looking back on 2015

2015 was a weird year, our first complete as parents. Lots of adjustments, lots of joy, love and lots of frustration as well. Below some moments to remember (organised chronologically).

We kicked of the year with a long stay in Portugal since I was on maternity leave and R owned is own company then. It was good to spend some time with family and friends without that constant rush feeling we always have in our visits.

Back in London it was back to the mummy social scene. There is a long stream of activities you can do with the babies here in my neighbourhood and I must have been to all (I even had a calendar to keep me organised!). Meeting groups, singing in libraries, soft play, yoga with babies, fitness in the park with buggies and the list goes on but the best of all was the baby cinema, where you can take your baby to a cinema session and even serve you coffee and cake (well, you pay for it). I owe my sanity to those events and to all the other mothers I've met. It was so important to talk through our struggles with sleep deprivation and adjustment to this new life, looking for a new identity, missing pre-baby life as well while marvelling at the tiny creatures we made. So grateful.

Our old flat, I've spent too many hours in this living room... Miss the south facing large windows that made the flat sun flooded.

By far the best decision of 2015: travelling to the USA with the little one. He was such a trouper! He was about 5-6 months and I think it's an amazing age to travel. I was still breastfeeding and he would endure long hours in the car. Also the joy of seeing old friends again. So so so worth it!

All that sunshine was amazing. We are quite simple travellers and can't really afford luxuries but we always splurge in one hotel per trip: in this one it was the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. So worth it!

A wonderful highlight, the Eames House - they are so inspiring!

This little chap was of course the center of 2015. Introduction to solid food was a tough one for me - all the food thinking, planning, cooking and restrictions was a bit too much for a non-cooker like me. But like everything else in parenthood, you muddle through it and you conquer a new stage.

Filipe was (and is) my teacher in so many ways. One thing he taught me was the value of perseverance. I remember watching him in awe as he practiced over and over how to roll, how to slide, how to stand up. In this photo you can see how concentrate he is practicing standing in all fours before he started to crawl. It's amazing how babies seem to come with a program and you just see it unfold before your eyes. I remember telling my partner: "we feed him, we love him and watch him grow". So amazing. It's getting a bit more complex these days.

This photo to remember the chaos we have embraced by entering this adventure. And also how incredibly cute he is.

For my birthday I received that lovely Playmobil family and a trip to Margate. 

Some beach time in Portugal over the summer was just perfect. Sun, water and grandparents! We even had a romantic getaway without the kiddo that was amazing. About raising a kid in a foreign country I have come to a conclusion: it's doable but hard. It's hard everywhere I'm sure but I feel a bit jealous of all the grandparents help my friends back in Portugal seem to have. But no complaining, still happy with our choice and our life here.

After summer was a rollercoaster of changes. We moved flats! The little one started in nursery and we both got new jobs! After 10 months of maternity leave I was way more than ready to go back to work. No stay-at-mom material here and that's alright! R's left self employment for new challenges and oh, it was challenging indeed as the new job costed him four hours of daily commute. We patiently fought the new adjustments and create a sort of new routine.

And then he was ONE and growing up so quickly. So much love.

Almost like full circle the end of year found us back in Portugal for Christmas, more at ease with the parenting gig but exhausted and excited for a new start in a new year.

See my around here posts for may 2015, june 2015, july 2015, august 2015, september 2015, october 2015, november 2015,  december 2015.

21 days without you

I remember it clearly. We were in our kitchen in Camden and you looked uneasy. "I have something to tell you". My heart started racing. "What?" I asked nervously. You hesitated and then said

"I want to travel alone"

Jeeeeeeeeeeeez. I started laughing. Relief!

That night was another milestone in our relationship. We talked, laughed and cried and learnt that just because we are together doesn't mean we have to do everything together. That we are still individuals and that being together means supporting each other, and supporting each other's dreams even if it means we are not totally part of them. For years you wanted to travel alone on your own and felt trapped because that's not what you do when you're in a relationship. To hell with that! We make our own rules in our relationship!

So a couple of months later off you went to Malaysia and Borneo for three weeks. I was in the thick of the master's degree toughest time with assignments and exams and had the idea of reporting those days without you. While you scuba dived I submerged under piles of papers and textbooks. While you experimented new foods I survived on easy meals (which may or may not include frozen pizza). While you conquered km I conquered deadlines and exams. While you explored the unknown I relaxed in our familiar neighbourhood. 21 days without you. Printed Instagram images and some notes. A time capsule.

 

 

But I still prefer the memories we make together.

around (t)here - july 2015

Julho foi um bom mês! Fiz um workshop de lettering e foram 3 horas maravilhosa absorvida em pincéis, tinta e palavras. Com uns amigos visitámos também o pavilhão de verão da serpentine gallery, este ano dos arquitectos selgascano.

July was a good month! I attended a lettering workshop and spent 3 wonderful hours absorbed in brushes, ink and words. With some friends we also visited the serpentine gallery summer pavilion, this year by selgascano.

Mas a maior parte do tempo foi mesmo passada em Portugal! Foram dias cheios com muitos eventos familiares e claro...

But most of the time was spent in Portugal which meant lots of family meals and of course...

... praia, muita praia! O tempo esteve absolutamente maravilhoso e conseguimos aproveitar bem o calor e o mar para relaxar. Um bocadinho pelo menos. Como emigrantes nunca há tempo suficiente para estarmos com todos os nossos amigos ou visitar os nossos locais favoritos (ou conhecer novos!). Desta vez estávamos também bastante cansados (9 meses de paternidade com um bebé que dorme mal fazem mossa!) mas conseguimos recuperar alguma sanidade.

...lots of beach time! The weather was absolutely wonderful and we were able to relax. At least a bit. As emigrants we never have enough time to see all our friends or visit our favourite and new places. This time we were also really tired (9 months of parenthood with a baby that doesn't sleep well takes it toll) but we managed to recover some sanity to our lives.

E conseguimos algo mesmo especial: uma noite só para nós os dois! O miúdos ficou com os avós e nós fugimos para Tróia, onde eu nunca tinha estado. Escusado será dizer que foi fantástico!

And something amazing happened! We got a night out all by ourselves! The kid stayed with the grandparents and we sneaked to Troia,  where I had actually never been. It goes without saying that it was beyond wonderful!

Tinha algumas dúvidas sobre este livro mas li-o num ápice e adorei! É uma espécie de manifesto feminista para incentivar as mulheres a lutarem por lugares de topo mas não só. Vale a pena!

I had doubts about this book but read it quite quickly and really liked it. It's a feminist call for women to claim their space at top level jobs but not only. I really recommend it.

E no regresso a Londres, uma nova vida com a ida do Filipe para a creche e o meu regresso ao trabalho.

And back to London, a new life: Filipe started nursery and I prepared to go back to work.

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E já estamos em Agosto! É sem duvida um mês agitado. Comecei este post ainda em Julho mas temos andado a mil! O Filipe está a habituar-se à creche com dias melhores e outros piores, eu comecei o meu novo trabalho, o R cheio de trabalho e entrevistas e já começámos à procura do nosso novo apartamento! Coisa pouca portanto! Mas sabem que mais? Tudo se resolve (o meu mantra!)

And like that it's August! It is undoubtedly a busy month. I started this post still in July but we've been overwhelmed! Filipe is getting used to the nursery with its ups and downs, I started my new job, R is full of work and interviews and we have started looking for our new apartment! So a lot in our plate right now! But you know what? Everything is figureoutable (my mantra!)

USA road trip: san francisco

Depois da viagem de comboio passámos 3 dias em São Francisco o que nos deu para ter uma boa ideia da cidade e deixar vontade para voltar para mais. Como já tinha sentido noutras cidades americanas parecia que já conhecia São Francisco que sem nunca lá ter ido... os eléctricos, as ruas super inclinadas, as casas de madeira, a golden gate fazem parte de um imaginário que vamos absorvendo através de séries e filmes norte-americanos. Mas também foi bom aprender mais sobre a história desta cidade através da diversidade dos bairros: o movimento hippie em Haight-Ashbury, as lutas pela igualdade LGBT em Castro, a influência chinesa em Chinatown ou a influência hispânica e a gentrificação actual em Mission.

Deixo-vos algumas fotos que espero vos dêem vontade de lá ir!

After the train ride we spent 3 days in San Francisco which gave us a good idea of the city and left us wanting to go back for more. As I had felt in other American cities it seemed I already knew the city without been there before... teh trams, the super steep streets, the wooden houses, the Golden Gate are all part of an collective imagination that we absorb through American films and series. But it was also good to learn more about the history of this city through diversity of its neighbourhoods: the hippie movement in Haight-Ashbury, the struggle for LGBT equality in Castro, the Chinese influence in Chinatown or the Hispanic influence and the current gentrification in Mission.

I'll share some pictures that I hope will make want to visit!

The lovely trams.

Incrível a inclinação das ruas! Conseguiram surpreender esta lisboeta! E o mais incrível é que o mapa de São Francisco não dá qualquer dica sobre a inclinação das ruas, é uma malha quadriculada tipicamente norte-americana que foi lançada sobre o terreno sem consideração pela topografia.

Amazing how steep some streets are! I was surprised even though I'm from Lisbon (a very hilly city). But the most incredible is that the map of San Francisco doesn't give you any hint on the steepness of the streets, it's a simple square grid that was laid over the land without any concern with the topography.

The "Painted Ladies" in Alamo Square.

Chinatown.

Loved this sign at the City Lights Bookstore, a landmark in San Francisco.

Caffe Trieste, onde reza a lenda o Francis Ford Coppola escreveu O Padrinho.

Caffe Trieste, where apparently Francis Ford Coppola wrote The Godfather. 

Rainbow crosswalk in Castro.

Edifícios lindos em Haight-Ashbury e o edifício cor-de-rosa onde viveu a Janis Joplin. Comprámos um map-guia do bairro numa livraria na zona e passeámos pelas ruas procurando as casas das pessoas famosas do movimento hippie e tentando imaginar como seria o ambiente do bairro nos anos 60! Hoje parece tanto um bairro de classe média-alta com as suas lindas casas vitorianas de madeira tão bem preservadas que foi muito difícil imaginar que houve uma altura em que meio abandonado e com rendas baratas era o epicentro do movimento hippie!

Beautiful architecture in Haight-Ashbury and Janis Joplin lived in this pink building. We bought a self-guided tour map from a bookstore in the area and walked the streets checking all the famous people houses and trying to imagine how it would have been in the 60's! Today it seems so much a fancy neighbourhood it was difficult to imagine that there was a time when it was a cheaper area and became the centre for the hippie movement!

Ainda é possível encontrar alguns locais fiéis ao movimento hippie e não consegui resistir ao meu pequeno hippie!

Some locals stay true to the hippie movement and couldn't resist to my little hippie boy!

Philz Coffee in Mission (great coffee and atmosphere).

As ruas com sabor hispânico em Mission e dois dos muitos murais de rua da área. O grupo Precita Eyes Muralists faz visitas guiadas ou vende mapas com a localização dos murais.

Mission' streets with hispanic flavour and two of the many murals you can find in the area. You can visit  Precita Eyes Muralists and get a map for a self guided tour or join one of their tours.

E para terminar uma pizza maravilhosa da Pizzeria Delfina! Ainda soube melhor no final de um dia de muitos quilómetros nos pés. 

Espero que tenham gostado deste passeio rápido por São Francisco!

And to finish, a really good pizza from Pizzeria Delfina! It tasted even better at the end of a very long day with many many km in our feet. 

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of San Francisco!