Spa Dream

I wish I could go on holidays, I said casually to my mum. She asked me why not go next week? I said we are finalising important project at work and it's not the best time to go. She said, ok then, go after you finish this 'project'. I could hear in her voice that she remember me saying this last time. And time before that. So I said: I'll go on holidays. Next month. She said: Great.

We both knew it will not happen this year.

Is it only me? Why we postpone our 'me time' treats just because of work? Ok, so maybe you are passionate about your work. That's good. But it is also stressful. No matter how much you love your work, you need holidays.

I know I do.

And I don't want anybody to go with me. If it sounds selfish, I don't care. But I have this dream about being far away from everything I know. Just floating in a warm, blue water, drinking amaretto or reading new Pratchett book I didn't have time yet to read. Don't get me wrong, I love my family and being with my boufriend, and I really like my work lately. It's just this feeling in me, unsettled. And small voice asking: where are you?

It might be just the winter coming but I feel like I could sleep for a week. Do you?

Too much ado about fruits

Eat your 5-a-day, more fruits, vegetables all year round, go green - it seems like we are surrounded by "Fruit rules!" campaigns everywhere, it's like a siege. But prices for fruits and vegetables aren't going down, on the contrary, they are getting new label - "organic" and now go for twice the money. Is it suspicious or what? Today in a supermarket normal cucumber costs 62p, organic one - 97p.
I feel confused. So now they are trying to convince me, my normal vegetables are wrong, and they don't count as my 5 a day if they don't have a fancy new label? What kind of difference makes a label? What kind of guarantee I have that those two cucumbers weren't grown next to each other? Ok, so maybe organic one wasn't speed-grown on chemicals. But was it grown in natural environment or next to the motorway? And why fresh potatoes are 2 pounds per kilo, when frozen fries costs only 55 pence per 2 kg bag? What kind of potatoes are used for making fries?
All I want is a tasty, sun ripened, ready to eat food. If it is fair paid to local farmers, even better. If they don't use chemicals - even better - that's supposed to be a rule, anyway. What I am getting is half ready fruit, from the far far away kingdom, with fancy labels and no guarantees. Have you tried 'British Strawberries' this summer? They had all the right labels and no taste at all. What was strange they did smell great. So what, now they perfume the fruits to deceive us or what? I was put off so much I don't even eat strawberry jam anymore.
Sour lemons, that's what it is. There is a new trend for 'organic' 'fair trade' labeling and all that. And while this is all very nice, it makes me wonder what kind of food scandals would unfold in a near future if somebody just compared the products. Is a 'normal price' range all bad? Does 'fair trade' include 'organic'? Does 'organic' mean 'fair trade'? I could say making organic food still could be done on the expense of 'local farmers' while producing 'fair trade' food doesn't guarantee that vegetables aren't grown on chemicals.
I know one thing. I am growing suspicious.

Drink water = Great skin (the small print)

Everybody out there is giving you this great tip - Drink plenty of water for beautifull skin. From the diet experts to shampoo commercials anywhere you turn there is a big, flashy arrow pointing to 2 litres a day, moisturize, hydrafantastatic. They are obviously right. Water is important. What we drink count as much as what we eat.

But it's a small print that you need to read. You don't have to drink 2 litres of water per day. You need to drink enough for your lifestyle, says dermatologist Dr Howard Murad in october issue of Glamour.

Get plenty of essential fatty acids to hold it in, he says, because It's the water you retain that matters.

Great sources of fatty acids are walnuts, fish, leafy veg and pumpkin seeds. As they are quite tasty as well we can easily inlude them in our diets.

Well hydrated skin reflects light as a mirror and equals healthy skin glow. To help your skin lights -up use gentle exfoliating, but be carefull with scrubs with scratchy ingredients like almond. Instead, for a daily care use a polisher that will smoothly brighten your skin and paired with skin-plumping moisturizer give you the celbrity glow.

Fruit salad for gloomy sunday

It was raining all weekend again. I went to supermarket and bought all the boring house essentials like black bin bags. That's how exiting my sunday is.

I wasn't even in a mood for eating anything. I even passed the cheesecake without noticing. Ususally cheesecake with belgium chocolate is all but waving at me and jumping and I cannot resist.

Than I couldn't be bothered with oranges and melons and all of those sunny and smiling fruits. So I grabbed some kiwis, berries and limes coz I haven't eat them for a while. Is this emotional eating? Sure it is. I went straight to register forgetting bread and realizing it at my doorstep. Nevermind.

I looked at my impossible dinner combination. Kiwis, berries and limes. I din't even have tequila to utilize the limes. I was doomed.

So decided to not bother at all. I toasted white bread, put on it olive oil. Basics. Tasty. Than I made a fruit salad with all my great choice ingredients. It was actually nice. I was feeling better with my stomach full. Now, I am sure I got bottle of vine somewhere... I forgot to buy mineral water as well, you see...