Calais Pedro World

Tea time

2012-01-23T09:30:00.001-05:00

This Saturday Vasco surprised us all by taking us to a tea house. It was great to land in such a cozy place, with an Asian atmosphere and a room just for us 5. Lovely!

Happy birthday, Sofia!

2012-01-23T09:28:00.001-05:00

Our dear Sofia turned 3 years old. It seems like she was born yesterday. Sofia is such a joy to have around, with her sunny disposition, funny wit and so energetic all the time. Keep going, sweet girl! We all love you!

Wishing you all a belated Merry Christmas and a great 2012!

2012-01-06T06:42:00.001-05:00

This is the first year, I never got around to send Christmas cards and now I start to think it's kind of late to do it. I really want to thank the 4 friends we got the time and love to send me a real card. You know I really appreciate every card you send me via snail mail. To all the others, Merry Christmas again and Happy New Year.

Happy birthday, Beatriz!

2011-12-25T20:37:00.001-05:00

Happy birthday, Beatriz!
We wish you all ths best, my sweet daughter! It's hard to belive you are already 8 years old!

New home

2011-12-25T20:28:00.001-05:00

After 6 months in Portugal and after seeing 13 houses, we finally decided on one and moved by the beginning of December. We love to live in the center of Lisboa, very close to where I used to live while studying. Here is our first breakfast in the new house. More to come...

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T20:24:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone!
We wish you all a happy season and a wonderful 2012!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T20:09:00.001-05:00

Our attempt to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Portugal! I roasted turkey legs, cooked 'cranberry sauce' and did some side dishes. Interesting!

London

2011-11-23T19:00:00.001-05:00

We flew to London this past Friday to enjoy a weekend on our own, no kids involved. The weather was just perfect! We had time to see Tate Modern, ride the London Eye, explore Covent Garden, have dinner in the Soho, shop in Oxford St and even meet some of the Ocupy people at St. Paul's Cathedral. Great time!

Face painting

2011-11-23T18:54:00.001-05:00

After the kids' movie festival with our Bongo inspired painted faces.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T10:32:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween everybody!
I really miss being in the US right now to go trick or treat. Here's a photo of our little celebration at home. Luckily Vasco flew to Pittsburgh this past week abd brought us all these treats.

Balloons

2011-10-25T10:50:00.001-04:00

The sky has finally turned gray... once in a while we can still see some blue... We are all busy with our schools. I spent the last 2 days buying and returning girls' clothes. I realized that you can have your money back, but not as fast and easy as in the US. No wonder they have a great market! Anyway, it works in chain stores, but it takes some time.

My student's blog

2011-10-20T19:23:00.001-04:00

Here is my student's blog: vida de Portugal.
http://vidadeportugal.blogspot.com
I'd love to understand Japanese in order to read it. Any translators out there?

Stay hungry, stay foolish...

2011-10-06T07:21:00.001-04:00

We’re going to go into whatever the blog equivalent of a moment of silence is here, because many of us are still staring at our computers shocked by the sad news of Steve Jobs’ death.

In lieu of keeping up with the tech news churn and/or returning to the hamster wheel of funding posts immediately, we’re going to take a little time to honor Steve. In the meantime, I’ll let one of the most inspiring men our industry has known (if not the most inspiring) speak for himself, in his own words — about life, death and the love of technology.

This speech, from a widely regarded Commencement address Jobs gave to Stanford students in 2005, never gets old, no matter how many times you watch it.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last-minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960′s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Steve Jobs

Missing Martha...

2011-10-04T11:23:00.001-04:00

Love this little compilation of easy recipes. Luckily I receive the email version. And soon let's find the "bird"...

As estações de Iela Mari

2011-10-04T10:21:00.001-04:00

Mais um livro para explorar com as minhas leitoras, sem uma única palavra. Ninguém precisa de saber ler, só ver.

A princesa baixinha

2011-10-04T10:17:00.001-04:00

Um livro doce, doce que estou a guardar para a noite ler com as minhas três princesas de estaturas diversas. Quem me conhece sabe que gosto de guardar o melhor para o fim...

Little lives...

2011-10-04T10:10:00.001-04:00

Here we are, in Lisbon, still trying to figure it all out. Between the traffic, the time, the sun and the proximity to the ocean, I find myself still lost, still looking for something that I can't really name. The girls like school and that's soothing. Vasco is extremely busy with his job. I "embarked" in a master's degree in my old school. The eternal question of what should I be doing right now... definitely writing...or reading papers...and there's Mariana's art work that makes it all possible again, even or above all, writing a book.

Portugal dos Pequenitos

2011-10-04T09:53:00.001-04:00

This past weekend we finally went to Coimbra to have lunch with some good friends and also to visit Portugal dos Pequrninos. This is a great little place to take the kids, since all the houses arr tiny and so cute. Here we are in "little Coimbra".

Our school

2011-09-28T05:35:00.001-04:00

It's great to see that parents here are so involved:
http://apeel24.blogspot.com/
My daughters' school!

Pinhata

2011-09-23T10:51:00.001-04:00

Here is the pinata that the girls did for Mariana's Birthday. It was a huge success!

Vasco is now 35!

2011-09-23T07:47:00.001-04:00

My love is now 35 years old. Pleople always tell me how young he looks (and is!). Happy Birthday, Vasquinho!

Mariana turned 6!

2011-09-23T07:38:00.001-04:00

Mariana turned 6 on september 3rd. She's a big girl now ready to start 1st grade. Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Sofia started school!

2011-09-23T07:23:00.001-04:00

Sofia also started school full time. She has a very sweet class, loving teachers and a wonderful playgroung. She's also potty trained and very proud of herself. Good luck, my littlest one!

1st day of school

2011-09-23T07:11:00.001-04:00

The girls are finally in school all day long. No more part-time schedules. This year is going to be a looooong one. They say 167 days in school. I wonder how much and what are they going to learn. So far, so good. Have a great learning year. I'll be here waiting for you at the end of the day... With open and loving arms.

Wishing you luck, my sweet Mariana!

2011-09-14T19:42:00.001-04:00

Wishing you all the luck in the world on your first day of school here in Portugal! I'm sure you'll do fine. I guess I'm more nervous than you. I'll be there to pick you up and learn all about your day. Good luck! Mommy.

Feeling good...

2011-09-11T21:26:00.001-04:00

Feeling good after a busy driving week...

Last summer evening before school starts...

2011-09-10T20:03:00.001-04:00

Enjoying one of the last evenings at Expo before school starts. Perfect sunset!

A new app

2011-09-10T09:00:00.001-04:00

Testing the new IOS app

Lisbon revisited...

2011-07-16T07:17:00.002-04:00

So we are back and it's taking me some time to get back to my routines or to reinvent one. Although we lived in Lisbon for several years, the city feels different, the people that live in it and even us.
Our trip was uneventful, except for the fact I lost one of my earrings and two pairs of glasses. Well, I've finally took the time to buy new ones.
We flew on June 19th from JFK, NYC to Dublin and landed in Portugal on the 20th with our lovely family waiting for us. It felt really good to see so many familiar faces right away. The 7 suitcases were distributed to the several cars and we made it home safely. The day was gorgeous! The perfect breeze, blue sky and sun! Yeah!
I have a lot to write about, starting on the prices and ending on the streets... I also have lots of pictures to post of the different places we have been going to.
This is just a little update on the log. Just to let you know that we are alive and kicking and planning on getting back in shape in this little corner of the world.

Moving after almost a decade in the US...

2011-05-17T21:32:00.001-04:00

Just to make up for the lack of news in every form nowadays possible, here's an update on our lives:
we are moving back to Portugal after almost a decade here in the US. We first arrived here on august 11, 2001 for Vasco's Master's degree at Carnegie Mellon. By then we had only 4 suitcases, no kids, an extra bedroom, no car, only bikes, 3 jobs at some point for me and a lot of free time to go to the movies. A lot happened in 10 years: 2 degrees, 2 handful of different jobs, 3 daughters, 3 internships, therefore 3 movings, 47 states visited and a whole new world of friends and other countries knowledge.
Now we are packing, sorting out the odds and ends from the last 10 years, boxing up the vital things, selling the unnecessary, disconnecting this and that, canceling services and credit cards.
And I always get this question: "so are you excited/ happy to go back?" and I always wonder what my correct answer should be. Ideally I would be excited/thrilled about this move, but there's so much involved and so much to prepare that in my mind I cannot picture myself in Portugal yet. We have a month to get ready and going. It's going to be so sad to leave behind this city, the school, the house, the van, the libraries, the parks, not to mention the friends we made and that have been so sweet and helpful throughout the years. I won't miss the gray days, but I will surely miss the pink trees in Spring and the golden leaves during Fall. And the brownies, and being punctual, and the lack of heavy traffic, and the donuts, and this precious English language, and all the movie scenes, and all the space, and the National Parks, and the wild animals... Oh my, I'm becoming nostalgic already...
As they say over here and even after 10 years, I still get puzzled by it: "Have a good one!"
Go figure...
So long...

Our garage sale

2011-05-06T00:43:00.002-04:00

After almost a decade in the US, we are leaving this amazing country for good!

We have been so busy with all the logistics that the blog has suffered a lot and it's not as updated as it should, since a lot have been happening and needs to be told and reported here.

For now, I have to announce our garage sale happening this weekend, May 7th and 8th, from 9 am to 3 pm. Everything has to go and we do have a lot of stuff!

Here's the link to some of the things for sale:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150232893691071.368406.536511070&l=c6c8ba61a0

Please come oor spread the word!

Penguins playoffs at Console Center

2011-04-26T01:11:00.002-04:00

We got free tickets to one of the Penguins games playoffs this Saturday. It’s such a fast game! Although the Penguins lost 8 to 2 toTampa Bat Lightning, we still loved to watch the game and experience all the rest (music, lights, food, drinks). And we even got a free shirt that on us, girls, looked like a big night gown (XL for all 3).

3 little sisters jumping on the bed...

2011-04-19T00:02:00.002-04:00

Tonight the sisters wanted to sleep in B's bed. How cozy they were!

Vote for Beatriz's drawing

2011-04-06T01:43:00.003-04:00

Please take a minute to vote on Beatriz's drawing for Stella McCartney's contest.

Just go to the link bellow and once there hit "love":

http://contest.stellamccartneykids.com/littleproject/participation.php?id=441

Please feel free to spread the drawing!

Thanks a lot!

One of the best birthday gifts...

2011-04-06T01:40:00.003-04:00

This was one of the best birthday gifts: Beatriz's card! I think she fell asleep before she could finish the last leg of the "m"... So, so sweet!

Disney World Trip - my 37th birthday!

2011-04-06T01:31:00.003-04:00

My 37th birthday cake

Tempura calamari (+fancy way of saying battered deep fried!)

At the Irish Pub in Downtown Disney

As I turned 37th, Vasco decided to surprise me with a trip to Disney World (our

second time there). So here we are headed to a 18-hour trip to sunny Florida with 3 kids in two

(ages 2, 5 and 7). Roughly a week before we saw the weather forecast and “our” week looked

so promisingly sunny. As time passed, we rechecked the forecast and there was some rain

moving in. Not so bad, but not as good as the week before.

So we packed our camping and non-camping gear, checked out almost all the DVDs the

Carnegie Library allowed us (and that's 20!), prepared lots of snacks and drinks and headed out

the door at 9 pm on Friday instead of the planned “right after picking up the girls from school”. I

deprived Sofia of her nap expecting her to take one in the car. She ended up falling asleep on

the couch at home while we packed the last things. Here goes my perfect plan!

Finally we are in the car, DVD player connected and no image! What? Turns out the

DVD player decided to die that night. Imagine! So let's add half an hour to our 18-hour trip and

head to Walmart to buy a new one. Got it. Now it reads all the movies, even the ones with the

annoying metal stripes (at least they are free!)

The trip was uneventful. Stopped in a motel somewhere to sleep (Knights Inn for the first

time). Woke up the next morning, quick breakfast. Drive some more. Snacks. Drinks. More

DVDs. Naps. Arrived to our camping site at Jekyll Island, Georgia only to learn that it was full.

What? We decided to drive anyway and take our chances, following the lady that charged us $5

to enter the island. Got there and ended up in a camper's site. Great! Set up the tent without

much light. Rain coming and some important pieces missing. Next morning I discovered I was

sleeping on the missing parts - the pegs! No wonder my back was hurting...

Quick breakfast completed with our dear Nespresso coffee machine and real coffee. We

packed, rented bikes and rode them for approximately 12 miles around the island. Beach and

lunch out during the Kids Golf Tournament happening that weekend. Left the island around 4

pm headed to Ocala to visit our dear former Pittsburgh friends. Arrived just in time for dinner

(adults) and some play (children - 7 total!). Slept in a very comfortable bed (for a change!), took

a real shower and even did a load. Thanks, Kristin and Eric!

And finally Orlando on day 4 of our trip. Checked in at the Disney hotel (All Stars Music).

The weather was not nice at all - rain! Decided not to go to any of the parks and just wait for our

cousins who were coming from New Jersey. Went to the pool despite the rain. Water with water

anyway...

At night, reunited with the family, 4 adults and 5 kids, we headed to Downtown Disney

under the rain (our faithful companion). Had grilled chicken for dinner (desperately trying to

escape the chicken nuggets and burgers and fries) and a delicious dessert - brownies with icecream - under a huge jellyfish at T-Rex Cafe.

The weather got a little better, so we all went to Epcot on Tuesday, which was beautiful.Wednesday we spent a fortune to go to Universal Studios - Islands of Adventure. I guess I've never been in such a crowded park. Mainly because of Harry Potter and the amazing

Hogwarts they recreated there. The ride is just out of this world! We bought the “Fast Pass” and

that really made the difference in terms of rides we were able to do. The Seuss World is also

beautiful and the girls were in familiar territory, recognizing all the characters and quotations.

On my birthday it was raining so much that we were forced to “rest” at the hotel. The

girls gave me a precious book written and drawn by them, edited by my husband. My cousin Gina served me my first PBJ sandwich ever! Yum! Thanks to all! In the afternoon we did a little

Disney hotel sightseeing by mono rail and boat. Now we know where to stay next time - Great

Floridian (the doorman kept asking if we were checking in...). At night our cousins took care of

the girls and we went to an Irish pub at Downtown Disney. Ordered tempura calamari meaning

lots of battered fried broccoli, carrots and green beans and 6 calamari. Even heard my favorite

band there - U2. Happy birthday to me!

Magic Kingdom finally on Friday (the day we were supposed to start our trip back to the

'burgh, but due to the inclement weather, decided to postpone one day). There were so many

people that they announced that the closing time was 1 am! We arrived at 9.30 am and left at 1

am, with all the kids sleeping from 10 pm on. We did so many rides thanks to Vasco and his

cousin‟s “fast passes”. That's the way to go! Loved Space Mountain (even did it twice)! Saw

both parades, ate lunch in Tomorrow's Land and enjoyed a perfect sunny day (the kind I

imagine they have 365 days in any normal year).

The most tiring part of this day, was carrying the kids to the car after the mono rail, no

double strollers in hand. That‟s when you discover how strong we all are. Checked in at

Radisson Resort at 2 am. The bed was amazingly soft and I was asleep in literally 1 second!

(Another note to self - be aware of Priceline “not being aware” of this “resort fee” that added $12 to our bid. Not fair, especially because we didn't take any advantage of the pool, bar and such).

Saturday was the day to say goodbye and start the trip. Bye, cousins! Bye, friends in

Ocala! Bye, perfect sunny weather! We stopped in Ocala for a short visit that ended up in a

couple of hours in the pool. So fun! And the girls got really tired, so nap happened for the 3

(almost unheard of!). Stopped at a motel somewhere in South Carolina (note to self - avoid

Econo Lodge with signs that read “weekly rates available”) for the night. Very quick breakfast

next morning. All day driving. Arrived safe and sound at 9.30 pm. Glad to be home, but missing

the sandals, short sleeves and the sun, of course.

Love traveling in the US. In 10 days crossed 7 states. Fortunately I'm only missing 3 of

the 50 (Alaska, Arkansas and North Dakota - any recommendations there?). Loved to feel

inspired by Disney's motto again “where dreams come true”. They do. Really. Everyday.

Thanks for bearing with me in this long travel chronicle.

Sewing creation

2011-03-22T01:15:00.003-04:00

After borrowing 2 sewing machines, I finally sow this little bag. I've sent it to a friend. Hopefully she will like all the imperfections...

Brrrr on the first day of Spring!

2011-03-22T01:00:00.003-04:00

Sisters sharing my coat on the first day of Spring. Brrrr!

Busy girls

2011-03-22T00:31:00.003-04:00

The sisters are so high tech! I guess Mariana was busy doing something else, probably a little less high tech, like drawing...

Science Museum

2011-03-22T00:20:00.002-04:00

Sisters with their crazy miss matched clothes at the Science Museum. The gem collection was the most appreciated this time.
Find something very interesting...
The beautiful "azure butterflies" in honor of Fancy Nancy.

Sushi party

2011-03-22T00:09:00.002-04:00

We finally did a sushi party, inspired by Yumiko's one. The girls loved it! They could create their own sushi roll.
Here's Beatriz's first creation.
Sofia was still having her Japanese noodle soup and showing one of the veggies in it.
Mariana's very geometric sushi roll.

Spring is here!

2011-03-21T23:59:00.003-04:00

Pink ladies...

Spring is here finally, although this photo was taken still in Winter and there are rumors that's going to snow by the end of the week... Can you believe it? I can't!

Proud Daddy with his 3 daughters!

By the way, happy Father's Day!

Vote on Mariana's drawing!

2011-03-21T23:50:00.002-04:00

Please take a minute to vote on Mariana's drawing for Stella McCartney's contest.

Just go to the link bellow and once there hit "love":

http://contest.stellamccartneykids.com/littleproject/participation.php?id=369

Please feel free to spread the drawing!

Thanks a lot!

All good!

2011-03-08T23:45:00.000-05:00

We are all doing fine, thanks! It just seems that the hours I spend awake and moving are not enough to update the blog or do lots of other things. Lately I’ve been noticing this more and more and I hate excuses of “lack of time”. The thing is it’s so easy to sit in front of the tv at night, check Facebook, reply to emails, organize the girls’ backpacks and ordering books online that in the end the night is gone. Tomorrow lunches are still just a sketch in my mind and the clock doesn’t stop. Anyway, this week I tackled some major postponed chores: ironing and sewing, so not so bad. Trying to find motivation to get rid of paper. Did part of the work by going to Catalogchoice.org and cancelling all the catalogues I get without ever having bought a thing from them (Ethan Allen for instance…).

The girls are doing great! They all love school and are really learning a lot this year: Beatriz reads perfectly, Mariana is also reading some simple stories and Sofia tries to read by imitation and let me tell you that, like her sisters, she’s going to be a very dramatic reader. She memorized this book about shapes and “reads” it exactly like me. Sometimes I feel I have three echoes surrounding me.

My birthday is the next big thing happening in the family and once more I’m debating between a party with friends here at home, going for dinner out or just hang out the 5 of us.

Vasco is busy, busy, busy with Bueda. Fingers crossed for him and his big enterprise.

Above, the sisters at an exhibition on the Strip District almost a month ago!

Happy Woman’s Day!

Blackberry Sofia

2011-02-23T11:22:00.001-05:00

Blackberry and Sofia’s eyes are the same color. Interesting!

Pink

2011-02-16T00:32:00.001-05:00

We hiked this Sunday and it felt so good to be out in the snow/ ice for a couple of hours. I was wearing these gloves my Mom gave me and that I love. We reached the frozen waterfalls that were really beautiful. We even managed to be under them, enjoying the light and coldness od it all. Thanks, Susanne, for the recommendation!

Happy Valentine’s Day

2011-02-14T12:31:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody!

We wish you a great loving day!

My 8th grade class

2011-02-10T23:38:00.001-05:00

And here it is my 8th grade class, back in 1987/88, if my memory is correct. The most amazing thing is that I still remember SO well this time in my life.

100th day of school projects

2011-02-08T23:44:00.002-05:00

Mariana and Beatriz’s 100th day of school projects:

- 100 ornaments for the Christmas tree by Mariana;

- 100 polka dots on a butterfly by Beatriz.

There are such cute projects at their school!

Mariana's 100th day of school cake

2011-02-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

Today was Mariana's turn to celebrate her 100th day of school (big thing in the US, where kids get very creative on their one hundred projects!), so it was my turn to bake and decorate a cake for the occasion. Here it is the 100 faces made out of citrus gum drops! I had lots of fun doing my 100th project too;)

Naughty Sofia

2011-02-08T23:37:00.000-05:00

Sofia is turning out to be very naughty and stubborn, but above all she is sweet, intelligent and adorable, giving the best hugs accompanied by "My Mommy!". 'Gotta love her!

Ballerina Beatriz

2011-02-08T23:34:00.001-05:00

Our 7 year old Beatriz still fits in her ballet recital leotard from 2008. Good investment!

Colorful Mariana

2011-02-08T23:26:00.001-05:00

Mariana has this tendency to find art in every corner of her world, so here she is modeling this “atomic” crown. Sweet!

Steelers Party

2011-02-06T01:00:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago we learnt that the Steelers were in the Super Bowl! In some hours is the big last game of the season. Here are some of celebration photos. Here we go, Steelers!

Beatriz's 100th day of school cake

2011-02-05T11:51:00.001-05:00

This was my cake for Beatriz's class on the 100th day of school. I baked it in the afternoon, but only iced it at midnight and then decided to work on the 100 little faces made of marshmallows, only to discover how hard it was to handle this kind of candy. Anyway, the final result was cute (I think!). I used edible coloring markers for the first time. worth the investment!

And this means I've packed a 100 lunches for B and a 100 for Mariana, so that makes at least 200, excluding Vasco's. Interesting!

Sometimes my car…

2011-02-03T14:50:00.001-05:00

Couldn’t help laughing at this image in my car the other day: half an apple with an artistic plastic knife… Luckily I had my camera. Mom’s little props…

Snow woman

2011-02-01T00:50:00.003-05:00

Our first snow woman of the season!

The 3 sisters with their creation.
I also helped out, especially with the props!

Winter

2011-02-01T00:42:00.002-05:00

Winter. All is frozen. Covered in snow. Today the sun shone for a while and the sky was blue. So much better. Tomorrow icy roads and sidewalks. Be on the lookout...

Happy birthday, Sonika!

2011-01-28T22:22:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday, dear Sonika!

We all celebrated your birthday at Susanne’s house by baking Austrian cookies! Here we are singing happy birthday from Pittsburgh, USA to Indore, India.

We wish you all the best and hope to hear from you soon.

Winding Road...

2011-01-20T23:19:00.002-05:00

Winding Road by Bonnie Sommerville

Well, the rain keeps on coming down
It feels like a flood in my head
And that road keeps on calling me
Screaming to everything lying ahead

And it's a winding road
I've been walking for a long time
I still don't know
Where it goes
And it's a long way home
I've been searching for a long time
I still have hope
I'm gonna find my way home

And I can see a little house
On top of the hill
And I can smell the ocean
The salt in the air
And I can see you
You're standing there
And you're washing your car
And I can see California sun in your hair

And its a winding road
I've been walking for a long time
Still don't know
Where it goes
And it's a long way home
I've been searching for a long time
Still have hope
I'm gonna find my way home

All these dreams took me so far
And I felt I just couldn't go on
And I want to hang
Out the window of your car
And see just how good this baby can run

'Cause it's a winding road
I've been walking for a long time
And I still don't know
Where it goes
And it's a long way home
I've been searching for a long time
Still have hope
We're gonna find our way home

It's a winding road
Still have hope
One day we'll find our way home
It's a long way home
I've been searching for a long time
Still have hope
We're gonna find our way home

It's a long way home
It's a long way home

After much thinking about this music and looking into all my CDs, I decided to use FB to find it and I did. I mean a friend did. Thanks, Anabela!
This music is part of The Garden State movie soundtrack and I remember so well to listen to it on my first trip to California back in 2004. We were on this rented jeep going through the winding mountains towards the ocean (Highway 1) and suddenly after much driving, curves and curves, we get to Lucia, this beautiful entryway to the deep blue sea. Oh! It felt so perfect! This music is all that and each time I hear it, I'm there, having lunch while savoring the ocean.

Now I won't loose it again..
Can you tell the Winter is getting too long?

Here is the music.

Moi

2011-01-13T00:29:00.003-05:00

Eu ainda em 2010 a espera de 2011 para me inspirar...

3 geracoes

2011-01-13T00:25:00.003-05:00

Gosto das 3 geracoes aqui retratadas. Gosto ate do ar serio, da ausencia dos sorrisos costumeiros para a fotografia. Gosto destes 3 seres com as suas parecencas familiares. Gosto da fotografia que tirei.

Primos

2011-01-13T00:22:00.003-05:00

Aqui esta outra que capta um momento unico: o Andre a abracar a priminha Sofia antes dela comecar a tentar escapar. Uma docura de primos!

Mariana doce

2011-01-13T00:15:00.003-05:00

Por vezes, conseguimos captar exactamente a expressao certa, aquela que vemos tantas vezes, mas que se perde nas fotografias. Um destes dias, consegui reter toda a docura da Mariana e aquele olhar sereno e pensativo que tanta alma tem. Aqui fica para a posteridade...

As manas

2011-01-13T00:03:00.003-05:00

As manas estao a cada dia que passa mais refinadas, mais amigas, mais compinchas. E muito bonito ve-las juntas nas suas brincadeiras e tropelias, pequenas intrigas e algumas queixinhas. Gosto de agora dizer que tem 7, 5 e 2 anos. Gosto muito de ter tempo para estar com as 3. Sinto-me privilegiada por o poder fazer, por estar pertinho e por ter tido ferias as mesmo tempo que elas. Sao as minhas rosinhas que me brindam com mimos do estilo "outstanding dinner, Mommy!", festinhas e beijinhos. Sao as minhas queridas que me querem ajudar nas cozinhices e arrumacoes, escaparem-se a pratica do piano e levarem toda a manha dum dia de neve a fazer o "science project". Um espanto de miudas, digo eu, mae galinha!

Get togethers around food!

2011-01-12T23:58:00.003-05:00

At Maria's house for brunch on the last day of 2010. Delicious!
The host with all the kids: 6 - very balanced, 3 boys, 3 girls.

Get togethers around food!

2011-01-12T23:52:00.003-05:00

Mariana testing this original nativity.
Beatriz.
Sofia with her superhero cape!
And Dora's outfit.

Get togethers around food!

2011-01-12T23:48:00.003-05:00

Christy read The Cajun Night Before Christmas for all of us. Great moment!
And Sofia got her superhero cape!
Scooping out ice-cream for my nephew.

Get togethers around food!

2011-01-12T23:33:00.002-05:00

On December 23rd, we all went to the McGuires-Harris' house to have a pre-Christmas celebration. Here is the kids' table. So cute!
Yeah! We are having dinner soon!
Whats that food over there?
Ready to dig in!
Delicious food and company.

Some of our Winter break activities - Children's Museum

2011-01-12T23:28:00.003-05:00

Time for lunch...
Avo Emilia with her 3 granddaughters and 1 grandson.
Yummi ice-cream
After all I like this marshmallow chocolate flavor!
With the Winter Fairy.

Some of our Winter break activities - Children's Museum

2011-01-12T23:24:00.003-05:00

Cutting and pasting.
Blood? And a happy face?
Sofia playing with play dough.
More play dough.

Some of our Winter break activities - Children's Museum

2011-01-12T23:18:00.002-05:00

We went one last time to the Children's Museum before our membership expired.
The cousins doing colorful paper paste.
Beatriz seems to miss the beach.
And Mariana too?Grandma also painted with her grandson Andre.

Some of our Winter break activities - skiing

2011-01-12T23:04:00.003-05:00

Family picture before going down the slope...
I'll go ahead, Mommy!
We need energy! Hot dogs and burgers and French fries - always the same menu.
Ready to go again.

Some of our Winter break activities - skiing

2011-01-12T22:45:00.002-05:00

We chose the best day to go to Boyce park: opening season day and free lift, translating into almost two hours to get boots and skis and finally hit the slop(es). Here Andre and Beatriz finally ready to ski. Uff!
Can you tell who this is? One clue - the youngest of the group!
Easier now: Mariana!
Andre waiting for the okay to go down...
Beatriz is a pro by now.

Some of our Winter break activities - library

2011-01-12T22:40:00.002-05:00

In one great activity at our dearest Squirrel Hill library: doing sun catchers with old CDs.
Playing on the computer. An old favorite, of course!

Some of our Winter break activities - painting ceramic

2011-01-12T22:36:00.002-05:00

Beatriz got these ceramic pieces on her birthday. All the family painted them and it was fun!
Sisters trying different colors.
Beatriz has a very white one still...
Andre adds some green and pink.

Some of our Winter break activities - ice-skating

2011-01-12T22:33:00.003-05:00

Vasco trips on Andre and both hit the floor. Great photo!
Andre is doing great for his second time on the ice.
And the sisters fly away with the new "helper"!

Some of our Winter break activities - ice-skating

2011-01-12T22:28:00.003-05:00

We also went ice-skating. This is during the break having hotdogs and French fries (the best!).
Sofia took a nap while the others tried the ice. I love to see the detail of Andre's glove on her...
The cousins are ready to go out...
Pink sisters with their own ice-skates. First time this year!
The 3 ice-skaters ready to hit the rink. Good luck!

Some of our Winter break activities

2011-01-12T22:02:00.002-05:00

Here is a little report on our short Winter break (I feel I need another one!). We took advantage of the few snowy days by sledding down Schenley Oval (till the city decides to put signs prohibiting it...). Mariana had lots of fun! And thanks, Kristy and Eric, for the sledge! You definitely don't need it in sunny Florida!
And here goes Beatriz with her brand new coat!
Sofia is trying the new snow ball maker. It's hard, but fun!
Andre is up to something... I wonder what...
Family photo before freezing. Grey downtown Pittsburgh on the background.

I'm 2!

2011-01-06T23:23:00.003-05:00

Doiiiiiis! I'm two! - says Sofia in both Portuguese and English.
Doiiiiiiis! - Sofia is so proud of her two fingers...

Sofia's cake

2011-01-06T23:18:00.002-05:00

This year Sofia's birthday cake was a snowman - a character that she loves.
Beatriz and Mariana helped decorate it. Isn't it fun?

Celebrating Sofia's 2nd birthday

2011-01-03T23:12:00.000-05:00

I'm 2! Here's the queen of the party with her sippy cup.
Notty expression.
I can put the candles on my cake.
Beatriz, the cake expert.
Happy birthday, Sofia! Tralalalalalala...

Sofia turns 2!

2011-01-03T12:17:00.000-05:00

Our lovely Sofia turned 2 years old!

She's an adorable, smart, funny, active, healthy and lovable little girl.

Hopefully the famous "terrible twos" are not so terrible....

Here she is trying her new Hello Kitty sunglasses.

Happy birthday, Sukikuki!

New Year's Eve

2011-01-01T00:12:00.000-05:00

My desserts: red fruit salad, Portuguese almond pie and pao-de-lo and lemon delight.
Sweet sisters.

New Year's Eve

2011-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

We spent the New Year Eve's at home, doing a fondue with the kids. It was fun to take a lot of time to eat all the meat and desserts!
The adults cooked the food at the table.
With my 3 purple girls!
Now with Daddy and Dave and Buster's blue toy...

The next morning

2010-12-31T00:55:00.000-05:00

Our stockings are ready for Santa...
It's finally morning and Santa was here! Yuppi!

Opening up the presents

2010-12-31T00:47:00.000-05:00

Opening up the presents on Christmas Eve.
With my new hat made by Sonika. Perfect size and very beautiful! Thanks once more.
Mariana really liked Grandma's purple dress. Thanks!
Vasco has two ties now. Thanks, Catarina and Miguel!

The Christmas show

2010-12-31T00:33:00.000-05:00

Vasco organized this talent show after our delicious dinner. As you can see, everybody has a role in this quintet.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-31T00:32:00.000-05:00

This year we were lucky enough to have part of the family spending Christmas with us: avo Emilia and nephew Andre. Thanks for coming all the way from Portugal!
The hosts...
Big cheeeeeese!
One more...
Vasco carving the big bird: delicious!

Merry Christmas!

Our nativity is ready

2010-12-31T00:06:00.000-05:00

The sisters finally assembled out handmade nativity. There's a lake and everything!

Christmas sisters

2010-12-30T13:30:00.000-05:00

Sweet Mariana.
Santa B.
Rosy Sofia.
The lovely older sisters.

Merry Christmas! Boas Festas!

2010-12-30T13:24:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas tree.
Merry Christmas from the 5 of us! Feliz Natal!
The sisters posing for the Christmas card...
Now reading a Christmas book...
With the Christmas ornaments...

Pre/ Post-recital

2010-12-29T01:48:00.004-05:00

Almost like waiting for Godot!
The cousins and the flowers.
Family picture finally.
With my 2 pianists!
The famous five... happy, relieved and proud of these 2!

Playing the piano at the recital

2010-12-29T01:42:00.003-05:00

Jingle bells by Beatriz.

Silent night by Mariana.

We are so proud of you, girls! Great job!

Piano recital

2010-12-29T01:29:00.004-05:00

Can you read the first names on the recital program? Yeah, the sisters Calais-Pedro are on!I'm ready to go first!
And I'm second!

Faces at the birthday party

2010-12-29T01:22:00.002-05:00

Sofia's after party...
The birthday girl, B!
Big smile Mariana!

Beatriz's birthday party

2010-12-29T01:10:00.002-05:00

Singing happy birthday to Beatriz!
Can you see the mermaid cake?
With some of my friends: Abby, Christy, me, Sonika, Susanne and Maria. Thanks so much for coming!
Posing in front of the Christmas tree...
Showing off some pictures...

Beatriz's birthday party

2010-12-29T01:04:00.003-05:00

The table is set...
Girls guests doing necklaces and bracelets with April's help.
More colorful beads.
The boys preferred the Christmas cards and the totes.
Now the girls decided to paint their own tote bags. Cute!

Birthday cake

2010-12-28T02:29:00.003-05:00

My latest creation: a mermaid birthday cake for Beatriz.

Thanks, Abby, once more for keeping her in your ocean-fridge...

More celebrating of Beatriz's 7th birthday

2010-12-28T02:14:00.004-05:00

Happy birthday to you, Beatriz!

Parabens a voces, nesta data querida...
Beatriz contemplating her improvised birthday cake (pao-de-lo!).
Yeah! You did it, B!
With Mommy's glasses and no front teeth. What a memorable picture!
With a very special guest, Andre, Beatriz's cousin, all the way from Portugal!