Recap: Good Morning, From Here, November 29 – December 05
Monday
The sound of rain woke me this morning, suddenly and with a jolt as I remembered the bunch of clothes I had washed and hung up to dry after our foray into the Mojoneras tianguis yesterday. By the time the dryer had finished, the rain had stopped too. Weird this time of year, the rain, but nothing serious so far.
The weekend was terrific, entertainment-wise, despite the root canal process that began last Friday. I have two more sessions planned with my lovely dentist, Orlando Godínez, over at Dental Life Clinic. He is as gentle as can be, but a root canal is never easy and never pain-free. Round two is tomorrow, so cross your fingers for me, wouldja?
Patrice and I climbed Olas Altas to Arte Vallarta to see our two fave Canadian comediennes, Karen Parker and Diana Frances, in their funny new show ‘Leave it to Cleavage – the Breast is Yet to Come.’ Karen and Diana start with a scripted premise, then all hell breaks loose as the audience ‘helps’ pad the storyline.
I am yearning for the day Diana can move here full-time and create her hilarity regularly – weekly would be nice! The full house at Arte Vallarta was screaming with laughter. Bravas all around, chicas. We will see Diana Frances tonight at Nacho Daddy for ‘Match That Snatch’ at 7:30. This is a cross between the old Match Game and Ru Paul’s Drag Race: You gotta be there. My dear friend, Scrabble Quine and Air Fryer Queen, Sharon Gerber Scherer, will be taking on all comers to try and snatch yet another crown off her fluffy head. Sharon emerged as the Queen Snatch Matcher last season. (This’ll be hilarious, people!)
Patrice and I went to The Palm to see Mau Jimenez in his Bruce Springsteen tribute again; her for the second time, me, the third. And, wouldn’t you know it, Mau blew the other two shows clear out of the water. When Magic strikes a live performance, there is nothing quite like it.
Mau had every seat in the house empty by the end of his stellar show and stood in the midst of the gaggle of screaming, joyous women in the aisles, dancing and singing along. I have not seen so many smiling faces for a long time. He may be finally and utterly comfortable in his performance, plus that rare, elusive Magic. Perhaps one begets the other?
Gloria Fiona had her 2025/26 season opener of her Adele Tribute at The Palm Cabaret last night. There was not a single seat left to be had in the theater. I have been an avid fan for close to a dozen years, remember the first time I ever heard her sing and have watched her grow through her twenties and now into her thirties like a rose, being nurtured by a handful of staunch supporters who love her like family and an audience that ranges from biker chicks to aging grandmothers and the rest of us in between. She has become a gracious beauty and is dearly loved, From Here.
Tuesday
Sunny Rossi, Presidenta of the Vallarta Garden Club, called our first board meeting of the 2025/26 season to order yesterday at Galeria Dante. The focus, as it is for all non-profits, was money, where we spent it all summer long, and what we need going forward to keep Vallarta pruned and flowering. Last night’s bizarre, unseasonal, and icy-cold downpour aside, watering is always an issue, and we need volunteers to help with it. Vallarta has garnered thousands of new residents in 2025, and joining the Garden Club might be right up your alley, particularly if you’ve left behind a lovely yard up north and find yourself living in a small condominium with insufficient dirt to play in. The Garden Club has regular weeding parties that, of course, include wine, and we are gearing up for two major fundraisers: The first is a ‘Welcome Back’ party/Membership Drive being held this year at the fabulous Casa Karma villa in Conchas Chinas on December 09 – a week from today.
Cost is 750 pesos per person and includes a drink, appetizers, and entertainment, and the chance to meet other expats who, like you, miss gardening and share the joy of creating living green spaces. Unlike other resort destinations in the world, city beautification starts and ends with the Vallarta Garden Club. We do not receive any government funding whatsoever, so become a member and help fund the next planter box full of blooms and never, ever have to lift a finger or break a nail if you don’t want to.
Our spectacular Gala every January is undoubtedly one of the best parties of the year. The theme this year is Alice in Wonderland, and is going to be so fabulous, we fully expect Lewis Carroll to pop in for tea. Oscar’s Restaurant on the Isla Cuale will be transformed, Monaco Band will keep you dancing, the food will be exquisite, the auction items are fantastic, and standing in the energy of all those who give back to their adopted home to make Vallarta even more beautiful than she naturally is will be priceless. For more information and tickets, go to: https://www.facebook.com/vallartagardenclub
After months of delays, Il Pesce’s new location is finally open for business. A joyous and emotional ribbon-cutting took place at Constitución 285B yesterday afternoon; the restaurant quickly filled up with well-wishers, and Vallarta Calendar/Vallarta Mirror Christmas Posada got underway. Kevin Feltner and Rob Dornan had the shrimp ravioli, Patrice had the salad with Gorgonzola cheese, and I, of course, had the mushroom fettuccini for the hundredth time. It was, as it always is – PERFECT!!! Everyone’s food was spectacular. Kudos to Carlos Venegas and team at Il Pesce – your new space is as lovely as your food. Congratulations a thousand times over.
Tomorrow I will have a review of ‘Match That Snatch,’ a game show that took Vallarta by storm last season. Learn how reigning MTS Queen Sharon Gerber Scherer defended her title and what happened in the second half when La Catrina Cantina owner Juan Alvarado went head-to-head with Sharon on a question about….ME! From Here.
Wednesday
What a difference a day makes. Sounds trite, I know, but I went from having one of the worst days of my life to waking up this morning with Bogie’s insistent meows and loves to realizing the pain in my face was gone. Not just diminished but gone. My caring dentist, Orlando Godinez, with the patience of Job, had me in his chair for nearly three hours as he tried to remove a molar we had endeavored to save with a root canal last week. My ligaments held on to those two recalcitrant roots, and no amount of freezing would get them to let go painlessly.
My darling sister hugged me afterwards, let me cry and tell her all the grisly details, went out and bought me meds and ice cream, made me soup, tucked me into bed after we canceled the Gay Mixer and Open Mic, and I slept the pain away.
So, it is a lovely Good Morning, From Here…
Back to Nacho Daddy and Match That Snatch, that in the end, left La Catrina Cantina owner Juan Alvarado Gonzalez, the new queen, er, winner, upsetting Sharon Gerber Scherer, who would have won if the question had been hers and not Juan’s.
That is the way of games, however. Today is our last Scrabble Tournament of 2025. Full disclosure in the morning, who left Qulture wearing the crown!
There is one more Match That Snatch game show next Monday, on December 8th, at Nacho Daddy, starring Diana Frances as Gene Gayburn in the tightest plaid polyester pantsuit (did I mention ugly?) ever sewn by human hands. Still, the obvious discomfort keeps Diana on her tippy toes for the entire show. Will Juan Alvarado be able to fend off all comers? You will have to reserve your seats fast to find out.
Still at Nacho Daddy tomorrow night at 5 pm, Paul Lions brings back his smashing ELO concert. I saw both of these stellar shows at Coco Cabaret last season and was blown away by the great music. Going in, I could not have given you one title to a single Electric Light Orchestra song, but I found I recognized nearly every tune! Musicians will fill the stage upstairs at Nacho Daddy – the best in Vallarta, with Paul leading them and us on a glorious rock and roll slide back into time. Tammy tells me there are a few seats left, so get on it!
On December 7th, Ale Matus and her partner, Dabit Azofeifa, present ‘Fado’ music from Portugal, once again at Nacho Daddy at 5 pm. A Tromba Vetusta Production that always gives up romantic, intimate salon soirees that will leave you helplessly longing for more.
See you back here in the morning. Remember that the processions have begun for Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patron Saint of Mexico, so vehicular traffic downtown is congested to say the least, From Here.
Thursday
Three weeks today is Christmas. It STILL amazes me to celebrate that day being warm as toast and being comfortable outside wearing practically no clothes at all. Our childhood memories live deep in our cells, and when it comes to being cold, I don’t have a single corpuscle that yearns for frosty mornings or the struggle of walking for blocks through two feet of powdery snow. It makes me ecstatic after nearly 35 years of living in the tropics to be warm all the time. I don’t, won’t use air conditioning, happy to have a fan nearby to keep me from igniting from within, and the height of summer is the only time I can peruse the fresh fruit in the near-freezing temps in the Costco Cool Room!
And, sadly, one week today I have to put my sister on a plane back to her real life in Alberta. She’ll be happy to see her cats, her dog, and friends, of course, a few who have been here, and know the layout of Vallarta. I am sure there will be evenings spent in front of a fire, with much wine being consumed during the conversations, and memories of shows seen, food eaten, and loved will arise, and maybe Patrice will miss her sister once in a while. My house will be so big and empty again.
We still have a jam-packed week, starting with Paul Lions’ exquisite concert featuring the music of Electric Light Orchestra at Nacho Daddy this afternoon at 5 pm. The First Saturday at Arte Vallarta Museo is a highlight of every month with a fiesta full of new artworks, food, and drink, and the boisterous camaraderie of fellow art lovers who pack the courtyard and visit for hours.
Patrice and I will have one more trip to Coapinole to hunt for winter sweaters and wool hats. She finds her best winter clothes here – certainly at a lower price than anywhere in Canada.
And the amazing Casa Karma opens its doors for the first time to the Vallarta Garden Club’s Annual ‘Welcome Back’ party and membership drive on December 9th. Space is limited to 100 lucky people; take an Uber or taxi, and be prepared to walk up and down the 70+ stairs just in case the ongoing elevator repairs are not finished in time for the fabulous soiree.
We will spend Patrice’s last evening with Deborah Cole at Casita and Garden for the sold-out dinner with Chef Roman. I have been busy for every single one of his prior exceptional dining experiences until now. I am very excited to partake.
In between these events, we have smoothies, lunches, and a couple of dinners with dear friends planned, and maybe one evening at home with kitty Bogie to help her pack. Perhaps one day, in our dodderage, she will be here for longer than six weeks; that flies by like lightning.
For more information on any of the above events, see VallartaCalendar.com and, if you are having an event, make sure it’s listed in the Calendar that even Google uses for information. Get in touch with me for help doing that, From Here.
Friday
A Mexican friend of mine told me there is a huge cold front on its way to Vallarta this weekend, bringing us rain. I hope he’s wrong. Plans are to go back to Mojoneras Sunday morning, but many of the streets in that colonia are unpaved, and it’s not fun slogging through mud up to your ankles. Cross yer fingers.
Speaking of shopping, in a roundabout way, I am seriously cleaning my closets. I have gone through all my tops, blouses, jackets, shawls, capes, and scarves, and have one giant bag ready to go to Kathleen Palmers’ Deja New Consignment Store. This weekend, Patrice and I will tackle the dresses and skirts: between 150 and 200 of them.
I am glad Patrice is here to push me because, clearly! – left to my own devices, they would continue to morph and grow and consume space I no longer have. It’s quite exciting in an obtuse sort of way – clearing out all kinds of things, making life simpler, easier, and more enjoyable.
My dear friend Matthias Vogt told me last week there were only about a dozen tickets left for Frida X, being held at Casa Yvonneka next Saturday – a week tomorrow! This extravagant event is always a delight to attend; lots of women come dressed as Frida, but it is certainly not necessary. Be prepared for diadem(a)s of every color and size that make for lovely heads everywhere. The drinks flow like water, and appetizers are beautifully displayed and consumed in the lounge. Silent auction tables abound, laden with jewelry and expensive overnight packages in some of the finest resorts in Jalisco and Nayarit – think St. Regis and Four Seasons Hotels. Steven Retchless will entertain, and there will be dancing under the stars, with the city awash in light at your feet. Find me there for hugs! For tickets and more information, go to VallartaCalendar.com
Last night at Nacho Daddy, a new season of Thursday concerts kicked off, alternating Brenda Gaviño and Paul Lions. We saw Paul reprise his Electric Light Orchestra tribute show, which he performed a couple of times last season at Coco Cabaret. Nacho Daddy is a far more intimate venue that will lend itself well to the upcoming Soul/Blues concert next Thursday, December 11th, sung by Brenda Gaviño, and to Paul’s following tribute on the 18th, saluting Eric Clapton.
Christmas concerts and parties should begin in earnest as soon as the processions to Guadalupe are finished on her Saint’s Day, December 12. We have a three or four-day lag time before the Posadas start to close streets all over town as neighbors sing to one another, share food and drink, and the Christmas story is retold over and over again. Mexico is a glorious place to spend Christmas, where music never stops, love, peace, and goodwill are in the air, and there is nary a drop of snow to be seen, From Here.
