Depuis chez “essa gente diferenciada”, iaia…

une petite après midi au Montmartre...

2012-03-09T15:43:00.001-08:00

Last set of Paris...
et que ça me manque... =o/

panoramic Paris

2012-03-02T04:01:00.001-08:00

a different way to see it...

petits bouts de ma Paris à moi...

2012-02-29T03:17:00.000-08:00

Paris can be many things for many people, but let me tell you that for me it goes beyond the Eiffel Tower...
is the place where I have my second family...
is where I have such dear friends...
the greatest souvenirs...
where know my way around...
where I feel safe and "home", even if it's so far away from mine...

heading to the airport...
I leave you with a few images of "my Paris"...

walks around the Seine

2012-02-28T10:41:00.000-08:00

and she's being nice to me... sunny and warmly nice...
you know, me and her we go way back... ;o)

Home!

2012-02-27T13:29:00.001-08:00

How do you like my home in Paris?

images...

2012-02-26T15:31:00.001-08:00

'cause for now it's better if I just leave the words for another moment...

music? yeah... always some music...

pas de nouvelle...

2012-02-25T17:20:00.001-08:00

...bonne nouvelle.

and so my job brought me to Paris earlier than I thought I would be.

PS. I have so much to catch up with you all... I was really busy and handeling a few things in my life as well... I've been reading you, but promisse to restart my comments as soon as I get home.

I'm not led, I lead!

2012-01-25T09:46:00.000-08:00

Today's a local holiday... it's São Paulo's 458th birthday...

"A new day started

The ones that were going are now coming back,

It's time to arrive.

By metro I'll get there first,

If time's money

Great, I'll make some.

Always fast on the street,

As someone who knows what they want.

The Paulista goes on

Ready for better or worse.

The city does not wake up,

it just sets its position.

Because everything is repeated,

It's seven, and at seven

The crowd explodes.

Iron door lifting...

Everybody seems to be running...

They're not running '"from" they're running "to"

To make São Paulo bigger!"

(Billy Blanco)

standing solo

2012-01-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

'cause some people have the ability of making everything seems right, even when it's all so fucked up!

she's leaving home...

2012-01-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

And this time was my turn to go and say good bye to her...
it's my turn to say that I'm so thankful for having met her... my turn to say that Paris wouldn't have been Paris, if it wasn't for her... to say that I couldn't almost believe we were meeting in São Paulo as we used to imagine back in France...
That she's so much more than just a friend to me...
That I'll miss her as much and more that I was already missing...
That I hope she finds everything she went to look for, 'cause she deserves the world!
And mostly, that I can't wait to see her again...
hate good byes!!!

another brick in the wall...

2012-01-12T15:27:00.000-08:00

I think after the beach post I'm feeling the need to post some bricks and concrete! lol ;o)
I may say we have our own version of the "pyramide"...
how do you like it?

Monday morning I spent about half an hour at the park and spent an old C41 film on my Nikon FM10... went to pick it up today but I left the disk at the office (bummer!) was so excited about sharing the park with you, but will have to do it tomorrow, or during the weekend...
For now, I found this pictures I took at the State Gallery last year... it fits my Paris nostalgic mood... :o)
I'm having a wet week...
Heading of to see a quite nice beatles cover band with my best friend... tomorrow I'll let you know how it was!
cheers!

walls and bridges...

2012-01-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

I know I can get redundant sometimes... but I do like my city... it's shapes, sounds and chaos...

it's been raining a lot this week... really!! A LOT!! traffic is impossible (it took me 2h30 yesterday to get to work, which is 25Km from my house)...

but still... SP have something magical about its concrete...

for those who have never been here, you'll just have to believe me... on the other hand, the ones familiar with São Paulo... I SWEAR I'm not crazy! But than again... define crazy! :o)

listening to this!

2012!

2012-01-10T01:42:00.000-08:00

As you can see, time just decided to ignore my wishes and the year did came to an end. I thought about staying home for new year's weekend but, in theend, I decided to face the traffic and go down to the beach…

Here in Brazil wehave a whole lot of traditions and superstitions and a bunch of them turn around thesea… We go the beach to see the firework... You have to jump 7 waves and throw flowers on the sea to yemanja (the goddess of the sea), and when you go back to the shore you must walk backwards, you cannot turn your back to the sea. You’resupposed to wear white, to bring peace into the New Year… You have also to choosethe color of your underwear according to what you wish for the New Year (yellowis for money, pink and red for love, etc…). We eat grapes and grenadine… andlentils…

I had great moments in all my 6 Parisian New Years, but I did miss all this nonsense that, for me, is so natural...

My French brother said I'm becoming Brazilian once again... well... maybe I am... maybe not quite yet... but when it comes to weird traditions, everyone feels at home with theirs... right?

May we all have a GREAT 2012! :o)
Oh, I know she really à la mode, but this song's just great!

2012-01-07T14:45:00.000-08:00

So much happened for me in 2011...
but I must say it was a good year...

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

post stolen from Elisabelle

not quite yet...

2012-01-05T17:15:00.000-08:00

Of course I will write a new year post... but not just quite yet!
I'll say that I'm waiting for the OM pics to be developed, but I actually could not finish writing the post... work, of course! and a few nights out as well... one is entitled to some fun, right?

Well, for now I live you with a few iphone shots from my new year week-end... I went to the beach, after 6 years living abroad and spending new year's in the winter... it rained, but it felt good to feel the sand on my feet, to smell the ocean and to fall asleep with the sound of waves hitting the shore... :o)

Hope you are all having a great week...
some music?

just around the corner...

2011-12-26T16:12:00.000-08:00

I don't walk around, here in São Paulo... I drive!

that does not mean that I don't see, but I do not get to shoot as much as I would like to (even if I do take some pics from inside my car). I miss that a lot about my life in Paris... just wondering around... every corner was a great opportunity to spend some film...

Maybe next year I'll explore a bit more the indoor photography...

São Paulo is a huge city and we have something called rodizio, which means to rotate. It's actually a rotation system to try and control traffic. My licence ends with 6 and I cannot circulate from 7AM to 10AM and from 5PM to 8P every Wednesday... Nevertheless, all that, just to say that, every Wednesday at 9AM I go to the manicure (something that only Brazilians, or people who've lived in Brazil, can understand...), anyway... every Wednesday I walk about 2 blocks away from home to have my nails done and as I'm always early, last time, I've decided to take some time and shoot some pictures...

I won't say that I'll do this every Wednesday for the sight shall not change, but well, we never know...

I'm having a less busy week...

hope you're all enjoying the last week of 2011...

any new year resolutions yet? ;o)

some music...

no time for rewriting...

2011-12-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday was the office party...
As I actually never pictured myself working at an office, I never had the chance to imagine what would the party be like...
I did took the regular pictures, but with my OM I choose to show you how I actually saw the event!

Have a merry xmas! :o)

step by step...

2011-12-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

Time is flying and the year is almost over...
I miss snow...
I do like the sun... A LOT! but it's waaaaaaay too hot... and, as I've said before, I hate floods!!! (and Tina, water takes quite awhile to drain, because of all the trash people throw in the streets). But I'm starting to remember that I actually like summer storms...
They's refreshing and liberating... And the smell... oh! I love the smell of summer rain... and the rainbow! ;o)

Let me confess something to you... something that I'm trying not to think about...
The thing is, I'm afraid the end will end... I'm quite scared of it...
I'm scared of having to REALLY start over... of not being able to look at 2011's time line and see myself in Paris... I'm afraid of turning the page and that people will also turn theirs...
but I know new beginnings are always welcome and there's nothing like a fresh start, right?
But if things could just slow down... juts a bit...
For now, I'll just catch my breath for those next couple of weeks will be quite speed as a matter of fact.
Have you all a great one!

Oh! Inga posted this video on her blog and I can't stop listening to this song... :o) what do you think?

29, some gatherings and a lot, lot, looooooot of work...

2011-12-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

Wow! Now that I got to look at the date of my last post I was pretty impressed...
it's been more than 10 days since I've been here... well, actually, I've been reading you from my tablet, but with really NO TIME to post any comments... sorry... :o/
Well, let me see...
When the year comes to its end everyone gets busy, but I think I was not quite used to it any more... I mean, the end of the year being actually the end of the year... summer vacation, christmas, traffic, hot, summer thunder storms (and my city that floods almost everyday)...
I turned 29 last Monday... and it actually didn't feel like my birthday, almost at all. For 6 years I've waited to spend my birthday at home, and now that it happened, it felt weird...
But we had some fun... We've barbecued Saturday and had mom's dinner on Monday... oh! and grandma's cake, of course! ;o)
Well, just wanted to say hi... tomorrow I'll try and catch up with comments and reading you all.
Hope you've had a week less busy than mine, but also as nice as the one I had (although pretty tiring...)
Let the week end begin!

rainy Monday...

2011-12-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

As I run a lot all the time, sometimes I do have the time to take a break and I just love when it happens near the ibirapuera park.
While at it, last week, I took the chance to end the black and white roll I had on my OM (who's almost 1 year old - living with me, of course...)
I wish all (and specially me) a stress free week! :o)

what goes up must go down...

2011-12-03T11:47:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I really miss Paris and its ups and downs... when I thought things sometimes would get so hard we would never be able to get out of it...
But then again, we always did...
A LOT is going on right now... here we say that's 'cause of inferno astral (which would literally mean the hell your life turns into a month before your birthday).
for 6 years I wanted to be "home" for the end of the year (my b-day, christmas and everything) and now, that I'm here, I'm not handling all that well.
Maybe I just need to get used to the new problems and craziness...

"Drop your problems by the riverside
Ride a painted pony and let the spinning wheel fly"

Parque da Luz

2011-11-29T14:17:00.001-08:00

Light Garden is the oldest park in the city...
I think I'll visit it more often this summer... there's something about the sunlight through the branches of the trees... the green leaves and the brown from the State Gallery bricks... all that right in the middle of city center.
Downtown is definitely my favorite place in São Paulo... as crazy and, sometimes, "ugly", as it can be...
go figure!

the circus is in town!

2011-11-26T14:23:00.001-08:00

Interlagos after 6 years, a few French GPs and the most amazing Italian one...
I can't help but remember how exciting it was going to the track as a child...
High speed cars and extremely loud engines... definitely the best way to decompress!!!
And besides that, I must admit that I've missed going to the GP track with baby bro...
Can you tell who do I cheer for? ;o)

TGI Friday!!!

2011-11-20T18:22:00.001-08:00

I had a terrible day!!!
Perfect to close a stressful week!
But that's ok... today is Friday!!! :o)
some music?
Shall we have a good week-end!

A girl with kaleidoscope eyes...

2011-11-20T18:09:00.001-08:00

There were some interesting art work at the front porch of the State Gallery...

"Cellophane flowers of yellow and green,
towering over your head.
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes,
and she's gone!"

Yesterday was musician day... I have so much on mu mind today that I completely forgot... and by so much I mean everything but music... and you wanna know something? I MISS IT! very much.

Can't wait for the moving high season to be over...

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city...

2011-11-20T16:53:00.001-08:00

It's high season when it comes to international moving... I have work up to my neck... I have NO IDEA how I'll manage it being all alone!
I actually get tired just by looking at my google agenda... lol :o)

Avenida Tiradentes...

São Paulo is, actually, one of my favorite cities in the world...

I wish everyone would get a chance to come here... even if just for a day... and see this city the way I do.

I mean, you have to find the beauty behind the chaos (and trust me when I say chaos...)...

I've been to a lot of different places and lived in the most beautiful place I've ever been... but still... São Paulo has "something".

One either love it, or hate it!

Zoom in!

2011-11-20T16:04:00.001-08:00

Sunday afternoon with some very funny opera at the Pinacoteca do Estado (the state art gallery)...
Wonderful time... great company (a lot to catch up) and loooooots of pictures (that you will have to put up with for the whole week! Sorry...)
For now, some random details of the afternoon...
I had a great time! Hope your Sunday was as nice as mine... :o)
I feel quite ready to start the week! Sure it'll be buzzy and hoping it'll be a sunny one.

Beaujolais Nouveau...

2011-11-17T14:15:00.001-08:00

Yes, I've lived in Paris for 6 years and yet I don't drink wine...
nevertheless, every single year she would invite me for the beaujolais nouveau... and I used to go... and even tried one of the not so great wines in France... just for he fun of the game... but after a sip or two I would just go back to my friend coca-cola.... :o)
Sometimes I look back and have some trouble realizing that it was all true...
I don't know f I make sense... But the thing is... it WAS real... and I still have some trouble not calling that "my life"...

I know the sight is not new, but that's the only bedroom view I have, and I quite like it... You can take the girl out of the city, but you can never take the city out of the girl... :o)

you've got mail...

2011-11-16T04:17:00.001-08:00

and I got this the other day...
made me smille... :o)
When I was little they would say that if we dig a hole into the ground, we would end up in Japan...
Well, I'd rather take the plane... it's a long enough trip for me to tire myself digging an enormous hole...

may you always do for others and let others do for you...

2011-11-13T08:55:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we had our dearest import/export manager b-day party here at home...
We've barbecued, laughed, gossiped, drank, etc etc etc from 6PM till 4AM. (quite a party, huh?)

Times like this I think back about what I was told back in Paris... and even though I'm liking it a lot, I can't help but being amazed with the people I'm turning closer...

Anyway... it was a great weekend... I'm tired and ate a great deal, but had a very good time!
Hope your week end was also fine!

listening...

panoramic...

2011-11-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

One of my tasks at work is to take pictures. Actually is to take boring pics of the clients art work (and by art work, I mean anything that comes with a frame). But the good thing is that, the company provides me with a camera... since mine broke, a couple of weeks ago they gave me a new one, and guess what? It takes panoramic pictures!!!! I was so so so so so so happy that I spent the entire day taking panoramic pictures around the office...

how big do you need it to be?

2011-11-06T08:40:00.000-08:00

Here's baby fridge... and some great news! grandma is refurnishing her apartment and she decided to give me her old set of sofas... now we're renewing them and I'll put one of them in my bedroom (I'll just save the others for when I have my own place).
Now I'm looking for a micro wave... but I want a cute and functional one... any suggestions?
Since I can't afford to have an apartment, I'm, for now, turning my bedroom into a small one... lol :o)

this one is on repeat...

that would be my living room/dining room/study room/kitchen. Not bad, huh?

just breathe...

2011-11-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

I know I promised the images of my fridge, and they WILL come (actually the post is ready)...
The delay is due to me attending my teenage idol concert last night...
I remember that the first time they came to Brazil it was, like, a
month AFTER I moved to France... I was sooooooo disappointed...

When I look back I remember clearly the first time I set eyes (and ears) on them... it was THIS video... (OMG can you please not look at the date? lol). I ran to the phone and colled my friend saying: who the hell are them? I'm in love! lol :o)

Back on the VHS era (and long before youtube) I would stare at MTV for hours to record the videoclips and then, watch it over and over again... some of them (like this one) I still know by heart (and when I say by heart I don't mean the lyrics, but every single movement of the video... oh the teenagers... lol)
Well, the thing is, I went to their concert in Paris and then, again, last night... it's amazing how something can just drag you back in time... for 2h15 they turned me into a 12 year old all over again...

here's one song that I really like and they played last night...

the day of the dead...

2011-11-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

I saw a movie called "nosso lar" (which would be something like "our home") last Saturday... It's about after life... I don't discuss religion, but, it did get me thinking... a LOT! Borrowed the book from my grandma... it was my grandfather"s... it's written Antônio Alves Sobrinho São Paulo Maio 1979... I wasn't even born!!!
I miss my grandpa very much, even if he died almost 15 years ago... but we talk a lot... if you know what I mean? ;o)
Do you guys ever think about those stuff?

Well, as usual, it's been crazy around work... yesterday I arrived at 7h15 AM and left at 9h30 PM!! Thank's God today was a holiday! I was writing to a friend and while doing it I thought that I'm actually starting to learn to like what I do. It's NOT what I've always dreamed of, but it's a nice job... I get to meet different people... practice my languages... drive a lot (even if it's tiring sometimes, I still LOVE it!)... and I laugh a lot...

Well, I took the day off to get some rest!
Read a bit, watch a movie (saw "the bad teacher"), and now I'm off to have same japanese food with a friend. yummy... :oP
Tomorrow fridge images!
For now, the usual random of the week...
and some music, of course...

a car office and some new body art...

2011-10-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

I want to show you my new fridge, but I was not happy with the digital pics I made, so, I'm waiting for the films ones to be done...
I hate to be repetitive, but I have been working a lot lately... well, I do have time for myself, and specially to think about the fact that I have been working a lot...
I kind fo like what I'm doing... I mean, it was NOT, and I repeat, NOT what I signed up for when I pent 10 years in the University collecting degrees, but I'l not entirely unhappy doing what I'm doing. I'm still there because I want to, and not because I'm being forced to.
Nevertheless, I can't help but thinking how much I miss my dreams and my so called art... and sometimes I get myself thinking if I'll ever get back there...
well, only time will tell, right?
For now I leave you with my car office mess and some of my new tattoos...

smells like home...

2011-10-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up and found no socks to wear... decided to go dig in a small bag with a few things I haven't touched yet (from the things I brought back from Paris). Found a pair of striped socks that had the smell of my Parisian laundry soap...

I've been having some hard busy days... a loooooot is going on...

don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining... is just that sometimes is hard to look at the big picture...

PS. as if she was reading my mind I come home to find this post... exactly when I was thinking how badly I could use a calm evening chez elle...

PS2. found this tune and am a bit addicted to it...

butterflies...

2011-10-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

and so it was almost 3 o'clock in the morning on a rainy Saturday night when I decided that I wanted to buy a small fridge for my bedroom... went for this one. What do you think? Honestly...
Mom and I will pick it up tomorrow... can't wait!!
With that in mind, we decided to move some furniture around the room, to open some space for my new baby...
When I get things fixed in my bedroom I have all this mixed feelings... I'm all excited and also scared of how definitive this "trip" back home is becoming...
Well, once I have everything set up I'll share the pictures with you... for now I leave you with my beloved window...

random Holga

2011-10-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

Haven't had much time to shot lately, but I just HAD to try my new holga lenses...

it's been chilly and rainy around here... (which also contributes for the lack of new pictures)
yesterday was a holiday... we went to see Eric Clapton... and for that I couldn't rest all that much (totally worth it, though...)
looking forward to the weekend, even if it'll be raining...

from Monday to Saturday

2011-10-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

Busy busy week that ended only Saturday... quite boring to say the same old busy story every time...
So, let me just say that it had its plus sides...
a movies night...
an evening with BFF...
great night out with the girls on Friday night (even with us having to wake up at £6 o'clock to go to work)
I actually learned a few things at the Saturday workshop... (by the way, I don't remember if I actually mentioned it, but, I work with moving. International moving. I am a PR at a quite large moving company)
we had a killer lunch with our bosses after the workshop...
received a phone call from a dear dear friend and spent an hour talking to him...
my cousin "chouchou" is in the city...
my aunt and uncle brought me the new lenses I bought in the USA for my nikon (it's an holga lenses for Nikon DSLR) and I can't wait to try it!
and next week we have a holiday on Wednesday...
a nice week after all....

my only mystery is to have no mysteries...

2011-10-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

Went to the movies yesterday... I thought I wouldn't like the movie but, "what the hack" - I thought to myself - "I like the actor, so"...
In the end, I liked the movie and, actually, left the theatre a bit nostalgic...
In fact the movie had NOTHING to do with nostalgia, but... sometimes mind plays tricks on us...
useless to try and understand it...
Well, because of that nostalgia, I started reading one of my favorite books for the... well, again! Can't count anymore. lol

"I don't know if we miss what we really lived, or what we thought we lived, or wished we lived. Memory in selective."
"I miss, because I feel exiled of happiness, or at least, of the idea of happiness."

oh! and some music to share my nostalgia...

I, me, mine...

2011-10-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Alma made a comment on one of my posts saying that I only appear in pieces (hands, eyes, feet...).
I thought about it for the week and, well, why not?
So, here you go, my self-centered post!

The thing is, I'm always behind the lenses, so, I found quite hard to find a good picture of myself...
after careful searching I chose this one, by my best friend's husband, back in Paris... (I really like the picture, but maybe I've chosen it for the nostalgia...)
That's it! Have you all a pleasant week end...

Oh... some music, of course...

viajo porque preciso...

2011-09-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

I don't stay in the office until late at night, but the fact of driving about 700km a week can be pretty stressful and tiring... (and this is coming from someone who just LOVES to drive and is madly in love with her new car)
The good thing is that complaining, sometimes, work! This week I got the permission to try and hire someone to work with me (a second PR to help me drive a little less)
I'm really trying to look at the bright side here... hope to find my colleague ASAP!!!

For now I'll leave you with some music... and some shots of my going everywhere week.

fruta no pé!

2011-09-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

It IS spring after all... and we have berries on our small sort of tree, on the porch! (and Thursday I was so lucky that I could spend all morning working right under a blackberry tree - and yes, I ate them all)

I think it's a shame here in Brazil we don't have ALL the seasons like you have on the north hemisphere...
I remember my first spring in Paris, after 6 long gray months... I was SO happy and SO excited about all the flowers blossoming and the sun shinning...
Here the sun shines a lot (I'm not complaining about that, even though I do think it's pretty hot)... we don't actually realize how nice the seasons can be...
Well, as for me, I shall enjoy my berries and flowers this first spring back home.

Have a good Sunday!
(and I'll go to bed 'cause it's almost 3o'clock and tomorrow at 9 I'll probably see Vettel win the championship again... humpf)

meio dividida...

2011-09-22T15:13:00.000-07:00

do you care for some music?

"I look the city map
As someone who examines
The anatomy of a body...
I feel an infinite pain
From the streets
I'll never go through...
There are so many weird corners,
So many nuances of walls...
On the streets I haven't walk
(And there's an enchanting street
One which I haven't even seen on dreams...)
When I'm gone, one of these days,
Dust or lifted leaf
On the dawn wind,
I'll be a little bit of the nothing
Invisible, delicious
That makes your air
Seems more as a look,
Soft mysterious loving,
City of my walk,
And maybe of my rest..."

- some extracts of a Quintana poem called "the map" -

it had to be on a Wednesday!

2011-09-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

I've been out of the office for 3 days now (since the beginning of the week)... I still work there though is just that I actually work more outside of the office than inside...
But there's SO MUCH going on down there right now... I feel almost left out not being there... sometimes being left out of chaos can be a good thing, but in this particular case: I WANT IN!!
Can't wait for Friday!
(if you understand French you'll see that the images fit perfectly the situation...)

quem quer comprar meu samba?

2011-09-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

"Monday Monday, can't trust that day,
Monday Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way"

Emmenez-moi au pays des merveilles...

2011-09-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

It's not even 10 o'clock PM and I'm going to bed...
very very very tired and next week is going to be rush rush rush...
sometimes I quite like being all busy and stuff... gets your mind out of things and makes you focus. On the other hand.........
Well, for now I'll concentrate on the WEEKEND!!!!
and promisse to read you all tomorrow...
for now, some random pics of my week:

Oh! and PS. have a new baby car! :o)

Dans ces villes éteintes...

2011-09-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

having a busy week!! (to compensate for all the boredom of last week)
days are grey around here...
listening to this... and completely addicted to watching "the office"... (the one funny thing I'm taking from my corporative experience)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbUytoEN1nU&feature=related

nous eûmes de orages...

2011-09-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

little by little I start to have "my place" in my "old" bedroom... (one has to adapt once and for all)

Today mom and I went chair hunting... loved this red one, and it matches my red walls...

next step is renewing the desk dad brought me from his office...

any tips???

sunny days...

2011-09-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

"I wrote a sad poem
And beautiful, just for its sadness.
This sadness does not come from you
But from the changes of Time.
Sometimes it brings us hope
Sometimes gives us uncertainties...
It doesn't matter, for the old Time,
Whether it's faithful or unfaithful...
I stay, alongside the stream,
Watching the hours so sudden...
And from the letters you write me
I make paper boats!"
(Mario Quintana)

who's fooling who?

2011-09-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

Holidays are always welcome, even if they're right in the middle of the week... it's quite nice to take a break... go out for a long lunch... and some drinks in the evening...

A lot is going on, though...
xuxu is leaving by the end of the week... it's a mixture of being sad for the fact that I'll miss her and that she allowed me to keep a small (very important) part of my French life for a little longer, but it is also the fact that she's getting back to our Parisian reality that is no longer mine, actually... quite hard!

At the same time, my "keyboard" arrived! :o) quite happy I was! Am! He'll be here for the WHOLE month!!
And he got me presents... from my dearests in Paris... (I have to take pictures of my gifts to put in here...)
But must say that it is weird how and when people get into your life...

et c'est partie pour une fin de semaine moins dure...

listening to this! LOVE IT!

ibirapuera

2011-09-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

Ibirapuera means "rotten tree" in Tupi Guarani (the indians language), even though the park is one of the largest of Latin America... is just 'cause the area was, before, a swamp...
Back in Paris I would go to parks all the time... if I had a few minutes to kill I would just grab a book and head to the nearest green zone... (I miss my afternoons at belleville park while waiting for Solal to finish his theatre lessons)
Why don't I just keep living my Parisian life here?
it would be so much easier to adapt, that's for sure!

inside a woman's life...

2011-09-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

A while ago Nina set a "challenge" and I've decided to mix with Elisabelle's idea...
Once she said I should do a post on all my hand bags, and when I started getting them all together I found it pretty hard to put them all into one single shot, so, I did some film pics of some of them, but we'll have to wait for them to be ready...

in the meanwhile, I open my São Paulo bag for you, as Nina asked...
and I do feel the need to say that I might actually need everything I carry around, and that I'm glad you don't get to see my office drawers nor the back seat of my car...

let's go over it all together so I can try to explain myself:
- a girl need some make up for emergency, as she may need deodorant, perfume and baby wipes... tooth brush (I AM Brazilian).
- Pens and agenda (I'm really non organized so I'm LOST and DOOMED without one of those.
- iphone (always!), work phone (a radio that I HATE, but must carry around...)
- money bags (toll fee is R$6,40 round trip to my work)
- sunglasses, umbrella and, yes, a fan (it may get hot).
Zona Azul (it's for paying parking spots here in São Paulo)
- iPod (I can't work without music nor listening to the crazy old lady that seats besides me)
- some cash, VR (to go out and have dinner at G-inter expenses) and Fuel Ticket (you must have noticed that I work going from one place to the other... only fair that they pay for fuel, right?)
- glasses (that should be on my face but, well, they are, sometimes) - the car registration and insurance
- gum, mints and hand cream
- something to charge my iPod and/or iPhone (it runs out of battery pretty fast)
- keys (front door, back door and grandma's... that's quite heavy!)
- a meter (I work measuring paintings), work camera (small cybershot) and a REAL one such as my Praktica or my OM10,
- my wallet, iPad, work files, paracetamol (I'm totally addicted!), and my tea cup...
see, it's not that much! and everything's quite important. Right? ;o)

Oh! And if you care to take a pick, I have a post on my Parisian bag here, on my old blog... So, is it to different?

my second, or maybe first, home...

2011-09-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the story of the family who used to live in a shoe? Well, me i live inside my car! There's food, drinks, clothes, shoes, etc etc etc...

I always loved to drive but it can be tiring... Maybe I should think about getting a new car... boblo is almost as tired as I am!

Well, I've worked today (drove 100km and back), so let the week end begin!

hard times...

2011-08-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

My posts are starting to be weekly, but I'll try and change that ASAP!
My week was so so so so crazy that I barely had time to read and answer my personal emails (except those from my dearest boy, that I'll always find the time to read and answer...)
Hadn't even had time to take pictures... (other than with my cellphone...)
worked very hard going from one place to another (yes! I do live in the car... drove so much that my knees started to hurt a bit by the end of the week)
but I've had my share of fun...
Went out a couple of nights for movies and dinner...
My best friend turned 30 (and it IS weird when I think about it lol)...
Marina got married and we've partied with one of the best soundtracks ever...
And in the end I slept all Sunday for I was SO tired!
Tomorrow, everything starts all over again...

wanna take a pick?

2011-08-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

my office!

Oh yeah... I do have a desk that I happen to see a couple of days a week... the other ones, I'm on the road... starting to have a huge love affair with the cars I ride...

had a long, stressful and busy week! But could smile 2 times when received emails from my dearest boy from France... I can't even describe how much I miss him and the time we used to spend together...

Pastel de feira

2011-08-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

There are street markets about everywhere in the world, but they're not quite alike the ones we have here...
such a magical place! Well, maybe B. is right and that's a vision that only us, who have lived abroad have of our country... and that sooner or later I'll start to rethink that all this is common, but for now, I can't help myself...
"compra laranja, laranja, laranja, dotô!"

10 years later...

2011-08-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

"ain't good to know that you've got a friend?"

How many times in your life and with how many people you can be truly, really, truly honest? And how do you think people would react to such honesty?

Well, my childhood friends and I, ten years ago, decided to make a box (it’s on of those teenage thinks that we always see in movies or think about and never really do, but, well, we did it!). So, we made this box, with letters to each other, where we were supposed to tell who we would be in ten years.

I don’t know if I ever believed it would work and we would actually open this box with some of us being so far (geographically), but well, less than a month late we’ve cracked our Pandora box open.

We were already so different, and since then, so many things have changed… If one thing, TRUTH came out of it… truth in all its ways, specially with the fact that, in spite our different paths and the fact that we don’t actually cry on each others shoulders, we are, in fact, GREAT friends (maybe the bests lol)… Great friends for what we’ve lived together, for all the time that we’ve known each other… and sometimes I wonder that, maybe, we don’t cry on each others shoulders because we don’t have to… we kind of always figure out what’s going on without much needing to be said.

It was not a chocolate box, it would’ve been easier to digest, but then again, just think, from how many people would you be willing to hear the hard truth, and laugh?

look to the stars...

2011-08-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

Don't you feel that, sometimes, you can have the world at your feet!

Sunny Friday...
Week is finally over!!
Wishing you all a great weekend! I'm of to "open the box" (will explain it latter)...

not arriving...

2011-08-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

What kind of music do you think it's being played?
I love to photograph concerts... I have almost as much fun as if I was just jumping up and down...
Well, actually it was just a night out with my best friends so, I did not have THE equipment, but I sure had a good time catching some fine moments of mon ami chéri on stage!
what do your best friends do?

some soundtrack to go with the images.

home alone...

2011-08-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

(well, actually, with Donna - puppy)

everyone's gone for 2 weeks!

I've lived alone for 6 years, but, somehow, being alone here seems weird...

I had a life that was different... and I had MY home... MY routine... My living alone routine...

I'm accepting São Paulo as a home, maybe it'll help me to accept my parents house as my home...

Oh! found this version of this song I like very much and loved it...

hope you'll also enjoy!

it's been awhile...

2011-08-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

I've been running all over and left the blog a bit aside... I kept reading you though...
I had some time to kill one afternoon between two clients and went for a walk on Ibirapuera's park...
lovely to see that, even if it's no hyde park or buttes de chaumont, we have a nice place to spend some time among trees and birds... to walk... to ride a bike... or to just sit and look, and wait as time passes by...
I have some more pics (color) but I'm waiting for them to be ready (they've had some problems with the machine that develops the color films...)

don't know why this roll has so many grains... I mean, I kind of like it, but I've used the same Ilford film and never got this many grains...
anyway...
have a great weekend!

Santo André...

2011-07-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

Some random images of Sunday...
our home in France... our home in Brazil...
simply "chez Marilena"!

os meus amigos todos, sera que eles não entendem?

2011-07-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

the nice thing about my "new" job is that I get to be everywhere... I don't stay locked inside an office all day long... I get to wonder around São Paulo...
well, it's just a shame I can't stop all the time to take some pictures but today when I saw the sunlight in this square, I just HAD TO!

some music

pula fogueira iô iô...

2011-07-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

do you know what a "festa junina" is?

where we dance "quadrilha"...

where it's normal to wear chess clothes, heavy make up and to face some missing teeth (without being ashamed of any ridiculousness)...

where we eat paçoca, canjica, pinhão, pé de moleque, pão de queijo, espiga de milho, bolo de fuba...

where we drink quentão and vinho quente...

oh how I missed it! :o)

let the sun shine in...

2011-07-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

I don't mind waking up early (and early means 6 o'clock - normal time to speed up and go to work around here) on sunny days...
of course I would love to have the day to myself and be able to do whatever I want, but then again, if I had the day to myself I would probably sleep till noon, so...

Yesterday I had my nails done (such a brazilian thing, manicure... and for those who do not think so, is because you've never been to a brazilian manicure before...) anyway, I'll spend the week with pink nails!

la chute!

2011-07-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

Those pictures were inside my Nikon when I decided to use it after a couple of years... I had NO IDEA what to expect, I even hesitated and thought that I shouldn't develop it... glad I did, though... It had 3 images, taken about 4 years ago... one ugly pic of the notre dame and those 2... I liked them for some reason... I remember those flowers on the right side behind of the Eiffel tower when you're facing the école militaire... ad my bedroom window...
gret moment to find those french memories...
Happy 14th of July everyone! :o)

Brazilian Paris or Parisian Brazil?

2011-07-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

I don't wanna be lonely tonight...

I had a busy weekend...
Friday I went out with about everyone without actually making plans with everyone... (went out with my cousin and bumped into my brother and his friends, Nina and Flavia...) it's almost like São Paulo didn't have 19 million of people...
Saturday went to have pizza @ Fefê's new place... girls night in! :o)
Sunday Ferrari WON and I went to have dinner with Paris... it's both great and weird to be meeting (almost) all of them here, in São Paulo... got me thinking about those years... the family we were... the Sunday's afternoons... the Christmas... the people coming and going... the talks... the sunny and the chilly days... Marilena and Bruno made Paris a home, with all our traditions, not only to me, but to a lot of people... and people who didn't even had our traditions...
Brazil was in Paris... now, somehow, Paris is in Brazil...
I hope you all had great weekends...

winter

my desk

on my way to work

"the future doesn't exist yet...

2011-07-08T23:49:00.000-07:00

fate is for losers..."

"The future calls me insanely - and that's where I'm going.

Disaster? I don't know. When I think that some day I'm going to die

I laugh so hard. Life is a joke. But my right path everyone knows. I

haven't learned but I know. While I write the minutes pass by. It's

time passing by. I think out loud. Who's listening?"

(Clarisse Lispector)

you can't always get what you want...

2011-07-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

...but if you try, sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need!

lollipop proposed the "award" and I accepted the challenge... voilà mes 7 petites confidences: (and the invitation for Tina, Denise, Nina, sen.si' jes, Rosa Maria and Luca/Margherita to follow sharing their confidences and pass it on, if they feel like it...)

1. I miss Paris more than I missed São Paulo...
2. I think about S. everyday and I miss him very very much, and deep inside I'm afraid for i don't know how long it'll be before I see him again, and most of all, that he may, somehow, "forget" about me...
3. I took a job offer for something I never thought I would do. I'm glad to be working. But now, I keep thinking about how people are going to see me. (I know we shouldn't, but...)
4. I watch and I LOVE soap operas!
5. I am someone's best friend, but I'm not sure if this someone is, actually, my best friend.
6. I AM afraid to end up alone... (maybe we all are)
7. I would go back to Paris in no time if possible

let it be!

2011-07-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

wish I had taken more shots of the wedding, but it's hard to focus when you're jumping up and down for you haven't partied with your best friends in ages!

today I've had my share of brazilian bureaucracy and now I'm heading of to have pizza with a friend...
yummy ;o)

put it one more time in the juke box babe!

2011-07-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

I started on a new job...
Gigi got married...
and Sunday I could barely move!
but it was a nice weekend... the party was great and I was really, really happy of being here to participate...
and let's get real... how many times you can see a bride walk up the stage and rock the party on??? ;o)

The week started grey, cold, and busy... wish you all a good one!

some music from the wedding... rock'n roll bride and groom!

1 month!

2011-06-30T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today is my one month anniversary living in São Paulo...
And I can now say for a fact that looking for a job can be much more exhausting that actually working...
today I had my first job interview and, guess what, I got the job!
I start on Monday...
looking forward... but I still have a lot to do this week...
hope everyone's having a good one...

winter's here...

2011-06-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

but is it here to stay???
voilà the beauty of living in a tropical country... one can always count on a 20°C winter...

long weekend...

2011-06-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

Thursday was a holiday, and we had a 4 days weekend...
I had fun! Spent an evening with a high school friend, went out with my cousins, had lunch with mom, F1 at home, went with les filles to see my babe play AND had fun and my car did NOT get stolen!
We have a rainy chilly week coming on... hope you all will have a nice one!

I thought myself to believe every story I told!

2011-06-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

For so long I was out in the cold,
and I taught myself to believe every story I told.
It was fun hanging onto the moon, heading into the sun,
but it's been too long. Now I wanna come home.

Came so close to the edge of defeat.
But I made my way in the shade, keeping out of the heat.
It was fun shooting out of the stars, looking into the sun,
but it's been too long. Now I wanna come home.

Home. Where's there's nothing but sweet surrender,
to the memories from afar.
Home. To the place where the truth lies waiting,
we remember who we are.

For too long I was out on my own.
Every day I spent trying to prove I could make it alone.
It was fun hanging onto the moon, heading into the sun,
but it's been too long. Now I wanna come home.

Home.

For so long I was out in the cold,
but I taught myself to believe every story I told.
It was fun hanging onto the moon heading into the sun,
but it's been too long. Now I wanna come home.

Yeah, it's been too long, now I want to come home.
Been too long, now I want to come home.

Sunny Sunday...

2011-06-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

familia, ê! familia, à! familia...

my first "real" camera was this Nikon FM10 that I tried out last week...

baby me...

2011-06-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

this journey of rediscovering yourself in old new places can be pretty exciting... anyhow, it's all about the journey, right?

upstairs...

2011-06-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

fancy a tour chez moi?

13ème freedom

2011-06-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

on my first weekend back São Paulo I went, with the girls, to Liberdade (the Japanese neighborhood here in SP)... Liberdade means freedom...
made me miss Paris and our trips to the 13ème...

it's a big city indeed!

2011-06-15T17:01:00.000-07:00

some music

¿hola qué tal?

2011-06-14T06:35:00.000-07:00

I still don't have a job so, last week, I've started to take spanish lessons... one can always add languages to the CV, right?

grab a bite!

2011-06-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

you MUST try some "coxinha"... and better yet if in some "buteco"...
yummy! :op
conversa de botequim as a soundtrack

foda-se!

2011-06-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

it's weird how you can feel a foreigner in your own country...

and yet, at the same time, have have that sense of belonging...

and it's strange, 'cause, for now, I feel I belong nowhere...

concrete jungle

2011-06-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

can you see the beauty in these pics????

Well, I can! And maybe that's what makes me "from here"...

essa cidade qu'inda é maravilhosa...

2011-06-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

tão cantada em verso e prosa!

it has it's problems, but I DO love it! ;o)

nhac!

2011-06-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

At least, food is delicious!
tribute

looking through the past...

2011-06-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was mamie's birthday... I spend the afternoon at her place looking through her box of old pictures and eating coconut cake...
That's me trying to find my place in this big city that once I used to own!

home sweet... oh la la!

2011-06-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

internet was out of order almost all the time since I got here...
I felt completely cut of...
it's weird being here, and not having a precise day not to be here anymore...
in the meanwhile, I might just enjoy what I have here... right?

(this are the flowers my best friend got me when he came to see me Monday night...)
I'm definitely back!

Bem-vindos!

2011-05-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

“I wanted to cry but gladly I didn’t, ‘cause whenever I cry I feel so at ease …” (Clarice Lispector)

I’m writing the first post for the new blog while still standing on the plane… But as we’re already flying over Brazil (Ceara to be more precise) I’ve decided that I could already consider myself back home.

I don’t know what’s gonna happen… what’s gonna be… I have no idea what I’m gonna do with my life… but I’ll be sure to keep you posted (at least in images)

Let’s avoid the “new life new blog” cliché, all right?

Welcome to my new old São Paulo routine…