Acerca de mim ~ About me

I’m Anabela Figueiredo. I love to think about and create anything that can add a special sparkle to our daily life and doing so with both my sons, André (b. 2004) and Tiago (b. 2008).

My blog started by the end of 2011 when I gathered up all photos with birthday cakes I had done for my children. Yes, I didn´t like any from the bakery store so I had to give it a try!  
I rock mostly with photos as I don´t have that much time left to write but that will soon change hopefully!  
It turned out to be a very distressful hobby.

I try to post on a daily basis about children´s activities, cakes & sweet & savory and deco for kids parties, easy crafts, deafness (my eldest is deaf), seasons, lunchbox ideas, some travelling and my own photos.

I’m just about to start writing on some dramatic situations which may happen to any single mom but presenting creative and even funny solutions … a brand new idea! It’ll be under “ICE”!

For a bit more about me…

My name is after a journalist my mom really liked - could that be the reason for having a blog now??

 I raise my two beautiful kids with the biggest possible amount of LOVE I can reach.

I grew up in a small Portuguese town but in a large family of uncles and cousins ​​where the affect, dedication and a festive mood were always present.

One day I came across with a poster @ my hometown’s university advertising the Erasmus program (Europe’s mobility program for students). It was the turn of a lifetime! And the world simply opened its doors to me…I went to cooler places…

I did my degree in Glasgow, my industrial placement in London and my Masters degree in Paris. Chemistry was my field.

On the professional side I’ve been a typical slasher for quite some time now: working in a company as the quality manager and freelancer in training and consulting in quality, balanced scorecard and lean management, in auditing according to ISO 9001 and in translating English and French (also know Italian, Spanish and a bit of German) and… baking and decorating for kids parties.

How do I manage it all you may wonder? I imagine it was a holiday! J

My entire life so far and for big stuff is exactly what was not supposed to be - for the good and for the worse. Check it by yourself.

I…

… was just about to die due to labor complications. Fact: here I am! J

… was not meant to study abroad (do not had well-off parents). Fact: I studied in the UK and Paris. J

… did not want to come back to little Portugal, less to my tiny hometown . Fact: I returned lacking family, the sun, the food, the boyfriend (who happened to have another girl! Upsss…) and have been back to my hometown for more than a decade now.

… did not want to get married, not at all! Fact: I got a religious marriage.

… wanted to have a last full marriage (-being married-). Fact: I had a decade of pure torture.

… did not want to have children. “Oh no, let´s move to another restaurant, those noisy kids all over the place!”- I repeated over and over again. Fact: I have 2 lovely kids and people say I was born to be a mom. Funny enough I feel just the same. J

… thought I would never ever get troubles with jobs with such a good CV. Fact: it was not exactly the case… 1 unhealthy child + 1 unhealthy child + 1 adult only ≠ good career (for the adult)

… lived in a very nice two floor apartment downtown for a decade and thought that would be it! Fact: I rented out my apartment and moved with my two sons into my mom’s modest house in the outskirts. I had left home when I turned 20!

What´s next?? lol

My deepest wish for the future (besides good health for my sons, relatives, friends and myself) is…

… to go to NYC on my own when I’m 93 years old! Why´s that? I caught that idea from McCain’s mom! She happened to be in Lisbon when she was that age and was news in Portugal due to a broken leg! How do you fancy that? Not a broken leg of course…

I am a resilient, independent, dynamic and optimistic person.

And I like challenges! Do you?