a stopmotion wedding surprise

My sister (aka Padeira) got married to Augusto (aka Carteiro)! 

We wanted to give them a nice surprise for their wedding, so the creative bridesmaids teamed up with Pedro, our stopmotion tech specialist and made an amazing homemade and handcrafted production. 

Inspired by our favorite cardboard designers at Oupas, we scripted the storyboard, cut out the action figures and scenarios, edited with music and voices and taaa daaa, we bring you: O Carteiro e a Padeira for your viewing pleasure!

The day Ana was born

The day Ana was born was supposed to be a very long day. 

On the morning of the day Ana was born, we got up early to go renew our drivers license: our visa had just been approved for another 2 years and this was the last day before our licenses expired.

The day Ana was born we finally got around to taking some nice pregnancy photos, something we had been postponing for several weeks and decided that day would be the day.

The day Ana was born we were going to spend the day cleaning out our new place of all the dust, dirt and paint to get it ready for the move in that was going to happen the next day. These were the final days of our lease on our old place, so we had to move fast.

The day Ana was born I spent the most part of the afternoon on all fours scrubbing the dirt and paint stains from the floor of our bedroom, thinking if nothing else is clean, at least our bedroom would be ready for Ana. I  had been feeling pressure on my cervix and so down on all fours was the best position to be in, apparently, this helps labor babies! 

The day Ana was born my water broke at around 7pm while I was taking a break from scrubbing the floors. Pedro was beside me and we both smiled with anticipation and panic: she was coming on the worst possible day! She was coming 2 weeks early, at 37 weeks. 

The day Ana was born, we calmly took a deep breath and called all our family and close friends. We headed home for a shower and a meal, got everything ready for the hospital and prepared ourselves for a long night ahead.

The doctor was called: "Don't worry, this takes long. You can either come to the hospital and wait it out and we might have to induce it, but the best would be to stay home and come in in the morning."

The day Ana was born, I started feeling very mild cramps about an hour after my water broke which quickly became less mild and very close apart: 3 minutes! Early labor contractions are usually 20-30 min. apart, so we got worried. 

At around 8:30pm contractions became more intense and water was gushing from inside me. All I wanted to do was sit at the toilet. At around 9pm contractions became unbearable, lots of pain and 2min apart. I remember thinking: if these are early labor contractions, I don't want to know what active labor feels like. 

The doctor was called again: "okay, if you feel pain, then come in". She probably thought: "yeah, yeah, another paranoid first time mom..."

The contractions got so bad we headed immediately to the hospital at around 9:30-10pm. Those was not normal early labor contractions: super intense, every 2 min and water kept on coming out. 

Breath Isabel, breath! 

The day Ana was born the receptionist at the hospital said: "please fill these papers out". I grabbed Pedro, with a puddle of water around my feet and yelled "I feel like pushing!" This was when she realized I couldn't wait for paper work and called a nurse who forced me onto a wheelchair and into the delivery room. Our documents were left on the counter, our car in the temporary parking spot. 

The day Ana was born, I was 8cm dilated by 10pm! This girl was coming out fast not waiting for the doctor who was still 25min away and a back up doctor was being called. Nurses were all around me with needles and monitors. I asked for an epidural, they laughed: "you are too far in labor for that". I was grateful. I always wanted Ana to be born with a natural, drug free labor and that's what I was getting!

So suck it up Isabel, you are doing this! 

The day Ana was born there was no time for the playlist on my phone, no time for the nice hospital gown I bought, no time for photos. 

The day Ana was born I had Pedro smiling and encouraging me on one side of the bed and a Scottish nurse on the other helping me breath through every contractions: breathing is what made the pain bearable. Pushing felt so relieving. Her head was out and then her body and then she's placed on my chest: we finally saw her and she's beautiful with a full set of hair. 

Ana was born after 10 contractions and 5 intense pushes at 10:53pm with 3.145kg, 51cm, with no tearing and no stitches. Thank you Ana. 

The day Ana was born was the most amazing day of our lives.

3 years

Three years today I married my best friend. What a great day to remember and think about what we've accomplished in 3 amazing years together. We are good together and you make me a better person. At the end of the day, I think that's what marriage is all about. 

Photo by Twiggs

DIY: how to fix a broken USB pen drive

All the work I've been doing in Portugal for the book editorial was all very nicely stored in a pen drive. And only a pen drive. I've been meaning to back it up for a while, but kept on postponing it. I had the pen hanging from my computer until this weekend when the USB connector broke off from the card shaped holder were the data is stored! So basically I had all my work stored in a chip that wasn't accessible! This is where I panicked, serious panicking! I had gone to Portugal for 3 weeks in January to finish off my work and now I couldn't retrieve it!

Naturally I called Pedro. With little expectation of fixing it ourselves, I called IT repair companies for quotes: between 100$ and 550$ to fix the pen and retrieve the data! 

Since we do believe in doing it ourselves, Pedro got home from work and dismantled the whole thing. What need to be done was rewire the pen to a new USB connector. To do so he need to cut up a USB cord exposing the wires, figure out the order of the wire color scheme (black, green, white, red) so not to burn the chip, somehow establish a solid connection and then hook it to the PC and pray it worked! 

Instead of soldering the wires to the chip, as all the tutorials he had watched required, he connected the wires with tape! After long periods of holding my breath, we hooked it up to my laptop and then we heard the beautiful sound of an device activating! This is when I copy/paste all the files to my desktop and sighed in relief. Lesson learned: always backup files!

Oh and did I mention how amazing my husband is!? 

NYE

Cause a new year is coming and with it a whole new list of things to do!
Bring on the mockaritas! 

Christmas in ATL

This year, my sister Helena, her fiance Gusto and our cousin Jessica came over over Toronto to spend Christmas with us. It's great to have a full house and fancy breakfasts every morning, game nights and a to-do list of things that was almost fully accomplished.

For Christmas Eve dinner we had friends over which we were very thankful for. Obviously, we prepared our typical Portuguese Christmas dinner with our family's secret sauce that makes the tedious boiled potatoes and cod a most delicious treat! This is when we most feel like emigrants cultivating the nostalgia for the motherland or, as we Portuguese put it, "saudades". 

Pedro had some fun filming this time lapse video of the preparations for dinner, enjoy!  

We really hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! 

there's going to be a baby

A while back, we were walking through a park in Atlanta and found this book on a bench and instagramed it. At the time we "cried wolf" and it was fun. But now, my friends, it's the real thing! I'm 5 months pregnant and there really is going to be a baby!

Oh, and it's a girl!

oh happy day

After 2 months of skype and letters, Pedro is in Portugal and I am so happy!

happy birthday pedro

He turns 32 today so wish him a Happy Birthday!! 

32

This was the first year that I didn't really care much about my birthday. There wasn't a cake and everyone who sang the birthday song to me somehow didn't get to the end of it! At 32 all I really want is meaningful relationships and spending time with family and friends. So I guess I can say I had a great birthday! 

This gift was this book. You are the best! 

one year

When you marry the same person twice, there's a lot to celebrate!
It was a year ago that we brought together two families and said yes to one another. Best day ever!
Photography: Nuno Palha

don't open. it's a present

I got a package in the mail today. It says: Isabel Marques (Don't open, it's a present! Pedro)
My birthday is a week away and I have the best husband ever!

2 years

2 years today. many more ahead. 

Special request!

Pedro, my darling, when will you return to being a blogger again?! I miss reading your long, descriptive, carefully laid out and curated blog posts about the amazing things you've done. 

Ah, os lugares por onde irão!

And so here it is: the film you've all been waiting for! Well maybe just our family and friends. It's our very very home made video that we prepared for our wedding with the help a lot of our family and friends who said yes to all our crazy requests. We are so grateful to everyone and so proud! 

This video was inspired by the book "Oh the Places You'll Go", by Dr. Suess and by this amazing video at Burning Man which I've posted on the blog. We also used the title for our invitation. We translated it to Portuguese as much as we could to keep some of the poems's meaning, rewrote other parts and added our own touch to it. The poem is all about life's journey and it's ups and downs. To be honest, we've quoted many times to each other verses from the poem when things don't go so well and it truly has been a source of inspiration for forgiveness and love.

Ah, os lugares por onde irão!

Muitos Parabéns!
Hoje é o vosso dia!
Vão partir para grandes lugares!
Vão em boa companhia!

Juntos irão de mão dada pela vida,
Juntos estarão em qualquer contrapartida!
Têm os sapatos cheios de pés,
e um cerebro na cabeça,
podem caminhar para onde vos apeteça.
Vão procurar pelas ruas: rua acima, rua abaixo.
Mas atencao!
Quem se mete em atalhos,
mete-se em trabalhos!
Podem não encontrar a Rua da Felicidade,
e neste caso, é claro, vão sair da cidade.
Aí o céu é imenso e o percurso sera intenso,

Lá fora muitas coisas poderão acontecer
e muitas surpresas certamente irão ter,
Especialmente a duas pessoas com tanto cerebro e pezudos como vocês!
E quando as coisas começarem a acontecer,
não tenham medo, não fiquem nervosos.
Passarão por elas por serem dois seres curiosos.

É pá são tantos são os lugares por onde irão!

Estarão no caminho certo, sempre a subir...
E lá de cima terão belas vistas!
de turistas
e alpinistas
de ciclistas
e floristas
de nudistas
e expressionistas!
Serão os dois muito felizes, sempre a sorrir.

Não vão ficar para trás,pois vão a toda a velocidade!
Vão passar toda a gente com a vossa curiosidade!
Para onde quer que voem, estarão no topo do mundo.
Para onde quer que forem, nunca ficarão em segundo.

Excepto quando ficarem em segundo.
Porque, por vezes, ficarão.
E desculpa dizer-vos, mas sabem que é verdade,
que vistos e imprevistos também são realidade.
E se num imprevisto ficarem presos e engaiolados
e todos à vossa volta terão voado
Vão ficar assim meios desanimados.

E quando se está desanimado, divertido não é com certeza!
Voltar a ter animo não é fácil proeza.
Chegarão a um lugar sem ruas marcadas.
Algumas com luz... mas na maioria, pouco iluminadas.
Neste lugar estranho, o que vos leva a entrar?
O que é que podem perder?
O que é que podem ganhar?
E se escolherem entrar, viram à esquerda ou à direita?
Ou a viram direita e três quartos?
Ou talvez nem tanto...
Ou dão a volta e escondem-se num canto?

Simples não é, lamento dizer.
mesmo para dois cromos como voces sabem ser!
Vao ficar tao confusos, que comecarao a correr
por estradas tortas, por caminhos escuros,
sem saber para onde vao... vao-se perder!

Perder na Rotina...e na monotonia.. e ficarão à espera
à Espera do carro que vai
ou um comboio que vem,
ou um avião que vai
ou uma carta que vem,
ou a chuva que cai
ou o telefone tocar,
ou a neve a nevar
esperam por aí na fila da cantina
ou pela dose de cafeína

Tudo entra em rotina...
esperando ser o outro a falar
ou de não abraçar
esperando por perdoar
ou por não magoar
ou por uma melhor oportunidade
ou por um pouco de humildade
à espera por um beijo de bom dia
ou de menos apatia
Tudo entra em rotina!

NÃO!
Isso não é pra vocês!
Não se vão deixar levar por essa rotina e estagnação
e vão encontrar um lugar cheio de imaginação!
Onde 4 pés esquerdos também podem dançar
e a neve é boa para acampar.
Onde se pedala de Vigo a Lisboa
e á mão se amassa o pão e a broa

Ah, tantos são os lugares para onde irão!

Há muita diversão para ter e muito amor para dar!
Têm pontos para marcar e jogos para vencer!
E as coisas mágicas que farão por amor?!
Vão dar à vossa vida um brilhante esplendor!
Porque esta viagem é feita a dois
e onde vence um, vencem sempre os dois!

Excepto quando não vencerem.
Porque, às vezes, não vencerão.
E quer gostem quer não,
por vezes vão jogar jogos de razão.
Lamento que vos diga,
Mas também vão passar por estas dores de barriga.
E neste jogo de razão quem é que afinal tem razão?
Por mais que queiram os vencedores, quem serão?
Quer gostem, quer não, aquilo que vao encontrar vos podera assustar
que não vão querer continuar...

Mas em diante caminharão
mesmo que o tempo esteja feio!
Em diante andarão, sem medo nem receio.
Sempre em frente sem parar
mesmo que os braços fiquem fracos
e os sapatos com buracos.
Porque sei que longe vão chegar!
Sempre em frente sem parar!
Prontos para encarar os problemas que sejam
e onde quer que eles estejam.

Por isso estejam confiantes deste passo que deram
e nunca se esqueçam de onde vieram!
Tudo o que façam que seja com entrega e intenção
e não confundem o pé com a mão.
Sejam sempre integros e verdadeiros
e lembrem-se que terão sempre os amigos como companheiros.
E nunca se esquecam do conselho dos pais,
e do amor das maes
da amizade das irmas
e das brincadeiras dos primos
e das historias das avos
e do apoio dos tios
e das tias
e dos padrinhos e das madrinhas
e das vizinhas!
Porque com a juventude aprendem o que com a idade compreendem

E vão conseguir?
Claro que sim, disso não duvido!
98 e 3/4 por cento garantido
Malta, vão mover montanhas!
Porque hoje é o vosso dia
vão partir para grandes lugares e já estão em boa companhia!

ana and abel

About a week ago it was my father's birthday. Today my mom turns 61. No matter how many hours I spend with them on skype, it still hurts to be away and not be able to give them a great big hug... 

oh, the places you'll go

Oh, the places you'll go is the theme for our wedding and these are the invitations we've been sending out for the last couple of months. I know what you are thinking: they are already married. True, but this time is the official church wedding with family and friends and we are really looking forward to it. 

It was fun and hard work putting this together since neither of us have any design experience. We got to a point where we understood why people hire real designers for this sort of thing! But we are really proud of how it turned out and everyone seems to enjoy them. Though we do have to explain how it works: because we love receiving postcards we wanted everyone to send us a postcard with their reply. So the balloon will "fly" to us here in Atlanta. Some family members simply said: you know I'm going, so let me keep the balloon! We'll probably have all the postcards on display at the reception. 

 And yes, there is a dress, but I'm only talking about that after we say YES in June!  

oh, the places you'll go!

you'll be on your way up

you'll be seeing great sights.

you'll join the high fliers 

who soar to high heights.

many of you already know what this is all about. but some don't. so I'll make a bit of suspense out of it! 

welcome back (part three)

To know what we (Sandra, Helena and I) did in Toronto and what Helena did to her hair, you can read all about it here, here, here and here. I don't care what anyone else thinks, her hair looks awesome!

The best part of revisiting Toronto was seeing friends from elementary school again. Though I didn't get the chance to see everyone I initially wanted to see... for which I'm sorry and promise the next time we'll all get together! It was nice remembering the dumb stuff from when we were kids and catching up on life since then.  It turns out that I have a terrible memory and they remembered so much more. 

Loved it! 

Thank you so much for making this a "welcome home" journey! 

PS: I did forget to mention one thing: I crossed off 2 more items on my list, # 16 and #55. I'll be making a new list soon...

becoming 30

Officially I am 30 years old.
I had the perfect day! Even though I am away from family and friends, everyone was so wonderful, sending sweet messages and videos.Thank you for making this day so especial.

My very own Betty Crocker chocolate cake!

Pedro gave the best birthday gift I could ever receive: working from home and being with me. 

And also making sure I completed some of the items on my list, so I had a really busy day:

#53 we bought a canvas, and I started painting it.

#76 donated to Kiva.

#27 wrote a poem.

#36 bought a bike.
#24 made strangers happy.
#82 got a massage.

By the end of the day I thought that was it. WRONG.
Pedro made me to go the supermarket to buy a cake and candles. By the time I got home... SURPRISE! He had decorated the house and invited our 2 friends and neighbors for my "massive" birthday party (#79) / murder mistery (#68) / tea party (#15), with Halef dressed as a fortune teller (# 47) and a pinhata hanging from the wall (#42)! How wonderful is that! The day finished off with us jumping into the pool at 11:30pm (#5) and me covering Pete with kisses (#86)!

my face as I opened the door!

Halef helping out with the decor. 

my pirate pinhata!