Watch out the gringos are coming!!!!

We were at the movies last weekend and one of the pre-preview commercials had a voice singing, "the gringos are arriving, are you ready?" and we were the only ones in a crowded theater that burst out laughing for quite a while. Anyways, now I am hearing it all the time on tv and its just too funny. Cel-Lep is a language school that I actually first started taking lessons from and well I ended up with an interesting teacher that enjoyed making excuses for why she couldn't make our class at least once a week (and if she actually showed up she continually asked if I was pregnant, loved grabbing my cheeks and prayed for me to have a baby. but thats besides the point). The package was unfortunately paid in full and I am one of those people that needs to learn how to complain more when I receive bad service because instead I just felt bad for her and never said anything. Well thats over with now, but hopefully they have employed a more motivated crop of teachers for this latest influx of hopeful brazilians frantically trying to get ready for the gringo explosion!

Enjoy

Sao Paulo Fashion Week

I am still trying to meet the right person to hook me up with a way in to see something during Sao Paulo Fashion week but until that happens I rely on other's photos. "The Face Hunter," a fashion blogger and avid people watcher always goes and always has a great series to check out. Here is his visual diary of pictures from the last week, an eclectic mix of fashion and city.

Love and Baby Bumps

This weekend I got to shoot a beautiful mommy to be. She is due at the end of February and despite the rainy weather we found a little sunshine in the praça near Parque Ibirapuera. I wanted to style a picnic with lots of pink balloons but it was too much to risk with the flash storms and saturated soil. A park bench did the trick along with a few inside pictures. My favorite is the black and white in the doorway. I love that maternity pictures are so popular these days, its fun to celebrate the transformation of the female silhouette especially in Brazil. Brazilians love their mommas-to-be and their babies, I am amazed when I see crazed drivers and manic motoboys slow down and quickly become cautious for a woman clearly pregnant. On the bus people give up their seat immediately, hold bags and all too often bump touch without invitation. But certainly better the opposite I suppose. A lot has changed, in my grandmother's era women stayed inside and hoped neighbors wouldn't notice anything, keeping very private. Two generations later and way down south here at the beach women sunbathe and swim right up to the last few months publicly and very happy. Can't wait to meet the result of this lovely family in a few months.

"E" is for "Baby Emma" 

The Hunger Games got me...

I never read the twilight series. So when a friend mentioned, "The Hunger Games," and related it to the vampire series I felt like I would never go for it. But then I did and now its all I do. Its consumed me and while they are quick yet thick reads I am not a quick reader. So for the last few weeks I've been prying myself away around 2am and instantly waking up for more. These characters have played with my dreams and visit my imagination throughout the day. I am finally starting book 3 and its one those books I am afraid to end as it will feel like a bad breakup when it's over (but then again a lot of books do that to me, I get very emotionally attached). Young adult, you bet but every once in a while its good to jump into another world and shake things up.  Its a morbid tale of love and futuristic battles, crazy government styles and strife. Suzanne Collins designs a very enthralling world that is easily addictive and identifiable.  Not to mention the first movie of the series comes out in the US in March and I just hope its around the corner for us here in Brazil. The book has been on the New York Times Best seller list for more than 60 weeks now so clearly I am not the only one swept away.

Ill be back when I finish book 3...

Hello again

Well, Happy New Year! I've been working on revising my blog layout/design these days and wanted to wait until it was done to write my first 2012 post all fresh and new but then I decided that was silly.  I don't want to wait. Too many things to talk about and somehow it is almost month two of 2012. How the heck did that happen?! 

In the midst of that 2011 finish I was back to the US hanging out with family, patting a lot of baby bumps and kissing friends and new kiddos. It was nice to be rejuvenated and back in touch with North America but towards the end of the trip I was missing Brazil. There is a lot of pressure in coming back at least for me because I found some new jobs right before I left and I was nervous after that time lapse picking back up where we left off might be tough. January IS vacation month for Brazilians, kids are out of school and beaches up and down the country's coast are packed with visitors. The city is dead (in comparison to every other month), traffic is light and catching people in business mode is tricky. But it’s nice to be home, unpack our carriage sized travel trunks and return to the good ole routine. And the beach. 

(taken in Rio)

Stay tuned for some catchup posts, like our beautiful trip to Bonito in Mato Grosso do Sul and a marathon Rio vacation over Thanksgiving. Rio just gets me every time... such a beautiful city!


beijos