I am back from a month in Buenos Aires with a visit to Mendoza, a couple of weeks in Brazil w/ some rad girlfriends, a sudden trip to Italy with Mary. And here come the cherry blossoms!

One of the best parts of Buenos Aires was an AWESOME writing workshop I took with Camille Cusumano. Camille was the editor of Greece, A Love Story, an anthology which included the story of when I was a go go dancer in Greece. Camille is a wonderful and seasoned writer herself, as well as an amazing tango dancer. Her workshop was very inspiring and helpful and she holds them pretty regularly. Her book, Tango, An Argentine Love Story, was really great, too. Not only did it teach me a lot about zen and tango and Buenos Aires, but it was probably the steamiest book I’ve read about a woman in her late fifties – it made me realize what a huge absence there is of sexy books about older women. No wonder we are all so terrified of aging – not only do we have to die and hurt a lot before that, but no one ever talks about getting laid after 40! Thank you, Camille!

Another great part of being in Buenos Aires was the gorgeous apartment me and my fabulous and super talented painter friend, Ann Chamberlin, and I rented for the month. Not only was the apartment just beautiful, the landlords ROCK. I admit – I partly rented that place because the owners looked so cool and I secretly wished they would become my new Buenos Aires friends. And my wish came true! If you are considering spending any time in Buenos Aires, get yerselves over to the San Telmo Loft website and book some time in one of their two gorgeous apartments in Buenos Aires. They rent out way ahead of time, so try to do it in advance, if you can. Their blog is also a rich, up-to-date resource for all kinds of information about living and traveling in Buenos Aires and around Argentina and Uruguay.

Now I am working out of my beautiful new studio in St. Johns. I don’t miss the Seed Factory. It is so quiet here and nice to be able to walk over to the house and make coffee and food in my own kitchen. And St. Joseph and funny Wayne installed skylights in my new studio while I was in Italy last week! I am triple stoked with cherries on top.

For the first time ever, I have a garden I can sink slow growing plants, like asparagus, into. And we have a bird feeder and every morning at least 5 different kinds of birds go f’in bonkers over the suet. It turns out bird watching is way more fun than I realized. Yep, I’m turning into an urban homesteading bird watching nerd. And I couldn’t be more pleased about it.

Now that I’m back, I’ve stories up the wazoo to write. I’m on the hook to write a story about Carnaval in Brazil, another one about how flying first class ruined my personality, and another one about becoming a nester. This year I hope to finish my book about living in Greece and get four stories published in well known magazines.

But TODAY’s big announcement is about my brand spankin’ new zine, The Very Hungry Caterina! It’s all hand drawn, there’s lots of food in it, and it has a nostalgic theme. Please buy copies for yourselves and all of your friends so that I can afford to make the next issue.

Here’s pictures of Italy, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.

Love Kat