HAPPY BIRTHDAY XANDINHA

We are three in the pictures! 41 years old it's been a long and difficult road. Sometimes it's worth it others i just want to skip it, like we all do once in a while. Hopefully there's still plenty to go, God knows. The forties bring an awareness that i ve search for a long time so it's good if we could stop the wrinkles then it would be perfect...As we don't live in a perfect world the better is to accept them with serenity and keep on smiling, at least the'll be happy wrinkles!
It's been a long journey and i've been blessed most of the time without realizing it, i have to admit! 


Blessed to be alive
Blessed to be in health
Blessed with a strong powerful mom and her inconditional love
Blessed with the admiration of a devoted father
Blessed with the love and friendship of my husband
Blessed with the trust and tenderness of a little big brother
Blessed with my delicious uncle Tio Ze Rui that i cherish so much
Blessed with my godmother Isabel who will always be there for me
Blessed with my soul mate Leo Ana who understands me so well (aren't we alike!)
Blessed with my friend Francky with whom i can dance for 12 h in a row(he's me in male)
Blessed with my parisian and witty friend Emanuelle who encourages me so much  
Blessed with my creative friend Carlos Miguel with whom i laugh so much
Blessed with my dear artfriends who inspire me so much Amanda, Adie, Janne, Nikki, Stephanie, Jessica, Amy, Lisa
Blessed to be able to create
Blessed to travel worlwide
Blessed to welcome new friends Alex and Bella 
Blessed to have my cat Frimousse who gives me so much tenderness

 Merci a tous 

Je compte m'amuser aujourd'hui

I will have fun today

xo

Love letter

The 4th of august I will be...forever young! My mom and husband are already trying to figure out how they can surprise me. As presents books will be my ever first choice, i'm never tired of books. There's nothing like the ritual of sitting in my favorite sofa with a huge cup of tea with milk, savouring and anticipating the emotions the book hopefully will bring. And when it does, one feels revigorate and joyful.  
 I remembered one of the best presents i received a couple of years ago and that i carry every day with me in my purse, it's an unconditional love letter from my mom. She had this weird dream that something was going to happen to her and she wanted very much to tell us how much she both loved us my little big brother and I. In the era of internet  mails and twitter, we rarely take the time to send love or friendship letters at all which in a way it's a pity. 
I reread my precious letter now and then with the same positive outburst of emotions and she is always present with me wherever i am in the world. 

                       BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

So good to be on holiday...

After two days in the beach, I feel that my body and my soul are recovering pretty fast. There's nothing like a day in the sun to regain energy and I have still 15 days hourra!!! Rereading "light emerging" from Barbara Brennan and she tells us exactly that among other extraordinary things, how much the sun has a power and healing effect on us in a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual way. 
Check at your nearest theatre "Inception" with Di Caprio and Marion Clotillard, is truly the best film i have seen in years. Dreams are the main subject of the film who evolves around the idea that though difficult if one can incept a thought associated with a strong positive feeling within our brain while we are dreaming then when we wake up our attitude, thoughts, behaviors have changed. We are a total different person. It's a powerful movie, one that keeps you wondering what if.....Love it! The essence of the movie is "we are what we think we are" the mind is the gatekeeper everything comes from your thoughts. 


HAVE FUN XO

Relaxing...

I'm on holiday! Youpiiii....kind of feel like the guy on the left...without energy but not that skinny fortunately! Arrived yesterday from Hong-Kong which is a city that i love though i'm never completely awake in Asia...despite the foot reflexology despite trying to sleep most of the day despite wandering at 3 am thoughout the ladies market which is our day back in Europe, feel free to give me any tips on "how to cop with  +8 hours and remain nice and fresh..."
I'm that lucky that my husband who is always trying to make my life easier, just found an excellent acunpunctor who is ok to have our session at my place. That's what i call " a good quality life". Heading to the supermarket my fridge is empty... and blessed the guy who invented "delivery at home" that's another big luxury to leave the trolley at the cashier and have everything at home the following day.

Kind of lazy these days... but it feels good to just relax living without schedules for a while...doing only what comes to our mind and enjoying every single minute of it.
xo have fun

Love is the answer

It's 3pm back home and...10pm here in Singapour. I'm sleepless which is rather normal one could say. I happened to see "twilight" for the first time on my way to seattle  with the fabulous vampire love story about Edward and Isabella, and now again here in Asia. I admitted that i fall in love for the characters and the movie as did the rest of the world. It countain beauty danger passion mystery authenticity and inconditional love... When one has the chance of finding our soul mate life gains a purpose a sense of balance and rightness.
Though humans  seek for that "perfect love"most of the time either they run from it or don't agknowledge has being that "rare and precious" thing.The human mind is far too complicated but when is our time to depart LOVE will definitely be what's on our minds.
Did we love enough?
Did we love well?
Did we give enough love?
Did we receive the love we were expecting?

                                                  LOVE is the only answer Einstein


Have a good week...have fun xo i will try to sleep now

I am proud to be an artist

Yesterday, friends suggested me to go the international craft fair with them. I was very enthusiastic to see what others artists come up with and with this nagging idea that maybe i could be part of the adventure for 2011.....Well let me tell you that I come back home feeling outraged by what i saw!

The first pavilion was indeed dedicated to portuguese crafters from special brands like olive oil, enbroidery, excellent and exquisite jewelry... I encountered friends from my craft and design fairs, met others artists...I was happy to see so many portuguese creativity flowing and have this sense of being "at home". 
Then there was the second pavilion...very crowded I must say with jewelry for 2 euros made in china, pashminas made in india...sculptures from africa .... This was not a craft world.
How can an organization supposedly serious allow such discrepancy? 
Crafters, artists cannot compete with fabric made by thousands in china? It was supposed and it's called international crafters fair.
It is without doubt international but there isn't any handmade or creativity there, as you find the same items worlwide. I was disapointed but not the least surprised by what i saw. 

So definitely i will not have my work there. I spoke with an artist friend who told me how much she wasunfuriated by what the fair organization had allowed without warning them. One learns everyday!

I do have experienced though that it is easy to be explore. I sense that artists have a difficulty at the beguining of being self confident self aware of the value of their work, about what they bring to the society.
What would be a world without dreamers?
What would be a world without free spirits?
What would be a world without creativity?


I'm in a ongoing process of knowing too who I am as an artist and.....
IT S FUN to recognize my own value what i worth my uniqueness in this world.

So yesterday was a very profitable journey indeed! 
Ones has to be patient has quality is always the winner in the end...


HAVE A GOOD WEEK END... I will

Namaste

It s almost 1pm and i ve been sleeping for the last 13 hours...And I'am not completely awake! What a body can take is always a surprise for me. Last week, I slept sunday and monday in Paris, tuesday in Delhi, wednesday i was working in the plane, thursday and friday in lisbon, saturday back to paris and sunday i will go to the whole food market in New york... no I don't think you'll want to know the week after ....
I may seems awesome when one has the same routine over and over. when each week resembles the one before but believe me it needs a lot of omega 3 to keep going!!!
I skip my flight to Montreal to have a Delhi instead. India either you love it or you hate it, there's no in between. I love it. From the wonderful food to the Sari of the women, from the beautiful landscape to the the taj mahal but specialy for the spirituality that lies everywhere.
It's the authentic India that i cherish not Bollywood  though i fancy watching their wonderland love movies.

India is the land of Ma Ananda Moyi "the Mother"
India is the land of Vivekananda
India is the land of Sai Baba
India is the land of Spirituality
I had in the past only unique moments and very transforming ones for that matter.
My stay in a ashram, in Mount Abu held by "the dodies" three extraordinary and holy women were a before and a after experience. I brought only love, friendship, enlightement, energy, awareness back with 
me. Small changes, for instance i do reuse the same cloths don't put them in the washing machine as i used to do before. I don't keep useless things at home i give them back. I don't accumulate as i used to...and my stay was short imagine a year in India...
India is a sacred land for me so I was very disappointed and surprised last night to be tricked by this man calling himself Mrs Happy who turned out to be unreliable, untrusty and unprofessional but my love for India will prevail no matter what.
I cherish with my mom this idea of going to Dharamsala, where his Holiness the Dalai Lama lives, staying in Rishiquesh the land of Holy man. As you see traveling is in my bones so though i'm tired i will go on...and on. Coming back to my nest and off again...gaining more and more tolerance as i get to meet others cultures. Just finished a profound superbly book by Yasmina Khadra, an algerian author about an arab doctor, naturalized Israelite who lives in Tel aviv with his wife also palestinian, and who seemed to be perfectly integrated only to discover that after a kamikaze attack it's the doctor's wife the kamikaze. It's then a description of this man who saves lifes how can he have not realize what his wife was about to do, his despair at failing to understand what takes a woman to commit such a brutal and irreversible act, how could he live, love, cherish a woman who happened to be in the end a murderer. It's an awakening book not to be missed. 
Now i'm heading to the beach with my beloved....gaining energy flirting and dancing with the sun


Have a good week end...xo

I am scared...

I am scared...I want to skip my therapy...I don't like the way I'm feeling ...Everything seems worse, out of control. I have so many unanswered questions? Everyone telling me that I should grow up, cutting the umbilical rope? Why? I mean is there someone in the whole world who will always be there for me other than Mom? Who will always love me no matter what i do or say?
And what exactly does it mean to cut the umbilical rope in real life?
Is like when you grieve there's always comes a time when people gently advise you to turn the page, to let go!
How can you let go?
You never let go, the pain will decrease but the longing will be present everyday single day, no matter the years. I miss my mamie (grandmother) every day and sometimes pray for her to take her with me, when Life seems unbereable. When there seems to be no solutions. When the only thing that i want is just to be able to sleep a week in a row! I try but I am questioning my ability to recover. I want to heal but is it my mental tricking me again? will my emotional follow an unknown path?

I did choose my Life

but 

I don't remember what I am supposed to learn?

What is my mission here?

What must I overcome?

What must I learn?

What must I integrate?

Am I in the right track?
Is there a right track?
How can I improve myself? 
Do we ever change our energy?


I've noticed over the years that we humans have a tendency to remain the victim, even if it's difficult there is a certain pleasure within it. It takes a lot of courage to really change. I hope i will (my husband is hoping too....is developping patience! )
Sorry girls/boys  for the outburst, maybe it's the asia jet lag? Let's see what happens therapy next week....cool

God, give us the Grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed

Courage to change the things which should be changed, and 

the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Serenity prayer

I am so excited...just have the green light to realize an album about Vataça de Lascaris. born in the 13th century, who was not only an extraordinary woman that led a Life for the time unique of its kind and was very close to our most famous Queen Saint Isabel. After married at thirteen a much older man by assignement of the king Dom Diniz, she become a childless widow  at twenty four  and instead of going to a convent or remarried she remained single, very wealthy in a world of man for more than forty years. That's quite remarkable!
I was invited by Miguel Vilhena, who among others things is a film maker, needless to say how much i am enthusiastic about this whole project.
My head is running fast now...where to begin that's always the hardest part to plunge into it!
Heading to New-York so i will take my notebook with me one never knows if new ideas pop in.
Have a good week

I love Hong Kong

Wandering in Hong Kong, I found this vintage postcards and thought to myself how i would have loved to rewind time and meet fancy people dress not in jeans but in those beautiful gowns! It's a very crowded city,  the jet lag is quite difficult for me more used to the states. There is so much to see...and to buy that's tricky too one get's tempted ... by many useless stuff.

 Each time I fly to Hong Kong after many hours of shopping i love to stop at The Peninsula to have an afternoon tea. It's one of my favorites spots, just to close my eyes and to be able to feel this particular atmosphere that remain in old palaces, time stands still... It's quite awesome.

Back home, I have troubled finding sleep and therefore regaining energy to fly again to New York this time,  minus 6 hours versus plus 8 hours in Asia. I'ts always a surprise how we  humans have this extraordinary faculty to adapt to circumstances no matter difficult they can be. The strengh and resilience of our bodies and mind is remarkable.

Now after two big bowls of coffee and feeling still sleepy refraining myself to go back to bed at 1h30pm i'm pondering either i should go to the beach to gain energy from the sea or to make my taxes?
Yey....thought so i'm going to finish my night at the beach under the umbrella snoring and relaxing...taxes can wait...till tomorrow


Have a good day.