All about... 2008

I was thinking if it would be a good idea to write about 2008. I can't say it was a great year to me. But I can't say it was bad too. So I decided to write some lines. If I had to choose one word to define my year, it would be “messy”. 2008 was the year of changes. I changed my life. And we started 2008 knowing about that. And I thought I was prepared. But looking back, I know I wasn't and it was not that easy. But I am happy with my choice, so I know things will be fine in 2009.

Because we knew we would leave Brazil, we decided to spend all the time we could close to the people we love – family and friends. And our best way to do that is being together, having fun together, and eating together. In this way, we celebrated as much as we could. We made parties at all friends' birthdays until July (when we came to Europe) and we tried all the vegan food we could. We knew those moments wouldn't last forever and we enjoyed them. It wasn't that easy try to leave everything done to move while going out as much as we could with our friends. But I couldn't do different. This made a huge difference to me. I said “goodbye” to all of my favorite Brazilian vegan food and to my best Brazilian friends. I spent my time with my family and laughed together. We celebrated Matteo's birthday in April and mine, in July, some days before we traveled. Even when I wasn't in a mood to go out or celebrate, we decided to do it because it was worth it. And the last time I saw my friends in 2008 was at the premiere of “Batman - The Dark Knight”, with popcorn and lots of fun.


And now, looking back, it's so easy to think about all these days and smile. Each vegan food has a specific memory. Garlic bread at New Year. Donuts at Digao's birthday. Chocolate cake at Matteo's birthday. Raquel's awesome snacks all those Friday nights. Pizza and burgers with friends at lunch. Mom cooking great soups some weekends. And the list goes on... Full of happiness.

Then July came, it was time to say goodbye to everybody and to everything. We were so excited with the new life that was difficult to be sad. We spent two months in Italy with Matteo's family and going to some hardcore shows and festivals around Europe. We deserved some vacation. Being in Italy is always good and we eat a lot there too because, as you all can notice reading this blog, my sister-in-law is an amazing vegan cook. There, I decided to create this blog. Not just to talk about food. To talk about things I care about and that bring me some happiness. These include vegan food, vegan lifestyle and a cruelty free life.

Since October we're living in Dublin and things are still messy around here. But we're happy to be here and we started to build a new life that already has great memories. And to share this new life with people that care about me and about a better world, a vegetarian/vegan world, I kept this blog alive.

In 2008 I had completed 11 years being vegan. And I still care about it. More than I cared when I decided to be vegan. And it's really good to know that I care so much when most of the people I know just gave up. I feel happy being vegan. And even in a year confused like my 2008, this is always a sure thing in my life.