It's been a while...

So much has happened since my last post. So many stories to write... Perhaps I should start soon...

Another great birthday party!

Last weekend my beautiful friend Bettina and I celebrated our joined birthday party. She turned 29 on the 29th of August and I turned 27 on the 2nd of September.

It was an amazing party! For few weeks people came to me to tell how much they were looking forward to my party and I that made me feel very excited and loved as well.

As per usual, every time I plan a party I get a bit stressed out during the day because I am a Virgo and I believe in perfection. Everything has to be perfect and has to go well. However, as soon as everybody started to show up I felt more relaxed and I really enjoyed it. To look around and see all my friends enjoying themselves and having a great time in my home, made my day, or should I say night?!

After the gathering in my beautiful house, we made our way to one of our favorite night clubs where we had a V.I.P. lounge reserved. The music was great and every where I went, I saw my invitees having a blast!

After few more hours drinking and dancing we went to another night club. It was amazing to watch people dancing and have a good time.

As for the presents, I got a lot of alcohol which I don't complain. However I don't get why people think I am an alcoholic.. (hahaha) and I also got a foot and scalp massage which I will be using it pretty soon. B gave me a key ring with a whale tale which she brought from her trip to New Zealand and a voucher to have a day at a spa plus a night out with martinis and dancing! I will be cashing that one very soon I suppose.

I think what I am really looking forward to is to take that evil girl underwater with some of our friends. It will be a fantastic day. We are going on a boat trip and have a couple of dives. It should be great! Perheaps we will even spot some sharks, although I think I am the only one looking forward to it!

With every passing year I enjoy my parties even more. I cannot wait to see what will happen next year.

For those of you that couldn't be there, here are some more great pictures.

See you soon!!

My SPRING view

Neguinho is gone!!

Today I woke up and made a decision of buying my scuba gear. It would have been the perfect day if after I finished work I'd saw my scooter parked where I left but it wasn't there anymore. Someone stole it and now I'm just sad. I cannot do anything about it but contact my insurance. However, my precisous first scooter is gone and even though I can get a brand new one, no one will replace the happy memories that I had on it...

It's a bitersweet day today!

I WANT IT AND I WANT IT NOW!!

Sometimes I feel like a child on the supermarket or toy store. I want it and I want it now! I think that we have stablished that I am extremely stuborn and when I put something in my mind it will stay there until I do it.

Diving was like that. For so many years I wanted to do the dive course and now that it is done I want more. I want to go all the way to at least - and I am saying the least - Dive Master. I want to master this sport and do it over and over again. When I meet people that have over 10.000 dives logged I feel jealous, I want to kick their asses but at the same time I want them as dive buddies. Crazy I know but that's just me. I am a geek - which I believe we have also stablished - and when I say that I'm a geek, it's not in the sense that I love to sit down and study for hours but it's in the sense that I want to learn more, to discover more to MASTER more things! It's all about the experience.

It took me about 6-8 weeks to decide which fins I should get and now that I've got it I'm going to my next step - by the BCD, regs and computer. I went to the 2 dive stores in town twice in less than 7 days so I could try them on, learn about it and make up my mind about which one I should get. I spent hours going through the costs and the catalogues to see which one was the best for me and my pocket and I finally came to a conclusion, I made my choice (and it only took me 1 week!!). Mind you that I wasn't going to buy anything before November but my birthday is on Sunday so I am very tempted to get it as my Birthday present. I don't have that kind of money laying around the house just waiting to be spent but I don't care, I WANT IT AND I WANT IT NOW!

Maybe I can go diving soon with my brand spanking new gear! It will be awesome!

Winter requires chimarrao

I know the winter is almost over in this part of the world and slow as I am, only today I had my first chimarrao of the year.

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, chimarrao is the typical drink amongst the gauchos. Ok, let's slow down a bit. Gauchos are people who live in the Pampas which is where the best meat of the world come from. This area is located in the south of Brazil, North of Argentina and Uruguay. Geography lessons a part, chimarrao is a green tea that you drink with a metallic straw and a cuica which is made with a dried and hollow fruit. If you have been to those parts of the world you would have seen people drinking it while waiting for the bus, while at the parks or even driving to go to work. Now you may ask - Why a girl that was brought up in Sao Paulo, a city that is 18 hrs drive away from the south is so concern about not have drunken it this winter when we had awfully cold weeks this year? The answer is simple. Because I'm too slow. I forgot that such a drink has ever existed even though that when I was in London, facing harsh weather I asked my dad to send the cuia and 2kg of the herb every winter.

Anyway, today I am having my first one this winter and I'm quiet proud of myself because I introduced chimarrao to a gaucha (girl from the south of Brazil!) and I think I can get her addicted to it!! ;-)

Cheers!!

Diving, diving and more diving!!

Ok, let's face it!! I get extremely annoying when I put an idea in my head. I'm very stubborn and I focus too much on things that shouldn't receive that much focus.

My lovely flatmates, Paula and Bettina had to hear about my idea of going SCUBA diving for 7 weeks until I did it and then another 3 weeks after (I firmily believe that I drove Paula insane and that's why she moved out!!). Aright, it was something that I wanted to do for 12 years of my life, mind you I'm only 26 so it's almost half of my life, but does anyone spend 4 weeks deciding between 2 wet suits or which fins should get or which colour of the mask would go better with the wetsuit and the fins that it hasn't been decided yet which to get? I get excited with these little things. I love the preparation, the enthusiasm of starting something new, the changes in life. I embrace it all!!

My next 'challenge' is to go shark diving!! I love sharks, I want to be a shark Biologist. Sharks are everywhere in my bedroom, I've got a tiger shark tattoo in my waist (Lélly) and I have a stuffed tigger shark called Johnny which by the way, my lovely friend B loves to bitch slap!! Poor B, she's already putting up with my insane ideas of scuba diving AGAIN!!!!

If I survive this shark dive, which is a birthday present to myself, I promise to put a photo and annoy you with the tale. In the mean time, I leave you with this photo of me swimming away from a Bull Shark!!