Weekend Wanderings

I've been saving up some photos from weekend trips, and thought I'd just lay them out here now and be done with them :) Yesterday I was privileged enough to go to Cheb and visit with some old friends. I came early and took a bunch of new photos, so I wanted to get these older ones taken care of so I could move on and put up the next section. I really feel like one of those college students who can't chose a major. Should I be a writer? Should I be a photographer? Should I be a tour guide? Clearly my brain was designed for drifting.

Since my husband is quite disinterested in the art of shopping, my mom-in-law has enjoyed having a girl to travel around with. A couple weeks ago she and I took a trip to Plzen on our own. She told me it was the first time she had been on a train in ten years! Craziness! She didn't seem to think they had improved much in the time she had been boycotting them :) Despite large gaps in language ability, we had a great time, and were able to communicate. Even I brought up topics for "conversation," and she seemed able to follow along for the most part.

One of the great things is when she just talks whether I understand or not. It helps me to pick up on more, and to feel like my attention is valued even if my vocabulary is limited. I still love picturing my parents and my in laws sitting around a table with maps, each set talking on and on in their own separate unidentifiable languages. Priceless :)

Anyhow, as a result of a couple shopping trips I contribute pictures of Plzen as well as the "haul."

Also in that weekend I went to Germany again and had another shot at ice skating. My mom-in-law was along this time, and showed me how easy it is to go fast and to skate backwards. She has had great fun since telling people how she held my hand for a couple rounds and I kept saying how we were going so fast and how there were so many people. Always good to know I can supply entertainment.

Let it be known that on that trip I skated for about two hours and didn't fall down at all. The wall is still my neighbor, but it's getting more distant.

Last weekend we took a trip to visit Marek's grandmother. It was so nice to see her again. She's just precious, and she loved our wedding photo book. I need to make more copies when I get back home and send them over for the family. Why didn't I think of that before? Not always the brightest.

Going both directions we saw all sorts of beautiful countryside, quaint villages, and fabulous castles. Many of them were places we visited when Julie came for a visit. This time we had more important things to do than sight seeing, but we did take one little break along the way and I took some back side photos of Horsovsky Tyn.

Be sure to come back soon for more of my attempts at adding travel photography to my resume of accolades ;)

Tri králové (three kings)

Yesterday (January 6) is the day traditionally observed as Three Kings Day. This would be when the three wise men arrived with their gifts to bring the baby Jesus. While gifts are not exchanged, I have been told that people dressed up as the three kings do wander around and leave blessings on the lintels of doors by writing this symbol K+M+B+12 (the 12 represents the current year. I have not ever actually seen the kings at their work, but have seen the chalk markings throughout my travels through the Czech Republic. This day also signifies the end of the holiday season. Decorations are taken down and the tree is removed. The flat we live in here is on the fourth floor of an apartment building. Even though the tree is not very big, it would be a bit of a hassle to carry it down the elevator, not to mention the big mess that the needles would make. The solution? My mom-in-law opened the window while Mark and I went downstairs to make sure the area was clear. We were only just in time to see the tree taking flight and landing on the snow below. Wow. I guess that's one way to do it. Speaking of snow, it seems to have returned. On Thursday, we took a little drive over the Germany to check out an electronics store there. Mark doesn't seem to understand how his mother and I can enjoy hours on end of shopping in clothing stores, but you put him in a big room filled with electrical wires and headphones and he could wander around talking about circuits and gadgets all day long. Sure, he might be speaking English, but I have no clue. All the same, I'm happy enough as long as he's enjoying himself. There's something about new things wrapped up in plastic packaging and shinty new boxes that always gives me a thrill. Blasted consumerism. I'm a total sucker, but also completely happy to leave empty handed. Looking is good enough for me. On the drive home, the wind and rain continued to make an absolute nuisance of themselves. As I watched out the back seat window, the racing drops of water seemed to collect themselves into waves that shifted into ghostly appartitions in the wind. It was really fascinating to watch. Then, all at once, the rain morphed into snow. My eyeslids grew heavy, and a few minutes later Mark woke me up and pointed out the window. What had been a water logged landscape on our drive in, had turned to snowy fields and trees blessed with sparkling white frocks. A total turn around. Later in the afternoon, the in-laws went for another little drive and came back with a brand now 42" widescreen 3D television. Wow! It's pretty cool. There are 7 pairs of glasses in an array of colors. My father-in-law was a bit distressed that there was only one black pair. :) The TV has this nifty feature where it can even take regular 2D programming, and translate it into 3D. Who knew? And now for the news I'm sure everyone has been waiting for with bated breath: The book is done. And by done, I mean that there is a decent quality first draft resting peacefully on my ipad until I have a chance to start editing. I've decided to give it the weekend to rest, but then I intend to go over it with a fine tooth comb. Unlike the books I have completed in the past, this one was written with no prep work. I came up with the basic idea about 5 years ago on a drive from Blodgett, OR to Moscow, ID. It's sitting somewhere in a journal, but I never forgot the premise, so when Mark gave me the 90 day challenge, I thought it would be a good story to start with. Now I need to go back and make sure things fit together. The problem with just letting a story take you where it will without any sort of outline or character sketches is that it is easy to have the end disconnect from the beginning. Of course, having written it over such a short span of time has made it easier to keep a handle on things, but there are still adjustments that have to be made. And after that? Only time will tell.

Christmas in Bayreuth

Christmas markets are a pretty big deal around these parts. They are especially popular in Germany. On numerous occasions I have made it over to Nurnberg to visit one of the oldest Christmas Markets in Europe. I'm not going to act all overly educated and pretend I know exactly how old it is or anything, but it's been around for a long time and is seriously huge. It's also a wee bit far away. So this year, Tammy and I decided to try a market we'd never been to that was also a little closer and still in the cheap zone. (Note: I lived over here for several years and the prices of things never really went up much, but after a year of being gone suddenly everything is more expensive. From food, to train tickets, and even the local ML bus. Inflation is not my favorite. Now let me ask you, should a ticket for a train with a heater that looks like this:

really increase? I think not.) Anyhow, we headed out on Sunday to check out the market in Bayreuth, a town just slightly farther away than Marktredwitz. We had a street map with a vague direction to go, but no real idea where to find what we were looking for. Thankfully, being the expert European travelers that we are, we managed. On the way we passed sights like this:

We passed through an ancient archway and spotted the drink booths, which let us know we were definitely headed the right direction. And then we were there.

I always love checking out the little booths and seeing what the popular ornaments are for the year. Being in Germany, and having prices in Euros, it was a bit out of my comfy range, but it's fun just to look. There are also the architectural gems that make it even more interesting.

We also discovered that they don't get a lot of American tourists around these parts. When we were looking for a hot drink, some men working in a booth tried to woo us with their wares. When we explained that we didn't speak much German, but English instead, they were very curious to learn where we were from and what brought us to their little town. When we half way explained, the older man who spoke some English decided that we should have a free sample of their special Christmas brew. It was a unique concoction that mixed red wine, rum, and citrus juice and I believe some cinnamon, all warm and toasty in a cup. I'll admit, I was rather glad it was a free sample, and there was no further pressure to buy, which was nice. It also did really warm me up all the way through, which was very useful on such a cold wintery day. Tammy needed her traditional market sausage, and I decided on a baguette with garlic butter, tomatoes, and melted mozzarella cheese. Tasty little snacks to help us along our way back to the station. The market was rather smaller, and much less crowded, than we had anticipated, so it only took us a couple hours to feel like we'd done the town. We jumped the next train back to Marktredwitz and when we arrived there we learned we had a while until the next train back to Cheb. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, we walked around through the streets of M. It was actually quite snowy there, but we were still able to enjoy the market they had there, as well as visiting a cafe. (Note: in Germany everything is generally closed on Sundays, especially in smaller towns. Despite Christmas being only a week away, even the shopping malls are closed.) The cafe we found open was one my friend Nicole and I visited several years ago on another day waiting for a train. It's a bit of a stuffy place in a hotel. The set up is odd and if you order a pastry you have to pay extra to sit inside and eat it. The usual set that takes a coffee there on a Sunday afternoon is rather cautious of strangers. The elderly ladies either ignored us or looked at us as though we had clearly stumbled into the wrong place. Ah well, at least the cappuccino was tasty.

It's only about a five minute walk back up to the station, and we thought we were doing just fine, but when we arrived we watched the train pulling out. The very train we were supposed to take. If we'd realized we should hustle it would have been no problem. Instead, we had another 45 minutes to spend in Marktredwitz. So how did we spend that time, you ask? Well, we went and had our photo taken with Santa. Isn't that what all the 30 something women you know do on a Sunday afternoon? Seemed reasonable enough to us. There is joy in being able to just enjoy life sometimes. And believe, the Santa and photographer greatly enjoyed our amusement. The picture is supposed to be e-mailed to Tammy, so I don't have it just yet, but when it comes I'll try to post it too. We did finally make it safely back to Cheb, where all things remained as they should be. We had pizza at Jakubska, and spent the night relaxing in her Skalka flat. Come Monday morning, she still had to go to work. The school system here isn't quite as set on always giving a two week holiday, so I think she works until the 23rd and only has off until the 3rd. Not so cool. My walk back to the train station was quite lovely. I decided to go down by the river and enjoy the place I've walked so many times. I wasn't disappointed.

And who knew there would be a tribute to me right there on the graffiti wall?

It was like it was my special day or something :)

Bravery Really is...

Someday I'm going to speak Czech. I wish that someday was now. I wish it was a language a bit more closely related. A language I could just fall into. I could spend all my time being frustrated with the fact that I sound like a toddler at best when I try to choke out as word or two here and there. Sometimes that is exactly what I do. Other times I say, sure I'll go shopping with you all day my dear parents-in-law, without the company of my husband. (He had to stay home and keep an eye on Katcha, who does happen to be doing better. She's walking around and eating and drinking, and even went outside a couple of times today which is definitely a relief for all of us.) As soon as we were in the car my phone rang. Just a little quick question from my Love, but it was enough to alert the parents that I do have an operational phone now. Which led to them asking for my number. I'm not quite sure what we would be able to say if they did need to call me, but it was a nice gesture all the same. And I even managed to tell them that my phone is very old because I bought it when I lived in Hong Kong. I felt relatively pleased with the exchange. It was very nearly an actual conversation with at least a couple complete sentences. We headed out toward Plzen, but made a cemetery stop first. I came out here once before last summer. There is something so powerful about visiting a family grave site. I'm not sure how many years it has been since Mark's grandmother passed away, but it is obviuos that his father is still very much attached. A Christmas bouquet was placed beside the headstone, and an electric candle, that flickers like a real candle, was added to the glass candle box. Czech graves are quite different from the ones we have in America. They are often more like little stone boxes and they're set so close together that there is now way of knowing where the body actually lies. We stood a moment, admiring the new additions, and then said goodbye. An emotional experience, even though I never met the woman. After that it was shopping time. It was the final shopping weekend before Christmas, so there was plenty to get done. Our first few shops were busy, but not over the top. I've been in American malls at this time of year. I've experienced the frenzy. It wasn't really like that here. There wer lots of people, but they weren't so frantic. Christmas is a big deal here, not like in Hong Kong where it's more like just another excuse for grand displays and materialism. They get really into it, but I feel like the focus is more on making millions of Christmas cookies, and preparing for the big day than it is about spending every spare moment shopping. Or at least not until after lunch. We took a break at the classic food stop, the York Hotel. Lunch was nice. Being the conscientious Czech parents that they are, they insisted that getting a small salad and krokety did not a proper meal make. After scouring the menu for things they thought I might like, they know I like pizza and pasta, they accepted my choice of a salad with chicken. At least it involved meat. We returned to shopping and it seemed the floodgates had opened at last. The parking lot of the next place we tried was ultra full. Full to the point that after ten minutes of driving around we totally gave up and drove off. We had better luck at the next couple places (did I mention that Plzen has a LOT of shopping malls?) but there were definitely bigger crowds. There are some people who get all antsy about Christmas shopping, but I'm just not one of them. I actually enjoy being out in the crush and rush. Probably partly because it does remind me of Hong Kong on a normal day. I also just love looking at the rows and rows of fresh clean things. I suppose you could call it some twisted materialism, but I don't even need to buy anything. I just like to see it. I like to see things and get ideas about how it must be to have stuff like that. Totally bizarre, I know, but there it is. In the end, I know everything I'm getting for Christmas, but it was all fun anyway. I also know what Mark is getting, and I just have to enjoy that he, who doesn't like surprises, doesn't know, while I, who do like surprises, knows. It's a bit odd, but sometimes you just have to accept doing things differently, right? By the time we got home it was about 6PM. It had been a long language overload sort of day. I didn't succeed in talking as much as I would like, but I was there. I spent the whole day struggling to understand, and trying to make myself understood at least every now and again. It will get better one of these days, I'm sure of it. Just not sure exactly when that day will be or how it will be achieved. For now I just have to be content with the small things and thankful for every victory in overcoming the language barrier.

And Then It All Went Away...

They've gone and changed something. I'm really not sure why they feel they have to do this. Whoever they might be, they really out to check and make sure before they just do things. Especially when the things they do cause lovely blogs that are all nice and neatly typed to suddenly disappear. Now I'm not even sure I want to go through with even trying to recount it all. The worst bit is, that I actually saw that something was askew after hitting publish twice and getting a big fat nothing, so I specifically made sure to copy it all so I could just reconfigure things and paste it back on. But the thing is so irritating that it refuses to paste it. So, post gone. Self, irritated. What I had done was share the story of today. It was all full of the little trip I went on with my mom-in-law today and how I had to be brave to just put myself out there and go shopping with her on my own. I talked about how it was a glorious day to begin with. The sun was shining brightly, the sort of thing you just don't ignore in the middle of December. We took a crowded bus and wondered together why there were so many people not at work on a Wednesday morning. I felt like I was even somehow being clever with my tale. I wrote about our visits to the expensive shops, and how she fit right in there. In contrast, when I tried to go in the same places during last summer I always felt a bit out of place. And it wasn't just because of my lack of Czech skills. There was also a nice little anectdote about going into the Vietnamese shop, the sort of place you'd find in Mong Kok, full of cheap imitations and odd smells, and how she actually found a couple Czech's working there to make her feel a bit less out of place with her mui mui bag and her Guess boots. Then, just because my world seems to have been doused with domesticity, I shared about my pathetic attempts to peel potatoes in the face of her quick strokes, and then about how I actually copied down her recipe for green salad, but mostly because I was so intrigued that she added powdered sugar to her little dressing mixture. Now I've just gone and slopped this all together into something far from brilliant, and I'm filled with dread that even this will turn out to be a waste of time, because chances are that it won't post either, leaving me seething. I forgot to add that in the middle of our shopping trip the weather turned, as promised, to rain, and when Mark and I took the dog out later it was an absolute downpour. I suppose that's just what's to be expected at this time of year. Now I'm just going to put this grumpy little post to the test and see where it gets me. (sigh) I really do wish they'd learn to leave well enough alone!

Something New

The truth is, I'm lazy. Not in everything mind you. I'm one of the hardest little workers you'll find in some things. Granted, when my assistant manager at work would come and ask how long it would take me to finish hanging the ten boxes of apparel on the line I'd reply in my offhand laid back manner, "I'll do what I can." At The Maids they were always going on and on about how we had to clean both faster and better at the same time. Can't really be done you see. They have to take one or the other. And while people are paying them 80 something an hour, being paid minimum wage doesn't exactly inspire a girl to go all out. But my work ethic in Italy at the age of 17 inspired my leaders to imply that I might not have been honest about my age. I take work seriously, and do my best to get the job done right. It might not move as quickly as some superhero magic number that they arbitrarily come up with, but as everyone who went to high school can attest, I don't walk slowly. It's all about hustle and get it done.
So, yeah, I can make a fast sandwich, clean a room in a flash, and hang apparel like there's no tomorrow. I even got to the point where lesson planning didn't take every spare minute of my time, but could be completed on the fly when necessary (although this is a practice I do not condone for all the first year teachers out there!)
I wouldn't exactly say that my lack of art in the kitchen is due to laziness, however. I move pretty slowly there, but it's more due to ineptitude and insecurity than laziness. Of course there's also that, not really wanting to do it bit as well...
The real heart of my laziness, the prompting for this post, however, is focused on my appearance. I wouldn't call myself a sloppy dresser. While I've often dreamed of being signed up for What Not to Wear in order to have a new high quality wardrobe become accessible to my less than worthy budget, I try to make the best of what I have. For those in the know, I was more than happy to shop at Bossini and Giordano (HK) or Kenvelo (CZ). Stateside Ross and Old Navy work out pretty well. Steps above markets and thrift stores, but a far cry from Gucci and Prada.
Slowly we arrive more to the point. Where my laziness really stands out is when it comes to...my hair. As a kid I had long stick straight hair that my mother painstakingly (mostly due to my incessant whining) brushed and braided and made gorgeous. I sat a lot better when my older sister got a hold of me I was more than happy to sit patiently for her to make me "beautiful." Makeup, hair, the whole shebang.
If I knew where they all were, I could plague you with my hair transformations throughout my growing up years. I was a child of the 80's and had my fair share of side pony tales, straight bangs, and perms, as well as waterfall bangs ratted patiently by classmates during morning recess in the Jr. High era. After a particularly heinous perm a week before the wedding of the very sister who used to care for my hair so well, I declared that I was done with them, and let my hair grow back long and with a surprising amount of actual wave. (That last add in is just for Jessie if she happens to read this...) But throughout it all, I was happy if I spent five minutes or less to get my hair, and in high school the minimalistic makeup, all in order. Five minutes is really a stretch if I must be totally honest.
My friends were always happy to perform a make over, knowing it would last that afternoon and then, the end. It wasn't that I didn't like the way they were able to make me look, it was that the time it took to figure out how to get it done for myself was always...well, just too much. So I stuck with wash and go.
In college, I took it all to new extremes. First I cut it within an inch of it's life, then later started the dying process. Red, pink, green, and four months of blue, not to mention the tropic burgundy that became the color of choice for years to come. The hair grew back, it shrunk again, kind of like yo-yo dieting.
Besides the fact that I'm lazy about doing anything to my hair, I also hate having to pay money to get it done. The maintenance on the really short cut needed to be done every 6 weeks to prevent the formation of mushroom puffs around my ears, and that was far too much for a college student to deal with, let alone an ESI teacher. So in the end I gave up and let it grow long again. Actually, in Czech I could get a cut and color for about $15 USD, which is pretty incredible, but I still only managed to get there once a year. Click here, or here for visions of my Czech hair experiences. I'm sure there are actually a few posts that deal exclusively with the topic, but I don't want to spend all day searching for them. My boss in Czech always freaked out a little bit because Regina, the hairstylist, would make my hair all beautiful, and then I would wash my hair the next morning, and that would be the end of it. She thought I should go at least a few days without washing to keep the shape. But then it gets all greasy... And several hairstylists have bemoaned the fact that, besides down, the only other way I wear my hair is in a ponytail, leaving a tragic line in my already less than exciting hair.
Yeah, I'd call my attempts with hair pretty lazy. Today, however, I went out of my way to make sure I came back with something a little different from the salon. I was in desperate need of something fresh and new. Naturally, this also led to a little unashamed photo shootage. Haven't let the poser out to play for awhile, so it was good to have an excuse :)



So it probably won't look quite the same tomorrow after I wash it and then have to put it up since I've picked up an extra double long shift smack dab in the middle of my three day weekend, but at least it's different enough from the normal shapelessness that it should be pleasant for a while.

Forget 29, I'll claim 23...

Or at the most 26. That works, right? I could just stay there for a really good long time. I mean, compare, here is me at about 26:

And here is me last week:

I don't really look THAT much older after all :)
What a great day it's been. I woke up at Tammy's where she sang me a groggy happy birthday, I then met up with Laura who is here on her annual visit for ESI. It was so great to have a chance to catch up with her and hear how things are going and giggle over everything happening in my life.
Then Mark and his parents picked me up and took me shopping. I'm so happy Karlovy Vary now has an H&M. We had a lovely time running around despite the horrid drippy cold weather and then stuffed ourselves on a nice dinner on the drive back. I decided that, contrary to my usual choices of salad or pasta I would eat something hearty and Czech, so tonight it was turkey with peaches, ham and cheese on top, together with krokety and "devil" sauce. Almost had to be rolled out when I was through, but it sure was tasty.
We came home where I was greeted by a phone call from Mark's sister's family who greeted me in a mix of German, Czech, and English (the girls are studying English in school). It was so sweet to have such a precious phone call. I'm definitely blessed to have yet another set of lovely nieces and nephews. The boys were too shy to talk on the phone but their mom delivered their message ;)
Now it's time to enjoy a relaxing evening at home. It's been a lovely day so far and I feel so blessed.

Kinderbazaar...

I've encountered something new. A sort of sub-culture. In America we have garage sales. A place to take the things we've spent time on, but somehow outgrown, and to assign it a value. To share it anew with someone who might value from it as well. I've never been a big-time garage saler, the type that gets up early in the morning to scout out the best bargains. I'm more of the casual stroller, looking for some small deals, something I could likely live with out, but for a low price it might be worth while.
Here in Germany they have something a little different. It's called a Kinderbazaar. Instead of people sitting around outside their homes they bring all their used toys, books, and kids clothes and deposit them in a school gym or community center. And then come the mother's. It's really quite spectacular to watch the rush which often resembles a Day After Thanksgiving sale in the US. They all stand around the doors, pressing tighter and tighter, until at long last they open and they can begin to fill their jumbo sized Ikea bags with treasures that will benefit their families at a bargain.
I've been to quite a few of them during the past couple of weeks, most quite small, but still well attended. Yesterday, however, we went to the jumbo deluxe edition. We arrived an hour before opening time, and were able to purchase baked goods and coffee (fortunately made quite weak because they didn't leave much room for me to add milk) to tide us over before the doors opened. It was an international crowd as well. Germans, Czechs, even some other English speakers all began to crowd around the door half an hour before it opened. At first it was a loose sort of group, but soon it began to resemble the Chinese New Year market in Hong Kong. Not as much black hair, but the press and the crush was there, the feeling that, when the doors opened, you would have no choice but to move along thickly with the masses.
Fortunately, once we were finally let inside everything opened up and we were able to move around freely. Since I don't have any children at the moment, there wasn't a whole lot that I was looking for, but it was still an interesting experience just to be there in the midst of it all.
I've been here in Germany for two weeks now, and it looks like we'll be here for one more. It's a nice change of pace to be certain, and I've definitely enjoyed getting to know Mark's family a bit better. I still have trouble telling the twins apart, but even they are warming up to me, which is really good to see. It's hard not being able to just talk to them, or to understand everything they're saying, but I feel like more and more is coming to me as the days go by, and I can at least follow along for the most part.
Hard to believe September is already more than half way over. I certainly had not imagined I would still be on this side of the world by this point, but there are still experiences to be had and a bit of time yet to spend before the next chapter will really begin.

Small Obsessions...

Recently I've become a bit fixated on DM. I don't know what it is about the place that draws me. Something about those rows of colorful cleaning products and beauty supplies. I can just wander around the little store here in Marianske Lazne for ages.
I first went in a couple weeks ago looking for toothpaste, or maybe just a place to pass some time. A place outside the cold rainy weather that has been a blight on me most of the so called summer.
As I walked the aisles it just felt so fresh. Everything was so new and bright. It's amazing the power of marketing as well. I found that I wanted to put these things in a bag and carry them away with me. Somehow just possessing them would bring a little bit of that purity and newness into my life as well.
I'd been in other DMs in Cheb and the like, but there was something about this one that just made me want to stare at the products, to run my finger across the plastic bottles, to try for a hint of the perfume on the testers, to ponder what it would be like to use this, that or the other thing.
I ended up there long than anticipated because there was no one to let me back in the house, so I figured I might as well. I ended up creating a little wish list of excuses to come back to the store, and finally left with the toothpaste and a bottle of lychee-watermelon energy water. Unfortunately it tasted more of artificial watermelon than of lychee, and I can't say it gave me much energy, but it was worth a try.
Several days later I was back. This time to stare at the bottles of nail polish on the wall. I have four or five bottles of polish that I've been carting around the world with me for quite some time now. It's mostly for my toes. I started painting my toe nails around the end of high school. Generally, I've stuck to really mild colors. Silver, opalescent pink, lavender, and one type that perfectly matched the carpet of my apartment (almost called it a flat after so many years...) in Albany. I think it has something to do with the fact that I've looooooong hated feet in general, and my own feet in particular. By covering the nails in something light and peaceful it helped to negate some of their ickyness, at least on the surface and to casual observers passing by me when I'm wearing flip flops or sandals. But last summer I had a pedicure in Pasadena and opted for a lovely shade of blue. It inspired me. It somehow made my feet stand out as something other than my feet. Not anything beautiful or particularly likable even, but at least less repulse than usual. I'd tried a dark blue that I had with me about a month ago, but it was a bit too much. It needed a subtler touch, so I spent a considerable amount of time perusing the shiny glass bottles of vibrant colors, looking for just the right one. In the end, I did find a nice sparkly sort of turquoise-ish blue. The funniest bit is that, when I went to show it to Tammy this past weekend, she had bought the shade lighter that I had also been going back and forth between. Who'd a thunk?
The weather has been extra bad this week, temperatures only going up to the low teens (which would be like the lower 50's) so I haven't been back in a while. I've pretty much decided my next purchase will be some sort of cleansing mask. It's rather hard to decide on the best one with my language skills, but the desire to somehow do something good for my skin is prompting me to head back to that lovely store...
(Note: you really should check out the link. It'll take you directly to photos of the type of store in question and you can enjoy that brand new feeling too :)