julia and i travelled to lisbon last december – it always takes us some time adjusting to the different routines, and we have so many family and friends to see and make up for lost time, ‘we’ figured we would take it easy and just enjoy a staycation in lisbon for the holidays.

i always have a big list of errands and new spots i want to go to, but this time i tried not to be a ‘prisoner’ of my list and took it a day at a time, instead. we spent a lot of time at home, having long breakfasts with the family, visiting my grandmother and the occasional escape for some me time with friends.

here are a few pictures of our trip if you’d like to see –

running around after toy, her favorite dog – her eyes light up when we mention toy!

lots of playtime at home and many afternoons at the playground, her happy place.

julia got spoilt with christmas cookies, which were so fun to play with.

and we went for mum-daughter day at the salon, you have no idea how vain this girl is…

one day we drove to the beach for lunch, we had the most wonderful locally caught grilled fish – the fish in portugal is incredible.

we had friends visiting from spain, it was a crazy girls weekend, and we took them out to eat at my aunt’s new restaurant – we had the best chocolate mousse with hazelnuts and cream (dez pra uma cantina do bairro).

and we went to some of our favorite restaurants in the city, a cevicheria for ceviche and amazing pisco sours and casanova for the best pizzas in the world!

oh and of course lots of pasteis de nata, these ones are from my new favorite, a manteigaria. in portugal we eat these with coffee or dessert a lot, and i’m so craving one right now!

and then ice cream from santini of course, it never gets old, not even in winter.

i squeezed in a visit to see my favorite artist’s exhibit, eva armisen – i bought one of her painting years ago, with my first wages, and i’m still obsessed with her work.

i’m also pretty obsessed with portuguese pottery and ceramics – these ones are from bordello pinheiro, and they have the factory just an hour away from lisbon.

not the best picture of julia, but we made a point to celebrate her birthday before leaving lisbon – i’m not sure if she entirely understood that it was her birthday, but she was over the moon with the balloons, danced like a queen and somehow knew how to sing happy birthday to herself – it was a really happy day for her :)

ps – we also went away for a weekend to this cute hotel only an hour away from lisbon + our family vacation in the azores last summer