Renata

There are plenty of good, even amazing coffee shops in Toronto. I’m not a coffee enthusiast – I am a tea lover – but caffeine is more of an addiction. So, for someone who doesn’t really like coffee, it’s even worse when coffee tastes REALLY BAD – and north americans, believe me, are experts in the art of making badcoffee. I don’t really know why people go for coffee at chain coffee stores – those who shall not be named – when there are so many indie coffee places to get your daily coffee fix.

For instance, around my office, I have a Seattle-based chain coffee shop*, and Jimmy’s Coffee. Everybody knows the Seattle cappuccinos are just meh, and Jimmy’s staff offer me very good coffee drinks! Makes me happy.

In my neighbourhood, I have a couple of options: the OUTSTANDING The Good Neighbour, seriously, a must visit even if you don’t go to the west end that often. There’s also Crema, which I think is seriously overrated (I hate their service, but coffee is ok) – I hate their service SO MUCH I tend to go to their neighbour from Seattle, seriously.

A problem I see with indie coffee joints is their “organic” “natural” “healthy” approach. This sometimes means they won’t offer you anything but agave nectar and raw sugar and almond milk or whatever THEY believe it’s best for you. Listen: I DON’T CARE. I want ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER, SUCRALOSE, because I LIKE IT, and SOYMILK because I LIKE IT. YOU ARE NOT MY MOMMY. You are a COFFEE SHOP, and I AM JUST YOUR CUSTOMER. So, please, offer me what I like. I don’t want to be taken care of. This is creepy. And, honestly, If you’re selling me scones and muffins, you’re not really concerned about my health. So, give me a break.

But, as I am lazy and don’t like brewing coffee when I wake up, I just bought an automatic pod machine – one of these – and, although it’s not awesome, it makes pretty decent coffee in 30s by just pressing a button.

*Forgot to say: the Seattle coffee company tastes MUCH BETTER in Brazil than in Canada (I wonder why…). ESPECIALLY the pastries – their espresso brownie in Brazil is something I really miss!

P.S.: Don’t miss Bulldog, great coffee and amazing Latte Art. Unfortunately, not so close to me.

Update: Found another coffee close to my office. La Mercería is an argentinian café, good food and good coffee. Go for the Café Caramelo – with Dulce de Leche.

I know dates are complicated and nobody understands them. So I’ll try to explain.

Jan 21 2000 – Girl meets boy at the bus station in Belo Horizonte, with a group of friends who are traveling together. They make bad geek jokes. A few hours later, they kiss. They spend the weekend together.

Jan 28 2000 – One week later, back in Rio, girl and boy decide to call it a relationship. They are just having fun.

Jan 27 2007 – As they are still having fun, they get married.

Eleven years have passed since we decided to call it “a relationship” because “it was fun”. It’s been tons of fun for so long, we’ve done so many things together, we’ve moved to another country! I can’t think of NOT celebrating my eleven years with Fabio, because I feel like celebrating every single day I spend with him!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! WE ROCK!

I’m not the default romantic girl, but I find myself attracted by some romantic gibberish, like celebrating my anniversary and I really enjoy Valentines Day.

So, it came to my attention that this year I’m not celebrating Valentines for cultural reasons. In North America, it’s celebrated in February, and I arrived here in early March (exactly three months ago, hooray!). In Brazil, probably for some Catholic reason, they celebrate in June 12th, the day before St. Anthony (who is supposed to be the saint associated with weddings – there you go!). And I’m already here on June, thus, no Valentines for me this year.

I obviously can do my own romantic dinner whenever I want, candlelight and stuff. This lovely springtime (well, now it’s raining…) invites you to romance and whatever. No need of a Valentines Day when you have blooming trees, crazy running squirrels, singing birds. I suggest ordering your lunch take out, then ask your partner out for a fast picnic on a neighborhood park. Ah, the spring!

It’s been very hard for me to buy clothes in Canada. I usually like black/gray or red/purple tones, and I just happened to find out I’M TOO SMALL FOR CANADIAN STANDARDS.

Women’s sizes are like 0,2,4.. and there’s this extra, extra small size, the 00. You guessesed, I wear the 00. Obviously, not all stores have the 00 size. I’m also considered “petite” – I’m too short – and finding a brand that sells BOTH petite AND 00 is almost impossible.

Because I live in this clothing wormhole, I have to find alternatives. It turns out that I can wear GAP‘s “ultra skinny capri” – the smallest of the smallest – as normal, decent jeans. But the REAL problem has been finding “businesswear” – you know, button shirts, this kind of thing. All my button shirts look alike.

Some people suggested me Banana Republic and Pacific Mall. Banana Republic is very nice, but pricey, and Pacific Mall… well… I hate shoppings, and I would never travel to Pacific Mall just for shopping. A solution I’m yet to try is Kensington Market / Chinatown – I may not find exactly what I’m looking for, but surely I’m gonna have some fun there.

Hoje é meu terceiro aniversário de casamento. Na época eu disse que tinha motivos pra me casar, e ontem à noite eu finalmente peguei meu motivo de me casar: eu e Fabio conseguimos nossos vistos de imigrantes canadenses. Eu disse que 2010 ia ser um ano incrível.

Gostaria, no entanto, de dizer apenas que embora casada há “só” três anos, amanhã completamos DEZ ANOS juntos. Isso é UM TERÇO da minha vida. E foram dez anos muito felizes. Quero mais dez anos felizes assim.

Feliz Aniversário, Fabio. Everything Will Change.

:*******

Update: Para quem perguntou como eu consegui o visto, eu fiz o processo federal de skilled worker. As regras mudaram da época do meu processo pra cá, então, melhor consultar o Site da Imigração para o Canadá.

Olá. Jovem, você que vem sempre aqui, ALISTE-SE. Eu vou fazer 30 anos, não é emocionante? Estou meio atordoada com o som de “trinta anos”, estou falando isso direto, mas, preciso divulgar minha wishlist. Vai que alguém resolve me dar um presente.

- Uma barra de chocolate com mais de 95% cacau. Preferencialmente 99%. Menos que isso não vale, eu encontro na delicatessen ao lado da minha casa.

- O Boticário lançou uma linha de produtos de VACAS. QUERO TUDO. Amo vacas!

- Coisas perfumadas de banho, geralmente da Natura linha Ekos e Boticário Nativa Spa. Exceto sabonete em barra que é o que mais existe na minha casa (prefiro líquido e esfoliante).

- Maquiagem. Divirta-se. É bem difícil errar, eu gosto de batom e rímel, uso todo dia! Tô louca por um rímel colorido. Saiu o rímel colorido. Tenho uma sogra que entende TUDO de maquiagem. Aliás, se alguém quiser produtos Natura, Avon, etc, eu passo o contato dela! ;) Também gosto de coisas glitter em geral.

- Tem uma loja de calcinhas e meias divertidas chamada Puket. Deve ser porque eu sou muito adulta, mas eu gastaria todo o meu dinheiro lá, FÁCIL. QUERO A LOJA INTEIRA E USO TAMANHO M.

- Não quer me dar nada disso? OK, quero um baixo de canhoto, mas não entendo nada de marcas de instrumentos musicais. Quero aprender a tocar. Também quero uma hidromassagem, mas pra isso preciso de um banheiro novo. Ainda quero um celular novo, mas isso já virou piada. COMPREI um Nokia N78. Parece inacreditável. Estou feliz!

Engraçado que esse ano desisti de presentes tecnológicos. Por um dia pensei em me dar um macbook, mas, diante do preço, peso, tamanho, acho meu netbook uma ótima pedida. No máximo o trocaria pelo HP da Vivienne Tam, mas, hm, não bateu o tesão necessário.

Obrigada pela atenção e até 1o. de dezembro!