turning twenty-six; a birthday post

A couple of days ago, on September 22, I celebrated my 26th birthday. 

I had a wonderful day; I was lucky enough to have my family around me, my love and my friends as a part of my day. I enjoyed it thoroughly; cooking and photographing, eating with my people and smiling so much it made my cheeks hurt. Especially with my darling. I also caved and bought myself the VSCO Film 01 set; it was a birthday present to myself and these photos were edited with it, although with a little bit of tweaking from my part. 

I wanted to take a moment to thank you all who visit my blog. You are unbelievable, with your support and taking time off your days to look at what I do. You make my life wonderful, too, and I hope you all know that!

Alright, enough talk. Bring on the photos! 

the apple pickers

The Apple Pickers

it starts with the fall, the way the applies redden on the tree branches, invading the entire orchard tenaciously.  There were rows of apple trees, of peach trees, cherries and pears. But the apples were the most important of all the land — plump and juicy, they were known to make the best apple jams and pies in the state. 

The twins rose early on harvest days. Their usual sleepiness disappeared as soon as their parents started to call their workers to the Orchard, the metallic bell resounding through the entire plantation. They picked their baskets and ran across the fields: his hand holding his hat in place as she released her braids from the morning confinement of the bonnet, leaving the scrap of fabric between blueberry bushes and the strawberry field. The smiles lit up their faces; the summer had turned to fall and suddenly everything made sense again, the warmth of the clothing, the commotion and the action of making jam and pie and spending days secluded in the kitchen, surrounded by their helpers. 

The songs of the helpers filled the air as they worked. The twins were a stark contrast to their dark skins, and yet, that was the place where they felt more included. They could sing and dance, they could jump and laugh and cry and no one would shut them up; there would be no punishment, no going to bed without dessert. The helpers? They knew what it was like to be without food. They wouldn't take it from them. It had been that way ever since they were children.

Eldora was their nanny, growing up. Replacing the figure of the grandmother that was too busy entertaining guests, she would sit them on each of her legs, hold them close until they were both asleep. They didn't talk much; they didn't need to, with her. She knew what they needed even they couldn't put it into words. 

They stopped as they reached the Orchard, their eyes following the trail of dark skinned people taking stairs, holding up baskets, singing songs of love and longing. And mourning. They were singing a song of mourning for Eldora, and the twins sat on the fence while the men and women gathered in a circle, placing their baskets in the middle. 

The boy threw an apple in the air while they stared, his concentration showing in the way he always caught it, always threw it at the same height. The girl twisted her braid between her fingers, a sign of nervousness. She should be in nursing school and he should be helping Daddy with the sales, at the office: but there they were, the clothes from when they were young teenagers only half-fitting, the hat and the checkered shirts and the skirt too short. And they were exactly where they wanted to be.

they stood still, eyes glued to the spectacle before them. There were colors and music and the smell of apples in the air. 

The servants danced now, a young girl they knew as Ginny singing a song of magic and love and the sacred land of God. And with that song in mind, they picked up their baskets and moved to help.

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Story 1/52

Welcome to my new weekly project, 52 Stories. Don't forget to this blog or Flickr to see the photos and stories posted every Friday afternoon! 

I hope you like the project and that you follow it as enthusiastically as I am making it. These projects are nothing without your words, your opinions and your encouragement, so don't be shy! Talk to me!

iphone specials: sept 13 — 20

[more under the cut]

kitchen adventures: olive and rosemary focaccia

Being in the funk I've been for a couple of days, I figured the best way to cure my bad mood was to bake. The kitchen is my safe haven, the only place where I feel like I'm completely in control of everything, where I feel like I own the place. I don't feel like that anywhere else, not even photographing, which is somewhat funny. But in the kitchen is where my favorite part of life happens — the eating and the making and the sharing and the kisses at breakfast and the coffee and the love. So I feel good there. It's where I feel the best.

I used a recipe from a Portuguese website and added the olives, and the result was wonderful. Despite being a little short, the taste was wonderful. The recipe is here, if you'd like to see it and attempt to translate it.

I bought the ugliest possible kitchen scale in the world, but it was the only one they had and I was pretty desperate, since the one I had before decided to vanish. Still. Now I kind of like it!

[more behind the cut]

the drowning of the pirate princess

New shot on flickr: the drowning of the pirate princess

this is not your regular post — também conhecido como a minha parte nos protestos de 15 de Setembro

A part of me thinks I should write this post in Portuguese, but I imagine there are enough posts in my language, and this might actually reach more people. Because it is a matter so dear to my country, so important to the people living here, I'm posting it here and doing what I consider to be my part — to show what is going on and to help the word get across.

As some of you might know, Portugal is going through one of the biggest economic crisis in its History; because of the austerity plans implanted for us to be able to support ourselves and pay our external debt (put in a very, VERY linear way), the political class in my country keeps demanding sacrifices from the People; more taxes (right now, roughly half of what I make goes to the state, and I barely make any money with my art), lower wages, the overall debacle of the way we live. There are no jobs. There is no money to circulate, so everything you see around you is the closing of businesses that were decades old, people leaving on the street, entire families lining up for charity food. It's heartbreaking. We, as young people, are being strongly advised to leave the country and search work elsewhere, or stay and work for free or for way less than we deserve. Our youth is desperate. Our middle class is gone and right now, God knows how things are going to be in the next couple of years.

I never meant to turn this blog into a political platform, far from that. I believe I'm not doing it, but I am posting the photos of what I saw yesterday; the people marching against this, finally raising their voices and saying all of this is enough, enough sacrifice. A hundred thousand people marched here in Porto, yesterday. In Lisbon, they were a half million. We are finally showing how unhappy we are, how little sense things make right now.

There is no hope, no end in sight.

Unless maybe, just maybe, our politicians decide to help the country instead of themselves.

the mermaid and the light

the mermaid and the light — series of three

Taken in the beautiful beaches of Porto Santo with the wonderful help of my aunt Maria, who was patient enough to have me making her a human tripod and ordering her around.

"Left! Right! No, point it further up. No, not so much!"

She's a saint, for putting up with me.

This is a series of three, assembled because of their common aesthetics (read blur). I have a couple more series to post, but the one I'm posting as main was my favorite, and therefore shall be the first.

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because the mermaid is still looking at the light.

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let me know what you think of it?

new weekly post — iphone specials!

Hi friends!

I'm back from my vacation and more excited than ever!

Inspired by my darling Joana at The Paper and Ink, and by the fact that I'm using my iphone more and more as a supporting photographic device, I decided to start posting my best shots of the week! Do you like the idea? I do!

This is the only time it'll happen on a Friday. iphone specials will be posted every Thursday, so stay tuned!

okay, I promise I'm shutting up, now.

I just decided to post this picture on Flickr — because my selfies start piling up when I take too long to post them — and thought it would be a good idea to post the outtakes here!

Enjoy!

a hipster way of saying 'see you later!'

I'm finally going on vacation! I have a plane ride to Porto Santo, a portuguese island, in a few hours, and I thought I'd leave you with a couple of photos that are nothing but an exercise in self-portraiture. I hadn't taken a selfie that I liked in a while, so I decided to do it on Tuesday, while my darling worked as well.

I hope you guys have an incredible week! I'm not sure I'll be able to come online during this week, but if I do get the opportunity, I'll post something for you guys.

five

Five years ago this week, I became a sister. 

I was used to being a single child, and more so, a single child of divorced parents, which made me privileged in a way most of the people surrounding me weren't. I had my family, the two sides, and I had a life that was as complicated as the life of a college student can be. 

On September 3rd, 2007, my mother gave birth to Gabriela and my world was turned upside down. 

It was like having a child of my own — it happened when I was 21 (exactly the same age my mother had me) and that child, that tiny (okay, not tiny, she was enormous in her 4,150kg at birth) little creature became the center of my world. 

Five years ago, my life became bigger, brighter, more fun. I don't know where I'd be without my Gabs, but I know that I'm thrilled with where I am right now, with the privilege of having such a wonderful presence in my life. 

These are the day before and the day of her birthday. I hope you like them!

la bella italia, day two

Please, please, please forgive me for the length of this post, but I didn't want to cut off the days in half. So this is my entire day two — Florence.