Warming It Up

I have given our installation process a huge push. I spent the last two weeks running errants right and left to try to get things in place, spending hours in lines at cashiers, driving miles to reach to the place that has the right hook/tool/gizmo for the job. I am so ready move on to a new phase of my life not related to this installation. This process has been taking much time, so much longer than I had anticipated. In fact the process of our installation, if we take it from the moment we learned we were arriving in Brazil, in July 1st, to today, has been painfully long. And today with only a few weeks away from Christmas, despite my efforts, I have the feeling some things will not be fully settled until we are returning from our holidays.
Deep breathing. 
Since the day the movers left our house, I spent time moving things around and trying to fit them in "their" place. I am the type of person who feels at ease in order, light, clean spaces; I feel it helps my head clears up. I fact I have memories of myself playing at ordering the play kitchen of the kindergarden. Maybe it was a sign of my own destiny?! In any cases, with this existential nesting angst as a motivator, I feel good in action, doing the actual organizing, the process helping me anchoring myself in this new place. Despite the miles and the lines, I have been enjoying the process of making a house our home.
To add juice and speed to my organizing schedule, I thought of inviting a few friends over on Friday. I got carried away and ended up with a list of 25 guests. And I figured that good things should not be celebrated alone, and purchased a cake to celebrate Paul's new 35.
In the morning, I invested my kitchen to the dismay of my staff (Brazilian ladies don't cook here, only their maids) and started making dips and salads and meat skewers with asian and mediterranean flavors. The excitement carried me away to what was a full table later in the evening, to the pleasure of my guests. And I spent the afternoon still drilling holes and hanging pictures.
In the end, it was such a lovely evening! I was glad to have made friends with so many interesting people so easily! And I was happy to hear the conversations and feel the happiness flow. Our place was all warmed up by the music, the conversations and the warm lights just installed. My heart was filled with gratitude, and how appropriately! What best for us to celebrate our arrival in the city than to do it around friends, and moreover during Thanksgiving season?! And in some strange ways, despite (or maybe because of) the effort needed, I felt relieved. Like if having friends around was a way for me to close the chapter of "installation" and moving in to the chapter of "living" in this new place.
Cheers to that my friends, and happy birthday to my love!
(Sorry I was holding the cake so I could not take a picture of it, neither of the surprised face of my darling!!)