I love hats.

I love hats. I have six hats hanging in my room right now that I wear fairly regularly depending on the season. And now I finally figured out why.
I guess I'm seeking attention. Middle child angst? Well, maybe, but that's not actually the reason I was going to name."Hats are now enjoying something of a resurgence among hipsters and fashionistas, with fedoras, cloches, and fascinators showing up on people in the business of being noticed. The paradox of a hat is that it simultaneously conceals and calls attention to the wearer—the very definition of a glamorous accessory. (Think also of sunglasses, fans, and cigarettes.)"

You can read the full article here. Also scarves would fall in that category.
It's the glamour.

How often does any stay-at-home mom get to feel glamorous? Umm, not very often at all. I like dressing up. I'd like a little glamour.

Don't believe the part about hats' resurgence?

Okay, she's about to be part of the British Royal family, which really doesn't count because when don't they wear hats? Whatever. I could have posted Paris Hilton and Victoria Beckham, but couldn't bring myself to.
I love this last look. Carla Bruni was named the "Best Hat Wearer" of 2010. You can read the full story here if you'd like. And if you're curious, those over-the-top hats were from Arturo Rios. It's amazing what some people will wear on their head (ahem, Sarah Jessica Parker.)
By the way, if anyone wants to get for me Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones, feel free."All fashion makes a promise of transformation, but with hats that promise is especially potent. The face and head represent the self, so by framing, concealing, or decorating them a hat can change who we appear to be. It's not surprising, then, that hats are used in uniforms and religious dress or that hats went out of style in the let-it-all-hang-out period in the late ’60s and early ’70s."

And again, the link to that article. These last hats are from Louise Green Millinery. More sedate than the last batch, but to each there own.

And here is another link to a slideshow of some amazing, homemade paper hats.

And here's still another link to a slideshow of glamorous people in hats.

This slideshow is of a collection of antique 1920's hats.

These last hats are from the milliner, Philip Treacy.

Now here's the best part of this long, probably dull post--the hats I would buy if I could. I love this one, seriously.

Can't you picture me in this?
This might be stretching it, but hey, I saw people wearing hats like that in Chicago.
Maybe I'd have to tone it down for Provo with this instead. Since Provo is the fashionista capital of Utah, right? Oh wait, there's NO interesting fashions in Utah. (I miss watching people in Chicago.)
Love, love, love it.

Okay, this isn't really my favorite style. I just love that it's red. Anyway, these hats are from ASOS, and are actually very reasonably priced. Check it out here, eight whole pages devoted to hats. :)

Fascinating

Leo and I found this pretty fascinating. Really, if you think about it, it's fairly gospel-centered: free agency (autonomy), becoming godlike (mastery), and purpose (purpose).

Also, if you're in the mood, post-Thanksgiving-dinner-binge-eating blah mood that is, here's another fascinating blog talking about obesity in America and some of the myths surrounding it. I learned a lot. It includes full citations, you have to love that.

Cartagena Slums

One of my most vivid memories of Colombia is the day we flew in to Cartagena and once arriving at our condo, we immediately changed and caught a taxi to go to church. The driver took a LONG route, I think to charge us more, and what we passed for miles and miles were the slums of Cartagena.
I've never in my life seen a place like this before. South Chicago doesn't compare. Bogotá didn't compare. These pictures are exactly what I remember, with here and there kids playing soccer among the garbage. Pigs wandering around. And a couple of donkeys.
Many of the houses were flooded like this one. I think since it was so close to the beach, it just depended on the tide and storms. But you could see people inside--through the gaps in the boards.
There were fishermen like these around all over too. It was another surreal experience, and we were just driving by in a taxi. Makes me think that I really do have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Graffiti de Bogotá

One thing that stood out to me a lot in Bogotá, was the graffiti. It was everywhere. Most places it just looked like this.However, I do remember several places like this as well.
Most of it was political. A lot disparaged the U.S.A.
Though quite a bit was against Hugo Chavez as well. I think there was a lot about the U.S. at that particular time, because a agreement was in the works about some U.S. military bases being started in Colombia.
This one, on the sign for the Universidad National de Colombia (the Colombian National University is the most affordable university in Bogotá, Leo's says its a recruiting ground for socialist guerillas) says along the lines of "Power to the People" or "Power to the Populace." Here's another view of that particular univeristiy--their quad, or square. Leo didn't attend there, just FYI. He went to the Universidad de los Andes.

Which is this place. Leo and I spent an afternoon together and walked up that avenue to a pizza place he used to eat at. It was a good afternoon.

Anyway, back to graffiti, as you can see here, not all people in Colombia are communist left-wingers. This one says, "Long live evolution." I like it. I think why the graffiti struck me so much was because 1. I've never seen so much graffiti everywhere before, even on the nice places, ie the temple gates had dollar signs painted on. 2. So much of it was political. You don't see that here in the states really. You see political billboards around elections but that's about it, or on hot topic issues--there's an anti-immigration one somewhere here in Provo. I know I mentioned this before--but I didn't have the pictures for visualization before.

Out and about Bogotá

Here are a few more things that come to mind when I think of Bogotá.

Soldiers. It always remained odd to me to see soldiers standing around carrying automatic weapons. To be truthful though, often they were texting.One thing I learned from Leo is that these men pictured above are not soldiers, they are guerillas. You can tell by their boots. Colombian soldiers wear military-styled boots. Guerillas wear gum boots. The U.S. embassy. I spent so much time there the last couple of weeks, and even while I was there it felt surreal, even more so now. The gate to go in is just out of sight to the left of this photo. They weren't much help really, but somewhat comforting anyway. The complex where the embassy is located is huge by the way. You can see it from almost anywhere in Bogotá, however, there are almost no pictures of it on the web. I can understand why, I didn't dare try to take photo outside or inside of there. The secret agent chickens that were across the street running around are forever etched in my memory too. Hee. Hee.
Emeralds.
I never knew emeralds were so beautiful. At several of the touristy places we were at, there were shops all over. I've yet to see any jewelry to compare in the U.S.
The temple. I love this photo I found, because it shows the temple in context of its surroundings. The church photos never show that. But this is what I remember riding the bus to and feeling extremely out of place in my nice dress and high heels, crisscrossing that field to save time.
Ruanas. I grinned every time I saw people dressed like this. And there ARE people dressed like this. I felt I was living in a National Geographic picture.
Shopping at the Hacienda de Santa Barbara. I've never seen a shopping mall (and despite this picture it is a HUGE shopping mall) as picturesque and lovely.Shopping at Santafé with all their Christmas decorations up.I felt like I'd never left the United States inside of that mall.Shopping on the street corners, where I had most definitely left the United States. I wish I could find pictures of the streets that sell particular items. The one long street full of fresh funeral flowers, another street all electronics, another all music, another ophthalmologists, and on and on, like a giant Walmart with each aisle being a street. I'm glad I could find these photos anyway.

Scheduling

I don't know why I'm having so much trouble scheduling posts. Sorry to overwhelm you at once with all these posts, it wasn't my intention.

Colombian Comida Parte Dos

First and foremost, the best thing about Colombian food: Crepes and Waffles. Okay, I know I've posted extensively about Crepes and Waffles before, but seriously, it's the best food I've ever eaten.

Again, if you ever, ever have the chance to eat here. Jump on it. And then go back every possible time you can.

Peering in through the windows, you could see most places selling food that looked like this though--chorizos, plataños, papas criollas, y arepas. Arepas--the thick bread on the upper right corner of the grill, was not my favorite, but I ate them almost every morning for breakfast. They were alright with guava paste and steaming hot. There are some McDonalds though. We didn't eat here. Blah. But it was around the corner from our adoption lawyer's office.Leo loves this corn. I'm not such a big fan. It's okay though. I really don't like corn-on-the-cob American style that much either.
Mangos however is a whole different tale. I could eat mangos constantly. Every time we passed a street vendor selling mangos, I'd give Leo this suffering look, like I might die without mangos.
This just reminds me of Colombia--all the little panderias on every corner selling all sorts of bread.
Soup. This is actually what most people in Bogotá ate contstantly. Not that appetizing to me.
I've eaten the above soup so many times, and so many times too many.
Now back to the good stuff. They cook the best meat. EVER.
However, the image of a cows' heads hanging from hooks, is forever locked in my memory, much like this photo here. I never saw a pig's head, just several cows.
Ah, but it's so good. And so completely devoid of vegetables. I was craving vegetables like crazy by the time we flew home. I guess I'm a true carnivore though, because really, I would never pass up this tabla.