Christmas eve and day are not my cup of tea, mostly due to how we generally celebrate it in my family. In fact, it took me a while to realize I'm actually not the Grinch, I just haven't been celebrating it the way and with whom I'd most enjoy the Holidays. 

But the part that I do enjoy, not surprisingly at all considering my love for decorating and organizing, is decking the house with all that's Christamassy. By now, this has become a little tradition and in my heart it is the one moment I truly celebrate Christmas (although it does not happen on the 25th at all), since I gather my parents and my sister (whenever she's around), put on some festive or general happy music and enjoy our time together putting the tree and lights up.

We usually try to stick with a theme, but since last year we gave away many of our old decorations and we haven't substituted them, this year was an obligatory red and gold theme. A couple of weekends ago we fully decorated our living room, put together our tree, hung up lights and spread out a bunch of Santas and Christmas trees everywhere. 

My favorite is the little Santa's Workshop that is part of a group of miniature houses we used to put under the tree and they lit up inside and looked something close to magical. Now, however, the lights don't work anymore but the houses still look lovely and cute and tiny, so we just spread them around the living room, giving the place a Christamassy touch.

Overall, I have to admit, Europe and America do Christmas (decorations, at least), much better than we do. Generally, the stores put out the same old things every year and it's not easy to find pretty decorations.

Still, next year, I plan on buying a bunch of new lights and decorations. I like the idea of a fully silver or copper tree. I've also thought of doing a full tree of origami birds and hearts, but I'd have to learn how to origami first... Mom said one day she wanted to do a tree fully decorated with chocolate, but we worry that it won't stand the weather (which is currently boiling 45ºC in Rio). Maybe one day we will be able to do one though! Tis' the season for hope, right?

Melancholy is a part of my soul. Looking back, reminiscing and analyzing past moments are everyday activities in my life. Which can be cruel to my present moment or enlightening to my future self.

When we take a look back at what we have been through, the mistakes we've made and the decisions that lead us to our now, everything becomes clearer and lighter. You realize little life lessons you wished you had learned sooner, you realize you didn't need to do things that way, you didn't need to suffer so much. 

Although I have yet a lot of life to live and numerous lessons to understand, I wanted to share some of the most important ones I have thought of, until today.

The one thing I used to do the most when I was younger was make up fake excuses for not doing something or not going somewhere. I felt like I would hurt someone's feeling if I said "no" and that was the last thing I wished to do. Confrontation is not my forté. Along with maturity, though, came the knowledge that I do not need to explain myself for saying "no" and I am allowed to simply say "I just don't feel like going/doing this". Everyone needs to respect each others desires and wishes. I needed to respect my own and let go of what others would think. Trust me, my friends enjoy my company a lot better when I actually feel like being with them then when I'm counting the minutes to leave.

Most children have the idea that their parents are superheros and perfect human beings. Parents know everything, what to do when you fall from the tree, how to talk to your crush, cooking and basic math. They seem like they have it all together and are so sure of themselves. 

When I hit my teenage years, however, I realized that these ideas are all illusions. Parents don't know anything at all, they aren't sure of themselves and many don't even know what to do with their lives, still! This broken illusion made me angry. How could I have these role models for so long and then find out they aren't real?

Over the past few years, such anger turned into understanding. The fact that I now saw my parents as flawed gave me a knew perspective. They were never superheros. They are human, like me and you. Their feelings, fears, doubts and dreams are just as real as ours. The only difference is that they have to look after their daughters and sons first, and we only have to look after ourselves. This obvious and mindblowing lesson absolutely changed me, helping me get over my frustration to start appreciating my flawed parents and understanding how their flaws affected our relationship and my own personality.

There will always be people in better and worse situations than you

Moving around and changing schools a lot teaches you this hard but essential lesson in a heart-beat. If you ever feel like you are the prettiest in a room, the smartest, the kindest, the strongest, whatever it is, you will always encounter someone who is better. There will always be more successful people showing up in your life to keep your humility in check.

This same thought works for when you think you are the one with the worst problems and difficulties and you suffer so much that no one understands you because no one hurts as much. Stop. Everyone suffers. Everyone is in pain. You are not the biggest sufferer in the world and you believing you are is probably the number one thing keeping you down.

It's true that the fact that there are people dying does not make your problems lesser problems and the fact that Malala Yousafzai is the biggest voice in feminism at the tender age of 18 does not make your personal achievements irrelevant. That is not what you should take from this lesson. This is a lesson of humility. This is a lesson of acknowledging the different people around you. This is a lesson of acceptance of yourself amongst that variety. This is a lesson of empathy.

Laughing. Out. Loud. Even the sad and tense moments, which were still there, have a sense of humor and are told in a light hearted manner. This is the perfect book to read when you need to get out of a grumpy mood and have a laugh. Plain fun and easy. Sometimes that's all you need out of reading.

You might think this is completely ridiculous and unnecessary, but many were the times I needed a meeting place. It's extremely easy to lose your company at a concert and cellphone batteries die, there is no signal and you simply cannot find them again. That's when a meeting place would come handy. 

When you get to the venue establish a clear, central, easily located spot as your meeting place and stay there if you happen to lose your friends. I mean, better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it, right?

I've been to concerts with people that were much more interested in staring at their phones. I've been to concerts next to people who complained all the time. I've been to concerts with people that new none of the songs. Those were all very frustrating situations.

Concerts are expensive in Brazil, we don't get to go see our favorite bands and singers all the time and it's definitely not for an accessible price. That's why when we can go, we do it with passion and full heartedly. Concerts are special moments when you can feel the energy and stay an hour or two in awe of an artist's talent. So pay attention to what is happening in front of you, jump around, dance freely, sing every lyric of every song and do it with people who are just as excited as you.

If you don't know the artist you are going to watch live, give it a listen online, get to know them, chose songs to be excited for live performances of and songs you really don't care about. Try to study up a bit so you can get involved in the moment.

Take pictures and record videos, but not all the time, not of the entire concert. Here's a secret: you only really need one picture of the event, most of them look exactly the same. And you most certainly don't have to publish them on every social media platform right at that moment.

Above all, please do not complain. Maybe you did try to give it a listen and you genuinely don't like the musician, but went anyway because your sister or boyfriend or best friend begged you to go with. If so, just go, try to enjoy how much they are enjoying themselves and don't complain. There are thousands around you who were really excited to be there and your complaining is highly disruptive to their experience. Respect people's moment. Maybe you'll end up surprised by the live performance if you give it a chance or at least you'll be happy to see people you care for having a great time.

Either way, make sure you find a way to have fun.

I watch a LOT of Youtube videos and lately 90% of them have been Halloween-related. So I decided to compile some of my favorites from this year over here!

Kayley Melissa has been my favorite Hair-Stylist/Youtuber for years now. Everything hair related I've learned, I've learned with her.  Every year, she does a series of hair tutorials for Halloween costumes and this year's videos did not disappoint. Especially this one. I mean, come on.. Everyone wants that Trump style!

Quite similarly, Grace has been my favorite lady Youtuber since the dawn of time! I'm betting she's no stranger to #TeamInternet people either, since she has dominated the world in the past couple years. I love this stupid ass collab they make every year because it's as dumb as it is impressive and hilarious.

Laci Green is better known for her Sex+ Youtube videos (which I love). But she's well on her 3rd season of an online TV show for MTV called Braless. The show is overall great, as Laci known how to explore important issues clearly and thoughtfully without sounding utterly boring. Not differing from the show's awesomeness is this Halloween episode, which explores topics we see every October 31st in the streets, costume stores and parties. A must watch!

Statistics have told me that iiSuperwomanii, a.k.a. Lilly Singh, is one of the highest earning Youtubers today. Yet, I never really paid attention to her content until quite recently. Which is great because it was right on time for me to catch the masterpiece that was her latest sketch. It gave me all the chills.

Happy Halloween!

Boooooooo

A while ago I started feeling very unsettled and unhappy with myself and how life was going. I felt like I was waking up just to go to work and come back home to sleep again to work again to sleep again... I felt tired. All. The. Time. I felt stressed and suffocated. I had 3 trips to the hospital in the span of 6 months. I had all these medical advices and indications that I kept ignoring and not putting into practice. My university was on strike but I still felt like all that supposed free time I had was simply evaporating. Bad habits and vices were taking over my days.

So I decided enough is enough and started experimenting with new habits, healthier habits. And things slowly started shifting.

I was never good with drinking enough water. Although today we have this "healthy-culture", when I was a kid, sodas didn't have as many red flags around them, so it was all we drank. I remember going entire weeks without drinking a glass of water.

Despite having grown up reading many times how water is important, how it makes you less tired, makes your skin glow and rids you of toxins, I was still not drinking water enough. So when my doctor gave me a warning notice of "either you drink enough water now or you will have a really big issue in the close future", I started trying to be more rigorous with it. Now, I'm drinking about 1,5L a day, which is still not enough, but is about 3x more than I was drinking before. I downloaded the Plant Nanny app to help keep me on track and keep record of it all. It's adorable. Funny thing is, dehydration is a pretty common health issue, even in countries which have plenty of access to clean water.

Sure,  I still have days in which I drink maybe a glass of water, but for the most part, I'm doing really well. And how do I feel? A lot less tired. My skin breaks out a lot less. And I have had no trips to the hospital since. Coincidence? I think not.

I live in Rio de Janeiro. It's hella sunny all year long. Last week the temperature hit a high of 42ºC and it's not even summer yet. However, my morning regime did not include sun screen. Which is insane. I'm 22 years old. And I'm very white. Whiter than Snow White could ever dream of being. 

I'm not sure why, maybe it was the increasing amount of freckles appearing, my skin showing a higher intolerance to the sun or getting my 5th billion sunburn, but I figured it was time to start being a bit more responsible with myself. I currently use ROC Minesol Oil-Control SPF 70 everyday and I love it.

My skin feels softer, makeup stays on longer and this SPF dries pretty quickly on the skin also, so I don't have to worry about getting overly oily during the day. It seems like a crime I haven't been doing this for longer.

I had tried meditating previously and it did help me with anxiety issues. Nevertheless, I stopped. I don't quite remember why, maybe I just never built up the habit properly.

But with how anxious I currently feel, during this life transition of graduating from Uni and deciding what will be of the rest of my life (chills), meditation popped up in my head as a good idea to help me deal. 

Thing is, I'm not great at meditating on my own, I work best with guided meditation, so I had to find some good apps for that. I'm currently using Calm, even though Headspace is my favorite. Both of them provide guided meditations, in which you can chose for how long you desire to meditate, and keep track of all the days you've meditated, keeping you motivated to continue. Calm even provides different options of "background" noises, such as forest sounds, beaches, lakes, etc. Headspace is paid, which is why I don't use it, but it's definitely the best one. I can do a more detailed round up of all the apps I've tried in this process, on some future post, if anyone finds it helpful.

Missing a day of meditation now is frustrating and truly makes a difference. After around a month of daily 10 minute meditations, I've been feeling much calmer, lighter and more focused. There's something quite essential in keeping in touch with your inner self.

Let me put this out there: I have always been a stationary and planner lover. But I haven't always put my planners to the best use. My routine never included actual moments focused on organizing my weeks. I sort of winged it and hoped for it to go well/felt anxious about everything until it happened.

Last year, though, a friend of mine found out about the Passion Planner, which is basically a weekly planner, which provides hourly slots for your daily planning, spaces for notes and to-do lists, and we decided we would all get one. I loved my Passion Planner as soon as it came in the mail. But I kept using it as I always used planners, for the most part.

Until very recently, when I started separating 30 minutes every monday for writing down every to-do item of the week in a determined time slot for me to get it done. And every first 15 minutes of my work day I scroll through my inbox to add whatever last-minute changes are needed. I've never felt more in control and having gotten my shit together. Ever. I even have planned blog post ideas. Whaaat?

Yes, okay sometimes things don't go as planned and I have to anticipate or delay items. But it still works well enough to keep me focused on one thing at a time, without freaking out about not being able to get it all done in time. Life changing. 

As an internet addict, sleeping has always been a difficult topic. I've always slept late and woke up even later. However, when I started interning, I figured that keeping up with this pattern was doing nothing more than ruining my days. I ended up waking too late to do anything other than getting ready for my internship and got home too tired to try to enjoy the night ahead. Slowly, this pattern drove me insane. I was doing nothing but working and sleeping and missed doing more, exploring creative outlets, watching movies, going out..

When about a month ago I established a new challenge for myself, even I thought I'd fail. I had to be in bed at 11 p.m. and awake at 7 a.m. That's a perfectly round 8 hours of sleep there. And it felt impossible at first, as I've been accustomed to fall asleep at 1 a.m., earliest, and wake up like a zombie as late as I possibly could, which could variate from waking up at 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Soon enough, though, I felt better and better about it. The days felt more productive, I saw more sunlight, which made me happier and I gained a bit more time to do things I enjoyed, out of my intern-life. 

Beyond this though, having a sleeping pattern meant I was sleeping better, too. Programming my brain to fall asleep at the same hour everyday, I had less of the insomnia issues I once experienced. Getting 8 hours of sleep, on the other hand, was just enough for me to wake up well disposed. What I learned through all of this is that sleeping less than you need is terrible for your body. But sleeping too much won't help you either, neither physically nor helping you enjoy your life to the fullest. Find that balance.

After a month of putting these habits into practice, life feels a little bit more under control. Of course I'm still freaking out about the future and, as a proper millennial, anxious about how I can change the world while having an office job. But those are bigger issues that can't be solved in a month or by simply "adjusting your habits". They're bigger issues only the more centered, calm and organized me can deal with. No one can deal with the world's problems without taking care of themselves first, you know. 

Now, go grab yourself a glass of water. I bet you, you're dehydrated. 

Let's make a deal: let's check ourselves, and not only every October, deal?

If you haven't heard of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up or the KonMari Method at this point you either live under a rock or you are not as obsessed with organization as I am. I'm gonna guess it's the second reason. 

Marie Kondo is a Japanese organization guru whose book got every one and their mothers desperate to declutter and rearrange their lives. Which meant I had to read it. Immediately. 

Basically, Marie's technique is based on the philosophy of only owning things that bring you joy and are useful to your life. Her method tells you to organize in categories and in a certain correct order, asking yourself if each item brings you joy and designating a spot for everything.

Now, if we are talking solely about the book as a book, I have to say I found it awful. Granted I did read the portuguese translation, so maybe that's why I hated it so much, but it was just so incredibly repetitive, out of touch and, at times, annoying. Marie Kondo has great ideas and tips for organizing, however, the way she expresses herself did not convince me. I felt like I was reading a crazy person's diary. 

I remember a certain moment in which she mentions women should always sleep in flowy, feminine night gowns and I felt like dying at how sexist that was. Let women sleep in whatever they love and feel comfortable in. Feminine or not. Flowy or not. Flannel or Silk. Lily Pebbles actually shared some of these weird book moments on a recent youtube video.

Despite these awkward moments, the book was an extremely quick read and it did make me think long and hard about the actual crap I have that I never even look at, let alone bring me joy. More than that, all the anecdotes and little techniques intrigued me to know how effective this method would actually be. And, so, considering my extreme obsession with organization, I could not resist trying it all out myself.

Further on, it was time to go through my books. This was a tough category for me. Marie Kondo says in her book that people should not own that many books, as rarely do we reread them and it is unlikely that more than 10 books bring you happiness. Here, specially, I had to disagree. Having lots of books is a situation that brings me happiness on its own. Having a selection of the books I read and being able to lend them to friends, look at them everyday and admire all the beautiful colors and covers displayed on the shelf.. 

So, predictably, I did not end up with 10 books. I did end up giving away many more than I initially thought I would, however. Mostly I separated books that I did not enjoy reading, that I had gotten as a gift and knew I would never read or had no interest in reading or books that I had simply outgrown.

I did also have to keep a number of college books which I have no interest in keeping, but know that they will still be useful in my last semester. Those are books that basically have a death sentence. As soon as I graduate, they are out.

By the end of this experience, I had 18 bags of goods to donate and 7 bags of trash. My room has so much empty space now and everything has it's home. Never have I felt more organized in my life. Despite the book being a tad bit crazy, Marie Kondo does indeed know what she is talking about. It's been a couple of months since I have done this and I do not regret it one bit.

A few last things I'd like to point out:

1 - Use this moment to deep clean. Marie Kondo does not mention much about actually cleaning your space when decluttering. To me, it sounds obvious. If you are taking everything out and emptying your closets in order to organize yourself, make sure you take advantage of it being empty of its contents and deep clean your storage spaces and surfaces. We might not see it, but our closets and drawers accumulate a huge amount of dust. Get rid of that.

2 - Trash. Donate. Sell. She also only mentions what to do with what you discard very en passant. Please note that you have three options and deciding which one is appropriate for each item is your own call. You either throw away, donate or sell. I will mostly be donating and throwing away, as I want to get rid of it sooner rather than later. But selling is a great option for getting in a couple of bucks.

3 - How to fold KonMari style. I do not know about the other versions of this book, but the Brazilian one did not have any graphics or pictures teaching you how to fold. As I have a bit of a difficulty understanding such description when they are written down, I did a bit of an online search and found this great girl whose videos were extremely helpful throughout this process. Her blog is Lavendaire and she even did a very cute pdf with a list of the correct order of the categories. Check her out if you need some help!

4 - Put everything away as soon as you are done with them. Something Lily pointed out in her video was that the idea of taking everything out of your bag and putting them away, everyday, seemed insane and unnecessary. At first, when I read it, I had to agree with Lily. I mostly take the same bag with the same things everywhere. However, when I started doing this, I realized how helpful this was to keeping myself in check of putting things away. I do it every day now.

All in all, this was insane, my parents thought I was going crazy, but also extremely interesting. I was able to define a bit more what is it that I like and what interests me. It has also drawn me to learning a bit more about minimalism, but that's a conversation for an entirely new post...

So... Have you tried out the KonMari method? What do you think?

This was never an idea of a post. I don't understand fashion and I'm not quite sure I'm able to even write a sentence on the subject, but these past few days I have fallen in love time after time with Selena Gomez's outfits and I HAVE to share this. I know there has been quite a lot of articles stating they are as impressed as I am with her European promotional tour outfits. But I don't care, I will be another voice in the crowd. It's stronger than me. I can't control it. I mean LOOK AT HER:

If you know me a bit, you probably know I'm a hidden Selena Gomez hard-core fan. It's not something I scream out of my lungs, I mean, I don't have posters of her hanging on my walls. But I have loved her, followed her and rooted for her from Wizard's days 'til today, without fail. Despite all of the extremely trying times (caugh Bieber caugh)...

I'm not quite sure what it is about her. There's an identification with her, an appreciation for how she always seemed very normal in interviews, growing up with her being around the same age as me combined with finding her gorgeous. Which means, I have always observed her style. Most times I loved it, many times I didn't. However, none of us have ever been able to define so clearly what style she has been going for as we can lately.

Revival is the name of her next album (one fans are extremely hyped up about, as it's her first non-Hollywood Records album) and I guess Revival is what the girl is trying to do with her public persona and fashion sense. And nailing it.

These are classic outfits, perfectly fitted, solid colors, delicate and timeless cuts which, combined, allows her to look effortlessly chic. It's as if she just came out of an old movie. Yet it still looks perfectly fitting for her age. The LBD in the first picture is one of my favorites, despite the simplicity of it all.

This one is another one my little heart fell in love with and cannot stop thinking about. The big heavy midi skirt combined with the knitted cropped gives me a french effortless feminine vibe. Add that cute side hairstyle and I am dead.

However, as much as I would like to be all this is the "Revival era style" and credit this entirely to her stylist's good taste, I have seen traces of this sort of style slowly and increasingly show up in Selena's wardrobe for quite a while now. I am guessing it is now more prominent due to maybe, just maybe, her being more comfortable with herself now that she is older and completely free of Disney. Even in her casual outfits, you could already see the minimalistic, sober, simple yet chic lines pop up once in a while. And now it's here to stay.

I was not sure I was ever going to read The Casual Vacancy once it first came out. The reviews were not that great and I was slightly frightened of ruining the picture of Rowling I had in my head since Harry Potter. However, a dear friend and my sister both bought me a copy of the book as a gift and that decided it for me. I was not disappointed.

The Casual Vacancy is, like Rowling herself said, a book about responsibility. The story revolves around the political disputes and issues involving the tiny town of Pagford, in a very adult, critical and harsh view of serious every day issues, kilometers away from the fantasy world we're used to getting from Rowling. Once the loved Parish Councillor Barry Fairbrother dies, not only his family is left adrift but his friends, his admirers and his seat on the council. Consequently, the entire town of Pagford.

Don't fool yourself. This is not a political book, though it does revolve around politics. At least it's not about politics in the boring and alienating manner we usually understand it as. Rowling builds a political scenario and explores the multiple dramas and emotional roller coasters that unfold from that point on. And she does it beautifully.

Much like in Harry Potter, you'll love and hate characters. You'll learn to love characters you hate. And surprisingly hate characters you love. It's a book that explores human flaw, ethics and egos. IJust as well as exploring family and social responsibility.

I'll be fair. It took me a while to dive into it whole heartedly, as it seemed to drag out a bit too much at first. I swear to you, however, if you keep going you will get to a point where there is no putting the book down and you'll find, like me, that it was well worth it.

Early this year, BBC launched the TV miniseries based on Rowling's book (I swear that woman and her descendants will never run out of money). I have watched the first episode and, even if the aesthetic was extremely different from what I had imagined, I do plan on watching it full eventually. We'll see how successful the TV transformation was.

4 months is how long it took for me to be able to think about writing this review. This book hit me like a ton of bricks directly on my head, knocked me down and destroyed me completely. It molded my end of the year, changed a relationship and scared me in multiple ways. But let me take a couple steps back.

I first heard about this book when Selena Gomez's (aka my eternal girl crush and someone I somehow blindly stan for) production company signed with Jay Asher to produce the movie version of the story. This was years ago, years. Even before Justin Bieber was a thing (good times). No movie has been made (yet, or so I hope), but the story got my immediate attention and I just decided that I had to read it. Took me a while to finally find and acquire the book, and even longer to take the courage to read it. Yet, it took me only a couple of days to finish it. Why? Well...

Thirteen Reasons Why tells the story of Hannah Baker, a teenage girl who kills herself and leaves 13 cassette tapes for the 13 people she considers responsible for her tragic last act. The narrator of the story is Clay Jensen, one of the recipients of these 13 tapes, and as he gets to listen to Hannah's side of the story to try and understand what he has done to be responsible for such an awful episode, we learn about the facts from his point of view, feeling just as scared and lost as he does.

I do not want to get much into the details of the story, may you decide to read it and find out on your own what happens. However, even if it does not get as intense as I expected, be aware that this is a read it all with a lump in your throat kind of book. It's heavy and relatable and scary. And a big warning letter as well.

I would also like to point on how it's not in any way about what is right or wrong. Hannah Baker isn't painted as a villain or a saint. Nor is most of the characters. Even if some of them are shown only in a glimpse, all of them are portrayed as humans, flawed, but humans. 

I highly recommend this book. Even though I do not think I will ever be able to pick it up again. A book has never been this heavy to me. And it was fantastically worth it. Many people did dislike it, however, as reviews online have shown me, and I can understand why. It's not superbly well written, nor is the whole story and reasoning completely perfect. But when is suicidal reasoning ever perfect? Anyway, the concept is original (something hard to find these days), the topic of suicide and depression is always in need of discussion and attention and the book makes you feel.

I may be biased. This book caused a commotion in my life no other book has ever caused. But I'd say it's mostly worth it. Now I can only wish they make the movie come to life.