I'm back! (And so is my mail...)

It's been about two months since I last updated this blog with my correspondence. And, guess what? I'm also very late on replying my letters.
During these months I've received lots of beautiful letters, plus amazing surprises which I wasn't expecting and that made my days a lot brighter, as snail mail always does. I didn't take photos of everything, so I'm sorry if I'm not posting your letter/card. But everyone who sent me something will for sure receive a reply - even if it's a late one!

Well, to the mail now!

Incoming

from Bahar, in Turkey

from PostMuse. This was a very sweet surprise, since I had no idea she was sending me something. Plus, it's an AWESOME card.

from Laura, in the U.S.

from Eugenia, in Kazakhstan

from Frida, in the Netherlands

a giveaway prize, from Caddi (thank you SO much!)

from Joana, in Portugal

from Felicia, in Canada

from Anna, in the U.S.

Outgoing

to Shannah, in the U.S.

to Teresa, in the U.S.

to Olive, also in the U.S.!

Last but not least, this letter is my contribution to the awesome Fumi No Hi Project, which is about sending letters to people who doesn't penpal, in order to spread mail love through the world. I sent it to my friend Kassia, who lives in Rio. We've been friends online for many years, but never met in person. I hope she'll like finding this on her mailbox.

to Kassia, in Rio

São Paulo - 459 years

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil. Its 11 million inhabitants are used to crowded places, to the everyday heavy traffic and to being always in a hurry. It's a cosmopolitan city, with lots of different cultures converging on a very urban scene.

If you have ever heard of São Paulo, this is probably what they told you about it - and I can surely tell you it's true. But there's more about this city than that. On the 459th anniversary of my homeplace, I had visited one of its 63 parks and decided to share some pictures with you.

by Bruno

by Bruno

by Bruno

I always say that I'm a very urban person and that I love to live on a big city. But it's always nice to take a rest on a green area, and that is also possible in São Paulo. So, this is my tribute post to my city on it's day (which was actually 2 days ago, but I'm still enjoying the holliday!).

Happy Birthday, São Paulo!

My reading list in 2012

Happy new year, everyone! I hope you all had great holidays! I sure had, mainly since I spent reveillon with friends and having lots of fun. I hope 2013 will be a great year for everyone and that we will be able to reach all of our goals.

For 2012, I didn't set a list of goals. But I did set a goal for reading: I planned to read 20 books, and at least 5 of them should be in English. Now I want to share with you all the list of the books I read, kind of in the order I did.

Please note: the first title I'll mention for the book is on the language I read it. If it's a translation, then the original title will follow in parenthesis.

Here is my list:

Books I read in 2012

Luka and some of the books of this list

1. O senhor dos anéis: o retorno do rei (Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), by J. R. R. Tolkien. Rate: 5/5

2. World War Z, by Max Brooks. Rate: 5/5

3. A agência nº 1 de mulheres detetives (The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency), by Alexander McCall Smith. Rate: 2/5

4. Eeee eee eeee, by Tao Lin. Rate: 4/5

5. Três sombras (Trois Ombres), by Cyril Pedrosa. Rate: 5/5

6. Eusébio Macário, by Camilo Castelo Branco. Rate: 1/5

7. O guia do mochileiro das galáxias (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), by Douglas Adams. Rate: 5/5

8. O restaurante no fim do universo (The Restaurant at the End of the Universe), by Douglas Adams. Rate: 4/5

9. How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell. Rate: 5/5

10. Desesperados (Desesperate Characters), by Paula Fox. Rate: 1/5

11. Persépolis (Persepolis), by Marjane Satrapi. Rate: 4/5

12. A vida, o universo e tudo mais (Life, the Universe and Everything), by Douglas Adams. Rate: 5/5

13. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. Rate: 3/5

14. Tia Júlia e o escrevinhador (La tia Julia y el escribidor), by Mario Vargas Llosa. Rate: 5/5

15. Dexter: a mão esquerda de Deus (Darkly Dreaming Dexter), by Jeff Lindsay. Rate: 3/5

16. Até mais, e obrigado pelos peixes! (So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish), by Douglas Adams. Rate: 4/5

17. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky. Rate: 4/5

18. The Casual Vacancy, by J. K. Rowling. Rate: 5/5

19. Looking For Alaska. Rate: 4/5

Reading Looking for Alaska on my tablet, during the reveillon trip

So, as you see, I didn't reach my mark of 20 books, but 7 out of 19 books were in English, so I'm proud enough. For 2013 I'll keep the mark of reading 20 books, and at least 7 of them must be in English. Wish me luck with that!

Did you read any of the books on my list? Although I didn't write a review for any of them, I'm always willing to debate and comment everything I read. So, please comment if you have an opinion on these books! :)

Christmas cards

Merry Christmas everyone! How are you all enjoying today? I'm just home with my family and boyfriend, and it feels great.
Last month I felt like a Christmas card machine. I sent out almost 30 cards, and yet couldn't do my entire list. Lots of beautiful cards from my friends also filled my maildays, and I'm thankful for that.
Let's take a look!

Incoming Cards

from Sarah, in Belgium

from Mariselle, in the Netherlands

from Teresa, in the USA

from Emma, in England

also from Emma

from Kerri, in Australia

from Amit, in India

Outgoing Cards

Merry Christmas everyone!

December Mail

It's been a long time since I last posted my letters, right? So, I will cut straight to them:

Incoming

from Emma, in England

from Amit, in India

from Kerri, in Australia

from a postcrosser in Russia

beautiful Diwali card from Amit, in India

from Sarah, in Belgium

Outgoing

to Leticia, in Petrópolis, Brazil

to Felicia, in Canada

Yeah, Christmas cards took me so long that I'm way behind on my letters. I better keep writing!

DIY: Decorative Christmas Cards Ribbon

This is an idea I had while watching a series. On the background, I saw several Christmas cards hanging from a ribbon and I found that a great idea. You can display the cards your friends sent you and also decorate your house for hollidays!

You will need:
- a beautiful ribbon;
- double-sided adhesive tape;
- some rivets or nails;
- Christmas cards.

1. Choose a place to put your ribbon. I picked a wooden column we have on the living room, but you can choose a wall or maybe a door. Then, fix the top of your ribbon on it using the rivets or nails. The lenght of your ribbon may vary. Mine took the whole column's lenght. If you have cats, you may want to fix the bottom of the ribbon, to avoid them playing with it.

2. Apply double-sided tape to the back of your cards. I put my tapes unaligned because I wanted to dispose the cards diagonally.

3. Fix the cards to the ribbon. Be careful on measuring the distance between the cards, so that you'll have enough space for them all.

4. Enjoy your neatly decorated room!

I hope you like this tutorial and I'm sorry for the lame pics. Someday I'll take my boyfriend's Nikon to have some decent photos to the blog.