In the eighties we had our own business in headhunting for advertising agencies in Toronto, Canada.

One of our best clients was an agency called Scali, McCabe, Sloves out of New York and they had the Apple account in the early days and they were working with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. This was a very exciting and demanding account and everyone had to learn quickly and on the run. I remember even the then Media Director of the agency took apart a Macintosh computer and put it back together again so she totally understood the product.
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Yoly’s is located in the Plaza Bugumbilias on the Carretera Oriente # 56-A, in Ajijic, Lake Chapala. The phone # for appointments is (376) 766-2260.

Yoly’s offers: Haircuts, Styling, Tints, Highlights, Lowlights, Permanents, Facials, Massages, Manicure, Pedicures and Waxing.

Yoly was trained in the US and travels at least once a year to Chicago to hone and update her skills. She has 7 very well trained people working for her. Yoly has several well deserved awards on her wall.
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For decades, if not centuries, comics having been making fun of mothers-in-law with great enthusiasm.

I was one of the lucky ones and my mother-in-law, Pat Collins, is an amazing woman who I love dearly. I have been with her son for almost 33 years and she has never failed to be there for me in whatever way I needed her to be.

Pat welcomed me into the family with open arms even though she was hoping “that woman” (me) did not keep her son away from the ancestral home for Christmas. We got to know each other and the love grew as she understand how much I loved her son and was in it for the long term.
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First: A reality check on Mexico

Mexico is in a unique position to reap many of the benefits of the decline of the US economy. In order to not violate NAFTA and other agreements the U.S.A. cannot use direct protectionism, so it is content to allow the media to play this protectionist role. The U.S. media – over the last year – has portrayed Mexico as being on the brink of economic collapse and civil war. The Mexican people are either beheaded, kidnapped, poor, corrupt, or narco-traffickers. The American news media was particularly aggressive in the weeks leading up to spring break. The main reason for this is money. During that two-week period, over 120,000 young American citizens poured into Mexico and left behind hundreds of millions of dollars.

Let’s look at the reality of the massive drug and corruption problem, kidnappings, murders and money. The U.S. Secretary of State Clinton was clear in her honest assessment of the problem. “Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent the weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians,” Clinton said. The other large illegal business that is smuggled into the U.S.A. that no one likes to talk about is Human Traffic for prostitution. This “business” is globally now competing with drugs in terms of profits.

It is critical to understand, however that the horrific violence in Mexico is over 95% confined to the three transshipping cities for these two businesses, Juarez, Tijuana and Nogales. The Mexican government is so serious about fighting this, that they have committed over 30,000 soldiers to these borders towns. There was a thoughtful article written by a professor at the University of Juarez. He was reminded of the Prohibition years in the U.S.A. and compared Juarez to Chicago when Al Capone was conducting his reign of terror capped off with The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. During these years, just like Juarez today, 99% of the citizens went about their daily lives and attended classes, went to the movies, restaurants, and parks.
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I have to admit that I am a “died in the wool” Royalist. My father was born in Lincoln, England and my mother’s mother was born in the Cotswolds. Although my father came to Canada when he was 18 in 1928 one foot always remained in England and he never lost his British accent.

It is no wonder then that I have a love of British history which has been inherited by our daughter as well as her other grandmother was also born in England.

Yesterday was a wonderful day. It was the Royal Wedding of William Arthur Philip Louis the grandson of Queen Elizabeth to Catherine Elizabeth Middleton a commoner. Will and Kate met at St. Andrew’s in Scotland and after an 8 year courtship he proposed to this beautiful girl November 16th, 2010 on holiday in Kenya.

Most of us started watching the coverage at 3:00 am our time and I finally turned it off around 11:00 pm.
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This video put out by the Mexican Tourism Board has some beautiful and powerful images. I thought I would share it with you as they say “A picture is worth 1000 words”. click here to watch

Our New Mexican In-laws

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 our daughter, Tiffany, married Oscar Valencia. Afterwards we had a very nice wedding breakfast in the garden of Las Delicias in Chapala.

We have known and liked Oscar (nickname – Wings) for over a year and this last week we had the privilege of meeting his family.

They are a wonderful warm family and we are very happy that we are now related. Over the last week we had several functions for Tiffany and Wings and his family participated in the two functions that we had as well as having a lovely afternoon at a close neighbor’s house. They made a very flavorful posole , home-made of course, as well as some delicious home-made tostados and tasty dulces made of tamarindo and guyaba. We all received favors made of gum and a large pail of posole was sent home to my husband who was unable to attend.
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Getting Married in Mexico

Many people seem to think that they can run away to Mexico and quickly have a beautiful wedding in paradise. However, going to Las Vegas for a drive-thru Elvis themed quickie ceremony is not going to happen in Mexico.

Getting married in Mexico is a complicated affair even if you are both Mexican. If, however, one of you is “foreign” complicated does not begin to cover it.

The first thing you have to do is go to the local Civil Registry to obtain a list (in Spanish) of all the paperwork and requirements that you will need to apply for a permit to apply for marriage license.

By the way these requirements can vary from state to state so if you go online to try and get the information make sure you add in where you hope to be married.
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The Oscars 2011

There have been a lot of complaints about this year’s hosting duo of James Franco (nominated for best actor for 127 Hours) and Anne Hathaway.

The premise was to attract a younger demographic and it remains to be seen whether or not this strategy was successful.

I enjoyed the show. I thought James and Anne were energetic and funny and did quite a good job once they managed to get their nerves under control.

I think what intrigued me more than usual this year was that I was very excited about the movie “The King’s Speech. Colin Firth has been a long time favorite actor of mine and I have always enjoyed his dry English humor.

I saw about half of the ten movies nominated and only missed “Biutiful”, “ True Grit”, “Winter’s Bone”, “127 “ and “Toy Story 3”.
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House Renovations in Ajijic, Lake Chapala
Some purchasers find a property that suits them perfectly and renovations are not required. Others find a property that has the ideal location and price but perhaps could use a helping hand.
We have friends that found a house in the perfect location meeting all their criteria regarding a gated community, as they traveled frequently, and with an asking price that suited their budget.
They went ahead and purchased the property and set out making it over from top to bottom.
It was as small house but they added four feet to the front terraza which also gave them much needed storage space underneath. The terraza now had plenty of room for a table and chairs which overlooked their beautiful view of Lake Chapala and gave them a very comfortable space to enjoy their morning coffee.
Their dining room accommodated a table with six chairs so they took out the grass that was behind their house and paved the space with large flag stones and erected a permanent tent with waterproof drapes that could be closed in event of inclement weather and could comfortably seat 8-10 people. This area was also close to the BBQ which made entertaining very easy. Plants and flowering shrubs adorns this outdoor area and it is truly a beautiful space again overlooking Lake Chapala where one could see the twinkling lights on the other side of the lake while sipping a glass of wine.
The kitchen was completely renovated with bright new appliances and more windows added more light.
A cozy fireplace was put into the living/dining room area and the walls were papered in an antique taupe color. A high window was also put into the room to allow a view of the ever changing mountains.
Floor to ceiling shelves were added to the master bedroom giving them ample space for clothes storage and new doors were put on the existing closet to match the wood of the shelves.
Our friends still have many things they wish to do with the guest bedroom and I am sure it also will become a fantastic space. The design and decoration of this house is very professional and the results are amazing and very pleasing to the eye.
If you are the type of person who has creativity and imagination and, of course, a few dinero at your disposal, you too can make your existing home or new purchase the house of your dreams.
Find a reputable contractor and let the work begin. Your real estate broker should be able to help you find the right man or woman for the job and be able to also give you references of others who have has successful experiences.
It is a good idea to be around yourself for as much of the renovations as possible to keep everyone on the same page.