Celebrate with us as Letters and Lipstick turns one! It’s been fun, albeit sometimes challenging, to create content for the blog, and over this past year, we’ve learned a lot in terms of what goes into creating a blog.

As we’ve mentioned before, we originally started this blog years ago, but had to pause it. Truthfully, we didn’t know if it was a pause or a stop. What we did know was that we always felt a pull to start it up again. And so we did. And so, here we are. One full year later.

You may have noticed that over the summer, we didn’t post as regularly as we had been over this past year. There were a few reasons for this, but the main reason was because our beloved fifteen-year-old chihuahua, Pepe, became even more sick and we had to make him a priority. He passed away in the middle of summer, leaving the entire family very sad, but with many wonderful memories. We needed a bit of break, and so, we took a breather.

After spending so much time in Portugal, we can say that there is some benefit in taking off August. In Portugal, things slow down, as they do in many other parts in Europe. This is not just for the very wealthy; it’s for most people. It was very surprising to see a business completely shut down for at least two weeks due to everyone going on holiday. Neither one of us can picture any business in Toronto closing completely for two week to one month while everyone took their vacation at the same time. It’s part of the work culture, at most jobs, it seems, to negotiate a fair holiday schedule.

Regardless of how different countries deal with holidays, time doesn’t stop. Even Pepe, who was the most relaxed and easy-going of dogs, was ruled by the clock when it came time eat, sleep, etc.

With so many options for communicating, we still prefer to share on this platform. We are so happy to have all of you join us over this year, and are looking forward to continuing to connect with you as we go forward.

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-Isabel & Marilyn