I don't have much time to write today, so I'll just bring you up-to-date on things.

The reason you haven't heard from me for a good while is that I've been having some trouble with my eyes recently.

You see, about six years ago it turned out that my retina likes to detach itself from the surrounding tissue and gets a kick out of scaring me to death by producing small holes and tears near the periphery. Nothing that modern medicine cannot deal with though: the doctor has to seal the many layers of the retina together by burning the area around the tear with a highly focused laser beam, which will leave scars on the tissue, which will, in turn, keep those layers together and basically makes sure that I don't become blind anywhere in the near future.

A few weeks ago I noticed a slight loss in my field of vision and had to have another laser surgery. It's not serious in the sense that it only takes about 5-10 minutes, and patients are allowed to go home right after the treatment (mostly just to recover from the splitting headache caused by the flashes of intense light...), but I really didn't want to take a risk by reading more than necessary. The rapid eye movement that accompanies reading is not something that's very good for a freshly burned retina, so I had to cut down on it and do only as much as was essential for my job as a teacher...

Anyway, I'm back now, and have lots of new stuff to report on, but I postpone that to Friday, because it's 22:17 here in Budapest, and I still have some housework to do, and hope to get in a good eight hours of sleep as well. :-)

I just want to thank my dear friend Grayburn for the quick message she sent me two days ago: you're great and thank you for thinking about me! A "Thank you!" and a big hug to Seeker for another award she gave me a few weeks ago. I haven't forgotten about it, and of course, I'm honored. *hug*

Another big, big hug goes out to Bagaela, who sent me a parcel full of "yummy" stuff which, in my case, can only be cosmetics. I got a very generous sample of ArtDeco's famous eyeshadow base and lots of Bioderma samples (mostly sunscreen). Among them, there was a 5 ml sample of Bioderma's Sensibio Light moisturizer, which I liked so much that I bought the full size product a few days ago, and I'm really very happy with it, so thank you dear! More on Bioderma soon!

Another great piece of news is that starting today the long-awaited Alverde make-up line is finally available in Hungary. I saw the stand in a nearby Drogerie Markt store and quickly checked out the products. My first impressions:

• The packaging and design is really cute, looks even better in real life.
• Not many colors to choose from, but hey, this is not Chanel, or Bourjois, or EDM...
• People in the Alverde laboratory obviously haven't heard about olive skintone yet...
• The lip products (especially the glosses) feature some really natural colors: I can hardly wait to go back tomorrow and buy a few items!
• Their kohl eyeliner pencils are a bit too soft for my liking, but they're very pigmented. (Yeah, I got myself a brown one today.)

I also bought a facial cleanser by Clinians, containing mandelic acid: I think it'll be my morning cleanser as it's very gentle, but I didn't have much luck with it when trying to remove makeup. (I didn't expect it to perform well in that area, so that's okay.)

Whew! So much for today, I guess. Talk to you tomorrow! Till then, I'll let you have a few glimpses into my life nowadays. ;-) Enjoy!

Lots of love,
Izar





















































On an unusually cool summer day, Munchkin decided that my bed is the perfect place to get cozy and warm. We weren't happy...









My preciousssssssss.... My second attempt at baking (the first one was kinda forgettable, though the family gobbled it up), and I'm proud to say it's my own recipe. And that it was gobbled up even faster than the first batch. :-)



Third attempt, this time a traditional Scottish cookie. This one's yummy too, just tastes a little bit like ghee (I think I used way too much butter).