third video in a row, i know… but i can’t help it! :D ljubljana is just picture-perfect these days and in a way, this one doubles as a message to all our friends: what are you waiting for to visit us?! we have plenty of snow and hot chocolate, just come!

a snowy day in ljubljana from ana campos on Vimeo.

no trees were harmed in the making of this movie!

a chinese wedding is a quick and cheerful affair. a couple of hours in a big ballroom spent in a routine that involves speeches, lighting candles, pouring champagne over a tower of glasses and of course, the unmissable fireworks and toasting with all the guests. the food might be exquisite, but is none of the opulent dishes we serve in portugal, which are so big in fact that cakes and dishes often go home with the guests in neat tupperwares.

but regardless of the place where it is celebrated, a wedding is a wedding. big smiles abound and there’s always an immense sense of pride and happiness for the two people tying the knot. it’s something i don’t imagine myself doing anytime soon, but which never fails to make my eyes a little teary.

more so perhaps, when one of the people standing there has been a dear friend for over 10 years, and that we have kept in touch no matter which continent we seemed to have ended up in. and if proof was needed that the world is indeed very small, this would probably be it: an indian friend, that studied in america and now lives in australia, fell in love with a chinese woman and married in shanghai. what are the odds? :)

congratulations debashis and yiyang!

like my grand grandpa used to say, “sweet things never made me bitter!” :D

(from our xmas party, 2 years ago in groningen. more sweetness and nostalgie, on flickr).

mimo, directamente da holanda, na forma de mini-stroopwaffles. perfeitas para o dia cinzento de hoje. obrigado cláudia, chegaram inteiras! :)

* bonuses: design*sponge guide to online shopping, made by bloggers: part 1 and part 2. filled with link goodness and lots of interesting suggestions for different kinds of gifts (artwork, lightning, ceramics, vintage, hidden gems, etc). worth a check.

levi and lulu, dear friends, feet on the sky.
he knows nothing about his future except he wants to fly somewhere and explore some more. she’ll return to shanghai in about a month, to wear her ally-macbeal-professional-outfit once again.
she wore a bikini for the first time the day i took this picture: we managed to convince her to do so, despite her relutance - as it is not morally allowed in china (or most asian countries, i’ve heard).
her big happy smile, sunbathing in the grass: “this is nice.”
indeed.

i’ve been in the netherlands for the past 8 months, and now that my head is in countdown mode towards september, i can’t seem to actually believe it. not just yet. all my life is here (except for family and the bit of my heart that flew overseas), on this cozy room, walls filled with stories, details and memories.
living in the same corridor with all the people that got to be my closest friends. it’s just too good AND it’s true.