my autumn

I'm not usually a fan of the Fall. I prefer the Spring, when everything feels new, or the Summer, when I can run and take my bicycle and wear tiny dresses. I usually equate the Fall and the Winter with rain, with depression and loneliness. 

Maybe it's because I'm neither. Maybe it's because I'm okay, even with a few mood swings; I'm working as a dessert chef at my dad's restaurant, I'm taking pictures, I have my garden and my 52 Stories and my NaNoWriMo almost starting. So I'm good. And being good allows me to appreciate the things I don't normally do — which is exactly what I've been doing these days. 

I spent my afternoon, yesterday, taking care of my garden. I trimmed the tomato bush (oh goodness!), tied the tallest plants to sticks (I have a cucumber branch that is taller than I am!) and moved things around to give them space to grow. I also picked a handful of tomatoes and chili peppers, as well as an eggplant! I have eggplants!

Today, after having lunch with my friend J, I came home and started my tiny herb garden. I've had a lot of offerings from people around me, mostly for small herbs, like mint or basil, so I filled up a vase with dirt and now I have thyme, rosemary and parsley growing. I'm now waiting for other plants people might give me. *hint hint*

I had some time this afternoon, so I decided to try to knit a sleeve for my new mug. Huh. No. I dropped it after three lines because I got sleepy. That's how lousy my concentration ability is these days. I'm like a fly, looking — OH SPARKLY STUFF.

I think I bought this book when I was in my first years of college. I remember skimming through it, but today I actually sat and read it. It's lovely. Of course, completely outdated and almost whimsical at times. But still cute.

I have a thing for tea. Especially if it's in a pretty mug with a pretty filter. This is cinnamon tea, one of my favorites. All I was missing was a mint leaf, but I guess I'll have those soon enough. 

Have a blessed rest of week! I hope your Autumn days are filled with beauty and wonder. 

At last I'm here (aka, blogging from Berlin!)

Hello, my darlings!

I am so sorry for my absence in the past week; I had several problems throughout the whole time, culminating with the death of my beloved computer, last Wednesday. My poor Mac was much too old, and with a small bang of my cell against it (I dropped the phone when I had the laptop in my lap) it died. As did all my info. Luckily, I have a good friend who happens to be a computer wiz and he's working on recovering my data.

To make things better, though, I am in Berlin! I'm with my favorite person in the world and so far I'm having a wonderful, wonderful time. I thought I'd share some of my pictures of day one with you, what do you think?

la bella italia, day one

I thought I'd share with you the pictures and the writing from the trips I've taken in the past few years. Travel photography is one of my favorite areas; I have the time of my life trying to capture moments, small details of the places that usually go unnoticed by the regular postcard photography. Besides, they give me a window back to those times, take me to those places again. I spent most of my week processing the photos from the trip I'm about to share, and I swear I could almost smell the Nutella crepes that they sold a couple of streets from our hotel room. 

So, here is my take on Italy. The trip will be split in a couple of blogposts — too many memories to share, too many photos. The texts will look kind of... diary-like, because I took them off the notebook I brought with me. But I hope you like each and every one of them. Don't forget to let me know what you think, share your experiences with me! This world, this tiny little universe I'm creating here, is nothing without your input. Talk to me!

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girls' night out!

last week I went on a well deserved girls' night out with two of my favorite girls in the world. we went to our usual vegetarian restaurant and had an absolute blast, as we always do.

these times with R and M are one of the things that keep me going. they are just so unbelievably supportive, so kind and so funny that they always light up my soul; I think we're all like that with each other. the fact that we have the band helps — it requires more confidence, more strength in our friendship, it makes us bigger and brighter. like with most of my best friends (and I have a few) it's almost like having a sibling that's not of your own blood, but of your own heart. I know. I'm a sap. but when it comes to counting my blessings, they're definitely in one of the top places.

gabs and the glasses

This is nothing but a random post, showing off a little family fun with my new prop glasses. And myself, pretending to be a model from the 90's. And just family stuff. But I think you'll like it anyway.

Take a look?

days of fun

okay. this is kind of a counterpoint to wednesday's post, since it's all about a summer day so full and joyful that I absolutely had to share it with you.

my mother is lucky enough to live in a condo with a pool for the residents, and  we had some friends over on sunday — a good enough excuse for me to take pictures! there's not much to say about these, just that it was an absolutely lovely day with even lovelier people.

days of nothingness

The Summer can be dull.

During Winter, I normally have this picture perfect idea of Summer. Splashing in some paradise-like beach, eating ice cream and wearing shorts and colorful shirts, going for bike rides, suddenly becoming a thousand times prettier than I actually am. It's my ice cream commercial idea of a season that almost always ends with staying home, watching series and taking self-portraits, running errands and baking my ass off. 

Yeah, that kind of ruins the expectations. 

Why am I telling you all this, you ask? Because yesterday I found myself having one of those paifully boring Summer days. There was nothing to do. I told myself I wouldn't take new work in August, so I could rest, so I didn't have photos to process; my friends are away, the vast majority of them. Even my significant other is away on vacation, so I had absolutely nothing to do and no one to talk to. What did I do?

I decided to paint my hair with soft pastels. I'm not even kidding. 

The adventure started with an hour and a half of search. I could not, for my own sake, find my box of soft pastels. I searched the entire house for it, and in the meantime I found an old pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses (I loved them!), a box of mini business cards (from moo!), an old pencil case with a bunch of goodies and the best part: my calligraphy kit. 

Over the years, I've been collecting tips and antique pens. I got this kit when I was 18 and I absolutely adore it; I have another small box filled with the ones you see apart. They are so lovely. 

After I found my pastels, I sat on my bed and started to paint the tips of my hair with several colors. I used aqua, soft pink, yellow and light green, all the while making a mess out of my bed, my shirt and my hair.

It didn't turn out quite as fabulous as I'd hoped; my hair is too dark for it to be truly noticeable and I have absolutely no talent for dealing with my own hair. I did have a blast, though. I felt a little bit badass, I have to admit.

See? Not fabulous. But not horrible, either!

The shot below is from a few days ago, an equally boring afternoon; I had fun throwing a cookie into a glass of milk. And then I had a little less fun moping the kitchen floor.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

Don't forget that I'm currently scheduling my photo shoots for this Fall/Winter! E-mail me at luminousphotographer@gmail.com for more information!

Não se esqueçam que estou agora a aceitar marcações para o Outono/Inverno! Enviem-me um e-mail para luminousphotographer@gmail.com para mais informações!

go medieval

Hi, everyone!

A couple of weeks ago I did one of my favorite things to do, all year: visited the medieval fair in Santa Maria da Feira, a nearby city. You can visit the website here, but I do believe the best way of experiencing, if you don't have the chance to go there, is to see the pictures visitors, like myself, take. I've been going through blogs and albums and everything related, and everyone takes such wonderful pictures! It's wonderful to see.

The fair itself is a joy to visit. Everyone in the city gets involved; you can see it from the moment you drive into town — every window is decorated with medieval-style flags — to the way people circulate. Everyone wears medieval gowns, every bank, store or institution has a medieval-style front, everything is related to the fair. You don't need to spend more than an hour there to realize the hard work and commitment these people have with this project; it's clear, everywhere you look.

Here are my photos, then! I hope you like them! Don't forget to leave me feedback in the comments — I love talking to you guys!

baking adventures: oatmeal cookies

Hi everyone!

I finally got around to bake the cookies I'd been craving! I took advantage of the fact that I had my sister with me for the afternoon and we decided to do some baking. We always have the time of our lives in the kitchen — she loves it just as much as I do, and I have the feeling she'll be a lot better than I am. That sense of promise, of joy that always comes with spending time making something delicious; that's what keeps dragging me back to the kitchen.

We used the recipe found on the wonderful Smitten Kitchen. I am so in love with this blog, it's not even decent! We made two batches, one for raisin and almonds and another for chocolate chips. Guess which ones Gabs liked more?

Find more pictures under the cut!

carnivale

Like I promised a couple of days ago, here are the photos from the carnival Tina and I took Gabs to on Sunday. We had a wonderful time — G was insane with all the carousels, the popcorn and cotton candy and the little things she could buy. She was just so happy! And I have to confess that I was happy too — put me in a carousel any day of the week and you’ll turn me into a giggly mess. 

weeks of summer

Hi, guys! I hope you’re all doing wonderfully and that you’re enjoying the Summer just as much as I am! I’ve had an unbelievably busy week, but I managed to photograph a lot of the things and places I visited, so I thought I would share the photos with you!

Since my four year old sister, Gabs, was with me, I had some fun with her at our beach house.