Author Archives: A Star on the Forehead

Visiting Ouro Preto and the surrounding towns in Minas Gerais, Brazil

19 Thursday Sep 2024

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“It’s a road trip! It’s about adventure! . . . It’s not like we have somewhere to go.” ― John Green

While in Brazil, juggling work, and personal issues, Michael and I managed to take one week off to take a road trip through some towns in the state of Minas Gerais.

One town I want to make sure to visit was Ouro Preto (Black Gold). I was there with my mom and sister when I was14 years old. I wanted to return and show Michael that area.

Ouro Preto is a charming colonial mining town, full of history, beautiful baroque churches, cobblestone streets, and so much more. It was funded in the 17th century, and it was the center of the gold rush at that time.

Besides staying a couple of nights in Ouro Preto, we stayed 1 night in Tiradentes, spent a day in Mariana and Congonhas.  We also stayed at a remote bed and breakfast in Brumadinho for a couple of nights.

We wanted to be near Instituto Inhotim, and also spend time quiet time in nature.  Inhotim is a gorgeous open air museum with beautiful gardens, galleries and installations.

On the way home we spent 1 night in Varginha. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to see all the UFO related tourism. Varginha supposedly had an UFO sighting in 1996.

And lastly, we spent a day in Pocos de Caldas, a town that is just is just 35 minutes away from my parent’s home. We took the cable car to Christ at the top of a mountain and enjoyed the view.

We had an amazing time and cannot wait to embark in more road trips in Brazil. I will post some photos of this trip here and in the next few posts.

The search for office space in Florida continues

13 Friday Sep 2024

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I have always said: I am never moving to Florida! And look at me now, moving to Florida!

I will still have an apartment in NY, but it is mostly because my sister is still there and she will use the it.

This weekend I am leaving the Airbnb and moving into our new condo. We are starting from scratch. We have to buy everything. But at this moment we are just getting the bare minimum, a mattress on the floor and a couple of plates.

We have to paint and want to make some other changes, but we won’t/can’t do anything until the outside renovation is completed.

With my move to Florida, my office is officially moving with me. I have not been having much luck looking for office space. Today was not different. Some are too small or too big, some are not in great condition or it is just too far.

I want to be able to walk or bike to the office. I may have to rethink that, and expand my search to longer than 15 minutes from home.

In the meantime, I have a signed contract for my other condo in NY. Finally, after so many misses, it looks like this sale will go through. Fingers crossed.

I want a simpler life, but right at this moment, it doesn’t seem that way. I am juggling so many things. I am not complaining though. I am immensely blessed and grateful.

I have always wanted to meet someone and start a life together. I am doing that. Michael and I definitely make each other’s life better.

“And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” ― Meister Eckhart

A successful visit to the DMV

11 Wednesday Sep 2024

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I could not have made it this far had there not been angels along the way. – Della Reese

I am now the proud owner of a Florida Driver’s License.

I am happy to say that the trip to the DMV was better than expected. I expected to be turned away because I didn’t have my Social Security card and didn’t have anything else to prove my number. All the documentation I had, such as a 1099, only showed the last 4 digits.

It turns out it was a non-issue, I only had to sign a paper attesting that I know my number. 

Michael had a later appointment at 2pm, to get car registration and plates. I asked if they could see him earlier and they agreed to get his items done along with mine.

While being helped, Michael pointed out to me all the angel figurines that the clerk that was helping me had on her booth. He, quietly, said to me: Look at all your angels! Even though he professes not to believe in such things, he has heard me, time and time again, mentioning that I always encounter angels in my way.  They always help me out.  I think he is becoming a believer!

Angels appear in many different forms to hold your hand through the difficult times.- Doreen Virtue

I was not able to see any office spaces today. I hope to be able to see a few tomorrow. I am eager to get a lot things resolved, and stop feeling in limbo.

Floppy in Florida

10 Tuesday Sep 2024

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“Disruption of our mental construct can be deeply disorienting. Still, it may also provide an opportunity for growth and reevaluation, prompting us to rebuild our mental frameworks perhaps more resiliently than before. (“Then everything was capsizing.”)”― Erik Pevernagie

Even though we have closed on our new condo in June, we are only now returning to Florida.

We chose to stay at an Airbnb for a couple of reasons. First, we have no furniture, linen, silverware, anything at all; and second and more important, we didn’t know how the work being performed on the exterior would be affecting the interior.  

In Florida, every building that is 3 stories and higher must undergo a Milestone Inspection to assess the health of the building. This building failed miserably and it resulted in major work to be done. And major assessments.

While the seller had paid for all the assessments by June, it turns out that there will be more assessments necessary, as the work continues. We expected that.

We just didn’t expect that the work in the balcony would be coming into the living room.   The doors, windows and wall facing the ocean have been all taken down.  At this moment, our beautiful ocean view is blocked by sheet rock.

Michael and I were a bit startled by the amount of work that needs to be done, and how dismantled the whole front of the building is. But we are trying to remain positive that in the end we will have a perfect structurally sound place.

 Fingers crossed that the work will go fast and be done correctly; and that there will not be tons of extra assessments. 

Tomorrow, I will be going to DMV to get a Florida Drivers License and will also be continuing my search for office space.  Wish me luck 🙂

“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.” ― Roy T. Bennett

Here and there, and everywhere

09 Monday Sep 2024

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Hi Friends,

I am not sure what happened to my last post. Al I see is one quote.  I am guessing that when I hit edit after it had been published, I somehow accidently deleted all of it, except for that 1 quote.

In that post I was talking about being back from Brazil after being there for 2 months, and all I did there. My time there flew by, and yet it felt like time stood still.

After 2 months in Brazil, I was in NY for one week, and now I am in Florida, working out of an Airbnb.

In the next few posts, I will be expanding on my time in Brazil, and will be posting pictures of a road trip that Michael and I took. I will also be giving you an update of my life now, in NY and FL.

I am also hoping to reconnect with my friends here. I have been catching up on your blog, and hope to have a chance to leave comments, as I cannot leave likes (thank you WP!)

Love, light and blessings to all!

“I come home—and I have a feeling of returning like a ghost to its haunt.”― Virginia Woolf

Absence makes the heart grow fonder :-)

03 Tuesday Sep 2024

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“For a moment I felt the quiet hungering thing that comes inside when you return to the place of your origins, and then the ache of mis-belonging. It was beautiful, this place, and it was savage. It swallowed you and made you a part of itself, or it you proved too inassimilable, it spit you out like the pit of a plum.
I’d left here of my own will, and yet it seemed the city had banished in much the same way I’d banished it. Seeing it now after so long, seeing the marsh grass pitching wildly around the edges of the city, the rooftops hunkered together with their ship watches and widow walks, and behind them, the steeples of St Philip’s and St Michael’s lifted like dark fingers, I was not sorry for loving Charleston or for leaving it. Geography had made me who I was.”
― Sue Monk Kidd, The Invention of Wings

The child becomes the parent

09 Tuesday Jul 2024

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“No man is an adult while his parents are alive. Until they die he is merely a performance to either please or punish them.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Adjustment Day

Things have been crazy for me in Brazil.

I am juggling work and the household operations at my parents. My brother helps my parents, and as they age he has to step in more and more. I came to Brazil to see my parents, but specially to give my brother a break.  He just took off on 2 weeks vacations now, and I intend to have him take some more time in August.

We have 2 ladies that come to clean and cook. One comes Mondays and Fridays and the other comes Tuesdays and Thursdays. They are fairly new to the house, so they are a bit lost, and still have to been told what to do. We used to have one person 2 days a week.  She was great, but she relocated and we haven’t been able to replace her.

I got here right at month’s end and beginning of the new month – my busiest time at work. I have an audit to do and bonuses to work on, so it will get a little crazier before it gets better.

I have been cleaning and organizing. Every time I come to Brazil, I try to leave things better than I found them.  I like to think that I often succeed. 

I have been able to start Pilates. I will be doing it at least 3 times a week. Some days it will be at 7am and other days it will at 7pm. My body needs it. My body is showing the effects of over indulging in the cruise and all the amazing Brazilian sweet desserts.

Have you ever Coffee flavored Coke?  I tried and I am not a fan.

Coca-Cola com CafeCoca-Cola com Cafe

I want to be persistent as this flower.  They grow anywhere, even sprouting from the cement in my mom’s backyard.

Persistent Flower

Persistent Flower

Michael adores animals, specially these little monkeys that we have in a park in a neighboring town.  There are about 50 of them living there. Unfortunately, I have been told that most of them have diabetes because people feed them sweets.  They live in an area full of kiosks selling all kinds of treats,  so it is very easy for people to give them some, without realizing the harm they are doing.

 

On the way

26 Wednesday Jun 2024

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Writing from the Uber on the way to JFK.

There is always so much to take.

There will be the day when I travel with just a backpack.

One can dream…

Selling, Buying, Cruising and Flying

24 Monday Jun 2024

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Since my last posting of May 9th, a lot has happened.

Michael and I had decided that in 2024 we would try traveling more, and see how remote work from different places would work out.

We also thought that we would take 2024 to decide where we would be making our official headquarters.

That was the plan. While in Florida in May, we were driving around in nearby towns in Florida, when we saw some balloons indicating an open house. We decided to stop and check it out.

While there, the realtor mentioned another condo for sale. We drove to the other condo, which was 30 minutes away. We fell in love with it. We made an offer and after some negotiating we got the place.

Michael sold his place in New Smyrna. I am selling one of mine in NY. His place went fast, mine has been in the market for a couple of weeks already.

Our new place is already ours as of 2 days ago 🙂 but we will not move in until we return from Brazil.  We are going to Brazil on Wednesday for at least 2 months.

I was forgetting to mention, at the beginning of June I took my first cruise and I loved, loved, loved. It was a MSC cruise to Bahamas. I enjoyed everything about it, and plan on taking more cruises in the future.

Below are some pictures.  I hope to have more time to write from Brazil. It has been  insane for me.  I will give more details in the future.

Thank you for stopping by.

Silent, but not gone :-)

15 Saturday Jun 2024

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