10 things to do on a rainy Sunday

It seems that fall is finally starting in Portugal and we have to get used to rainy days and thunder lightening again. These days are usually my favorite to catch up with things that I don’t have time to do during the week… Here are some of my suggestions: 

Sunday
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1. First of all, just relax. Whatever you choose to do, do it because it gives you pleasure,
2. Watch an old movie that you love,
3. Update your soundtrack with new songs for the week,
4. Cook something sweet,
5. Spend some time with your family,
6. Take a nap… Yes, you can!
7. Conference call with your friends about gossip and how hangover you are from last night,
8. Treat yo’self! It’s the perfect opportunity to do all the beauty rituals you desire,
9. Organize your closet: you know you need to,
10. Write a post on your blog! :)

Just enjoy! 

Your TopCrusher, 

Daniela

He For She Freedom

Gender equality is not a women's issue, it's a human rights issue. 

The HeForShe initiative was launched by Emma Watson, Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women (and for people like me, eternal Harry Potter wonder), at the United Nations on September 20th. The truth is that there has been a lot of talk about feminism lately. What it is, what it stands for, what's acceptable or not for a feminist to say or do, etc.

I had some difficulty understanding what feminism is about at first, but then, things just got really simple. It means that I want to be equal, it means that I want to be free to express myself, it means that I won't allow to be treated like less because I am a woman. So yes, I am a feminist. 

The most important and innovative point of her speech, is asking men to join women in this cause, because feminist don't hate men, we just don't want to live trapped by destructive stereotypes, and men are victims of those stereotypes too. Here are my favorite parts of her amazing speech:

Freedom
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"My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn't assume that I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influences were the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it, but they are the inadvertent feminists that are changing the world today. We need more of those. (...)

If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled.

Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong. It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum, instead of two sets of opposing ideals. If we stop defining each other by what we are not, and start defining ourselves by who we are, we can all be freer, and this is what HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom.

If you believe in equality, you might be one of those inadvertent feminists that I spoke of earlier, and for this, I applaud you. We are struggling for a uniting word, but the good news is, we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I invite you to step forward, to be seen and to ask yourself, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”

If you are a woman, and you believe you deserve to be treated as equal, there is no way you don't love this speech, even if you don't want to be called a feminist.

Your TopCrusher,
Daniela

Before and After Beauty

Before and after
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I am a woman. I am twenty six years old. I try to eat well, sleep well, I do some exercise when I have the time. I can't complaint for now, everything seems to be in the right place, my hair is still all black and shiny, my skin is still soft.. but I know, and all women know, that a time will come when all these things will start failing. It's called aging and there's nothing we can do about it. 

This Renee Zellweger controversy made me think about how far we go to look young, even if we know that we aren't on our 20's anymore. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against plastic surgery, I believe that it is a great solution to many health and aesthetic problems and it should always be a personal choice. However, Renee is such a beautiful woman that it's hard to think she would need so many surgeries, she ended up looking like someone else. 

Zellweger apart, I believe that we should see beauty in all ages, in all shapes, in all colors. Only when we stop acting like it is possible to be 20 forever, we will accept the fact that we are beautiful no matter what. Living by unreachable standards will raise our frustration, anger, and disappointment with our bodies and with ourselves.

Maybe the solution here is to focus on feeling forever young, instead of looking like something we're not. 

Your TopCrusher,

Daniela 

Fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it

Hi Crushers,

Just in case you need an extra motivation, I decided to leave this Eat Pray Love quote about happiness and how to achieve it on our blog. It's not easy, but we have to believe it's worth our efforts.

Happiness
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“... people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.” Elizabeth Gilbert

And don't forget to love yourself first. 

Your TopCrusher,

Daniela 

Welcome to the Jungle

Bring the heat
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Jungle, the band. The founding members, Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland, identified as J and T, released their first album singles "Platoon" and "The Heat"at the start of 2013, and what a great start.

Between the modern soul, the electro funk style and some kind of urban details, they build the right atmosphere to relax and dance at the same time. Their debut album, Jungle, was released on July 14 with all the groove that we deserve.

Just feel the heat, move your body and lose your mind!

Your TopCrusher,

Dúnia

The Laughing Heart

My favourite poem, by Charles Bukowski:

Laughing
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your life is your life
don't let it be clubbed into dank submission
be on the watch
there are ways out
there is a light somewhere
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness
be on the watch
the gods will offer you chances
know them
take them
you can't beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes
and the more often you learn to do it
the more light there will be
your life is your life
know it while you have it
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you


Your TopCrusher,
Daniela

The dawn of Portuguese cinema

[For you that's reading this and saying "why is she writing about Portuguese cinema in english?"...don't even. ]

For many years I have been resisting Portuguese cinema.

I feel almost embarrassed to say it but every time I watched a Portuguese movie with Portuguese actors was either about a great novel about other times where we were a greater country (this was ages ago, kids, nobody gives a damn about us, now, but we used to rule every corner of this world) or it was about our country. Don't get me wrong my country is full of untold stories I'm sure ...still, they kinda felt all the same...boring.

This week though, I witness something great.

I went to the movies twice in one week and the films that I choose were all 100% made in Portugal. 

Day one : A movie about a novel (what else?). That was really what was in my head going in the theater "I just hope I don't fall asleep and snore, please, oh please don't let me snore!" 

Then I literally ate this words syllable by syllable. 

A doomed love in Os Maias, João Botelho
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Os Maias de João Botelho was much more than a movie, it combined, brilliantly, characteristics of a live play and it work. Every bit of it worked. João Botelho took a novel that was told, untold and then told again, a novel that has been giving high scholars nightmares and he transformed it into something "almost" cool. He got it, the actors got it and they made magic happen in a way that for me was truly new for the Portuguese cinema.

Day two:  Ok, by then I was like "Can I be amazed twice? No, of course not" So me and my high horse entered the movie theater haunted by a previous good-so-they-cant-duplicate-it feeling. Then...there was the opening scene from Os Gatos Não Têm Vertigens de João Pedro Vasconcelos: five minutes into the movie and I was already sobbing like a little girl. 

No! Something like this can't happen, not with a Portuguese movie! They are supposed to be boring.

Oh yes it can and with the same intensity it also made me laugh. Above all, there was something about this moments, they were comedic but they also were full of magic and love and that "sugar-spice-and-everything-nice" factor that I love about going to the cinema. 

"Arsenic!" in Os gatos não êm vertigens, João Pedro Vasconcelos
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I expected nothing, I was given everything, I laughed and cried, I was concerned and wanted to punch somebody, by the end I felt completely exhausted like I've been to war (jezz! exaggerate much?) but it also  lifts you up so when you leave the cinema there is a smile stuck to the corner of your mouth ( Oh god women! Control your cheesiness!). 

João Pedro Vasconcelo's movie washes away all the stupid and petty shit from your day, can you ask for more? Totally worth it.

Keep that quality coming, guys.

Make us proud.

Your TopCrusher,

Alex