Dear Brazil, I'm thankful for the stranger who helped Enzo when his cane juice at the market slipped out of his hand. She not only comforted him but went and got him a new one.

A daily read of mine is the blog thx thx thx: a thank you note a day, a simple reminder to be thankful for the things I'm usually not thankful for. In other words it's a good reminder that attitude is everything, or at least a whole lot. The microwave note made me smile, it's been almost 2 months since I've had my own kitchen and my mom's kitchen is the complete opposite of mine. My mom is a minimalist, I am not. I miss my KitchenAid a whole lot but it's hard to complain when my mom's maid bakes us cakes almost every day and they are way better than anything my KitchenAid can whip up.

The bruised fruit note that Leah wrote today is perfect. Maybe I'll print it and hang it up in my new kitchen. Isn't it such a sweet reminder, literally a sweet reminder, to be thankful for the hard things?

On September 1st we move to Bahia. I've been looking for rentals online. I hate looking for rentals on line. Moving is hard for me but if it weren't for this move I probably wouldn't be in Sao Paulo right now and being here right now is exactly where I want to be.

Today I'm thankful for,

// Finding tickets to Bahia for $168. We've been looking every day online and there was nothing for less than $400 and then today BAM[!] a total deal.
// I'm thankful that my former student and now good friend Juliana is coming to visit tomorrow and that she is a total foodie. I plan on doing a lot of eating when she's here.
// I'm thankful that my grandmother is well and that there are 4 generations of women in my mom's tiny apartment and most importantly that we all enjoy each other's company.
// I'm thankful that every day my mom's maid, Zefa, makes lunch and that she takes the liberty to scold my children if they don't eat enough.
// I'm also thankful for bruised fruit.


{images: note 1, note 2, note 3, note 4}