things that made happy this week!

This week has been crazy!

With the end of the semester coming up, we had a lot of school work to hand in this week. I haven't had more than 5 hours of sleep for 4 days! hahaha
Plus it's freaking cold in this city! I never imagined -30 would be so cold! The winters I've been through in Toronto were very different from here.

I don't feel like going out and I can't even think about taking the bus to school. I spend only five minutes waiting for the bus and I can't feel my legs anymore. So scary!

So yeah, it's been pretty hard so far! haha

One thing I've tried to do is thinking positively. I'm living in a new place, experiencing new things, meeting new people and although that seems amazing, it's not always easy!

I am trying to get my creativity back in my life. It's been only three months and a week since I arrived  in Canada and within this time I rented an apartment, furnished it, bought all my kitchen appliances, started speaking English again, started school, made new friends, started a new program in college, and started living by myself for the first time. If you think, my life changed a lot in a little time.

It makes me overwhelmed sometimes, but I don't want to be the girl feeling sorry for herself. These obstacles are what make me stronger. So I decided to focus more on the things that make me happy, and today I want to share them with you! :)

1. Writing books

Writing is one of my favourite things, but I used to be more creative when I was 13-16 years old. I never thought about writing a book, but I like to write down my thoughts. And like every teenager, I had intense thoughts.

When I started CreComm I found myself having to write A LOT. And what made it harder was that I wasn't writing my thoughts only. I have to write all types of papers, both factual and creative.

I bought two books to keep my creativity flowing.
One is called 1 Page At a Time by Adam J. Kurtz, and the other one is 642 Things to Write About by San Francisco Writers' Grotto.
I'm in love with them. Every night I tried to do at least one writing exercise, and they are all very simple. It helps me a lot with vocabulary!

2. Pens

My collection of pens keep getting bigger. Unfortunately I left a lot of the ones I already have in Brazil, because it was either the pens or my clothes hahaha.

Saturday I went to Chapters (I'm obsessed!) and bought the most gorgeous pen I've ever seen after the Swarovski's pens. The box says "Everything in moderation, except diamonds." I'd say, everything in moderation, except pens hahaha

The pen is golden and has a huge fake diamond on the top. I just simply felt the need to have it. It extremely necessary for my life, and to motivate me to write! hahaha

p.s.: these are terrible pictures! sorry!

3. TWO WEEKS!
It's only two weeks until my parents and my sister start to freeze with me in Winnipeg :D
Can't wait to see them!
I'm so so so happy!

See you next week!

sorry, my pad!

I have lots of memories, I know.

Fortunately my brain keeps everything I go through. Especially when the happenings are often.

I've ALWAYS been crazy about pads. As a kid, I would buy restaurant pads and receipt pads to play with it. My dad would bring the rest of pads he used at his office for me to play. I don't know why, but I like filling it out. Seriously, it is my dirty little secret. If you have anything to fill, give it to me, and I will. Grabbing a pen and writing short information is my thing!

When I started to grow up and swapped playing for studying, these pads became useless. I didn't have the imagination and time anymore, and like every teenager, I thought playing was for little children, not for grown-ups...

Until the day I bought my very first Knock Knock pad.
I was at an Urban Outfitters store in Virginia. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to buy it.
PADS FOR GROWN UPS!?!? OMG!

I was so happy the first time I saw one at an Urban Outfitters store!

It was my chance to do what I liked with a "purpose" (they don't really have a purpose other than entertaining you).

At Marshalls and HomeSense they have Knock Knock's pads and of course I bought some! hahaa At Chapters and Indigo! you have a bigger variety of them!

But wait, if you think all they have are pads you're wrong! If you go to their online store, you will find all sorts of stuff like books, pencils, organizers, etc.
These are things to collect!

They are so fun!

I love their sarcastic way of writing things! It makes our daily duties smoother!

And here's a little video I made for my Ad class explaining how to use one of these cute pads :)

so, politics...

No, this time I'm not here to outpour about politics.

On Wednesday night I went to see a play with my Journalism class at the Theatre Projects Manitoba.
The play was Proud by Michael Healey.

I told you my feelings about politics on this post.
I think that because of my background, I was never interested about politics. Politics make me nervous about what's morally correct or not. People have very distinct ways to decide what's right or wrong.

I don't understand Canadian politics very well yet. For journalism's sake I am getting there! Almost becoming an expert in politics! haha

This play was a comedy about Canadian politics. It was very interesting to see how the actors played the character so well. For a person like me that doesn't have a clue about politics it was very easy to imagine it being they way they played. I liked that they showed us a little bit of what happens on the background. Everything we see on TV is not coincidence. It's manipulated, and sometimes we don't realize that. At least some people don't.

I also liked that they showed us a humane side of government. I liked the character Jisbella Lyth. She was very funny and that engaged the audience. Daria Puttaert played the character very well.
I also liked the side part where Jisbella's son talks about the changes he wants to see in the government. In Brazil we have the same people governing the country for 12 years now and, except for some people, we feel like 12 years is way too much time for them to be ruling the country. It comes to a point where NOTHING changes. Even though they promise us they will change, they don't. And I don't believe that is democracy. Having the same type of government doesn't help the country because things change everyday, and what one government thought it worked 12 years ago, does't work anymore.

I have never seen a comedy about politics ever. I have watched other shows but none like this. I didn't really know what to expect. At first I thought it was going to be boring. Everyone was laughing but me. Not because I didn't find it funny, but because their lines were inside jokes that I didn't understand. It wasn't until after 30 minutes that I started to understand them.

After watching this play I realized that I need to deepen my knowledge on Canadian politics, so the next time I watch a play like this one I will understand it and enjoy more.

The talk back helped me understand more about the play. I likes when Ross McMillan says he's been watching Prime Minister Harper and his manners and you can see that that is just a mask. He is not like what he appears to be on TV. Sometime we get what TV shows us as the truth, but it's not.

See you next week! :)

once upon a time there was a princess...

I love fairytales.

When I was little, I was sure I was meant to be a princess. It sounds cliché, but I did believe I was a princess.

A long time ago, Brazil was ruled by Dom Pedro I, then King of Portugal who became emperor of Brazil. He was the one who declared Brazil's independence. The royal family still exist, but they don't rule the country and have nothing to do with politics.

Because my mom's last name is Brasil, one day I asked her if we didn't have anything to do with the royal family. I was hoping my grandfather was hiding a big secret that would be revealed unto me at a certain age. Yes, I was delusional, I know, but as a kid, I never lost hope.

My mom would always tell me stories about kings and queens, and all I could think of was a way to become a princess. She would always wake me up calling me sleeping beauty and telling me I had a princess lifestyle hahaha. When she went to England, I asked her to buy me a princess dress and a crown. She brought me a Sleeping Beauty Barbie. It was good enough.

Imagine my disappointment when I found out fairytales weren't true. But still, until today, I like listening to the stories and watching fairytale movies. I've never been to Disney, but I'm pretty sure I won't want to leave that castle.

A couple months before I came to Canada, I started watching the TV show everyone knows: Once Upon A Time.

I can't stop watching it! Even though is not the greatest series, I love the fact that they bring together real world with fairy tales because as I said in the beginning, I've always wished they were true!

I just realized how excited I am while writing about it.

So. The reason I'm here today talking about fairytales and how amazing they are is because, at the end of December, Disney is releasing a new movie based on the Broadway show "Into The Woods".

Not only the movie is about more than one story connected, but is a musical! Aren't you excited for singing all the songs? I know I am.

I love musicals. I grew up watching "Grease", "Saturday Night Fever", "Flashdance", "Footloose" and "Dirty Dancing". I know all their songs by heart. I remember my mom cleaning our house listening to her vinyl record of "Grease."

On my YouTube channel I have a playlist with my favourite musicals soundtracks, and I listen to it almost everyday! So I am very excited about this movie!

Disney went very creative with the movie's promotion. They did a subtly animated poster to promote it. It just sets the scene and makes me more excited to go to the theatre and watch it!
These are some of the posters

IMAGES: DISNEY

Aren't they super cool?

The movie comes to theatres on December 24, and here is the trailer so you can get more excited!

See you next week :)