Girl Time

     Isa and I have discovered a great movie mini-series: Sissy. It is set in the late 1800's in Austria and Vienna. Based on the true story of the last Empress of Austria and Hungary, Isabel de Baveria, these films are delightful. The third takes a turn from the life of Sissy, but is still entertaining. We've set aside part of the evenings this week for some girl time and just finished the third in the set last night.

     Oh how we squealed over the elegant, hoopskirt dresses and lavish palace surroundings! Some things never change... (I have found that even though there may be slightly different customs from one culture to another, human nature and desires remain the same. Chile happens to be quite westernized.) Isa and I have many similar tastes and it has been a fun treat to take these few hours to relax like this.

     I recently stumbled across a plethora of natural face masks, washes, toners, creams- you name it. So last night we experimented. We combined avocado, lemon juice, milk and oats for a refreshing, albeit hilarious-looking facial. Believe me, putting on and taking off the mask was a mess, but so much fun. We even tried to go the whole way with a cleansing face steam beforehand...over the bathroom sink! It didn't work too well.

     I am now inspired to see what else I can make with natural ingredients. There were so many fascinating recipes-many very easy to make. Although fruit and veggies aren't as cheap in the States as here, some of them are still not very expensive. Someday, I'd like to concoct my own personalized skin-care regimen. Think how good this would be for the skin...all the nutrients and care it needs naturally without chemicals for a comparable or lower price than most sets bought in stores. Maybe I can even develop a whole line of natural skin-care. (Hey, I can dream, can't I?) Normally, I'm the type of person that falls in the middle about health issues. I try not to stuff my body with toxic chemicals and I try to exercise, yet I don't go overboard with only eating healthy food, exercising all the time, and using only all-natural ingredients. This idea of whipping up all these cool products really attracts me though. Maybe because it's something very fresh and there are endless possibilities...it's a creative process: one that can easily turn into a hilarious adventure made even better by the sharing of it with sisters and mothers.