Back in January...

Last post before the holidays!

Yes! It´s starting already, 1 more day of school and than we catch a plane to the Netherlands. We´ll be back by the end of the year to celebrate New Year´s Eve on the beach in Brazil (all in white of course).

Hope to catch up with you in the beginning of January!

But for now some ´Christmas in the tropics´ pictures:

I baked some Christmas cookies in the weekend (it´s hard work: 35 degrees outside and even warmer in the kitchen, close to the oven) and decorated the table with a Christmas touch (do you see the sun shining in the pool... , where is my Christmas mood?).

I wish you all ´Happy Holidays´!

Enjoy this lovely time of the year and hope to meet you all again for a sparkling 2008!

I´ve been tagged...

I´ve been tagged... by M. from this beautiful blog: http://somethingwhite.blogspot.com/ (have a look and pump up the volume!).

I´ve never been tagged before (I´m a quite new and not so regular blogger, sorry!), So I feel honoured!

Just don´t know if I will find new people to tag as all the bloggers I ´know´already have been tagged. But I´ll take the risk!

I'm supposed to post 7 random and/or weird things about me (who´s interested in this???) and I have to post these rules:

@ Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
@ Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
@ Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
@ Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Well, here it goes:

1. Always thought of black, kaki and orange as nice colours for my wardrobe... until I read some books about what colours can do for you... I´m totally disoriented now! Never thought I would be sensitive to these kind of things... but I am. Don´t know what to buy anymore. Definitely no black or kaki... have to change to blue, watermelon, light grey, violet, silver. Wowh, can go shopping without feeling guilty!
2. I adore sunbathing while reading beautiful home and garden magazines and having a zip of pineapple-mint juice (in portuguese: abacaxi and hortelã... yes, that´s why it is the title of my blog!). Can do this for days!
3. While living in an exotic, tropical country, being a sun-loving person, I start missing (the change of) the seasons. Looking forward to travel next week to Europe and being able to use a winter coat with gloves again!!
4. I´m a huge fan of the Dutch rock band the Golden Earring.
5. You can wake me up for crême brulée or foie gras with a nice glas of champagne.
6. I cry watching any movie... (should I confess this here???)
7. I prefer regular mail to e-mail! What´s nicer than receiving an actual post card instead of a digital message. Yes I know, this is the present ánd the future, but still... getting a sweet letter or a lovely postcard is sooooo much nicer (probably that´s why all the swaps via internet are so successfull!).

Next step is to tag other people... you see, there comes my problem.
I will think about it and try to come up with some in one of my next posts, ok??
(Hope I´m not breaking any rules now??). Or are there any volunteers...please?

Enjoy ´Sinterklaas´!

For the Dutch readers: enjoy ´Sinterklaas´evening. I made a´speculaastaart´ especially for you (and for us of course...).

It´s still difficult to get into the right mood this season. It´s very warm here (between 28 and 35 degrees) and with these temperatures you just don´t think about Sinterklaas or Christmas.

Although we do not celebrate Sinterklaas evening today, I will only start the (few) Christmas decorations tomorrow.

Next week we´ll be travelling to Europe and we will spend Christmas in the Netherlands, the decorations will be limited this year! But a little bit is necessary to get at least a little spirit of it.

To be continued...

Busy times

It´s been a while...


After our mini break on an island in the south of Brazil, it was only full speed forward!!


The last weeks of school are hectic (summer holidays will already start on December 12) and before Christmas there are always a lot of bazars I attend to sell the products that are made at the daycare center (the social project I volunteer in: www.apis-itapecerica.com.br). The money we receive for the sales of the product will be completely divided amongst the people of this poor and violent neighbourhood who take part in the production of the wooden products (decoupage), paper maché and recycled paper. Have a look!

We´re off to the beach!!

Time to meet friends, relax, read, eat, drink, swim, sunbath and see a show of Ivete Sangalo in Florianópolis! Talk to you when we get back!

Ready for the beach!

One more day to go... and then we have 6 days off. Thursday 15 and Tuesday 20 are public holidays in the state of São Paulo.

So we´re heading towards Florianópolis (in the state of Santa Catarina in the south of Brasil) by car on Thursday.

Going to the beach needed some preparation but we´re ready now, nails done!

Some pampering...

A cold and rainy day in São Paulo...

A hot cup of tea, a ´stroopwafel´ (saved for these times!) and some (foreign) magazines: what else do you need?

Painted white...

Finally the shelves in our office have been painted white (they´ve been waiting for that at least 2 years!!). It looks so fresh now. Sorry the picture is rather dark...

I combined it with orange and white striped curtains (as a good Dutchman abroad!).

The office is not done yet, but at least we are able to work in it!

Unfortunately, the big bookcase is made of wood and glass and is absolutely not my favorite. But, it has to stay this colour, I´m not allowed to paint it (according to the owner of the house).

So if anybody has some suggestions on how to make this bookcase look fresh, please let me know!!

I was so in the mood of painting that I continued on with another big shelve that I will use upstairs as a ´creative´ table! It´s nearly done, has to dry a while.

Also got some help from Senna as you can see...

May I introduce you to... Senna!

A bit later than planned (problems with the internet connection... argh!). But finally, here she is, our new family member.

Isn´t she just adorable?

She´s such a happy dog, when she sees somebody, her whole body moves (not just her tail!). She still looks like a little coton ball, whatever she does, it is difficult to get angry with her (and she already knows that!)!

Oh gosh...

We bought a dog today!
A female Golden Retriever puppy which is 2 months and 2 weeks old (born on August 12).
It´s sooooo sweet!
I knew it, we had a look at the breed and the 3 of us were just lost.

Went to the pet shop (open 24 hours!!) and bought all the necessary things to be ready for the BIG DAY tomorrow as this little monster will enter our house!

We are all so excited about it and really hope we won´t regret it...
So, hopefully tomorrow, I will you show a picture and tell you the name we chose!
Sweet dreams for now!

A rainy day in São Paulo

Today is boring: rain and cold...

How grey São Paulo is then. What a difference a little bit of sunshine can make, ehh!

So no after school activities today as Thom´s tennis is outside. We had to think of something else to do (today no wii or playstation!!).
Thom and I went around the house, found some paint, some old, white t-shirts and thus Thom made a shirt for himself as an animal saver (his dream job). But he was so sweet to make one for his friend Alex too.

In the meanwhile, I did some cookie baking (speculaas), cosy in the kitchen!!

To blog or not to blog?

I´ve been in doubt... shall I or shall I not?
Well, the fact that I´m writing this post means that I made up my mind, doesn´t it?

I would like to use this blog as a personal diary, but also to tell friends and family about our life abroad. And since our website has died more or less (lack of time and too complicated...), this blog will serve the purpose!

Hope to see you here more often and I would be very happy if you would leave me a small note from time to time...

Enjoy it!