Wednesday 23 November 2011

From a very very special mom...


She was my first friend when I moved to Sao Paulo.
I was 20, recently graduated, coming from a tiny little town in the south of Brazil, moving to one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world...And there she was, from Belo Horizonte, a journalist, as scared and as enthusiastic as I was! Life was about to begin for both of us! Starting a new carreer in the big city...my first job, lots of new people, becoming an adult!

I think I have already told this story here in the blog... First salary, what would you buy? Guess what? I bought a bed!!! I'll never forget this! Paid in 10 instalments, I wanted the biggest bed in the shop! (and it's still here with me in London!) Anyway, Andrea was there with me. When I couldn't find a flat, SHE shared her bed with me. When I broke up with my ex-boyfriend after a 5 years relationship, SHE was there with me... And they got married, I was one of the bridesmaid, and there SHE was, again, helping me with my dress in a salon in Belo Horizonte...Shouldn't it be the other way around? No, Andrea, always Andrea...the bride helping the bridesmaid...When Theo, her baby boy was born, I was the first one that could make him stop crying! I'll never forget that feeling...

And when I moved to London SHE was the one who took me to the airport and waved me good-bye! And then, in June last year, a call from her changed a lot of the perspectives I had about people, love, family, live and resilience! Theo was diagnosed autistic...and there SHE was, fragile but at the same time extremely strong!!! And since then I've learnt so much from her!

Dea, my dearest friend, I'll never forget that lift from home to the office in April this year. The annoying traffic jam from Sao Paulo was never so welcomed! I'll never forget how emotional that chat was, and I'll never forget the most amazing lessons I might have learnt so far from your speech during that chat! And I'll never stop admiring you and Le and Theo!!! You guys rock and I love you very much!


"I've always feared to become a whinning person. From very early in life, this sort of people have annoyed me. I guess that's why I put forth great effort on not assuming the victim position. Here at home, we've lived in distress for the last two years. First, we discovered my mother had cancer.A few months later, my two-year-old son Theo was diagnosed autistic.With so many news to cope with, my marriage, of course, was shaken.And when we thought things were starting to settle down, another blow: my mother's cancer had become metastatic, my father-in-law had a heart attack and, most recently, I lost my job. From that perspective, I would have plenty of reasons to be complaining about my life. However, I believe we choose how to react to things. And I choose to be optimistic! There must be something good in all this. Do you want to see it?First, I'm thankful that my child is not a severe autistic. His condition could be much, much worse – he could even have something way more serious than autism. Being familiar with neuro-pediatricians medical offices, we know better than anyone that there are parents in a much graver and painful situation than ours in the world.
I'm thankful because Theo's diagnosis was made early, which is beyond rare in Brazil (unfortunately). I'm thankful because we have financial conditions to give him a proper treatment. I'm thankful for finding the right professionals in a record velocity. And because I see the results of the therapies he takes day by day, with every novelty and advances he makes!
I'm thankful because my son kisses me, hugs me and says mama every day with such an enormous love that I can't help but feel undeserving of it.
I'm thankful that the troubles we've been through served to strengthen our bond as husband and wife. And even my unemployment was beneficial to strengthen my bond with my child.
I'm thankful for my family, for my husband's family, and for the friends - the chosen family - for all the support and love given throughout this time. I guess Theo has no idea how much he is loved, but I'm pretty sure he will realize it when he is older.
I'm thankful for the wonderful people I've met during this journey: other parents, with similar pains, that understand me as nobody. I've met so many brave people in the last year! And I have learned so much!
Finally, I'm thankful for the future that is coming. I'm optimistic enough to believe it will be great to Theo. And that he will become a happy person, always overcoming his difficulties, and that he will find a more fair, caring and inclusive society!
Happy Thanksgiving!"



the long and winding road


Monday 21 November 2011

Saturday 12 November 2011

If children rule the world

This is a letter from a very very smart and cute brazilian boy- Yuki, son of a friend!
It's cute and inspiring (some parts really made me laugh)...and so simple...for me it was one of those things you read and that makes you smile and want to hug someone ...specially in a grey saturday morning in London.

"Se a criança governasse o mundo não ia ter guerra, também não ia ter ladrão, tudo acabaria bem, ia ter chuva de hamburguer, ia passar no rádio só rock e só desenho toda hora, ia ter presente, todas crianças iam ter escola, de almoço doce. Todas as crianças e adultos iam ter casas. As crianças seriam todas contentes e felizes. Yuki"

"If children rule the world there won't be any wars, and there won't be any thieves, everything would end up fine, there would be "rain of hamburgers", the "radio would play only rock" and we'll have cartoons all the time, there would be presents, every child would have school with "candy lunch" (???not sure about the translation).
Everybody, adults and children, would have a home. Every child would be smiley and happy. Yuki"



Have a nice wknd!

Thursday 22 September 2011

My little Paris

I hope you like the tip: My little Paris!
A nice website to get to know the hidden secrets of Paris as well as what's going on there. Also, they have a Iphone & IPad app and now a book!!!

(Thanks Raquel Alvares for the tip!!! :))

My Little Paris sort son livre from mylittleparis on Vimeo.


J'aime beaucoup!!!!

Friday 16 September 2011

Divas!!!

I love the soundtrack (Gossip-Heavy Cross), one of my preferred ones nowadays!!! And now it was incorporated in the new J'adore Dior film...even Marlyn Monroe changed her Chanel n.5 for it!


Tuesday 30 August 2011

a-do-rei.fr



I love the idea!!!! Fashion + Fun!!! And still very chic!!!!

Monday 15 August 2011

learn...move...eat...move...eat...learn

Enjoy!!!

"3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films...."

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.


LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.


EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Sunday 14 August 2011

Happy day...

Today we celebrate Father's Day in Brazil.

In this sensible initiative, on Aug 10th Johnson's Baby went to one of the biggest maternity hospitals in Brazil.




Feliz Dia dos Pais...

Saturday 16 July 2011

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Turquoise...champagne...Dior..

So, from June 1st (I'm a bit late, sorry I was enjoying summer...hahaha) the Dior pop-up store has arrived to Saint Tropez. The concept of the Parisian Avenue Montaigne boutique has inspired the interior design of the new store, combining contemporary decoration with the style of the XVIIth century. Lots of grey tones and toile de Jouy, making it look like a Balzac boudoir.



The gardens are minimalist and feature a tea room and a champagne bar (we all need some "hydration"- loved it!!)






And to celebrate the boutique opening, a varnish special edition (we love varnishes!!!): "a vibrant turquoise blue that reminds the fresh and splendid crystalline water of the glamorous Mediterranean fishing port.A delightful and sunny blue, that dresses up the nails with fun and elegance."
If this is your vibe, you'll have to go to Saint-Tropez to get yours I'm afraid, it's exclusive to that boutique.



Pop around - as if it was easy...;):
Ambassador’s Gardens, 25 Rue Francois Sibilli- Saint Tropez.

à bientôt


Wednesday 6 July 2011

Perfection & Details

When I attended a luxury management course last year one of the key things I realised is that perfection and therefore luxury is seen through the details! This video from Chanel is a beautiful expression of that.
And being a bit philosophical, as in life, the small things/attitudes are the ones that really make all the difference...
Enjoy it!

Tuesday 5 July 2011

How about this for the weekend?



If the weather keeps warm, I'm doing this for the weekend!!!
Cucumber- Rosemary Gin and Tonic and some Cool Prawns and Cucumber crackers!!! And all of that in a nice outside area!!!
Let's picnic!!!

Monday 27 June 2011

Festival time- memories

Past time song, but so, so, so cool!!!!




Thanks Ale Laxon for the link!!!

Dance, dance, dance




Dance, dance, dance to the summer!

Wednesday 15 June 2011

From an e-mail received today...

"Everything that matters to me, matters "a lot". It swallows me, takes me, attracts me, merges with everything I am...it absorbs me. Totally. Completely. Lucky me to be able to give myself so much into it and with such intensity- and still come out alive."


"Tudo com o que eu me importo, "me importa muito". Me suga, me leva, me atrai, se funde com tudo o que sou e me consome. Toda. Por inteiro. Sorte minha me doar tanto - e com tal intensidade - e ainda sair viva dessa vida."


Saturday 4 June 2011

Acoustic cool

Burberry has set this collaboration with young Brit artists last year during its menswear spring/summer 2011 collection.

Music always meets fashion (or the other way around), but when big brands, luxury ones decide to support young artists is pretty cool (and great integrated marketing strategy provided Burberry strong move into rejuvenating the brand).I liked it!















Have a nice weekend!!!

Friday 27 May 2011

Me again...and this is not about the swing...

I just posted, but couldn't help from sharing this video!
I love the song, I love the singer and he was great...probably he's mind was faster than he could cope with...he was capable of finding beauty in what most would see ugliness...and because of that, he used to go beyond...

Alexander McQueen at the Metropolitan Museum

(I want to go back to NY!!! Anyone to join me?!)

Show me your swing!

This week I had one of those corporate trainings that you never know exactly how it will end up... (actually, after 10 years going through this things I see myself playing the cynical more often than I'd like to...)

Surprise, surprise, it exceeded my expectations big time, which is pretty good!

Traditional corporate training practices apart, one of the highlights for me was to have my first golf lesson during the actual training!

I always found golf sort of interesting (in the true sense of the word, not the british one) and very "charmy".
I remember zapping through the channels on TV and stumbling at some golf championship then trying to understand what was going on and finally moving on given my complete ignorance on the subject: 2 above par, etc, etc...no idea about the meaning of that...

So, back to the lesson, it was sunny, the temperature was great but more than that, I found it surprisingly relaxing while at the same time a sort of "sport" that requires a lot of focus and concentration...I found myself trying to understand each movement, "feeling" the different ways to take the "club", the different ways I was positioning myself and "feeling" my feet on the ground...anyways, reflexions aside, it was a very very very nice experience!



There is no way this can not be great!










So, guess what? Gold gear, golf outfits...that was my google subject when I got home.
There is some subtle power combined with elegance in golf  that always called my attention and that somehow reflects in the references I found.

Starting with her...Stella!!!

Stella Mccartney for Adidas
















A bit of Hermes




Some Louis Vuitton and Chanel







Now, the challenge is to keep up to the commitment and maybe start having that sort of fun more frequently...let's see....

According to the instructor, my "pace" is great, need to improve "direction", but overall it was a very good start!!! Well done me!!! ;)

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Gucci 500 Gucci 500

When I was looking for car options, the Fiat 500 was one of them.
But then I surrender to the dream of having a Mini while living in London...and I don't regret. However, I have to confess that this new limited edition is kind of fun!!!


It will be made available only in black and white.
It's already being sold in Italy, until Jun 30th, only through on-line pre ordering, for 17.000 euros. After Italy, Fiat promises to launch it also in Paris, Tokyo and London! Can't wait to see one around here!















And while Fiat presents the car, Gucci introduces a range of accessories...




Arrivederci!!!