Tuesday 31 December 2013

Hello Annie in 2013

This year will be remembered as the year 'Hello Annie' was created. It all started after finding out Zoella and Sprinkle of Glitter's blog pages, I instantly fell in love. I have enjoyed writing ever since I was a little girl and I found this a nice way to pour out all my feelings, thoughts and, lets be honest, random pictures in just one place. University and, sometimes, lack of imagination haven't allowed me to write more posts but I try my best to write, at the very least, one post a month *cough*October*cough*

In 2014 I'm going to try to post more often and take more photos to share with you. I don't have that many followers, I don't think, but I like to write, even if most of the time it's for myself (I sound so forever alone).

Hoping for a better year filled with happiness, health and love. Obviously I wish you all the same!

Until next year! x

(Source)

Wednesday 25 December 2013

Merry Christmas!

After all the sweets and the delicious turkey, I'm taking some of my free time to wish you all a (late) Merry Christmas! (better late than never, right?) Hope you had a lovely time amongst the ones you love and that Santa brought you everything you asked for.

My Christmas was really relaxing; I spent it with my family, like I always do, and with our new member, Pantera. It was his first Christmas with us and he seemed rather confused as to what was happening.
(What are you doing, humans?)
I will leave you with a photo that I took of one of my little brother's presents.
Ho ho ho! x

Monday 23 December 2013

First Semester in University...

... is done, yay!

It finished last Thursday (19th) because I don't have classes on Fridays. Even though I still have tests in January and despite not knowing if I passed all of my subjects, I feel really accomplished to have finished the first semester. I tried to give it my all and I'm ready to sit back and relax until the next semester which starts in February with new subjects and new colleagues to meet. Except... I have two works to finish and two tests to study for the beginning of January (8th and 9th).

Nevertheless, I'm going to try to combine work with pleasure; I can't spend all of my Christmas and New Year's holidays studying!

If you too entered uni this year, I hope you had a lovely time and hopefully you aren't as full with work as I am. Happy holidays! x

Saturday 30 November 2013

November Favourites | 2013 ❤

November was so busyyy, I need a break! Unfortunately the only break I'm going to have is going to be spent studying for my future exams, boohoo.

Amidst all the books, essays and exams, I met Carolina Torres. Who? Oh, just the funniest and nicest girl ever.
(Carolina (L) and me (R))
She participated in 'Ídolos' back in 2009 (a Portuguese reality show based on the British show 'Pop Idol'), she was a presenter in 'Curto Circuito' (Portuguese talk show) and now she's part of a rock/punk rock band, THE GIRL IN THE BLACK BIKINI.
She went to my university to play with her band (or part of it) in order to support the E list (candidate to the student association and the one that ended up winning, obviously). I was really happy to meet her and blown away by how nice she is! She asked me what I was studying there and I told her I was taking Language, Literature and Culture or, more specifically, English and North-American Studies. She told me she would have liked to have taken that course which, of course, made me smile.

The last favourite of this month is also related to my university. Our grades go from 0 (awful) to 20 (excellent) and I managed to score a 19 on my English essay!
I was honestly surprised, I wasn't expecting to have such a high score - yay me! (hopefully more will follow).

Songs I had on replay:

December up next, happy Saturday! x

Thursday 21 November 2013

Portugal vs. Pepsi

If you don't pay attention to football, you probably don't know that Portugal played against Sweden last Friday (15th) and this Tuesday (19th). Portugal won 1-0 on the first match and 2-3 on the second thus qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil.

All of the goals were scored by Cristiano Ronaldo and even I, being a girl and knowing very little about football, thought the goals were amazing and a slap in the face to those who critisice him.


And by those who critisice him, I'm refering to Pepsi. They had the unfortunate idea to post shocking images of a doll representing Ronaldo tied up in a train rail, another with needles stuck to him like you do in voodoo and a last one with a Pepsi can smashing his head. All that just to attract the Swedish customers. I would post the images but I don't really want them on my blog; you can search for them if you want to, I'm sure you will easily find them.

This obviously infuriated the Portuguese people who have been saying that they will never drink Pepsi again and that Coca-Cola is much better. They too edited some images to fight back the ones from Pepsi but once again, I won't post that.

Our national airline (TAP - Transportes Aéreos Portugueses) has even been considering removing Pepsi from their services and keep Coca-Cola instead!
(Source)
In my opinion, this has been blown out of proportion. Pepsi screwed up, it was an awful idea, Ronaldo owned the game and Pepsi apologised and removed the images. They shouldn't have even thought of doing such a thing in the first place but they did and unfortunately it was necessary for us to prove them wrong in order for them to realise what they had done.

The company has apologised and people keep bringing it up and beating them up for it. Enough is enough, I say. I agree that they shouldn't have done that and I'm solidary with the ones who rioted against but it's time to let it go. I'm sure Ronaldo will prove what he's made of once again during the World Cup.

Amongst all the drama, there's always the humourous side of it. A Portuguese humourist called Pepsi to let them know he's angry and that "Ronaldo is the best"! He sometimes speaks Portuguese but the call is in English so you will understand everything (his accent is obviously fake, he's portraying one of his many characters).


Peace and love!
Happy Thursday x

Thursday 7 November 2013

I, Nadia, Wife of a Terrorist - Review

The last review I wrote was in September about Dewey's Nine Lives. The family friend that I talked about in the previous review also lent me this book which I'm highly thankful for.
(Ahh, Portuguese words!)
It tells the story of a real girl, Nadia (fictional name), who lives in Algeria and found herself in the middle of the Islamist terrorists and the authorities after marrying a local hooligan who later became an emir for GIA (Armed Islamic Group of Algeria). She agreed to tell her story to Baya Gacemi aslong as all the names of people/places were changed in order to protect the ones she loves.

You will read about her sufferings and how she was reduced to a slave by a terrorist group always on the run. She had to cook for them and give them shelter but she was forbidden to talk to them. Her husband obliged her to always use her khimar (headscarf that hangs down to just above the waist) and to say her prayers every day. She was also prohibited to bathe.

The stories she tells can sometimes be shocking but it gives you the real perspective of what's actually happening there (rape, murder, injustice). It's a good and easy read, I recommend it.

Happy Thursday! x

Friday 1 November 2013

October Favourites | 2013 ❤

This month I was overwhelmed with essays and tests so I didn't have much time to sit down and type a new post. I'm afraid this won't change much in the next months so bare with me.

At the beginning and end of this month my family celebrated two birthdays: my mother's (6th) and mine (28th). She opted to invite her closest friends over and have a mini-party for her birthday while I decided to go out to dinner. You can read more about my birthday HERE.
Another good thing this month was one of my best friends moving in with her boyfriend! They found a cozy little flat which is 5/10 minutes away from my house. They invited me and the rest of our friends over for lunch after they settled in and we had the best of times.
(My friend's dog, Sissy)
(Chocolate with cream crêpe)
Songs I had on replay:

Thursday 31 October 2013

19th Birthday!

Eep, first post this month, ouch! Busy, busy, busy.

Sooo, it was my 19th birthday this Monday, the 28th! It was one of my best birthdays so far, I loved everything and I'm going to tell you all about it! Read on.

I decided to go to uni instead of staying home because my parents had stuff to do and my friends were too busy in their polytechnic institutes so I would be left all alone the majority of the day and that's no fun.
My classes always start at 10am and finish at 4pm so most of the days I take lunch with me instead of spending money there, it's more economic. My lunch that day was lasagna, my favourite! And as for dessert, I had chocolate pudding with cream, also my favourite! Nomnom.
When I got there, everything was normal because no one knew it was my birthday and I always find it stupid to just blunty tell it to everyone I talk to. But then my friends arrived and they basically told the whole world about it, haha. They sang happy birthday at least 6 times and they made me laugh so much that my cheeks started to hurt. They also bought a muffin as a pretend cake and put a candle on it, I thought that only happened in movies.

When I got back home in the afternoon, I only had time for a touch up and a quick check-in online as my best friends appeared shortly afterwards for our dinner. They all brought lovely presents with them which I might make a few posts about here.

We went out to dinner to a place called 'Duarte dos Frangos' which probably has the best roasted chicken in our city. The employees were really nice and understanding, they even wished me a happy birthday. They didn't mind me taking my birthday cake with me so after dinner my friends and family sang happy birthday (once again) and I blew the candles.
The cake was baked by my wonderful mother and it tasted as good as it looks. Chocolate cake with cream and strawberries, yes please!

After dinner we went for a walk but it didn't last long because we all had work/school the following day.

I think it was my favourite birthday because I was surrounded by love everywhere and it was the first time celebrating my birthday in university.

I hope your Monday was just as good!

Happy Thursday! x

Sunday 29 September 2013

September Favourites | 2013 ❤

September, the first month of fall and classes and the last one of summer and holidays.

This month started a whole new chapter for me: university.
The sunset on my way home from university.
I took a year off in between high school and uni and this year I was prepared for everything and anything. Although taking one year off was one of the best decisions I have ever made, it was also one of the most risky. Having my friends studying or working, I usually caught myself depressing over silly things because, well, I had nothing else to do. Ever since joining uni, I have been the happiest girl ever.

University has a different vibe to high school. You are there because you want to, nobody is forcing you to be there. Tired of listening to your teacher? Pack your things and go. You're late? Just sneak in and take a seat. Tired of being judged? Forget that, you will find the nicest people in university (talking about personal experience, I'm sorry if your uni isn't like that!).

In Portugal, we have this thing called 'praxe' (a tradition) which is a set of initiation rituals freshmen have to go through to lose their social inhibitions and easily intrigate into university. You aren't obliged to attend them and that's good because in some universities the veterans (students from the 2nd year or higher) are really rude to you.

I used to be against 'praxe' because I had heard they made you do horrible things but my university made me change my mind. The veterans were super nice to us and were always concerned, making sure we were ok. We played games, had a laugh and socialized. I'm glad I decided to attend it!

Besides university, the other thing I have been in love with are my new black jeans! I bought them early in the month and I have been styling them with everything.
They have a snakeskin effect, it feels so good to touch them! (weirdo)

Songs I had on replay:

And that's everything for this month! I have high expectations for October, it's my birthday on the 28th, yey!!

Happy sunday! x

Monday 23 September 2013

Weekend & YouTube

Hey, do you still remember me?! Lately I have either been super busy with university or out with friends, having no time left to update my blog (boohoo!). But I'm here now and I will try to be here every time I can - I kind of miss it here!

Being the good friend I am, this past weekend I went out to see one of my best friends perform with her tuna downtown. She asked me to take photos and, if possible, film one or two performances.

As you may or may not know (probably not), I love snapping photos and filming everything (I even acquired Movie Maker last month just to toy around with some videos) so I was already planning on recording everything even if she wanted to or not, mwuahah!

This leads us to YouTube. I asked her if she wanted me to upload one of her performances to YouTube and she happily nodded. I quickly created a new account which you can subscribe to if you want to, you're not obliged but it would make me really happy! The channel's name is Hello Annie (duh).

I'm still not sure what I'll upload there, maybe just whatever I feel like until I decide on something. So if you are into random, personal stuff, welcome to my channel!

Anyway, here's the video of my friend and her tuna singing 'Menina Caloira'. Their tuna's name is 'Hatuna Matata' (see what they did there?).
If you aren't Portuguese and you understand anything they sing, kudos to you, my friend. Hope you like it!


Happy monday! x

Sunday 8 September 2013

University

Yesterday I was nervous the whole day because I was finally going to know if I had been accepted into university or not.
The results were supposed to be released at midnight but at 22h30 my mum received a call from her friend saying that her daughter's friend had already gotten a mail stating that she had been accepted. I immediately opened a new tab, logged into my e-mail and cheered as soon as I read that I too had been accepted, woohoo!
My family and friends showered me with congratulations and hugs, it was definitely a good time!

My university is in another city - takes me 45 minutes by bus and then 15 minutes walking. I don't know how tired I will be but chances are I won't have as much time for blogging as I did during the holidays. I will try my best to post everytime I can as this is something I really enjoy doing!

If you are going to uni this year like myself, good luck and have fun! We can be newbies together :) If you are still attending school, make the best of it! I know it can seem boring and you would rather be out with friends but trust me when I say you are going to miss it when it's over.
My uni :)
Happy sunday!

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Dewey's Nine Lives - Review

I visited a family friend a while ago and I noticed this book on her desk.
(Excuse the Portuguese)
Since we recently "adopted" a cat, the book's cover immediatelly grabbed my attention. I asked her what it was about and she told me that it contained various stories about cats that changed their owner's lives.

After a brief conversation, I came to find that this was actually Vicki Myron's second book about Dewey and that the first one was about his story and how he affected Vicki's life and various others at the Spencer Public Library.

Even though I haven't read the first book, my friend generously lent me this one to read.

The book changed my perspective about cats and brought me closer to my own. It taught me that every cat has his/her own personality and just because yours doesn't like water, doesn't mean your neighbour's cat doesn't either. It definitely made me realise that cats aren't much different from us and are just as good as a best friend as a dog.

You also get to read about real life stories and, if like me, you haven't read the first book, then it's okay because the author talks about Dewey's story too inbetween.

I recommend this to every cat lover/owner. If you want to look for it, the original title is 'Dewey's Nine Lives: The Legacy of the Small-Town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions' and the first one is 'Dewey - The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World'.

Hopefully I'll get to read the first book in the future as I really would like to know more about Dewey.

Happy wednesday! x

Wednesday 28 August 2013

August Favourites ❤

Oh August, you will always be my favourite month of the summer.
(Source)
I only had one favourite this month and that was enough because I was and still am obsessed with it. I've always loved to take photos and film so I thought it would be a good idea to get an editing program so I can play around with what I've got.

I know there are better ones but I downloaded Movie Maker as it seemed to be easy to use for a newbie like myself. I successfully edited 2 videos of my friends and they absolutely loved it, which made me really happy! I haven't had anything to edit in weeks which is frustrating, argh.

Songs I had on replay:

Happy wednesday! x

Friday 23 August 2013

BC Sun Protect Shampoo

The good weather is finally back, yay! I went to the beach 3 times this week and it was lovely. I'm starting to get a tan but I know I'll lose it as soon as I stop going to the beach again, as usual. Boohoo.

The annoying side of the beach is how stiff and tangled your hair gets when it finally dries after you having the courage to dive in the cold water. Thankfully, I remembered that I still had a shampoo for sun-stressed hair.

It was given to me last year and I had forgotten about it until this summer. Since I didn't buy it myself, I don't know if it always comes in a cute little bag with 3 shampoos like mine, sorry! However, I've only used one of those shampoos and that's the one I'm going to review.


It smells amazingly; reminds me of those professional shampoos they use in the salons. It relieves your hair and scalps from chlorine, salt and minerals which your hair will be filled of after you go to the beach! I like to use it before my normal shampoo as it instantly makes my hair softer and untangled, thus making it easier to apply the next one.

I haven't quite figured out when you're supposed to use the other 2 shampoos but I'll tell you more about it if I find it worthy of your time.

Happy friday! x




Monday 12 August 2013

Bruschetta

My younger brother loves cooking and he does so for us from time to time. Usually it's desserts but this time he decided to try something new.
 
It's called 'bruschetta' and it contains grated cheese, onions, tomato, sausage, oregano and bread. It's absolutely delicious, tastes like pizza! And it's really quick to cook too. A good option when you need something fast to eat.

Happy monday! x

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Torta de Laranja - Recipe

My mum is a pro at baking cakes or any type of yummy desserts so it was only fair to share at least one of her best recipes with you. She told me this is a regional sweet of our city and I don't know if you can translate the name so I will just type it in Portuguese. Also, I'm going to use our weight measurements, you'll have to convert them to your own; if you try to make it yourself, let me know in the comments how it went. And if you make a post about it, leave the link and I'll check it out!

Torta de Laranja

  • 500g of sugar;
  • 50g of flour;
  • 10 eggs;
  • 2 small oranges OR 1 big orange (you're going to need the peel + the juice);
  • 10g of baking powder;
  • 25g of butter (to grease);
  • Parchment paper for baking.

Start by grating the orange peel. Only remove the orange coloured part, which is the zest. The white layer underneath is the pith and is very bitter. After a few grating strokes on a given edge, just rotate the orange around until you have the teaspoon you need. If you use 2 oranges, do this process with both of them.


Afterwards juice the orange using a plain juicer to coax all the juice out. Again, do this with both oranges if you use 2.


In a bowl, mix up the flour, the sugar and the baking powder.


After you blend them together, add the eggs. Don't put them all in at the same time - add 2, blend them in, add another 2, blend them in, etc until you have done that with all of the 10 eggs.


When everything is nicely mixed, you can finally add the orange juice and the peel and blend them in. Whilst doing so, you should already have the butter melting in a frying pan with the minimum temperature.


After all of that is done, grease your baking pan with the melted butter. Grab your parchment baking paper and put it on your baking pan, that is already greased. Grease the parchment paper with the butter and then lay the mixture on it slowly and well-proportioned.


 Put it on the oven for 25 minutes precisely and on minimum temperature.


When it's ready, add sugar on top of it.


And now comes the hard part, I'd say. Take more of your parchment baking paper and place it on your table. Grab the baking pan with the "torta" in it and flip it nicely into the paper so that the part with the sugar is now facing down.


 Start rolling the paper upwards so you get the right shape, just like the photo, and roll it until the end.


Before moving on, you really need to let it cool down so it doesn't break when you move it back into the baking pan.
When you feel that it is ready, place it on the baking pan and remove the parchment paper. Add more sugar on top if you want and voilá, your "torta de laranja" is ready!


You can cut it into little slices for a better presentation. Yummy!


I'm sorry if my explanation isn't the best, somethings are difficult to translate into English. But if you still decide to try this recipe, do let me know :)

Happy wednesday! x

Monday 29 July 2013

July Favourites ❤

Another month has gone by, time to to ramble about my favourites! First time I write a post about this so go easy on me.

July was a good month for me, I would say. It offered me new experiences, brought me closer to my friends and it has made me grow. If only every month was like this!

  • Fashion:
- My old sandals died on me and I was forced to buy new ones. The new ones I bought are the cutest thing I have ever seen, I fell in love as soon as I laid my eyes on them! They are super comfy and they have a little bow in the middle.


Unfortunately the weather hasn't been that great lately so I was only able to use them a few times. I wore them to my aunt's wedding, more on that here.

  • Series:
- I know this serie isn't new, it's already over and probably everyone has already seen it but I've only started watching it this month and I'm in l-o-v-e! The drama, the suspense, the plot twists, the romance... everything is so intense! I'm obviously talking about 'Prison Break' and if like me, you've never watched it before, do it!! But only if you have a strong heart.


  • Music:
- This is a hard one for me considering I am a music lover but I will try my best to pick just one or two favourites each month, I don't want to bore you!
Out of 4 favourites this month, 2 of them were my obsessions - 'Through Glass' by Stone Sour and 'Ready to Go' by Limp Bizkit ft. Lil Wayne. Give them a listen when you can!

  • Random:
- My local fair opened this month and I went there 3 times - one with my mother and a friend of hers and the other 2 with my friends. I wrote a post about the first day here and I know I said I'd write another one if I went there again but, in all honesty, there wasn't anything else interesting to show you. And I was with my friends, I didn't even think about anything besides having fun (please don't hate me!)
To make up for it, here's a photo of one of the concerts we watched (More Than A Thousand), it was unreal! We are somewhere in there to the right!

(Source)
That's everything this month! What were your July favourites?!

Sunday 21 July 2013

Feira de Sant'iago 2013 (Day 1)

Our annual city fair opened the doors yesterday and will be here until the 4th of August.

This year's theme is Arrábida (a Portuguese natural park located on the northren shore of the Sado River estuary) due to its' application to UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

(Source: Lisbon News)
Besides the usual events and main attractions, there will be different artists performing every day (some days it's more than one). Yesterday was Rita Guerra, a Portuguese singer, and I went to watch her with my mum and a friend of hers. My mum is probably her biggest fan so when we found out there would be an autograph session after the concert, she was over the moon.


Before the concert, that lasted from 22:30 to 1am, there was an inauguration speech from the Mayor at the entrance of the fair.


Afterwards, the Afina Setúbal choir, whose members work at the Municipal Chamber, sang 4 songs before the fair was considered "open". My aunt and uncle are part of the choir, it was nice to see them there!

(The fair's main entrance.)



I didn't have time to take photos of the main attractions but I don't think it is that important. I'm sure you have all seen pictures of carousels and roller coasters before!

I might go back again to listen to other artists - I will make sure to write another blog post to share the experience with you.

Happy sunday! x

Thursday 18 July 2013

13 Personal Questions Tag

The lovely Kelly from The Patch Diaries tagged her readers on THIS post to answer 13 personal questions (as you can tell by the title) and I just had to.

What do you order at Starbucks?
  • Unfortunately, I've never been to Starbucks. There isn't one in my city, which would require me to travel elsewhere, probably the capital (Lisbon) since it is the closest to me. The funny thing is that I once passed by it in the past but I was in a rush so I couldn't stop and try it out, I died a little bit inside. 
 
What's one thing in your closet you can't live without?
  •  I have to say my shorts. Portugal is a really hot country in the summer and I can't go out wearing pants without sweating a lot and God knows how much I hate sweat. However, nowadays, even if it isn't that hot, I just wear shorts anyway because I like to feel the wind in my legs. That has caused me to have a weird tan...

What's one thing people don't know about you?
  • Sometimes I feel really weak. I could blame it on the heat but I feel like this on autumn/winter too. I start feeling dizzy and nauseated and I need to sit down asap or the symptoms get worse.
    This one time I was grocery shopping with my mum and we ran into a friend of hers. After a few minutes, I started feeling ill but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to be rude (what?!). When the conversation ended, I could see white dots and I felt like fainting. I literally had to crouch and pretend I was checking the prices whilst my mum looked for something for me to eat on the spot as that seems to make me feel better. We think I
    inherited this from my grandma because she, too, felt like this when she was younger, it's most likely low blood pressure.
 
What's one thing you want to do before you die?
  • I want to meet the friends I have all around the world. I have some in Holland, England, Denmark, Scotland... We met online and we know each other for years - to finally meet them face to face would be marvellous and a dream come true.

What's one food you can't live without?
  • Bread. It doesn't need to have ham or cheese or butter, just bread (am I weird yet?)

What's one quote you live by?
  • “Some people believe in God, I believe in music. Some people pray, I turn on the radio” (it's on my twitter bio)
 
What do you like and dislike about the blogging community?
  • I like that it connects people all over the world. We share traditions and we learn more about each one's day-to-day basis. We can express our opinion and have healthy debates. And as for non-native English speakers like myself, we can improve our grammar and vocabulary!
  • It annoys me when I find a blog that isn't updated in years, literally. I found one that wasn't updated since 2010 and I don't know why but it just annoys me.
 
What's your number 1 song on iTunes/iPod?
 
What kind of style would you describe yourself as having?
  • It depends on my mood, it's mostly casual.
 
Favorite number?
  • Number 8, it's perfect.

Two hobbies?
  • I consider blogging a hobbie so there's one, and photography.

Two pet peeves?
  • Wrong grammar and spelling annoys me and is a turn-off, mostly in Portuguese. And when someone talks to me when I'm reading, listening to music or watching TV.

Your guilty pleasure?
  • One Direction... I know music doesn't have an age but I can't help to feel "out of place" when I see the younger fans chasing them and at the concerts, etc.

I tag...
  • Everyone who's reading this! Leave a comment if you do this tag and lets get to know each other :)

Have a good day! x

Saturday 6 July 2013

OOTD: Wedding

Today was my aunt's wedding! Since it is a special occasion, I decided to make a post about my outfit. The wedding was really simple, only the families were there, so I didn't go too crazy on what to wear.




























  • Flower clip: Accessories store
  • Dress: Gift
  • Shoes: Miss Yes