It's almost Christmas

Karl Blossfelt

Have a beautiful Christmas

The LIST

So, as you can see, I started my list of stuff to do before 30! Not the most original idea, but a fun one! I figured, in 3 years I'll be 30 (not nice) so I might as well get everything off my chest and set my mind to accomplish this "very hard to come up with" list. I'm not big on planning but it helps me to set my mind and constantly remind me of all the different things I truely want to do before 30. It's not finished yet but I'm getting there.

What will I do after 30? I don't care, like I said, I'm not big on planning.

Red and white Christmas

Guess what Sandra brought from across the Atlantic?

Oh holy night

This is going to be a very special Christmas.

At first I thought it would be hard to convince my matriarchal family about the idea, but in fact, I was wrong! Everyone is excited and pitching in to make it magical!

After 30 years with the Atlantic separating us, we are finally going to be all together at the same table for Christmas dinner. We are 19 family members and a Brazilian couple. (Helena's roommates living in Portugal and have nowhere else to go...)

As was 30 years ago, Christmas will be at my grandparent’s house. There will be a real pine tree (we haven't cut one down in decades, so this year we are excused from an environmentally friendly tree) and instead of plastic balls, we are hanging up chocolates and there is no such thing as Santa... its Baby Jesus who's handing out presents. And the best thing is that each family member only has to buy one gift for another member, so this means no crazy Christmas shopping to worry about!

But since I can’t resist, I’m preparing a little special something for everyone… I’m sure they’ll treasure it!

In the mail

From Lamberto in Italy. A painting of a mountain village scenery in Montagne.

The walk

The walk

1st. Lisbon photo walk

While everyone else had digital cameras, I was the only old school "photographer" with my Canon A1 and 2 rolls of film.

At the lab I have only printed out this photo for which I have to thank James and his eye for detail!

Mary

Weddings are a long term planning pastime. You have to plan the date, reserve the church, book the reception, buy a dress, decide on who to invite, catering, flowers, hair, nails, invitations, giveaways, honeymoon and the list goes on. If you make it through all of this without getting your hands around your loved one's neck, them you'll manage a lifetime of morning breath, headaches and deciding on which table cloth better matches the kitchen tiles!

Marry and Alex are getting married! I think they'll manage...

On my way to work

Praça das Flores

In the mail

As a recent postcrosser, I have received about 15 postcards from different parts of the world. The part I enjoy the most is discovering who will be the next person I send a card to.

When I speak of this to people, the first thing they ask is:

"Hum... so... you send postcards to people you don't know?"

"Exactly!!"

This card is one of my favorites. It's a handmade card from Erika Jean of a cotton field. She took the photo herself and stapled it to a shiney cardboard.

It's up on my wall!