Queen Sylvia of Sweden

I had my fifteen minutes to feel just like a queen. Queen Sylvia of Sweden, more precisely. Or maybe Mother Teresa, or all these people who dedicate their lives to care for others.

An area in the South of Brazil is suffering with floods and storms. Thousands of people lost everything, not to mention those who died. I had to do something.

In partnership with a neighbor who works for a company in that area, we planned a campaign to receive donations.

The response has been amazing, and we even got a small spot on the media.

Queen Sylvia must feel like this with her work at Childhood...

Thankful

I am thankful for the fact that this semester is almost over.

Kids got sick all the time, and that is pretty tiring. F had scarlet fever twice, C had it once, F had a crisis of urticaria, followed by terrible soar throat... And now C's got the flu, soar throat again and all.

Not to mention the dog's operation and now an allergic crisis.

In the middle of all this, I still had to work, we decided to repurpose our home- office into a TV room, which required remodelling the studio (to include my portion of the home-office) - Pictures on a later date.

Everything is falling into place now.
And I am truly thankfull for that.

Xmas countdown

Our Xmas party is coming.
Dec 13 is right around the corner and there's still SO MUCH to do...

It's always stressful, but I love it.
And in the end, all ends well. Always. No matter what.

We're having about 60 people over this year. Lots of champagne, finger food, and good music.

in the kitchen

Things have been busy in our kitchen lately. Beet-bread, banana bread, strawberry and rhubarb jam, yoghurt are some of the things we prepared this week.
And now, as I prepare chicken stock, in a hint of a second I was brought back to my childhood days.
After setting the huge pan to start the ever-so-slow cooking process I came back to work on a huge project due this afternoon. Despite of throughly washing my hands in an attempt to get rid of the mixed scent of raw meat, onion, garlic, and everything, I sit on the computer and such a familiar smell hits my nose. And THAT is comforting. The childhood days spent near the stove at home, at grandma's farm, and all the kitchens held dear in my memory, come back in a flash.

What can be more comforting than knowing that your following such a familiar ritual? The setting would be perfect if only I had the time to bake a cake...

new addiction

I like this just as much as the original

no common sense

I studied in a very big traditional school which 100th anniversary will be held in 2011. As a start-up for the celebrations, there'll be a reunion on Nov 29. As I called in to confirm I would attend it, I heard that the invitation is for one person only, which means my husband could not attend. But, he studied in the same school. The problem is that he did not register as alumni. In an attempt to bring some common sense to these people, I said that if people are not allowed to take their dhs, dws, partners, whatever, there will be very few people going. I was told that they have to follow some criteria.

Thankfully, my kids attend a whole different school.

full bloom

On my way home nowadays I meet these beauties everyday.

In white...



and in blue...

xmas party here we go

Now we focus on planning our 'traditional' Christmas party.
We plan having around 75 people over this year.

There's LOTS to be done. Invitations, menu planning, decorating.

I'll keep you posted.

party favors

From this...



to this...



Kids loved them!
After an 'old-fashioned' party, no fuss, just plain play time with friends.