I was going to post about our recent ink but seems Lauren beat me to it. Damn, she's fast!

Instead, I'd like to wish our friends around the globe a wonderful 2009.

The countdown here is at 4h28m.

Feliz 2009!

Lee and I got some press recently from our local Chicago suburban newspaper. Clearly they're not terribly concerned with spelling or fact-checking at The Doings, but the articles are very nice nonetheless.

Research Pays Off for LTHS Grads Opening Hostel

Sisters Team Up to Welcome Travelers

Bones Festes everyone!

We put our newly purchased tree up today. Lee's responsible for dressing the tree, and I'm responsible for inserting the branches into the trunk and fluffing out the metal rods. That's right, we went back to our Gonzalez roots this year and got a fake one. Pictures to follow.

A couple quick do's and don't's of interviewing I learned today that I'd like to share with the general publics-

DO shower sometime during the week of your interview. You want the interviewers to remember you, not the lasting trail of BO you left behind.
DON'T come back five minutes after the interview and offer to work for free for a week. It just makes you look a little weird, and kind of desperate.
DO take your last bong hit at least 6 hours before you go to the interview. Awkwardly slow response times for simple questions like "How long have you lived in Barcelona?" are not impressive.
DON'T show up an hour early, just because you were in the neighborhood. Seriously?
DON'T scratch any body part repeatedly for more than 2 seconds. It makes the interviewer question your general health, and it's just sick.

We're looking for someone to replace our dearly departing night receptionist, Sebastian, in a couple of weeks. Lee posted a job ad online this morning, and we've since received 37 responses and counting. I think it's really telling of how bad the job market is now.

One piece of advice in this uber competitive job market - responding to job ads with a short email saying "im really intrstd awaiting ur rsponse" is not going to cut it. Just a thought.

This British/African pub/game lodge opened around the corner from us. Obama??? Seriously???

I'm holding out hope that they've been working on this business plan for fifteen years and that Obama was not just the only African sounding word these Spaniards had ever heard.

I almost missed lee's arrival at the airport because I was admiring Familia Mulleta over there.

After a two week surprise trip home for Thanksgiving, it's been tough getting back into the swing of things. Hence the recent lack of blog posts. Can I still claim a tryptophan hangover this late in December?



Anyways, I'm in a terrific mood today, and I'm not 100% sure why. It's certainly not the weather (rainy and cold), the desk chair I'm sitting in (broken and uncomfortable), the amount of money we're raking in (little, occupancy's not great) or the sheet salesman that just dropped by to sell his latest wares (he kept calling me Gloria). So I think it's a combination of general holiday cheer and the fact that Lee's coming back this afternoon! It's a little tough to have all the pressure of the hostel fall on me. I'm the only one fixing radiators, buying milk, paying suppliers, making up the schedulea etc. It's nice to split the work up a little! Plus it's great to have my permanent dinner date/partner-in-crime/couch lounging pal back. What good is a two-for-one burger special at Foster's of Hollywood without someone to split it with!

More good news! We got a very nice write up in Let's Go Spain 2009, which came out last Wednesday. Click for a larger version.