Cozy days

It's funny, when I was in Holland, every time the sun was shinning it gave me the warm feeling of Brazil... And now that I am back to Brazil, every time the clouds are there... I think about Holland...
How crazy?! Hahahahahaha!!!!

Well.. this morning it was a very cloudy day! Not like the song from Temptations, hahaha... But it does make me feel like getting a nice book, watching a great movie and enjoying the cold days.

Welcome again, Holland.. Ops, well.. Brazil... It feels funny
;-)

Pleasure is addicting...

Today I was thinking about the diets and life style we have and how we function.

Well, most of us love to go out for a nice dinner, or just to sit relaxed at home with a nice bucket of popcorn... Hummmmm... Food gives us pleasure, and it's comforting, specially right after a difficult day. Food works, in this case, like a gratification: you grant yourself a nice bonus after a day of hard work.. ;-)

But what does that entail? You work hard or study and go to gym (or do any type of physical activity) and then you think to yourself: "I deserve a nice piece of cake today..." or perhaps "I deserve some wine and cheese, well, why not some peanuts, nuts as well?" Why not...?

Obviously, you can't stick to only one single piece of that nice cake, you never stop on the first glass of wine (at least not on your best inspiring moments I suppose hahaha). The point is: Pleasure is addicting...

What could be the problem with this then? No problem at all! In life, we are supposed to enjoy the little things. In fact, you may indulge yourself once in a while with something you like. I am talking about food, but you can easily think about other kind of gratification, for instance, going to the mall, playing a game, doing something that gives you pleasure.

We are designed to feel pleasure. It's much easier to go do something you enjoy than to do something that gives you discomfort. If you could choose, you choose pleasure over pain. However, pain is part of life. You need to apply yourself for something bigger. You need to make an effort in order to get something in return. Nobody can only have pleasure and still have a purpose in life. We hear about some people who are considered the richest in the planet, when they live such idle lives, aimless without  a purpose, they may find themselves very bored and useless, because deep down, we, human beings, need discipline and targets in life. We need purpose.

Whenever we feel like eating something really special right after a nice productive week, we are actually telling ourselves: yes, you deserve this, you earned this. That is even another reason to look for. After accomplishing something, you give yourself the well deserved pleasure. Interesting huh? It's almost like a vicious circle. If you think about diet and life style... Well, each day you get one step further to your goal, without such heavy burdens... Unless you over indulge yourself... hahaha, well.. at least you have a new goal after that! 

Handwriting... Keep focused!

Here we are again, another month has passed and 2015 is now shorter than ever...

Remember when we were in school and we had the first days of classes, and our handwriting was perfect in the first page of our notepad...? Hahahahahahaha! I think we do the same with our goals and plans for the new year. We always start from the beginning with a strong motivation and sometimes that will last a few days or, for the lucky ones, more than a month...

But I didn't mean to be negative now.. I do believe we can change things around us and accomplish our goals. I just wanted to set a kind of reminder to myself, you know? This is just like a nice tap on the shoulder, like: "keep on, we are now in February... Keep on going... we have 11 months to go..." This is it. We can do it!

Well, here we go... Is my handwriting already changing...?! No... no... no! Time to focus!

Christmas, Christmas you have come again you pretty one!

After 2011 this is my first Christmas back in Brazil. When I was there I was always thinking about this time, and all the Christmas food and the panettones (I even had an experience of trying to find them in Rotterdam, lol) the rice with raisins, farofa, the turkey, ham... But besides all the food, I was also thinking about the warmth, not only the weather, but the people who bring warmth, the type of heat when you feel when you are really close by ;-)

It was very nice to see everybody again for Christmas. The hugging, kissing, laughing, eating and drinking together. I could remember that during the Christmas dinner in my family we are used to have a moment when we share a word from the Bible and we pray. At this moment, we try not to give in to the hunger but we get other type of food. This may seem a bit hard for some, but I confess I am really happy about this tradition. This seems to be another type of main course served. It makes me so happy.

After so many years celebrating Christmas in a different way, a moment such as this one when we stop to listen and to pray, is a fantastic thing. It's almost rare to find nowadays, and I think it's such a pity. In Brazil is not that rare, we can see this happening sometimes or at least people would not find it weird to see it happening and they might enjoy and find it amusing, even when they don't share the exact type of faith. We tend to respect and listen and know when to speak and when to be silent.

What a pleasant Christmas night. I am really proud of my family, even with all our mistakes and faults. If we remain in God we will grow as a family and we will learn to improve and become better. Once we abuse of love, truth, honesty, simplicity we can improve our unity even more.

I say, hurrah to the family! And to all the nice Christmas in the world, where we all learn that family is not only the ones blood related, but also the people who really care and respect and love us and are willing to go on next to us, living our lives!

Cheers! Let all Christmas come! Beautiful ones!

Natal, Natal, já chegou de novo, seu lindo!

Depois de 2011, esse foi o meu primeiro Natal de volta ao Brasil. Quando estava lá pensava tanto nessa época, em todas as comidas típicas natalinas, nos panettones (tenho até uma experiência de tentar encontrar panettones italianos em Roterdã que foi loucura, rsrs), arroz com passas, farofa, pernil, chester e lombos... Mas além das comidas, pensava também naquele calor, não só o calor do clima de um país tropical, mas no calor humano, aquele que a gente sente muita falta quando não está perto  ;-)

Como foi bom rever todos, dar abraços, beijos, comer e rir juntos. Poder ver que no Natal em família aqui, não nos esquecemos de dedicar um momento em que nós ouvimos a palavra de Deus, em um versículo ou história, e oração. Nessas horas abdicamos da nossa fome para nos concentrarmos em algo espiritual, e às vezes esse sacrifício pode ser difícil para alguns, mas sinceramente, gosto muito dessa tradição.

Depois de tantos anos celebrando o Natal de outra maneira, um momento desses de parar, ler a Palavra e orar, é algo muito rico; é como se fosse um banquete especial, além dos pratos natalinos. No nosso país temos essa liberdade, graças a Deus. Mesmo existindo algumas divergências de crença, percebemos que há um respeito, e há liberdade de expressar a fé.

Estar de volta nesse Natal foi muito bom. A oportunidade de ter minha avó aqui, tias e tio, primos e familiares. E olha, estou muito orgulhosa da família que tenho, mesmo com todos os defeitos, que nós mesmos reconhecemos, se permanecemos em Deus, aprendemos a nos relacionar e crescer em família. Se abusarmos do amor, da verdade, sinceridade e simplicidade podemos sim melhorar ainda mais a nossa união e fazer ainda outros Natais maravilhosos.

Viva a família! E Deus é bom demais! Natal de volta, que venham muitos Natais, e lindos!!

Hmmmmmmm eu vou levar esse...

Alguns tempos atrás aconteceu algo engraçado comigo..
Estava em um café, e olhando no cardápio estava na dúvida se pedia um ou outro bolo...
Quando ía pedir pra garçonete, falei... "Hummm... eu acho que vou levar esse... E apontei pro bolo que queria...".

Pra minha surpresa, quando ela chegou com os pedidos, ela trouxe o da pessoa que estava me acompanhando e o meu... só que o meu, ela trouxe em um saco de papel... Pra levar... :D
Hahahahahahahahaha!

Naquele momento eu pensei gente... como pode isso?!! HAHAHAHAHA!
Eu disse quero levar, e ela realmente me ouviu.. O fato é que, em inglês quando escolhemos algo, podemos dizer "I will take this one", ou em Holandês  "ik neem deze...". kkkkkkk

Acabei de perceber que realmente preciso me integrar em muitas coisas ainda.. até pra fazer um pedido.. me senti uma gringa brasileira!
Me aguardem... ainda vou surpreender vocês, viu?! Tô tão mal assim não.. kkkkkk

Coffee... my dear coffee

Coffee! Coffee...

Many years ago I started drinking coffee without sugar and I realized that actually, I didn't like coffee until then. Now, I just love it! Honestly, it tastes much better because you can smell just the coffee and taste the real thing... Hmmmmmm! I love it!

In Holland the senseo machine is very famous, but I don't really like it. It was always too weak for my taste. I prefer it the old fashioned way; if I am at home I will be just boiling water and using a filter, although some coffee machines like dulce gusto or nespresso also make decent coffee.

Yes, I do enjoy coffee the old fashioned way... Just like my great grandmother, my granny and my mom. The best!

In Brasília, you can also find delicious coffee at some nice cafe's, for instance, at Ernesto Cafe. They have several types of coffee and many are deliciously prepared with different toppings and blends. I became a fan, and have been going there sometimes. Let me give a short review: the place is cozy, nicely decorated, they provide good service and the coffee is fabulous!

They offer a special: "Ernesto café", made of a mix with vanilla ice cream, hazelnut liqueur and a board with nutella and grinded cashew nuts. It's irresistible! Sometimes I go there and try something new but many times I just prefer to go for it, again and again... It's addicting.

So, if you are ever in the neighborhood and are also quite a fan of coffee like myself, just go there and I am sure you will love it.

They provide also some nice cakes, muffins and other snacks and they are all served with good quality.