Today's Mom's and My Aunt's Birthday!

Today's Mom's and Auntie's birthday! Yes, because they are twins. This in the picture is my Mom. Isn't she beautiful? ^_^ I'm terribly proud of her. My Auntie is just as beautiful with with a slight difference: Mom's more like the damsels from the epic poems with knights in shiny armors, while my Auntie looks more like the pricesses from the fairy tales. They are both very kind and ladylike, and you will never, ever hear them say a bad word. Really. They just don't say bad words. Funny right?

They are both very smart, strong in a quiet way and accomplished women. They both excelled in their careers and are recognized by their peers. Mom is a language teacher at one of the most important univesities of Costa Rica and Auntie works as a librarian at one of the most important libraries of Hungary.

Separated by the Atlantic Ocean, they have both lead quite lives and became loved by everyone who knows them. Really, they are like my boyfriend: it's humanly impossible not to love them!

With age they grow wiser, and stronger, but somehow time doesn't seem to touch their pretty little complexions. They are both so youthful! I guess they have both aged well and gracefully. They are simply young with added experience. ^_^

For what we have planned for them I can tell you, that I've asked my boyfriend to pick up a present for my Auntie at L'Occitane, while in here Mom will get a Lunch with her family, a book from her favorite author - Noam Chomsky - and a facial treatment at L'Occitane. It's early yet and I haven't even showered, so I can't tell you how it went, but I bet you that it will be a great day!

Gift Pack from L'Occitane

What a wonderful day I had today! I finished a letter for a friend in Malaysia, I received a letter from a friend in Germany - a very thick letter! - had delicious cottage cheese sweet balls for lunch, and then went to post my Malaysian friend's letter. Dear, I hope she gets my letter this time! Just in case I scanned the letter to make sure she gets it either physically or digitally.

In February (or maybe March?) during one of my regular purchases at L'Occitane the salesgirls offered me the L'Occitane Club Card (yes, another frequent buyer card. What a surprise). As part of the benefits of the membership there are discounts, premiums, access to special products, but also in the begining you get a set of "L'Occitane's Best". To get it you have to do a purchase after you receive an e-mail and before the period indicated in the e-mail ends. Well, you don't have to ask me twice, specially when here the products of L'Occitane are much more affordable than in Costa Rica, so I went to buy my beloved handcream, footcream, cuticule cream (all these of Shea Butter) and a daycream of olive oil to better attend my face. (Though the shea butter cream is the best for moisturizing - I can testify! - the olive oil cream helps to keep the needed water in the skin, even in oily skin, without making it oily.) It happens that there was also a promotion to introduce the almond products - most of them slimming, since summer and bikini season is comming! - if you bought products for a given amount. If you weren't a club member, you could buy a the promotional package at a very low price, but if you were a club member, then you've got it for free. Well, what would you think, with my purchase I actually got my "L'Occitane's Best" and my promotional "Almond" gift for the same purchase!

It's amazong, but I feel so set! ^_^ I've a lot of awesome products, and got them for a really unique price -  you gara admit that I did catch a very, very good promotion! - then treated myself with a nice dinner at my favorite restaurant, started working on a really awesome blog-post topic (probably for tomorrow) and went to see a very interesting movie, "Gone", with Amanda Seyfried.

Today's day was... amazing! It's amazing how something simple or how a good handcream and a great deal can make us feel like a million bucks. ^_^

@ Leroy, where the World finds Meaning Again

This is me right now. Well, not "right now-right now", but less than ten minutes ago... well, maybe not, but definitivelly not 30 minutes ago. This is me at Leroy finding peace and quite, alone with a glass of coke and a crêpe that thretens to defeat me. Cottage cheese mixed with sour cream and sugar for filling, covered with warm vanilla cream and peaches on top. It is delicious, but after an avocado roll it is a bit hard to down. This is one of the happiest places in the world for me, and definitively the best place to be after a series of unfortunate events.

Only today I wanted to buy a particularly nice Swatch watch that I really wanted, which after a year of looking and finding nothing to my taste, I finally found that one, only to realize today that it had been sold. Sold, no more. That was a blow, a very low hit. Then I realized what I've been experiencing all year long: Swatch hardly has anything else to offer me. That's most disappointing. To wash over my sadness, I went to the Benetton store, to buy myself new gloves, since I lost my Parisian Benetton gloves somewhere, probably in my Escape from The House of The Mother-in-Law. I really loved those gloves, but the run and the escape are a fair price for my gloves. Now I'm wearing some ugly white Mickey Mouse-like white gloves I would rather not use. Well, gues what? No gloves. I mean there were some "gloves", red and green, in the best Louis Vuiton style, which I dislike. So, no Benetton gloves for me. I did found a lovely garbo blouse, stripped in green and blue shades, but I believe that 168€ (some $238) is just a bit too much for a garbo. Trust me, if I say it's a bit too much, it's because it is. Specially when a sweater of the same material, but with V neck costs only 47,50€ (some $67,50). I'm crazy for Benetton, but I am not stupid. There was a lovely knitted gray and coal skirt there, in one size only. S. I ain't no S, I'm an M, but like to wear L because it's more comfty. There were M and L skirts... in gray and white. I want gray and coal, not gray and white. It would have been lovely for this weater, but I want grey and coal, and though I could make an effort and try on the S, I won't. Why do everything has to be so hard in here?

There were other pieces that have got me thinking, a few skirts I could purchase, perhaps, and then leave them here so that I have some solid clothes ready for when I move in. The idea is good, but first I'd like to check on other Benetton stores bafore making my final decision. This store didn't take me off my feet, so it will be put on hold.

Now, regarding my latest skin products, I must say I've been transformed into a believer of L'Occitane. First of all, yes, when you have the chance, purchase the products at airports and Duty Free places, because even if you "think" $53 for the product is too much (specially this traveling kit of daily moisturizing 24 hour lasting cream and eye contour cream, both of shea butter, grand total: $53 in Costa Rica's airport) it is not. In Budapest you can't get the kit, only the creams by separate. Grand Total of both? $92. And it works. I mean, I know that my brand new glasses totally hide any bags under my eyes, which I have always had, but I can assure you that using the eye contour cream in the morning and at night have made VISIBLE differences on my skin. Puffiness has been reduced, darkness is gone and the daily cream makes my face silky even in this weather. I tell you all, I've found GOLD.

Initially I planned to scribble up an entry all in Spanish about the truth about my mother-in-law with a detailed minute-by-minute recount of the events occured on the faitful day of December 26th, but then I changed my mind. Perhaps it will still happen, but I believe I have to work some more on the subject, mull it over and fill my soul with other experiences to digest it better.

The end of the year is coming close and with it, the time for resolutions, for living and letting die, for letting go and going on. Time for the annual cleaning, when in mind, soul, body, space and cyberspace you let go of the things that anchor you so that the new year begins full with hope and possibilities and enough place to grow into. There's something so beautiful about getting rid of all those things you don't need, and look around and see so much space, so much "possibilities" around you. Cluttering slows you down, cleaning and getting space invigorates you. It is the best feeling in the world!