oh happy day

After 2 months of skype and letters, Pedro is in Portugal and I am so happy!

são joão

Every year my mom gathers some friends and family to celebrate São João. This year was the first time I actually made it to the festivities! It's not very common in Viana to celebrate São João (the holiday of Saint John the Baptist) but my mother is always looking for an excuse to grill sardines! The night ended around a bonfire and everyone jumping over the flames a little tipsy after all the sangria. It's supposed to bring good luck. 

camping

A couple of weekends ago I went camping with my family to Gerês. It's incredible how building a fire to cook dinner and sleeping on the hard ground can be so appealing. The good thing is my parents love camping. Unfortunately for us, Portugal is loaded with pyromaniacs that get off on watching our forests burn so even within campgrounds you cannot build a bonfire, which takes away most of the fun in camping: if you can't burn things in a controlled environment, what's the purpose of camping?! Naturally we skirted this and built a fire in the bbq pits and played cards the whole night.

happy birthday pedro

He turns 32 today so wish him a Happy Birthday!! 

at the beach

I spent most of last weekend at the beach with my grandma. Everyone always complains about how cold the water is up north, but I always manage to go for a swim. Grandma just sat under the umbrella and napped most of the afternoon. Life is good. 

Loganberries

My dad planted a berry bush thinking they were raspberries but they ended up being loganberries, a hybrid between blackberries and raspberries. Because they are extremely tart, I've been tossing them into smoothies and made jam. Now I have to convince him to grow blueberries... 

new boots

The weather has been awful this past month and I didn't bring with me any winter shoes. Meaning, I had to go shopping for a decent par of shoes, which is always an strenuous task for me because I usually don't like anything (and that's why I only have a handfull of shoes!). What I've been wanting for a while now was a pair of traditional portuguese boots, the ones that are made of real leather and hand stitched. I found them at Trouxa Mocha and they are perfect! 

32

This was the first year that I didn't really care much about my birthday. There wasn't a cake and everyone who sang the birthday song to me somehow didn't get to the end of it! At 32 all I really want is meaningful relationships and spending time with family and friends. So I guess I can say I had a great birthday! 

This gift was this book. You are the best! 

one year

When you marry the same person twice, there's a lot to celebrate!
It was a year ago that we brought together two families and said yes to one another. Best day ever!
Photography: Nuno Palha

this monastic life

I've been working these past few weeks from a very beautiful place, the Monastery of Tibães, near Braga. It's a massive monastery with a 100 acre property around it. In a prosper and distant past, it use to be the headquarters of the benedictine congregation in Portugal and Brasil which basically translates to a very wealthy monastery.

It's quite a difference coming from car-crazy Atlanta into Portugal's peaceful countryside and enjoy the calmness of nature and the overwhelming sense of history that these stones carry.
Oh, this monastic life!