Earlier this year I met with my team in Montreal for a week of work and bonding. This is a treat since we don’t have a typical workspace water-cooler space as we all work from wherever we have Internet. My teammates at that time lived in Brazil, Bolivia, the UK, Portugal, Canada, various parts of the US, etc. With new hires, it was my first time meeting some of them in real-person. One of the people I met was Laetitia from Lisbon.

She’s really super awesome, and as we got to know each other more, it frustrated me that I hadn’t met her earlier in time. Just last year when Chris and I were living in Lisbon, and it would have been so fun to hang out with her there. Ah well. Next time 🙂

Lae is so sweet. We knew a company meetup was happening in a few months so we would get to see each other again after the Montreal visit, and she asked me if I wanted her to bring me anything from Lisbon. I thought about one of my favorite possessions, and mentioned it to her. My scarf.

There are many images of me in the past year wearing my scarf I got in Lisbon. Formal occasions, casual occasions. I love the thing. It’s so perfect! When it’s hot out, I just have it as a small wrap around my neck or tuck it in a pocket. If folds so tiny! And when I’m cold, I spread it out as a shawl. It’s amazing how warm it is. If it is pouring, I drape it over my head. So versatile!

Funny story, as an aside: Chris and I packed for the Lisbon month using our regular carry-on luggage. But we checked a large suitcase for the gifts we were going to bring back. Then we got everyone scarves so the bag we checked was pretty empty each way. haha.

Anyway, back to the scarf. Since I do wear it all the time, it’s starting to look a bit worn.

I asked Lae if she could find me a similar one, and told her the general direction of where I remembered the shop was. And she found it!!! When we had our company meetup she brought me this:

Is that impressive or what? It’s so similar to the old scarf. Here they are side-by-side:

I particularly love the elephants on the new one.

When we snowboard, on early season days and in the spring, we go out with “rock boards.” These are the boards that can handle rougher conditions. An old board you don’t mind getting scratched up as you go over rocks and mud. Now my former scarf is my Rock Scarf 🙂

I happily wear it to keep warm in my office, on the beach, at local restaurants, etc. And I’m keeping my fresh new shiny for fancier occasions since it’s so vibrant.

Either way, now when I wear either, I feel loved and and super thankful for the story behind my scarf. Thanks, Lae!!!