Our Mexican Apartment: A Treat! Of Naked Proportions

It’s official official.  We have closed on our apartment in Mexico.  We’ve done all of the things at this point, even  added a bit of our own style and moved some of our clothes into their new home, but reader, my oh double my, what an experience it all was.

I knew this apartment was going to be quirky after seeing the pictures on line, but I was still not quite prepared. 

Let’s start with the spare bedroom. 

If you look at the picture to your right, you will see a colorful print. I actually thought it was a collage of flowers at first. Oh how innocent, oh how quaint of me.

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a naked woman duplicated four times over. 

When you move down a short hallway later you come to the living room and kitchen. On one of the most prominent walls is a painting featuring a girl eating an apple with her legs spread a bit wider than what would be considered innocent.

Directly to the left of the kitchen is the master bedroom where there is another framed print on one of the walls. A beautiful girl is laying on her side. Her breasts hit a white wall and black paint oozes from various parts of her naked body to hide what some would consider the most important bits.

But the real kicker was when I went back into the living room, sat on the light gray couch, a real selling point for its vintage flare, and noticed the coffee table book.  

You can see why it caught my attention. It's important to note here that the t!s were not used as cover-ups on the actual magazine cover. At this point I was not really all that surprised, given the overall decorative theme. All I could really think about was that my husband's parents had toured the apartment for us about a month ago and what must they have thought? They did give their nod of approval, so they must not have been to scandalized.

Out of curiosity I began to look through the magazine. The nudity was tastefully done, more like art pieces than anything too gratuitous. I didn't feel like I was looking through a Playboy, but rather an art deco magazine.  One picture in particular actually inspired the large painting of the girl on the wall.

I had never heard of Treat! magazine before, but now I know quite a lot about it, thanks to Google and Instagram.  The magazine was launched in 2011 by Steve Shaw, a noted photographer who at one point shot for Maxim magazine and created this magazine as a “sanctuary for artistic, uncensored, and non commercial photography."   The magazine would go on to feature other famous photographers.

All of this new knowledge only propelled my curiosity further as the closing date approached and the previous owners, I was told, would be in attendance. I didn't really know much about them besides the fact that they  were Canadian and were going to continue to live in Mexico.

The day of our closing arrived.  We ran into the notary's office, running late per usual.  They looked normal enough, I thought on my first sight of them, he being a bit on the more extravagant side, eyebrow ring, very fluid in movement and style.  When we were ushered into the conference style room it soon became clear that they were not just Canadian, but French Canadian.  He spoke mostly French, English, and passable Spanish.   She, on the other hand, was tightly built, her blunt blonde hair brushed ever so slightly across her shoulders.  Her eyes were intense and her hand movements even intenser.  She spoke rapid French, rapid Spanish, and rapid English.  The couple kept turning to their realtor, although I later found out he was their assistant to the assistant.  (Who brings such a person along and who even has an assistant to the assistant?!?) 

Most of the conversation was in Spanish with French paragraphs thrown in before all parties looked to me periodically and spoke English, like I should know where exactly they were in the conversation, which I assure you I did not, but I did my fair share of nodding like you would when you're pretending a comprehension that you haven’t even come close to grasping.

They had gutted the apartment, they told us.  Hired an American architect.  One reason everything is so well constructed and put together, the woman proudly exclaimed.  Then they hired an interior designer.

“We love your style,” G matter of factly stated and they both exchanged a kind of glance that I didn’t quite understand, but also didn't really care to, if I’m being completely honest.

We really aren’t going to do too much to change the decor of the apartment if you were wondering.  We added a painting featuring Frida and another abstract one. We bought both from a local artist in Mexico.  The colors actually compliment the rest of the apartment.  Almost like our paintings were meant to be placed in just such a place.  We probably will have to replace some of the prints because the humidity is causing them to bubble up a bit, but I still want to find something altogether similar.  The magazine will stay a coffee table book, as will the painting of the girl on the wall.

I can’t wait to get back to my art filled oasis in the sun.  Two more months and I will finally be able to live there.  I will finally be able to expand my sometimes closed off mind to the possibilities of the strange, the unique, the beautiful and my true self can commence into being something I can be proud to call my own.