Postcard Thursday #2

This Thursday's Postcard is related to my history. My grandparents were immigrants in Brazil, coming from a northern small village in Portugal named Bragança. I'd always heard stories from my grandma, of how she (between her 14 siblings) was in charge of looking after the sheeps, and how she used to sleep on the grass while doing it. Also, she told stories about her family, their trips (by walking!) to Spain and many other memories.

Two years ago I became a member of Postcrossing and decided to look for a postcard from this place, that is my origin. And I found a nice guy who was available for a swap. Here are the postcards he sent me:

He said that he likes to lay on the grass after lunch, for a nap, just like my grandmother did. I showed her this postcard, but I'm not sure if she could recognize her homeplace, after so many years.

It is very interesting to get to know about my origins. I hope someday I'll get to visit this place.
Does anyone else have a foreign parentage?

Alien Post Officers

This is a short pause on a week filled with studies, just to share with you guys my favorite MIB scene.

I love this scene, what about you? Have you ever felt like that little girl wanting to buy Rugrats stamps?

And here's the quote that summarizes all of my problems with the post service:

"Just about everybody that works in the post offices is an alien."



Back to studies now. I hope you're all having a great week!

Finally more mail!

When the postman comes to my house, I'm usually at work. So, my parents or my sister take my letters and put them somewhere I can easily see them when I get home (I usually enter the house eagerly asking "WHERE'S MY MAIL?").
This week, I found out my family have been doing some kind of a race - the first one to reach the recently delivered mail can be the lucky first one to view the beautiful envelopes I get.
This information was funny to me, as I never knew that my family was just as amused as I am with mail art. Isn't that nice? I wonder how many people smiled to these envelopes from the moment they were sent until they reach me.

Incoming

My first incoming for this week was my stationery purchase from La Papierre (check out Julie's blog, by the way). I bought a grab bag of letter papers and some mail tags, and, as part of a special offer, I got 8 extra surprise items. So, I had no idea of what I was going to find on this envelope. So exciting!

Look at this gorgeous moose stamp!

These are the beautiful stationery that came on my grab bag, plus my mail tags.

And these are the bonus items I received.

Everything is so beautiful, right?
Plus, I also got two letters from my dear penpals!

A letter from Felicia, in Canada.

A first letter from Sarah, in Belgium.

Outgoing

A letter to Frida, in The Netherlands, and some postcards.

Now, I have some work to do catching up with all my replies. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Top List Tuesday #1

Hello everyone!

Today I'll start another special series of posts. Every two weeks, on tuesday, I'll post a list. A random list, about anything, any list I'm inspired to write. I'll try to make it interesting, from the beginning.
So, every week you'll have a special post from me: on one week, it will be the Postcard Thursday, and, on the following week, the Top List Tuesday.
I hope you like it and I would apreciate to hear your opinion on that. :)

Let's start the very first one...

Top 5 video games from my childhood

I know, I know, it's a quite specific list. But I do enjoy some vintage games, mainly these ones from the 90s or 80s, which represent my childhood. I'm posting it to share this with you and, if you like video games as well, maybe you can check these titles out!

1. Twinsen's Odyssey

This is possibly my favorite game ever, and it's not quite popular, as I've never met more than 5 people who played it too. It is an adventure game for PC, on which Twinsen has the mission to save his planet from some mysteryous aliens. It is not an action game, but it's quite hard some times, and the story is very interesting and complex. Also, there are some tricky parts which require a little more from your brain.
Twinsen's Odyssey is actually part 2 of another game named Little Big Adventure, but the story is new and independent. Here is the intro video of the game (the graphics on the video are better than in the gameplay, as usual).

2. Pokémon Red and Blue

As a child born in the very beginning of the 90's, I had been part of the so called "Pokémon fever". Every single child was addicted to Pokémon-related stuff, and I was specially into it. (I wonder if someone reading this is also missing that time.) I hadn't had a Nintendo Game Boy until I was 17, but I sure had a great time playing Pokémon Red/Blue on my friend's devices or on PC emulators. I'm currently replaying the Blue version on my Game Boy Color and adoring it, as always. Did you also have fun with these games?

3. Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse

Here's one of those old platform games with a repetitious music that would annoy your parents when you play all day long. During my whole childhood, my sister and I had a Sega's Master System III (actually we still have and use it!), and Land of Illusion was one of our favorite games. It was starred by Mickey, who one day fell asleep reading a book and woke up to found himself inside the book's world, and having to rescue all his friends in there.

4. The Simpsons Arcade Game

When I was a child, some friends of mine had their birthday parties on these arcade games, and my favorite game to play during these parties was The Simpsons! It was a long game for sure, and quite hard to do it until the end (I only did it because, during these parties, we had free credits!). It had a cool Simpsons story and it was very fun to combine characters' attacks to make combos. The following trailer is new because the game have been recently relaunched on PSN.

5. Super Bomberman 3

It's hard to me to choose a favorite Snes game. I had this CD-ROM with a hundred of them for PC, and I played it a lot... but I can say Bomberman was special and really entertaining, and this was my favorite version of it. I always liked to play the story version, and with some friend - otherwise, it was almost impossible to get through all the 5 worlds! If you have never tried Bomberman, I highly recommend this one!

So, this is it. Do you also have some special video games from your childhood?
Game players, please comment here. I would love to know other players that may be reading this. :)

The Liebster Blog Award

My dear penpal Felicia gave me the Liebster Blog award. =D Thanks, Fe!
I love to answer these forms, although I'm always quite indecisive about my replies (yes, I take things way too serious).
Anyway, let's have fun with this. :)

The Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have 200 followers or less.

The word 'Liebster' is German and it means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

Here are the rules:

1. Each person must post 11 random facts about themselves
2. Answer 11 questions the tagger has given you and give 11 questions for the people you tagged
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post
4. Tell them you've tagged them. Remember, no tag backs!

11 Facts about Me

1. I eat sugar, and I love it.

2. I am a Harry Potter fan and, during about 7 years of my life, I have frequented lots of conventions and even promoted some. 

3. I love brown eyes, and I wouldn't change the color of mine if I could.

4. When I was a child, I was afraid of a monster under my bed that was a horrible hand, which could pull me for the depths under it.

5. I never sleep by day, because it feels like a waste of time to me. Nothing makes me feel worse than falling asleep during daytime and waking up when it's already dark.

6. I can't ride a bike.

7. My favorite color is pink, and I tend to choose my candies by their colors.

8. I love funny and colorful socks.

9. Rainy days make me feel happy.

10. I gesture too much while talking (this fact was pointed by my boyfriend).

11. I believe in happy endings. And in aliens.

My answers to Felicia's questions

1. What are your thoughts on superhero movies? Do you have a favourite superhero?

I love superhero movies. I only wish I had readed any of the comics, so that I would know them other than from the movies... It's hard to pick a favorite, and I'm sure this is quite polemic, but I'll say Superman, just because he's super iconic to me.

2. What kind of landscape would your dream house be in? (beach, forest, mountain, etc.) 

I love big cities, and the ocean, so, if I could combine both, I would be happy.

3. What is currently on your nightstand?

Two My Little Pony dolls, some plushes, a Volkswagen Beetle-shaped lamp, a picture of me when I was a baby, a box of Kleenex, my regular medicines and some books I am supposed to read for my thesis.

4. Were you a good kid in school, or were you the kid in detention?

I was the annoyingly good kid, that always made her homework and studied too hard. The only problem teachers had ever faced to me is that I did (and still do) talk too much.

5. What dish would you never want to try?

Cockroaches or something like that. I'm pretty open to new food, I think almost everything is worth a try.

 6. Do you have any hobbies or interests that most people don't know you have?

I'm quite open about my hobbies and tend to talk about them a lot. Maybe most people don't know that I collect different designs of Pepsi cans and bottles, and other Pepsi-related items. 

7. If you were stuck in an elevator with 3 celebrities, who would you want them to be, and why?

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. Because they are part of my love for HP, and I would be happy to get to know them, even if just for one moment. If I could include one random celebrity, I would choose Elton John, because he's one of the few living musicists that I worship.

8. Why did you start blogging?

I started reading a few interesting blogs about penpalling, and that made me feel like making a new blog for me. I always loved writting and had lots of blogs before this one, but I abandoned all of them after some time.

 9. What is your favourite sport to watch in the Olympics?

I don't watch sports, so, none.

10. Did you go/are you currently in post-secondary education? What did you study?

Yes! I'm trying to finish my major in Editing/Publishing.

11. If you could go back in time, which era would you visit and why?

Does it have to be an era? I would love to visit the 50's, because I love the music, clothing and lifestyle from that time. Being back to Medieval Era could be equally interesting!

My questions

1. Which was the last good book you've readed?

2. What's your favorite season?

3. If your house was in fire and you had to live it, which non-living thing would you try to save?

4. Do you have any collection?

5. Which is your favorite Pokémon (if you have one)?

6. What inspires you?

7. What is your favorite dish for breakfast?

8. Do you have pets? How many and what's their names?

9. If you could choose any country to live, which one would you choose, and why?

10.What's your ringtone?

11. What's your opinion about lizards?

Okay, this was really fun.

And now, the hardest part, these are the blogs I'm tagging: Fab, Anna, Michi, Alex, Shannah, Weims319.

I'm sorry that I can't link 11 blogs. I'm quite new on blogging and I don't read many blogs yet (also, many of the ones I do read already have this prize). So, I was honest and selected some of my favorites, instead of only looking around for 11 random blogs.

By the way, if I'm not following/reading your blog yet, let me know, I'm eager to get to know new interesting blogs. :)

Two weeks on my mailbox

I haven't done my post about mail last week, so, here I am with the sent and received since then. :)

Incoming

A letter from my friend Frida, in Norway. Reached me in only 5 days. Cheers to Norwegian post!

A beautiful postcard from Augusta, Maine, sent by Alex. Thank you Alex! Behind it, you see the envelope PostMuse sent me to take part on her project.

Eltz Castle, in Germany, from my new penpal Anna. And a postcrosser from Taiwan sent me this "Prince Street" because of my name, Bárbara Prince. :)

Outgoing

Letters to my penpals Alex, in Canada, and Emma, in Taiwan

For some reason, I haven't pictured the postcards I sent so far. Well, no spoilers for the ones who will receive them, right? I still haven't sent all the postcards I promised for my giveaway, but I will!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Postcard Thursday #1

Hey there!
As you may infer from the title above, I'm about to start a series of regular themed posts. It will be named Postcard Thursday and, spoiler alert, it's about postcards. Actually, about my collection of postcards. Every two weeks, on thursday, I'll show you all one or two of my cards and tell you something about it. :)
The reason why it will happen only every two weeks is that I'm planning another theme for the other weeks. Wait for it!

As a special start, I'll show you my collection of Pixar postcards!

Some of you may have seen these cards already, at Postcrossing or at some blog. But you have no idea of how rare this kind of thing is, here in Brazil. I found this awesome box at a geek bookstore and was like ~I MUST HAVE IT.
(to make a more dramatic effect, you can imagine that it's very rare to me to by gifts to myself)

The postcards have images from some Pixar movies like Toy Story (1 and 2), A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, Cars, Finding Nemo, ... and also from those lovely Pixar short movies.
I could have selected my favorites to show you here, but that would take a lifetime, as everytime I open that box, I discover something special about some of the cards. Instead, I selected some random cards. My picture show some storyarts, as well as Andy's drawing of his toys and a true postcard from Radiator Springs.

As a complement to my collection, I asked my good friend Teresa, in the States (thank you dear!), to send me some Pixar stamps. Now I keep them together as a Pixar postal stuff collection. And I love it.

Do you also love Pixar movies? Which one is your favorite?


Oh, and please tell me if you like my idea of Postcard Thursdays. :) Happy thursday everyone!

Penny, the bookcrosser

Hello there!
Have you ever heard of Bookcrossing? It's a very interesting way to share books with other people, consisting in basically three steps: you read a book, label it and leave it on a public place for another person to find it. It's a good idea to give your old books a good use, and also to share their stories with the world.
I had tried it this weekend, and found it a nice experience. Here it is, in three steps:

1. You read a book

I must admit I'm not very fond of giving my things away, mainly when it comes to books.
But I had this series, and readed only the first book. I didn't like it much, it was a nice story, but definitely not my style. So, I wasn't going to read the next two.
Wasn't it unfair to keep three books, one of which I don't like, and two that I would never read?
I thought it was. So, after realizing that the books wouldn't match any of my friends' taste, I decided to try bookcrossing.

"Nº1 Ladies Detective Agency" series

2. You label it

In order to track "your" (it's not yours anymore) book, you can register it at Bookcrossing.com. Then they will give you a code to write on the book, using a label with instructions, so that the next person who finds it, and the person after that, can put the code in the site and tell you what they think of the book.
In Brazil, it is a particularly complicated process. There are a few "Bookcrossing spots" around my city, and I was suposed to live my books at one of these places, where people who know bookcrossing would leave/look for books. I didn't like that idea. I wanted my books to be found by someone who wasn't expecting it, someone who maybe wasn't even looking for any culture on that day.
So, I didn't register them. Instead, I just wrote a note telling whoever founds the books to enjoy it and to please leave them to someone else after reading.

The outside part of my note says "Found these books? Take them!"

3. You free it!

Finding a place was hard. I wanted the books to be safe, and at the same time wanted them to be seen by enough people, so that they could find their destiny.
I ended up choosing the subway on a saturday afternoon, when people are probably going out to meet friends or else, and not on a hurry to work.

The last sight I had of them.

It was quite hard to leave them there. Not having registered it, I would never get to know who found them and what happened next. I wish I could hide somewhere close to watch until they were found, but I couldn't. So, I only left them behind, hoping they would follow a good path. I don't know if someone is reading them right now, or if they were sold to a second hand bookstore. All I know is that it is a good feeling to leave this mistery and some good energies for some stranger.

It was a really nice experience. Would you try that too?

Our lucky winner

Here I am on a saturday night, waiting while my adorable boyfriend sets up my new computer (no more of this annoying slow machine that won't even allow me to skype my friends...).
SO, before I get distracte with all the amazing games I'll soon install (to the Elder Scrolls V!), I'll anounce the winner of my stationery giveaway!

I had just asked Bruno (aka boyfriend) to pick a random number for me and, from this number, I got the winner, which is...


R.!


Yes, this person with a misterious nickname won my giveaway! Congratulations. =D


But, wait! Don't go!
As I am very happy because people are actually starting to read and visit my blog, I want to thank everyone who took part on this giveaway: all of you guys will get a postcard from me. Yay! \o/

Well, soon I'll contact everyone to get your adresses... Thanks again and keep reading. :)

Now I'll go check that computer.

Weekly low mail

Hey everyone!
This week was particularly slow when it comes to mail - I sent just a few, and received nothing! It's probably better that way, once I'm about to get very busy with my thesis for university.

Before my outgoing pics (I mean, pic), I would like to remember you all about my giveaway. I'd picked the stationery and other stuff during the week and even prepared the envelope already. I'm just curious to know whose adress I'm going to write on it!

just a sneak peak at the little prize!

Outgoing

A letter to Shannah

The note to the postman was suggested by her. Isn't it a nice idea? Have you ever left a note for your penpal's postman?

I also sent a postcard to Alex, but I don't want to spoil it for her. :)