The kids are alright.

Who ever thought this day would come when I would stare for hours at the small growing bump in my belly trying to imagine that there is actually someone there getting ready day by day to step into this world. Amazing is the word that I often use, because no other words would do. If you are already a mommy you must know how it feels, and probably even more than me by now, if you're not I can recommend what I think is the best film of its genre: it's called In the womb, a documentary produced by National Geographic (if it's difficult to get it just write to me and I will be happy to transfer it to you).
We are very young - just 13 weeks and three days - but we are very alert so far. We already have friends: Maia wearing the Loves me loves me not bear t-shirt, hat and trousers from personal wardrobe and parent as accessory and



Adina wearing a version of Don't worry trees t-shirt with her Nana (who's a yoga teacher). I'm happy the t-shirts I created helped strengthen the bond and now I feel like making more stuff for kids.

Also, my best friends from uni and primary school are pregnant, Denisa is due in August and Maria in October - I'm so excited but at the same time I can't believe yet that I'm actually talking seriously about these things...
Have a fun week and remember the kids are always alright and we must see they stay that way!

Guess... ?!

... they're red, black & white, they're hand painted and so cool.

A Outra Face da Lua

It' just now that I discovered Outra Face da Lua, a vintage & retro shop for clothes and accessories and I was amazed! I spent one hour in the shop just looking at the things, I haven't even tried on anything yet... My all time favorite is 70s and 80s fashion, but they hold collections from all decades of the 20th century.
Very good quality, uniqueness and beautiful displaying sorted by color are just a few of the things that charmed me.


The prices were also an important "Like" as some of the loveliest dresses were between 20 Eur and 60, smart jackets in the same price range, 30 Eur for skirts, silk scarfs for 6, etc. The people working there were also friendly and ready to help, (not the "I desperately want to sell something... anything" attitude) not mentioning there is a lounge inside the store where you can have a snack and a Frappuccino and feel gorgeous in a most fashionable trend.

I am so happy with my findings, mainly because Lisbon is a bit dull conservatory style wise and I'm glad there are finally alternatives to the retailers that dress us all on a huge assembly line.
Last time my heart was set on a cool 80s jacket and a few dresses, but I'm going back to fall in love again! :-)

A Outra Face da Lua
Rua da Assunção 22, 1100-044, Lisbon, Portugal

Feira da Ladra, finally.

Hooray, this week I visited the flea market on the right day! :-) I took bus 735 from Cais do Sodre, but if you're coming from the center of the city you can take No. 28 tram which is a must as it is traditional (but also a thrilling ride as it goes abruptly up & down the hills). If you are in the mood to walk, you can easily arrive going uphill from Baixa.

You're not going to regret it, as the surroundings are picturesque and really wonderful, believe me. I wish I had a better camera to capture all the details that I've seen, but I only photographed the fascinating narrow streets and whimsical balconies. It seemed like every building and every window had a great story to tell!

When I arrived at the fair at about 9 a.m. the temperature was so hot that we all almost started a war for a spot in the shadow (I already had packed a 1.5 liter bottle of water, be proud of me mum). I spent my time looking at household appliances, pots and pans, glasses, paintings, frames, bed sheets, apparel, shoes, electronics, cosmetics, vinyls, books, pop art, azulejos (Portuguese tiles), toys, pieces of toys, jewelry, Indian fashion, furniture... Big or small, new or old, everything was there.

Feira da Ladra means The (female) thief's market and the traders show their wares in Campo de Santa Clara street, São Vicente de Fora district of the city, close to Alfama (the oldest district, you will read about it in a future post).
Besides all the charming places and feelings, here is some practical advice when going to the fair:

• hold your belongings tightly, have change and small bills;
• the earlier you go, the better the finds;
• the more you advance in the fair area, the cheaper the prices;
• negotiate;
• if you saw it and you love it, just get it otherwise you will regret not having it. :-)
  

After four hours of trance, calculation and indecision, wish lists, dreaming and making occasional friends I bought a replica Hermès scarf (which I had to have, but I don't know if I will wear), a bracelet for M. and these sweet hand crafted Mary Jane shoes from a couple who created beautiful leather works (I promised myself I would return for more).

PS. I forgot to explain the lack of posts: I've been feeling very nauseous and sleepy (11th week of pregnancy :-). I've been crafting many t-shirts and the rest of the time I've been walking around but more as exercising than visiting . Place-a-day project seems difficult to do every day, but I can extend it over a month's time, what do you say?

Baixa - Chiado, Lisboa.

Big plans today: I woke up at 5 a.m. in order to get in time for goodies at Feira da Ladra, Lisbon's flea market. The market is on from dawn till evening, but it's in the early morning when you can find, for example, cool shoes for €5. Well, a 30 minutes train ride and one bus ride later, I found out the market was only held on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Hello sunshine, hello Cristina...
Very well, I said, it was about 7.30 a.m. so I could feel the city waking up. I love mornings with their promises of new beginnings, with inviting smells coming from the bakeries about to open, that soapy clean scent on the streets... Except on Sundays, when the city looks like it's deserted! :-)

I'll have fun anyway, I said to myself as I started to walk uphill to Chiado, a fashionable area filled with cafes, restaurants and shops, the place where all the parties start. (A Brasileira cafe right next to Chiado subway stop is a very famous meeting place, for example.)


Nothing was open, not even H&M (why, why?) so I walked further down to Baixa (more closed restaurants and shops), ending with Praça do Comércio which opens with a beautiful view of River Tejo.
A cool thing about Lisbon is the contrast between its vast squares and narrow streets. It's an adventure walking up and down, getting a glimpse of daily life - like neighbors in front of the local bar whistling the day away, clothes hang to dry at each window or seeing some fragile tree just burst out and growing from a stone wall and everything just quivering of life - and then arriving in a huge square that's monumentally still. You really have to experience it!

It was noon already so I decided to head home - not before buying The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (yay, I found an open shop). I tried to take photos using the self-timer function (as no one was around), but this is what I got:

Nevertheless I hope you enjoyed reading about early morning trips to Lx (short for Lisbon) and I wish you a fun week ahead!
(Feira da Ladra, I'll be back.)

Gifts.

Yay! Hurray! It's your birthday, we're gonna party like it's your birthday, so you get a 50% discount - just mention the date in your e-mail, or save the coupon and send it together with your order.
Yay, hurray, again.

About the courage of being who I am.

Do you know when you ask for directions on the street and you get that feeling that you asked the wrong people or they look like they don't know what the funk you're talking about but still they give you directions?
After they answer we continue on our way and we have a choice: we either follow the path that we felt was the right one without actually knowing the map, or we take the one others indicated. Whenever we decide to follow our hearts there's always a good outcome, the way might be twisted and have bumps but we surely enjoy every step of it. Whenever we choose the path that other people thought is better, we come to a dead end, one way or another - in most unfortunate cases we run around in circles for years trying to break out from that dead end. There IS a way out and that is going all the way back and taking again the way that we felt was right in the first place.

We needn't listen to people saying we don't know what to do with our lives or call us names, most of them never had the courage to change anything, most of them haven't even tried another way, most of them buried their own dreams.
We needn't worry that we lost time and energy walking the wrong way, as everything is important time is never lost, we always learn things that will help on the new path.
We needn't regret we followed other people's directions cause now we learned to take a better look in our hearts, let go of fears and trust ourselves more.
We only need to follow our instincts and take a step on the way that we wanted!

A walk in sunny Belém.

27°C today... perfect weather to walk around and smile to the world (not mentioning eating the delicious Pastéis... and strawberries). So Belém is a district of Lisbon and it's another good place to relax like almost everything around here, where the main attraction is that time stands still.

If I ruled the world by kittenwear featuring wrap bracelets

I don't have a lot of things to say about it, maybe visiting for the first time was better, maybe I just had a void where my brain was supposed to be, but anyway don't miss it if you are around! One funny thing: there was this cool building complex called Centre for the Unknown... as it was rather late and it appeared to be closed, I walked around to find what it was all about, surprise, I found no clues, none at all so it was actually a centre for the unknown!!! (silly me, thinking it would be a metaphor or something).

Boardwalk by kittenwear featuring wooden platform heels

PS. I discovered that people without a good sense of humor are dangerous.

How to... create rainbows.

The weather has put my place-a-day adventures on hold for a while, as it rained heavily for the past few days - it stopped now and it's sunny again so I will be on the road again next week.
The good news is I had some time to experiment with tie dyeing, a technique which in the end proved to be so easy to do and - in the spirit of the late 60s, when it became fashionable in the west -very addictive. :-)
You need a t-shirt, plastic boxes (one for each color that you use), rubber bands, textile paint.
I used my usual textile paints which I had to dilute with water so they lost their brightness and became pastels. Powder textile pigments are better for tie dyeing as the color stays intense and make the patterns more spectacular, I will surely use them next time.

First you have to spray water on the t-shirt to make it easier to roll (yep, in the same 60s spirit). Then you pinch the t-shirt where you want the center of a spiral to be and start to twist it slowly. Once you twist the t-shirt patiently arranging the folds and the margins, you wrap the rubber bands around it to help keep it in a tight shape.

You sink the roll for app. 2 minutes in the previously diluted paint then let it dry for at least 24 hours (if you work with powder pigments that need preparation not dilution, rinse with water after they're dry and iron them at high temperature).
You can make different designs by changing the pinch, the twists and the colors. I can't wait to experiment with brighter pigments, but until then here is the rainbow... after rain:

PS. Accessorize with a big flower brooch and a carefree attitude!