The best side of Porto + Kentish village with Tudor heritage + wearing my values + brunch overlooking the Regent’s Canal + Irish linen for the summer outfit + Cornwall eatery + taking your aura photography + the secret caves where David Bowie performed a concert + the Swedish Lagom + more
Soundtrack: João Gilberto/Antônio Carlos Jobim/Stan Getz
Só Danço Samba
Sustainably, locally and ethically made. These are three words that are resonating with me the most lately. And my lifestyle choices are pretty much connected to them.
If you follow me here, you can spot that I’ve been sharing my love of all things slowly made:
slow food
slow travel
slow fashion
slow motion?
And this is what this newsletter is about, embracing the slow side of a busy life, a way for us to beat the trending FOMO (fear of missing out) and be more present in the now, as cliche as it may sound.
In similar proportion, I’ve recently read something that got my attention and translates exactly my mood right now - the need to wear our values.
Not just having them, but being them, creating a lifestyle and making choices - from mind to body - that embrace them 360 degrees.
That’s why, in every edition, I am bringing more and more of the things I love right now aligned with my most important values: be the food I eat, the places I decide to travel to, the body I want to dress, and the books to keep intellectual stimulation or, in other words, the earthy experiences aligned with my spiritual dimension.
So if I can say about myself in this life stage, after 5 years of my first Saturn return, where I defined my identity as an adult, I would say that I am wearing my values in the most balanced way I can - what the Swedish (always them) call Lagom, a word for the centre of balance, the happy medium, the “just-right” sweet spot, the choice not to choose.
Lagom in the Swedish language literally means not too much, not too little, the right amount - even not too slow! - and is a philosophy that aims to balance every area and juncture of everyday life. The secret that explains a lifestyle based on social awareness, moderation and sustainability, which I think is very connected to the whole concept of slowness and JOMO (joy of missing out).
In that spirit, it’s not by chance that my recent trip to Porto had all these things in mind. As we attract what we become, this time, I explored a different side of my favourite Portuguese city: the Porto Art District, in sync with what I’ve been striving for. Coincidentally or not, the city immersed me in everything I’ve been fascinated with.
If you plan to go to Portugal this year, what about choosing Porto? You can still go to Capela das Almas and have your favourite pastel de nata at Manteigaria, but Miguel Bombarda is a street with plenty of galleries and small artsy shops - from sustainable clothing as Bombarda 496 to tea houses like Rota do Chá.
The nostalgic streets of the area also bring the feeling to their eateries, such as the Emotivo restaurant, a typical example of why spending a whole Saturday there is worth it. Emotivo, in Portuguese, means emotional, so you can have an idea of the flavours that chefs want to evoke there.
Rosário Street is another pearl near Miguel Bombarda, and stores like CRU Creative Hub, bringing filter coffee a la carioca, exhibitions and coworking space, prove Porto is looking into the future without losing its feet from the past. Nearby is the Ó! Cerâmica shop, with creative ceramic mugs to bring home with prices starting from 2.50 EUR (!), also hosting pottery classes for locals.
If you fancy a good cappuccino to recharge your energy, head to Época, with speciality coffee that could also be in Leblon, one of my favourite Rio de Janeiro neighbourhoods. Five minutes walking, and you’re in National Museum Soares dos Reis, an art museum in an 18th-century palace with Flemish paintings, Portuguese sculpture and applied artwork.
Finally, you can have a decent slice of bread in the zone at Masseira, a bakery with a Londonish accent, and Coração Alecrim, bringing the slow fashion movement to Portuguese life, my favourite one on this trip, where I found my new summer bag with a colourful Northern African fabric.
As if a Porto trip wasn’t enough for the month, I decided to explore the English countryside the weekend after, as the heat waves are finally shining in the country again. When Conde Nast elected Chilham as one of the most beautiful villages in Great Britain, knowing it was only a 59 minutes journey from St Pancras International, we dressed in our spring outfits to spend a very sunny Saturday there.
Quintessentially English - meaning Tudor timbered houses lining the village’s historic market square - we booked a table at the Woolpack Inn, a gastropub and hotel built around 1480. After eating a great cheese board and fish and chips and knowing that many of the Kings Henry were landlords there, we visited the Chilham Castle Gardens, with one of the most breathtaking views I’ve seen in England, where spring is in bloom, accompanied by lakes and vineyards, greatly representing what the Kent Downs are about.
No day trip to the Kentish countryside is the same without a stop in a traditional tea house. The Church Mouse Tea Rooms is unique, with refreshments, white chocolate, and coffee-flavoured cakes.
I have a busy June ahead, but busy with slow things: fashion, travel and food. One of my best friends from Brazil is landing in London, and we have a very exciting beginning of summer ahead, days filled with 18 years of memories and new adventures to add to the number. Okay, time to pack my summer luggage! x, NB
Things I’m loving (part II)
La Cabra is a modern coffee company born out of Denmark, which translates in one shop everything I love about going to a cafe and ordering a magic cappuccino. They just opened a branch in New York, praying they will one day open one in London. K.H. Würtz has created a new cup to celebrate the launch, reflecting the new tiles set into the bar front. They are aesthetically beautiful, and I’m on the waitlist to purchase mine. Otherwise, they also have other cups that make drinking coffee even more pleasurable and enjoyable
Daily Dress Edit is a platform that champions small independent brands and slow fashion, curated by Isabel Spearman, a fashion consultant that already dressed important women in politics. Twice a year, she organises a pop-up where those selected brands design dresses made with deadstock fabric, especially for the event. I’ve recently been to one of them that took place at the end of May, and it’s a powerful experience and perfect for getting to know other British labels with fair production, prioritising small batches. Additionally, every month she highlights one special dress from one of those brands
This is how I got to know Kindred, a Northern Irish brand of locally sourced linen creating beautiful dresses and blouses. Each piece carries the heritage and heart of Ireland. Their Nostalgia Collection is live, bringing the comfort of other times to the colourful spring outfit of the British lifestyle
- , one of my favourite modern astrologers, is launching Trust Your Timing: how to use astrology to navigate your love life and find your authentic self, a must-have companion for answering the questions you've always had about your love life and helping you build stronger relationships. They can be pre-ordered, and she will be in London in mid-June for some cool events!
- is one of the British chefs I’ve been admiring the most. Her calm atmosphere translates into me adding her famous restaurant on the Cornish coast with outstanding views of Watergate Bay as one of the places to be this summer. She is also the writer of Sea & Shore, with recipes and stories from her kitchen in Cornwall, and we can now pre-order her new book Time & Tide. She recently collaborated with Justine Tabak, designing a beautiful apron they created together
Knowing your true calling in this world is golden, but few people know their mission in this life. What Do I Really Want To Achieve? cards by The School of Life is a great tool for helping us focus on what we need to be fulfilled so that we can direct our energies and thoughts most effectively. The same School of Life also has The Simpler Life, a book exploring minimalism, simplicity and how to live comfortably with less (any resonance with Lagom, folks?). They also offer seducing therapy retreats in Somerset worth keeping an eye on
Last year, during a visit to Vienna, I discovered Barnängen, a skincare brand founded in Stockholm, fusing Swedish aesthetic and Nordic-inspired ingredients to create products that truly reflect the value of Lagom (yes, here we go again) and simply another way of “wearing my values”. I chose the Caring moisturising cream and the Midsommar Glow, which has the cosiest and most energising scent of summer
The underwear and sleepwear created from natural and recycled materials by Nudea, my favourite brand for bras, briefs and sleep dresses right now