if... made with love

Flying

2012-02-22T00:39:00.000Z

“I believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with wings.”

Gustave Flaubert

photo by me

Priorities

2012-02-15T18:43:00.000Z

Valentine's day is gone and, for me, seems like it didn't even happened.

Don't you think this day should be like a big red sign to orient our priorities?

photo by me
for the 52 Photos Project

I'm yours and you're mine...

2012-02-14T22:46:00.000Z

photo by me

A pause to play... John Legend

2012-02-09T23:01:00.000Z

"Where do we go? Who knows?
But each day gets better
I just can't let her go.
Oh no!
Each kiss gets sweeter
I just can leave her, no..."

Today I felt like remembering more of the soundtrack of our wedding, so why don't you join me and make a pause to play it?

**
Artist: John Legend

Song: Each day gets better
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Traveling :: Venice

2012-02-06T19:54:00.000Z

Venice is the perfect shooting place. Every time I look at these pictures I feel like I wanna be there again. One can dream with a second honeymoon, right?

all photos by me

A pause to play... Midge Ure

2012-01-26T23:15:00.000Z

Just breathe...

**
Artist: Midge Ure

Song: Breathe
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

A pause to play... A silent film

2012-01-19T22:47:00.000Z

First of all, have you seen my New Year's resolutions post? Call me crazy... but I would love to know what you think about!

Now, to the poin. Just a short one, this time, to share something I've been obsessing about, this week. This is kind of a new music discovery to me, and I say kind of because, oddly enough, even though you can't see me I can assure you I was in among the crowd in that concert you see on the video. Two years and half ago. We were there to see The Dave Matthews band and Chris Cornell, and in between shows we caught the end of this concert, and the encore of this song. I remember enjoying the sound, I remember us talking about how we should search the album to hear. And then... I completely forgot it. Till this week when I came across this video.

Ignore the noises and just enjoy their energy. Make a pause to play it. Loud!

**
Artist: A Silent film

Song: You will leave a mark
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

New Year's resolutions :: 2012

2012-01-19T18:36:00.003Z

I'm not late for this, am I? Well, this is my blog, so I guess I get to decide what is right or wrong here! Anyways... It's never late to make commitments, right?

New Year's resolutions. One way or another, I think everybody makes them. Even if just for a second when raising the glass, watching the fireworks or kissing the ones we love. There's a flip of a moment when thoughts flow over our head and we make plans and wishes.

Some take them more serious and wright them down. I never did such thing. Maybe that's the reason why I never seem to remember all of them at the end, and maybe that's why some important ones end up undone. So, this time I'm writing them all here for the whole world to see, and beside you I commit. I wonder were this will go, but will be fun to look back in the end and I'm hoping to be proud of myself.

I've been thinking of them for a while (18 days, to be more precise...) and been elaborating a sort of a mental plan on how to get them done. As usual, many things crossed my mind, but I decided to stick with a shorter list of what I believe is doable. Keep your feet on the ground, girl! So, here they are:

1. Get our Etsy shop open and running
I started this blog with this goal in mind (hence the "made with love" name) and then, somehow, things turned, and when I noticed this place had grown into a photography based blog. How do these things happen, really? Well, I'm not complaining, it's actually kind of fun to realize how things find it's own path. And, i'm enjoying plenty of it. I would not have improved my skills, like I feel I have, without this place, that challenges me every day to get better and learn more. But we (me and the hub, of course) want to take that next step we've been pursuing. (don't worry, there won't be less photography here, I can't go back now) We're working on it. It will be done, this is the year!

2. Start a new sport practice on a regular basis
I told you before that I play football (soccer), but that only happens every other sunday, so I don't think that counts as a regular practice. I really N E E D to start doing anything else.

3. Declutter and organize my closet (get those outfits in order!)
Meaning... get rid of everything I don't use (and also those things I use but probably shouldn't), and make it a practical space, so that I won't ever leave the house again feeling uncomfortable, or should I say lacking self-confidence, with what I'm wearing. No more excuses, like not having the time nor the will to find the pieces for a proper outfit. As a mental push to it, I will start sharing here two outfit photos per week (let's see how long this will go!). Not those kind of outfit posts with me-me-me-pictures overload and all the discription of what I're wearing and where I got it. No. Just pictures. And hopefully I will learn to control the fear of being in front of the camera, and get my way into the self-portrait technique (I will try that whenever possible).

4. Relearn how to paint in watercolors, and practice it
I've always loved watercolor. I started to learn it in high school, but then had to move on to oil painting and never went back at it. Honestly, I'm right in square one. I plan to buy a proper book and tools to start and also learn something with Jane Davenport. In the way, maybe I'll find time to make my own Peerless watercolor pallet to add to my travel journal.

5. Get a tattoo
This is also an old project of both of us that never came through. Let's make it happen!

6. Go back at shooting with analogue cameras
It's been ages since I've done it and, though I want (and seriously need) to improve my digital shooting skills, I really miss it. I feel like all those different approaches on light capturing take our photos, and the way we capture moments to another level. I bought a new camera several weeks ago and I can't get over that I haven't tried it yet!

7. Create more, and share
I have a million diy projects in my head and just as many others on my Pinterest board. The plan is... get them done! So, in order to make that happen I'm committing to a monthly post of a "Pinterest inspired DIY". Just 12 a year, can't be that hard to pull up!

8. Travel to a different country
I dig travelling! I dream of it pretty much every single day. We started our marriage with a (slightly crazy) 15 days trip that begun on a cruise ship and continued by train and bus, taking us through six different countries. (In fact, let's reduce it down to five, because crossing France over night on a train and spending two hours in Nice doesn't count to scratch that country.) We made plans to continue this journey and it was supposed to happen last year, but then all sort of things happen and we messed up the preparation and the ahead reservations needed, in result we skipped to plan B, which meant new city, no new country.

So... What do you think? Will I make it?

all photos by me

Take me to the sea

2012-01-17T20:22:00.001Z

Last weekend's events brought back so many beautiful memories, but in such a sad way

...

To all the lost souls, my prayers are with you and your families.

all photos by me

A pause to play... Mariah Carey

2012-01-12T23:32:00.000Z

Wait!! Don't go away, not just yet. Give me some credit here, will you?

Ok, so... Once upon a time there was a girl with a powerfull voice that conquered the world with her musics. She was young and talented and needed no more than her beautiful smile to gain the crowd. Time passed by, and with time wrinkles came. The girl started to loose her confidence and soon her pure smile started to fade. From there was just a step to contracting the Jennifer Lopez/Rihana syndrome. The rest of the story you all know.

Do you remember that girl? Did you ever got to know her? If not, take a time to do it now. I remember my father talking about a girl he had seen on TV singging a song caled Vision of Love (her first single) but he would not remember her name, he kept looking for her till one day he brought home her MTV Unlugged album. We used to listen to it all the time and this song allways made me wanna dance. It still comes to my mind when I feel like it.

Seems like I'm starting the year with a certain need to shake things up. Well, it better be a good omen!

Today I was received in a home full of lighted candles, a complete (and delicious) dinner ready and an apple crumble coming out of the oven wich made the house smell wonderfull! All by the hands of the sweet husband of mine. And today is not even a special date! Should I be worried? Oh... I know I'm lucky! So, I guess this music makes even more sence today...

"You've got me feeling emotions

Deeper than I've ever dreamed of

You've got me feeling emotions

Higher than the heavens above"

**
Artist: Mariah Carey

Song: Emotions
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Discovering Portugal :: Guimaraes

2012-01-11T22:08:00.001Z

Aqui nasceu Portugal - Here was born Portugal - is what you read as soon as you get to the historical center of the city. Known as the birthplace of the nation, Guimaraes is one of the most important historical cities of Portugal. It's was the first governative center of the Portuguese kingdom as it was born in that region in the beginning of the XII century. The most important historical figure of the city is, of course, D. Afonso Henriques, who's been said to have born there, though not proven. The adventurer knight battled with his own mother's army to take control of the land, and later became the first king when the kingdom was recognized in 1143. Adventurous and rebel as he was, naturally he had proclaimed himself king of Portugal several years before that happened.

As it is to expect, the city is full of history and walking trough the streets you can really feel it's character. Its historical center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it's really worth a visit. Also, this year the city is nominated one of the European Capitals of Culture (along with Maribor), so there will be lots of fun and interesting things happening.

And, since we embarked on this quest to discover every Portuguese castle, we can proudly say we scratched another one from our never ending list!

all photos by me
(except that one the hub took of me, obviously! ;) )

Wordless

2012-01-10T21:09:00.001Z

“All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.”

Kahlil Gibran

photo by me

La vuelta al mundo :: Our Christmas

2012-01-07T19:25:00.000Z

The day of the Kings is past and with it the holidays season is closed. And... I already miss it! Oh, I just love the twinkling around the house, what can I say? So, there's no need to explain last month theme for La vuelta al mundo.

Here are some photos of our Christmas.

at our little place...

at the streets...

at my parents's home...

and... ending the season singing carols for the three kings

Next year there will be more.

all photos by me

A pause to play... The Black Keys

2012-01-06T00:02:00.001Z

Talking about starting the year with good vibes, this is the perfect song for it! Not an old one, this time, but I'm getting more and more addicted to it. Check it out, and try not to smile while watching! I'm sending good vibes to you for the following twelve months, now make a pause and play it!

**
Artist: The Black Keys

Song: Lonely boy
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Welcome 2012!

2012-01-04T19:48:00.002Z

Happy New Year everyone!! Oh... I know it's already the fourth day, but never mind me.

I was wondering if anyone would have missed me... (if you didn't, please don't say so) Christmas time is also known as crazy time in here. We've been oh so so busy! Between all christmas celebrations, and lots of rehearsals, and hand-making all the christmas gifts, and... starting everything to get our etsy shop open soon... the list is endless.

But we managed to get to days of to get away of everything to start the new year. We considered going to somewhere near the sea, and then went for something totally different (don't even ask...) but it was super! We went to Guimaraes, the European Capital of Culture for 2012, and we loved everything. The beautiful old city (more on that later), the awesome party, the christmas lights (oh, yes, there were lights!!) and even the cold weather. It was the perfect getaway! (follow this link and watch the video on the right to see how the party was)

Hope you started the year with good vibes too!

all photos by me

A pause to play... David Fonseca

2011-12-23T02:12:00.002Z

Say that the days before Christmas around here are chaotic it's an understatement, but I could not let this week pass without sharing a song, specialy when I love the season's tunes. So I managed to find five minutes for a short post featuring a portuguese artist (another one).

If you're from my generation, when you think of christmas you imediately start humming "last christmas I gave you my heart...", well, I do! And so, here it goes, a cover from that song, and a good one!

And, just because it is Christmas, keep on listening, there are two extra songs, just as good as the first one. I say, this guy should record a Christmas album! David, if you're listening to me, 2012 is the year for you to do it!

**
Artist: David Fonseca

Song: Last Christmas
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Santa's elfs are working!

2011-12-21T11:57:00.000Z

Let's not disturb them. Shhhh!
All must be done by Christmas night!

Soon the house will be smelling like cinnamon and baked apples. Yummm!

Feliz Natal!

photos by us

Christmas all over the house

2011-12-20T19:20:00.000Z

I wish Christmas time would last longer than just a month! I love adding touches to the house, and I love how the house feels during this time. This year I'm enjoying myself decorating with rosemary, since I've seen this great idea at pinterest.

You see, I always loved natural green decorations, but our common pine trees have very long needles and, as beautiful as they may be, they're not very useful in terms of making cute christmas decorations. On the other side, we do have a lot of rosemary (at least my mom's garden has, tons of it!), and... don't you thing the twigs look just as good as pine branches? Well, I do, for what matters. Oh, and the smell is gorgeous!

Remember I told you we went to the sweedish store a few weeks ago? We were meant to buy this shelf, but it turns out it's out of stock, (and I suspect it will be permanent since it's been like that for months now). Well, we were not giving up on the look we wanted. With brackets, shelves, a rail, hooks, and a bit of imagination it turned out like this. And, oh, I'm so happy with the kitchen right now! I almost forgot how I hate the counter stone, and the tiles, and the sink...

all photos by me
(unfortunately I do not have one before picture of the kitchen... I'm slapping myself right now.)

The last weekend before Christmas

2011-12-19T23:33:00.000Z

I'm exhausted. This was not a resting weekend, I tell you.

There were lots of crafts happening, like these ornaments that the children from sunday school then decorated at their advent celebration. And many hours of band rehearsals for the Christmas show happening on saturday night. And everything in between from preparing the alignment of the show to the set design... And... also preparing the activities with the children for the afternoon. Why do I get myself into so much at the same time? Beats me. In the end everything turned out very well. It's a good feeling we get in the end. It's rewarding.

After all, what is Christmas without giving the best of ourselves?

photos by me
last two by Luís, our friend

A pause to play... Tori Amos

2011-12-15T23:23:00.000Z

After sneezing every ten seconds for two whole days (nights included) I am absolutely ready to face winter. You can't scary me now! I have my defenses all ready for you! I hope...

Many years ago, watching one of the firsts talent contests on portuguese TV, I saw a girl singing "Winter", by Tori Amos. I had never heard of such artist, but that song got my attention. I searched for her music and quickly got addicted to her. She is absolutely talented, beautiful and unique. And, obviously, I can't go through winter without her. I just wish we had more snow around here, so I could really sing "Snow can wait / I forgot my mittens / Wipe my nose / Get my new boots on"! (Oh yes, I just got the new boots! I am an happy girl with warm feet.)

Since I've been sneezing so much lately, it's only fair that I share another one of my favorite songs, "caught a lite sneeze", so, this week there's a bonus, two songs!

Today I'm paying a tribute to my gone cold and welcoming winter in advance, (and may the style gods help me find the proper coat to get through it!) so I invite you to do the same. Make a pause and play it!

**
Artist: Tori Amos

Songs: Caught a lite sneeze; Winter
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Good-humour and sensibility

2011-12-14T20:14:00.001Z

"Good-humoured, unaffected girls, will not do for a man who has been used to sensible women.
They are two distinct orders of being."

Jane Austen

Why do I feel like I have dual personality?

photos by us

A red and white Christmas

2011-12-12T20:00:00.002Z

Our Christmas decorations are a work in progress. There's still some sewing happening, and some painting, and some new creations... But one thing I think we are settled: the colors. Red and white will be our colors for this year.

**
photo by me
for the 52 Photos Project

Improbable beauty

2011-12-10T02:25:00.001Z

Sometimes the ugly real life's things become beautiful seen through the lenses. Like a road overpass over a lake or a crane... That's why I love photography!

all photos by me

A pause to play... Rita Redshoes

2011-12-08T11:00:00.000Z

Today I bring you something different, something you probably haven't listened before, because this is a portuguese artist. There was a time when I used to hear this album a lot. The cd belonged to my brother and was in the car we all shared at home and, as I'm not a radio fan, every time I would grab the wheel this would play over and over.

Listening to this always brings to my memory driving alone under the rain, and the street lights on Christmas time flickering at me, as I drove for kilometers to see the boy play with his futsal team. It was the beginning of our relationship. Eventually I changed the cd on the car, but I always go back to her music, not just for the memories it brings me, but because it is intense and beautiful to hear.

So, now that I shared with you another piece of my life's soundtrack, make a pause to play it! You should not miss this one!

**
Artist: Rita Redshoes

Song: Dream on girl
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

DIY Christmas decorations

2011-12-06T19:09:00.001Z

I told I was enslaving my husband! Aren't these looking pretty?! Who knew he would turn out so talented? Well, I'm sure he didn't. It all started during our wedding prep when I found myself drowning in ideas, and the boy, desperately trying to release my stress, would look at me and say: just tell me how to do it. And suddenly I had him carving intricate design to make chandeliers and table markers... and I gasped, as a miner who has just discovered gold! Can you see what it means, for a creative soul, to have this kind of resource at home??

And this is how, from an uninteresting piece of styrofoam, these beauties were born. I just imagine things and make the drawings, everything else is his work. Soon we will be opening our etsy store where you can find things like this and much more!

photos by us

It's beginning to feel like Christmas

2011-12-05T08:30:00.000Z

Have I told you that I love Christmas season? Well, if you follow me on Pinterest you probably already noticed that. Just a little... This weekend we started our christmas decorations at home and, oh my, how I love all the twinkling!

I will be sharing what we've been doing. I warn you, I am known for enslaving my husband into creating all sorts of handmade decorations I imagine in my head!

**
photo by me
for the 52 Photos Project

A pause to play... Radiohead

2011-12-02T01:39:00.001Z

Here I am with a late post today. We're enjoying a public holiday at home. Between some needed time to relax and some time to get a few things done, I managed to save a few extra minutes before sleep to come here.

Since I started this Pause to play series, were I share moments of my life that are directly connected with music, I've been alternating between older and more recent memories. This one is a very recent one, not that I just 'discovered' Radiohead, but his particular song for some reason never got my attention. I guess there's a perfect time for everything. One of last week's evenings was spent by the fireplace watching a movie that's been sitting for months, waiting, on the DVD's shelve. It was worth the waiting cause I really enjoyed "L'Auberge Espagnole". It's a fun soft european movie, but the thing that hit me the most was this music and the way it helped the story to flow and made it so much more intense.

This song has been playing in my head the whole week, so I had to share it. It is a powerful music, a master piece, I believe, and I'm sure whenever I'll listen to it, it will bring back the memories of that night, the warmth of the fire and the relaxed feeling the movie gave us.

So, now it's your turn, make a pause and play it!

**
Band: Radiohead

Song: No surprises
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

La vuelta al mundo :: Diptychs

2011-11-30T13:11:00.001Z

This month I won't miss the deadline! Here I am to share my work for La vuelta al mundo, the Flickr group created by the talented Jackie Rueda. The theme for November was diptychs:

"Mi propuesta es que hagan dipticos de sus propias fotos durante este mes y que (si pueden y les apetece) se conecten con alguien (...) y le propongan tambien hacer una colaboracion."

"My proposal is for you to make diptychs of your own photos this month and (if you can and feel like) to connect with someone (...) and propose also a collaboration."

I had too much fun with this theme, experimenting combinations, looking at long forgotten photos on my folders and putting them together... looking at pictures from a different point of view, as being part of a story. I found that you can say so much more by combining two pictures, and it's curious how the way you combine them can make a picture pass out a completely different message.

So, here they are, I hope you enjoy them!

Oh, and I even experimented a collaboration between me and my husband, following Jackie's suggestion. This last diptych is our two pictures join together. Now I can only look forward for December's prompt!

photos by me

Making a house a home

2011-11-29T19:43:00.001Z

Last weekend we made a trip to that swedish store, that shall not be named, to get a few things I've been planning to give the house some extra touches. But oh, the weekend was so full of things to do... we did not manage to get the time I wanted to get everything in place. As disappointed as I might be, off I went to a work week away (a shorter one, as thursday will be a public holiday!) leaving behind a messy home and lots to do.

But now, look! I've been receiving mails from the hub with photos like this. Those little yellow roses and succulents we've been growing for some time are now standing beautifully on our tiny balcony! So, what do you think, does he deserves a kiss?

all photos by Francisco

A pause to play... John Mayer

2011-11-24T17:53:00.001Z

Before you ask, we were not drunk. Liquor was too darn expensive over there! And we don't do any other weird substances either. Going to a concert is the best trip if you ask me!

This was taken at the end of an exhausting/crazy/fabulous night at Rock in Rio Lisboa with a cool group of siblings and cousins. After jumping and doing crazy (read awkward) choreographed dances to Ivete Sangalo, enjoying John Mayer amazing guitar skills and voice, and trying to see a bit of Shakira, we looked like this. Just for the record: 1) that last part was just for satisfying curiosity purposes, we were there anyway, and, truth to be told, we didn't last half of it (who knew that a long long long time ago I used to kind of like her musics?); 2) we were not the only ones looking like this, I should know better not to ruin other people's reputation other than myself, for my safety, but I can't resist! Oh...

See?? Now, I'm going to run and hide!! Oh, and about John Mayer, the gig was amazing, but I will never forgive him not playing this song. John, you owe me one!

**
photos by Margarida

Artist: John Mayer
Song: Neon
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Gratitude

2011-11-23T15:30:00.001Z

Being aware of it, allow us to appreciate every moment,
embrace what we've accomplished every step of the way,
and live a fully life.
And, for that I am immensely grateful.

For all of you getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, I wish you a beautiful happy day.

**
photo by me with the cellphone
for the 52 Photos Project

The end is near

2011-11-22T18:35:00.001Z

So, have you decided what you'll be doing on new year's eve?

We haven't. We actually have no idea of what we want to be doing. We love the whole thing of a little cottage in the middle of the woods, a fireplace... toasted bread and cheese, and a nice bottle of wine. But... then, we do have fireplace at home (I know, it's not the same), and we do nights like this every now and then (again not the same thing, I recon, but it's close), and, we'll be starting a family somewhere in a future not that far, or so says my biological clock, so I'm sure we'll have plenty of time for quiet, relaxed, family celebrations. Right?

There's something kind of magical about starting the year in the streets, surrounded by hundreds of strangers, watching the fireworks... Then, looking at this pictures, I start dreaming of watching the sun go down on the sea for the last time in the year, and starting the new one with my feet on the sand... the fireworks reflecting on the waves... Wouldn't that be great? I thought so.

Are we late for booking something that won't eat out our bank account? And you, what are your plans?

all photos by me

Einstein's fashion advices

2011-11-21T19:46:00.001Z

"Once you can accept the universe

as being something expanding into an infinite nothing which is something,

wearing stripes with plaid is easy"

Albert Einstein

photo by me
When I read this quote I smiled and immediately thought of this picture. I need to have a chat with mister Einstein!

A pause to play... Dave Matthews Band

2011-11-18T01:02:00.001Z

Last night's events at home:

Hub passing buy with a laundry basket - Any news? New comments on the blog?

Me on the computer - The usual. Oh, you should come and see the pictures I posted.

Hub talking from the back - So, what song did you post today, uh?

Demon on my right hear - Shit!! Is it thursday??

Demon on my left hear - Let's see... you just arrived home, from a two hour train trip, today was your last working day of the week... Yep. I'ts thursday alright.

Me out loud - Oh, stupid me, I completely forgot! It's blogger's fault! I was supposed to post this yesterday and he just decided (again) we would not work!

Demon on my left hear - Let me get this strait, one hour ago you were making fun at your sister because she thought today was saturday? Are you for real, woman?

Demon on my right hear - SHUT UP!!

Hub passing buy with an empty laundry basket and a naughty smile on his face - So, are you done or what?

Me - But... ain't you got something to do for work tomorrow?

Hub - Nop.

The rest you can guess. We went strait to bed, with me cursing all the way. So, this is how this goes this week. A thursday pause on friday. Oh well... What can I do?

Skipping to that now, without further ado, today I'm sharing one of my favorite bands, and this one might as well be one of my all time favorite songs. So, stop what you're doing, this is a big thing! Two years ago we went see them live at a summer festival. It was a hot july day and we sure appreciated the orange things some company was distributing to wrap our heads with, still I can not help smiling when I see the pictures we took with the cellphone. Happy moments, happy pictures!

Seeing them play live was one of the best experiences I can remember, and this song, wow... everyone singing along word by word. Amazing. They really are extraordinary musicians. So, now that I shared a bit more of the soundtrack of my life, go ahead and make a pause to play it!

Band: Dave Matthews Band
Song: #41
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Just a car?

2011-11-17T16:07:00.001Z

Our dear and faithful Astra, companion of so many trips, is getting old, maybe too old. He gets so tired when the ride is long that he keeps asking for gas. All the time.

We try not to push him more than he can and, whenever we feel like going to faraway places, we borrow one of dad's cars.

And, I must be honest, we dream with a new car. So, now he just started to show a new problem every week, whether is the exhaust pipe that needs replacement or the wipers that stop working out of nowhere...

I wonder, is he trying to get our attention? Did we hurt his feelings?

**
photo by me
for the 52 Photos Project

Photography editing tips :: diptychs with Pixlr

2011-11-11T17:35:00.001Z

Blogger has been acting crazy erasing my posts. Am I the only one having this? Crazy stuff... Let's see if it works this time.

I told you I was going to post another tutorial on making diptychs, so here I am! I named it Diptychs with Pixlr but you can as well do it on Photoshop, because the steps are pretty much the same.

If you're looking for a good (free) tool to edit your photos I would say Pixlr, also known as the cloud based Photoshop alternative, is the best you can find*. While not being a Photoshop, it looks really like it, and it works pretty much the same way, so if later you decide to 'upgrade' and became a Photoshop user you'll be feeling at home. In resume, I think it pays of start with a tool like this that gives you the bases to develop further. It also works the opposite way, in my case I'm a Photoshop user since college, but sometimes I need to process a photo to post when not being on my computer, so this was the best find for me. I could do everything in a run without the need to test the waters nor feeling lost looking for the tools. Honestly, I think that, for most web users, a graphic editor like this will be more than enough, plus: no need for spending absurd amounts of money, and no use of hacked software.

Tutorial 2

Diptychs with Pixlr
or Photoshop

You can do this tutorial with your own photos but, for an easier comprehension, I advise you to download pic 1and pic 2 and follow my steps. It might look long but it is actually very easy. Feel free to ask any question, I will gladly try to help you.

1. Go to Pixlr.com and open the editor. Chose the option Open image from computer and chose one of the pictures you want to use in your diptych.

2. In the menu click File and Open Image and chose the second photo you want to add to your diptych. You will now have two pictures opened and ready to start working, as you can see from the image above, pic1 and pic 2.

3. We will make a horizontal diptych. For the two images to be perfectly aligned side by side they must have the exact same height. One image at a time, click on the window to select it, go to the menu Image and click Image size... Take note of the height of the image (grab paper and pencil and write it down, or just type it on a text document), and exit clicking Cancel. You don't want to change any definitions at this stage. Height of pic 1 is 1368px.

4. Repeat the previous step for the other image. Height of pic 2 is 1612px.

5. Comparing the numbers we can conclude that pic 2 is bigger on height, so we need to reduce the height of pic 2 to match the height of pic 1. Select pic 2, open the Image size box again on menu Image. Change the height to 1368 px. Make sure you have the Constrain proportions box selected. You'll notice the width value change automatically. Hit ok.

Note: you should always reduce the size of the bigger image, and not the opposite, increasing the size of an image will result in the lost of pixel quality.

6. Now that both images are the same height size we can proceed to create the diptych. To do this we will increase the canvas of one of the images to fit them both. Select pic 2 and repeat step 3, this time take note of the image width: 1787 px.

7. Select pic 2, go to menu Image and click on Canvas size... You'll see pic 2 width is 1029 px. With a calculator, make the sum of the width values of both images: 1787 + 1029 = 2816 px. As I like to have a thin white separation line between pictures, we'll add extra 10 pixels to the width making it 2826 px. Change the width value (if you're working with Photoshop, make sure you use the drop-down on the right to make sure you're working in pixels). You notice underneath you have a grid of squares where you can read Anchor. This is where you define the place you want your original image to stay anchored. By default it will be selected the top left square (the middle, in Photoshop, change it to top left), that's the position where your original image will stay after you expand the canvas, meaning that, depending on the values you attribute to width and height, the canvas will grow to the right and/or to the bottom. Since we're not changing the height this will work for us. Click ok.

Note: To understand more about the canvas size feature I suggest you to open a random image and play with values and anchor positions. Also try to reduce the size to see how it will crop your image.

8. Now you can see that pic 1 as enough blank space to the right to fit pic 2. On pic 2, go to menu Edit and click Select all.

Note: You can enlarge the window to see the whole image by dragging the bottom right corner and/or use you mouse wheel (or ctrl + - on your keyboard) to reduce the size of the visualization.

9. Go to menu Edit and Copy. Then, select pic 1, go to Edit and Paste.

10. Using the Move tool, the second of the right column on the Tools window, drag pic 2 to the right to properly fit you diptych. For more precision you can also use the keyboard arrows, but make sure you have the Move tool selected.

11. Your diptych is done! Now all you have to do is save your work. Go to File and Save it. Good job!

**
all photos by me

*hey, this is based on my experience, obviously!
No one is paying me to to say good things about this stuff!

A pause to play... The Beatles

2011-11-10T13:18:00.001Z

Ok, I know I said I would be posting another photo editing tutorial yesterday... Sorry! I got all messed up with things to do at work, but it's coming, I promise!

First things first, today is the day of the week when I unveil a bit of the soundtrack of my life and invite you to make a pause and play it. On to that now!

A few weeks ago the husband came to me saying that lately I was posting music that he doesn't see me hearing. I think he was talking about Mike and the Mechanics or Smashing Pumpkins, anyway, he was right. That's because those are songs that are attached to my memories, and therefor take part on the soundtrack of my life, but I don't necessarily hear them at this stage of my life. I'm in a different mood, I suppose. Anyways... This is fun because it means he is getting to know things about me he didn't knew before, so, here goes another one to surprise him:

I was about ten years or so when I started to learn how to play the guitar. Me, my sister, my cousin and a bunch of other kids, made quite a mess on saturday morning's at the house of the guy that was trying to teach us. Trying is the proper term. Truth to be told, he was not much older than us, I would say about five years, but we saw him as the big guy. The boys, on the other hand, couldn't care less and gave him quite a hard time always running around. (Well, my sister being a tomboy always fighting them certainly did not helped.) Looking back now, I don't know how I ended up learning how to play the guitar. I think it must have been some kind of a miracle!

The memories from those fun times are always full with songs that, at the time, we saw as music for grown-ups. The Beatles, Genesis, Pink Floyd... those were the songs he gave us to play, and he even recorded us tapes that we would listen at home and take to school to impress our friends.

I never learned how to play this song, but it has always been one of my favorites from the Beatles. Back then I still believed that nothing was gonna change my world. Now, I know that my world can easily change, but I will always be myself.

Band: The Beatles
Song: Across The Universe
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Living on the wilderness

2011-11-09T15:30:00.001Z

One day I will abandon the wild seas and dock in dry land. And I won't feel blue, for there's a time to be wild and a time to find a harbor and grow old. Peacefully.

**
photo by me
for the 52 Photos Project

Photography editing tips :: diptychs

2011-11-08T19:21:00.001Z

This month Jackie Rueda is challenging us to create diptychs for La vuelta al mundo. This something I absolutely love to do but I've notice a lot of you are struggling with it, so I though I could give some easy tips on creating dips.

There are great editing tools online, so you don't need to have Photoshop to do any of this. If you're not used to editing, the first thing I would advise you to do is play around with your images till you know what look you want, and what works or not. Put them side by side, on top of each other, cut them... Imagine you are scrapbooking. Remember, what we picture in our head doesn't always work visually, so it's worth playing a bit.

I find that an easy way to do this is use Powerpoint. Office aplications are something everyone is used to deal with, and as access to, but why Powerpoint? Well, this is an application that allows you to make compositions on screen, so you can easily move objects, resize them, cut them... I could as well recommend Publisher, but for what matters you can do just the same with Powerpoint, with the advantage of using a much more comfortable tool that you're used to. Once you've mastered it you can skip this and use photo editing tools, but, whenever possible, play with the composition first. It is very useful for you to visualize the end result quickly, and try different things, where photo editing tools will take you longer.

Tutorial 1 - for beginners

Diptychs with MS Powerpoint

If your diptychs are meant to display on web you can get away with making them on Powerpoint. Just be aware that you'll loose photo quality in this process. If you're new to this photo editing thing, this is a good way to start. (I am assuming you have some basic knowledge. Click the images to magnify them)

1. Open Powerpoint and create a new blank presentation.

2. Insert your pictures on a blank slide and start playing with them.

3. For some editing features, select the picture you want to edit and click the 'Format' tab to access all the features. You can crop them for some different compositions and you can also add some effects like lightning and color. Try them out to see what pleases you (I used 'sepia').

4. At this point you can also add text, by inserting a text box and placing it where you please. You can add a nice quote to complete your composition, or just your copywrite mark to protect your work.

5. Make sure your images are perfectly aligned and that the sizes are matching (if you cropped them). Use the align button on the 'Format' tab while having both images selected to align them.

6. When you're done, drag your composition and place it on the top left corner of the slide, then click the tab 'File' and 'save as', and save the current slide as a JPG.

7. Now your diptych is almost done, you just need to get rid of that white border from the powerpoint slide. Open your image with 'Paint' and remove the extra white by clicking in the bottom right corner of the image and drag (you can do this with any other image editing tool). Save it and your done. You created a diptych!

I suppose you can do just the same with OpenOffice, but I never used that, so I cannot tell. Feel free to ask any question if you need any kind of help. I'll b be back tomorrow with another Tutorial for diptychs with Pixlr and Photoshop.

all photos by me

Where happiness lies

2011-11-07T20:26:00.002Z

“Know your own happiness.

Want for nothing but patience -- or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope.”

Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

photo by me

Let the rain fall

2011-11-04T17:32:00.002Z

Driving without plans.

Just the two of us and a nice cd playing.

And watching the rain fall outside.

It's always a perfect treat.

photo by me
for the 52 Photos Project

A pause to play... Extreme

2011-11-03T18:43:00.003Z

Did you had rock band posters on your bedroom wall when you were a teen? I did. I won't embarrass myself by naming all of them*, but this one I don't regret. They were cool then, and I think they still are now, with a little more of charm that only comes with age. Just like wine.

When the boy and I started dating, the first thing I gave him was a cd with a few songs I selected. That cd played over and over, and those songs ended being all of them very special to us. One of those was Unconditionally (yes, cheesy, loving unconditonally), from Extreme. A few moths later, for my birthday, he bought us tickets for their concert in Lisbon, it was their reunion tour, after more than ten years apart. Needless say, I was in a happy place! Going to a concert, just one of my most favorite things to do, to see a band I grew up listening, with the person I knew I would be my whole life with. Could not ask for more. It was three years ago, in the end of October, and I remember seeing girls dressed as witches crossing the streets as we walked to Lisbon Coliseu.

The song I share with you today is one of my favorites. It has everything I love about their music: nice vibe, energy, a bit of funk, great voices, and the magic hands of Nuno Bettencourt on the guitar. (Oh, an by the way, he is portuguese, did you know that?)

So, this is the moment when I invite you to make a pause to play it. Come on, this was one of my teenager's band crushes!

*Ok, I'm exaggerating. A bit. There was some Bon Jovi stuff going on, though, I confess.

Band: Extreme
Song: Hole Hearted
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Bicicletas in October

2011-11-02T16:48:00.001Z

Bikes. That was the October theme for La vuelta al mundo. I've been cuddling in the nest for the past four days, and I ended up missing the deadline for publishing. I was needing a bit of relax and inner healing, and gosh, these days were worth it!

I love bikes, and I must say I was a bit disappointed with my work for this month challenge. First of all, we live in an area with rugged terrain, so we need bikes to be well prepared for moving up and down. This basically means that you'll rarely find a charming bike like those you see in Amsterdam all the time (me jealous!). Then it came the rain, so... no bikes outside. I was really eager to capture some good bike pics, but it just ended not happening. Luckily I had taken some bike photos during last summer.

Truth to be told, only this last picture was taken specially for the challenge, but I am happy with it, because I was there, carrying my camera, waiting for the moment to happen.

all photos by me

Heading home

2011-10-28T16:42:00.001+01:00

Today is time to head home. Seems like the skies are opening, I can see the light at the horizon. Not always easy to, though...Yesterday I woke up with my cellphone beeping.

"There's nothing better than waking up next to you,

even if we're as far as the opposite sides of the bed.

Wake up and be able to hold you,

squeeze you against me,

and kiss you...

Why can't we have this every day?"

I looked at the other side of the bed, but there's no other side. I barely fit in there myself. This work I have keeps us apart 3 nights a week, 230 km away. There's no way to express how it feels, it just feels wrong. This shitty economical situation we're living gives us no option but to hold on to it. Let's hope for better days. Whenever I look up for guidance I always see the clouds changing. Sometimes, all we need is a bit of wind to shake things up and change the clouds. Need to learn how to build a fan.

photo by me
for the 52 Photos Project

A pause to play... Billie Holiday

2011-10-27T20:26:00.002+01:00

When the weather gets chilly, like it is getting now, all I feel like is to cuddle under the blankets and watch the rain fall against the windows. Good company, a movie, or a book to read... or just a cup of hot chocolate or tea and a warm music playing.

There's no better music to warm me in this time of year than Lady Day. She was unique, well, she is unique! Amazing souls like hers never leave this earth. She is the soothing company when I have something to do at home, she is the perfect inspiration for my creative moments, and she never fails when we have dinner parties.

When I first bought her collection of cd's, the boy confessed me he didn't enjoy it that much. Inside I was screaming "WHAAAAT?" but I kept the composure, and relied on her to persuade him in time. Don't know if she did it yet, but I know that we had great moments together listening to it, so, that's good for me. (For now)

I was not born in the fifties, neither in the US, so knowing about Billie Holiday was not a thing we would grow up with. I must have listened her lots of times, I'm sure, but I clearly remember how I got her bug inside. I used to love a show called Once and again and there was this cute scene of the two young girls listening to her. That music got into my head and I just had to listen more of her.

So, now it's your turn. Make a pause, grab a cup of tea, cuddle on the couch, and play her!

Singer: Billie Holiday
Song: God bless the child
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Discovering Portugal :: Portela de Oliveira windmills

2011-10-26T19:25:00.001+01:00

Being at the top of a mountain. Watching all the life surrounding us. Feeling the wind touch our air and the sun light kiss our face. Breathing...

This is definitely a special place. Not one you'll find in touristic guides, probably, as it's not more than a plateau with a few windmills, or is it? Well, I say it's one of the most perfect places to watch the sun set on the horizon, as it's light gently touches the top of all the hills surrounding. It's the perfect place to be in peace with yourself and forget everything. It's the perfect place to be at quiet and enjoy sharing a special moment with special people in your life.

Portela de Oliveira in details

How to go: The closest city is Coimbra, at about 25 km. The only way to get there is by car and it's quite an easy trip, you just have to take the IP3 road and exit when you'll see the indications to Luso. And then follow the indications to Moinhos (windmills) or just ask, people are friendly. Being there you should not miss all the beautiful spots near, like the river Mondego at Penacova and the magnificent forest of Bussaco. (I'll be talking about this later)

GPS: 40.303618 -8.305321

**
all photos by me

And so the cold arrived

2011-10-25T22:21:00.000+01:00

I cannot explain how good it feels to finally breath the cold in the air and feel the earth smell of the first autumn rains. I know that in a few months I'll be wishing for sun and warm, but that's the beauty of it! Now all I want is the warm of the fireplace and comforting soups. Healthy and delightful soups.

There's no more comforting memory for me than the one of being at my gradmother's kitchen. It was a large boarding house kitchen, with a big wood oven and a long old table at the center, made of wood with a marble top, where we would get together every day. Specially during winter, that's where we would spend most of our time. Lunching, watching cartoons on the old small tv, doing school homework, or just watching my grandmother cook on the giant oven (as we, little ones, saw it then).

There was always a scent of smoke in the air mixed with fresh shop vegetables and roasted meat.When I was preparating the green beans for this soup, the air was invaded with that familiar fresh aroma and I was imidiately brought back to those days. My grandmother's kitchen smelled like fresh shoped green beans!

My turkey soup with green beans

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
A turkey wing or leg

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

a handful of green beans

1 carrot
1 bay leave

Parsley

Black peppercorns

Olive oil

Put the turkey on a pressure cooker, cover it with water, season with salt and add the bay leave and a few peppercorns (you can do this in a regular pan, but it will take longer). Let it cook until really tender (about 45 minutes). When done, take the meat out of the stock and let it cool, then strain the broth and put it on a soup pan.

Chop finely the onion and the garlic and add it to the pan. Slice the beans and the carrot using a food processor, or chop it finely by hand and add them to the pan too. Cook it until all the vegetables are perfectly cooked, but not falling apart.

Add water, if needed, check the seasoning and finish it with fresh parsley and a drizzle of olive oil. Shred the turkey and serve it aside to garnish the soup.

Now, light the fireplace, put on a oldie black & white movie and sit on the couch enjoying your warm soup.

all photos by me

It's here!!

2011-10-24T18:45:00.000+01:00

Oh my God, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning! I think I'm in love with my sewing machine.

(bad) photo by me

Steps to a wedding: Bouts or no bouts?

2011-10-21T18:20:00.001+01:00

To tell you the truth, this was never question that crossed my mind (or even worried me) during our wedding planning. If you ask my opinion about it, I probably won't have a straight answer to give you. I have mixed feelings. Generally boutonnieres are not a thing I'm into.

Just a quick search on google images for the word boutonniere and you'll see what I mean. I have chills all along my spine! Creepy! But then, as you get to know all this amazing creative people on web, you begin to see things in a different perspective, and you start to enjoy things you never did before. Like bouts. If not, just look at these...


via ruffled	via oncewed

Gorgeous, right? So, these got me thinking. Hum... Maybe wouldn't be such a bad thing... Actually now I see that, if done properly, it is as a great way to unify the groomsmen outfits without having the need for them to wear exact same suits, when that's the case (here there's no such thing as groomsmen or bridesmaids, and thank God for that).


via erin hearts court	via little miss martha

One day I found myself at one of those not-so-amazing wedding planning sites (don't even ask me why I was there. I'll spare you the pain and won't reveal the name) and saw a girl asking for help at the forum. It went something like this: Please help me! My future husband insists on wearing a white suit on our wedding but I'm afraid it will outshine me and ruin my princess day!! How should I talk him out of it? Well, I would be as concerned as she was, if I had such lack of brain! Oh, did I just said that out loud? Ok. I'm not gonna lie, I thought that girl was a bit stupid, sue me, but that thing got me thinking. It was meant to be OUR DAY! Not the day I would be marrying some guy. The same way I was not supposed to blend with the crowd, for I was the bride, I wanted him to stand out. Equally. (well, as much as possible... there's something about the bride we cannot deny)

We already had decided on his outfit, manly to go with the relaxed country feel we were having, the same as with my dress. He would be wearing a normal suit, no shiny satin fabric, no vest, no cufflinks, no handkerchief in the pocket, nor cravat with pearl pins. We went for a natural beige linen suit, but still... I started to doubt my own decisions. Was it going to be too simple? Looking back, it was perfect, as we envisioned. But at that point we question everything.

The question floated on my head till the very day of the wedding. More precisely about two hours before. I remember being alone at my room looking at my dress hanging and then it came to my mind again. I went downstairs and grabbed my bouquet. I look at it and smiled inside. Yes, I said to myself, as I gently plucked two tiny roses. Then I run out to my mother's garden and picked a piece of a beautiful a succulent (we both love succulents but ended not including them on the wedding). A bit of string and a safety pin, and it was done. From here, I don't remember much. I actually have no idea who delivered it at his home. I do know that my sister and his mom helped him having it placed. Why would that be?

photos by our friends João and Rita

A pause to play... Iron and Wine

2011-10-20T10:35:00.000+01:00

You know that big online store named as the largest rainforest on earth? Let me correct, huge store. Actually, the place has become so big so big sooooo... big... (let me breath before I say this, I'm still in shock!) that if you google it's name you won't find any information about the forest till the third or fourth page! Yes, that's right, go ahead and try it. I'll wait. Of course, you know what I'm talking about, yes?? The "Lungs of the World" where more than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced, you know it, right? I recogn it's kind of obvious, but since Kellie Pickler said she thought Europe was a country I doubt everything!

Anyway, I buy a lot of stuff from there, mainly music and books, and there's a feature these stores have I've come to love, which is that customers-who-bought-this-item-also-bought thing. I know, it's not like they invented the wheel, but that thing really is cool. I cannot count the amount of stuff I've discovered through those suggestions. And you don't need to be Einstein to already know that this was how I came across Iron and Wine.

I've told you before how I heard Bon Iver for the first time, and how I got hitched by it's music. So there I was browsing that store for their CDs... and under it there was a bunch of Iron and Wine albums as a recommendation. And, well, you know I'm curious...

End of the story, it's time for you to make a pause and play it! It's only four minutes. Usually I like to share a live performance, but this time I couldn't help it, I love this video!

Singer: Iron and Wine
Song: Boy with a cin
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Steps to a wedding: The shoes

2011-10-19T20:13:00.001+01:00

If I can think of the best advice, wedding concerning, I read on web previous to the day, this was the one. Come on, a bride, wearing ballroom dance shoes? I would never ever thought of such a thing, and this is so clever! Ballroom dance shoes are made to look elegant and yet comfy. They are made for dancing, but they have heels. I assure you, this was a aha moment for me! So, what was I looking for?

* I knew I didn't wanted white shoes, specially no shoes lined with the same fabric of the dress. (by the way, that is completely outdated!)
* I wanted something special, something different from the wedding shoes we see here.
* I wanted something I could easily walk on grass, but still look elegant, cause we were having our after party at a garden.
* I wanted something with a vintage feel to go with my dress, and at the same time that would go with the country feel of our outside/backyard/laid-back reception (no bling bling fuchsia shoes, definitely)

Instantly I fell for her shoes (do scroll down to see the whole pictures, they're worth it), but then, having them sent to Portugal turned out an impossible mission as no supplier seemed to send that label here. So I passed to plan B. I found that there is a really good portuguese dance shoes label, Rummos, and I found a little shop that sold them near us. And that's when I chose my shoes.

They are the most comfortable shoes I ever had my feet in. I love how they look a bit romantic and vintage. And the best, I never even remembered I was in heels the whole party! You know, that sentence, my feet are killing me! Never crossed my mind. My feet were happy!

If you're planning your wedding now, consider this advice: look for ballroom dance shoes. There are hundreds of shapes, for sure you'll have something for your taste and you can find them in every color.

Oh, and if you've been here for a while you probably know that my sister got married two months ago. After trying my shoes she said "I want shoes like this!!". Take a peek. The light in the pictures is deceiving though, her shoes are not the same color (nor shape) as mine. She also went for a higher heel as she had no reception on a yard like we did. Always great to pass on the knowledge!

all photos by our dear friend Pedro

A bunch of figs and a tasty discovery

2011-10-18T20:49:00.001+01:00

Oh figs... Aren't they so beautiful? I love the colors, the texture, the sweet glossiness... And, obviously, I love to eat them. The trees are delivering the last ones this season and we are eating them gladly! Yummy!

I don't know why but when I look at them I think of autumn, even though they are more an end of summer treat. The ones we have here are kadota figs which have a balanced sweetness making them perfect for a sweet/sour combination. Salads, pizzas, smoked ham canapés, with goat cheese and nuts... you name it.

A few days ago I was craving for a snack and, as I opened the refrigerator, I saw them smiling at me. Them and a pack of sliced Edam cheese. I just grabbed them both and worked from there using my imagination and my little knowledge of what could work.

Sweet, sour, spicy, a bit acidity, a bit of crunchiness... and oh dear me, hello perfect snack! You know when you try to create something and end up with something so tasty you feel like you discovered it, more than you actually invented it? I think I made a discovery. And a damn tasty one.

Spicy figs, my way

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
Figs

Cheese slices (I used Edam)

Hot sauce (piri-piri, chili, tabasco...)

Honey

Mustard seeds (in vinegar)

Parsley

Freshly ground black pepper

Grab yourself a non stick frying pan. Dump a few dashes of olive oil in case you're worried about it sticking anyway, but with a good pan you can skip this. Lay the cheese on the bottom of the pan and place figs cutted in slices on top of it. Drizzle with the hot sauce and a bit of honey (two portions of hot sauce to one of honey). Drop a few nuts of mustard seeds between the figs's slices and finish with the ground pepper and chopped parsley.

Depending on how much you're making you can roll the cheese slices borders to cover the figs, or just place another slice on top. The important thing is that you have cheese all around the figs so that you wont need to mixed it too much on heat. Figs need to be handled gentle or they will totally break apart. Now, just light the fire and let the cheese melt and all flavors combine! When it looks delicious, its done!

I've already done this as an afternoon snack, as an appetizer and even a light lunch with a salad and it never ceases to please me. The spiciness combined with the sweetness is just divine, and the mustard seeds crunch in the mouth is a brilliant surprise as they get confused with the little fig seeds. All in all, I love it! So, I'm sharing my secret with you. Enjoy!

**
all photos by me

Autumn sunset

2011-10-17T19:37:00.000+01:00

It still feels more like summer in here, but today I woke up to a chilly morning breeze for the first time. Maybe it's changing.

But one thing I cannot deny, the light already changed. There's no sunset like this. It's the fall light.

all photos by me

A pause to play... Feist

2011-10-13T17:47:00.001+01:00

There's not much to say about this lady, except that I love her work. It was during wedding prep that I found her and it was instant love. She's probably not new for you, but for me it was. Well, I live in this little corner of the world...

I run into a video (I really have no idea where...) of someone baking a cake, I think, and in the background there was this song playing. It was a sweet tune and I found myself repeating the video just to hear the song once again. Who is this girl? 5 seconds on google and I had her name.

Feist. 1234 was the song but, of course, I needed to hear more. And I found myself in love with her voice, her songs, her performances... to the point that I already bought two of her albums. Yeah, mp3 are cool, but I like to have in my hands the things I love!

Of course one of her songs needed to be part of our wedding soundtrack (yes, I succeeded on infecting my husband with her virus) and this was what I chose:

"... I got a man to stick it out

And make a home from a rented house

And we'll collect the moments one by one

I guess that's how the future's done... "

(from the song "Mushaboom")

Makes sense, right? I thought so. Now, go ahead, make a little pause in this crazy week of yours and play it!

Singer: Feist
Songs: 1234 & Mushaboom
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Heavens ordered chocolate cake, and so I did

2011-10-12T17:23:00.001+01:00

Did you ever had this feeling like a higher force is commanding you to bake chocolate cake? I had. Actually, I do have that often. Sometimes I even think I have psychic powers or something, because I also have visions of chocolate melting and I can feel the smell of it in the oven. No, I'm not pregnant. I don't even want to know what I'll become when I get to that. Dear me... Well, but so that you won't start thinking I'm crazy (unless you have the same psychic powers I have) I need to tell you that, this time, I had proofs. Yes, its plural. Not one, several proofs. Heavens ordered, and I obeyed. This is how it happened.

There I was, minding my own business, wandering over pinterest when I bumped into this chocolate cake. The picture itself isn't that much appealing, it's not like I was drooling over it (c'mon you see pictures of cakes every day on the web... at least I do), but still, for some reason I clicked it. Well, it said 'black magic cake'... that was probably it.

Then there was that title saying 'best chocolate cake ever!'. At this point I was already suspicious. Is this going to be one of those recipes that includes a ready made cake mix? (wait, is cake mix actually an ingredient? never mind...) So I kept on reading. Hum... This doesn't sound bad, I thought to myself, no cake mix, pudding mix, nor any stuff ready mixed like that. Oh, and it uses buttermilk! You see, this would be the kind of thing I would put aside for lack of ingredients. Finding buttermilk here is like trying to find a wool scarf on a beach, on a summer day. But then I found I could use yogurt whey as a substitute in many recipes, and has it happens I had just made labneh (yogurt cream cheese / greek yogurt) and had kept the whey on the fridge waiting for something to happen. And, you know, it doesn't last that long on fridge, so the recipe came right on time. So, you see, I was not looking for it, but the recipe came to me. I present you this as exhibit A.

So, I thought, I might just give it try... I was going to measure the amount of whey I had and then work from there. The recipe asked for one cup, and I had EXACTLY one cup. There you have, exhibit B.

Then there was that thing without which you can't do chocolate cake. Chocolate, obviously. The recipe asked for 3/4 cup of cocoa powder. I looked at the pantry and found two packages with some leftovers (don't know why but this keeps happening to me...), I crossed my fingers and measured it. Guess what? 3/4 cup, not more, nor less. This shall be exhibit C.

More? Yes, there's more. I also needed one cup of strong black coffee. I grabbed the instant coffee jar and there was just a tiny bit on the bottom. I could easily make some fresh coffee on the machine but that would take longer, and you cannot wait that long for chocolate cake, now can you? I knew I needed at least three tablespoons to make it strong, so I pour it carefully and without wasting a bit I had exactly three tablespoons. (I made it with boiling water and I needed it to be near cold to be able to use it, but no worries. I used that old technique of pouring the liquid from one cup to another repeatedly till the temperature drops. Quick and easy.) Finally, I present you this as exhibit D.

I could go on and present hubby's happy face as exhibit E, but I think this is enough. I rest my case.

Oh, you wanna know about the cake?? Ok. Saying it's the best chocolate cake ever it's an overstatement, but it's pretty close I assure you. It's tasty and incredibly moist like a cake you'd eat in a fancy french pâtisserie. Too bad the lousy photos don't show it, but trust me. And the best, it's deadly easy to make and make's you look like a baking queen. It really is magic! Do yourself a favor and try this.

Black Magic Cake

DRY INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

WET INGREDIENTS
2 eggs
1 cup strong black coffee
1 cup yogurt whey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven at 175º Celcius (350 Fahrenheit). Combine dry ingredients on a bowl. Add wet ingredients (coffee must be almost cool) and whisk by hand with a balloon whip, or with a mixer at medium speed for about two minutes. The batter will be really thin, more like a chocolate soup. Resist the temptation to eat it by spoon and pour it into a greased and floured pan. Make sure it is perfectly greased because the cake will be really soft and you don't want to ruin your work (yeah, stupid me). Bake it for 40 mins, not one minute more. Don't open the oven while baking to check cooking, it is too moist and you wont be able to tell. Just trust that in the end it will be perfect.

I just did a simple cream cheese and butter frosting instead of the chocolate one on the original recipe because I was lacking ingredients for that. But next time I will definitely try. Well, the only thing better than chocolate is chocolate-over-chocolate! Right?

all photos by me
I'm really annoyed for not having one decent photo of the inside of the cake.
Give me a break here, it was dark, my camera sucks with low light, and well, I was more into eating it...

recipe from here

Family photo session

2011-10-11T13:47:00.000+01:00

Matilde is my brother Bernardo's girl, and she just adopted this two cuties. I tell you right now, these are two lucky puppies! Mischa and Sookie were abondoned when born and probably mistreated, for some reason they appeared to be really afraid of human beings. They were found eating raw potatoes at her father's garden, and were sick and malnourished. Now look at them, so happy!

After an afternoon picking chestnuts we went for a walk at the top of the mountain where we could see the sun setting on the horizon. With the perfect setting I indulged myself shooting photos of the cute "family". Perfect for practicing our skills, right?

all photos by me

A busy weekend

2011-10-10T17:24:00.000+01:00

Busy, and fun, and tiring... How come I always end the weekend feeling like "I really need a weekend!"? Beats me... This is what we've been up to:

Picking up the last figs of the season.

Getting ready for winter, like little ants, gathering wood for the fireplace. When we least expect it, the cold will come. At this point I'm already craving for nights with hot chocolate and tea by the fireplace.

Picking up chestnuts in the forest nearby. There is nothing better in a cold autumn night than roasted nuts with a glass of sweet fortified wine, like Port or the traditional Jeropiga.

And taking pictures by the sunset. Lots of pictures.

all photos by me

A pause to play... The Smashing Pumpkins

2011-10-06T16:25:00.001+01:00

Here I am again to share with you more of the soundtrack of my life. Last Sunday was my birthday (thank you all for your lovely words!), so, what could be more appropriate than a ode to my birth year? 1979!

On the last post of this series I told you that I grew up in the 80's but I'm more a 90's girl. Now I must add that I'm proud to have been born in the 70's! How cool? The wild seventies! My dad had long hair and beard like John Lennon, and my mom was quite an elegant hipster, rocking those bell-bottom pants and mini-skirts. One of these days I lay hands on one of their polaroids and share it with you.

1979 was quite a year, well I was born that year! So... it was super. There were a few other - not so importante - things happening, such as:

* UNESCO proclaimed 1979 as the International Year of the Child (fair enough, I was to be born!)
* Philips advertise the Compact Disc for the first time (hell, it took more than a decade for us to be using it regulary here!)
* Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female prime minister of United Kingdom
* Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo seconds Thatcher in Europe, becoming the first female (and only to date) prime minister of Portugal
* Sony launches the Walkman
* McDonalds launches the Happy Meal (old McDonalds, again, thinking of me!)
* The Music for UNICEF Concert takes place at United Nations General Assembly in New York City

And a few other great ladies were born too: Zhang Ziyi, Norah Jones, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kate Hudson, Sara Bareilles...

Back to the song, this is, obviously, not a band from the seventies, but from the nineties. When it comes to the soundtrack of my life, this is absolutely an unavoidable band. The album Siamese Dream was one of those cassettes that I played till it began to sound hoarse and the tape started to roll out. And, of course, this song allways sounded special to me.

So, if you haven't done so yet, go on, make a pause and play it!

Band: The Smashing Pumpkins
Song: 1979
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Steps to a wedding: Guest book, or something like that...

2011-10-05T11:20:00.000+01:00

If there are things invented by the wedding industry that I really think that makes sence, the guest book is one of them. It always makes me smile reading those little messages and I think it's one thing we will treasure forever.

When we were thinking about how it should be, we just knew we didn't wanted it to be really a book. Something like that may work perfectly well for a limited number of guest, but definitely its not a practical thing when you have 200 guests like we did (I told you before about my big family). If you create a place for the book, people will get tired of waiting for their turn, they will most likely think of comming back later, but probably will end up forgeting it (been there, done that. I speak from my own experience). If you make the book circulate among the guests, at some point, when people start dancing and drinking more, it will end up forgotten at one corner and there will be lots of people that will never even come across it (been there too).

So, we thought about making little cards that people could grab and write whenever they felt like, and then drop them on our "mailbox". This is not an original idea, I know, but hey, who says everything must be original? The best advice I got from a teacher when I was taking my degree in Industrial Design was: you don't need to invent the wheel, someone already did that, use that knowledge and apply it for your needs.

photos by our friend Rita
last ones by me with the cellphone

A Sunday afternoon for a birthday girl

2011-10-03T18:20:00.001+01:00

Sometimes, the thing we need is to stop trying to understand things and just count the blessings, and enjoy them. Yesterday's blessing was a perfect summer day, out of nowhere. And I took it gladly as a birthday present. On the beach, of course!

all photos by me
except for the first one, by Francisco

Mom, matchstick potatoes and round potatoes come from the same tree?

2011-10-01T14:00:00.001+01:00

This used to be a family thing, getting together for planting and picking the potatoes for the whole year. The day of the potatoe harvest was like a family feast. Once a year everybody would get together to pick the potatoes for the next year. Started early in the morning to avoid the hot summer sun and ended at lunch, eating the first crop of potatoes. It was hard work but it was a family day and it was a joint effort to produce something together. This is a portuguese tradition that is probably doomed to be lost.

Francisco's family keeps that tradition and the thing I love the most is watch the kids running around excited, and asking all sorts of questions about it. Isn't a shame that today's kids don't know were things come from? Probably they think they just come from the supermarket...

all photos by me
with android camera phone

La vuelta al mundo :: Gente de espaldas

2011-09-30T19:38:00.001+01:00

Last day of the month, it's time to publish our work for the La vuelta al mundo challenge. There's a lot of photo challenges on the web, I wish I had time... But this was the one I decided to monthly take on, as personal commitment, to practice and improve my photography skills. "Gente de espaldas", people from the back, was this month's theme, and this is what Jackie had to say about:

"No puede haber rostros. Es gente de espaldas, no de lado, no diagonal, no solo piernitas."

"There can be no faces. It's people from back, not from the side, not diagonal, not just legs."

Easy, and fun right? Well, for me it was! This is a thing I do all the time, because I love how the pictures turn out with a bit of mistery. This was a great opportunity for me to search my archives for those pictures and play a bit, try new editing effects, light, texture... Hope you enjoy it!

all photos by me

A pause to play... The Cure

2011-09-29T14:33:00.001+01:00

I grew up in the 80's and have lots of memories of those times, but I think I'm more of a product of the 90's. Well, those were my teens, can't beat that! Those decades really formed my music taste. There was no CD's, no mp3, certainly no internet and few of us had computer at home... but wasn't it fun to record a cassette from radio broadcasts and share with our friends? We would get together in front of the TV, waiting for the show that played music videos to aired on Sunday afternoon. I wont say - those were the times - mostly because it makes me feel old! But it were great times.

In the early 90's we assisted a big cultural change in Portugal. It was the birth of the first private television channel (at the time there were only two public broadcasters) which would be followed by another, the fourth channel, a year later. TV competition absolutely started then. One of the new shows that marked those times featured extreme sports, and was called Portugal Radical. The show was all about cool videos of surf, bodyboarding, skating, mountain biking, and many other sports, always with great music on background, followed by interviews and sports info. I can honestly say that what really kept me watching was the music and the surf videos. It was like a beautiful dance.

This was one of the songs that frequently played along surf videos. I didn't know what it was, then, but it sounded cool! Then there was Baywatch, that series, and me and my sister became more 'surfaholics'. I think we both secretly dreamed of moving closer to the sea and marrying a cool surfer, or a charming business man with a surf hobby, that could work too*. I remember my father taking us to see surfing competitions, we even got to see Kelly Slater! And that song was always there, playing on the speakers. Up until today I cannot listen to it without seeing waves forming in my head.

Only later I got to really know The Cure, and dive into it's craziness. And I'm totally sold to it. It's just the right thing to put me in a good mood.

Nice to share with you a little more of the soundtrack of my life! Now, go ahead, make a pause and play it. Loud!

Band: The Cure
Song: Just like heaven
Check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

*Turns out I ended up marrying a Forest Engineering man with a futsal hobby. That's not so bad, actually. Close enough.

Steps to a wedding: Something old, something new...

2011-09-28T22:34:00.001+01:00

... Something borrowed, something blue.

Can you guess what was our "something blue"? Yes, you guessed it right. The flowers over our heads. We didn't put a lot of though into what should be tossed when we were getting out of church, as opposed to almost everything else. We just knew we didn't want rice (it's the tradition here) for two main reasons, first I didn't wanted to be removing rice grains from my underwear the rest of the day (that can be pretty annoying... that and having it all over the head, after spending so much time getting hair done!), and second and most important, I think it's a waste of food, and I find it disrespectful to those who have none to eat.

I had an extra bunch of white chrysanthemums to remove the petals, cause white and simple is my thing. The place we rented for the party had lots (I mean tons) of beautiful blue agapanthus, so it occur me: something blue! We picked up a nice bunch and removed the little blue flowers. I loved the effect of the white petals mixed with little blue blossoms.

photos by our friends Pedro and Rita

Lay down in our mother's arms

2011-09-27T20:15:00.001+01:00

Today I'm missing lying down on the floor and looking at the skies. And breathing... deeply breathing. Inhaling the air and feeling it filling my lungs, and exhaling all stress inside me.

And then I would listen to this words...

"Nine planets round the sun

Only one does the sun embrace

Upon this watered one

So much we take for granted

So let us sleep outside tonight

Lay down in our mother's arms

For here we can rest safely..."

One sweet world

Dave Matthews Band

PS: you may be glad to know that today I got my computer back with pretty much everything recovered! Can you just imagine my state of happiness?

photo by me

Steps to a wedding :: A kind of engagement session

2011-09-26T19:42:00.001+01:00

Yes, kind of. It was not truly a photo session, there was no photographer involved. Actually, let's not call it like we got engaged because, really, we were engaged ever since we knew in our hearts we wanted to spend our lives together. There was just the matter of the date. One day we just knew, it was time.

First, about the engagement session thing, we don't have that tradition here in Portugal, it's not a thing people do, and it was not a thing we intended to do. One thing, though, we knew from the beginning. We wanted our pictures on our wedding invitations.

So, we grabbed every excuse we could to get away by ourselves (as if we needed any...), take the camera and shoot lots of pictures. We took them ourselves, first using the machine timer, then we ended up buying a remote four the camera, which I can say it was the best thing we did. Still, you may not believe, the best pictures ended up being the ones taken with that 10 sec timer! Go figure...

Those were really great moments, and we could not be that comfortable and happy if there were a photographer in the middle of it. It was about being together, enjoying ourselves and trying to capture our essence, if that is anyway possible... And the result were not professional, but really happy pictures, just as we wanted.

all photos by me

A pause to play... Mike and the Mechanics

2011-09-22T19:10:00.003+01:00

Summer is past and we're surfing fall in cruise speed now. Yey! I love fall! Well, I love every season and I'm always very excited when time comes for a season changing. (yeah, totally like a kid) Truth to be told, I was a bit disappointed with mister summer, but I do not hold grudges, next year he will have the opportunity to redeem himself, right??

Autumn always brings me back school days because it's when it all starts. Here we're at the second week of school. New friends have already been made, school changes aren't new anymore, all new books have been opened and the family schedule is now rearranged. Everything falls into its normality. I like normality. I like routine. I don't think it has to be boring. Having rituals is good to have things in order in your life, and that's when everything gets exciting! Then you can add splashes of fun stuff, and sometimes turn your days upside down, break your routine.

Whenever I dreamed of having a family of my own, with a house, husband and kids, this was what came to my mind. Those regular everyday moments. Kind of like an end of a good family movie: everybody having breakfast together, the kids running out the door with their backpacks, and then the door is closed. The house stays in peaceful quiet waiting for everybody to return... Except for the cat. Meow! I know, I'm flying back, right now!

I think I'm lost... where was I? Oh, school, yes. Right, so, when I think back to my high school time there's one song that always plays in my mind and this is the one:

In 1995, when it was released, I was in my 10th grade, which means it was the first of the three years of preparation to college. I chose studing arts, I was in a new class, with all different people from my former collegues. It was a life changing time for me. And this song was playing everywhere all the time. On the bus, on the school radio, on TV, and people were whistling it over the school corridors. It was cool being a teen.

All in all, is a nice vibe song. So, make a pause, and play it!

**
Band: Mike and the Mechanics
Song: Over my shoulder

check out the whole series of thursday's pause to play

Steps to a Wedding: gathering thoughts

2011-09-21T13:27:00.000+01:00

A year ago, before I started this blog, I was trying to organize my thoughts and my memories of all we've done for our wedding. I wanted to report everything so that we would be able to tell our children one day. Also, I wanted to share our experience, because 'listening' to other people's experiences all over the web was what got us going through the whole thing, so it felt like something I needed to do.

I thought of starting a blog. Later came the idea of showing our crafts and my design work, and why not start a little business? Then again, the easy way was to start with a blog.

So, both the ideas came together and this place was born. The business thing is a bit on hold, just because I have some big things in hands right now, but it will come out in full strength! About the wedding sharing thing... If you ever got to read my about page (look at the top. yes, right there.) you already know that our wedding was a totally DIY thing. I must say those were some quite overwhelming months we had, and I needed to be fully recovered to properly be able to have organized ideas to share. Then came my sister's wedding... so, a break was definitely in order.

Now time has gone by, everything is where it should be, and I'm ready to start. So, fasten your seat belts, there's a new series starting over here! This is just the prelude. If your searching for inspiration for your wedding I'm hoping to see you back here soon. In the mean time, if you care for some good advices and some really good wedding reading, grab a cup of coffee and read what this smart ladies have to say: Mindy, Meg and Amanda. I really recommend this for a start.

I'll be updating this post with links of the entire series to come, so come back!

Check them here:

photo by our friend Pedro

Update

2011-09-19T21:19:00.000+01:00

Hello everybody! I've been away for days and it feels like ages! I missed this place.

I have no computer at home at the moment. Yeah, really sucks. The guys where I work are trying to rescue anything from my hard drive after the virus attack. I'm crossing my fingers on that. All I have is the office computer, but I only work from monday to thursday, so that leaves me three and half days without computer. Adding to that I'm over my head with work, and the time I have on this computer is not enough for all I have to do.

Anyways, I had some fun days this past week. I've left the dark side! So, I thought I would give you an update of what I've been up to lately.

First there was that game...

I cannot begin to describe how it was to be in a stadium that full! More than sixty thousand people! And hearing the champions league music as the players get in the field was unique.

Can you tell how close we were from the field? We were on the third row, it was fabulous watching the players that close. It looks so different from what we see on the TV! Everything was amazing, too bad it ended in a tie. But well, not so bad, we were facing Manchester United and we got to scream GOAL!

After that there was a day with the boy staying with me in town, where I work, with lots of weird stuff happening such as we almost ending up sleeping in the street.

And then, there was a wedding we attended, which was lovely...

**
all photos by us

A pause to play... Train::Marry Me

2011-09-15T16:44:00.002+01:00

Hi, everybody! Today is time for a Pause to Play. I'm so excited about this series! I think I already have dozens of videos on my youtube playlist to share. The hard part is to decide which will be this week's song/artist... but, somehow, I managed to do that yet again, so, let's do it!

There's not much of a story behind this music. Again, it's one of the songs we've chosen for our wedding soundtrack (I'll be talking about this in a near future), so of course it is a special song for us both, but that's pretty much what there is to say about. Unlike most of the songs I'm planning to share with you in this place, this is not from a band I listen usually. To say the truth, after discovering this song and falling for its simplicity, as usual, I got curious about the band's work, but after listening to some more songs they didn't gain my heart. Still, there is something special about this song, and that alone is enough for me to share it with you.

Why today? Well, I though about this song when I read Amanda's post this week, about her (their) wedding anniversary. It came to my mind that these dates are important for us to rearrange ideas, to think about what has been and what will be, and to remember the promises made to each other. But it is also important to feed the love every day, as the song says, marry each other today and every day. So, Amanda an Mark, this one is for you. Wishing you two all the happiness!

"...Together can never be close enough for me

Feel like I am close enough to you

You wear white and I'll wear out the words I love you

And you're beautiful

Now that the wait is over

And love and has finally shown her my way

Marry me

Today and every day..."

For every two of you in love, out there, in every corner of the world. Marry each other, today and every day.

Make a pause, and play it!

**
Band: Train
Song: Marry Me

Time to overcome

2011-09-13T20:50:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I got here a bit bitter, that's the result of being forced to stay away. I still am a little, I confess. Sometimes it gets hard to overcome those pieces of rage growing inside ourselves. I'll get there, till then I'll still be wanting to send malware developers to the moon with a kick in the butt. Well, I gess that's a thing I'll never be able to change.

I'm looking forward to know if it will be possible to recover anything the damn virus deleted, in the mean time there will be a few things happening that I hope (I'm sure) will cheer me up. On saturday there will be another wedding of two dear friends of us (and I still don't know what will I wear... Oh, well, I'll think of something) and I'm hoping it will be a fun happy day. But first, tomorrow, we've got tickets to the game!! Oh my, I can't wait!

photo by Gabriel (thank you!) took on another friend's wedding

Pissed off

2011-09-12T15:34:00.001+01:00

Usually I'm a very peaceful and understanding person. I say usually, that means most of the time. The remaining time I can be really neurotic about things that pisse me off and absolutely not understanding, nor sympathetic (why should I?) with people that harm other people. That's me.

I have a mortal hate for virus and malware developers (those and people who park the car in the middle of the street). It's the kind of thing I cannot put myself to understand, no matter how many turns I give to it. Why would someone spend their time creating something that is only meant to harm other people. Why??

Please, don't answer me with philosophical dissertations about how the big software companies are ruling the world, oppressing our freedom, bla bla bla, and for that they need to be punished. I'll feel free to curse you. And you're totally free to think I'm a maniac. We're even.

Yes, I've been hit.

Thursday night, we turned on the laptop and BOOM! A rain of windows and system warnings begun. From there, no turning back. I've no idea were did it came from. It was the first time it happened to me and, as you can imagine, I'm pissed and not in an alchoolic way.

I work at a computer consulting company, I should know better. I do. I hear all sorts of bizarre stories, all the time, about malware infestation, about important docs worth a lot of money being lost, about folders of all life photos vanishing... and all the frustration afterwards. I take my precautions, allways backing up stuff, and due that I won't loose too much, still, there will be losses. Only with time I'll be able to tell what actually is lost, or if it will be by any means possible to recover anything from the drive. Till there, luckily I have this computer at work and my external hard drive to recover my old pictures.

What do I have to say? Those people are sick. They know they're ripping away pieces of peoples lifes, and they don't care! Whether they do it for money or just for self-satisfaction, it's sick.

Sometimes I catch myself thinking the world would be better off without these kind of people, and I almost agree that cutting the hands from stealers and sending hackers and virus developers to a no return trip to the moon would be the right thing to do. Then I feel like a bitch. And then there's that forgiveness thing. Not sure I can do that.

photo by me

A pause to play... Sade

2011-09-08T17:27:00.001+01:00

I planned to write today's post as a goodbye-summer thing, cause the last days have been colder and colder... I was facing it: it's the end. Well, as I write this I can see through the window the sun shining hard, and the sky so blue it hurts being inside behind a desk. I'm pretty sure the termometer is already over 30ºC. So...

Dear St. Peter, they say you are the one controling the skies and the weather... Are you done kidding with us?? Wait, I'm not complaining. At all. I'm fine with the warm weather. Serious, we'll have enough cold months ahead, and frankly, was that even a summer? Never mind... let's go back to what I've started with.

When I think of songs that sounds like summer I always think of Sade. Don't know if it's her warm tone of voice, the sax solos, or the swinging rhythm. Probably it's the sum of it all. Her songs feel like sunset on the beach with a fresh fruity cocktail. Believe me. Make a pause, and play it.

"... There must have been an angel by my side
Something heavenly came down from above
He led me to you

He built a bridge to your heart
All the way
How many tons of love inside
I can't say

When I was led to you
I knew you were the one for me
I swear the whole world could feel my heartbeat..."

I could have chosen another dozen of her songs, but this one speaks dearest to my heart. Simple lyrics, but beautiful and intense. This is one of the songs we chose for our wedding day soundtrack, so it will allways be special.

Go ahead, enjoy this last summer days.

Discovering Portugal :: Almourol Castle

2011-09-07T19:04:00.000+01:00

Today I'm feeling better than I did yesterday, so, as I promised (I'm that kind of girl, or I try hard to be, haven't decided on that one yet) I'm starting a new series today. Yes!

Discovering Portugal will be our travel journal through the lands of this place where we were born. You guessed this one, right?

You all know I'm portuguese, so I'm skipping that part (if you don't, just go the the about page, thank you!). For those who have no idea where Portugal is, we are this little rectangle country, located in the southwest corner of Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula, right next to Spain. Though small, this little place has tons of history, for it was born on 1139. Let me leave that Portugal history for another day (there I am again, making promises). Have you ever been here? Well, you must.

I love travel, discover new places, and if there's something we are always planning and dreaming, is the next trip, and the next, and the next... One thing I learned from my father is that there's no point on knowing the world if you don't know the place where you're from. Me and my siblings share all kinds of memories from places and places along this country where my father took us. By his hands we discovered amazing places and I started feeling this itching for descovering more. One things he taught me too is that there's no need for a big budget, we don't need a five star hotel to get to know a place. The boy goes along with me on this one, and it's a blast to have someone with whom to share these little conquers and moments of joy, because this is what every little trip means for us. A new piece of land we've conquered.

Of course I cannot recall every place I've been with my parents, and we both wanted to discover (or rediscover) the places together, through each other's eyes, so we crumpled the map and started from scratch.

Back on the time when we were sweethearts, we compromise on a weekend out every month. This going out thing had only two rules: just the two of us and always head to a place we've never been together. The purpose was for us to have time with each other (I was, and still am... 200 km away to work most of the week, and the weekends were short and full of things to do) and to have goals to conquer together, something we could plan and look forward to.

Proudly we can say we kept that as planned for one and half year, till we decided to get married. You know what happens to the short amount of time you have when you decide to put on a wedding. And that gets even worst if you're planning a whole DIY thing. You get the idea. Then, after the wedding came the new house to put together, new compromises... shopping and more shopping... The fact is, obviously we cannot compromise on a weekend out per month anymore, but we promised each other we would keep on having those moments from time to time whenever possible. And we are doing it.

We are inviting you to embark this journey with us. I just need to warn you: you may get tempted to travel here. Hey, who knows, why not?

One goal we have is to set foot in every portuguese castle. Boy... this task will take us our entire lifes, I'm pretty sure! As far as I know there are over 150 castles and fortresses in Portugal. Yeah, that's right. Our countdown goes somewhere near 10. We are on track! Right??

Edited to add: In Portugal a castle is a military fortification once used for territory defense - not to be confused with the Scottish type castles. The glamorous buildings where kings and nobility lived are called palaces, there are hundreds of those. We will share a lot of that too.

This first place I bring you it's not a new one in this blog, but I thought it would be a good place to start. Remember the island over a river, with a castle and a roster guarding it? That's the Almourol castle.

The castle is located on an island, in the middle of the Tagus river (rio Tejo), near Vila Nova da Barquinha, Praia do Ribatejo and Constância, all three beautiful picturesque villages that are worth a visit. And you don't wanna miss the river beaches in the area.

The age of the castle it's unknown but "It is certain that in 1129, when Portuguese troops conquered the land, the castle already existed and was called Almorolan" (wikipedia).

For this once I wont say much and just leave you with the pictures, they speak for themselves.

Almourol in details

How to go: The closest city is Entroncamento and from there you can easily get to Almourol. If you have a car, the best way to get there (from anywhere) is to get the highway A23 that travels between Torres Novas and Guarda and crosses the highways A1 and A25. You can also get there by train from Entroncamento.

GPS: 08º23’02,301’’W – 39º27’43,126’’N

Fees: Nothing is charged to get in the castle, but you have to pay the boat travel to get to the island, although there are times when the water low enough that you can easily cross by foot from one side. If you are like me, you wont miss the boat trip. From the bank near the castle you only pay 1,5 € per person. From Vila Nova da Barquinha you can also take a boat, mostly on weekends, for 2,5 €.

Where to stay: In Constância you can find traditional and cozy Boarding Houses. There is also a camping parque there. If you're looking for an Hotel you can go to Entroncamento, Torres Novas or Golegã.

all photos by me

Uninspired

2011-09-06T20:55:00.002+01:00

Today I feel uninspired. Probably I'm just tired, or is this thing of being paid to be inspired all the time that dries my head from time to time. Whatever. I don't know what to write, still, I feel the need to share it with you, is this nonsense?

I have several posts planned and started on drafts, but today is not the day to finish anything. I can promisse you, though, that following the started thursday's series a pause to play, more series will come. I can only say that it involves wedding stuff, travels and more about the place where I'm from. If you're brave enough to put up with my nonsense from time to time, hold on.

photo by me

Get creative!

2011-09-05T19:45:00.000+01:00

What do you do when the husband hates cream and you happen to love it?

No, I will not make him eat it without knowing. What are you thinking? That would be a mean thing to do! Ok, I like being bad sometimes... but in this case there's no way that would work. He really hates the creamy taste of milk fat even if slightly there, trust me, he knows! And if we can't distinguish the taste, then what's the point? Oh, I know, tricking him! But, lets skip this part, just this once.

We are working on tasting small bits. Maybe in a distant future he will be able to tolerate it and, who knows, enjoy it, or so I like to believe. In the mean time I need to be creative in order not to have to give up on recipes I love to do and eat. Or else I'll be craving for creamy food whenever we eat out!

For sauces I use milk with a teaspoon of cornstarch flour for thickening, in other cases yogurt, or coconut milk. And these have really been working for me, plus we gain in cutting of calories. Not so bad, uh? Still, I really like a generous spoon of whipped cream over a pie, or a chocolate cake, or a pavlova with fresh fruits sliding on the cream... How do you replace that?

One thing I think works very well is using a thick yogurt, like a greek. I've also tried different custards based on milk or yogurt. They worked, the taste was good, and they looked pretty spooned over the desserts. In some cases this is a very good option. Other thing that also works is whipped cream cheese with icing sugar. Still, for my taste, in both cases it lacked some freshness. I'm pretty sure crème fraiche would be a very good choise also, but I haven't convinced the hubby on that one yet. I'm taking it slow.

Back to the yogurt. It is, so far, the best choice. Listen, if you're looking for something to replace whipped cream, whether you have a picky friend like I do, or you just want to let go of cream for health/diet issues, first you need to face it: nothing will ever replace it. That being said, you can move on and search for something that is a feast to your eyes and a fresh delight to your palate, without comparisons, just enjoy it.

One thing about greek yogurt around here is that it can be pretty expensive and it is very likely that you'd find a fake one (with cream added, instead of the straining method used to thicken the original greek yogurt), so I don't have it very regularly on my fridge. What do I do, then? I do my own greek yogurt, well, something similar, just by draining it over night on the fridge to remove the whey (the liquid). Its the basic technique I use to make cream cheese, this is called labneh. It is a very useful technique, because from here you can do lots of things. You can add salt and herbs and get a very tasty cream cheese (I do this all the time), you can make Tzatziki dip, you can use it to replace mascarpone cheese, you can make balls and roll them on a mix of bread crumbs with parmesan and herbs and deep fry it... Or you can have your hubby doing you a delicious flourless chocolate cake for you to top with yogurt cream and fresh fruits! Have a try!

Labneh

(strained yogurt)

plain yogurt

coffee filter or cheesecloth

medium bowl

colander to fit the bowl

Put a coffee filter or a cheesecloth over a strainer and place it over a bowl. Pour in the bought plain yogurt, and cover with cloth or film. Keep in mind that the yogurt will reduce to at least half of what you started with when calculating the amount of yogurt needed. Let it drain over night on the fridge, or as long enough to get the consistency you want. For cream cheese I let it drain for at least 24 hours, for a greek yogurt consistency, to cream with sugar, usually 6 hours is enough. Simple as that.

You can keep the whey on the fridge and use it for any recipe that asks for buttermilk. That's great too, because I was passing by too many recipes for the lack of buttermilk (that thing just can't be found in here), and besides I like the idea of using everything.

If you're interested on the recipe of the chocolate cake go to Delicious Miss Dahl. She knows how to do it! No point in copying it here, we haven't changed a bit. For the yogurt cream, just cream the labneh with sugar as you like, and if you want a bit extra creaminess just add a tablespoon of butter to the mix. Enjoy!

all photos by me

Life isn't always fair, but take it. It's a gift.

2011-09-02T19:45:00.001+01:00

A few days ago I received the unexpected news of the death of Fernando. It was a shock at first because he was young, in its fifties, and full of life. One can never get to totally understand this kind of things, not even when we are prepared for it, less when it's unexpected. But that's how life is. And one thing Fernando knew and was the personifcation of it, I'm sure, is that life is a gift. So we can only try to do the best we can with it. The death of Fernando was the end of his cicle here, but was not the end of his life, because it will continue through the many people he touched.

Fernando was one of the most incredible persons I've ever had the chance to meet. I knew that, even before I met him for the first time, because that's how everybody described him to me. He could not stand without doing nothing while so many people suffer around the world. He went to Haiti after the earthquake, he took water, medicines... and he did that having nothing to give, but simply by infecting everyone around him with this virus he had: his kindness and his will to help and do like Christ did, love every human being. From there, gathering money looked easy. He went to Honduras, he went to Ghana... and many many places around the world. I dare to say he changed the lifes of hundreds of people. He started the project of a professional school in Haiti, he took architects to Africa to rebuild schools, he helped to get potable water to small villages in Ghana... He arranged bicicles for kids that had to walk miles every day to go to school... And I could go on and on.

And he was never alone. He touched children, youngsters and adults to act and share, take matters in hands and do something. Act. He was a teacher, but mostly he was a captivating human being. The diabetes was his own personal fight, the only one he lost. He died in Guinea, doing what he loved the most, helping other people.

We particularly will never forget him, for he was the one who got us a priest, his friend, for our wedding celebration when we were one month to it and had run out of solutions, as our parish priest was not available. That's a fun story we will always remember every year.

One can feel revolted against life. One can shout "why him if the world need him so much?". But one should definetly be grateful for being touched by all this amazing people that set foot on hearth. This is how life his. His life may have been short, but he did the most out of it.

What are you doing with your life? This is what you should be asking yourself.

Dear Lord,
thank you for giving me the chance
to be enlightened by the life of Fernando.
I ask you to give his family the strenght
to understand and be grateful.
And to all he touched, may he be an example of Christ on earth,
and may his path continue to be drawn by the feet of others.

Thank you Fernando for touching my life.

Thursday's pause to play... Bon Iver

2011-09-01T15:10:00.000+01:00

I've been thinking of this for a while, so, today is a good day to start, right? Good as any other day... so, here we go!

I can't conceive life without music. Actually, don't you think life would be much interesting with a soundtrack? Imagine you're walking barefoot on a desert beach, and as your thoughts float with the sea waves you start to hear the strings of a guitar followed by a ukulele... How cool would that be? Well, I actually think there's a soundtrack to each life, just not that Hollywood way. It would be pretty awesome, though!

Music has been there every moment of my life. It's the perfect moment when I hear a song that reminds me of a certain moment of my life and, for few instants, I'm transported there and recall what I felt back then... Whether is a particular moment, or a phase I've been through, or even that highschool year I used to hear that band, or see that tv show where that music used to play... It's the soundtrack of my life.

So, this is what I'm up to share with you: the songs that make the soundtrack of my life. Some are with me for so long I can't remember, others I've just discovered a week ago. There are those with a story behind, others are just meant to make feel happy. All in all, for me they are beautiful.

You may be asking, why thursday? Well, what I propose is a pause to play. Just that. A little break in the middle of the week. Three days behind, three days yet to go. Stop what you are doing for at least 3 minutes and listen. Maybe it's a new song that blows you away. Maybe it's not new for you, it's ok, hear it again with new hears. Maybe it's a foreign song, in a language you can't understand, but even so, try it, feel it. Maybe you don't find it that interesting? That's the beauty of being human! Wait for next week, there will be more.

Does it remind you of something? Does it make you feel something? I would love to hear it. Wanna suggest something for me to listen? Bring it on, I love that! This is an open space. Just one rule, make a pause, and play it.

Let's start with Bon Iver. Two days ago I told you it is one of my current favourite bands, so it makes sence to start with them. And just because it's the first one, I have not one but five musics in a row for you. I know I said it would be a 3 minutes pause, and I maintain that. Just hear the rest while you work, while you cook, while you do the dishes... Or don't if you don't feel like. But, just trust me on this one, these guys make music out of this world.

The story behind this is a short one, but actually is one of the reasons I decided to start this series. I came across this band over here (I told you before about this girl, the talented Corinne Krogh) and it was like an immediate connection. Next I wanted to hear more, and more...

I was getting on the last weeks before my wedding, and this were the songs that walked with me from train to bus, to work, back home... and made me relax and walk trough it. And when I say I was weeks from getting married, that means several months after that was posted. For some reason I passed by it without hearing (I was a regular reader), and one day I was browsing for someting and found it, and decided to hear. And OMG I'll never pass a suggestion without hearing!

I found it because someone shared it, now I'm passing it on. Pause, play it and feel it.

P.S. Sorry for the late posting, today... Never mind if you only read this on friday, it's always a good time for a music break!

La vuelta al mundo - Travel Journal

2011-08-31T19:37:00.000+01:00

Last day of the month, is time to share our photos for the challenge "La vuelta al mundo". This month the theme was "Descubrimientos: diario de viaje", and here's Jackie Rueda's briefing:

"Puedes publicar cualquier foto que hayas hecho lejos de casa durante un viaje. No tiene que haber sido un viaje grande, puede ser de un fin de semana o incluso de un dia. Lo importante es que ese sitio no forme parte del mapa de tu cotidianidad, que sea de alguna forma un descubrimiento, una exploración"

"You can post any photo you've done away from home for a trip. Doesn't need to have been a big trip, can be a weekend or even a day out. The important thing is that the place is not part of the map of your daily life, that is somehow a discovery, an exploration "

Also, each photo must include a brief description of the moment and place it was shooted, like a travel journal.

While last month challenge was really exciting (I mean, it was a treasure hunt, can't get more exciting than that) this month was more about let it go with the flow, for me. I was in August break mood, so between that and some research on my photo folders I would have something. In result I'll be posting a mix of new and old photos. It was fun to find and shoot new places, but it was equally fun to dive in my older photos and relive the moments when they were photographed.

To my followers, you'll be seeing some previously posted photos. To all of you out there, hope you enjoy my travel journal!

Mickey in A Coruña

It had been raining and the day was really gray. The sight of Mickey Mouse walking over the place, splashing color with his balloons was really a fun surprise.

Stairs heading the water

Venice is beautiful in a strange kind of way. While the canals give it a romantic feel, all around you see abandoned houses with walls falling apart. But looking at it trough the camera... all that decadency adds such a beauty I don't think it can be explained. The Venice that got me was not the glamorous and romantic, but the old and misterious full of histories in every broken brick.

The rooster guarding the castle

The best part of getting out is the unexpected. This was one of this moments. Almourol's Castle stands over a little island on Tejo river. As we got out of the boat we were already amazed by the beauty of the place, and the light of the end of the day was perfect... Then, there, on the island walking toward us, there he was. The rooster who guarded the castle.

A peek at a marina in Genova

We had been walking for a while. The map we had was not very accurate, and we were in a verge of loosing our patience to find the train station to get back to the city center. In between buildings I had this view of a marina. I stoped and grabed the camera. The husband looked at me but said nothing. I think he was beggining to understand this thing I have. Inside I was smiling and thinking: this is worth the walk!

Beach of Vagueira

This was one of the perfect shooting afternoons I ever had. Everything worked perfectly, the weather, the sea, the sky that blows me away... and I remember particulary of this moment. I knelt down on the sand and was watching people in the background. All felt so calm and perfect, and that imense sand ahead of me, greeting the clouds in the sky...

all photos by me

The August Break - Day 31

2011-08-31T13:07:00.000+01:00

So, this is it. The end of the August Break. It has been so much fun and relaxing at the same time!

It's summer, it's been a really tough working year, I really needed a break. I had one goal, just post a photo a day. No pressure, no theme, no long texts writing, just shoot and share. The best thing, in result, I actually got into a shooting routine amongst all my agenda. Getting the camera, the phone-camera, whatever, out, and shoot.

Now the funny thing is to be surprised finding the batteries charging, as if they went there by themselves, but they don't, you know. Or the hubby passing me the camera as we get out of the house, without words, cause I know what he is saying:

"Ain't you forgetting something?"

photo by me

The August Break - Day 30

2011-08-30T18:32:00.000+01:00

Already missing the sand between my toes...

photo by me

The Versatile Blogger

2011-08-29T18:40:00.001+01:00

Remember that I told you I received an award? Here it is!

I got it from Amanda, from Poppies and Ice cream, who I recently found in this amazing blog world. And I'm so glad I did, cause she is quite special. Go there and read her!

So, I'm a versatile blogger, cool! Here are the rules: I must write 7 things about myself, and then pass it out to 15 blogs I recently found. 15? Really?? Well, lets see... First things first, so, here are seven things you probably don't know about me:

1* My father has 7 siblings, each one (my father included) with 3 to 5 children (I'm the oldest of 4), making a total of 29 cousins. I'm cousin number 15. From those, 8 are already married and have their own kids on a total of 16. Have I lost you yet with the numbers? That means aproximately 70 people in the family. We are very close to each other and we still manage to get almost all family together by Christmas and Easter.

2* I made my own wedding dress and bouquet. Around here people say it brings bad luck. Really?

3* I'm still in denial of being in my thirties, even though I'll be 32 next October. Yikes!

4* I read Little Women more than ten times, and I lost count of how many times I've seen Green Card. I've been wanting to have a greenhouse ever since.

5* I don't like peas, melon and Beyoncé (I mean, that thing she does she likes to call singing).

6* I love music and I know how to play the guitar, but I hardly practice anything, except for some singing and playing at church every now and then. I grew hearing grunge, like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, but my current favourite bands are Bon Iver and Dave Mathews Band.

7* I love sports. I'm quite a football fan, and I'm pretty sure that's at least 50% the reason why my husband married me. That being said, I'm not a naturally born sportswoman. Actually, I pretty much suck at any sport, and at school I was the worst at gym class, regardless of my efforts. I practiced tennis when I was younger, and secretly envied my sister who could do everything easily at first attempt. I eventually got over it, and now I've been playing football for the last 6 years. I'm proud to say that I've improved (a bit), but I'm still a much better watcher than practicer.

And now the list of blogs to whom I'm passing it:

* Blue LaReve - by Amanda - She is down to earth and above all a pleasure to read and get in touch
* For the easily distracted - by Rianne - lovely photos and I have a major jealousy on her camera collection
* I heart flowers - by Sophie - she knows her flowers and she knows perfection as well
* Little buckles - by Andrea - she says it right, it's like a tale, beautifully illustrated with photos of the daily life, for her two children to read one day
* Oh happy day - by Jordan - Oh... Paris... Check this out. It has all sorts of beautiful things.
* Corinne Krogh Photography - By Cori - recently discovered her photo blog, after being a follower of her personal blog for long, and truly inspired by her wonderful wedding. The girl has talent, see for yourself!
* Flora and Purl - by the Mother of Purl - A mom's life, as it is. Sweet and fun.
* Toasted Pictures - by Marinka - Beautiful pictures of amazing places, what a combination!
* Dear Olive - by Kellie - this is just sweet beyond words.
* The Style Files - by Danielle - Tons of inspiration stuff. Addictive. Don't go there if you have work to do. Just sayin...
* La Cucinetta - by Ana Elisa - Love to read her, she is smart and funny. And the food? Delicious, mouth watering recipes.
* Kim Klassen Cafe - by Kim - If you like to post process your photos with some amazing touches, this is a place you should visit
* She told Stories - by Bella - beautiful photos
* A beach cottage - by Sarah - what if one day you just decided to start a new life on the other side of the world? This is quite a place to get inspiration.
* Lottie really loves - by Lottie - she share her thoughts, her fears and her joys.

photos by some dear friends of us

The August Break - Day 29

2011-08-28T23:32:00.000+01:00

A prayer

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes ...
are forces of nature that we can not control and therefore we must accept them.
Still, many people suffer. How many lives destroyed?
How many fear that their assets, their homes, their lives are taken by the storms ...
Let us pray that the Lord's light illuminates the hearts of all those
who face severe trials and give them strength to overcome and overtake.

**
I wrote this prayer for last saturday's church service, inspired by all the news on TV
and the concerns I've seen around the blog world.
I thought I might share it with you.
**
photo by me

The August Break - Day 28

2011-08-28T02:00:00.000+01:00

Why is it that, sometimes, blurry pictures are more intense than perfectly focused ones?

photo by me

The August Break - Day 27

2011-08-27T14:44:00.001+01:00

Around here there's no summer without grilled sardines. When you scent that smoke's smell in the air, yeah, it's summer! And now it's ending.

photo by me

The August Break - Day 26

2011-08-26T16:02:00.001+01:00

Today I'm lovin colorful and textured gardens. And dreaming of a little, cozy, country house. With a big garden with little yellow flowers on the grass floor, and lavender and rosemary bushes releasing perfume around the house... and a wooden porch facing the sunset, with little roses climbing the pillars and raining over our heads on the kitchen entry. Thank God we don't have to pay taxes for dreams!

And you? What are you dreaming of?

PS: I received an award! I'll be passing it on on Monday, stay put!

all photos by me