Changing Your Mind About The Future Is OK

Picture Link  CC

For the past two weeks I've changed my mind probably 14 times about college and future life stuff. I'm not even kidding. I had a new plan every single day and I was driving my parents crazy, because of all the changes of mind. I was even embarrased about telling friends and family about it, because that made me seem like a very confused person and that I didn't have a clue about what to do with my life.Well, I am pretty confused, but I don't want people to know that I am. Do you know what I mean? 

I have to constantly remind myself that I'm only 17 and that I'm too young to be stressing out about the future. Or that I'm young and have infinite possibilities, so I can change change my mind from something to another any time. But then there is all this pressure, is not that people pressure me to choose a carrer, actually is not that at all. But I feel pressured. I see all these kids in my class and they all know what they want in life, or they think they do, but overall they know even if it might not be the right thing for them. And that makes me feel pressured and ashamed, I wish I could be more determined.

I'm writing this post for myself and for everyone who is confused about the future. You can be 17 like myself, or in your twenties, forties, whatever age you are, you can change your mind any time. It doesn't have to be about the future, it can be about a purchase, about having kids, having pets, wearing boots instead of high heels or even choosing between ketchup or mustard. Your mind is free, you can change it anytime, you just have to have the will to do it.

But who am I to write a post about changing your mind about the future, if I am pretty confused myself? Like I said before, this post is not just to help you guys, but for myself too. To remind myself that I can always change my mind without the feer of being judged and called fickle.

Yesterday I had the greatest idea ever for the future. Well, I know that the future is uncertain so plans might not work out that well, but I like to have a perspective just to keep me going and working hard for what I want. So I am considering taking a gap year before college. A year for me to find myself and discover what I really want in life. I want to work and study for the year, and of course continue my ballet class. And after a year, I want to go to college in a another city that has the degrre course I want, that is History. They have it here in my city, but the course is not that great, so I'm thinking of moving cities. I'm going to write another post, probably next week, about how I discovered the major that I like and I hope that helps you finding the major that you like as well. So stay tuned for next week's post.

So I'm going to end this post here by saying that is never to late to change your mind and that you can do it as much as you want. So I hope that you enjoyed this post and if you related to anything I wrote, you can leave a comment down bellow about your changes of mind stories.

I hope you all are having a great day.

See you next week,


Ana

My Vegan Journey Update + Favorite Foods

Hello guys. I'm so sorry for not posting this week, I was just so busy with tests that I couldn't even write a post. But since today is Friday, I decided to write a simple post just updating you all about how my vegetarian journey is going and how I am feeling.

Well, I have been vegetarian for a month and a half now. I don't consider myself as vegan yet, because I still have a lot to change and improve in my diet so I don't feel like I can receive this"title". But my goal is to become vegan, but it takes time that is why it is called a journey. 

Being a month into this journey, I have been feeling a lot more energetic, I don't feel so sleepy as often as I did before. And the number 1 thing I noticed that has changed completely was my bathroom schedule, but that is too awkward to talk about.

Let's talk about food!

I cant' lie, it has been a challenge to make food everyday, specially if you go to school in the morning like myself. But my mom has been helping me with my meals, so thank you mom. The biggest challenge for vegetarian/vegan people I think is to be creative, because sometimes so get tired of the same food every single day and that can discourage you to continue your journey. So I've been trying to get a little creative with my food, not like crazy creative, but try to vary my meals.

So first picture you can se if very simple and very tradicional brazilian dish. There are rice and beans (very brazilian), salad, some fried yucca (not so healthy but delicious) and the final thing is soy protein. This is like a holy grail products when you are vegan or vegetarian, it looks like meat, but is so much better. But a warning you have to season it right, so it tastes good. If you don't it won't taste good at all. I recommend you seasoning it with some shoyu or paprika, and of course put some vegetables in it like tomatoes, corn and onions...It will taste delicious.

Second picture is a breakfast that I had a few weeks ago, but I have been repeating this "recipe" like 3-4 times a week. It is just a slice of whole wheat bread with some peanut butter and bananas on top. I like to put some raisins,cinammon and  some oats on it too. It just keeps you full and energetic all morning, and with some coffee it gets a 100 times better.

Third and final food is this simple sandwich. But I made a special patty from soy protein that it looks just like meat, but better. I will probably write a recipe post on this patty, because I have to share with people how good it is. So, I made the patty and put in the middle of two breads of course, and then filled it with vegetables. Very simple and a healthier option from normal burgers.

So I hope you all enjoyed this simple post and that you are having a great day. If you have any questions about veganism or vegetarianism you can leave them down bellow. Or if you have any tips for a beginner like me please please leave a comment, I'd love to read what you have to say .

Ana

Netflix Favorites Review | July & August

It is time for another Netflix Favorites of the month. Well, actually it is kind of two months in one favorites post.

So some of the movies I'm going to talk about today are probably going to be added to my favorite movies/series of all time list. I'm so glad I discovered these movies, some of them are very well know and popular, but there are two of them that I never heard anyone talk about ever.

So I hope you all like the post and let's get started, shall we?

1. Pulp Fiction 

This movie is quite popular, specially on the tumblr community. I've always seen a lot of images of this movie being rebloged and I thought about checking the movie out. So I went on Netflix to see if it was there and well it was. The movie has been in my Netflix List for about 2 months until I decided to watch it. 

I wasn't expecting the movie to be the way it was. It was kind of confusing at first, when I noticed that the movie had scenes that were in different orders. But, when I finished it I thought the movie was incredible. This method of making the movie kind of backwards made me like it alot better, I thought it was genius.

I can't tell exactly what the movie is about. Not becuase I'm afraid to spoil the film for you guys, but because I really don't know what the movie is about. I know that it is about these two hitmen, and there is a lot of action, guns and crimes. Well, it is not a very calm type of movie, you have to enjoy action movies I think, to really like it. 

And one more thing...Tim Roth appears in the movie. I was so happy to sse him act in another movie, I only saw him in Lie To Me. I love that show, I still feel sad that it was canceled in mid season.

2. Looper

This movie is a recent watch for me. I saw it last week and I loved it. Is really my type of movie. It deals with future, time traveling and technology. I kind of got the Inception and Interstellar feels from it. If you liked these two movies, you should totally watch Looper.

The main reason I watch this movie is kind of funny and ridiculous. It was because of the main actor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I don't know way, but I really like all his movies. Now that I think about it he's kind of my celebrity crush. I loved all the movies I've watched with him in it, so I figured that I would enjoy this one, too. And I was right.

You should totally see the movie if you like futuristic/ sci fi  and action movies or if you just have a crush of one of the actors, because that's totally fine, too. Almost forgot... Bruce Willis is in the movie. Another great reason you should watch it.

3. Don't Trust The B in Apartment 23

You have to watch this show. It is so funny and a very easy watch. I've always seen this show in the comedy section on Netflix, but I don't know why I never picked and watched it before. Now that I have, and I'm glad I did, I love it.

But I'm sad to tell you guys that the show was canceled three years ago, so there is only 2 seasons. I don't mind watching a show that was canceled, but if you have, like many of my friends, you don't need to watch it. And if you are one of those people that don't mind watching canceled series, you should check it out.

Well I had 3 main reasons I watched this show, first one being that I was looking for a girly / fashion type of movie set in NY. Second one, is that one of the main characters is Krysten Ritter. If you don't know she is, she actually is in one of my favorite movies of all time...Confessions of a Shopaholic.

And third reason being very simple, I was just looking for something light and funny to watch. I had just finished the second season of The Blacklist on Netflix so I needed just a simple series to take my focus away from the previous show. 

Well it is very awesome. It is about this girl that moves to NY and is looking for an apartment. So she finds one with a very nice room mate, but it turns out that the room mate is a total b*tch and is just trying to steal her money. 

The story line might not interest everyone, but you have to give it a try and watch the first episode. I promise you, you'll not stop watching the show until is over.

4. Psycho

I don't know if I have talked about this movie in other post before, I was very confused about that so I just decided to talked about again even if I had already. So sorry if I did write a post about it and you have to read another one again. You can just skip to the next review if you want to.

So this movie was incredible. I love movies that have this shady feel about it and specially if it is black and white. And the acting was so good. If you like old movies, that are black and white, and thrillers you should totaly watch this one... it is actually kind of a classic.

And if you like Bates Motel, you will definetly like this movie. Because Bates Motel was based on this movie, well actually more the character Norman. But they are very similar in many ways, but Psycho is a lot more scary. But be sure to watch it, if you enjoy the TV show, you won't regreat it...it is awesome.

5. Brick 

Well, again I watched a movie because of the actor. Yes, you got it right, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in this movie. But if you know me a little, you know that I would never put a movie on my favorites post review if I really did not like it. 

I really enjoyed this movie. It is kind of fast paced, but it not that type of movie that runs and it does not make sense. It actually develops quite nicely. The mystery is very good and it has a twist that you don't expect. 

The movie is about a high school guy that receives a call from his ex-girlfriend asking for help. He wants to help her, but them she turns up dead. And he is determined to find her killer and get revenge. But he knows that the suspects that are involved are popular high schoolers and drug dealers, so it is going to be a lot more challenging and dangerous than he thinks. 

It might be a simple and very common story line, but I promise you it is not. It is very good and if you have free time you should totaly check it out.

So I hope you all liked this post and that you are having a great week.

Thank you for 230 followers on Bloglovin',

Ana

Evidence Ballet Slippers | Review

I wanted to write this post on Sunday actually, but I was extremely busy with some school stuff, so I couldn't write a post for the last two days. Well, I don't know why I decided to write a post review about a ballet shoe, but I thought I should share the wonderfullness that is this pair of slippers. I'm not sponsered by them or anything like that, I just wanted to write a post that could help people who are interested in buying this brand's ballet shoes, so they can first know how well it works and the details of it before buying. Because I myself when I bought this pair last month, I searched on the internet to find some type of review on it or something, but I found nothing, so I thought...I'm just going to write my own then.

I bought the ballet shoes on an event that my city has every year that only envolves art and dance, and I even I talked about it on my last post. So there was this store called Evidence Ballet and well I went their and bought this pair of ballet slippers. The unique thing about them, the main reason that I wanted to purchase them, was the stretch material it has on almost the entire shoe.This stretch part is very soft, made with cotton, and it fits like a glove in your feet. It adapts perfectly to the feet. 

I thought at first that just because is not very popular to wear this type of shoe in ballet class, that it made them not very good shoes. Well I was wrong. They are perfect ballet shoes for beginners, because it so light and comfortable to wear and dance in. I don't know if for a professional or just for a more advanced dancer these would be perfect shoes, bacause this is a review from a beginners perspective , so I don't have a clue if is good for professional or advanced means.

Another thing that I love about them is how beautiful the arches look with them on. It accentuates the natural arch of the feet, partly because of the double straps of the shoes and partly because of the really adaptable stretch. And because of the stretch they are very practical to carry around, thery fold very easily and fit in this tiny little bag that came with them when I purchased. Another unique thing about them is the sole. You can see that they are pink and it has this pretty butterfly printed on it.

The only downside of them is that they get durty very easily. But if you think about, every ballet shoe does. But on the other hand it is very nice to wash, they clean very easily because of the cotton material.

My final say about this product is that I love it. I had a Capezio ballet slipper before this one and these ones, the Evidence Ballet ones, are 100% better than my old ones. The are a lot comfortable and way softer.

Now for the price...I paid for them about $20 reais ( Reais is the name of the money here in Brazil). A very good price for a pair of ballet shoes. The price in U.S dollars would be about $ 5.70, but I bought them on sale so I don't know if the price would be the same .

Hope you guys enjoyed this little review post. There will be coming on your way another post on Saturday, so be prepared. And I would like to thank you all for 212 followers on Bloglovin', that means so much to me, it makes me so happy and surprised at the same time, that people are interested on what I'm writing and my blog. So thank you.

Hope you all have a great week,

Ana

Birthday Haul

You probably already know, if you read my latests blog posts, that my birthday was last month and I turned 17. There wasn't a party or anything like that, because on the day of my birthday my grandfather wasn't feeling very well so we took him to the hospital. Thank God it was nothing, the doctor said that ir was just one of the side effects of one of the medications he takes.

 So the next day my mom and I decided to go out and celebrate my birthday. We went to this event that happens every year in my city. It is a two-week event that is all about dance and art. So there are a lot of dance presentations and dance attire that you can purchase. I needed to buy some new ballet clothes for this new semester, so I didn't see a better opportunity.

First thing I bought was a black 3/4 sleeve leotard. It is very nice quality and the fit is perfect, I love how the back is a lot more open. In my opinion leotards like these are so elegant. The next thing I purchased was light pink tights and a new pair of ballet slippers. I didn't inclued them here in this haul, because 1° the tights weren't that cute to take a picture of and 2° I'll be doing a review on my new ballet slippers after the first day of ballet class. So be prepared for a review on ballet shoes.

Next thing that I needed for ballet were skirts. I found these two beautiful skirts at the same store I bought my leotard. I just wanted some really bright skirts, so I chose a bright pink one and a flowered patterned yellow one. They are very comfortable. Last thing I purchased at the event were legwarmers. There was a sale happening in one of the stores, the deal was "3 pairs of legwarmers for 5 each", a pretty great deal here in Brazil. So I decided to buy some neutral pairs. My favorite one is the black one, it is just so soft.

Now for the book part. As I mentioned before, on my Paper Towns Movie Review, I would get this book as a birthday present from two of my best friends. So it happend. I'm very greatful for this book, after watching the movie I got very excited to read it. And this movie edition cover is just beautiful. And the second book in this haul I bought yesterday with some of the birthday money I got from my relatives. Confessions of a Shopaholic has been a book that I have been wanting to read for ages, bacause I love so much the movie. So I went to the book store and told myself that I was going to get this book. I don't no why, but I kept pushing it away. But this time I was determined. I was going to get the portuguese edition, but the american edition was a lot cheaper, so I think it was my lucky day. American books here in Brazil usually cost a lot more than the brazilian ones.

I hope you enjoyed this little post. Have a great week,

Ana

Vegan Journey | Week #1

Last year, I went to the nutricionist and I told her that I wanted to become vegan, but she immediately said no. It was something that I really wanted to do, meat just wasn't good for me, I felt awful after eating every meal that had meat inclueded. But my doctor said that it was better for me if I stucked with the diet I had, because I had already iron insufficiency and if I cut meat, it would become worse. So I decided to forget about becoming vegan and start a different lifestyle, to just focus on my healthy diet and gain the weight I lost because of my lactose intolereance  ( I lost 20 pounds by the way because of my intolerance, but now I'm better and recoverd 12 pounds).

A year past, and I never forgot about the vegan idea I had the year before. I got a lot healthier, got my pounds back and wasn't suffering with iron insufficiency any more. So I made the decision on the day of my birthday (last saturday), to become vegan. 

I will talk about the reasons I decided to start this vegan journey in another post, today I'm just going to talk about this one week experience, what did I do and what did I feel. Well, I decided to become a vegetarian/pescetarian first, so that I don't feel like I crave something. I think this is a easy way to reach the full picture, that is veganism. I actually didn't eat fish this week. I am eating only fresh fruits, vegetables, carbs , a lot of protein and other things of course. As I am lactose intolerant, I think it will be much easier not to eat the dairy products. So that is a step closer to becoming a vegan I think.

I've been feeling a lot better since last week, I don't get sick every time a eat lunch. I usually get very discomfortable after eating meat and I feel like the meat doesn't digest well in my stomach, and it feels like that until night time. And this week was a relived, a felt energetic and not hungry at all. A count my proteins, so that I don't miss them and get sick or something. And I cooked for myself this week. I love beeing in the kitchen with my mom, we usualy make lunch together, so this week we created some vegetarian dishes. I don't know how I am going to make food this week because my school starts tomorrow, and I usually am home by 12:30, the time we eat lunch here in Brazil. So I'm planning my meals for this week, so I don't bother my mom in doing my vegan meals.

This week was a week of research.I watched a lot of heartbreaking documentaries about animals and how meat is made. It was just awful, I cried while watching one of these documentaries. Is just so horrid how we know that this all happends and prefer not to think about it. And I watched I lot of youtube videos of other people talking about their journey and how they are healthier and happier than ever, after they became vegan.

This first week was great, I never felt this good before when eating. I feel like I'm doing something good for myself and my health,  for the animals and the environment. If the first week was this great, I imagine how the others are going to be. Even better I hope!

So I hope you all enjoyed this post. If you are vegan or pescetarian or vegetarian, comment down bellow your experience and when did you decided to start this journey.

Have a great week, 

Ana

Why I Read ?

Such a simple question, but sometimes people don't know the answer to it. I didn't know the answer to it until a few days ago, before I actually thought about it and wrote the reasons down on a piece of paper. The idea for this post came from a video on youtube that the title was the same as the title of this post. The video just made me think a lot about the subject and reflect about my motives and reasons that I, myself, read. 

Well, it might be a foolish thing to think about, and probably write about. There are so many things to think about and I am specifically thinking about why I read. Is something unusual to ponder on about, because is reading, everyone does it and anyone can do it. You don't need a reason.

I never thought I had a reason. I just read because I just like doing so. You might say " But Ana, that reason is very common, everybody reads for that reason, and it is not a very interesting blog post topic". Well, it isn't that interesting of a topic to read about, but I just feel writing what is in my mind, and well, this is. 

I read because I love the way it makes me feel. Cliché, I know. But it is true. I love the feeling of belonging that it gives, like I am a part of something bigger, another place, another world. Is like an escape, actually it IS an escape. You can go wherever you want, wherever you feel like to. And be whoever you want in this new place. You just have to pick a book from yourshelf and dive in to this new and fantastic world. 

Sometimes when I feel stressed out, I like to read a very high fantasy book, filled with magic and magical creatures, just so that I can escape far far away from this reality and world for a little bit.

I read because I like the way books feel. Having a book in your hands is just incredible.When I hold a book and open the pages is like I'm opening my on Narnia wardrobe and preparing myself to a new adventure a new identity. When you flip the page there is always that thing that happends in your stomach when you are enthusiatic, anxiety when in flipping the page and knowing what is going to happend.

I'm not going to lie, books make be feel intelligent and clever. I might sound arrogant, but I will promise I'm not. It is a good feeling, makes me feel more confident about myself, like I can make my dreams come true, like I can conquer what I want in life.

Books become your best friend. That's another reason I read. I have friends in real life of course, but in a book you can find a place and people who you can talk to without being judge and always being able to go back to it's company. It might seem crazy to people that don't feel this connection with a book to consider it your friend. Well, it might seem crazy, actually it is a little, but someone who reads knows what it feels.

I read because I like to disapper once in a while. You know that feeling that you have when you forget that you are reading a book and that it seems that you are in the story. You lose track of time and become engaged to the story, is like you forget that it is not real, that it is just a book. I love that feeling.

I read because I like to learn. I think that there is no better way of learning about something if not reading a book. I've learn so much throughout the years that I read that I think I could not even measure it. In a world that technology has overshadow the books, is hard to find someone who picks a book up to learn about a certain topic. Even I don't do that sometimes. 

I read because I like to understand people. I noticed that I became, after starting reading, a listener. I can understand people very easily without judging them. And I have to thank my books for that. I think when you read, specially when reading in the first person perspective, you learn alot about listening. You understand the characters, because is like you are in their heads, you know what they are thinking and what they are feeling. And in my experience with that in books, transpired in my personality and in real life.

 There is probably a lot other reasons that I read and why I love to do it. But that's all I could think of and write down. Feel free to share the reasons you read and why do you like it so much, down bellow, on the comment section. I hope you didn't think I was insane because of this post.

So have a great weekend,

Ana