Happy New Year

 

LMJ and mini Tommy wish you all a Happy New Year.

More importantly, we wish you an amazing 2012.

May this be our year!

Merry Christmas

LMJ would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!

I'm having a wonderful time in Portugal, with Little Brother time, and all the Tommy cuddles, and the family time and the delicious food and wine of my home country! Little Mister Joey is missing here though but he made sure he was a little bit present by sending me these wonderful roses! I am one happy Joey!

::inspiring Mondays::

This is my last Monday of the year on the island. LMJ will be going home to Portugal this Thursday! Yay me! I have checked the weather forecast several times a day looking for the faintest sign of snow but the BBC assures me the area will be free from it. The travel nightmares of last year, which fortunately for LMJ were just a small delay really, should not happen again this year. All going according to plan, my dear Watson... I can almost breathe...!

I enjoy being a hostess and organising gatherings. One day, I will have a big house with tall windows where everyone is welcome at any time (well, most of the time!). I will have people over for dinner and Sunday lunches and Christmas and whatever other celebration takes our fancy. Until then, I will continue to have a few people over at a time (my place is not called the Matchbox for nothing!) and organise good gatherings with friends (preferably with gift swapping, really worked last time!) and cook bread with chorizo for them, with a few brigadeiros on request. It is good to be me on days like this :)

:: Thursday :D
:: little brother
:: home, almost there
:: squeezing mini Tommy up there
:: Mister Joey making me laugh so much I cannot stop
:: making my own bread. a dream comes true!
:: bread with chorizo, straight from the oven!
:: brigadeiros. lush!
:: did I mention home? home :D

How this Monday where you are? Filled with Christmas preparations? Calm and quiet? Tea and cookies? Enjoy it :)

eye candy

Hyde Park waking up.

::inspiring Mondays::

Today I want to look up and feel the sun shine through and soak me all the way to my cold bones. This has been a good Monday, even if I sound like an electric chainsaw and have the brain of a squashed pea (which did not have a brain to begin with, but hey!). After a wasted Sunday spent on the sofa unable to do very much or even talk (we all know how I love talking!) due to a charming chest infection which decided to visit, anything different would have been perceived by yours truly as great. Therefore, ta mucho, Monday, it's been a pleasure!

I am romantic. This is a new thing for me and I'm learning as I go along, but oh my I can be romantic! And I'm quite liking this, in case you're wondering!

:: Little Mister Joey ♥

:: Little Mister Joey has bought his flights. YAY!. February, we await you with love ♥

:: Paris. February is the month for the Joeys, really ♥

:: London in winter.

:: wonderful Saturday with friends.

:: finally seeing Nicky's band in action. some good photos coming up soon.

:: rain outside.

:: curry on a Monday night.

:: the smell of fresh bread coming from the kitchen.

:: friends who hug you even when you can contaminate them :)

How's this Monday where you are? Any lovely things to look forward to? Christmas sweets, it has to be :) 

Kiva

LMJ readers meet Ilda, Hannah and Martha.

Ilda. Hannah. Martha.

Ilda, Hannah, and Martha are entrepreneurs looking for investment in their business. I met them over at Kiva and have given them my support in the form of a loan. Perhaps you could do the same? Or just head over and find out more about it. One small loan at a time, we can really empower people.

About Kiva in their own words

"We are a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world."

::inspiring Mondays::

Some days, which can just happen to be Mondays, people we love receive not so good news and most of our own inspiration wants to leave us. To avoid this, one can grab some sense of perspective and not only come up with a few potentially positive side effects, but also really just contextualise life in the grand scheme of things. Of course, this is mostly done by you only and you should leave said people you love alone, rather than impose on them your slightly idiotic optimism.

It is possible to ice skate for the first time ever at the tender age of 31 and not fall once. LMJ is the living proof of that. Now... shall I go again and test if it was all beginner's luck, or...? Really want to go again though!

:: Mum on the phone explaining a recipe in great length. and then repeating it.

:: ice skating. such good fun.

:: making plans

:: photography projects

:: sunday morning coffee

:: Johnny Cash

:: fabric. lots of fabric. in a fabric shop. oh so beautiful!

:: bootcamp. lovin' it!

:: the smell of nice hot warm coffee. yum...!

:: laughing until your face hurts!

How was your day? Any perpective gathering in your Monday? Hope you've had a lovely start to the week :)

Brazil vs UK

LMJ: Rio's postcard, Christ the Redeemer, peacefully watching over the whole of sourthern Rio. For me, Rio is this postcard and the beaches and the food and the people and the relaxed way of life in a charming chaos, but Rio is also much more. Rio is a city that smiles and inspires smiles. How not to love such a place?

EP: This is the nearest thing we have to an iconic building in my neck of the woods. Didcot Power Station. I didn't have to work too hard to get this photo, as this place dominates the landscape for miles around. There's a weird beauty about the cooling towers, especially at sunset. I used to think they were an eyesore. But now I really think I'll miss them when they get knocked down in a few years' time. They've become so closely associated with my local area; it won't be the same when they're gone.

***

This post ends the series Brazil vs UK, brought to you by yours truly and the Erratic Photographer. I had a great time photographing for the project and really enjoyed the post-production too. The Brazil vs UK series gave me some photographic focus, a few laughs, an amazing collaboration with my favourite photographic buddy, and a set of 10 contrasting images between my adoptive country and the amazing city of Rio de Janeiro. We hope you've enjoyed it too!

Brazil vs UK

LMJ: Watching the sunset from Arpoador is a wonderful experience and one I would recommend to all people visiting Rio. People gather on the rock waiting patiently for the moment it happens and then clap once the sun is gone. Walking back from Arpoador, the street lights along the beach make for another beautiful view of Rio. Out comes the gorillapod and a bit of imagination on where to attach it to, out comes night light photograph at Ipanema!

EP: On the evening of Day 9, I went to the Royal Albert Hall to see my niece perform in the Schools Prom concert along with hundreds of other talented young musicians. The audience were given glow sticks to wave during the concert, so what you can see here are the streaks of light coming from the sticks. I quite like the result because it captures the atmosphere well, but I wasn't trying to get this effect. A lot of my better photos are accidents and this is no exception!

Brazil vs UK

LMJ: Rio's choperias are for me the closest thing to a British pub. Like in a pub in the UK, one can choose from several different beers and other alcoholic beverages, people seem to feel very much like at home and tend to go their "local", and a few of the regulars really seem to be part of the furniture. In contrast with the UK, choperias have big open entrances (let the fresh air in!) and tile flooring (what's with the carpet, really?). Between you and I, they also seem slightly trapped in 1970s Portugal, but that just adds to the charm!

EP: Well I didn't venture to the pub, so the closest I got was this pub sign. An idyllic scene of someone leaning against an oak tree reading a book while the sun sets - quite a contrast from the raucous atmosphere inside this establishment while a big football match is being screened or a poker night is in full swing. I like the fact that British pubs have painted signs and unusual - often incongruous - names. This one is named after a famous old local tree which is still going (growing?) strong after many centuries.

Brazil vs UK

LMJ: Caipirinha! It's delicious, it's strong, it's refreshing, and it's green. Being the selective little miss that I am, my caipirinhas were carefully chosen for me by a panel of experts who not only ensured I tried different cachaças in the caipirinha, but also that these were the best around. Thank you, panel of experts, for you've made a cultured woman out of LMJ.
Small note to Nicky: think you could use with my green bit of Rio right now... hihihi!

EP: Day 7 and inspiration is running low. LMJ sets the theme as 'green' and the most interesting thing I can find is this pot plant in the lobby at work. Big news: earlier that day a new carpet has been laid in the lobby (which is soon covered with muddy footprints!) and the pot plant has mysteriously moved during the operation. What an exciting week I'm having - who needs Rio?

Brazil vs UK

LMJ: I am a lover of the ocean. My hometown is by the sea. While at university, I lived 5 minutes away from the sea. And let's not mention I have a degree in Marine Biology. Yes, I am a lover of the ocean and to be so close to it naturally makes me smile and feel all happy inside. Whilst I smiled away at my luck, poor Nicky back home was having some water problems... oh dear! No worries, Nicky, I had fun for both of us, that's how generous I am :D

EP: Day 6 saw an unwanted encounter with water, in the form of a broken plug hole in the kitchen sink at home. The clean-up operation is shown in full swing, water removed from the cupboard and a trusty bucket installed while I figured out what to do next. Hope LMJ was having more fun in Brazil...

Brazil vs UK

LMJ: Rio is fabulous and the beaches are fabulous and the walkways alongside the beach are fabulous, but true to her European heart LMJ needed old buildings and a bit of her beloved tall windows. For that, a little walk to Lapa. Although Lapa isn't prim and proper with a dash of posh, its old buildings and relaxed atmosphere (yes, even for Rio standards!), and let's not forget delicious caipirinhas, really made it to my list of favourite spots.

EP: The weekend, and a chance to take a photo in the daylight! This is a delightful old house tacked on to the medieval abbey buildings in Abingdon. It looks like an Elizabethan building; a newcomer compared with the abbey. The other side looks out over a mill stream on the River Thames. What a place to live. Only problem is all the annoying folk who keep taking pictures outside. Ah well, you can't have it all.