some color block on the streets?

Hey guys!!

I'm very excited to show you these photos that I took this afternoon because these Victorian houses are a-do-ra-ble!

I always thought that white was a good and wise choice to paint the exterior walls of a house, or maybe beige too. I never thought of painting them in bright colors. I mean, it's very tricky to paint a concrete wall with turquoise, pink or even lime. Especially because it seems that the colors painted over concrete tend to standout! And well, that is not good! And it's easy to look cheap and vulgar, in opposite of being cool and stylish.

But here, the colors look so nice and elegant! They used different materials to build their houses (which helps the color to be absorbed), they have cute front porches with lovely chairs, outstanding doors and some cool details.The Victorian style rocks! What do you think?
It's hard to pick my favorite.. But I definitely like the front door with a fancy color!

Kiss,
JB*

It's time for a gift!!

It's the final countdown for my vacations! And Portugal is waiting for me! oh yeah!
I'm very happy! And because of that, you can be the lucky one to win a super nice present from US! What do you think? Isn't that cool?:)
So the deal is:

1. Leave a comment on this post! And don't forget to add your e-mail and the city that you live.

2. Jump on over to soblushed facebook page* and hit that "Like" button!

3. I'll accept entries until August 8th (till 12pm PT, 7pm USA-east) when I'll randomly choose a winner (random.org).

kiss,kiss
JB*

PS: If for a chance an international reader wins this contest, great!I will send you a portuguese gift instead!

*Check my page, yeah! I'm really enjoying uploading  photos there from my everyday. It's been my dear diary:) I hope you will like it too!

'Casa Portuguesa'?..that's for sure!

You definitely have to try our 'caldo verde', our green soup! Is one of the signature dishes of Portuguese cuisine. This soup is very popular among the portuguese and I think is hard to not to like! Since is a hearty and light meal it can be consumed before a main course. Now, in the summer, 'caldo verde' is usually the first course and then is the grilled sardines or grilled pork and beef spare-ribs, with simple baked potatoes, bread and/or broa (portuguese cornbread) and a huge bowl of lettuce, tomatoes and grilled peppers salad.. :D

Although this classic Portuguese soup is simple to make, it requires the highest quality 'chouriço'. I found this 'chouriço' in my supermarket but it seems that I have to do another trip to New Jersey to buy portuguese goodies: 'chouriço' and dry cod fish is mandatory! ;)
When preparing this soup make sure that the kale is cut into extremely fine slices; that’s what creates the soup’s distinctive character.

These are the ingredients that you are going to need! Well, it's not the traditional 'caldo verde' but the idea is doing a white broth (classically with potatoes and onions) with sliced 'chouriço' and kale ;)

Enjoy!

Kiss,
JB*

And now imagine a bowl of this comforting soup with a slice of 'broa'...

Happy birthday US!

Hey!

Today is 4th of July: the day when americans declared independence from the british empire. United States of America celebrates 235 years of life. What a young country, if you compare with my nice and old Europe (Portugal was founded in 868 but the conventional date for the independence is 1139) :)
What people do on this holiday? Fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies. Cool!
Well, my first 4th of July wasn't quite like that. I didn't saw the fireworks, but we have had a lot of storms and lightnings these days (this is really a funny and strange weather!) hehe.
So, what I did? The RVA Critical Mass (Fun Community Bike Ride) created a event with the topic 'Put the fun between your legs' ;) The route was very nice, in the way that we could hit 3 main areas from Richmond. We ended in the river (north side): nice and quite! Just my bike, friends and nature!..

Kiss,

JB*