These streets will make you feel brand new

PRESS PLAY Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys

1 & 2 - Fao's piano :)
3 & 4 - Times Square
5 - Interacting with Ernesto Neto's art at MoMA
6 - Watching Madama Butterfly at the Met
7 - long long long lay over at Charlote's Airport on the way back home
...and yes, in the end I was feeling brand new and inspired... and ready to start my new adventure! I (heart) NY

Gaya's first walk

This Friday I decided to finally take Gaya for a walk in the street. I've been thinking about doing that since she moved in, cuz she is always so attracted to the outside world and keeps running away from home. Sometimes I ask myself if I am good mom... So cat's curiosity made me borrow Billy's collar and see what happened.

She was kind of paralyzed by the collar. It looked like she felt extremely weird with it, she literally didn't move. It was pretty funny :)) After a while she kind of started getting used to it and we went down for a bit. She meowed a lot, and was at the same time curious and a bit scared.

Water Planet

All I have to say is AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! :D

They keep catwalking

PRESS PLAY I don't wanna dance - Lady Linn and Her Magnificent Seven

Claudia Simões and Maria Bonita @ Fashion Rio with my friend Lívia. Fun!

Lagoa's Xmas Tree

One of my favorite things in December is to rent a paddle boat and go see Lagoa's floating xmas tree from very very close! I It's been a city tradition for over 10 years, and they always come up with something different. Last year they had pictures of Brazil's famous landscapes. This year is pretty traditional xmas colors, lights and decorations and I LOVE it! I pass by it everyday since it's right by my house and I can't get enough :)

I keep roller skating

PRESS PLAY Cheek to cheek - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

This weekend the weather finally gave me a break, and I got a perfect day to go skate - cloudy and not raining! I went to the Lagoa skating rink with Valentina and Billy.

It didn't take long until I was skating like I used to 20 years ago :)) Billy loved going with us for a ride, felling the wind on his face... he is too cute! What about his glows-in-the-dark ghost t-shirt? :D And I LOVE the view of the place, with the Christ and everything! Yes, skating like this, I'm in heaven...

test driving Carol's new bike in a sunny afternoon in Ipanema...

the last walk

PRESS PLAY Décollage - Les Balayeurs du Desert

This is my longest post so far; lots of pictures, long video, the history of a lifetime. This is me saying goodbye to the apartment that was home for me and my family for 26 years. I grew up in this place. I remember when I moved here I used to get lost in the hall because it was so much bigger than our former place... but it's ok, I was only 6, and everything looks bigger that it really is. My sister and I used to roller blade in the living room and everything... good times :)

We had a dog named Pepita, a parrot that I don't remember the name, a few black birds that used to walk around on my dad's shoulders and eat breakfast from his mouth, one of those cute white mice, a turtle, a crazy cat we had to get rid of and I think that was it. Pretty much we had a zoo...

I've lived there most of my life. I left a few times, came back, and 3 years ago I moved out for good, but this place was still my house in my heart. My mom lived there all this time, my dad left 10 years ago when they divorced and my sister moved in with her family when I moved out this last time, to watch for my mom, who was not so well... great memories, horrible memories, LOTS of memories.

You can't believe how much stuff you can find in a place where a family lived for all these years. I saw things I didn't even know exist anymore. I had to get rid of lots of things, some with pleasure, some with pain. I brought a bit of everything back home, so I can make them part of my history now. Recycle. Transform. Reborn.

Somehow saying goodbye to this house was saying goodbye to my mom once again. She left this world on September 21, last year. Although we have been taking care of her stuff this last year, most of it was still there, and the room itself held a strong memory of her. Now I will have no where in this physical world to be that reminds me of her like this; only my heart and mind. In a way that is sad, in another that is liberating.

I learned that our memories are very adjustable to what we wish life had been, and I'm definitely going to use that in my favor, and keep only amazing loving memories of this past that is now more than ever behind, and some well learned lessons that made me the woman I am today. I'm sure my mom would be proud.

Good bye sweet home :')

I keep walking with Billy and Valentina

Isn't he lovely in his little raincoat? :)

Father's Day

Nina giving paw to my dad / dad showing me his rare bromelias

My dad, his wife and Felipe / Sol

hitting the road back home

My dad lives in a little town called Miguel Pereira, a couple of hours from Rio. I went there to spend the Father's Day weekend with him. We cooked, I watched him play volleyball and win (he is 71!), he showed me his beautiful garden, I played with the pets (aren't they lovely?)... oh, and this time he finally did like my presents! It was great. I really needed that :)

Thanks, Dad.

I keep biking

PRESS PLAY Coralie Clement - Samba de mon coeur qui bat

going to Leblon / going to Ipanema

I use my bike for transportation purposes. Traffic is caotic, noisy, and expensive, and for things I have to do bike is often faster, not mentioning the environmental issue. Besides, I LOVE the ride :)

My savings are not safe

PRESS PLAY Money - Pink Floyd

I I was completely broke, not even a penny, inside of a cab on a rainy Sunday when I asked the driver to stop for a minute in front of an ATM, so I could cash some money. That's when one of those adorable machines decided to tell me the password I was typing was not right (but it was!) and before my third attempt it just blocked my card (not fair!), leaving me in this situation...

So I had to tell the driver to wait downstairs while I ran up to my apartment and I saw myself with no other option but breaking into my pig savings! Damn! I've been saving all the coins that cross my way for a few months now, to spend on my next trip. I learned this with a friend, she always buys great things with her coins... I'm not sure how I am going to spend it, but I have a few ideas. One option is to finally get the camera of my dreams, but I'd have to save coins for a few years for that :)

This time I decided to experiment with a video. I've been thinking about that for a while, but I couldn't find a way to make a feet video interesting... well, maybe this one is not too bad. Let's see what happens. Another possibility is of course videos of dancing feet. I will try that when I get a chance. I've made a few experiments with walking feet, but I didn't like much... I'll keep trying ;)