Valentine’s Day 2014!

Posted in Baby, Brazil, Friends by Ashley Z Harper

I know that many people have pretty mixed emotions about Valentine’s Day – as in, most people don’t like it – but in the Harper household we always have a lot to celebrate.

For one, it marks our Brazilversary! Michael and I can’t believe that yesterday we celebrated that 2 years ago we boarded our flight to move here! It’s amazing how time has flown by and crazy to think of all that has happened in these two years. So incredibly thankful.

Secondly, it’s Arizona’s birthday. (No offense Zonies, but this one is actually lower than second on my list.)

Thirdly, House of Cards season 2 is out. This is no small thing.

Finally, it’s a day to celebrate LOVE! and anyone who knows me knows that I love love.

So, this year we had a great time celebrating. It all started on Monday the 10th when my sweet friend down the street, Michelle, had a Valentine’s Day party for the little ones! She had a spread of delicious red, heart-shaped treats, pink sparkling champagne AND a woman there to give mani/pedis on her balcony! Pretty sweet, right?

Getting a pedicure & drinking bubbly with friends & babies!The babies — all just weeks apart!Michelle’s yummy and pretty spread:Colt’s Valentine??

The babies – not loving the pit of balls in the play area.

Then, on Friday (actual VDay), Michael being ever the romantic, planned a fun surprise date-night for us! He came home from work with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and had the babysitter scheduled to arrive at 8pm. I didn’t know where we were going for dinner, but I was ecstatic when we pulled up in front of Mani, one of the top 5 best restaurants in South America, top 50 in the world.

Mani is known for putting a modern, refined twist on traditional Brazilian food, and it was the best culinary experience I’ve had since moving to Brazil. Highly recommend.

Appetizers:“The perfect egg” cooked for 90 minutes at 63 degrees. Seriously amazing.Happy.

XO! ashley

14Feb2014

Beach Weekend (& Colt 7 months)

Posted in Baby, Brazil, Friends, Travels by Ashley Z Harper

Last Friday, on Culhane’s 7 month birthday, we headed to the beach – Praia da Baleia – to join 12 other friends + 2 more babies for a beach weekend! We had a blast with our friends, but it was also a bit of a wake-up call that our baby boy is in a new stage that makes him a little less “portable.” Culhane’s current schedule is packed with him constantly feeding or eating something – often requiring some type of food preparation and high-chair set-up. It’s generally something like this:

7:30 am – Wake up and nurse
8:30 am – Fresh juice (which he doesn’t really like – so weird)
10:00-12:00 – Nap
12:00 pm – Lunch: Homemade veggie & meat soup (which he LOVES – even weirder)
12:45 pm – Nurse
2:45-3:15 – Nap
3:15 pm – Snack: Fruit
4:00 pm – Nurse
5:15-5:40 – Nap
5:45 pm – Dinner: Homemade veggie & meat soup
7:30 pm – Nurse
8:30-7:30 – Night sleep

(He’s in the midst of transitioning towards just 2 naps (merging the last 2) but that’s still a work in progress.)

Some of our “parent-fail” moments over the weekend included:
**Having to pull over 3 times on the 3 hour drive to the beach either to nurse, feed or just to try to get him to stop crying (little man doesn’t like to be cooped up in a car-seat during his play time!)
**Colt getting 5 mosquito bites upon arriving the first evening
**Trying to take Culhane to the beach Saturday morning and ending up getting sunscreen in his eyes causing quite the sad, swollen situation
**Trying to take Culhane to the beach Saturday afternoon to sit under an umbrella but the heat proved to be too much and it was nothing but tears
**Generally trying to get Colt (and ourselves) to sleep in the HEAT (90s during the day, maybe getting to the 70s at night) with no AC.

All that being said, we did still have a GREAT time with our amazing friends, and we had a TON of fun taking Colt to the beach Saturday evening after the sun had gone down. Here are some pictures from the weekend:
The whole group!Michael, Trent and Campbell: Paige, Mailey, Culhane and me:Colt’s Blue Steel:
Trent and Mailey: Coppens Fam:Harpers:

PS: Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
Up Next: Our Valentine’s Day celebrations!

11Feb2014

Back in Brazil!

Posted in Baby, Brazil, Friends by Ashley Z Harper

After a few weeks in the US visiting family, it was nice to return to São Paulo. Although we are enduring the hottest summer in 61 years without AC (although we do have portable units in the bedrooms which allow us to sleep at night!), it has been really fun being back home. Here are a few pictures of some of what we’ve been up to lately!

VIsiting the awesome Little Prince exhibit at our mall:

Harper family trips to the park:

Fun with friends:

Food:

Sweet baby Colt! So much to be thankful for!

**Up Next: Beach Weekend!

5Feb2014

São Paulo Photo Shoot

Posted in Baby, Brazil by Ashley Z Harper

So this post is super late, but on December 7th, Culhane’s 5 month birthday, Michael and I met with our super awesome, talented, dear friend Jana to get some pictures for our Christmas card. We took the pictures in “our” park, Parque do Povo, on quite the windy, even misty day, but Jana was still able to capture some great moments. Here are some of my favs!

7Dec2013

Gigi & Pasha Part 3: São Paulo

Posted in Baby, Brazil, Family by Ashley Z Harper

My parents finished off their visit with more São Paulo fun – parks, restaurants, and lots of time with baby Colt.

Fun at Parque Ibirapuera! The swan was twice the size of Culhane!
Don’t mind the sun-bathers. Everyone eating at 348. Parque do Povo. Culhane’s first time in a swing – he loved it!São Paulo’s Mercado Municipal.
Getting all ready for the big Clemson vs. South Carolina game! (Papa – I promise I was cheering for Clemson but my parents hijacked the baby!) Culhane, none too impressed with BC’s performance. Happy Gamecocks. All tuckered out. Sunday mass at Nossa Senhora do Brasil.Closing cocktails & the best views of the city from Terraço Italia.

It was sad to say goodbye to my parents when they left on Sunday, but it was a little easier than usual since we will be seeing them in just 2 weeks for Christmas! We loved your visit and can’t wait to see you again soon!

6Dec2013

Gigi & Pasha Part 2: Thanksgiving!

Posted in Brazil, Family, Friends by Ashley Z Harper

This year we were blessed enough to celebrate Thanksgiving in our current home-city, São Paulo, with my parents and amazing friends who feel like family. Shout out to Suzanna Jones who took the lead and organized the amazing evening at Chez Mis – complete with custom-made cinnamon-stick place cards and a customized menu with every Thanksgiving favorite! It was a perfect evening that we’ll never forget!

Getting ready to go!Family picture at Chez Mis. The tables:Action at our table:

So much to be thankful for!!

Up Next: Gigi & Pasha Part 3 – SP

5Dec2013

Gigi & Pasha Part 1: Rio & SP

Posted in Baby, Brazil, Family, Travels by Ashley Z Harper

Over the past few weeks, Culhane has been busy getting lots of special time with lots of special people. A few days after Aunt Lise left, Michael, Culhane and I flew to Jackson, Mississippi to celebrate two of our dear friends getting married – yay Kern & Emily! I’m obviously behind on blogging and will do a post on that trip soon, but right after we got back to São Paulo, my parents arrived for a fabulous 10 day visit! My mom was here for a few weeks right after Culhane was born, but this was my dad’s first visit and his first time meeting his sweet grandson who shares his middle name – McGeever!

My parents arrived in Brazil on November 22. We met them at the São Paulo airport and then all flew together to Rio de Janeiro. We were unlucky with the weather there and it rained every single day so we weren’t able to do the beach or other fun, touristy things, however this did make for lots of extra grandparent-snuggle time with Colt. Also — little known fact about my dad — he is an avid stamp collector so the trip to Rio was actually dual-purpose as the annual international stamp show was happening, so we did that as well.

Meeting at the airport! Visiting the famous and beautiful Copacabana Palace for lunch and a little tour.

Culhane’s first sink-bath in our Rio apartment! The Stamp Show! My dad and these 2 gentlemen are the 3 co-VPs of the American Philatelic Society. Fun dinner at a fav spot – Zaza-Bistro!

After a rainy weekend we headed back to São Paulo where we enjoyed beautiful weather, great friends and lots of amazing restaurants.

Day 1 started with lunch at Museu da Casa Brasilera. Then a visit to Michael’s office. Finally, we headed across the street to Shopping Iguatemi for some holiday cheer! Outside the mall — Santa and his dog in their rainy-day attire.