Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts

In Lifestyle

Hello September


Now we are talking! My favorite season of the years is about to start, and I am ready!

Although we Carolinians won't see the change of colors starting for another month, the fact that this is the last breath of summer is a relieve to me. Scalding summer is about to be over, enjoyable walks are going to start over, a cool breeze will start blowing and I am preparing my fall bucket list.

What are you up to?

♥ Enjoy!

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In Lifestyle

Sobre comprar produtos dos EUA


Eu me mudei para os EUA em 2007, e desde então vários amigos vieram me visitar, e todos, sem exceção me pedem para levá-los ao Outlet.

Agora já virou rotina e já coloco na programação para as férias deles, enquanto estão aqui. Assim não passamos o tempo todo fazendo compras.


Desde que vim morar aqui entendi imediatamente porque brasileiros amam comprar no exterior. Tudo é muito mais barato comparado com o que pode-se comprar no Brasil, mesmo com o dólar alto, ainda vale a pena economizar e vir comprar aqui do que gastar o dinheiro em shoppings brasileiro.

A qualidade daqui será maior e você irá adquirir mais pelo mesmo valor gasto.


A parte que fica mais pesada, geralmente é o frete. Enviar coisas para o Brasil, adicionando o tarifação alfandegária, pode pesar um pouco, mas de acordo com o que a maioria dos amigos falam, ainda assim compensa.


Uma caixa grande enviada pela USPS (o correio americano) com no máximo de 20 lbs, ou seja 9 quilos, custa em média USD 77.00. Usando como exemplo as imagens acima, isso é o que cabe em uma caixa grande. Retirando as etiquetas, e os plásticos, para ficar bem apertadinho.

Como ainda tinha um pouquinho mais de espaço, coloquei alguns presentes a mais, e o resultado você pode ver a seguir:

E é mais ou menos isso que cabe em uma caixa grande. poderia caber um pouquinho mais, mas só se espremer tudo bem apertadinho.



E o resultado é que apesar de poder enviar até 9 quilos, por causa do volume, apenas menos de 3 quilos (5 lbs, 2 oz) estarão sendo enviados.


Os produtos acima estão sendo enviados para meu irmão e cunhada no Brasil, para o nascimento do primeiro filho deles. Estou enviando como presente e de todo meu coração. Vou atualizar este post com o prazo que levou para chegar lá.

Vale a dica, e fiquem atentos quando comprarem dos EUA. Acredito que ainda vale a pena mas tenham em mente a diferença entre volume e massa.

♥ Enjoy!

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In Lifestyle

Have you ever made your own pottery?


It's the first weekend of August, and summer is going full force for the ones living in Charlotte, NC. The days I dreamed over summer, pool, and a good tan line, are leaning towards air-conditioning, indoors, and any shade one can get.

Having a 3½ years old in the house, I am most of the time worried if she has enough sunscreen on her, and how much of it is honestly protecting her skin from sun damage. The alternative is to find indoor activities to avoid the long days of burning heat.


Today we went to Dish It Out Pottery Studio, located in Stonecrest, and we had a blast. They are a complete paint your own pottery studio. You pick the bisque-ware, paint it and they glaze and fire it for you. In about a week, you return for your original piece of art.

Sophia wanted to have an elephant and a giraffe, to decorate our fridge, and so we did.


Each table has a combination of brushes that will meet any need you will have during your project. A great variety of colors (in the bottles pictured below) is offered to give wings to your imagination.


The smile on her face cannot hide the fun she was having.


I'll be updating this post later with the final product pictures. Can't wait to have our new magnets to decorate our home. Specially some made by such special person in our lives.


♥ Enjoy!

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In Lifestyle

Hello August

hello august / throw back to six years ago

August please be kind to me.

Half of the year is gone, and now I start to crunch time for the end of the year. It used to be my favorite month, and now that I am back in the corporate world it always symbolizes the new goals, re-evaluation, analysis, new targets and assessments.

I still enjoy it, but wonder if I will ever have the fun and nonchalant rush of my old time Augusts.

Picture above is a throw back to six years ago. Feels as if it happened yesterday.

♥ Enjoy!

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In Lifestyle

Adventures around North Carolina { Jack C. Whitener Bridge, High Shoals, NC }


Some days you can make all the plans you want to, but your faith is going to have her own plans for you.

Today was a day like that.

I promised my daughter we were going to visit a flea market nearby, a must "to go" recommendation made by a friend, and after driving for almost 1 hour we could not find the place - and it was not supposed to be a hide in the woods type of location, once the website was mentioning about 600 vendors.

But if we don't find the flea market, we find something else to do right? And the result are on the pictures shown here today.


We found this old bridge in the city of High Shoals, NC. The bridge is called Jack C. Whitener Bridge and goes over the South Fork River, near U.S. 321.


I never thought my daughter would be so excited to go on an old, inactivated bridge, to just take pictures and sit for a moment under scalding sun to just relax and have a "quiet time" as she recalled.


If you are looking for a unique place to take a few pictures this bridge will offer plenty of inspiration.


To find it, is a bit tricky, so here are the directions: N Lincoln St, Dallas, NC 28034 (35.397391, -81.203407)

♥ Enjoy!

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In Lifestyle

Lynnwood Equestrian Center


Lynnwood Equestrian Center in Fort Mill, SC
Does your child love horses? Is your child too young for horse lessons? Would you like a fun and different way to throw a birthday party for your children? Please let me share with you what Lynnwood Equestrian Center has to offer.

We were there for one of our my daughter's friend's birthday party and loved the experience. 

They offer birthday parties for children ages 4 and up. The party last for two hours and they use 4-5 of their lesson horses and ponies and let the children ride for an hour. While the children are waiting to ride, sand pile with toys, a very friendly donkey and two mini horses that they can pet are available. The second hour is for eating, opening presents and cake. Feel free to bring a piñata.

The center does  all the decorating for the party, tablecloth, paper products, Dominos pizza and a drink. A banner with the child’s name and age on it, a special gift is given to the birthday children as they leave. The parent is responsible for the birthday cake and goodie bags, and any food that you may want to offer adult guests.

Parties are priced by how many children show up on the day of the party:
#5 is $165
#8 is $190
#10 is $225
#12 is $250
#15 is $275
#20 is $300


If two families want to do a combined party then there are additional costs.
The party times are 11:00 on Saturday mornings or at 3-4:00 on Sunday afternoons. Some Saturday afternoons are available, as well. In the event of rain, we do have large indoor barn aisles so the children can still get on the horses. They offer the parties all year long, as they have a very large party room in the barn for the cold or rainy weather. They have received “best place to have a birthday party” two years in a row!
♥ Enjoy!

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In Lifestyle

Monchichi Dolls


Monkey Thumb Sucking Doll
Monchichi Doll
Who remembers the Monchichi Dolls? Well we have one in our home, from my husband's childhood. Once we found out we were pregnant, it was the first toy he wants to grab from his mother's house to bring over to hand to add to our baby's collection.

Interesting enough she really likes it and plays with her Monchichi Doll quite often. 

Last night I was looking up for Monchichi Dolls online and was surprised to find out that they becoming collectors items and some vintage models are having market value around the $ 100's house.

I am not looking to sell our little Monchichi, but it's a good thing to know that keeping our toys in good shape might be worth some (not much in this case, but still... ) money in the future.

Monchichi Doll Commercial

♥ Enjoy!

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In Lifestyle travel

Excuses

We just need to stop creating excuses and become more responsible for everything surrounding us.

A shout out from the great city of Chicago!

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In diy Lifestyle

DIY Toms like Shoes


I do love Toms shoes, but sometimes they simply do not have the colors I need. My daughter is going to be Tinker Bell this Halloween, and I want her to have matching, but comfy, shoes, to go trick-or-treating. So after two weeks of browsing around for the perfect shoes, I bumped into a look-a-like natural pair of Toms shoes at Hobby Lobby.


Well, with my thinking skills was pretty simple, I already had Mod Podge at come, just grabbed a bottle of green extra fine glitter, and we are on our way to make our own shade of Tinker Bell Green Toms Shoes. :-)


First I brushed the shoes with Mod Podge, making sure the fabric soaked well. Also I did it by parts, so the glue wouldn't dry before the next step.


Second I poured the sparkles over the glue. And repeated again, all over the shoes.


Pretty simple huh?

♥ Enjoy!

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In blog Lifestyle

Fall Bucket List


Fall is here, and we all need a bucket list. Here is my list, what are your fall must dos?

♥ Enjoy!

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In blog Lifestyle motherhood

Smart Car Mom

Click on the Picture to Download

As I am writing it I have a feeling I might regret my choice, but I'll ignore it and write anyways. So please if you don't agree with me, choose kind words to demonstrate it. It's ok to have different opinions.
I am a Smart Car mom.

Last year my mother in law allowed me to poses her Smart Car. Yes I do mean to say poses. Let me explain: Chris and I were an one car couple for years. We drove each other to work, because we worked near each other. Than once we had Sophia and I didn't work for awhile, we coordinated our schedules and used a lot of communication, so the days I needed the car I would just drop him off at work and finish everything during the 8 hours I had before picking him up.

Once I took a job out of our comfort zone we needed another car. Initially was a temporary position, so we were not comfortable purchasing a new car, so kindly, Chris's mother allowed us to use her Smart Car. But later on we moved to Charlotte and the Smart came along with us. So that's explain why do I drive a Smart Car. 

Although is a tiny car, I do love it. I am not so sure if I would purchase it, strictly because I always weigh my options when investing in something trying to figure out how much return I'll have in the investment. But since I invested nothing (except in maintenance) in this car, well, you get the picture, right? 

First the tank has less than 10 gallons, so it takes me less than $30.00 dollars to fill it up. Second sometimes I can drive around 45 miles per gallon, and that's pretty amazing in my opinion. Third, I need to change the oil once a year only, sometimes can go even long than that. 

Overall I find an overly safe car, and yes I can die if I get in an accident, but I can die also driving in my Honda or any other car. It all goes with defensive driving applicable all the times here.

I get a lot of questions when people see me driving it. They vary, but the most common are: "what do I do with the stroller", "what if I need grocery shopping?" and "how much space do you have?".

Thinking of that I decided to post a few pictures of the smart here to share with you and show that I do have plenty of space and I do feel safe on a Smart Car. 

Now you see we have a Bugaboo Cameleon as a stroller for our child. And if you know what I am talking about, you know that's a big stroller and not the most compact to fold and store in a car. You can see in the pictures below that I can store the entire stroller with ease in the back of the car.


I also own a Rose bag from JoTotes, where I carry my camera gear. It's not a small bag, and it fits with the stroller comfortably. Not even being squished back there.


Sophia is going to be 3 years old in December. And she is about 3 feet tall, not being a small child at all. But we still keep her reverse seated, specially in the Smart Car, and we have the Britax Marathon Car seat. Again, not the most compact of the Car Seats in the market.


Now on to the groceries topic. It's all about planning. If I really need to go crazy on groceries, I tell Chris that I need his car and he takes the Smart to go to work. Since it never happens, I just put whatever I purchase under the Car Seat area or on the back on top of the stroller. 


Groceries. Shopping. Daughter. Friends. None of it was ever a problem with the Smart Car. It's not a family car. It's just the car I drive around, save a ton in fuel and can park anywhere. I still have space for my GPS and my iPhone to play some tunes while driving (a lot of "Let it Go" lately). I am a Proud Smart Car Mom and loving it.

♥ Enjoy!


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In Lifestyle

Anne Springs Close Greenway

The Anne Springs Close Greenway is a nature preserve minutes from Charlotte in Fort Mill, SC. Activities include hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, boating and much more. There you can enjoy 2,100 acre nature dedicated to the public to serve as a natural buffer from urban development and a place for countless activities.

Anna Dusek Photography
Anne Springs Close Greenway Map
We went there a couple weeks ago with our toddler and was absolutely enjoyable. The trails were well maintained, perfectly safe to bring a little one along with you and still be able to exercise. Some areas are paved, allowing to adventure with your stroller or you can bring your bike and enjoy around.


We carried Sophia using our Eddie Bauer Backpack Carrier. We like it because it gives some shade for her, specially in the hot days of Summer in Charlotte.


 Through the trail are several stop points to enjoy, like the Faires-Coltharp Cabin, pictured above.


Other must go see is the Swinging Bridge over a nice little creek, perfect to cool down on the way back.



The entire trail was open and clean, sometimes we shared the pass with people horseback riding or bicycling, but most of the time was just us enjoying the view.





The view of the Lake Haigler where you can rent kaiaks over the weekends.



Bring snacks. This ducks came right up to us "asking" for food. We have never seen such a thing before. Not even at petting zoos they are this friendly.






As you can see there is plenty to enjoy at the Anne Springs Close Greenway. If you leave nearby to for a visit, if you are a bit further away, please plan to spend an entire day at the nature preserve. You won't regret.



Where: 250 Dairy Barn Ln, Fort Mill, SC 29715
How much: $3.00 per person
When: open seven days a week from 7:00 am to sunset.

♥ Enjoy!



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