Pitstop in the Netherlands these weeks... and it's freezing cold here!

Luckily we're in one of those holiday parcs with an indoor snow center. And Thom started some classes... He loves it!

And then all this snow... who had expected that?

Must say that the summer temperatures of Brazil seem very appealing to me right now...

Anyway, we'll be spending the holidays with family and friends in the Netherlands this year.

In the new year we'll be moving into our new house! Stay tuned!

Wishing you all a merry Christmas, relax & enjoy!

Love, Chantal

On the move...

Our house is packed in boxes

The boxes have been loaded on the container

The container is on its way to the ship (I hope!)

When will I see it back?

Busy times,

Good-bye lunches & diners & parties

Emotional times too

Sad to say good-bye to good friends

Sad to say good-bye to the ever-friendly Brazilians

Sad to say good-bye to this beautiful country,

where we spent an amazing, wonderful 6 years

But ready for a new challenge!

(to be continued...)

We (my parents and I) went to Buenos Aires last week. And although I've been there numerous times, the city still surprises me now & then.

It always reminds me a lot of the southern European cities. What a beauty Buenos Aires is!

For my parents it was their first visit ever so we included quite a lot of sightseeing (Recoleta, San Telmo, Palermo, Plaza de Mayo, Puerto Madero, etc.), but we also visited an 'estancia' and San Antonio de Arreco, 100 km northwest of Buenos Aires.

I won't bother you with pictures of the obvious, instead I'll show Buenos Aires 'au naturel', hope you like it!

Have a wonderful weekend & enjoy!

How I have neglected this blog... busy times for us... sorry!

Got some news to share, but can't do that - yet!

For the time being some nice pictures in and around Paraty (litoral norte, between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro). Enjoy!

Travelling to Buenos Aires tomorrow, love that city!

Have a wonderful week!

A rainy day, perfect for some chocolate tasting.

And that's what we did with a whole group of women...

We started with the 100% cacao chocolate, tried 85%, etc. The last one was the milk chocolate with only 32% of cacao. Must admit that the first dark ones were really strong and thus didn't like them at all!

After the tasting we all had coffee or tea with... chocolate of course! This time we could choose ourselves and thát was good!

It was a lovely & cosy morning, learnt a lot about chocolate and even had time to chat with everybody! When is the next tasting??

A lovely day today, full of blue sky & sunshine... is this winter?

A relaxing day today, gonna try to enjoy the sunshine a bit!

Maybe cleaning out the garage or

maybe a light lunch in the garden?

Bad luck!

What happens when you play in an area full of trees, plants, mud, stones, stones & more stones & no lights (you know, an area your mom always told you to avoid)?

Well, this is what happens:

He tripped over a huge stone, thought he got back into balance but didn´t see the following big stone and fell on his face & elbow. A lot of blood and a dislocated elbow. So we ended up in hospital, the repositioning of the elbow didn´t work out the way it had to & so he needed a small surgery to put it back in the right spot.

He has to use the sling for 3 weeks & will need to do fysiotherapy.

First he found it all very interesting until he realized that meant also no running, no soccer, no tennis. And he was all sad...

But look at the bright side my ´little´ boy: everything will be done for you!!

Just a quick post before I go out for lunch... how is my diet ever going to work here???

Anyway, my computer crashed, they thought it was a software prblem but it isn´t, now they´re trying to solve the hardware problem(s)... using my sons computer instead... (which is so slow because of all the games & things he downloaded on it & it has a portuguese key board, can tell you that I´m not happy with that :-0).

The good thing about being without a computer is that I actually got some other things done: I sew a present for a friend and I started the decluttering in my house. So I got quite some bags full of old magazines, the shelves already collapsed under their weight, that I´m now offering my friends & they love it!

Gotta go now!

Have a marvellous weekend & enjoy!!

Is there a better way to have coffee, cake & a chat with friends then being surrounded by beautiful & unique orchids? Full of wonderful intense colours, some even have very exquisite scents (but they are pretty expensive).

Of course I couldn't go home empty handed!

I'll show you some more beauties:

Hope you'll all have a wonderful, colourful day!!

Our little sweetie turnt 2 today!

We got her when she was just about 2 months old & she is just so adorable, you can't imagine. Always happy, sweet & full of energy. She needs a lot of walking & so do I. We both gained some kilos during the holidays (which for me is really inevitable as I travel back to the Netherlands only once a year and just have to indulge in all kinds of food I missed the past year!), so I made up my plan for the coming months... exercise and a healthier lifestyle (again!).

But for now: Happy Birthday Senna!

Almost 3 weeks now that we are enjoying our holidays in the Netherlands. We did a lot & saw many family members & friends. Unfortunately I forgot the memory card of my camera. Must admit that it is so nice to go out without a camera, much more peaceful... just can't show you anything...
This weekend my husband will join us in the Netherlands & while my son will join a tennis camp next week, my husband & I will go to Belgium (instead of France) playing golf, walking, biking, enjoying the nature around Waterloo & for the cultural & gastronomical part we'll visit Brussels.
A bit less than 2 weeks before we head back to Brazil. I'm really missing my 2nd home country!!
When we're back, this blog will be up & running again on full speed, I promise!

Wish you all sunny & beautiful holidays!! Take care!!

Is there a better start of a weblog than looking into Pierce's eyes?

Antoinette from 'Twaatje's diary' is hosting a very cute give away, all you have to do is include your favorite actor in your weblog before July 5... Have a look!

I think my favorite actor is Pierce Brosnan, but you know, it's pretty difficult to choose... Love George Clooney, Clive Owen, Hugh Jackman, Kevin Costner, Robert Redford (and so I can go on) as well...

But as I really have to choose, Pierce is my choice (I met him briefly last year, here in São Paulo, he was doing a promotion campaign for a car brand, so maybe that just gives him that little extra for me).

I'm off to Europe tomorrow, visiting family & friends, enjoying the long evenings, savouring all the goodies, etc. and visiting friends in Paris...

Back in August!
Have a wonderful month!!

Love, Chantal

Can you imagine how much we enjoyed our holidays? The sky so blue, the water so clear that it looked like it was photoshopped...

We had a wonderful time and it was quite difficult to select some pictures to show you. Here's an impression:

And now I'm organizing my next trip, back to the roots; homeleave!

We'll be flying this weekend and be back in the beginning of August.

I'm very much looking forward to spending some time with my family & my friends over there.

And hopefully we can add a small trip somewhere in Europe.

I'll keep you posted!!