Showing posts with label Advice. Show all posts

20 Things I've Achieved in my 20s so far...


 Kyoko Escamilla named our 20's our selfish years. As I am upon turning 23 next Thursday I've reached a constant state of self-doubt and what if's, finding myself, more often than not wondering if I am doing the right thing if I am enjoying life as I should (or worst, as I am supposed) be. Am I doing the right thing, following the right path, achieving the right things? Or am I doing nothing but fully wasting the best decade of my life, and if I'm wasting my 20's does that mean I am wasting my life? (because we all know it's just going down the hill from here...). 

Well, I'm turning 23 and it feels like I'm already half/way through the decade and then I will blink and I will be 30 and I will still be stuck in the situation I am right now, no job, no money, and in a constant state of feeling like I'm failing at life. For that reason, I decided to come up with a list of the 23 things I have already done/achieved in my 20's. If nothing more this post works as the reinsurance that I am capable and that I am not wasting my life or my time by simply being me. This is my path and that is absolutely ok.



1. Went to Paris (the city of my dreams) with my boyfriend (the love of my life);
2. Took a Summer off after working every single summer since turning 17;
3. Rebuilt relationships with friends I had disconnected from in the past;
4. Graduated from University;
5. Interned at an amazing company and met a lot of great and inspirational people;
6. Bought myself a car;
7. Lost the fear of speaking English and French in front of native speakers (both online and in real life);
8. Learned how to edit videos;
9. Learned how to edit pictures really well and found a love for it;
10. Started to play with different colours in makeup, and started seeing makeup as something fun instead of an obligation;


11. Went Scuba Diving for the first time in my life while visiting the Azores 
12. Cut my hair short, then painted it, then let it grow back and stopped being afraid of change;
13. Explored different types of cuisines and tried to educate my palate (I no longer say I don't like something without giving it a try);
14. Found a deep love for baking, and giving people comfort with a piece of cake;
 15. Educated myself on skincare, skincare products, and ingredients, and managed to stick to a routine;
 16. Donated blood for the first time (I'm 0-, which means I'm a universal donor, so it's extra important that I donate blood regularly);
17. Went to ModaLisboa a couple of times, got my picture taken by many photographers, and ended up on a few online magazines;
18. Did a photo shoot for a swimwear brand;
19. Went out for a protest for the first time in my life, joining my voice to the Black Lives Matter Movement, because I believe in a world where race doesn't define who you are;
 20. Met amazing people, connected with them, and honestly think I made life long friends;


 My 20's so far haven't been all fluff and rainbows but, making this list, really helped me focus on the good and positive things that have happened. Life tends to blend in with itself and we often forget to take time and purely appreciate what we have achieved so far. If you are self-doubting yourself or if you are afraid your life will be nothing but a failure, grab a pen and paper and just make a list similar to this one, I guarantee you will feel a lot better!


Location: Sé, Lisboa, Portugal 
Photography: Sofia Filipe 
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I'm still alive || Life Update


Long time no see... I am not sure I still know how to do this, yet here we are. Hello, I'm Ana Teresa Pessoa a 22-year-old from Portugal who has been blogging for as long as she can remember yet who fails miserably at being consistent. Here I am I today (at 3AM, back into the blogging routine as if it was nothing)., to give you a little life update and spill the tea on everything that life has taught me since coming back from Paris 5 months ago. 

First and for most I GRADUATED UNI!!! (in the middle of a global pandemic) and now I feel lost AF. Well, there is not a lot I can say about this one except I feel really relieved, happy, and proud that this chapter is over. It was 4 long years of hard work and a huge set back towards the end named Covid-19. I finished my Culture and Communication degree from the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon. I am now facing a world of doubts and uncertainty about the world we currently live in. I always planned on working on event management after graduation, I never expected to have all kinds of events (including my graduation) canceled for god knows how long. This as taught me many lessons, the major one probably being that life will always go it's own way, no matter how much you think you have, the best skill you can have is your ability to adapt to everything life throws at you. 


Meanwhile due to our global friend Corona I moved back home. Well, temporarily at least. Mid-March Portugal announced we were on lockdown and scared I would be locked in Lisbon for god knows how long, my dad picked me up from Lisbon in a quest that could be part of any apocalyptical film and brought me home, to the sunny Algarve. Don't get me wrong, I love living in Lisbon, but I feel so lucky to be here during the quarantine. I was born in a sunny place that has become a paradise on Earth for me. If you have been keeping up with me on Instagram you will know that I have been spending most of my time at the beach, enjoying nature a little bit more than before, and feeling very grateful for the place I was lucky to be born in. moral of that story you can fly as far away as you possibly can but there is no place like home.


Another thing that has changed is that I revived my Portuguese Youtube Channel, after being asked by many (mainly my mum) to produce content in my mother tongue. Actually, that's what kept me from blogging, I needed (and still need) to learn a new format and to understand how to edit video, and that left me little to no time to focus on the blogging aspect of my digital presence. I created two videos and if you can understand Portuguese I ask you to subscribe and share my channel.  Surprisingly that has taught me that it's never too late to embrace our passion projects.

And lastly, I wanted to talk about doing what feels right. I embraced a new vision on my social media. I know I am not good with schedules or promises, I am not good at being consistent, and for a long time that combined with what other people said left me feeling like shit more often than not and incredibly unmotivated to pursue my own path. Surprise, everyone is different, there is no right or wrong way of living life. I am, now more than ever, focusing on me, my self-growth, and my self-healing. Focusing on living my life to the fullest without letting others affect how I feel, how I live, or how I see the world. I am doing me and I couldn't care less about what anyone else thinks. After all, I think this was the most important swift in my mind as of lately. 


So guys, be welcomed to a new era of this blog, the blogger behind it is proud of herself for being who she is, she is making mistakes and learning every single day, she is pushing through and working hard on understanding life as it is with all this uncertainty and constant need for adaptation. Seeking happiness is now my goal, instead of achieving x amount of followers. I feel like a new Ana compared to the person I was this time last year and IT FEELS GOOD.


Photography: Sofia Filipe
Location: Loulé, Algarve, Portugal
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Our Generation Lost the Ability of Being in the Moment

 

Ironic, I am writing this blog post, sharing it online, when it's the online presence that I am aiming against here. I've been reflecting over the fact that we (as a generation) lost the ability to be present in the moment. We physically are there, but mentally we are lost in our own little worlds.
Think about it, when we pick a restaurant to go out and eat, we decided based on how instagramable it is, when we book a vacation we decide the destination having in mind the pictures we are going to take (or why do you think places like Bali became so trendy in the second half of this decade?!). We do things so that we can show other people that we are doing them, making life a mechanical show of. From the clothes to the decoration, passing by the cafés and places we visit, everything has likes, views and numbers at the top of the priorities list. We want a scoop into other people lives and they want to present us with the absolutely most dreamy and amazing version of themselves, regardless of how fake that might be.


The problem is, we get so caught up into pretending to be the best version of ourselves that we forget to actually be it.
We neglect other people because we have to post a picture when the stats tell us that the picture will do best. We spend so much time taking pictures of our food that it often goes cold, taking pictures of nature that we only look at it through a screen, ignoring the beauty our own eyes can capture. We, as a generation, lost the ability to simply look, to enjoy to reflect upon what we are watching. If something is pretty we snap a picture of it, this way we can always remember a moment we didn't truly experience. 

I spend too much time on my phone, actually is where this blog post is being written (not something I usually do but the idea was so stuck in my head I couldn't help it). I spend more time looking at my phone than cooking, working out, reading, sometimes even sleeping. When you put things into that perspective is terrifying. A device has my full attention at most times. A device, either I wanted it to or not, controls my life. I'm writing this post because I truly believe this is a problem many people my age feel, our generation is the first to deal with this type of pressure because we are the first generation to grow up with the internet, technology, easy access to everything and social media platforms.


This post is being seen by me as a turning point, we are at the end of a decade, 2020 is soon upon us, and for that reason I wanted, more than ever to reflect where I want my life to go, how I want to enjoy the world and live my life. I want to make a conscious effort to enjoy the world more, to travel more, to visit new places, to get to know new cultures and to see the world, instead of sharing it. 
Don't miss understand me, please. I love to share my life, that is what I do here on the blog and on my social media platforms, but I want to stop living life with the purpose of sharing it, I want to start doing it with the purpose of living it, and if for some reason I think that it's worth sharing I consequently will, but that will stop being the goal.


At the same time, I have set limits to the time I spend on the Youtube app on my phone and on Instagram, is that I will only, from now on, allow myself the time the app allows if I want some sort of extra entertainment I will pick up a book, a movie, a tv show and try to focus on that. This is very important to me because I've been feeling like my attention span is getting extremely short, and it's scary, I often find myself talking to someone, watching a TV show and scrolling at the same time, not paying full attention to either of the tasks, bombarding my brain with information and yet failing to concentrate on anything.  This process of change I am meaning to put to action right away will (hopefully) help me concentrate more, spend more time doing things I enjoy and be surrounded by the people I love so that consequently, I am able to create more honest content and share stuff that actually brought me happiness while creating instead of living in the bubble of self-comparison and trying to look better than others. 
At the end of the day, I am hoping that by spending less time on my phone and looking at screens I am able to share better content on my online platforms and live a happier life.


Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Photography: Catarina Rosa 

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Be Afraid, Do It Anyways



For someone who doesn't write hair related blog posts, this is the second time that I am doing so in a short period of time, but with good reason. 
For many years now I wanted to change my hair, I did cut it pretty drastically one year ago, and once when I was like 16 I died my ends red, but that was about it when it came to drastic changes from me. I was always afraid of not liking the result, and truth to be told I love my natural blond honey hair colour. 
When I chopped it off last year the main motivation was the fact that it was super damaged after a summer spent in the sun, diving in the ocean and in swimming pools and with lack of hair care (the usual). 


This year, however, I decided that it was time for a change. I wanted to do something different from what I had done before. Once I had done a fringe last year, and I had loved it, I wanted to do that once again, yet I wanted to keep my hair long, that's exactly what I did when it came to the cut, something very me, very similar to what I had done in the past that yet felt like a little change. 
However, the back of my mind kept telling me that I should do something more, something that would change my look a lot more than a hair cut. I've been wanting to go blonder for years now and I never got the balls to do it. I was afraid because last time I had bleached my hair, it had completely ruined it, it was super damaged for years. Now that my hair was feeling as healthy as it possibly could I was afraid to ruining it, yet again.


I was also afraid that the colour wouldn't look good on me. It's a chance we have to take whenever we are messing with something that relates to our appearance, literally the fear of fucking it up. Our face is our business card to the world, and no one wants to be seen by others in a way that doesn't make them feel comfortable. So, for me, this decision wasn't easy. It took a lot of thinking, a lot of images saved on Instagram and a lot of Pins made on Pinterest to be sure this is something that I could do. 

It sounds silly, so much drama, just because of hair. Truth to be told, I never truly loved my hair 100%, even though I love its natural colour, I was never fond of its texture, how dry it was, how oily it would easily get, the lack of volume, you name it. This is a feeling I always have had growing up, until last year I chopped it all of and my confidence was found, for the first time I fell in love with my hair. I enjoyed doing hair masks, trying different hairstyles, I loved my hair. Doing something that I had never done before to it when I was the most confident I had ever been, was a terrifying thought.

I WAS AFRAID, BUT I DID IT ANYWAYS. Because in life I truly believe that we should face our fears, especially when the other option is to stay at the same place where we are right now, living life, always wondering, what if... What if I had done it? What if I wasn't afraid? Where could I be in life right now, if I had taken the chances... You guessed it, this isn't just about my hair. This is my take on life. This is my perspective, the way I try to live my life. Do the things that put me out of my comfort zone, and sometimes I will fail and feel miserable about it, other times, well, other times it will be just like my hair. It will look amazing. It will boost my confidence and make me feel like a brand new person. It will give me the chance to start with a clean slate, to be bolder, to reinvent myself. And even if those times represent 1% of the total outcomes, I say, they are still 100% worth the try. 


 Location: Loulé, Algarve, Portugal 
Photography: Mariana Rocha

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One Semester Away from Graduation Here is my University Advice

 

I write this post to anyone that is starting University right now, anyone that is studying there already but it can't help but feel lost and to anyone who just wants to check where I am at regarding my education at the moment.
I am a student at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon (Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa - FLUL) and I am doing a degree in Culture and Communication Studies. I am studying in Portugal, I've never done Erasmus+ or any type of exchange program, so I can only share with you my point of view and my personal experience, based on that I am going to try and provide the best advice I can.


You create your own path, no right or wrong: When I first got into University I was studying Performative Arts, I wanted to be an actress since I could remember and it was the logical next step to me. After my first year, the program for my course changed, and I didn't like the changes that were made so I switched degrees. I started my degree in Culture and Communication Studies. At the time it felt like the world was ending, I loved my degree and I didn't understand why they had to make changes to the program, I didn't want a new course and I didn't want to remain in the old one. After a few months of searching, I finally made the change. Looking back on my path the only thing I regret is not picking Culture and Communication when I first when to University.


You don't need to make a lot of friends: A big thing we all feel in College is the pressure to fit in, to have the American movie experience and live the best years of our lives. Hollywood made us believe that we haven't really lived until we go to University, we will meet the friends that we will take for live, we will meet the love of our lives. All of this while studying to become a successful person in just a few years. I'm sorry to let you know that, for most people, that is BS.
I have met a lot of people since coming to University 4 years ago, but only made 2 friends that I know will be part of my life when it's over. I didn't feel the need to have a bigger group of friends or to meet more people, I've met the people that I needed and I am better of with two great friends than with 20 people that couldn't care less about me.


Everyone is in the same situation that you are: Dear freshman, this is probably the best advice I can give you. It's daunting not knowing where the classroom is, what materials you should get, where is the best place to print copies of assignments or where is the library. It's even more daunting not having anyone that you feel like you can ask. Well, everyone that you see around you is either on the same situation or it has been. No one will judge you for not knowing anything because no one does. Feel free to ask people for their help whenever you need it, you will realize that 9 times out of 10 you will find someone willing to help you.


 University professors are not the monsters High School Teachers paint them to be: I remember when I was in High School being told that whatever I was doing wasn't enough for College standards, Professors wouldn't care if we understood what they were teaching, we would have to study a million times harder than we ever did before or otherwise we would fail. Well, to some extent this is true. In University we are all adults, no one will force you to go to classes, no one will force you to do your assignments or even show up for your exams, you are old enough to know what is at stake if you don't do your part. Yet, I've never had a Professor that refused to help a student in any way they could. They are more approachable than High School teachers in that way I believe. If you are too scared to ask something during class, just drop them an email, if you are not sure about what topic to chose for your paper, ask them for their advice. At the end of the day, they want you to succeed. What is the point of being a teacher if all you want is to fail everyone?  That will just show that you don't know how to do your job.


It's just another stage of your life: I feel like University is made out to be this big scary thing because it's normally the first big step into our adult life. Think about it this way, it's just another school, no different from when you went from Elementary School to Middle School or to High School. It doesn't define you, it won't define all your adult life. If you don't love the course you picked, change. If you don't like your University, go to a master elsewhere. You are not late to the party, you are in your own time and that is what matters the most.

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After 6 years in a relationship here is my advice


As I sit here tipping this post into my Macbook I can't help but feel a little like a badly dressed version of Carrie Bradshaw, no Manolos, no Cosmopolitans, no New York. Just me and my best advice on relationships.

Relationships are something I never discussed here because I truly believe that every person is different and that that makes every relationship different. However, I've been in a relationship for almost six years and I feel like that, in some way, allows me to sit here and write about my experience. This is only my truth, this is my point of view and it probably won't apply to your experience, yet, it might, and that is why I am writing this post.


Relationships are not easy, even though they may seem easy due to what people post on social media. Like anything else, we share the highlights but when we are together and when we are alone things get tricky, fights come up, we also get closer and we overcome problems together, we change and we evolve we shift shapes to fit better with one another and that is where my first piece of advice comes from. We can't expect the person we fell in love with to always remain the same. It's human nature, we evolve, life and our choices change us and consequently the person that we are changes with them. We wouldn't like to be in the exact same place that we were years ago today, we can't expect our partner to stay the same throughout the years. That isn't healthy, that isn't good for you or for the other person if you keep pushing the person that you love to be the person you fell in love with maybe you are not in love with them but just with the idea that you have of them, and if that is the case, I honestly think that things won't work out between the two of you. It's best to end a relationship than to expect people to go back to what they were before so that they fit you better. 

At the same time Don't expect the person to change who they are. People change, as I just stated, but I don't believe people can change everything about themselves, much less for someone else, regardless of how much they love the other person. If you are dating a shy person they won't become an extrovert overnight. If you are dating an extremely religious person they won't stop going to church, if my boyfriend ever expected me to stop wearing makeup, well, it wouldn't happen, it's something that defines we and that makes me truly happy. You need to love the core of the person you are in a relationship with, otherwise, it won't work. 


Another point I want to discuss here is that Fights will come up, the way you deal with them is what will define the future, not the fight itself. Relationships are not as easy as the internet makes it seem, and people fight, its normal, its human nature. When people ask me how do we (me and João) overcome our fights or do we fix our problems, the answer is simple, we are both here for the long run, we both know we want to be together for many more years and so, when we get into a fight we remind ourselves of this. The fight probably won't matter in 5 years, so why spend more than 5 minutes worrying about it? And if you feel like it will, try to be as honest as you can, talk about how you are feeling, make the other person understand your point of view the best way they can. 

Following that, I need to state that Learning how to say I'm sorry and mean it, is also a really important thing to do. I must admit this is one of my biggest flaws, I am the type of person who thinks is always right, and even though I can put myself into somebody else's shoes easily I have a hard time admitting that I was wrong, that I made a mistake and that the issue is my fault. Learning how to apologize has been a hard and interesting journey when it comes to my relationship and even after almost 6 years, I am quite far from being great at it but it's something I think is essential to make any relationship work, if the same person is always apologizing and the other can't even see what they have done wrong, chances are, the person who is always apologizing will get tired of filling that role and it will probably fall out of love with the other person. 


And now for the most chiché advice ever: Communication is key! There is a reason why this is the most commonly given advice when it comes to relationships if you can't communicate with the person you are in love with, things won't work out. You need to learn how to talk to each other, to know how to deal with the person when they are sad, or mad, or happy or excited, to know how to support them. Communication is much more than what you say, it's your body language, your actions, everything that you do that affects the other person in any way. Getting to know someone in the way you do in a relationship should also teach you how to communicate with the other person. Another thing to do with this topic is that you shouldn't hold back, if you don't like something or if something is upsetting you, just speak up, don't hold anything in, because (and I talk from experience) when you hold things in eventually you will explode and that will originate a terrible nasty and unnecessary fight. Speak your mind, listen and be heard as well.

I feel like after this post I need to reinforce that my relationship is not perfect, it's filled with ups and downs, because life is not perfect and after all a relationship is nothing more than sharing your life with another human. It won't ever be perfect, but it will be one hundred per cent worth it. 



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My Bad Experience With a Dermatologist

 

I was 16 years old, I watched YouTube as if it was the only source of entertainment available and it was a time when all the YouTubers I watched went to a dermatologist and having acne was quite an awful thing. Keep in mind that I was SIXTEEN! An age when it is normal to have acne, an age where my acne was a couple of pimples, some oily skin and nothing more. However I didn't want to be left out of the trend, and everyone seemed to go to a dermatologist so I went to one. I went in hopes to learn which was my skin type, to learn what steps should I include in my routine, what products I should buy. I wanted to improve my knowledge on my skin, to pick things that were appropriate for my age and skin type and to feel like I knew more than most people in order to legitimate the advice I gave on my blog. And so I went.

I must state now that I honestly think that I had really back luck with my dermatologist, it was a lady at the local hospital and I think it was the only available doctor that had an agreement with my insurance company.


Firstly I remember that to the only time I went (or maybe I had two appointments with her, I'm not sure), she got in at least 45 minutes late, which for a 16 year-old  going alone to the doctor for the first time is nerve-racking enough without having to wait for a long time.
Anyways, when I finally got in she asked me why was I there and after a short chat (that I don't recall) she gave me the magical recipe for my acne. Firstly she recommended me a cleansing gel and a moisturizer, that to this day I feel like were nothing special and did nothing for my skin.
A tinted moisturizer that had no coverage and that didn't help cover up the blemishes, something the doctor told me I had to do whenever they showed up. The tinted moisturizer was too liquid to offer any coverage, and too dark for my skin so I went to school looking like and Ompaa Lompa.
Besides all this, and the part that, looking back on this experience scares me the most, is that she prescribed me 3 boxes of pills to dry off my skin. To be fair I didn't ask what they were or what they did and I took them every day as I was told.
They made my skin look flakey and too dry, in addition to that, the mattifying products didn't help at all. I looked like a dried Opmaa Lompa, I took a whole box of pills (for around 2 months) and I felt absolutely awful.


My dreams of having dreamy skin like the girls I saw on Youtube were turned into nightmares, my self-confidence was more shaken up than ever and all I wanted was a place to hide. Thank god I decided to stop taking the pills, kept using the products but started to research a lot more when it came to products, skin type, formulas and ingredients.

Today, at 21, I am as far as you can be from being an expert. However, I know that having oil is not a bad thing, I don't like a look too matte (maybe due to the trauma), I know how important it is to keep a routine, to use sunscreen (something that wasn't even mentioned by the doctor), and much more.

I'm not saying that Doctor Google is the best option, I'm just sharing my experience, with a specific situation. I never went to a dermatologist again, because I never really had problems that forced me to go there. Lately, an allergy showed up on my skin and I've been considering seeing one in order to find a solution to this issue.


So what I learned for this experience and the message I hope to spread with this post is that you should be informed and ask questions. Don't do anything without realizing what you are doing, don't do it because you wanna be someone else. Do things for yourself and your own well being, the most important thing, at the end of the day, is that you are making informed choices and taking advantage of your biggest power, knowledge.
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The Art of Self-Love


Self-love, such a though art to practice to a generation that is constantly bombarded with images of what they should and shouldn't be. Of what is right and what is wrong, we learn that we should love our bodies, our mind and everything about us for simply being who we are. At the same time, we are bombarded with pictures that show us that we are not enough, not thin enough, not smart enough, our life isn't exciting enough. We get stuck in loops of self-doubt, self-comparison and, regardless of what we do, we are never good enough to the crazy high standards we have. Self-love becomes something we preach but the opposite of what we practice. 
If you had told me one year ago that I would be uploading topless pictures to my blog I would call you crazy. I would say that I would never do that, that I wasn't that type of person. Deeply I lacked the self-confidence to do so. To ask someone to take the pictures, to post them. What will other people think? It was a bold move I wasn't bold enough to take. 

As I grow older (and hopefully wiser), I realize that the problem with self-love is that it truly isn't self-love. It's not on us, it's on what other people say, think or do. People talk and regardless of how good looking, successful or amazing we are it will always affect us, because we are all human. 
The moment we are aware of this fact is the moment self-love becomes easier to practice. 
Self-love, at least for me, has risen from simple acts of being kind to myself. To look at myself in the mirror and realizing what I like and what I don't, to do my best to change what I don't. To take responsibility for my actions and my feelings, being the best version of myself is a task that depends only on me. Basically, self-love starts when you are aware of what you have, change what you can, and accept what you can change. 



Something else I've noticed is how little do we know ourselves. We are afraid of being lonely, so we don't spend any time alone, consequently, all that we are, we are because of the influence of other people. 
Most of us are afraid of doing things alone, things like going for a walk, going to the beach or to the cinema, because we have no one to talk to and consequently we have to deal with ourselves, our emotions and our feelings, no more hiding it to the outside because everything, suddenly, becomes both the outside and the inside. It's a hard decision to make, to spend more time by yourself, but it's also very rewarding. I only realized everything I wrote about in this post while spending time by myself, reflecting on my thoughts and my actions. 

We shouldn't be afraid of other people opinions or dressing a certain way, painting your hair a certain colour. Life has no rules and if changing any of those things about yourself will help you feel better with the person that you are, and that you are becoming, do it. If you are happy with who you are and how you feel, if you practice self-love, what others have to say will not matter, it won't make a difference, because you will know that you are working to be the best version of yourself that you possibly can. 


Location: Ilha da Armona, Algarve, Portugal 
Photography: Sofia Filipe



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An Honest Chat About Sustainability


Sustainability is the hot topic of the moment, and I'm glad it is. After all, we only have one planet, the fact that leading an eco-friendly lifestyle became trendy is a good thing. It means that more people are willing to try and make changes to the way they are living, yet it can also mean that the subject will stop being a topic once it stops being trendy. 
I, like most of us, am guilty of falling into the trend, and consequently start becoming more aware of what I buy, what I use and what am I consuming in general.

Today I thought I could share with you my thoughts and opinions on this topic. I realize that my opinion may be a little bit controversial, but I think it's time I share my thoughts in here. 
A Portuguese Zero Waste Instagrammer that I follow, named Catarina Barreiros, shared a quote the other day that ran along the lines of "We don't need a hand full of people doing zero waste perfectly, we need millions doing it imperfectly." and if I had to use a quote to summarize my point of view on the matter this would be it. I don't do as much as I could and I am aware of it. I use a lot of plastic, I buy fast fashion and I eat meat, all things that can be condemned by more extremist environmental activists (something I am not). However, I am conscious of these decisions and I have been trying to make little changes in my life so that I can lead a life that is more environmentally friendly, I must assure you that all the little steps I've done are easy and can be done by anyone who's willing to make a change. 
The real difference is made when a lot of people make little changes instead of trying to change everything about the way they live only to finding it too hard and simply giving up. 


As I said I do eat meat, but after watching Cowspiracy I've learned a lot about the dark side of the meat industry. Did you know that to produce 1 Kilo of beef it takes up to 15 000 Liters of water, to produce 1 Kilo of pork up to 6 000 Liters? Not to talk about the fact that the biggest cause of the hole in the ozone layer is the CO2 generated by cow farts (it's all on the documentary if you don't believe me). 
After having this knowledge I simply couldn't keep eating meat more than 10 times a week. I then and there made the conscious decision of eating one vegetarian meal every day, leaving animal protein to be eaten for the other. I truly believe that if everyone did this, the mass production of meat would be an easy fix problem. I do love vegetables which is a big help, but I've had to try new things in the kitchen and try my best to keep this habit going. I didn't feel much of a difference in my routine but at the end of the day, I know I am making a difference. 
Another thing I truly believe in. Is that the fast fashion industry (which includes basically everything I've ever got) is a needed industry. It allows a lot of people to be able to dress because most of us can't afford to buy only from sustainable brands. I would love to be able to do that, but at these point in time, I absolutely can't. So I do the next best thing. I buy only pieces that I know I will have a lot of wear out of. For example, the top I am wearing cost 3€ for Lefties 2 Summers ago and it's still going strong. I've had the denim shorts from Pull and Bear for over 5 Years and they are still my favourite piece of denim shorts. I have certain pieces that I've had for years and years and that I always find myself going back too. I try to repair the pieces when they need repairing and when I am done with them they are normally to worn out to go anywhere but the trash can. If not, I always had the habit to pass it on, either to my mum, some friends or to some charity that collects clothes. This way I know I am doing my part making the fast fashion industry a little bit slower. 


Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room. A little friend we have named PLASTIC. Recently plastic has almost become a forbidden word, a word that carries a lot of baggage within itself. If we talk plastic, we talk about ocean pollution, fish genocide, the end of drinkable water. However, and even though most of us are aware of its dangers, plastic has become an indispensable part of our routine. It's in our food, in our shower, in our makeup bag, in our closet, it's basically anywhere if we care to look.  
I've been making an effort to reduce my usage of plastic by making little unnoticeable changes. So far I've replaced my toothbrush for a bamboo one, I've stopped using shower gel and started using soap bars instead, I always carry a metal straw in my bag so that I am not using the disposable ones. 
When it comes to the supermarket I try to carry a tote bag with me in which I can carry my groceries, I never use the little plastic bags they have available for fruits and vegetables. 
Another thing I  try to do is to buy locally. I get most of my fruits and vegetables from a local grocery store I know the owner and he knows me, it's less expensive, I know the products are great and it feels really nice to support a local small business.

These are a few of the changes that I've made so far. I know they seem small, but a lot of small actions make a big difference. I hope to keep educating myself on this matter, and I hope to keep doing what I can to preserve our beautiful planet, so that places like the one this post was shoot at don't become a memory, but a reality, places I will be able to take my kids to one day and that they will take their kids too as well. 


Photography: Alexandre Serôdio 
Location: Loulé, Algarve, Portugal 
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Looking at my Phone from a New Perspective


A few months ago I was mugged and they took my phone, the experience made me realize how dependent I was on my phone and how much I relied on it to do almost everything. How I wasn't able to simply walk down the street without having this little object in my hand and how much I was missing out of the world because of it. 
I am addicted to my phone and to social media, I spend 2hours on Instagram today (I know, shame on me), I do a lot of meaningless scrolling and even though that is a habit that I am trying to break I still do it. 
When I got mugged I was in Lisbon and I couldn't come home to deal with the problems of replacing my phone for around a week, which meant that I was phoneless for a week and this truly changed my perspective.  


I found myself being more aware of everything around me. I would go to the tube and see everyone there on their phones while I would just observe because I didn't have a phone to be on. I could observe how obsessed people were with their own little worlds, too obcessed to care about anyone else, too obsessed to even look away to say polite things like I'm sorry after bumping into someone. 
I also got to enjoy my days more because I didn't know what time it was at all times, I ended up being more spontaneous once I didn't get to text anyone before making a decision and to be more present on the present moment instead of living planing the future or stuck in the past. 
Of course that that week had its downsides as well. It was terrible not having my phone to set an alarm in the morning and having to ask one of my flatmates to wake me up, or not being able to post on Instagram which I feel is an essential part of my work here on the blog. Besides that, I start looking at the world with different eyes, I started being more mindful of the unnecessary time I spend on my phone especially when I am out of the house and there are so many better things to look at than a screen. 
So I challange you to try and not look at your social media when you are out of the house, do it for a week and see how much of a prison from the real world your phone truly is and how much you can observe when you are focusing on something else.


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Welcome 2019, The Year I Set Free the #GirlBoss in Me


HAPPY NEW YEAR! It's crazy how 2018 flew by and how truly excited I am for the new year. I have been needing a fresh start more than ever. My main goal or the new year is to grow my blog and start working with some brands, try to make some sort of income and take this seriously as a job, which I am aware is going to be very hard, but I am a true believer that hard work pays off and that I am no less than the other group of people who have made it before me, if I work as hard as they do I can be as good or even better than them because we can create our lucky stars we don't need to be born with one.

Today I decided to share with you my 2019 Resolutions, I am going to work hard towards each and every one of them and create the year I deserve.



Reduce the usage of plastic by replacing a few of the items I own: This is maybe one of the most important resolutions that I think should be part of everyone's lists. We are facing an environmental crisis and a lot of people simply seem to ignore that. If all of us stopped buying plastic bags, water bottles and straws (simple things I have replaced in 2018) a huge difference would be made.

Make at least 5 meals per week vegetarian: To go with the plastic resolution I think that is as important to reduce the consumption of meat (especially beef). When I am in Lisbon I do at least 50% of my weekly meals vegetarian and in 2019 I want to make sure at least 5 of my dinners/lunches are vegetarian, again, keep in mind, we only have one planet and we truly need to take care of it, if we take care of our houses in order to keep in good livable conditions why do we mistreat our only planet? 

Read 24 books: When I was younger I read all the time and I lost the habit to do it, this is a habit I want to bring back in 2019, reading 24 books doesn't sound like a lot and I am sure it's going to help me reset both my mind and soul in the new year.

Keep going to the cinema as much as I did in 2018: This is not a resolution but more of a goal, I went to the cinema A LOT in 2018, and this is a habit I really want to keep, in an era of Netflix and illegal downloads it feels so right to support an industry that I love so much, I also want to watch more Portuguese Films, I feel like they have improved a lot in the past couple of years and there are a lot of Portuguese FIlms coming out in 2019 that I am truly excited about.


 Be more inventive with makeup: 2018 was the year in which I fell out of love with makeup and then back in love with it, full force,  in the new year I want to explore with more colors and looks. 

 Find more occasions to wear stilettos: As a birthday present to myself I got a pair of stilettos and I truly love them, but I find little to no occasions to wear them, in 2019 I am determined to find a way to wear stilettos more often once they make me feel really good about myself. 

 Keep buying less and better, and curating my closet to consist only of pieces that I love: Getting rid of stuff in my wardrobe has been a constant in 2018, so for 2019 I hope to buy only things that I truly love, that are good quality and that I am going to wear over and over and over again, I want to build some sort of capsule wardrobe and this feels like the right year to do it. 

 Travel more: I do have a number of trips I want to make but I don't want to share it. I plan however to travel more this year than ever before. I want to travel both in Portugal and outside and I couldn't be more excited about it. Also, if possible I really want to lose my fear of traveling alone and just do it. 



Start a Youtube Channel: I've wanted to do this for years but I always feel like I am not good enough, the year starts today and I already made the decision that I am good enough and that I am going to start a YouTube Channel in 2018 because creating content is something that I am truly passionate about. 

 Consistency is the kye: In 2019 I promise to stop making excuses to stop not trying hard enough and more than anything else to be consistent with the content I am creating. This will mean work really hard and try to be at least one week ahead of the game, something I've never done before but that I am ready to do in 2019.


Pass all of my university classes with good grades: This being my last year of university and possibly my last year as a student, it's obvious that I want to finish every class I am attending with some good grades, not that that will matter much in the future, but it will show me that I can do stuff for myself and it will be self-rewarding. 

 Keep going to the gym and achieve and healthier lifestyle, both physical and mentally: If you read my mental health-related post you will know that the gym is a place that has made me super anxious in the past and that it was hard for me to deal with, but I made the decision in 2018 that in 2019 I was going to fight this harder than ever. Which means working my ass of to go to the gym at least 4 times a week (2 of them being the pilates classes I normally go to). 



I truly hope that you are as motivated as I am for the New Year and that you are able to overcome the dullness of 2018 and have a kick-ass 2019! 
HAPPY NEW YEAR 


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