Sueño.

I would like to tell you all a story... it's actually more like a dream, in Spanish it would be called a "sueño" and it goes like this:

Once upon a time….

There was a little blond haired, green eyed, american-born girl who due to some strange twist of fate was born with an intense connection to the Latino culture. Her name was Tiffany Joy. She loved to speak spanish, dance salsa and play bossa nova on her guitar. One day, no longer able to deny the "call to the south" she left her family and friends behind and moved to Buenos Aires where she miraculously fell in love with a beautiful Colombian boy named Dani. He invited her to travel to his country where she was warmly embraced by his family and friends. Two of those friends being a lovely couple, who had just decided to join their lives together by marrying, there names are Alejandro and Clara.

Being unique, creative and simply fantastic - Alejandro and Clara decided to have an atypical ceremony - a Mayan ritual, performed by a beautiful mayan priest, at sunset on the coast of Colombia on a tiny island called Baru. They wanted nothing more in the world to share this special day with their beloved friend Dani and their newest beloved gringa friend, Tiffany - but alas, Dani and Tiffany being mere humble artists, had not a peso between them and with the air fare, hotel costs, transportation and more, a trip of that magnitude was just simply impossible….

Or so they thought…

One special evening in beautiful house belonging to the parents of the bride in a town called Chia, right outside of Bogotá, Dani and Tiffany played music and the whole family gathered around. They drank and laughed and made a pact, the pact was that no matter what it would take - Dani and Tiffany and their music must be present at the wedding ceremony.

It was a beautiful thought, but the reality of gathering the funds on top of the looming costs of an exotic island wedding brought everyone fast back to reality. One of the last nights that Dani and Tiffany spent in the house of their beloved friends, they played their favorite songs, drank wine, shared stories, laughed, cried, and pled with the universe to help them make their dream a reality.

Tiffany left the next day for her flight home to to Buenos Aires. Upon arriving to the airport, she was informed that the plane was delayed 3 hours, which was the beginning of what would turn out to be 72 hours of delayed flights, missed connections and an hours wandering around the airport in Lima… a complete nightmare…

Or so she thought…

At the end of the ordeal, the airlines offered Tiffany a voucher for $800 USD to compensate for the mishap. Nearly precisely the cost of a roundtrip ticket from Buenos Aires --> Cartagena… the arrival point to get to the tiny island of Baru.

They had asked and the universe had responded.

Tiffany jumped for joy and called her friends and by hiring Dani and Tiffany to perform after the ceremony as opposed to the saxophonist they had planned upon (sorry random colombian saxophone player for stealing your gig) and some how scrounging up the rest of the money, they had found a way to make it happen.

A couple of weeks later, Tiffany was on a plane to Cartagena, Colombia… she arrived a day early and spent time marveling over the amazing colonial city that lies within the walled fortress that once protected the cities inhabitants. She feasted to her heart's content on cocadas, pescado, and arroz de coco and drank limonada and cola y pola and all of her favorite colombian treats…

Then it was time to head to the island. When she and Dani stepped off of the bus, Ale and Clara were waiting for them with open arms and tears in their eyes. They were received by the entire family with a love and acceptance typically reserved for genuine family members… but for some reason, these two souls had been accepted by this beautiful family, these amazing people and they spent the next few days living the dream… playing music, walking by the beach, dancing, laughing, and crying from joy.

After the ceremony, the bride and groom and all of the guests - dressed in white like greek royalty - gathered around, champagne glasses in hand, a slight ocean breeze swaying the palm trees in the distance, and listened attentively as Dani and Tiffany performed a song they had composed for their beloved friends…

The song is called "Sueño"….

And it certainly was.

A year goes by...

It seems my time between blogs is increasing exponentially... I'm back to tell you that this is due primarily to the craziness that has been my life for the past 9 months. But as I sit here on a rainy day in Buenos Aires, curled up on my futon, I return to my laptop with a sense of urgency as I have realized that this blog is therapeutic and it serves me in so many ways to keep it actualized, that and I have a lot of wicked awesome things to share.

Since my last entry I have done so many things... to touch on a few... I turned 28, fell in love, started a new musical project, left buenos aires, visited my family in California, spent time in Colombia, performed on a morning show, returned to Buenos Aires...let me catch my breathe... and expand on each point as I can think of no other way to properly share all of these happenings.

My 28th birthday party was epic... my friend Arnaldo threw me a dinner at a "Peña" - which in Argentina is a cozy restaurant/venue where they serve typically regional delicious concoctions and invite various folklore artists to perform. Between the band singing me happy birthday, to the beautiful chocolate "torta", to the impromptu concert given by me and my main squeeze (who I had met just 11 days prior) the night was utterly magical... I will remember it as long as i live...





Which leads me to, yes, you read it correctly and much to my surprise... I have fallen in love again... to a Colombian named Daniel - his artistic name is "Maqui", he's a singer/songwriter/musician like me, go figure. It just so happens that when we met he was just beginning the process of recording his new album... giving me the opportunity to jump right in and be a part of it, which I looooved...









He's brilliant and I pretty much adore him...on the off chance you haven't already overdosed in perfection... his day job is as an elementary school music teacher **swoon**



The absolute best part about my meeting dani is that since the day we met we have been singing together, which leads me too...

I have started a new musical project - a duo called "individúo" alongside my hot latino - we have been performing all around from Buenos Aires to Bogotá - mostly covers of well known songs - however we have some of our own compositions in the works.

Being an artist: rad
Being able to share your artistry with your partner: priceless

"Mi amor, what do you want to do today?"
"I don't know, I thought maybe we could cook breakfast, play music for a few hours, then head to that private party we've been hired to play"

I know... it's ridiculously awesome. I'm enjoying every minute of it.

Which leads me to... after nearly two years of expat life.... I finally returned home to California - and had a DELICIOUS holiday time with my family and friends... seriously, I could chart out each day in the meals I devoured - no one should go that long without good mexican food, or in and out burger for that matter. It was totally indulgent... I cuddled on the couch and watched criminal minds with my mommy and my sister...I walked along fisherman's wharf eating clam chowder in a breadbowl with my poppa...I cried when I saw the golden gate bridge and had bottomless mimosa brunch in hayes valley with my beloved friends....visited my "happy place" on the top of russian hill.

batteries officially recharged.















And then... as if life wasn't fantastic enough, I completed yet another dream by visiting Colombia... but I had never imagined it would be to meet the family of the man that I love, spend time with him and his cousins in Santa Marta on the coast, play impromptu concerts on the beach in national park - Tairona, perform on live television on Colombia's biggest morning show "Muy Buenos Días" or hop on stage with our new duo in a festival for the little town of "Tinjacá"... no my friends, I couldn't have dreamed up any of that - that was the universe's bonus package.

I'm going to allow a few pictures to give you a glimpse of what this trip was like...

So I'm officially "home" now in Buenos Aires ... it really does feel good to be back. Driving home from the airport at 6am, I stuck my head out the windown and breathed in that old familiar smell of wet summer air, smog, and history, and I wanted to scream out "MI QUERIDO BUENOS AIRES!!! I LOVE YOU!!!" ... oh who am I kidding... I totally did, I was the crazy blonde girl with her head stuck out of the car.

I'm now back to my routine. Still working for the investment mag I helped start up nearly two years ago planning for eventual world domination with that, dancing salsa and tango many nights a week, catching up with my lovely buenos aires crew, pilates twice a week at one of my best friend's dance studio, music music and more music, rehearsing with the duo, translating for the rock band bañares at the hotel faena on wed nights, teaching voice, back in the studio to finish the final mixes on my album and i'm happy to announce... por fin... REAL JOY is just a heartbeat away from being born into the world and available at a store near you ...

wow. i'm exhausted. that recap took a lot out of me. i eagerly await your questions, comments, and concerns.

love you all like a bottle of chilled norton dulce natural wine on a march evening in buenos aires.

T to the JOY

LA VIDA ES BELLA.

I know it's been a ridiculous 5 months since I've posted a blog, but my life has just been such a whirlwind of random, fantastic, wickedly awesome situations and adventures - I just haven't been able to find the time..

REWIND.

In December my mom and sister visited me from the states - we danced tango and salsa, visited Punta del Este, Uruguay, ate amazing Argentine beef, shopped at the artisan fairs, cooked dinner at home with friends, threw an unforgettable new years party in my apartment (my mom was a rock star, you should have seen her still going at 7am) and had an all around spectacular time...






After my mom returned to California - in January my sis and I visited the wine country in Mendoza, tasted a plethora of wines as we toured the various wineries on bicycles ... both dangerous AND fun :)

Here we are sampling a Norton Dulce Natural. YUMMMM:



Then we proceeded to take a double-decker bus over the Andes mountains and into the lovely little port town of Valparaiso, Chile. I hadn't returned to this little gem of a place since I lived there in 2002 and being able to trip around and share old memories while racking up new ones with my beautiful little sister was absolutely priceless.



When I returned home it was back to work for a couple short weeks before I took off again in February - this time to São Paulo, Brazil... to visit my friend, producer Edu Luke (photo of us in são paulo)



Then I met up with my sister for Carnival in Rio... it was my second trip to Brazil and I seem to fall in love with it more and more with every new experience within its borders.















March I worked like a crazy person, obviously, to make up for lost time and returned to my salsa and tango dancing full force dancing at least 4 nights a week - sometimes more.

April I helped to launch the first ever international Tango magazine called TangoZapa http://www.tangozapa.com - this involved participating in CITA, the second largest tango festival here in the capital of Buenos Aires, meeting with various dancers, musicians, vendors, and getting an all around in depth overview of the Buenos Aires tango scene, oh and of course, lots and lots of dancing.

Here's a photo from the closing party at a well-known milonga here in the capital called "Niño Bien"... the performances that night were out of this world:



My band and I returned to the studio to record the drum tracks for "Real Joy". I rented a state of the art drum studio in a facility called "MCL Records" - on of the best here in the capital. This place was totally amazing (see photos) and the coolest part was the impromptu visit from Spinetta (Argentine Rock God) who happened to be rehearsing next door. In two days Mr. Martin Sosa laid down a record 16 songs and we are now ready to go with the second phase of production. Aside from the music really coming together, a couple of filmmakers who do some work with my producer at Control Z Studios have taken an interest in our project and have begun to film a backstage "Real Joy: The making of" that we will be able to use along with our Electronic Press Kit (EPK) and perhaps even launch along with the album... we shall see... good things are happening.

Here are some photos from our "Drummer's Weekend" -










Here we are in May already...it has been a whirlwind of parties and celebrations, a couple of my closest girlfriends celebrated birthdays, which included music, dancing and delicious tortas with chocolate, liquor and of course... dulce de leche. Here's a photo of me performing alongside my best friend Denise at her party...



I adopted an 8 month-old cat and named her Lúcuma, she's overly affectionate and borderline crazy, so obviously she's perfect for me.



The film that I shot a few months back premiered in the Buenos Aires International Film Festival. That was quite and experience. It's called "Cinco" and truth be told, it exceeded my expectations in both the caliber of the performances and the quality of the cinematography.



Sitting in a state of the art movie theater along with a packed house and watching myself on that ginormous screen was surreal to say the least. I've always wanted to do film and the fact that my biggest involvement yet to date is in a 100% Argentine film is kid of ironic, and totally rad. I was so nervous before my scene showed my best girlfriend who had accompanied me to the premiere was rubbing my stomach and telling me to breathe.

Hmmm... what else, oh yes... I am starting a new project, a salsa quartet with a few of my closest friends, we are putting together a Salsa performance show that will include both salsa choreography and singing to perform at clubs, parties, events here in the city. We are totally excited to get things going. Check out my new shoes ** swoon ** I can spin like a million times, seriously, the day after the first night I danced in them I think I had a minor case of whip lash due to excessive spinning to test out my new shoes. It was hilarious.



In a couple of weeks, my band and I will be performing as the first band on the first date of a month long festival called "Proyecto Esmeralda" for female singer/songwriters here in the capital. The project is aimed towards spreading environmental awareness and it features 11 female artists in total. The venue is this great club called "La Cigale" downtown - a place I've wanted to play for a while now, so that should be exciting.

Once again and I hate to sound redundant, I guess I would just like to encourage you all to do whatever it takes to live a life that is pleasing to you - If you have this idea that your life could be better somehow, or different, or more fulfilling but there is something holding you back from taking the necessary leap of faith, pick up the phone and call me... seriously... I have words that'll make you jump right off that metaphoric ledge.

Now I am aware that despite a few difficult periods, I have lived a very charmed life. But I have become acutely aware over the past couple of years that I have missed out of more than I care to ruminate over by being so overwhelmingly wrapped up in trying to make sure my future was a success.

I am without a doubt happier now than I have ever been and much of that is do to a shift in consciousness. I can honestly say that for the last 12 months since I stepped onto that plane to South America I have made every effort to not miss an INSTANT of this crazy mixed up ride. I choose to grab it with both hands and gobble it up while savoring every moment. I encourage you to do the same.

Bottom line: if you aren't currently living the life of your dreams I encourage you to give it a try, it pretty much rocks.