IN THIS FRAGILE SKIN

Random acts of Kindness

2012-02-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

I have been blessed - and I do count them as blessings - with a lot.

Today someone, out of the blue , put a huge smile on my sister face and this highlight of hope in her soul.

Kindness. True Kindness. To give . Just give. Whatever. That pure feeling and gesture.

May you all who have blessed me and/or my family and friends be blessed back twice more.

Are we trap in our own faith?

2012-02-03T03:15:00.000-08:00

I just watched Grey's Anatomy. I love that show. Seriously. I always get AHA moments while watching it. The writing is delicious.

The what if episode was another one of those moments for me. I wonder if I had made all the different choices, would I have ended up in the same place? Because I am destined to. Because no matter how many twists and turns the end is always on the same road...?

...Plus, what is MY destiny after all? What is my REAL life meant to be? Who am I really? The real me that I can never evade from, no matter how much I run?

Plus... Mark Sloan Getting in that ER with Lexie on his lap was to die for ;)

Label appeal: Bullberry and Mulberry

2012-01-27T04:32:00.000-08:00

I love these two English labels. They are have a very high quality and are a common classic. If I do own anything with a high end label, it's from them.

Currently loving:
- BLANKET STITCH TRENCH COAT

- Oversized Alexa

Food-blogging 101: Stone Soup

2012-01-27T04:17:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard the tale of Stone Soup? The legend of how this hearty soup came about is a popular one told throughout most European countries and was adapted to an American version by Marcia Brown. Each version is slightly different depending on your country or region and is usually influenced by varying historical or cultural references. However, at the base of each and every one is a uniting and heartfelt lesson about working together in times of need. The story of Stone Soup was told to me when I was very little, but remained a simple childhood story until I landed in Portugal several years ago. The Portuguese hold this tale very near and dear to their hearts, in part due to their insatiable appetite for soup in both restaurants and around the family dinner table.
According to the people of Almeirim, a poor friar who was on a pilgrimage stopped in the village of Almeirim and knocked on the door of a house. He was too proud to beg for a bite to eat, so instead, he requested a large pot in which he could make “a delicious and filling…….stone soup”. With arched eyebrows and curious glances, the family invited him into their home and set up a large pot over flickering flames and filled with water. Slowly walking up to the iron clad cauldron, the friar reached into his deep pocket to produce a smooth and well-cleaned stone that he promptly dropped into the boiling water. A little while later he tasted the soup and said that it needed a touch of seasoning. So the wife brought him some salt to add, to which he suggested that maybe a little bit of chouriço (sausage), or pork belly, would be better. Graciously, she obliged and dropped several thick slices into the pot. Then, the friar asked if she might not have a little something to enrich the soup, such as potatoes or beans from a previous meal. With a broad smile, she agreed, and added a healthy portion into the bubbling water. This banter continued back and forth between the family and the friar before he finally announced that he had indeed made a very delicious and filling soup. When the soup was done, the friar fished the stone out of the pot, washed and dried it off, and plopped it back in his pocket for the next time.
After hearing this version of the story, it sounded exactly like the one I had heard when I was a child, so it leads me to believe that the Portuguese Sopa de Pedra is the true story of Stone Soup.

---

Sopa da Pedra de Almeirim: Serves 8-10
2 large cans of kidney beans or fresh
1 pig’s ear, blanched and sliced thin
1 large chouriço negro or firm type of blood sausage
1 large mixed meat chouriço or mediterranean smoked sausage
5 1/2 oz. pork belly, fatback or bacon
1 3/4lbs. potatoes, cubed
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
1 bunch of cilantro/coriander, chopped
*Salt and pepper
Boil the kidney beans with the pig’s ear, sausages, pork belly, onions, garlic and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper. If necessary, add more water while it’s boiling. Once the meat is cooked, take it out and reserve, then add the diced potatoes and cilantro to the pot. Let the potatoes cook. Remove the pot from the heat, add the previously chopped meat back in and a well-washed stone. Serve in a soup terrine and enjoy!

from: http://catavino.net/sopa-da-pedra-a-humble-gastronomic-tale-about-sharing/

Label appeal

2012-01-20T09:03:00.000-08:00

I am not one to care about labels and even less to pay the amount some families need to live for a year ( or several) and throw it at some materialistic stuff that I can get , just as cute, 20000% cheaper.
However, as I stand on my coffee break, browsing the web, sipping my Starbucks iced coffee - not my favorite. Starbucks, that is - I decided to share with you, from the high end designers, my favorites.
I will never pay that much for anything that I could not drive or live in, however, to each their own, and they are, indeed, VERY cute.

MICHAEL Michael Kors Hamilton Large Tote, Luggage

( Not exactly a luxury item, it's around $350, which is NOT that much. However, I don't think I will pay that for a bag. especially with me being this rough on my bags and shoes, etc)

I am not the hugest fan of Louis Vuitton, however I do find this bags quite cute. And I believe LV and Chanel are an investment, since if you do pick a classic or a model that will become a classic, you may end up selling it for me than you paid for.

I love:

- Melrose Avenue

- Pont-Neuf

And the ALMA:

As far as Chanel, my favorite is:

- Chanel Caviar Executive Cerf Tote Bag

I just noticed it was all bags, but I am a bag lover. I'll do more of this on a future break!

Food-blogging 101: fish soup

2012-01-04T04:21:00.000-08:00

I love soups, but I hate making them. My mother is a great cook and I am going to show my top 3 soups that she makes. They are a meal on it's own and not exactly the best choice if you're a diet, but just perfect for me.
This is the receipt that is the most similar to my mum's one.

Preparation time: 25 minutes.
Ingredients
6 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup of chopped onions
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 cup of fresh chopped tomato (about 1 medium sized tomato)
2 tsp of tomato paste.
8 oz of clam juice (or shellfish stock)
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 lb fish fillets (use halibut, cod, sole, red snapper, sea bass), cut into 2-inch pieces
Touch of dry oregano, Tabasco, thyme, pepper
Salt
Method
1 Heat olive oil in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and sauté 4 minutes. Add parsley and stir 2 minutes. Add tomato, tomato paste and cook 2 minutes longer.
2 Add clam juice, dry white wine, and fish and simmer until fish is cooked through, less than 10 minutes. Add seasoning. Salt to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Serves 4.

From http://simplyrecipes.com/

My only wish for 2012

2011-12-30T03:24:00.000-08:00

Serenity.
I have been asking for this for years and I am still to manage and control my feisty, justice fighting , impulsive ways.

This is so much more than a prayer to me:

Dark circles

2011-12-28T03:38:00.000-08:00

The reason for the Benicio del Toro picture is because he is the only living being that I know of that manages to get deep, dark under eye circles like I do.
If and when I am having insomnia days - I never JUST have a night. I don't think lacking sleep just one night can possible be called insomnia. To me I'll call it LIFE. it can be one stressed little thing that one -
Anyway, when I have insomnia weeks, my under eyes get SO dark and so big, I had literally people coming up to me and saying - you're make up smudged - THAT'S how bad it is.

I need 1000 pounds of the BEST concealer, and let's be honest - it helps, but make up is not magic when the underneath is in such as messy state as mine is.

I am having one of those phases. So I read a lot and drink a lot of tea. I am never tired. I am never sleepy when I am having those insomnia phases. My body aches. I sense it asking for the relief of a good nights sleep.

My insomnia isn't one of not being able to go to sleep. It may take me a while. but what happens , usually is that I wake up in the middle of the night - 3/4 in the morning if I go to bed late. midnight if I try to go to bed early and can't go back to sleep.
I used to get really frustrated with that. I used to take pills- which never helped, anyway - and just tired myself even more.
Now, although it DOES seem that I loose "power" - I am usually a very active, hyped person - and my voice tends so get quiet and to speak way slow and to take time making my point cause I DO lose my line of thought often...
I know it is a phase. And it will pass and I will get back to normal. So now, I just accept these phases and my panda look as everything else I can't change in my life and try to make the best of it!

Why I don't take photos

2011-12-27T06:44:00.000-08:00

I LOVE to take pictures. I REALLY do. I used to play around with an old camera from my father, that had this attachable flash and we could use black and white film - yes, film. not digital - And I used to love it. I used to love to take pictures wonder how well they would turn out, take it to a studio and then collect the small envelopes that carry all the frames.
...And actually I wasn't bad. I really wasn't.
But with the last two cameras everything comes out so .... strange. It is never true to reality.
I love to read those blog that are extremely personal and share a bunch of photos and experiences.
I wish I could. But 1 - I am always withought a camera OR/AND simple forget to take one.
OR it just comes out so different that it makes no sense for me to share it.
This is quite frustrating. Because I really wanted to have a sort of virtual journal in here and due to my photographing -lacking -skills, I can't!!!

The end

2011-12-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Day 30:

My last day of blogging everyday. To write under pressure really takes it's toll cause will is all we've got and to force, even stuff we love - like writting - it never has the bests outcames.

Wanted end this on a top notch. On an independent, feisty, strong, sexy note. Like this character from brave. Cause I always wanted fire red hair.

Hope for the best prepare for the worst

2011-12-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

Day 29:

That's my motto

LOL

2011-12-23T03:00:00.000-08:00

Day 28

I will be gone so this is all schedule posts. I am in a hurry, so expect very little.like the present one ;)

Sick as a dog

2011-12-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

Day 27

I kind of saw this coming. That's why my latest posts have been so lame. My body has been aching, huge migraines. And today I have reached the highest level of "sickness" ... I hope. Cause that means it can only get better from here. =)

I have been to gloomy lately. I miss the happy me. Quite a nag having to deal with this "poor me" and pain sounds new personality lately.

I will be gone for Xmas, no internet connection Where I will be, so I will schedule posts cause I am near the end of my 30 days in a row blog posts and I want to keep it.

Annoying

2011-12-21T03:02:00.000-08:00

Day 26:

There is nothing, NOTHING I hate more that empty promises and lame excuses.
Do NOT make promises if you even SUSPECT that you wont be able to keep up with your word.
It only makes YOU - and YOU alone - look bad!!
....

BUT, I am just going to stop and stare at that pretty picture and relax and enjoy myself before my trip =)

Mistakes

2011-12-20T02:36:00.000-08:00

Day 25:

The sad part is when those who we love keep making the same mistakes over and over again. And keep getting caught in the lies and never grow from them.
One day we wont be able to wait any longer for them to grow up and catch up with us.
One day we will have to move forward and leave them behind.

The good part is, every time we see that same pattern occurring again, it just makes it easier and easier to walk away.

One of the few places I like to drive

2011-12-19T03:12:00.000-08:00

Day 24:

Marginal de Cascais in the morning.

Shopping spree

2011-12-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

Day 23

Spent the whole day shopping. My back aches. My feet aches.
Not the best idea to wear towering High heels when we're going to walk 1000 miles. Wished I could say I am done, but I missed one and that means I will have to get into crowded stores just to get one things and end up leaving with 200000.
The good side of today: I did found some great deals, and some cute stuff. ;)

Traveling for Christmas

2011-12-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

Day 22:

No one loves to travel at Christmas Time. Even if travel is your passion. I Don't believe anyone truly enjoys it. I know I hate it.
Christmas is the only time of the year, in my opinion, that demands anchors down.
And guess who will be traveling ?! ... =/

Christmas List

2011-12-16T09:51:00.000-08:00

Day 21:

Spent about 20minutes clicking on stuff around to http://pinterest.com that I would love to get for Christmas. Sephora HAS the best stuff ever.
Reasonable affordable and cute!

Comfort food

2011-12-15T07:27:00.000-08:00

Day 20:

Although I hate the aftermath of it, which means cleaning up, I do love to cook. I also think I am fairly decent at it.

Usually I don't have a lot of appetite at Lunch time, but the other day I got home and I just put some leftovers of mashed potato and gravy on a dish and I just heat it up and ate the whole thing .. it wasn't a lot, but usually I would never eat that on its own.
Either way it tasted great!

I need carbs when I am down. Mainly bread. I adore bread and I am so glad I live in a country where we are blessed with so many amazing varieties.

Bread, mashed potatoes and chips are my to go food when I am not at my best. May not be the best to your booty but it sure does the trick to my soul.

Nothing else to say

2011-12-14T08:57:00.000-08:00

Day 19:

I don't live off my phone. I manage to do so. But my sister had a phase she was glued to it. She still is a bit. But it can be annoying as hell.
I have a birthday party later on and am having the worst issues ever with customs due to a package. so, not my day.

My own kind of Christmas

2011-12-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

Father Christmas('Pai Natal') is believed to bring presents to children on Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas Day. The presents are left under the Christmas tree or in shoes by the fireplace.
Like in Spain, the traditional Christmas meal in Portugal is eaten during the evening of Christmas Eve and consists of codfish with vegetables and boiled potatoes. This is normally followed by shellfish, wild meats or other expensive foods.
After the meal, people go to church for the 'Missa do Galo' or 'Mass of the Rooster' service. After the service people return home, and open their presents.
Every house has a rich table set in the living room full with traditional food, cakes, fried cookies, nuts and other goodies! The traditional Christmas cake is 'Bolo Rei' (which means 'King Cake') and is placed in the center of the table. People drink porto wine, traditional liquors and eat 'azevias' and 'felhozes' (Portuguese biscuits and sweets). The party lasts until the early hours of the morning!
On Christmas Day the living room table remains untouched and people still enjoy their goodies together! Families come together and have Christmas Day lunch together.
In Portuguese Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Feliz Natal or Boas Festas'.

Here in Portugal we have many traditions of holiday food, but from North to South, at the Christmas Eve table, there’s something that you can’t miss: King Cake and Codfish Boiled With Potatoes, Eggs and Cabbage (dried and salted codfish). When I was a child I just hated both! I still don’t eat the King’s Cake candied fruits. And when a child sees a table sprinkled with sweets and all sorts of tempting food, and is told to eat boiled fish with cabbage at dinner, what a sacrifice it is!

But what I love most is what we do with the leftovers on the next day: Roupa Velha (Old Clothes). So simple and so delicious.

NOTE: The typical dishes are cot fish, Octopus, Roster , Chicken, Pork, Cow - it depends on the place where you live. But mainly cot fish is the most well known dish for the season. Turkey is eaten on Christmas where Portuguese people visit the friends and family and have a big lunch normally with roast chicken, lamb or - as mentioned - turkey.

Also, due to the general economic crisis , most of the city halls are not putting the usual Xmas lights, but we still get a taste of it:

War paint

2011-12-13T04:23:00.000-08:00

Day 18:

There was a time when I used so much make up. I would NEVER leave the house without my "face on". Even if I was only going out to put the trash. I could be in my pajamas, and I would go back, and get all dolled up and full make up on.
I still can't go to work with nothing. But now, at least, I feel confident enough in my own skin, to just take so much more time in the skin care process and way less in the cover up act.
However when I do wear make up this is my kind of make up.
I am brunette with olive skin and I find this is what suits me the most.

I may skip the bottom eyeliner if it's just day time.

The bright darkness

2011-12-12T07:23:00.000-08:00

Day 17:

I have been drawn to the dark. I get home and close all the widows, all the shades and just be.
No idea why I am running away from the light, but I like the feeling of that filled void that only the non existence of light gives me.
We see nothing, yet we are so much more focused, more attentive. We hear and feel so much more.
It's getting kind of cold where I live. Not cold enough to turn the heaters up or wear layers over layers of clothing. Yet, I always - again - feel more alive in cold temperatures.
At times it seems I move at different paces than everyone else.
Not that has ever bother me.

Mr. Darcy

2011-12-11T14:52:00.000-08:00

Day 16:

I was madly in love with BBC's pride and prejudice. Not the movie. The Tv show. An oldie.
No idea why. Mr Darcy is a quiet, frowny guy who seems to be annoying as hell after the lust phase ends.
Unfortunately, Colin Firth made me believe there will never be an end to that.

I haven't found my Mr.Darcy. I have found my Mr. right. And I am perfectly fine with that.

However, the series, still makes me whisper like a crazy hormonal teenager over Colin Firth.

Magazines and sad songs

2011-12-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

Day 15:

My boyfriend gets the magazine Courrier International, every month. And for people like us, who hate to watch TV, and that includes the news, it's the best way to stay up to date on everything and since it's a "collection" of the best articles from all the major world newspapers, we don't just get one single point of view. We are handled several and are allowed to make our own.
We love it and we like to debate the articles and share our private thoughts about them. They're in different languages, so try and find if it's available where you live.

I am having a hard time finding a book that really captures my attention. I have phases like that. So I have been checking my TV shows- which I was so behind on - and been listening to way more music lately.

No matter what I always, ALWAYS go back to the ones that have touch me to the core when I listen to them. This is one of them. I know every word. Every tune by heart but, still, it manages to touch me to the very deep of me:

Sick day

2011-12-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

Day 14:

Feeling under the weather. A cold, chilly rainy weather, that I usually love but not when I have a runny nose, an achy body and shivers up and down my spine.
Took my medicine and around 2000 gallons of hot tea.
Here's to a better tomorrow!
=)

Crazy, Stupid, Love

2011-12-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

Day 13:

I never really got all that Ryan Gosling madness. I am REALLY trying to understand it.;)
I have walked by this movie poster 1000 times and just ignore it. Until I realized Emma Stone was in it. I adore that girl.
Again, she never caught my eye until I saw "the help". Now she has my undying attention.
Going to check the movie and will let you know my views on it.
Let's see if this is the one that will open my eyes for the Ryan Gosling thing

Just life

2011-12-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

Day 12

Saw the dumbest movie yesterday.With Ryan Gosling. Drive.
So, so, random.
Am currently reading Shiver. A sort of Twilight like book but with werewolves. No vampires. I seem to be stuck in the first pages and my brain refuses to keep reading it. Not in love.
The postman actually arrived at a decent time so I managed to catch him and get my packages. That was cool.
My sparkly mani is actually behaving pretty well. Not a chipped nail so far.
No imagination, no will to update this blog. But I must fulfill the project, therefore let's ramble a bit.
Can't wait to get out of here.
Huge headache. Can't find pain killers, so have to stick with it.
Planing to walk my dog, go to the movies and eat a yummy dinner.
Not in this order.
Till then it's just me and my headache.
Great.

My cup of tea ...

2011-12-06T06:15:00.000-08:00

Day 11:

I never really understood all the magic and wonders of tea drinking until recently. I have become addicted to the thing.
I usually drink it plain. No sugar, no anything. So I can taste the flavor of the tea.

At mornings I do drink coffee. Haven't gotten rid of that vice just yet. Love the taste and the aroma of a great, strong, robust coffee.

But At lunchtime I drink a cup of red or green tea and at nighttime a white tea, or just a soothing bed time tea, like camomile or some mixture of herbs that help me relax.

Think it is just one of those things that comes with age. Like - actually - wanting to eat vegetables!

...See, not all is bad with growing up!

True Colors

2011-12-05T06:42:00.000-08:00

Day 10:

Can you imagine being able to see this colors live? Standing right there. Inhaling the smells, the sounds and this view...
Africa is truly unique, isn't it?

Christmas Shopping

2011-12-04T10:28:00.000-08:00

Day 9:

I may be one of the few people who hates to shop. Mainly on crowded malls.

I used to love it when I was in College, but now is more of a duty than a pleasure.
I pretty much do an escape plan so I can be in and out as fast as possible.
And this time we took twice as long cause I was feeling pretty sick, couldn't think straight and my BF lost the parking ticket so we spend hours looking for it only to find it on his jeans' back pocket.
( insert rolling eyes)
It wasn't that bad. We found a store having a pretty decent discount so I am happy with it.
I believe I am also pretty done when it comes to Xmas gifts and that soothes my soul. =P

Xmas has been losing its charm in my book. I guess because I , now , buy my own gifts and there's no kids in the family to bring that magical feeling once more.
Suppose it's a phase. Hope it goes away. I used to love this season ....

Isabel Allende

2011-12-03T13:04:00.000-08:00

Day 8:

After her last novel I felt she had lost her touch. After Gabriel Garcia Marquez, she was the second Spanish language writer with whom I felt in love with. But The island beneath the sea made me fear she had lost her magic, her power to imagine compelling stories, to make me stop mid sentence in awe of how she had put life in words and made them feel brand new. Newly discovered. I felt that she was just telling the same stories over and over again.
She pours so much of herself into each novel I feel I know where lays the truth, where she may have drown inspiration from and what is sheer fiction.
So, it became harder and harder for me to get lost in her novels.
This new one: Maya's notebook , even though the beginning made me feel she was force to re-write it cause she has revealed to much that shouldn't be shared. If we go on and bare with it, you will find pieces and bit of the original Allende. The one that made you stop mid-sentence. In awe. For her words.

Lay me in a bed of dreams ...

2011-12-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

Day 7:
After traveling so much in search of something I felt I needed, I found it right here. Where I lay...

Hello December

2011-12-01T11:37:00.000-08:00

Day 6

Wow, time sure flies by. I fell like I have been in some sort of foggy daze where reality mixes with dreams and wishes and nightmares and fears. This past year was a roller-coaster ride. Not in a good way. Not in "your heart is pumping so hard and you never felt more alive and you're so filled with endorphins you feel you can take on the world."
No.
Not at all.
It was more like a hunted mansion ride where you were always with your heart on your throat, you feel every nerve in your whole body , you got that nasty bitter taste in your mouth, you had no past and saw no future. You were just surviving. One day at a time. Cause that's all you could do.
Try to make it. Try to get out of this ride. Try to find the exit ....
And because it was so demanding and hard. And scary. Even when it ends, you always catch yourself looking around you, scared by your own shadow.
It is not over yet. Christmas this year promises to be less than an enchanted season.
But every road has its turn, and I can not wait to be able to choose a brand new path.
Cheers to that.
In the meantime: December, be kind ... I lack the strength to fight you.

A simple kind of life

2011-11-30T06:55:00.000-08:00

Day 5

I do not believe we can run away from our worries, but I believe if I had this place all to myself, for sure, it would take them longer to find me. And affect me.
But life is what it is.

The cold has finally reached me, so I am considering taking out the gloves and the Winter hat for the first time this year... But I have my nails freshly painted in the most Christmas like sparkly green that I think I'll rather bare the freezing and show them off ...

Over-sharing

2011-11-29T04:38:00.000-08:00

Day 4:

Is there such a thing? Can we get hurt by speaking to much, sharing to many details, allowing people to get in the secrets rooms withing our soul?!

I believe so.

I believe that once you leave your door open and allow everyone in, you will never know what you'll get. But you will for sure get hurt. If you have no boundaries.

People will never know what is precious to you or not, they will have no regard for your feelings and once you've send them out there into the world; they will feel entitled to them , to make opinions and criticism like they are their own.

They are not. Your feelings, your thoughts, your believes are yours alone. They were built, and changed and encraved into your being by a way of 1000 tears and laughs and joyful and dangerous experiences.

Do share. Do loan your heart. Have a revolving door into your house. But handle the key to very few trusted ones. And always, always , keep a secret room, just for yourself. Where you'll keep safe your sanity and your strength. For when life beats you down. And disappointment is all you get from others. Keep YOU in that room. You can always count on YOU. Because in the end, it is - truly - always up to YOU!

Adele

2011-11-28T02:51:00.000-08:00

Day3.

So thankful to the friend who introduce me to her voice. So grateful she is around in my generation. Adele and Harry Potter are two classics in the making that will last as long as the history of the world will. To know that I was around when they created it...

The power of that voice in unbelievable. I have been feeling kinda down lately. Actually, pretty lousy. Today was the worst.

But taking a shower while Adele's "21" was blasting and singing along to Don't you remember, etc ... That black cloud hanging around my head the last days and this emptiness in my heart just washed away with the water.

Music is such a blessing and it is such a gift to have this kind of power. To influence a state of mind.

I hardly ever cry. This is my way of easing the pain inside.

Laziness

2011-11-27T08:38:00.000-08:00

Day 2:

Here's to those lazy days, where we can just trow away all clocks, forget there is a time ticking by and own our whole life. We can do so much or so little as we like.

These kind of days seem to vanish as we grow up. Every second seemed filled with 24 hours of miles long to do -list. The air seems saturated with stress that fills our whole body with nervous tension.

So if you still have these kind of days: enjoy them and appreciate them. Make the world your own.

In the lazy days you are, truly, free.

Private

2011-11-26T13:50:00.000-08:00

DAY ONE

I have decided to do another project: to update - DAILY - this blog for 30 days.

That can be hard. I usually never stick to these projects. IF I can skip it, then I would. I am to much of a strict person in my work and my true commitments to also be that way in my hobbies- which this blog is a part of. But I will try. I will give it my best. I will break the rule, create the exception and MAKE IT!

I believe it could be way easier if I wasn't such a private person. I have a hard time pouring my soul up here and calling stuff by their names and just publicly detail my day to day life.

I LOVE to read those kind of blogs, I am just to much of a coward to be one of those kind of girls.

This is day ONE. So I will just leave you with a quote I have read in one of the blogs that have became one of my favorites, especially since the person who writes it is so candid and has such a compelling writing . She is in the midst of a change and like most of the times we leave behind all we known and already control to something unknown, cold, and maybe hostile. That needs to be tame, controlled and molded into our own, we fear it is the wrong choice.When it's not. It's just the fear we all get when we leave our security blanket behind.

I have mention here before I would be moving. I have delayed that over and over again, cause the moving - unlike all the others I have done in my life - was scaring, not exciting. It was grown up stuff.

So, this excerpt came just in time:

"When we make a change, it's so easy to interpret our unsettledness as unhappiness and our unhappiness as a result of having made the wrong decision. Our mental and emotional states fluctuate madly when we make big changes in our lives. Somedays we could tightrope across Manhattan, and other days we are too weary to clean our teeth. This is normal. This is natural. This is change

You take my breath away

2011-11-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

Know this feeling? When someone literately makes you forget how to breathe?

Some few lucky ones are loved back with the same intensity and time usually diminishes the fire. But when love is real not even time can put it out. And from now and then you do get that feeling back.

Today is all about love. Bellow are my two favorite songs on the matter:

Trains

2011-11-02T05:16:00.000-07:00

I adore trains. If I could I would do all my traveling by them.

The best part of Harry Potter was the train.

I used to use a train when I was in college all the time and I loved it. I could seat back and enjoy the ride. I could read, I could listen to music. I could sleep. I could chat.

Most of my good memories are in trains ...

Now... of course I am not talking about rush hour trains.

I am talking about semi-empty , nice views, relaxed, clean trains .. with no real time to arrival.

Those kind ...

Plus found this online and LOVED it:

Because I DO complain to much

2011-10-26T07:59:00.001-07:00

And I shouldn't.

10 Things I love

2011-10-17T04:52:00.000-07:00

Family meals:

Car travels with no destination:

Chocolate:

Cold outside while a fire burns inside and I sip a hot chocolate:

Rain , while I am inside close doors:

To laugh:

Hugs:

Watching Tv in Bead when alone:

Rivers:

Pizza:

Why I miss Fall

2011-10-17T04:32:00.000-07:00

I love cold weather. My favorite season is Autumn. I love the chilly - yet not to freezing cold - weather. The smells and the colors.
Yet, here we are half way trough October and the temperatures are as high as in any given Summer ... people are out partying and drinking like it's August!
I feel more awake and alive in the winter. I like the dark nights and the fact I can layer a bunch of stuff and wear cute jackets ...
Experts say Portugal is turning into a tropical climate. I sure hope not. I like our temperate climate with our four moderate seasons ... I like the fact that everything in Portugal is never to extreme and we can easily adjust into anything. I hate the fact we seem to be stuck in this one never ending season. Even the Summer-holics are tired of this bright long sunny days ...

I mean ... Christmas is around the corner! Am I suppose to spend it without a fireplace burning ?! I am depressed ... =(

2011 birthday edition

2011-10-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

So last year my car was broken into and all my CDs - mostly Jessica Simpson - were stolen.
This year, my bday was in a Monday. I HATE Mondays. You have no idea how much I hate Mondays.
So, I decided I had been a good enough girl and I should take some time to myself. With everyone at work, I called my sister and we decided to do a girl's day out.

I was expecting her around lunch time but she came in a few minutes after I have gotten out of bed, so The luxurious, long bath I had planned was scratched from my list.

But after an amazing lunch filled with stuff I never get to eat on a daily base, we went out, we shop around and mainly laugh a lot.

I have got a LOT of early bday gifts and I will get a lot more later on, so on my actual bday, I just got my sis video gift. which I loved!

It was Hot as hell, so we spend some time indoor checking our emails and tweets and such before facing the blazing Sun. It must have been around 40º/104F which is JUST TO MUCH for October when FALL should be happening already! people were sporting shorts, tiny tops and flip flops. It's absurd!

We had some cute times and memories and now my boyfriend and the rest of the gang are here, so Let the celebrations continue. However my bday party will be on Wednesday, since it's a bank holiday in Portugal. So no birthday cake till them. But we did have a champagne - pretty good, actually - with lunch!

Of course we TOTALLY forgot to take pics, but I'll try and upload some to my twitter and facebook tomorrow!

And here is a small representation of what Mondays mean to me!

Rush of inspiration

2011-09-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

I always have to write things up when I get an idea. Otherwise it's like my heads gets ahead of myself, and develops this amazing intricate story around it and by the time I get to sit down and actually do the writing, all the ideas have gone away, like they are no longer of any use for my brain to keep them.
So, I have to write things up.
I live a lot in my head.
I don't know how I can make that and still be able to be sociable, taking the amount of time I spend on my head.
I have 200030 novels inside of me. I just feel life, hasn't given me the full ingredients that would allow me to express them in words yet.
I have ideas for stuff I should write. Poems, short stories, blog posts.
Ideas for business: a cool way to marketing something, or a new way to display a product, a brand new slogan and a fresh design.
And then my mind goes overdrive. I feel like I am sucked inside my brain and see all this ideas taking shape and I must go to a quite place and write them down. Or else they will never feel this amazing again.
You have no idea what it feels to create something, to shape something that was once only inside you.

That's why I pity that I was not blessed with the gift of drawing. I imagine the rush it may be to get into that state of mind where it's just you and the canvas, flushing all your emotions trough a brush ...

I also wish I could have been blessed with an amazing voice. It must be sheer happiness to be able to give people goosebumps just with a simple song.

I was blessed with imagination and creativity. Now I feel if I could go back in time I should have gone to some Art's school. Not to dance or to sing. But to breathe all of that energy and learn all the different ways I could express myself.

This way, I only have my writing. Which is far from enough.

Jessica Simpson Fall in Style

2011-09-15T02:52:00.001-07:00

Jessica Simpson Fall in Style by ritovskyta featuring jessica simpson pumps

The 7 deadly sins

2011-09-13T04:01:00.000-07:00

I believe I am guilty of all seven. Some more than others. Here's how I try to refrain form them ... when I manage to ;)

Pride - This, I believe is the one I am least guilty. I have my moments. But I know when to give.

Envy - I hardly ever suffer from this and when I do I try to remove myself from the situation since it's one of the ugliest feelings ever. Nothing good ever comes out of it. I do not consider envy when we want to be AS GOOD as someone else. That to me is called ambition and "look up to". Envy is that ugly green monster that whispers in your hear now and then" why not me instead of ...?" . This is the one I try to refrain myself from having. It's despicable.

Gluttony - If we can count chocolate ice cream when I'm melancholic then I am a repeat offender.

Lust - oh well .. I am human...

Anger - I can get quite made now and then. Usually when I am defending someone. But I have been known to loose my chill .. not sure if we can call it wrath, but yeah ...not nice. =)

Greed - I am the least material person in the world. Well, this is quite a statement. Let's rephrase it: I am not a very materialist person. Until JSC come out I hardly ever WANTED - with this sudden urge - anything.

Sloth - I am a procrastinator. I believe the biggest one I know. Apart from my sister. This is the one I am most guilty of. And do very little to fight against.

There. guilty on all charges. Now what?

The Hunger Games

2011-09-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

There are many books I love, but very few I feel compelled to read all over again. Do you know what I mean? You reached the end, but yet all is still a maze of confusion, you are not ready to let go, you feel you missed on to much, so you need to go back at it. Again and again.

That happen to me with Gabriel Garcia Marquez 100 Years of solitude, some of Isabel Allende and Harry Potter.

I have read Twilight. Once. Can't read it again, even if I am bored and there is nothing else to read. I quite liked the first three book - disliked the fourth - but everything was simple. No need to go back. Trying to force me to read it again only brings light into the poor writing of Stephanie Meyer. And I liked it once. I devoured the 3 books in a couple of days. I do not want to mess with that.

Then the next " it" book to read was the Hunger games.

Which is not about love in my opinion. At least not romantic love. It's not even really about bravery. Just survival instinct. When I read them I saw no colors, no happy endings, no long lost lovers ... everything was raw.

It's very Stephen King. It is not an original idea. But nauseated as I might be, I couldn't put it down till I finish the whole series.

Yesterday I tried to force myself to read it again. I couldn't. There is nothing to be found that I missed the first time around. No hollow place to be filled. I am good. I did find the image above that does a much better portrait of it if than I ever could, if you haven't read it, and feel like to.

A Tag Post

2011-08-29T04:42:00.000-07:00

I saw this on YouTube, however I don't do videos.
It's a cute way to do a post without much thinking involved while still sharing a bit about yourself.

#1. What's a nickname only your family calls you? Nothing. I don't have a nickname among my family. I have a friend that calls me Riri, but that is all.

#2. What's a weird habit of yours? Weird Habit? I don't know if I don't have any or if I have to many that I don't even notice how unusual they are. But If I have something really weird I just can't recall anything ..

#3. Do you have any weird phobias? No, no Phobias. weird or un-weird. =P

#4. What's a song you secretly love to blast and belt out when you're alone? With You by Jessica Simpson. It's one of the few songs I know the full lyrics to. But it's no secret. I sing it everywhere and anywhere.

#5. What's one of your biggest pet peeves? People being late.

#6. What's one of your nervous habits? Pace up and down

#7. What side of the bed do you sleep on? I don't have a side. When I lived at my parent's house I also never had one. Now I am sleeping on the right. But in my prior house I slept on the left. Not picky.

#8. What was your first stuffed animal and it's name? Not sure what my FIRST stuffed animal was. I knew I had a sesame street puppet, but animal ... maybe a huge red rabbit that scared the hell away from me when I saw him. I never named my stuffed animals. I never needed anything to cuddle so I could fall asleep and there isn't that much you can do with teddy bears, so they were never my favorite toys. More decoration objects than any other thing .

#9. What's the drink you always order at starbucks? I hate Starbucks.

#10. What's a beauty rule you preach, but never actually practice? I never preach anything. And I don't have beauty "rules". If any, I always tell my sister to wash her face with a bunch of products to prevent acne and then I just slap water on mine. I am getting quite good at this ( actually having a skin care routine) nowadays, tough ...

#11. Which way do you face in the shower? Hate getting water on my face, so back to the water, but I do turn. Just try to keep my face away from under it...

#12. Do you have any 'weird' body 'skills'? Well my knee can pop out and get back in again. Following by excruciating pains. But this is not a skill, just a bad knee that I should get surgery on, but refuse. Anyway it's hardly ever.

#13. What's your favorite comfort food that's 'bad' but you love to eat it anyways? Anything junk food related. Pizzas and Hamburgers. Chips and Chocolate. A LOT of it. That's my comfort food. to eat a WHOLE pizza by myself or a whole box of chocolates. Don't do it often. But when I need "comfort" I do ...=)

#14. What's a phrase or exclamation you always say? I don't know if I have that. If anything I say " and, ...and...and..." when I am telling something really exciting ...

#15. Time to sleep, what are you actually wearing? A spaghetti straps top and Pajama pants.

My own flaws

2011-08-26T04:51:00.000-07:00

I am far from perfect. There is no such thing as perfection, anyway.
I try to fool myself into saying that the fact that I am aware of my flaws, makes them - somewhat - more bearable.
Which is a lie.
Not only am I not fully aware of my whole list of flaws as the simple fact of acknowledging that something is wrong with no intention to make it right, will NEVER be ok.
There is different flaws, of course. Flaws that are quirks , that make us who we are: special, different from the next one ..
There are flaws that just live in our own mind, and ..
...then, they are the flaws that are indeed 100% flaws and in which I work daily to correct.

My list of falws:
- I am a procrastinator. The worst kind. Like not even a" don't do today what you can do tomorrow" kind of girl. I am more like - "If you can get away with not doing it AT ALL, great!"
I am aware this only applies to ME. If someone is relying on me to do something: it gets done. That second. No one will tell you otherwise. But to fulfill objectives that I set myself, I ALWAYS fail. Like working out daily - yeah, right!!!
- I am a control freak - This may come out of my immediate necessity of punctuality. Mine and others. I do get stressed out a LOT when I have to wait. Which is stupid. Stressing out solves NOTHING and just creates ulcers. I can NOT control other people behavior. I should know that by now ...
- Hate surprises: This has to do with my control freak situation. Since surprises mean someone else is controlling the situation, while I am on the dark, I despise them with all my heart! ( not talking about gifts, more surprise parties, going away and not telling when or where to, etc)
- I stress to much - I am usually very calm in a crisis, but when all's calm, my ability to put myself in other people's shoes, causes me GREAT pain. Since I suffer for other people, sometimes more than they do themselves. I absolutely hate this...
- And my very worst flaw: When I am stressed out I burst all my stress into anyone standing next to me. Usually those who love me. Which is wrong, unfair and plain cruel.
I do my best to stop it, and some know how to deal with me since, when they know me, they know my bad humor never lasts long and anything and EVERYTHING makes me laugh!

No one is indeed perfect, BUT that is no reason not to be a work in progress and try to be better each day.
My biggest ambition is life is to find serenity - so I can just accept everything life trows at me, no stress, no anger, no tears ... Just accept it, and move on.

Back to School guide

2011-08-25T05:02:00.000-07:00

I am not in school anymore, but many may be.
I HATED school. every single part of it.
Not because I was bullied or only got crappy grades.
I hated school because it was the very first time I realize - time - was not mine to control.
I had to obey, and stick to rules and schedules and be indoors 90% of the time.
I was very shy, but I always fought that fear back and no one ever knew. I come off as confident and secure when I was dying inside. I was always good at pretending.
I never had to study to get good grades, but the fact I never really study made it that I never got the top grades. Now I regret it. It would have taken so little effort of me to be extraordinary.
I was never a teachers pet but they found me cute and allow me to sit with my back against the wall and spend the entire lesson writing furiously on my notebook, stuff they knew very well had nothing to do with the class . They had gotten used to the fact, I still manage to listen at the same time.
I had friends. All around, and it never crossed my mind how different they all were. The only constant was myself.
I chose friends for who they were, not for what they were. In my eyes there were no labels.
I was a leader of my "pack" but I was afraid and uncertain most of the time. But I never failed to come up with the jokes and to create the entertainment.

Half the time I had no idea of what I was doing. I just knew I had to keep going. I both flunked and was the top of my class during my school life.

I usually could talk my way out of stuff I disliked and justify my lack of commitment.

There was no rules for me. I had no big sister to show me the way. I was by my own all scared and terrified, but knew the only way I could do it was by doing it.

I trade schools a bunch of times so I was always adjusting, starting from scratch.

There is no guide on how to act and how to survive school.

Just be you. Don't over think and don't over analise. Everyone is as afraid as you are.

Don't try to achieve things you think you should achieve. You are your own destiny. DO what feels right. Don't aim for popularity. Aim for happiness.

Happiness is such a better place to be, where you can laugh and feel cozy within, than to sit on the cool table where you need to always have the ideal look and be on red alert all the time, in case you do something less cool and get kicked out of it.

Chilling through school is so much easier than stressing. There is stress enough all around.
And if you find no one gets you. Great. No one got the great ones. Keep an eye on the future and take pleasure on the little things that allow you to breath a bit from all that suffocating world you may feel you're in. There will BE an end.

And if you feel no one loves you. Look around better. You have not look close enough. Someone does love you and accept you exactly the way you are. If you're lucky you'll be able to spot that person. If not, BELIEVE me when I say there is always someone. Even if they just look up to you from afar.

Just suck it up. Inhale and put one foot in front of the other. You'll get there.

Self help books

2011-08-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

I am not a fan. Pretty much everything is common sense.
Reading a book about how positive thinking may help improve your life while wondering - boy, wish I could be like that. I can never do that. Nothing good ever happens in my life - is just plain stupid.
Close the book, get up and just do it. Just do it.

THIS!

2011-08-19T04:34:00.001-07:00

Cause being strong is not always easy. But neither is being weak. Might as well not wait for the punches lying down....

How to ease an heavy heart ...

2011-08-16T04:35:00.000-07:00

When my mind is filled with thoughts and questions and wonders...
When there's choices to be made than can change my whole life and it seems everything is heavy. And hard. And the air is so thick you can breath in right ... I read. I read light, funny, easy books.
It's the only thing that calms me down. It's the only thing that absorbers all my feeling into that sentence I am reading, that manages to drag me from my present hostile life and into that foreign world where my worries are left behind.
Movies and Tv don't do it for me. Cause everything is served to me, I don't have to focus, I don't have to put my whole into watching whatever it's going on in the screen and my mind often wonders. Books lock it in. Hard.
So, this pass weeks I have read nothing but Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic novels. ALL of them. It's light. It's fun. It's a no brainier.
Strongly recommended for those heavy phases in life.

Places to live in the near future ..

2011-08-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

My life as I know it is coming to a stop. We are bound to do a few changes and among them, one very important one - a change of country.

I believe Portugal has run it's course and I need to get my packing done and go abroad again .. the question is to where. Here are the possibilities:

- USA: Until now we just considered the East Coast, but I have no idea if I could EVER live in a country that doesn't has Universal Health Care and I never had an ocean separating my new life from my old one ...It's a huge step that I am not sure I am ready yet ...

- Holland/ the Netherlands : This has been an option that is bound to happen sooner or later. I have been taking some Dutch courses and it's on top of our list. I LOVE cold, so I'm excited ...

- Germany: going back to Germany. Maybe heading to a different city than before. I have a love affair with Germany and Austria ...It's also a BIG possibility!

then there's 2 possibilities work wise, but we may not take ..

- Finland: I usually think I can adjust to anything, but I am not sure this I could handle. I have been drown to EVERY northern European country for ages, but I don't speak the language and the climate and lack of sunlight may be hard to handle ... and of course:

- Angola ... I hate the heat, but to be able to know Africa.... I guess every one of us has some kind of connection to that continent. I believe every Portuguese has one with Angola ....

Decisions ... to be continued ...

LOL

2011-08-10T07:02:00.001-07:00

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend to Husband and noticed a distinct slowdown in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewellery applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend.

In addition, Husband uninstalled many other valuable programmes, such as Romance and Personal Attention and then installed undesirable programs such as Rugby , Football, Sailing and Continuous TV. Conversation no longer runs, and Housecleaning simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed, Desperate

......................................................................................................

Dear Desperate,

First keep in mind, Boyfriend is an Entertainment Package, while Husband is an Operating System. Please enter the command: 'http: I Thought You Loved Me.html' and try to download Tears.
Don't forget to install the Guilt update. If that application works as designed, Husband should then automatically run the applications Jewellery and Flowers, but remember - overuse of the above application can cause Husband to default to Grumpy Silence, Garden Shed or Beer. Beer is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources). Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband.

In summary, Husband is a great system, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. It also tends to work better running one task at a time. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Food and Hot Lingerie.

Good Luck,
Tech Support

found here: http://andorinhaquevoa.blogspot.com/

To give or to get?

2011-08-09T05:31:00.000-07:00

Presents?
I am very picky so I never really liked to get presents. Until recently I didn't really had anything I really wanted. Now JSC stuff make my day. But only friends over at the USA can give me that stuff, so I still am not crazy about presents.
I do love to give tough ... I usually go all wild when I am buying gifts. I don't even need a date to do it. I just like to give...

However take in consideration my economic state this day, the gifts you may get can be pretty lousy but I still like to buy ... I just traded high stores for drugstore and such =)

classic books

2011-08-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

I love to read. I have said this here several times. I read everything. I loved Harry Potter and read it MANY times over and over ... I have read hunger games and twilight .. but I also read some that are now considered classics. A more deep , heavy read ( That I don't always agree) ...like:

- Jane Austen ( Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility,
- Charles Dickens ( Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities )
- Herman Melville ( Moby-Dick)
- Mark Twain ( Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)
- William Shakespeare ( All's Well That Ends Well , Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Othello ) - before you think I love Shakespeare - which I do - many were in College.
- Arthur Conan Doyle ( pretty much all Sherlock Holmes books)
-Margaret Mitchell ( Gone with the Wind)
-Ernest Hemingway ( A Farewell to Arms , For Whom the Bell Tolls , The Old Man and the Sea )
- Emily Bronte ( Wuthering Heights)
- Jules Verne ( Around the World in Eighty Days, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under .A Journey to the Center of the Earth)

And some more that are not feature on that .... my taste is wide ...

My style influences

2011-08-05T04:32:00.000-07:00

I don't really have a style icon... ( well, maybe Jessica Simpson, just cause she tends to wear pretty much all the styles I love),,, BUT I do have some pieces that inspire me. Like:

- Maxi dresses:

- hats: floppy hats, fedora hats, cowboy hats .. a must have in my closet, ALL seasons ...

- crossbody bag - loving it this Season:

- Super simple and basic outfit for work. Jazz it up with accessories:

- Turquoise , Silver and red accessories:

Weddings

2011-08-04T02:30:00.001-07:00

Nothing scares me quite as much as a wedding. The anticipation, the stress, the walking down the aisle ... It all seems torture to me ... to find the PERFECT dress, the PERFECT cake...

Those who know me, know I have very little patience for .. well, just about everything. But choosing stuff? And looking for perfection, nonetheless? It takes me about 2 minutes. I am in and out of a store like I am being chased by a chain murderer. I can not imagine going trough all that ...

Just goes to prove that many people's dream day will be one of my worst nightmares ...

My life does go and plays pranks on me now and then, but I hope this will not be one of those occasions. I have been living together with my boyfriend for quite a while and I have no desire to add to that.

Can't really explain it ... I suppose there's worst phobias to have, right?

Hair

2011-08-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

What I learn about my hair after all this years is that it looks way better if I just let it be ...

Just wash and go.

If I try to tame it, or do something more time consuming that just wrap a towel around it , my hair will frizz and get all mad ...

Before I have come to terms with it, I used to spend many hours in front of the mirror and spend a lot of money in 2000 products so I could have straight hair.

Straight hair girls always look good. They wake up, brush gently and they're good to go ...

Curls .. oh curls ... they are what they are, I guess. They can look great. But, whenever we need our hair to REALLY look great, it usually doesn't .. and you can't really fake it if you have curls.

So, now I just shrug my shoulders and move on. Trust me: my hair will take 30 minutes to ruin anything any hairdresser could do ...

Ps - I am not Taylor Swift, but we can all see how wrong that hairstyle could go in some weather, right?

What's around the riverbend?

2011-08-02T05:05:00.000-07:00

I have been away for many different reasons. One of the main issues is that I am at a turning point in my life.
Looking back I realized just how many changes I have gone trough.
So many people just find their path and stick with it.
Somehow, it seems my path is - and it's going to keep on being - to wander adrift ...
September would be a huge month. Many decisions to make.
Wonder where life will take me now ...

... Can't remember if I was this scared on my previous turns and leaps in life ...

Well, it will- at least - make an amazing novel one day. That is, if I manage to not get senile till I find my spot to settle down long enough to write it. Traveling and changes don't allow my memories to flow into words as much as I liked it to ..

My view on fashion and make up

2011-07-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

A few years back and I would not be caught dead leaving the house with no make up. Now I go trough phases: but I do walk around bare faced most of the times . No make up.
I find myself investing more in skin care products than on actual make up items.

I guess I have grown into my own skin and can now see the beauty of it without the mask that make up allowed me.
I still wear it, though... I love to play with it now and then. I just set myself free from the mandatory daily routine of a full make up face.

It's freeing, actually. Especially on Summer.
Of course that means I spend all my money on HUGE sunglasses ... Those are my concealers now for when I am tired. =)

As far as fashion goes: I still am an accessories junkie. I could live in denim jeans and a white tank top - actually not: with tank tops I must play with colors - but I need my accessories. My bags, my belts, my jewels ...etc ( oh, and I consider nail polish an accessories as well,lol )

I don't pay attention to brands or labels. Most of my favorite stuff end up being drugstore stuff anyway ... With a few exceptions,...

I invest on good bags, jeans,coats, footwear and skin/body care - this doesn't mean it has to be over the top pricey.
It means I DO take the time to look for what is best FOR ME. Sometimes, yes, it can cost a bit more, but other times it's accessible stuff.

For instance: I own a Dior concealer, but I don't need my nail polishes to be Channel ...

I have learn to pick my battles...

The downside of being me

2011-06-28T04:47:00.000-07:00

One of my biggest trademarks is my bad memory and the impossibility I seem to have in holding a grudge.
Not sure if that comes out of the good nature of my heart or if I simply forget to keep on disliking people. =)

Anyway,I can work in a very nasty workplace, kill or be killed zone and be totally zen. I can take any bullets, but I am fiercely loyal and if anyone attacks a loved one I WILL strike back.

...and there lays my weakness: love. If I love you, you have me in your hand to do whatever you like. By luck, not really with Boyfriends, but I was always very lucky to never date jerks so, I was never very damaged in that department.

HOWEVER with friends and family it's a WHOLE different story.

When a friend disappoints me I tend to be really mad at THAT MOMENT, but forgive and forget 2 seconds after that.

Taking in consideration I just realized I like to "save " people, that means I am hurt A LOT.

The reason I am mention this now, is because I am AWARE still that someone did something that hurt me. Trust me, I will not feel the same way 3 days from now. It will be erased from my memory.

It's not BIG, important issues. I have a soft heart, not a soft brain, =)

But even when a friend did something that show me he was not who I believed he was, I still stayed and tried to "help " him. In order to stop, I had to physically remove myself from the same city in order to cut the strings. I did manage to erase him from my life - Another thing, if I do not talk to you in over a year do NOT expect me to remember you. Unless you are one of my childhood friends and by this, you are engraved in my mind and heart, if you were just a co-worked I used to spend time with or a school friend I used to hang out during that year, I can not help it, it's like my brain erased files that aren't used over a certain period to make room for new ones. It's really strange and awkward. trust me. Just the other day I run into someone - really it is painful to say this - who seemed very happy to see me again, behaved like we were best friends - I suspect we were classmates. But that was it. - Luckily - or not - this has become so frequent, I am now quite good at disguising the fact I have no idea who they are.

I do wish I could be a bit bitter now and then. I do NOT learn. Especially with people who are very close to my heart. I help them over and over again. When is my time to need help, they are NEVER around. Even when I bluntly tell them - I NEED YOU!

Yet, I forgive them, and whenever they need help. There I am. Loosing sleep, doing their work knowing - yet still hoping, and that's my mistake - no thank you will ever come out of it.

Now, don't think I just have jerks as friends or family. I don't. I am mentioning just one person - (well, two). But I guess blood is thicker than good sense :)

I have lean that I will NEVER learn in this issue. I guess that is a step in the right direction: acceptation, lol

Fearless .. most of the time

2011-06-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

I am quite odd.

What I found easy, 99% of the world finds it hard.
What they find just everyday stuff, to me.. it's a nightmare.
Example: I have done oral presentations in large auditoriums - in college, most of it with a HUGE hangover and half unaware of what I was suppose to be talking about. - I always got standing ovations.
I am , however , A seller. I have been since I was born. I am a leader . The Alpha one.
No problem.

I can travel to the unknown, to places I do not know the language, which side of the road to drive in, which currency they use, and adjust in a second.

I can adjust to a new job within minutes even when what I am suppose to do has nothing to do with my studies or trainings.

I can face crowds. I can sell my idea. I am fearless when it comes to changes and moves, and the uncertainty of the future...

Do you know what I suck at? a friend doubt me, but it is the honest truth. Going to counters. Really, like a bank. even ordering in at MacDonald's. Leaves me sweating bullets. And paying in coins. Forcing me to actually count all the little tiny coins I have at the bottom of my wallet.

For a long time, I'd save them and just hand it over to my parents and they'll give me "proper" money as I call it.

So there it is. I am strange. And odd. And weird.

And I am more than ok with it.

What I do NOT handle is seeing those I love in pain, or nervous, and knowing I can't do anything about it.

Those who love me know, even those flaws, I mention, if I am mad enough. If I really need to, I will be the best at it in that situation. My weak spot is, and always will be those who I love.

I am optimistic. As usual. Let's be prepare for the worst and hope for the best. My life motto. For years.

let's breathe. Let's wait. I'll be fine. WE'LL be fine.

Hospital

2011-06-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

Seems I have spend most of my life in hospital hallways, waiting for some kind if news. I was, however, always with someone. And I was never " in charge", if you know what I mean.
So, it came as quite a surprise when my boyfriend had to stay in the hospital for heart problems. Taking in consideration he's barely over 30 that was quite a scare!
I consider myself quite an independent woman. And a Strong one. Yet it is surprising how shaken something like this can make you feel when you are the one to make the decisions, to deliver the news, etc.
Everything is ok now. Well, he's still on bed rest, but he's much better.
Harsh welcome into adulthood I guess!

Unique

2011-05-31T03:23:00.000-07:00

I have been away from this little place. No idea why. Anyway, I am back.
So I thought of starting with a kind of perfect imperfections that is very IN now :
-I have a deviated septum. Which makes it really hard for me to breathe. In fact, I guess I only have one working nostril. However seeing everyone uses that excuse to do cosmetic surgery I am afraid I'll end up with a totally different nose. Since I quite like mine, I guess I'll keep it like it is for now.
- Do not know if it's related, but I have almost no capacity of smell. When everyone else is almost puking I am like - what? what's wrong? I can't smell a thing. - It's actually not that bad of a thing to have at times. =)
- I love the smell of gasoline. It's one of my favorite smells in the whole world. No idea why.
- I have a Diastema ( gap teeth) . That is a space between two teeth. Like Madonna, or that girl who plays True Blood.( And I just found Brigitte Bardot also had it) I actually like it. It makes my smile truly unique.
- I laugh at anything. Really. If you say - look, there's a car! - I might just find that hilarious. Yet, almost no comedies make me laugh. Everything is just so expected.
- It's very hard for me to concentrate. That's why I hate going to the movies. I can't seat still for 2 hours.
- the same thing with books: I ca not JUST READ one. I read a medium of 3 at the same time. And usually very different ones. Now, for instance, I am reading : Mockingjay ( from the Hunger Games), The old Man and the Sea from Ernest Hemingway and Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went Out into the Real World by Maria Shriver.
- I must sleep in the utter most darkness or I wont sleep at all. yet I can not sleep when there's TO quiet. Need a bit of "noise" ..

There's way more stuff about me, but I'll leave it as it is for now...

I don't know who has done this yet, but I would sure like to know yours!!!

HATE Summer

2011-05-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

I despise Summer. Heat makes me want to stay in my room with a/c on freezing temperatures. I don't like to feel like I need to take 1000 showers a day, hate crowded beaches, there is no green, everything is just dead from the heat.
Autumn is my favorite season. Please hurry!

Who knew ..

2011-05-05T02:27:00.000-07:00

That he had this pearl of wisdom in him?

Allergies

2011-04-28T06:36:00.000-07:00

I don't have them. My sister does. I admit I have no way of knowing what it's like to be in her shoes and feel like the world is making us sick ... well...I kind of do ;P

Life

2011-04-18T02:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been away. I always want to write. Always. Every since I awake until I shut my eyes. Then the dreams come, and I wake up in the middle of the night and blindly look for my notepad to scribble some notes so I wont forget it in the morning and when I open my eyes, I realize I can't understand a word in there.
I filled a full notepad when I was in junior high and had to stay home sick for almost a month, with my very first story. With beginning, middle and end.
By then I was sure I was going to be a writer.
But then life happened. Suddenly I realized I needed to live in order to have tales to tell.
And so I did.
Then writing seem to took me away from living and life was so much better than any fiction novel I have ever read.
But that only meant that all this smells and colors and images and tastes just bundle up in my head and make me almost go mad with the need to let them out into paper...
....Not that I use pen and paper anymore. A long time ago my hand finally managed to catch up with the speed of light my mind uses and since then my hand-write is undecipherable for all. Including me.
So, I type. My fingers fast, like a mad piano melody.
..And , as always, when I re-read what I made it is filled with typos and mistakes and rambling nonsense words., but at least, I can make sense of some of it and fix it.
Unfortunately by living I realize my story is much longer, much complex and intricate I ever imagine. So, I do have the beginning. And the end. It's the middle that keeps on changing ...

So I was out living. Walking by the beach, having amazing long lunches, drinking nice wine, driving, working out ... and writing, especially in here, as always in Spring, I vanish a bit ...

When other person words are truer than my own...

2011-04-13T12:31:00.001-07:00

Lame ...

2011-04-10T15:04:00.001-07:00

Now and then we are forced to accept the world can be one cold harsh place to live in. Usually - actually mostly - when those who you love and should love you pull the carpet under you and leave flat you on the floor.
Oh, well ... I always survived.

Sometimes you are in a place, felling glued to the floor, knowing you don't belong but can't find the strength to move on. You're to broken, to hurt, to injured...

Sometimes those slaps in the face, those pushes are just what we need to move on.

It hurts then, but with time, we see EVERYTHING has a reason.

Why I love Harry Potter

2011-04-05T06:10:00.001-07:00

.. Because J.K.Rowling wrote it, and she says stuff like this:

I’ve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don’t want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny - a thousand things, before ‘thin’. And frankly, I’d rather they didn’t give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons. Let them never be Stupid Girls.

OMG.. Grey's Anatomy ... OMG ....

2011-04-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

Cause Women rule ...

2011-03-30T06:23:00.001-07:00

If Only ...

2011-03-30T06:03:00.001-07:00

.. it would be this easy ....

Things

2011-03-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

I am not a collector. I don't enjoy "things". I don't need 2000 perfume bottles when I will just wear - if I am being very positive - 3 - although I will always have my favorite. I do not need a 300 color palette from MAC when My color choice goes for dark blues, greens, purples and browns.
I believe that has to do with me always being on the run. I am always packing, I am always moving, and let me tell you what a pain in the butt it is to pack! So, the less the better in my case.
There was a time I did own a bunch of bags. And ( that amazes me right now) actually wore all of them. Now just the thought of having to take everything from one bag to another is enough to drive me crazy. I do still go back and forth between some, but I have a faithful relation with just 2.
This to say, when I am bored I can spend hours - when I have the time - watching youtube videos of room tours , what's in my purse video , closet tour, jewelery Collection, make up collection in awe of why on heart would they need a full length closet to store jewelery if they are not Elizabeth Taylor ... Mine fits in a medium box - minus the chunky bangles and huge earrings and some watches.
However I watch it and it doesn't bother me. At all. I don't envy those girls for having that stuff nor does it annoys me. It is actually quite entertaining... Unfortunately most who do a room tour are teenagers so I do get a lot of bright pink and Hello Kitty so I can not draw any inspiration out of them. But my inside Kid ravishes on it!
Back to "things" - even books, that I own a lot of them, I usually decide that if I don't get back to them withing a year, means it's not my kind of tea and I sell them online - and that goes for everything. I just sell or I give away - or trash it!
I do have a walk in closet, but that is just because we had an extra room and we didn't have any in built wardrobes, so it was just easy. But it is both my clothe/shoes and my boyfriend ...NOT just mine. I also iron there, so do NOT picture a Hollywood like closet. It is not.
I actually notice that the longer it goes The less attached I am with material things. I was never much of a material girl type, but as time goes by I became even lesser ...
Back on the youtube tour videos stuff. I already decorated this house to my/ our ( it's pretty similar) taste and I wish I could see some houses that would be more grown up. I love Hello Kitty and having Audrey Hepburn up in the wall, etc... but when we live with a guy, if we do not want some F1/ Football Team poster up in the wall you have to find a common grown. So I did.
Rooms I find online ( and this is pretty common. They just copy one another, really. Pink and black. That's it)

My taste. This is, of course, NOT my room, but the color scheme is pretty much the same and take the baby away put some Buddha and Asian inspired decor and there you have it!

This was an " all over the place " post, but ... it is, what it is! I never edit myself. I certainly should. =P

Sentences to live by ...

2011-03-29T07:02:00.001-07:00

Alzheimer's

2011-03-29T04:43:00.000-07:00

My grandmother died of Alzheimer's. She died very old and it struck at an old age, so it wasn't as difficult as early stages Alzheimer in a 40 year old.
We laugh a lot in our family. My father is a driver's instructor and he always came home for lunch, so my lunch hours is filled with memories of us laughing so hard till it hurt trying not to choke with our food, while my father told us how someone mistook the break for the gas, or the right for the left or the jokes he had learn ...
We had so many awful stories we had to endure, such awful experiences, so many hours waiting on hospital hallways that we just learn to laugh at life.
Very early on I learn we have very little control over life. We can control we if want to eat that cheesecake, marry that guy, buy that kind of car.. but the truth is we have no power over accidents, deaths and devastating illnesses.
We could sit on a corner and cry and complain and whine until it's our time to leave this Earth and by then we had missed on life. So, we just shrunk our shoulders, shake our heads, laugh at it. Usually, laugh at ourselves.....and carry on.
That is our motto: Carry on.
When my grandmother was in her early stages and start loosing her recent memory, and asked the same question every 5 seconds, no word, no comma changed, like - where am I? Because her ancient memory was intact so in her head she was still a kid living with her mother, we could loose our head, or get tired, or just give up and put her in some nursery home.
We didn't. My brave mother took care of her until her last day.
So, I would just made up stories. Elaborated stories,when she asked " where am I?"
Usually we end up laughing on the floor. Well, my mother and I, cause my grandmother would just believe it.
She would be happy with the 1000000 justifications I would give her and she would remain calm during her crisis and it was our way of keeping our sanity and not looking at the reality: that my grandmother was slowly disappearing right in front of our eyes.
I love Grey's Anatomy. They focus a lot on Alzheimer's. It shocks me, cause their main plot is young people who suffer from the disease. Mother's with young children. How do they do it? How do they handle? A girl always needs her mother. No matter how old it is. When my granny started to go,my mother already stand on her own two feet, already a her own family made, I can not imagine growing up and having a mother you'll know will forget who you are just when you need that person to tell you where you stand in those moments when you're just lost. Usually mothers always know. Mother's should be the ones who knows the whole deeps of yourself.
My grandmother was perfect. If I ever write a book on my life I will not change a comma on the reality she was.My grandfather was the perfect grandpa, as well. The adviser. The story teller.
I miss them both dearly.
But I don't cry. They gave me wonderful years, wonderful memories and my family and I often talk about them and remember funny episodes. That happens every time we're together. So, no one we love is ever gone. They just aren't within reach ...
But do not doubt it. Do not question it. Alzheimer's eats everyone from the inside. Not just the patient's brain and memory ..

Elizabeth Taylor

2011-03-25T02:54:00.000-07:00

I am so emotional over her death is nuts.
I was first mad for Richard Burton and then I came to know her. I saw a bunch of interviews, I saw her mention those deep connections she had with James Dean, Rock Hudson, Montgomery Cliff .... her health problems, her amazing movies ...
She was a child star and she could be a total maniac diva. She was no saint. BY any means, but her life showed her nothing is perfect we all are human and we all go away. We just have to do the best we can for ourselves and those we care about.
I love strong Women who handle hardship with such class and kind heart. Like Jaqueline Kennedy. And Liz Taylor.

Goodbye

2011-03-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

I was always on the run, always starting over. I was always beginning.
I never look at it trough the view of " running away " from something.
Which I was.
I always found it easy to leave something hard behind and start from scratch, than to stay and fight to make it work.
I lived a very small amount of time in the same house/ city/ country and with the same people.
This has changed.
Since I am with my boyfriend we have lived in 2 different cities and in 3 different houses. But I am on this one for close to 3 years and I am with my BF for almost 5.
That is a lifetime for me.
And I can tell you it is hard to face the heat and not walk away. Really hard.

100 Facts about me

2011-03-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

I hate this kind of stuff . Usually. Except when I am bored. Which I was. So here they are:
1- I am Portuguese. Proudly. I have an amazing sense of humor, LIVE to laugh, but can also curse like a drunken sailor when mad. Beware.

2-Lived in Portugal, Germany and Italy

3- My favorite city is Lisbon, Portugal

4- I am a Godmother of two twin boys

5- I have a dog, named Luka which has blue eyes, and behaves like a cat. In all honesty.

6- I live with my boyfriend

7- My boyfriend was born and raised in Germany

8- My favorite Season is Autumn

9- I hate very hot weather, although where I live, in Summer, it's quite usual to get 42º (108 degrees Fahrenheit)

10- I love water, but don't know how to swim in the Ocean

11- I always think Ocean water is to cold, because I shower in absurdly hot water

12- I am an awful driver

13- I am pretty much blind. I wear contacts lenses.

14- I have long curly hair, that until I discovered that the best thing to do with it was just wash it and let it air dry ,was a pain in the butt

To read More, CLICK HERE

to cheat

2011-03-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

I was reading about someone who was cheated on. Twice. By her boyfriend and her best friend.
I can not imagine being betrayed by your best friend. At all.
Stuff happen and sometimes we can not help it. We can however have some dignity and some respect. Self respect and respect for the person who has been by our side trough all the storms and all the rainbows.
Someone will loose at the end. Someone will get hurt. Actually, everyone will get hurt, and everyone will loose something.
I can not imagine being lied to. I believe that's what hurts the most. Knowing that you had a feeling that something wasn't right and yet people keep denying it, making you feel like you were mad. I believe that's what breaks a person's spirit. When we start self doubting and then we discovered we were right all along and those who you trust the most betrayed you in every possible way.
If my best friend and my Boyfriend ever happen to fall in love, I don't think I could keep a relation with any of them.
But if they just came forward when the feelings began, and at least, allow me to know they were there; giving me a chance to fight for it or let it go ... Maybe I could have some respect, and with time let that go easier.
Knowing that they, at least, respect me , our friendship and our love enough to warn me about it, not fool me ... I think that would let me know that the love was once there. And the friendship also...
Instead of just waking up one day and feeling back stabbed. Blinded all the time. Fooled by everyone who knew and let you keep on being blind and suffering ...
I would imagine that would be the stuff that would break you in so many pieces you were left wondering if anything was true. So weak you aren't enable to even hate ...

Worst than that would be for our Boyfriend/ husband of years, who has became your best friend to leaves us broken and bleeding at a step in our life where we believed we would walk side by side till the end ... facing the rest of the road, while he just walks away. And we never see that one coming....

I have no idea how people get from that and keep on living. And being able to love and trust again. I guess they do like any other drastic situation... keep on living. Moving on. Forward.

Not my words

2011-03-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

Because I could never say it like this.
I have no intention of getting married. I consider myself married already. Just without the fuss. However, the way she puts things is really amazing - especially this: The bottom line is that marriage is just a long-term opportunity to practice loving someone even when they don't deserve it.
To read it go HERE

Earrings

2011-03-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

I love accesories. Just love them. I wear hats, belts, scarfs .. all kinds of stuff. All this because if I could I would live of white/ grey/ black tops and denim jeans. Yet I like to spice stuff up a bit so, A hat or a cool belt, a colorful scarf does the trick.

I love chunky rings, watches and earrings. No studs for me since I pierced my ears a long time ago, unlike my pal STEPH . I have very Long, curly and dark hair, so small earrings would go to waste in the midst of all that hair. I love bold colors also. Turquoise and Topaz especially. Like this ( no, it's not me on the picture. Sadly ...)

Favorite Spot - Chiado, Portugal

2011-03-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

I love to shop here. It's one of my favorite places. I am going to let you know my favorite places around the world. Well, the world I know of. There is a whole bunch of Land I haven't set eyes on yet.

If you want to check more pictures of Lisbon, there is a blog for it. Ordinary person pictures. No photoshop, no perfect angles, no airbrush. Just Lisbon.

Portuguese cuisine

2011-03-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

I am NOT a picky eater. I eat everything and I try everything. And when I say everything, I DO mean EVERYTHING.
I have eaten every part of everything at least once.
I don't have a favorite cuisine. I love Asian and Mediterranean food, and as you can see that means pretty much everything on the menu.
I am going to share some of my favorite dishes from my own cuisine.
This IS , no doubt, My absolute favorite soup from everywhere in the whole wide world.
Caldo Verde ( kale soup with a HUGE twist)

Click here for the recipe!
One of my favorite fishes to eat is cod fish. We have 100000 ways of doing it. And we don't even have cod in our oceans. We have to import it from Norway ( which they say it's the best) or Iceland ( my personal favorite). I remember one day talking with an English friend of mine and saying that the way he picture cod fish and the way people in Portugal picture it are two completely different thing. He is right. Normal people, when they imagine Cod fish, they imagine fresh fillets of white fish. In Portugal we imagine row and rows of dry yellowish triangles hanging. An example:
Cod fish :

Cod Fish in Portugal:

LOL.. anyway I love all cod dishes.

- Bacalhau com natas ( cod fish with cream)

recipe here!

I also love meat. I believe the way we do pork is among the best. But I love the seafood and meat with potatoes combination.
- Carne de Porco á Alentejana

recipe here!

However if there is one thing that Portuguese do Amazingly well is sweets. You have NOT lived until you eat a Pastel de Nata. Do not let the look fool you. It is a bite of heaven!

Bedside Table

2011-03-09T03:48:00.000-08:00

Do you know those tag posts/videos? Well I am going to tag myself. What Do I have on my bedside table?
( Again I would love to share a picture, but I am an awful photographer. Therefore, we are left to use our imagination!)
- A pretty decent lamp since I read and good light is a MUST.
- Books
- A notebook and a pen - I am known for having crazy ideas in the middle of the night and I just need to write them down or else they will slip from my memory to never be found again.
- Tissues
- Lip balm
- Hands mousterizer
- wet cloths to clean my reading glasses( a box of it). They are always filthy for some reason.
- A hair clip
- My cell phone
- a candle
- Bottle of water
- Some pills ( aspirine, etc) in a cute bag
- a box of snacks - usually sweets. It is a SMALL box and I must have it almost empty at all times, but I need to have it for emergencies =P

That was it. And, of course it's a mess. I can not keep anything organized for more than 5 minutes. The only place I manage to be really mental and keep everything in it's place it's work. I go mad in my house.

Tumblr account

2011-03-07T06:43:00.000-08:00

No subject. Just to let you know I have one. You can check it by clicking HERE

Miserable

2011-03-07T06:07:00.000-08:00

I feel absolutely miserable today. Like I was in a cage fight with 20000 crazy monkeys and lived to tell the story. Boy, my head weights a ton.

Congrats Steph

2011-03-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

So, one of my net buddies - Steph - Just got her Bachelor's Degree. Amazing, right? Here's my gift :

Xoxo, Ritovskyta.

Instead

2011-03-01T06:10:00.000-08:00

As I told you my friend Marisa ( she's still working on it) is going to start a fitness blog, and I am really excited for it. As I went trough the ones out there I found none would interest me. They talk about motivation, and calories count, and cutting back...
You know what? anything that involves the word "Instead" doesn't work for me.
Like - eat a piece of fruit instead of a bowl of popcorn, or eat some turkey breast with steamed veggies Instead of a pizza slice.
Anything that makes me feel like I am going against my natural will does NOT work for me.
I don't do Instead. I just don't.
I do mind tricks. For instance, I don't walk instead of taking the car.
When I walk, I really walk. I go FOR A WALK. It's something I want to do.
I have a dog that pretty much walks herself. In fact, she is pretty much a large cat. She does need to run, and I am lucky enough to have some quiet, green places around. So, I take the car to that place, open the door, let her run, and instead of staying in the car - which I do when it's raining - I park it and just walk while she takes her runs.
No thinking, no motivation needed. I just get out of the car and walk for 20/30 minutes. It helps me think. It is my private time.
When I go with my boyfriend we walk together and just chat away and play with the dog ( but like I say, she is pretty much a cat, so the usually dog plays - like fetch and alike - she ignores it).
I don't eat a lot of fried food, cause I am the one doing the cooking and the all house would stink afterward. Not because I don't like it.
When I eat Pizza I usually eat Margherita. Not because it is my favorite, but it is the cheapest and I can always add stuff. Usually when I do eat Pizza is because I am on a rush, so I just eat it like it comes. The one I buy doesn't have a lot of cheese in it. I love cheese. It's just cheap like that =)
I eat a lot of plain yogurt with muesli. Not instead of anything. I really, truly like it.
I eat meat: white, red. I just don't do crazy dressings. There is no need. I cook, and for flavor I use spices and vegetables. It woks better than cream and tons of butter. FOR ME.
I eat fish, but I am not an expert on cooking it. I usually do seafood rice pretty good, and that's it. Oh and cot fish. That I can cook.
I eat vegetables like spinach and broccoli on the side, because I need greens and I enjoy it. I eat a lot of salads with my food in the Summer. In Portugal, Salad in not usually an entree nor a main dish. It is a side dish to go along with meat and fish, etc.
We eat a lot of soup too. My generation, not as often as my parents (cause we are just to lazy to do it) still eats it. There is soup at Macdonals in Portugal.( oh, yeah)

And fast food restaurants that only have soap on the menu.
It helps having the Mediterranean cuisine as my culture: Greens, fruit, olive oil, etc
So my normal way of eating is one of the most healthy ways of eating.
But it's not a weight loss cuisine. It is not a diet cuisine.
I am addicted to Gummy. There is no instead for me. If I want candy I need to have it. It is REALLY a serious issue, so my solution is simply do not have it at my house. The same with sodas. I love sodas. I hate very sugary sodas, in fact I hardly ever use sugar in my coffee, etc, but it is an issue. So, I don't buy them.
And this is how I roll =)

Jumping rope

2011-02-28T06:14:00.000-08:00

I was talking with my friend MARISA about Tracy Anderson, a famous fitness instructor,and how she would start her new work out routine ( Marisa has done of her old ones and follow it trough for 2 hours,6 days per week workout PLUS the diet - I couldn't. I am always amazed by her devotion and commitment to stuff. I don't think she gets it. When that comes natural to some, they don't see how impossible and hard it is for others and how inspirational they can be).
She has a beauty blog and has showed me all the fashion guru world that rules in youtube and other places.
I have a pretty established skin/body care and make up products and routines so I check it more out of curiosity than out of need.
By now I know what colors, products and brands work for me and I never felt the need to own all the newest brands out there.
What I like about her blog is that it is very raw. And honest. And , as everything she does, committed.
She is unbelievably cute, which helps but isn't a spoiled brat who doesn't know the valor of money and just buys whatever.
She saves for stuff who are really important and show us cheap bargains that work just as well. She shows how it works on her which is important, cause this way we know she is not being paid to sell us some crap.
Being so attentive to fitness, workout and eating right she was wondering if she should open a new blog devoted to that. I said hell, yes!
It could really help. I am sure it would be a serious blog, with stuff that people could find, make and eat everywhere in the world. And the workout would be for all.
I don't know if she'll do it, but I am excited.
As for me. I hate to work out. HATE IT.
I jump rope.
It is easy and fun for me.
And it helps to loose face and tummy fat great.
I am still working out in an arms workout that I can manage to do.
Jumping rope is great to slimming and to tone your lower body. But it doesn't do much for my arms. I just want Jennifer Aniston' arms =)
I also do NOT diet. I can't control myself and don't have any discipline. I love all the bad stuff. I DO love water, which is a good thing. I don't have to force myself. I can also snack fruit. Especially oranges and grapes when I am watching Tv, for instance, instead of pizza or popcorn.
But then again, I have this HUGE addiction to gummy . like HUGE. I could live of them alone.

The next three days - movie review

2011-02-24T04:38:00.000-08:00

Pretty much anything Russel Crowe does is amazing in my eyes. He is a character performer and, bad temper he may have , but he is one of the best actors of our time. Unfortunately since the guy gained a few pounds and lost the sex symbol status his movies lack the due promotion and most of us end up passing on works of art.
This movie is a suspense, physiologic thriller.
It is quite believable to a point ( there is a hint of Hollywood in a totally predicable and impossible section of the movie) . I was quite gasping for air and surprised with the twists and turns the movies has. It is a very long movie, but I did not notice it.
I won't post the trailer, nor do I advise you to watch it if you're planning on seeing it. I haven't and that just increase the not knowing even more. Which is one of the reasons I loved it so much!
On my list of movies to keep.

Books, books, books

2011-02-23T07:53:00.000-08:00

I love to read and I am currently reading - I read more than one at once, shoot me!:
Philippa Gregory - The Constant Princess I am enjoying it so far, although i guess it is not one of her best work... I like historic novels. I love History and this way I can read about facts I know of ,with a flavor of fiction to it. I read The Virgin's lover and I was actually quite disappointed by it. Seamed rushed and portrait Elizabeth as a weak woman, whom she might have been, but I have always saw her as a strong powerful woman, which that book does not show..
Robyn Young - BRETHREN - it's the first of a trilogy that I plan on reading. I only read a couple of pages from this one, but being a complete Obsessed person with the Crusades, I expect to love this book. On college I did a project called " The other side of the coin - The crusades through the unfaithful eyes " since so much was written regarding the Cristian side of the crusades and end up in love with the Arab customs and History while I research for that. I am actually quite excited for this one.
Conn Iggulden - Emperor: the Gates of Rome - I have not read one page of this novel yet, and they say it has a lot of historical mistakes, which may annoy me, but since I know that now, I will try and face it as 100% fiction. Let you know what I think of it.
David Soares - A Conspiração dos Antepassados - It's a Portuguese book and I just got it due to having , somehow, Fernando Pessoa - to me the greatest poet EVER - on the cover and in the story. No idea what to expect.

If any of these books touch me deep in some way - being hating it or loving it I will do a review.

skin care routine

2011-02-23T07:08:00.001-08:00

skin care routine by Ritovskyta on Polyvore.com

So this is my skin care routine. I forgot the clinique which I do use, other than that drugstore items work perfectly for me and have been working for ages. That is what I do every morning and every night.
Apart from the neutrogena which once a week is enough for me and the facial mask which I do once a month.

Tag by Steph

2011-02-18T04:40:00.000-08:00

1. Thank the person who tagged you and leave a link to his/her blog.
I was tagged by STEPH , and she might be one of the few for whom I would do such a thing.

2. Answer the following 5 questions:
- What do you like about your character?
I think fast, I act quickly, I have a great sense of humor and I am Sickening Loyal.
- What are your dreams?
I wanted to be a doctor and work in a small clinic in the mid of the rain forest. Then I wanted to be a profile analyst for the FBI. Now I just want to have enough money to go to a foreign island, build a cottage on a desert beach and be able to watch the sunset every day, with a nice book, holding hands, my dog on my feet and if I am lucky, and brave enough, my kid running nearby.
- Who are the most dear to you?
My family.
- What are you very good at?
Creative stuff. Ask me to make up anything and I'll do it. I am also VERY punctual. Extremely good at that. And keeping with deadlines.
- What make you happy?
The stuff and the people I love. Happy , unexpected outcomes especially!