And Then There Was Gramado...

Last weekend the Brito's (old family friends) showed us around Gramado. We got there around 9pm, and we immediately loved it. With wide, impeccably clean streets and Christmas lights already making an appearance (no complaints here) I felt no where near Brazil. Gramado has a lot of German and Italian influence, which makes it all the more charming. I've heard a few say it is the Park City of Brazil but I'm not sure this does it justice. The Brito's were the most incredible hosts, and wined and dined us like no one's business.

Gramado is famous for its chocolate, endless fondue restaurants, and bright hydrangeas lining the streets. Picturesque.

I was tempted to take this stunning, strutting bird home with me. Turns out we don't need any more sassy pants around here.

So after a weekend of colonial breakfasts, fondue dinner, churrascaria, etc- I was ready to take a few days off eating. You know, for my heart's health sake. And I had the full intention of doing so (and probably would have until 10am the next morning) until I remembered it was Alex's birthday the next morning. Luckily, I had mostly planned ahead.

In my family, birthday's are kinda a big deal. But not in a presents sort of way. More in a make-you-feel-ultra-special kind of way. We always have a handcrafted sign, breakfast in bed, front seat in the car, dinner at their favorite restaurant, you get the drift. You see, when you are one of the nine kids, a day like this is pretty special. 

So I planned accordingly. Luckily I still had the happy birthday sign my sisters sent to me for my birthday, planned to make his favorite french toast breakfast (with the GOOD kind of bread this time, and homemade syrup...duh), my dad brought Red Vines from the U.S. (another Alex favorite), a pre-scheduled masseuse to come to our apartment, a surprise cake at work, and to a French restaurant for dinner.

Awesome, right?

Unfortunately, the birthday sign broke in several pieces (seriously..don't even know), the masseuse didn't show up, I couldn't go to work that day to witness the surprise cake, and overall I felt terrible. He was so sweet though, such an easy going guy this one. We still had a great time. We sat for at least 2 hours just enjoying our frenchy meal and talking. It was one of those restaurants where there is no menu, just one option of a 3 course meal.

And if you care to know, the above picture is a massive bowl of the best mousse I've ever had. Of course it had to be documented.

So Tuesday it was back to normal food and mass amounts of veggies. Lately, my favorite is pumpkin. In honor of U.S.'s autumn, and because I refuse to be out of the loop on this one. And it never looked so good.