I'm alive!

Last post: August 5th. 5 months offline. Wow.

5 months reorganising my life and trying to crawl out of the whole in which I'd hidden myself in during this year's first semester. Nah, I don't want to linger on that subject.

Now, trying to sum up what I'd been doing during these past 5 months:

1. I got an internship at a Tax Law firm. My boss (or should I say former boss? Pay attention to #8) is super nice and so is everyone else that works there. Finally learned that it's possible to not hate myself for going to Law school because: there are nice people and nice things related to studying Law.

2. I worked at a sexual and gender diversity congress that my university organised. I met so many adorable folks!♥♥♥. 

3. I went to a Tax Law congress and when they were randomly picking people to win books they picked me! I had no idea there was such thing going on & it was the first time I'd ever been randomly picked for anything. So excited. EIUAHLSKDJFAIUAHFOI

4. I am now a translator for the Ian Somerhalder Foundation. (Hottest boss of the year??) 

5. I spent a weekend in São Paulo... to go to an American Academy of Dramatic Arts workshop & I also audition for it! Miracles do happen and...! YES!!! Does anyone want to give me 30k bucks to go study there? #givemescholarships

6. Got back to making almost everything with my bff Carol. We've been friends since we were 4, but life, this crazy thing, messed up our friendship-messing-around-plans for a quite long time until we both got into uni and now have more free time. "More" as in something that's bigger than zero (which is not saying a lot, and that's precisely what I mean). Te amo, Carol. ♥

7. I got accepted in a mandarim course thingy in Taiwan. I'm going to study/live at the National Taiwan Normal University, in Taipei, for a couple of months & I shall finally learn how to write in Mandarin. I can speak, but I'm almost 100% illiterate. That shall change. And since I'm going away to Taiwan, I had to quit my internship. 

Hopefully I won't spend another 5 months without updating! 

BOOKS: winter break.

Winter break's over and so are my moments of pure joy. 
(Winter break's during June/July for us)

Here's what I have to say after 2 months without the daily struggle of making my feet march until my university: no amount of time will ever be enough for me to mentally prepare myself to get back to yet another semester Law school. #depressedsofia

Anyways, lemme go straight to the point: here will be listed the books I read these past few weeks. 

The Penton Legacy Trilogy, by Susannah Sandlin - got them on Amazon, using Kindle Premium. It's about this war between the Vampire Tribunal against the residents of Penton, Alabama. Full of action, drama and sexy characters, it was a quite pleasant reading. However, I must add this: it's cheap writing. I don't know how exactly to explain that expression, but that's what kept popping up on my mind while I read the books. If it weren't for my insane lack of curiosity control, I'd probably not have finished reading the first book.

Stephen King's novels - Stephen King is one of my favourite authors. Until the end of the last semester, I'd read everything he'd written, but, due to uni entrance exams and whatnots, I lost track of his novels and hadn't read his latest releases - pictured above.

Divergent series, by Veronica Roth - Watched the movie, got curious, read the damn series, enjoyed it far better than I expected. I don't know how to rate it, so I'll just say that it's way better than Twilight, and somewhat as good as Hunger Games. Or as bad as. Same level. 

Lauren Weisberger novels - I read The Devil Wears Prada ages ago. Then, while going through Kindle Premium, I saw that there was a sequel to it - Revenge Wears Prada, which I missed because 2013 was my crazy senior year. I decided to re-read the first book so I could read the second (as if I didn't have a billion other never-read books awaiting me); read the second & got so caught up in her work that I also read Chasing Harry Winston and Last Night At Chateau Marmont. (I read Everyone Worth Knowing in 2007).

♥ Lauren Weisberger.

Have you ever read any of these books? Did you enjoy them? What have you been reading lately?

FILMS: Chick Flicks

Hi.

Today was one of those "I don't feel like moving an inch" kind of days. I've been having a lot of those lately, but today I gave myself completely to this feeling. I stayed in bed with my dog watching chick flicks on Netflix. I watched 3 of those, showered and started thinking. (And now here I am, hurray.)

I don't know how people that are in my social circles see me, but they just find themselves surprised whenever I mention that I watched this chick flick and it was so cool or something like that. Just because I talk about "weirdo" independent or old films or, I DON'T REALLY KNOW... Why do people look at me and see someone who would never enjoy a chick flick?

Sometimes, people just want to have fun. Sometimes I just want to watch a movie without super smart dialogues, heavily detailed scenery and a deep, philosophical plot. And, sometimes, it's not about what I don't want, but it's about what I want: feeling warm, happy, detaching from reality and falling straight to a obvious happily ever after story. Watching a romance and not thinking "My god, this never happens in real life", but "If people came up with this, then it's possible, right?" instead, and feeling O.K., not because my life's perfect or because nothing bothers me - but because there still are people out there who are romantics, who would act simply out of love. No second intentions. Nothing between the lines. Just love. 

Of course, it's so much easier when you keep telling yourself the contrary. Or maybe not even the contrary, but something in the lines of "These people exist, I'm just not going to meet any of them". You put up walls, avoiding any hurting, humiliation or embarrassment. But the thing is, are people really judging you so much? Because, let's face it, everyone goes through heartaches.

I really admire all these characters in books and in films that are very honest with themselves and everybody else when it comes to love. When they admit that they are confused, that they are wrong, that they have to break someone's heart to go after the one they love, that heartbreak isn't the end of the world and that there's no need for some twisted hide and seek when it comes to love - that's when I sink into love stories.

I think most people I know put up some sort of wall to not seem too naive, too innocent, to the world, because the world is cruel and blah blah blah (myself included). In chick flicks, there is no such thing. No matter how cliché the story may be, I like wasting a couple of hours every now and then to lose myself in a reality with little floating hearts, bffs, champagne, laughter, guys on their knees, tears of joy, sweet soundtrack and everything related.

Babbling aside, here are the chick flicks I've spent my precious time on today:

(I'd rate them all ★★★, although How do You Know was my favourite.)

Do you like chick flicks? What are your favourite ones? Have you watched any of these I just talked about?

TRAVEL: Somewhere amongst the mountains...

...is one of my favourite places in the whole wide world. I am obviously not a big connoisseur of the corners of the world, but Cipó (Serra do Cipó - Brazil) will always have a special place in my heart.

I've known Cipó since ever. One of my oldest memories is of my cousins and I playing in the mud, riding our bikes or swimming in the river. There's my great-grandpa's house, a huge piece of land, hiking tracks, my grandpa's house, trees, waterfalls, nature, beauty and peace.

I miss it very much, and going back there doesn't change this feeling. The place's still there, nothing has changed much physically, but it just doesn't feel the same anymore. Not without dad, not without my brother, not without innocence and childhood.

Do any of you have a special place like this? One in which you'd spend most of your childhood and brings back a ton of happy memories when you picture it?