does it take married men to desperately open a wine bottle and appease their waiting wives?

Apparently three.  

December

December was another difficult month to pick and choose photos.... Dressing the tree, making gingerbread houses and pumpkin pie, the kids' school musical, our first posada, fireworks indoors and finally a wonderful christmas brought 2010 to a wonderful close. 

School Musical. Moosecake was the narrator for the whole program and Little One rocked out with his inflatable guitar. 

We held our first Posada this month. Originally, it began as an art gallery with music, appetizers etc.... to benefit the children of Hospital Civil. Unfortunately, after all the toys and food had been collected... the H.C. decided to be (like typical government agencies here)  devious and deceptive. Instead, those donations were taken to a few orphanages around GDL where kids would ACTUALLY benefit from their gifts~

Somehow this year ended in almost the same manner that it began!


2010 seemed to fly by and we've experienced so many great times with family and friends. I can only hope that this next year will be just as blessed.


Wishing all of you guys the very best 2011, full of love, friendship, health and success.

 

Death is Dying.

I've already demonstrated how much I hate f*in idiots here, here, here and especially here.... and yet again, they continue to astonish me. Every year, Mexico loses more and more of its cultural traditions to American imperialism ex.. Posadas to Santa, Resurrection to the bunny, and now Dia de Los Muertos. Being replaced by the American tradition demanding candy,the Day of the Dead is holiday of GIVING to cherished loved ones, honoring the past generations and celebrating embracing death. Altars are built, offerings, which derived from the Aztec and other prehispanic cultures, along with pan de muerto, cempatsutchiles (marigolds), and other personalized gifts are placed with candles and photos of loved ones.Every year, Dia de Los Santos (for deceased children) and Dia de Los Muertos (for all others) bring back to life, those that were lost.

This year, I haven't seen very much celebration surrounding Dia de Los Muertos. After reading other blogs and reading how other communities seem to be losing touch with their heritage, I was really excited when there was an installation of catrinas displayed on Ave. Vallarta. A few days later, I stopped at a few to take some pictures to share when I noticed that a majority of them had BEEN VANDALIZED!!! Calaveras were missing, attire shredded, and two of them BURNED!

I sit here and bitch about American imperialism destroying the culture of other countries and instead, it is the fault of its own society. It seems as if half of the people don't give a rats *ss about their culture/belongings/streets etc... or anybody else's and the other half, don't feel it's their responsiblity to take care of it. I've asked many of my clients who work in Ayuntamiento, Hacienda or other gov't offices and can you guess the response? "It's not my responsibility."

Oh of course. I forgot.

Back in Action.....

Tap. Tap.

Testing...1....2.....

Geez. Wasn't sure if this thing still worked anymore. It's been ages since I last played with this thing.
I hope you didn't forget about me.

It's been about 3 weeks now... and it's almost daunting to jump back in the game and post what the hell I've been up to. I failed awhile ago during the Mexico City tattoo shows and the Guadalajara show.... and now the LONDON tattoo show, (which was unbelievably AMAZING) and the Barcelona tattoo show (equally as thrilling.)

July 2010  Mexico City Tattoo Convention : bad ass convention... stop by if you're in the area... it's an invite only tattoo expo, so if you don't put out.... good sh*t.... then don't

 Palacio Bellas Artes

 Fonzy y Chespi giving hairstyling tips in an interview downtown.

 Why she interviewed hubby WITH NO HAIR next, I haven't a clue. Must be his charm! ;)

 Stone found a stone that looks like him!

 Museo de Antropologia: this place was AMAZING...

 Party hard!!!

 California Girls!

 Tattoo Wars... Final Piece!

 Indio x Craneo.... both amazing pieces.... It was a DRAW!

 A gift for a good friend.

 My new wifey.... more pics from Paris coming soon!

Reno, Guadalajara, LA and Japan representing.

I love these tattoo expos. Not only are they great for work and exposure, but I get to hang out with LIKEMINDED people and have a good time. Old friends and new get together to do what they love to do and have a blast afterhours. This is MY time, a moment to break away from the daily grind in Mexico. These are the times that make this journey, well,  a little more fun ;)

Going, Going.... nope. Still here.

Oh, the joy of repeating myself. Did we not talk about business ethics in Mexico once before? Alas, I was wrong. I thought that it was local, small business that were ethically challenged, but apparently, the BUCK DIDN"T STOP THERE. Mexicana airlines, bankrupt? Who would have thought that Mexico's leading airline company would bite the bullet and terminate services? Mexicana apparently halted services earlier in August and many travelers were left stranded without flights. Competitive airlines came to the rescue, offerering slightly discounted flights to stranded passengers. Refund, perhaps?

have you ever heard of a refund without a fight in Mexico?

I think not.

Hubby is now safe in Madrid. Our European adventure has begun. But it wasn't easy. Thursday morning, hubby was packing suitcases, leaving that afternoon. We stopped by the shop to pick up some last minute things. "Uh, babe, let me double check your flights. Something doesn't feel right." Lo-and-behold.... his first flight, in a few hours, was cancelled. GDL to MEX. and the return. WTF?!?!? No warning. No email. No replacement flight. The entire trip was booked with http://www.despegar.com/ . I called despegar, who after transfering me 500+ times, declared that their company was not responsible for the cancellation and that I would need to take it up with the airline for a replacement flight and/or refund. The flight listed was Lufthansa. I checked with them, and the rest of the flights were fine.... except for the GDL to MEX. Their reply? Nope. Not their problem. The booking company was responsible for everything. Back to Despegar, nope. They don't even have the first flight listed. Where did I get this info? "Uh, from my itinerary, Jacka**"  Lufthansa finally revealed that the missing flight, listed as their airline, was actually contracted through...

you guessed it.

Mexicana.

So while Mexicana, the company has halted ticket sales, other booking agencies, Travelocity, Expedia, and Despe-pinche-gar, are still booking travel packages with Mexicana.

And people,like me, are screwed.

Scrambling around, we finally found some flight with AeroMexico that worked with hubby's existing flights... but it wasn't cheap. And off he went.

And the refund money?

In the air. Despegar basically told us that we're screwed. Since it was sold as a package , they can't refund part of the money. They would have to cancel the entire trip and book again. (at twice the price, of course!) And since neither airline company wants to take the wrap and since the airline supposedly booked was listed as Lufthansa, it isn't valid on Mexicana's refund page.

Why steal from the poor, when you have the entire country at your disposal? And the gov't reaction? They'll grant Mexicana bankruptcy, thus eliminating the requirement to refund issued tickets.

So before booking, call the airlines directly to confirm flights, before you're left hangin....