tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69347341090500512024-03-13T11:56:37.934+00:00Miss LacitosPatrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-88469716275305397992013-08-07T12:10:00.002+01:002013-08-07T12:10:12.475+01:00I have moved to www.patriciavillasboas.comOlá! Demorou um pouco mais do que o previsto e ainda não está totalmente, completamente como eu gostaria mas....aqui está o meu novo espaço!<br />
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<i>Hello! It took a little longer than I had anticipated and it not yet totally, completely finished as I wanted but....here is my new corner!</i><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">www.patriciavillasboas.com</span></b></div>
Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-70741163068746051902013-03-15T00:35:00.001+00:002013-03-15T00:35:19.708+00:00The 95% RuleA while back I was talking to a friend about life in general and especially about one of the biggest mistakes I tend to repeat time and again: give myself entirely to something, to a friend, to a cause, to work, in general to everything that makes part of my life.<br />
I always see the glass half empty, I tend not to test fate by saying all is good and splendid just in case fate decides to step in and change the course of things. I am happy in so many things but not so happy in many others. But one thing I always do, paying so many times a very high price for it: I always give myself and dedicate myself 100%. To whatever, whoever, whenever. As long as I feel it is something I need to do, I just do it. In this process I tend to forget about myself a lot.<br />
So I was talking to my good friend T, saying I was feeling quite exhausted and not able to give my ususal 100 % that people around me are used too and that that was making me feel bad.<br />
So she explained me her rule: The 95% rule. And this is one of the truest things I have ever heard, one that truly makes sense and for which I am so grateful to her. It goes like this:<br />
"It is not healthy to try to give more than 95% of yourself. You need to hold back the last 5% to maintain sanity. There are times in life when 100% is required ( for me these tend to be when a family member is ill) and you can give 100% but only for a short spurt of time. Giving 100% for a long period of time leaves me empty and I tend to get grumpy, sad or angry. I have learned it is not selfish to reserve the last 5%. It is what makes me better able to give the rest of me happily and without a grudge toward those I am serving".<br />
I have been pondering on this testimony for a month and this is really true! It does apply to me and probably to a lot of people. I have also discovered that a small part of me dissappears when I give 100% for a long time to something.<br />
I become a layered person and to reach within and find the real me takes time and effort from others and from myself. I get a lot grumpier (like the dwarf in Snow White) but I also get unhappy. And when you become unhappy you are less able to give happiness to others, to enjoy life to see what is beautiful around you! So I tend to stay more reserved and inside my shell.<br />
I thank T for what she shared with me. I have learned and pondered a lot about it and I am quite sure that from now on I will keep that 5% to myself!<br />
And it starts now because I am writting way past midnight while listening to this song that I just love! Doesn't it make you feel better? For me it even makes me feel a tiny bit beautiful!<br />
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<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-32162473573381358592013-03-05T01:24:00.002+00:002013-03-05T09:47:58.000+00:00I was here!While making my research today about the various movemnets of paying it forward and about the organization random acts of kindness I came across this amazing video from Beyonce at United Nations World Humanitarian day.<br />
I have been hearing it every 5 minutes. It's amazing. Not just the video itself but again, listen to the words: "I was here, I have lived, I have loved". Isn't that what we all deserve and hope for? To live, to love and be loved in return.<br />
Have you paid it forward today? Have you given, loved with no demand of return? Have you shouted to the world how a stranger or a friend made a difference in your day today? No?<br />
Well, I have....this is it! Thank you all for your generous words of kindness and support, spoken or left unsaid. I was here!<br />
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<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-49063435071749693422013-03-04T12:20:00.000+00:002013-03-04T23:12:19.261+00:00Circles in LifeI have waited a whole year to write this post.<br />
A whole year passed since the day my heart and the heart of so many of my loved ones turned black. What was a day of celeberation, in a split of a second, in a few words, in the words left unsaid made us feel how life can be so tremendously unfair. I will never forget that day, I will never forget the tears, I will never forget the silence. The days that followed, the achiness, the feeling of impotency was tremendous. The malicious ink in the newspapers that rain and time ended up fading away.<br />
But today, exactly a year today, a circle has passed, a page has been turned. Because you see, I believe that there is a Circle of Life but more than that that, there are circles inside our life. Have you ever watched Lion King? No? So just watch this small bit but most of all listen...<br />
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If you played close attention the song goes "Since the day we arrive in this planet..." and so it is. Since the day we are born we begin to make our path, we give steps into what we are to become. The greatness of that outcome can be as private or as public as the role we choose to play forces us to be.<br />
Inside our circle of life, other circles take place. Smaller or bigger we never know. Good and bad, triumph and defeat, health and sickness, we all experience moments when we are at our best and moments that we are not. But if we learn and accept that these are things that we have to go thru and overcome, things that we most face as life experiences, as education and growth, then whatever happens next, we will for sure become stronger.<br />
We, as a country are normally calm and easy tempered. We tend not to say too much, or party too much. We are normally bland. We often let things pass, we don't protest a lot and we also hardly ever praise.<br />
When we do show emotion and when that emotion becomes news is in the lines of "man screams Messi at Ronaldo when he arrives in Guimarães". Why? Why is our memory so short? Why do we forget the greatness and the good things achieved by that man? (just an example that really shocked me)<br />
In the same way we hardly ever put in writing when we are mistreated. Why do we never complaint? Why are we ashamed of claiming what is ours by right? Why do we let things go by, unsaid, unwritten. We give way and space for unfairness to win in this world. We do have the right to fairness, we do have the right to be treated politely, we do have the right to be heard, we do have the right to the truth.<br />
But at the same time we hardly ever praise! The small things mostly. Like the generosity of the grocery man that carries our bags to the car when we are pregnant, like the stranger on the street that helps you with the baby stroller up the stairs or the smile of the receptionist at the airport that helps with the bags and the children (private joke, sorry!). These small acts of kindness stay so many times unsaid, unspoken, unthanked for.<br />
So here is my challenge: do you have a facebook page? Do you use it? Well then, every time you are the subject of one of these acts of kindness, when you are touched by some strangers generosity, when you see the example of someone that deserves praise, no matter how big or small, post about it. If you can find an image to illustrate it then use it because images do speak more than a thousand words.<br />
Today, I dedicate this post to a great man. And stealing a sentence just placed in my facebook page by my cousin Luís (thank you): " leaders are those who embrace the possibility of failure as a necessary first step towards building a great career". I praise the courage, the nerve, the tears, the suffering, the pain, the belief, the hard work, the struggle and the continuous search of this great Leader who I have the honor to call Brother.<br />
Today a new circle begins for him and no matter what, when and how the outcome will be, for me and for a lot of people he is already a winner. Why? Because there isn't much space in this world for second chances, for new beginings, for new circles to take place. And he dared to do it.<br />
I do not know who Tommy B is but the viedo he made still makes me shiever. Hope he makes a new one when the season is over. A one of praise for the hard work done, no matter what the outcome will be. Because you don't always get to to win but you should always get the right to prove you can still do it better!<br />
Parabéns meu querido!<br />
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(please click to follow the link. Don't know why but you tube just wasn't loading!)<br />
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<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-32360217082374061602013-01-31T12:11:00.000+00:002013-01-31T12:11:35.568+00:00Boxes, shelves, drawers and a breakI have told you about my New Year resolutions. Pretty basic, right? The problem is the action plan to put them in motion. You see, it is easy to decide on what you want to do but when and how you are going to do it is a different scenario.<br />
So in order to accomplish the so desired thick (which means done) in my resolutions list, I decided that first of all I needed to organize things around the house: move things from drawers to shelves, from shelves to boxes, from a pile of not numbered and unknown things to well named files, from receipts of appliances instructions spread throughout boxes to a neat file. Simple yet arduous work.<br />
The one happy thing about it is that I love the arranged boxes with the customized labels, each naming what's inside! Even if inside there is not much yet.....<br />
I really find gratification in order rather than chaos. It is hard work (especially when you have 4 children and a husband that not always shares my vision about storing papers) but I really enjoy having things in their right places. And then I like to move them around and make a different decor or arrange it in a different way. The result: an endless organizing task!<br />
Sometimes people ask me how do I find the time for this and that, how do I manage, how I still find time to come here once in a while. And the answer for that is: I have no idea! I don't know how I do it but I know that I just need to do it. I don't know how to do it differently and I know for a fact (tested, experimented and proved) that I do not like it when I don't manage it as I feel I should. And that again is me being me. Or more me at least.<br />
So I have decided to enter a journey, provoked by the book I am reading (the Happinnes project), to get to know myself better. Start with the simple things, the things I have always liked, search my childhood memories and follow the thread to today. If I can make a list (yes, a list) of ten things I liked as a child and transport them to today, I believe I will soon be walking the rainbow road to a much happier life.<br />
Funny enough, the first thing that comes to my mind is animation movies. I have always loved them: the hidden lesson behind the script, the music that springs out at unexpected moments, a less happy moment that always leads to happiness in the end. Because I only like movies, animated or not, that have an happy ending. For non happy endings we have everyday life so no need for more!<br />
When my boys were younger I had the pretext to see the movies because of them but now they no longer care for them so I can't wait for my baby to grow a little more so we can start seeing Cinderela, Peter Pan and so on! I always cry in the end. Even if it is only a small tear, it always escapes my eyes!<br />
I have so many favorite ones that my list is endless but there are two that have always remained in my heart: Beauty and the beast ( I mean, how can you not love the small tea cup?) and The Prince of Egypt. Why? No idea really but I know the songs from both movies by heart (as I do of many of others....which is a bit embarrassing). I trully feel that after seeing these movies you actually become richer, with a lighter heart and one more willing to give and do good to others. And isn't that an amazing thing to want to do, to want to achieve?<br />
Maybe if every individual had the capacity to see these movies with a different eye, with an eye that seeks innocence, happiness and do good, the world would really be a much better space.<br />
For all of those who have never heard about these amazing movies, here are my favorite songs from each of them. No program for this weekend yet? Well, rent the movies, bake a cake, make a good cup of tea, grab a pack of tissues and sit down to watch and learn....<br />
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Number one on my list of things I love: animation movies!Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-80630469612132177672013-01-21T09:49:00.001+00:002013-01-21T09:49:15.392+00:00Happy New Year (or reflections about my life!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I am currently reading a book I borrowed from my cousin. She came to visit and said: "I have just finished reading this book and you need to read it too". So I am reading it. And it is already making me ponder so many things!</div>
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It is called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and you can find more about it <a href="http://www.happiness-project.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. I am only at the start but more than a really good read, the book is a very good "make you think" kind of book.</div>
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During my read I came across this sentence in the book, written by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Auden" target="_blank">W. H. Auden</a>: </div>
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"Between the ages of twenty and forty we are engaged in the process of discovering who we are, which involves learning the difference between accidental limitations which is our duty to outgrow and the necessary limitations of our nature beyond which we cannot trespass without impunity."</div>
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And that sentence has been engraved in my mind for a couple of weeks and it has really made me think. Because it is so true! Before we are twenty we are just young and that is it. Then our journey to adulthood begins. We start to take on responsibilities, some along the way form a family, finish studies, go on world travels. We know little about the world and life in general.</div>
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Then we stumble across difficulties, we always say yes because we are just afraid to say no, we go beyond ourselves to please others. We never question our elders orders or requests, we live running from one place and errand to another, we fail and feel disoriented, meet people that in the end we discover were not who we thought. We suffer, cry but mainly feel that we are really no good.</div>
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Then we grow a little more and start reflecting on each and every single one of those things. Does it really have to be like that? Is it really my fault, my duty, my failure? Do I really need to do all that, be all that, change all that?</div>
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And if we really, really grow a little more, we find the answer, which sometimes will be yes but others will be no. It is finding the difference between what we must overcome and what we should not that makes all the difference. And that road is long, tortuous and hard. If we learn the difference by the time we are forty then probably, as the author of the book reflects, we will be much happier.</div>
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Why? Because we become ourselves. We become truer to our nature. We are no longer eager only to please others but we learn also to please ourselves. Me becomes Me. </div>
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It is not easy and we will fail and fall but as adults that we have become we will for sure overcome these minor things and just be more of what we want to become. Yes, because we will want more, we will become more demanding. Not of others but of ourselves, of life, of happiness and fulfillment.</div>
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For me, the last couple of years have been a true lesson about life and this road we travel in. And still I am sure there will be so much more to learn. Hardship sometimes, pain and sadness others but I am sure that now that I am more Me then I have ever been, happpier and more satisfying moments will happen.</div>
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Four or five years ago, I can't really recall, we started passing News Year's eve alone. Just the 5 and now the 6 of us. We don't dress up for dinner but we prepare a fun meal and all the children help. Sometimes we dance after dinner, sometimes we play games and wait for midnight to arrive. We always eat twelve grapes at the strokes of midnight and we jump from chairs or sofas (or beds) when the new year begins. With our right foot of course.</div>
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And on the first day of the year we take a photo. Again we don't dress up but everyone has to wear something new (that we normally keep from Christmas presents). Just this yearly photo makes us see how much our children have grown (and we aged!!) but it also reminds us why we get up every morning and smile. We have accomplished so much! We have so many things to be grateful for! We, as family, become more WE. And that is quite a thing!</div>
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My parents, me and my brothers are a WE family! I know that for a fact and it is one of the things I treasure most. And now me, my husband and children are becoming a WE family too! And that makes me happy, makes me want to work, makes me get up every morning, makes me want to enjoy the journey.</div>
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And that is a very good thing to want! Happy New Year everyone!</div>
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<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-87796489282604352862013-01-07T23:58:00.001+00:002013-01-07T23:58:20.132+00:00To do or not to do lists...I must admit I am a list person. There is actually no way I can deny it!<br />
I make lists for everything: the supermarket, my daily tasks at work, my weekend tasks at home and so on. I have tried several ways to do it over the years and have now the perfect formula! I have different kinds of notebooks for each type of list being the supermarket one the ugliest of course!<br />
I have a notebook at work that I fill with my what to do's and deadlines to do them, I make notes regarding each item and yes, I like to use lots of arrows in different colored pens (being Muji store pens my favorite kind).<br />
At home I have a prettier journal I bookbinded myself with my favorite fabric and each entrance has a divider with a chipboard tag and everything.<br />
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But a list is only good enough as the amount of time it saves you. If you end up getting lost in the entries you have to make and the things that relate to each one then list making is not for you!<br />
My one problem is that you need time to make lists and manage them and recently I have been more on the lazy side at home. So making lists of the tasks I need to make there has become a little bit harder! Besides, if one works five days a week, isn't one supposed to rest the other two?<br />
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Well, with a house with 4 children that is just not possible! And besides I love my gold stars when I finish a task I have assigned for myself! So this weekend I have finished decorating Filipe's room, I have redone Leonor's bedroom (now just the decorating needs to be finished) and I have taken down Christmas decorations so the living room is now back to it's normal status.<br />
In the meantime and since we are at the beginning of the year I have been giving a lot of thought about the famous New Year resolutions. It's kind of mandatory to think about it and do it, isn't it? So the first thing I did was think of what I wanted this year to be, what I wanted to acomplish at a personal level (my work resolutions would fill a whole blog!).<br />
I have finally found the answer and the title for my New year resolutions list is: Pay attention, tie loose ends and payback with love. The title itself is just imense so in terms of tasks my list is very short:<br />
- Organize the photos digitally and make an album of the last 2 years for each child;<br />
- Finish all my quilting and sewing projects in hand (I have 4 quilts in the making and none finished).<br />
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That's it! And to be honest I hope I can make it (so feel free to remind me if you see me getting of track). I hope I have the time and energy to do it. I hope I can balance my need for rest with my need to get the job done. I hope I do win my gold stars in the end of the year!<br />
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One of my tasks for today was redoing one of the walls in my office. Why? Because I received just the perfect Christmas gift and I had promised I would do it. And I do not like to fail my promises!<br />
So here it is, thanks to my lovely cousins, P and F who gave me the wonderful sentence in vinyl all done and ready to apply!<br />
It now stands in front of my desk and on the side of it I have two photos of my Family, my loved ones, my inspiration and reason for living!<br />
My day had a list and I am really glad all the items are now ticked down with done!<br />
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Isn't this a great inspiration to live by? Better yet if, like me, you can look at it every day!<br />
First thing tomorrow morning: make a new list for the rest of the week!<br />
<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-73857323427479556492012-12-31T18:31:00.002+00:002012-12-31T18:31:58.382+00:00Please do DisturbOn Christmas Day, I was lucky enough to go to Mass and ear the Priest Filipe Martins S. J. On his lecture he spoke about the sign that we put in hotel doors saying Please do not disturb and somehow he compared it with our life: is that the way we want to go through life? Undisturbed by others?<br />
Since then his words have been in my head! Because it is hard to decide if you do want or not people to disturb you. And even when you do want to, how much do you really want to be disturbed? Because in a way, allowing others to disturb you is giving them time, is granting them the space and the right to come into your lives and shake them, turn them around, a little or a lot!<br />
So when is it time to rest? When do you turn the sign round and say, do not disturb? When do you grant yourself the time to rest, to just do what you want to do? When do you listen to your heart, to your inner voice?<br />
But then again, how do you know when and where it is time to rest and time to act? How do you measure your efforts, how much do you push yourself, how many times do you turn that sign from one side to the other?<br />
I consider myself a Please do Disturb person. And that is what my heart tells me. Yes I may feel tired, yes there was really no need for this or that detail, yes almost no one really cares about the bows or small cards but in the end I have never ever liked an unfinished job, a missed detail, a cup half full.<br />
I may sleep less hours and no I am not a general about organization but I have learnt a valuable lesson: listen to my heart and let it guide me to where I want to be and what I want to do (thank you Padre Vasco Magalhães S.J. for the amazing book you have written! I recommend it to everyone! (Só Avança quem Descansa)).<br />
I had made a strict plan for Christmas this year: I would make most of my presents to give. I would sew, scrapbook and book bind as much as I could so that everyone or at least, a lot of people would have something handmade by me.<br />
All and all I book binded more than 15 photo albums, made 10 gift baskets, 8 or 10 Christmas bags and other bits and pieces. I fulfilled some promises I had made which made me really proud of myself!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For a lovely one year old Maria</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For a Broter and Sister, to remind them of how good life can be</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Filled with treats they even looked better!</td></tr>
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A Sewing box for a no longer small girl! </div>
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A promise long made to my brother! It is now ready and delivered and I rea,lly love the way it turned out! I hope it is as lovelly as the girl it speaks about!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For someone who cared!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For a great Sew master so he can register his works!</td></tr>
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This one I made for my Parents, so they can put the photos of the Famiuy Christmas day, the lunch on the 25th. As much as I love digital, I still feel the need to print some photos and for that you still need a photo album!<br />
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These 11 albums are actually a set of 12, my Wonder woman and crazy task for this Christmas! But I made it and gave them all to whom they were made for. They shall register the moments that has a family, me and my cousins spend together to honour the great life of our grandmother, known to all as Granny!<br />
So you see, life is so much more interesting when you do let yourself be disturbed! What would I have done with my time if my sign was turned to the do not disturbed way?<br />
I really believe that our actions define who we are, that we receive in double what we give with generosity and that it is not by closing our doors that we will live happier.<br />
If I can ask for two things for 2013 is health for all of mine and a heart open enough to always be willing to be disturbed!<br />
For now it is time to say goodbye to this year and as Mother of a large family.....start dinner!<br />
<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-24790348637013425032012-12-26T01:59:00.000+00:002012-12-26T01:59:06.509+00:00Simple ThingsWhen it was announced that <a href="http://www.molliemakes.com/" target="_blank">Molllie Makes</a>, an English Magazine I have subscribed a long ago (and am only now missing number one!) was going to have a younger sister called <a href="http://www.thesimplethings.com/" target="_blank">The Simple Things</a>, I subscribed on the spot. I waited a few months for the first issue to arrive on my mail box and now, twice a month, I enjoy these two treasures!<br />
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I really like this magazine because I love what it brings up in me: my simple things. And often these take me back down memory lane and sometimes they make me sing the famous song from The Sound of Music, "My favorite things". I know the lyrics by heart: "raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens..." and some of "Maria's" favorite things are my Simple Things. I love the sound of rain on my window just when it starts falling, the smell of wet grass, the smell of baked cookies and chocolate cake. Oh and homemade bread too. I like brown paper packages tied up with spring, I really like thick hot chocolate and red tea.<br />
I fiund my shelter when I go to bed at night and rest my head in my husband's shoulder or when my daughter wakes up in the morning and calls Mummy. I love the way my youngest son smiles when we decide to do something just the two of us. I adore the kisses and hugs the two older ones still concede me from time to time. I love watching a storm over a valley and climb a green mountain in spring. I like to wake up in the morning and know that I am loved and that I have so many to love! That is my simplest and yet my grandest of things! And isn't it just simple and grand at the same time?<br />
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So when a few weeks back my parents brought me this magazine saying: "we saw this in London and thought it was so you" I just could not resist and say "I know, I have them all". But the funny part of this story is that in the middle of the simple things mentioned in this issue there was one that brought back memories to my father.<br />
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Being the son of an English woman and we as her descendants, cookies are a big thing in our family! So somehow these cookies reminded him of his childhood. These lavender and lemon cookies were, it seems, one of his simple things.<br />
I always bake on Christmas eve or the day before with my children so they learn that they can also give something to others although they are still small to purchase: a proof of their love for others and a way for them to thank the gifts they receive.<br />
So this year, these cookies were our simple baked gift. Mind you they were not easy to bake, until you got the hang of the right thickness and oven time, but still we made close to 200 cookies this year.<br />
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I am not sure they taste great and I am not even certain I will ever make them again but the moment I knew this was one of my Father's simple things I knew I had to make them for him. You see the thing is that whith a Father it is always hard to tell what he really likes because being the parent of girls (and boys) he always aims to please us so even if dinner is the one thing he loads, he will still tell you it was delicious.<br />
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My Father is the most generous person I know, the most humble, the one that suffers in silence and loves with actions more than words. He dedicates himself to his job with a passion and righteousness that is truly uncommon. He rarely complains and yes he for sure has his faults, but for us, he is an example. Funny that in many ways I see his reflection in one of my brothers....and in myself. I have never heard him brag about his achievements, never heard him speak about the good deeds he makes but yet his generosity his uncounted for! He even has an homeless man that we call his friend (too long a story to explain)!<br />
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This Christmas we exchanged gifts, some bought, some homemade, some simple some not so, but in every single one there was the recognition of love between a family that has known hardship, pain and suffering, joy, triumph and success but that at the end of the day can still sit on the floor and carefully listen and wait the simple happening of Christmas inside each one of us. And that is my simple thing too and I wait a whole year for it.<br />
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Do you know what else is my Simple Thing? My Family. A complex group of 16 people is my Simple thing. Ok, ok, my Favorite thing!<br />
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Just because it was Christmas after all I decorated these boxes and bags where we placed the cookies. They were all decortaed my me and in total we gave 19 simple baked gifts this Christmas.<br />
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I always find it amazing how a smell, an image, a feeling, a friend, an image on TV can trigger a memory. I do hope that the smell and taste of these cookies provided that trip down memory lane for my Father. If not I will keep trying until I make them just the way you love, Father! And that is a promise (and I never fail a promise).<br />
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When I was smaller we always watched "The Sound of Music" on Christmas Day at my Grandmother's house. It is a tradition I am sad to have lost! It was such a simple thing! And one of my favorite things too! And if you do not know Maria's song then you really most listen carefully and then search within yourself for your favorite and simple things. I have found mine, hope you find yours too!!!!<br />
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Merry Christmas everyone!<br />
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<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-62016491677936932052012-12-18T23:44:00.002+00:002012-12-18T23:44:42.207+00:00TimeIt's funny how we, and when I say we I am including myself in the bulls eye let's say, go through life saying "I don't have time for this, I don't have time for that", etc, etc and so on.<br />
But in fact, if we really think about it for a while we will find out that if there is one thing that we have here on earth with every second that goes by and we are alive, is time.<br />
Each tick of the clock represents a moment of time, our time, time that is at our disposal.<br />
What we decide to do it, what we prioritize into it, what we end up doing with it, it's what grants us or not the sense of possession and control over time.<br />
And what to do with our time begins as soon as we are little and have to decide between homework or cartoons, between writing a report or doing a card for Grandma. And as we grow by the decisions of what to use the time for become more diverse and complicated: do I prepare my class or go to the doctor, do I answer emails or develop a new design, do I dedicate it all to others or do I save some for myself.<br />
And for me, we become "of age", not when we turn 18, but when we realize that life is all about balancing time and choosing what to do with it!<br />
Because yes, we do have a choice. And that is for me the hardest, most difficult lesson to learn. To be honest if I had to grade myself on it I would give me a C- (3-).<br />
So although the clock doesn't stop moving sometimes we do need to stop, to calibrate our needles, recharge the batteries, set our priorities straight, learn to say no, which is the same thing to say: choose what to do with the time that we have.<br />
And that is a good thing! If we could take, even if only an inner trip to a Spa every month and just use three hours of our time to calibrate "our clock" we would not only be more happy but we would be more efficient. So everyone, when is your three hours of this month going to happen? Or have you already taken them? Well, I have and decided that three just wasn't even so I am taking an extra hour or two each day until I feel that I have reached my balance again. Selfish? Maybe, but from it I am certain I willcome out not only more efficient but also more happy. And that is one thing that I won't trade time for!<br />
This Christmas for me has definitely been challenging, time wise. But in a way it has made me realize what in fact is valuable and important in my life and most of all what I want to do it.<br />
So the issue is what to do next, what steps to make, because after you have calibrated your clock and reset the batteries to make it a good instrument of time, you need to the the other part: use it! Use your time wisely!<br />
To visit a friend, to send a postcard, to sew a special bag for someone you love, to bake a cake for a friend, to go and have a cup of cocoa with your children, to take them out to see Christmas lights, bake cookies.....I don't know, so many things!<br />
I have done well with my time this season I believe. I am living it with an intensity I had forgotten it was still possible and although I do not consider myself a decorator I am proud of what I have achieved at home. I have divided the spaces into more and less children wise so that way we are all happy! And it didn't come out so bad!<br />
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The Best Friends dinner is always a special day because Friendship is always worth celebrating. I love to set elaborate tables, filled with details. And these friends are worth every single bow, bird, wreath and all the time we have put into this day and all the days that lead to this one. Because investing and building a friendship is also something very time worthy. And that I know for sure!<br />
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The ants seem to love the sweets as much as my children do so we are having a very hard battle between them and me! And the bad news is, so far, they are winning!<br />
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So you see, you can turn your time into so many things! Just use it to be happy and make others happy. That way, when he seems scarce, you won't for sure regret all the time you didn't use it well for!<br />
And because time spent dedicated to Family and Friends is the best time of all, here is one song about friendship I really love!<br />
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I know the song by heart but listen to the chorus of it......my best friends are certainly like that! And I am ever so thankful for having made time for this to happen.<br />
To my other friends, some on the other side of the world, I hope you are having a good time this season and let you know that you are in my mind this Holiday!<br />
Because you know, time in the end, is the best investment you can make in whatever it is you want to see succeeding!Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-88771752340187792142012-12-13T18:44:00.001+00:002012-12-13T18:44:05.409+00:00Sentences to live by" Nao é o quanto fazemos, mas quanto amor colocamos no que fazemos"<br />
Madre Teresa de Calcutá<br />
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<i>"It is not how much we do but it is the love we put into doing them"</i><br />
<i>Mother Teresa of Calcuta</i><br />
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<i>Must admit I borrowed this sentence from my "older sister" Filipa's facebook wall. I saw it a few days ago and it has been stuck in my head since then. Because this could be so much truer in our lives!</i><br />
<i>We are working mothers and wives, develop roles in local communities, are pillars of our family, are good or bad friends to this or that person but at the end of the day how much love do we put into each one of these things? How much is just simple duty and how much is love and dedication?</i><br />
<i>I am making a big poster of this sentence and hang it in my office wall! (Promise to show photo when ready!!!!)</i><br />
<i>Today I really wanted to be somewhere else but life dictated it otherwise. In the meantime my "big sister" has been doing hers and my part in the preparation of a surprise to another family member, since I cannot be there. At the end of the day you can ask if she did enough, you can question her style, her choices, every single detail of the preparation she has done but you cannot question that it was done with the most generous love possible on earth! And I will vow for that! And that is how we should all do it!</i><br />
<i>Because I couldn't do much she took over the action and I believe the result is a true demonstration of gratitude and a celebration of life. Because today we are celebrating a very special birthday: of the one I call my clone! After all we have the exact same name but I just happened to have it first although in trueness she is older than me. Very complicated!</i><br />
<i>But the life of my clone is also driven by Mother Teresa's sentence. And from my corner to her heart here goes a very special kiss and hug and all the tears that I know the three of us would end up sharing today. Tears of joy of course. But tears of Love as well. I hope you love everythiing because it was made from the heart!</i><br />
<i>In the last couple of weeks my definition of time has changed so drastically that I sometimes need to remind myself that clock's still exist. And this sentence filled my heart with an infinite joy! Because right now in my time I do so much less than before but I do it with so much love that the gratification I get for doing it really compensates anything else.</i><br />
<i>So if you are still buying or making Christmas presents remember it is not the how much that matters. If you are honoring someone's life, it probably isn't the big present she will most love, but the drawing made by her 5 year old son saying I love you Mum.</i><br />
<i>Today I mailed my Christmas cards, as I do every year. As every year I made them myself, some more simple, others more intricate. Each one was written and addressed by hand (in my awful handwriting). But again, it isn't the how much, is it? </i><br />
<i>And what about you, have you stopped to wish Merry Christmas to anyone? To write to an old friend? Have you dedicated your days thinking what would be significant for the ones you love? Have you loved each moment passed preparing it, adding the bows and the details?</i><br />
<i>Well, I have and I must admit, it has filled me with a warmth I hadn't felt for a very long time!</i><br />
<i>So, dear "big sister" and dear clone, please have a marvellous party today, remember Mother Teresa's sentence every morning and don't forget to take lot's of photos so I can see everything!</i><br />
<i>A big hug,</i><br />
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Patrícia<br />
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<i><br /></i>Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-61764739284777479052012-12-09T16:46:00.001+00:002012-12-09T16:46:20.266+00:00Mother's DayA long time ago, I believe so long ago that I wasn't even born, Mother's Day, in Portugal, was celebrated on the 8th of December, the day consecrated to the Holly Mother.<br />
I have no idea why this changed but the fact is that now we celebrate it on the first Sunday of May, which for me means that it is never my day as a Mother. And I don't mean this with a grudge but it is never my day because as daughter-in-law and grandaughter all those other me's come first in the celebration of this day. It is normally a stressful day of juggling lunches, teas and dinners, of making the will of so many others but never myself.<br />
My Mother shares this same feeling so this year she decided to go back to the old days, meaning, that for her Mother's Day is on the 8th of December. And I decided to do the same.<br />
I don't care if we are normally working on that day (that means at least we are together), I don't mind the fact that after work we go to mass, I don't mind the tiredness in the evening... but at least I don't have to juggle! It's my Day as daughter and Mother and that is more than enough!<br />
I wanted to have written this yesterday, the day itself but time just isn't working as I plan most of the times now. Because this is a tribute to my Mother, on her day! For being the amazing woman she is, for all the times she held my hand in silence, for all the times we did not agree, for the example she has set of what family is, for the devotion and care, for being there even when I didn't want her to.<br />
So on this non-comercial Mother's Day, a day without cards, flowers or presents, a day without feasts or dinners a day just to love and be loved, it is my time to say Thank you, to say I Love you, to say what no word could ever say but that I know she will understand.<br />
Some years ago I made a scrapbook layout, that hangs in my walls, where there is a sentence that until this day I remember: "a family is a patchwork of love". I placed that phrase on the layout but that same bit of paper goes to me everywhere in my purse.<br />
And being a mother is a little bit like that: is needing the ability to sometimes mend the broken pieces of each child, to combine their different personalities, to love each individual with it's own characteristics, it's knowing where to start and where to finish. It is an endless task, an endless journey of joy and pain but I am sure that for you, as well as for me, being a Mother is the best thing I have done in my life.<br />
I searched for a song that would be a tribute to Mothers but most were all to sad or smoshy so I decided to bring you this one. More than a song it is a prayer. More than a prayer it is a note. More than a note is a tribute. More than anything, today, Mother, I wished I could sing and dance like that for you.<br />
Happy Mother's Day!<br />
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<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-2381838795766566402012-12-06T14:58:00.002+00:002012-12-06T14:58:17.175+00:00Ternura * TendernessTodos os domingos vamos à missa da comunidade Jesuíta no Porto que agora tem a sua celebração na Igreja de Cedofeita. Aí, tal como já acontecia nas Instalações do CREU, todos os domingos e alternadamente, um casal faz baby-sitting das crianças cujos Pais assim o desejarem até ao ofertório. Orgulho-me de fazer parte desse grupo de casais e aguardo a chegada de dia 23 de Dezembro pela minha próxima vez.<br />
Podem talvez pensar que não é nada de especial mas de facto e por experiência própria sei quão bem aqueles 30 minutos de introspecção e silêncio fazem bem aos Pais muitas vezes sem tempo nenhum para si. É assim que encaro este serviço que prestamos: a oferta de uns minutos de Paz e silêncio com Deus na sua casa.<br />
Mas o que não deixa de me trazer lágrimas aos olhos (eu sou muito piegas), domingo após domingo, é a ternura dos olhos de cada Pai que vê o seu filho percorrer o corredor central até ao altar para entregar o seu desenho ou projecto realizado ao celebrante. Não deixo de me emocionar com as mães ajoelhadas e de braços estendidos à espera dos seus pequeninos. São momentos inigualáveis de ternura. E é tão bom poder testemunhar esses momentos.<br />
Tal como quando vamos à escola buscar as crianças e nos baixamos para receber aquele abraço forte com que quase sempre nos recebem!<br />
Ainda hoje, ao ver qualquer filme, me emociono com estas demonstrações de ternura entre pais e filhos. E falando já com a experiência de quem tem um filho de 16 anos e apesar de parecer que estes momentos se desvanecem com os anos, a verdade é que ainda hoje consigo, nem que seja em pequenos segundos, ter estes momentos de ternura com os mais velhos cá de casa.<br />
Porque no fim de contas ser Mãe é isso mesmo: viver para aqueles segundos de ternura em que não existe mais nada no mundo senão eu e ele! No meu caso multiplicado por quatro sabe mesmo bem!<br />
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<i>Every Sunday we go to mass at the Jesuit community in Porto, that now has it's celebration at another parish. There, as it happened on the space we were before, every Sunday and taking turns, a couple babysits the children of the parents who wish so, until after the lectures. I am proud to make part of this group of couples and I wait for my next turn on the 23rd of December!</i><br />
<i>You may think this is nothing much but in fact and speaking by self-experience, those 30 minutes of introspection and silence are a true blessing for many adults who in general don't have a minute ever for themselves. This is how I face this service we give: the offer of some minutes of Peace and Silence with God in His house.</i><br />
<i>But what doesn't seize to bring tears to my eyes ( I am a crying baby), Sunday after Sunday, is the tenderness in the parents eyes when they see their child or children walking along the main aisle to the altar to give their drawing or project to the priest. I get overwhelmed by the kneeling mothers with stretched arms waiting for their child to come to them. These are true moments of tenderness. And it is so good to be able to witness these moments.</i><br />
<i>Just like when we go to school to pick them up and we bend over for that big hug they give us almost every single time!</i><br />
<i>Even today I normally weep when I see a movie where these demonstrations between parents and children are shown. And even from my experience as a mother of a 16 year old and in spite the fact that these moments do fade with time, the truth is that even today, even if only for brief seconds, I can still get some of these tender moments with the older boys around the house.</i><br />
<i>Because after all being a Mother is exactly that: live for those seconds of tenderness where nothing else in the world exists except me and my child! And in my case multiplied by four it feels really good!</i><br />
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<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-13105861856457912932012-12-04T22:10:00.000+00:002012-12-04T22:10:48.015+00:00Curve ball(sorry but just English again today)<br />
I am not a fan of Baseball and in good honesty know nothing about it besides what one sees in the movies. There is one movie in particular that I think it is called the Perfect Game that I have seen several times.<br />
So from my non knowledgeable point of view, a curve ball is a ball thrown in a specific way to make it look like it is going one way but it is actually going another. It is a fast ball that is basically thrown to deceive it's catcher. If he is good, lucky or trained he will catch the ball.<br />
So lately I have been thinking that some moments in life can be compared to a curve ball. Sometimes there is this "ball" that is thrown at you when you least expect it. It is then your chance to do something about it: you can 1, ignore it and pretend it is not coming, 2, face it and try to catch it so you can then get back into the game and have a chance to win or 3, you can miss the catch and see what happens.<br />
Basically with the ball, as well as in life, you can do 3 things: pretend it is not happening, face it so you might have a chance of reversing the situation or give up and just let things happen.<br />
I have a strong believe that these situations happen often in life. Sometimes you instantly recognize them and sometimes you don't.<br />
When a curve ball is thrown at you something also happens: you can instantly see, even without looking, who your team players are. And it is at that moment, at that precise second when you look around and feel the warmth of your team players that you know. You know that you are loved, you know that you are cared for, you know that some asked God for his help. You just know the ones thar are yours<br />
So when a curve ball comes into your life, it is not what the fact that it is coming that counts, it is what you decide to do with it that matters.<br />
There are many sayings in life that could for sure resume my dissertation. But I like my curve ball analogy better.<br />
Why? Well, because it gives you choices, it makes you suffer, it teaches you to reach for others, to have the humbleness to recognize your humanity, because it shows you how much you are loved.<br />
More less a year ago my little sister got married. When we produced the film for her wedding, the music below was one that I chose to be in it. It's not very known but it is for me an Ode to Love.<br />
This time I dedicate it to my team players! Thank you!<br />
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<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-91114825220527940932012-12-02T11:56:00.001+00:002012-12-02T11:56:30.711+00:00Tradições * TraditionsTodas as famílias têm as suas tradições, passadas através dos tempos de Pai para filho, de Bisavô para Avô e por aí fora.<br />
Mas parece que, neste mundo atarefado em que vivemos, mais tradições são perdidas, menos histórias são contadas à volta de uma lareira, menos reuniões de família acontecem. E agora que o Natal está quase à porta, esta perda de tradições é mais visível de dia para dia. Parece que de dia para dia fazemos menos esforços.<br />
Mas eu sou uma fervorosa crente em tradições: aquelas que nos foram transmitidas através dos anos mas também daquelas que "damos à luz". Sim, porque também nós podemos começar alguma coisa: primeiro uma pequena semente que acontece uma vez, explicada com amor e carinho e depois com o passar dos anos e a sua repetição e, com alguma sorte, podemos transformar um acto isolado numa tradição.<br />
Não sei exactamente quando surgiu esta minha ideia, nem quando a comecei mas tenho a certeza que 4 crianças (bem 3 já não são crianças) esperam por ela todos os anos. Por isso a dado ponto no passado eu decidi oferecer aos meus Afilhados um Calendário do Advento feito por mim. Alguns anos mais simples, outros mais complexos, sempre com guloseimas e chocolates. Não tenho bem a certeza quantos já fiz até agora e não tenho fotografias da maior parte deles. Mas estou muito orgulhosa desta tradição que criei e que continuarei a fazer enquanto andar por aqui e eles deixem de ser crianças. Afinal de contas, não é esta uma coisa maravilhosa para ser recordada de fazer?<br />
Estou ansiosa por este Natal. Pelas tradições que temos à anos mas também por aquelas que ainda são uma pequena semente. Tradições que nos confortam, que nos dão segurança que afinal o mundo ainda pode ser bom, mas para mim e especialmente no Natal, a Família é mesmo a minha tradição favorita que jamais deixarei de passar de geração em geração!<br />
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<i>Every family has it's own traditions, convied thru time from parent to child, from great grandfather to grandfather and so on. </i><br />
<i>Each year, in this busy world we live in, more traditions are lost, less stories are told, less family gatherings happen. Now that Christmas is almost around the door, the loss of traditions is more visible every day. It looks like every year we make less of an effort. </i><br />
<i>But I am a firm believer of traditions: the ones that have been passed on to you but also the ones you give birth to. Yes because we can also start something, first a small seed that happens one time, explained with love and care can be transformed into a tradition that maybe with a little luck can survive time and time again.</i><br />
<i>I don't exactly know how this idea of mine started but I know it has become a tradition that four children (well three are no longer children) look forward for it every year. So at some point in the past I decided to give my four Godchildren a Calendar Advent made by myself. Some years simpler, others more complex, always with candies and chocolates. I am not sure how many different ones I have done so far and I don't have photos of most of them. But I am really proud of this tradition that I will keep on doing until I am gone and they, of course, are no longer children. After all, isn't that something you would love to be remembered by?</i><br />
<i>I look forward for this Christmas. For the traditions that we have had for years but also for the ones that are still a small but growing seed. Traditions that will comfort us and give us insurance that the world can still be a good place but for me and most of all that Family is my favorite tradition that I will keep on passing from generation to generation!</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calendário do advento de 2012! * <i>2012 Advent calendar!</i></td></tr>
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<i><br /></i>Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-21111435633064709022012-11-30T13:51:00.001+00:002012-11-30T13:51:17.992+00:00Memories(sorry, but my Memories are only possible to write in English, although I am a proud Portuguese born and bred woman, but it just has to be like this today).<br />
I have been meaning to write this post for a very, very long time but between this and that, there has just been no time. Period. Funny how life made a turn to make me have time to do it.<br />
It is funny how most of the time one has memories of people that have passed away. It is when you think of those people that you remember happy or sad days, images, feelings or things that have marked you. Sometimes it is the other way around. You see things that remind you of fond moments you passed with loved ones that are no longer here or that still are.<br />
Anyway, a memory is always about something that happened in the past.<br />
And in the past so many things happened that have set the way I am today!<br />
A year ago more less I attended an online course about blogging and the question I could never really answer was: what is the purpose of my blog. I don't want to sell anything thru it, I don't aim for greatness or a huge number of followers (although must admit wouldn't mind a few more). So it was with great surprise that this November, Life brought me the answer: she is the one I want to write about!<br />
You can say that I could do it in a diary, in a private book to be seen when I am gone by my children but no, this is how I want to do it.<br />
So, Miss Lacitos is about my life. Probably boring for most of my possible readers, intriguing for others but well, I do hope it will make you laugh or cry from time to time, inpire and amaze you here and there and just show you how a life, past and present, of a working mother of 4 children is.<br />
And today I want to share with you some memories that just came to me when my Mother gave me some pamphlets of a famous chocolate shop in Porto, the well-known Arcadia.<br />
This chocolate shop, when I was little, existed just in Porto's downtown. There you could take a proper tea and of course eat their famous chocolates or buy them in blue boxes to bring home.<br />
I remember going there sometimes but I passed at their door countless days when I went to visit my grandfather that worked close by.<br />
He was: a not very tall, bald men, with a white moustache and most of the times a very serious look. I never really knew what he did but I always thought he most be important in his work because everyone treated him with respect.<br />
Every time I had a school break, I would get on the bus (I was probably 8 when this ritual of ours started) and go visit him on one of the days. We would meet at his office and then he would take me to a bookshop where he would buy me a book (he gave me most of the books I owned at the time). Then we would go to lunch at Bolhão's market, in a small restaurant under the stairs. I can still feel the smell of the place.<br />
After lunch I would go back to his office, stay with him for a while and then normally he would leave early and we would come back together or I would take the bus back home. Before I left he would always buy me a snack so I wouldn't get hungry coming home.<br />
He died 20 years ago but the grip of his hand on mine when we went to mass together and prayed Holly Father still brings tears to my eyes every Sunday when I do the same thing with my husband, children and parents. That small but strong hand held me many, many times.<br />
I was the only grandchild allowed into his office at Christmas and together we would prepare the bags and piles, separated by member of family or couple. I was also allowed to hear music with him because some how I had the ability to stay put and listen to Pavarotti while he played on his vinyl player.<br />
I know he was austere, he had a bad humur lots of times, but isn't it funny what your memory keeps? And isn't it even more funny how a piece of paper from a chocolate shop, now transformed into a big chain of shops, can trigger all these things?<br />
I have many more to share with you and they will for sure come know and then, triggered by this or that. Forgive me for the boredness of the facts but the world would be a so much better place if every child had has a hand like that to hold from time to time!<br />
And well I just really had to use those pamphlet's for something right?<br />
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Photo albums</div>
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And (I know , I know, I just can't stop) because it is good to know what this home of mine is finally about, Miss Lacitos leaves you with a song about home that I just love! Have a nice weekend and I promise to be back Sunday with my week meal planner!<br />
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<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-53003040331707780542012-11-13T19:49:00.000+00:002012-11-13T19:49:12.864+00:00E uma semana mais...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Desculpem o atraso! A ementa até já está feita e a uso à uns dias mas o tempo para vir aqui e carregá-la tem sido nenhum!<div>
E o prometido Rosbife no tacho tem especial destaque em cima! Espero que gostem mas acreditem que o segredo é mesmo carne de boa qualidade.</div>
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Esta semana uma das sopas é o Creme de agriões da Mrs. Tatcher. Lembro-me de estar na cozinha em casa dos meus Pais quando, um belo dia, numa TV guia ou revista similar (e não, não era a Maria) e darmos de caras com esta receita. O espanto foi geral: mas afinal a Primeira.Ministra Inglesa cozinha? Passado o espanto, a verdade é que recortamos a receita e ainda hoje, em dias especiais, a fazemos cá em casa. O facto de levar natas não dá mesmo para uma coisa de dia-a-dia!</div>
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Desejo a todos uma excelente semana e bons cozinhados!</div>
Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-12276289943074520142012-11-04T18:06:00.001+00:002012-11-04T18:06:14.849+00:00Sunday indulgence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hoje apetecia-me mesmo um lanche diferente. Por isso nada melhor do que um chocolate quente (oferecido pela Paula e que ainda não tinha tido tempo para experimentar) e um bolo de laranja acabado de fazer. Porque afinal hoje é domingo....</div>
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<i>Today I really wanted a different tea. So nothing better then a hot chocolate (given to me by my friend Paula and that I didn't had the time to taste before) and a home made orange cake. After all today is Sunday.....</i></div>
Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-223383546698379232012-11-04T17:21:00.001+00:002012-11-04T17:21:16.406+00:00Nova ementaBom domingo para todos! Aqui fica a nova ementa para a semana que aí vem!<br />
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Mas o prometido é devido, por isso aqui fica a minha receita de Scones. Acho que é a primeira vez que a partilho com alguém! Já não me lembro onde a vi pela primeira vez mas sei que a faço desde criança. Sempre a soube de cor e ao longo dos anos fui fazendo alguns ajustes e alterações. Acho que está no ponto ideal agora por isso espero que gostem!</div>
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Uma das receitas desta semana é Galinha marrocos com tomate, mel e açafrão. Tem um sabor um pouco adocicado mas não deixa por isso de ser uma delícia. Esta foi uma das muitas receitas que traduzi enquanto estive de repouso da amniocentese que fiz na gravidez da minha filha. São todas excelentes e pratos que faço muito cá em casa! </div>
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Tenham uma boa semana!Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-39262188427163515762012-11-02T19:12:00.000+00:002012-11-02T19:12:16.518+00:00Make do and mend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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É bem verdade que muitas vezes com um pouco de esforço podemos transformar o que muitas vezes consideramos lixo. Esta camisa, rasgada em 4 sítios diferentes, estava destinada a panos de limpeza! Uma máquina de costura, linha e velcro transformaram-na num delicioso saquinho! Agora transformada, esta "camisa" vai regressar ao seu dono!<br />
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<i>It is true that sometimes with a very small effort we can transform what most of the time we would consider rubbish. This shirt, torn in 4 different places was destined to become a clening cloth! A sewing machine, thread and a piece of velcro transformed it into a small bag. Now, it it's new rule, this "shirt" will go back to it's owner!</i><br />
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<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-47593522783427615252012-10-29T12:27:00.001+00:002012-10-29T12:27:38.759+00:00Ementa semanal * Weekly menuBem, uma promessa é uma promessa e como detesto falhar à minha palavra aqui está a primeira e organizada ementa semanal. Não é nada de mais, apenas a organização que faço cá em casa para sobreviver à corrida do dia-a-dia numa casa com 4 crianças e uma Mãe que trabalha a 200%.<br />
Este quadro já está na sua casa nova em Belas, tal como me foi pedido. Ficou giro, não?<br />
Em baixo está também a ementa desta semana, que podem depois encontrar também na página From my Kitchen to yours. Prometo que vou tentar ir colocando também algumas das receitas cá de casa: os chamados clássicos de uma cozinheira assim assim. Espero que gostem!<br />
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<i>Well, a promise is a promise and I hate to fail my word so here is the first organized weekly menu. It is nothing much, just the organized meal plan I make for my house so we all survive the everyday madness in a house with 4 children and a 200% working Mum.</i><br />
<i>This board is already living in it's new house in Belas. Cute, right?</i><br />
<i>Well the weekly menu (sorry but in Portuguese only for now) that you find here will also be displayed on the page From my kitchen to yours and I promise I will try to put some of our home classsic recipes there. Hope you like it!</i><br />
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<br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-82966321972176534932012-10-23T02:53:00.001+01:002012-10-23T02:53:58.124+01:00Family ties(tirando o título, hoje só escrevo mesmo em Português)<br />
Lembro-me como se fosse hoje, de ouvir a minha Mãe dizer-nos, a mim e aos meus irmãos, que tínhamos de ser amigos uns dos outros. De cada vez que nos tratávamos um bocadinho menos bem, o que sendo nós quatro não era tão poucas vezes quanto isso, ouvíamos o discurso de que se irmãos não se amam então como haverá paz no mundo! Como crianças que éramos revirávamos os olhos, dava-mos uma risada para trás e lá continuávamos com a querela do dia.<br />
O facto é que hoje, todos já adultos, somos unha com carne. Próximos nos silêncios de cada um, atentos às frases meias ditas e às expressões de alegria ou tristeza, quantas vezes assistidas à distância.<br />
Um bocado como os três mosqueteiros e o seu fiel Dartagnan somos mesmo Um por todos e todos por um. Como valeu a pena o discurso da Mãe!<br />
E quando chega a hora de celebrar, também não deixamos os nossos créditos por mãos alheias. De grandes a gigantes produções, já fizemos de tudo um pouco para festejar a vida e os momentos de cada um. Por isso, não podíamos deixar de, mesmo à distância, participar num redondo aniversário do nosso .......<br />
Parabéns!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As Talking tags funcionam mesmo!</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_573279114"></span><span id="goog_573279115"></span><br />Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-92036819376882700462012-10-18T01:26:00.000+01:002012-10-18T01:26:03.208+01:00A piece of chocolate cake...Não sei se vos acontece o mesmo mas para mim não há nada mais reconfortante que uma fatia de bolo de chocolate e uma chávena de chá! Mesmo no verão sabe bem entregar-me a este rito, com certeza consequência da minha costela inglesa. Hoje, depois de um ainda longo dia de trabalho, de uma semana já para esquecer e de ter de ir trabalhar para fora uns dias, o que me apetecia mesmo era uma fatia de bolo...<br />
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<i>I am not sure if this ever happens to you but for me there is nothing more comforting than a cup of tea and a slice of chocolate cake! Even in the summer it feels so good to indulge in this ritual, a consequence for sure from my English inheritance. Today, after a still long work day, a week to forget and the fact that I have to go away for a few dies to work, what I really felt like was a piece of chocolate cake....</i><br />
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P.S. Este bolo faz parte do workshop que vou dar na 512 ideias sobre prendas e embrulhos de Natal. E não, não o vamos cozinhar....com o nome de Quase sogra bolo de chocolate ele é uma receita da Miss Dahl<br />
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<i>P.S. This cake will take part in the class i will be giving at 512 Ideias about Christmas Gifts and Wrapping. And no, we are not going to bake it....by the way it is called Almost mother in law cake and it is a recipe by Miss Dahl</i>Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-21019771474903551062012-10-03T17:47:00.000+01:002012-10-03T17:47:03.993+01:00Lenços dos Namorados * Lovers handkerchiefs<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quadro das mesas</td></tr>
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Os Lenços dos Namorados são uma das mais enraizadas tradições do norte de Portugal. De gerações em gerações, os mais profundos sentimentos foram sendo escritos e depois bordados em preciosos lenços. Muito mais do que um pedaço de pano, são a essência mais pura do amor entre duas pessoas!<br />
Daí que quando me pediram ajuda para fazer alguns elementos decorativos para um casamento muito especial, com o tema dos Lenços dos Namorados, só tive pena de o tempo ser já tão pouco. Adorei o resultado final das peças que fiz e de como se enquadraram no resto da decoração. As fotografias não são excelentes mas por hoje ser dia 3 de Outubro e de este trabalho não ter sido possível fazer sem a ajuda de uma muito querida amiga que hoje está de Parabéns, aqui ficam as imagens para a posteridade!<br />
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<i>Lovers handkerchiefs are one of the most old traditions in the north of Portugal. From generation to generation, the deepest feelings were written and then embroidered in precious handkerchiefs. Much more than a simple piece of fabric, they are the most pure essence of love between two people.</i><br />
<i>So when I was asked to do some decorations for a very special wedding that had Lovers Handkerchiefs as the theme, I was only sorry that there was little time left. I loved the result of the pieces I made and how they blended with the rest of the decorations. The photos are not great but because today is the 3rd of October and that I could have never done this without the help of a very dear friend that has her birthday today, here are the images for posterity!</i><br />
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Cada mesa era representada por um símbolo diferente dos lenços dos namorados que depois se repetia em argolas de guardanapos individuais colocadas em cada lugar.<br />
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<i>Each table was represented by a different symbol of the lovers handkerchiefs that was then repeated in the napkin rings placed at each seat.</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A ementa * The menu</td></tr>
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As ementas foram impressas em tecido próprio para o efeito e depois cosidas por cima de um pano estampado com motivos típicos dos lenços.<br />
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<i>The menus were printed in a special fabric and then sewn over a printed fabric with the traditional symbols of the handkerchiefs.</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Algumas das argolas * Some of the napkin rings</td></tr>
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A minha máquina de costura foi indispensável para coser as cerca de 200 argolas, 30 menus e outros miminhos mais! Talvez assim consigamos preservar algumas das tradições mais bonitas de Portugal!<br />
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<i>My sewing machine was indispensable to sew the 200 napkin rings, 30 menus and other treats more! Maybe this way we can preserve some of Portugal's most beautiful traditions!</i>Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6934734109050051.post-76793610063772219892012-09-27T19:23:00.001+01:002012-09-27T19:23:45.123+01:00Pausa * BreakPor vezes precisamos de uma pausa, de uma quebra com a rotina da vida diária, com o facebbok e o e-mail, com o blog.... Peço desculpa pelo silêncio e prometo que vou tentar regressar mais vezes a este espaço (se não corro o sério risco da minha amiga Rosália cortar relações com a minha pessoa!!!!)<br />
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<i>Sometimes one just needs to have a break from routine, from daily life, from facebook and e-mail, from bloging... I apologize for the silence and promise that I will try to be better!</i><br />
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Não sei bem porque motivo mas estas férias apeteceu-me imenso cozinhar, fazer petiscos, experimentar receitas. Como a grande parte das férias foi passada no campo, nada melhor do que fazer receitas com aquilo que a terra nos dá! Por isso fiz um Risotto com flor de courgette (receita do livro da Miss Dahl que me foi dado pela Ana e que adoro!) que de outra forma não teria tido hipótese de realizar (se conhecerem um local no Porto que venda esta iguaria, por favor partilhem). Adorei e recomendo!<br />
Por isso quando um belo dia foi até ao jardim de cheiros e deparei com milhões de morangos, decidi que estava na hora de fazer compota. Da séria! Já em tempos idos tinha visto no blog da Concha este <a href="http://saidosdaconcha.blogspot.pt/2011/06/como-fazer-doce-de-framboesa-how-to.html" target="_blank">tutorial</a> (que recomendo vivamente) sobre doce de framboesa e por isso resolvi aplicá-lo aos morangos.<br />
Passo 1: reunir frascos de vidro<br />
Passo 2: apanhar os morangos, o que não se revelou tarefa fácil pois nesse dia apanhamos cerca de 10 kg!<br />
Passo 3: lavá-los e tirar-lhes os pés (ainda bem que não eram maçãs ou outra fruta que fosse preciso descascar!)<br />
Passo 4: Let the games begin!!!! (por sorte resolvi fazer isto no único dia de férias em que choveu torrencialmente todo o dia pois estive um dia inteiro até completar o processo)<br />
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<i>I don't really know why but these vacations I just felt like cooking, making sweet and gourmet dishes, experimenting recipes. has we passed most of the time in the countryside, nothing better than to cook with whatever the earth gives you! So I made a Zucchini flower risotto (a recipe from Miss Dahl's cookbook that Ana gave me and that I adore!) which I would never have had the opportunity to make at home (unless you know a place in Porto where you can buy these treats). I loved and recommend the recipe!</i><br />
<i>So one sunny day I went into the herb garden and was faced by milllions of strawberries and decided to make Strawberry jam. The real kind!. A time ago I saw this <a href="http://saidosdaconcha.blogspot.pt/2011/06/como-fazer-doce-de-framboesa-how-to.html" target="_blank">post</a> on Concha's blog (which I really recommend) explaining how to make raspberry jam and I decided to give it a go.</i><br />
<i>Step 1: gather glass jars</i><br />
<i>Step 2: pick the strawberries, whichh wasn't an easy task because we picked over 10 kilos of it</i><br />
<i>Step 3: wash them and remove the stalks (thankfully they were not apples and there was no need to peel them)</i><br />
<i>Step 4: Let the games begin!!!! (luckily I decided to make this in the single day that rained cats and dogs because I was at it all day long)!</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Limpos e prontos para irem para a panela * <i>Cleaned and ready to go into the pan</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A primeira fornada a ferver * <i>The first batch boiling</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Os frascos a secarem no forno * <i>The jars drying in the oven</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uma das fornadas seguintes ainda antes de começar a explodir! * <i>One of the other batches before it started exploding jam all over!</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Já nos frascos * <i>In the jars</i></td></tr>
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Et Voilá! No dia seguinte e já com um sol esplendoroso, aqui fica a fotografia para a posteridade (os frascos mais feios ficaram fora da fotografia). O resultado da colheita: 30 frascos de doce e três gelados de morango! Um grande feito!<br />
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<i>Et voilá! On the following day the sun was already shining and here are the pretty jars lined up for the photo. The result: 30 jars of jam and 3 strawberry ice creams! A great achievement!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>Patrícia Villas-Boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05635937107697185782noreply@blogger.com0