Enjoying the moment

When I woke up this morning the sun was already out! What a difference!


Still chilly, but it looks so much better today.


Had a meeting this morning and played tennis for an hour and a half, had to go to the bank, but after that... I ate my lunch in the sun, enjoying the moment!

And it felt so good! Should do it more often. Although I'm not working (not paid I mean, because I do a bunch of volunteer work) I'm always on the go, hardly ever a moment to relax and that should change because little moments like these give me so much energy.

So from now on: more healthy food, sports on a regular basis ánd a moment to unwind more often!

By the way: I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the sun:

Mamma Mia!!

We went to the movies yesterday... to see Mamma Mia (finally arrived in Brazil!). My God, I just love this movie. The music and the actors are so adoring.

A real feel good movie and although the script is quite predictable to my opinion (but hey, I didn't go to that movie to thínk...), I'm still impressed by the movie and its actors.

It also made me think a lot... why do we always want everything so planned, we need to do this and that, always in a hurry, etc., etc. If we could only go with the flow every now and then, just let things happen, enjoy the moment, like they seem to do in this movie, now thát would be a major achievement!

So for today, no more obligations, it's cold, grey and wet outside. You can find me on the couch, close to the fireplace, either staring in the fire or with a book , a cup of tea or a glas of red wine in my hand and just enjoy this moment...

Do you enjoy the moment too??

Planning on some creativity

After a meeting at school and a lunch with a friend (oriental!!) I decided on some creativity for the rest of the day...



Here a sneak peak on the fabrics... I'll show you later what I made of it...

(don't get too excited, it'll be just boring things, but the fabrics are nice, aren't they??)

Have a great week!!

Some cooking and baking

O yes, the weather was too boring so I spent the Saturday afternoon cooking and baking in the kitchen (cosy!), preparing a dinner for friends.

For dinner I prepared a simple 'caprese' as a starter, 'abadejo' (a tasty white fish) with a parsley-oregano-chilly pepper crust together with a nice little cone of brocoli-rice and a fresh salad, desert was a strawberry tiramisu. And this last one was just awesome, so tasty and creamy... just yummy!

From the dark brown bananas I'm going to make a banana-nut-bread today.... Yummy too! (It'll be gym time the whole week!!).

Oh, oh, these cold, dark, rainy days... comfort food...

A fun weekend?

Today is a day off from school... last weekend, Sunday September 7, was 'Dia do Indepenência' in Brasil (Independence Day) and apparently, school thought that the kids didn't have enough days off yet so they decided to give this Friday off... which means: our weekend already started (although my husband just left for the office, poor guy)!!

So this morning we'll play tennis (need exercise!) and go for a swim (kid) and coffee (me) to a friends house.

The weather is just so nice today (hot, 35 degrees, blue sky and I just love the heat) but the forecasts for the weekend are 10 degrees less and rain... so we invited some friends over for diner and I'll stay in the warm and cosy kitchen in the afternoon... best place to be then!

I wish you all a lovely weekend!

A quiet day

A quiet day today, wowh what a nice feeling that is! It's been a while!

Only a meeting this afternoon at school (for an art project I'm working on). But for the rest of the day: no obligations. Which doesn't mean I don't have anything to do of course (the fridge is almost empty...) and I need to finish some articles for a Dutch magazine (deadline already past, sorry!).

But first of all I'll go for a long walk with our dog (my one and only daily exercise) and will visit the organic street market to do the first part of the (healthy) shopping!

By the way, this is how the veranda turned out in white:

I'll promise a nicer picture soon!

Tchau! C.

Orchids... any colour, size, scent you can imagine!

This morning I went to an international womens meeting in the 'Orquidário': a beautiful orchid nursery.

The species they grow are amazing: all kinds of colours, shapes, scents (and prices)!

Apart from a tour through the nursery, there was time to chat, get to know each other, drink coffee and eat (too much) cake! A lot of nationalities gathered in this relaxing, colourful place, you hardly realize that you're in the city of São Paulo!

And after this I went on... having lunch with some Dutch friends in the garden of a cute little restaurant, just around the corner of our house. Chatting and eating again. So tonight... just some green leaves for dinner! (and maybe some Italian bread... put some mix in the bread machine, but not sure if it'll be ready on time!)

A weekend in the countryside

We had a great weekend in the countryside. My God, how beautiful Brazil's nature is. Sometimes you just need to get away from the grey, concrete jungle of São Paulo. To breathe fresh air, to indulge in nature... and we sure did (apart from the wedding we attended of course).

This is Brazil too!

The whole family on a horse

And we almost couldn't resist to buy this house... only for the name!!

Sunny days... garden work goes on!

Still working in the garden, doing cleaning, the dishes, the laundry (I unfortunately had to let my maid go), volunteer work (but real work it is!) for several social projects, trying to stay fit by playing tennis, etc. etc.

So no real time to blog, I'm sorry.

Will be gone for the weekend too (going to a wedding in the interior of São Paulo state) so hopefully back next week (with a bright white veranda??) and beautiful pictures of this well-known mountain town!

And oh yes, before I forget, trying to make something pretty with the lavender I cut off...

Will show you later!

Take care!

C.