María

With the lighting of the Rockefeller tree on December 1, Christmas has officially arrived in New York, the most magical time of the year in this city, which has earned its reputation. Strolling through its streets - well wrapped up, of course - is a spectacle of lights and Christmas atmosphere. It makes you want to be close to your loved ones. I have only a few days left for that: next Wednesday I fly to Spain to calligraphy the iconic blue boxes in the Tiffany's Madrid store on December 10, 11, 17 and 18. If you happen to visit my country those days I'd love to c[...]

I think we all agree that if there's something truly American is Thanksgiving. And secretly from Spain we've always envied this tradition, if only because of the way those delicious turkeys always look in the movies. I remember an assignment Brooks Brothers gave me in 2019 for a Thanksgiving dinner they were going to replicate at a fancy restaurant in Madrid, Horcher (that I totally recommend you if you plan to visit my country. Save some money first, though). And all the guests -celebs, of course- were ecstatic and happy taking pictures next to the turkey in thei[...]

Some of you have been with me since I launched The Spaniel Studio in September 2019, a few months before the cursed year (indeed, if by dedicating myself to weddings and events I have overcome 2020, I see myself capable of almost anything). You know that from the very beginning my business has had international projection, and I've always had an eye on the United States, my particular promised land. But having achieved the dream - because New York may be called the capital of the promised land - was only the beginning of the new American stage of The Spaniel Studi[...]

I've always had November as that cursed month when good things ended and shorter and colder days arrived. Well, in New York I might be reconciled with it. We are in the middle of the month and I don't know if these sunny days we're having are normal, because I cannot contrast with other years. Apparently not: the New Yorkers I follow along (I'm hooked on discovering plans and places) say that the colors of this Fall are the best they've seen in years. Even the Daylight Saving Time ends later here than in Spain. How I love you, New York. [...]

All my life I've been messing with early Christmas seasons and here I am launching my Christmas collection on November 4th. But you have to blend in with the atmosphere and here, believe it or not, it's already starting to feel like Christmas. The famous ice rink in Bryant Park (yes, the one we've seen in a thousand movies) is already open, and next weekend the iconic Christmas tree of Rockefeller Center will be installed to start decorating it. I have to figure out how to put on it one of my ornaments How about one of these on the R[...]

This year I've gone from hating to loving Halloween. Just like that, without nuances. So much so that maybe when I return to Spain (sometime in some years, there is still a lot of New York to enjoy). I'll even fill the entrance of my house with pumpkins. In a stylish way, of course, like New Yorkers do (especially those from the Upper East Side that I've seen these last days).  As said, with style In the Upper East Side The entrance in our building[...]

There are three music genres that I like above the rest: classical music, electronic music (you didn't see that coming, right?) and Jazz. I like jazz too much, in all its forms -smooth, acid, Latin, you name it-, so it seems I'm in the right place. If New York fall had a soundtrack it would pretty much sound like jazz. So many factors for not having been to a concert yet, so when I got an email from Queens Theatre announcing a concert based on the influence of musical theatre on Jazz, I decided that would be our first indoor plan here. Vaccination card required, ([...]

I've been living in New York for more than 3 months now (wow), I've never been here so long and I really feel that this living in NYC thing is a reality. When I created this blog I did it thinking that I personally would like to know the experience of a Spaniard living in New York and that, like me, it probably happened to some of you. And in this New York life there is a lot of routine that I think I'm not showing you and that from this week I'm going to start sharing with you. Because Central Park and Greenwich Village and many other places are wonderful, but th[...]

I follow along some NYC related Instagram accounts, basically to find out about plans and discover new places. Not too many, but enough to get that New York dose in my feed. And lately they've been posting pics of Central Park with those spectacular fall colors and captions about how much they are looking forward to that moment. And as I read those I think that I'm not that eager to these autumn weeks to pass quickly. New York doesn't have those fall colors yet, but believe me, it looks (and mostly feels) wonderful already. Why not enjoy this month and wish it las[...]

When I found out that our 10th wedding anniversary we would be living in New York I started to think about possible ways to celebrate. When in Spain I took it for granted that we would have dinner in one of those fancy places you go... well, when you celebrate ten years of marriage. Living here, like so many things that are different from what we imagined, we changed our plans and decided that the best way to celebrate was a gateway to the Hudson Valley with Porthos (he was not going to be left without a celebration, poor boy!), a place I was looking forward to d[...]