Picture Perfect: CURVES

My curves are not crazy. Henri Matisse(1869-1954)

© Photo: Riihele. All rights reserved.

Everything is beautiful, all that matters is to be able to interpret. Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

Art is a harmony parallel with nature. Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)

This is my entry on the Picture Perfect CURVES.
Take ye great care. Rii 🙂

This is the side entrance into the modern part of the Cardo which is covered and full of the most fancy shops. My favourite place for shopping in Jerusalem, actually. It is the modernized part of the Cardo and a very nice place to shop indeed.

Difference in Retail Therapy …

On behalf of the female species I just want to say this:

The female of the species in every culture, in every corner of the globe has one hobby, one pastime that is normally very high on the agenda – the shopping. It is not so much of the actual getting of the goods, but to just to be able to look at everything available, to walk about with your friends and have a quality cup of coffee in a cafe with the right ambience. To be at your leisure is the most important factor in the whole equation. Huh? Sounds complicated, this feminine maths and the female logic to the uninitiated, does it? Aahh, tis plain as mud.

I have two daughters who are all grown-up these days, yet still when we get together, we like to go browsing in the stores in whichever country we will meet. It does not necessarily mean that we will buy that much as it is more to get a feel of the locale. It is a culture test of a kind as what is in the stores speaks volumes to the one that is so inclined.

The word ‘therapy’, in Retail Therapy, means in its original language, Greek,

therap-, –therapeutic[s], –therapeutically, –therapy, –therapies, –therapist

(Greek: heal, cure; treatment; service done to the sick, a waiting on).

So true. Retail therapy could be said to be a ‘service done to the whole business world and the world economics‘, for tis really mostly the females that keep the retailers on the High Street going. This link has the ‘scientific’ – read: rather on the dull side – explanations on the High Street. Neither do I think that even if the net domain is called High Street with tons of stores and goods online that it is equal to the real retail therapy experience! No way.

Now a question

“WHO ARE THESE CONSUMERS that keep the world’s markets going?”

The answer:

LADIES, naiset, DAMEN, femmes, WOMEN, frauen ….

It is a fact universally acknowledged that it is the women in every country who mostly do the shopping and so they are the consumers that these statistics are talking about and whose shopping habits they reflect!

We should be given a credit for doing such a noble thing to help the world economy in every country. I suggest the NP aka The Noble Prize* in The Retail Therapy for the best candidate searched with the right criteria et cetera. The NP in Retail Therapy could be a section of the NP in the Economics, for example.

I have been called Queen of Retail Therapy, but I will tell you that those days are long past & gone! Truly. Seriously, now, do mean it. No joking. Actually. Rii :))

PS.
I do vouch 100 per cent that she had a swell of a time every single second of those 3 hrs and 26 mins, because the RT is a cheer for her and not a chore like tis to him,  who is suffering every split-second of those 6 mins, as he dashed into the store & out!! Her money was better spent, I say.

* Nominations taken. 🙂

LIPSTICK …

…a woman’s first job is to choose the right shade of lipstick.
Carole Lombard

Would you believe that In 1770, the British Parliament passed a law condemning lipstick, stating that “women found guilty of seducing men into matrimony by a cosmetic means could be tried for witchcraft.” (Chemical & Engineering News online)

Lipstick is known to have been used around 5000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, when semi-precious jewels were crushed and applied to the lips and occasionally around the eyes. Women in the ancient Indus Valley Civilization applied lipstick to their lips for face decoration. Ancient Egyptians extracted purplish-red dye from fucus-algin, 0.01% iodine, and some bromine mannite, which resulted in serious illness.

Cleopatra had her lipstick made from crushed carmine beetles, which gave a deep red pigment, and ants for a base. Lipsticks with shimmering effects were initially made using a substance found in fish scales called coalescence.

Lipstick started to gain popularity in the 16th century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who made blood-red lips and stark white faces a fashion statement. By that time, lipstick was made from a blend of beeswax and red stains from plants. During the Second World War, lipstick gained popularity as a result of its use in the movie industry, and it became commonplace for women to apply makeup, or “put their face on”. Wikipedia
“Did you know that we can ingest up to 20kg of lipstick in a lifetime – those synthetic dyes, with lead & aluminum are absorbed into our bodies and sit in our organs and fatty tissue? They cause nausea, headaches, skin problems, fatigue, mood swings, drying and cracking lips, and a condition called cheilitis, dermatitis of the lips, states the Be Well Stay Well site online.

In our factory, we make lipstick.
In our advertising, we sell hope.
Peter Nivio Zarlenga

Choosing lipstick colours — some helpful hints on the Beauty i love india site and here are some handy tips and and how to make lipstick last long on the same site:

• Store lipstick in the fridge, it will last longer.
• While buying lipstick never use the tester on your lips. It is very unhygienic.
• Apply the tester on fingertips. This is a better option than the back of your hand as it closer than your lips.
• Lipstick can be used as blush, but do not use blush as lipstick.
• When you are to the last bit of your favorite lipstick scrape out the last bits with an orange stick and mix it with lip-gloss or vaseline and use it.
• To prevent lipstick from sticking to the glass you are drinking from, discreetly lick the edge of the glass before touching your lips to it.
• If your lipstick has broken, the just light a match under the broken part of a while, when the lipstick melts a little then put it back on the base. Then swivel down the lipstick and put it in the fridge, uncovered for about 5 minutes.

Beauty is being in harmony with what you are.
Peter Nivio Zarlenga

Tis for now and a grand week for ye. Rii

The photo — taken by Rii — is me lipstick, by the way.

This site has a very comprehensive database on cosmetics where one can do a search to see what-is-what on any particular product and make: Skin Deep: Cosmetics Safety Database.

Here is Connie Francis with the ‘Lipstick On Your Collar’

CARTOON: SHOPPING

 

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Lovely new week Dear Friends!

Tis for now. Rii xx

Incidents & Such Like: EEJIT!

This is an Incident that happened many years ago in Ireland.

I have divided The Incidents into The Comical, The Dangerous and The Thinking About Them Ones. This one belongs to the first mentioned ones The Comical. The story is like this:

We have this Irish/American family as very good friends and we were used to spending a lot time with them while they lived in Ireland as well. She – the Lady of the Family – is and was one of the greatest RT-therapists of all-time and we did have such time-consuming sessions of the same female pursuit. My daughters were no problem to have tagging along as they are so into the RT- retail therapy themselves; the trickier ones were her three sons that failed to see, neither to understand the finer points of the said pastime. They had to be bribed to not to complain nor to sigh deeply every five minutes, never mind not to have fits and so on. That was always the hardest part of every shopping trip.

We were going to head one morning to a session and to make the experience smooth for all, we got the older boys to agree to be at their best behaviour but the last and also the toughest one to convince was always, Daniel, the youngest son of just a bit older than one year but who had such an amazing command of words for his age.

Daniel in his diapers, cherubic as always, was there leaning on the counter looking like a casual cowboy while drinking his morn bottle when we were going to put clothes on him, telling him at the same time that how great he was and what a brilliant time we were all going to have and did the marketing-the-idea-bit to him to the T; as we thought anyway.

Saying:

“If you are a really, really good boy in the shops, you will get to go for a ride in the Postman Pat Wagon in the shopping centre!”

Daniel thinks and ponders for a moment, takes off the bottle of his lips, still leaning casually and says:

“Postman Pat is a Flippin’ Eejit anyway!!!”

Am afraid we lost the plot at that stage for we started to laugh in hysterics and he won that round.

Anytime after that when we see the toy or the programme on TV, what Daniel said pops to our minds and makes us roar laughing once again.

Tis for now. Riihele xx.

* Eejit is Irish expression for Idiot.

Favourite Photos: BOUQUETS of ROSES

The large white SIGN states:

RUUSU (Finnish) = ROSE
PUNTTI (colloquial Finnish) = Bouquet
The deal is 8€ for 20 roses – rather a great deal, I must say!

Here is the Currency Calculator to see how much that is in your money.The yellow SIGN behind the Campanula isophylla ‘Mayi’– “Star of Bethlehem”- gives the price of 5€ for the each pot – this particular shot does not show it but I have others that do. The white Roses price is 5€ as well. I did not catch the exact name of these white roses.

I was on a quick visit to Helsinki – the capital city of Finland – in June and after I got the other necessary items done, I had the time to have a good look at the Market Square right at the harbour in the city centre.

”The busy Market Square, with its orange stalls, between the sea and the impressive row of historical buildings is the first view to catch the eye of the visitor arriving by sea. On one side of the bay is the South Harbour, on the other the Katajanokka headland.

Facing out to sea are Helsinki City Hall, the Swedish Embassy and the Presidential Palace. One notable feature of the Market is the old Market Hall on the south shore, the first of its kind in Finland and opened in 1889.” Says the Virtual Helsinki online site. The link has a Panoramic Tour of Helsinki – very snazzy!

 

Tis for now. Riihele xx

© Photos: By Riihele. All rights reserved.

GREAT WEEKEND TO YE ALL.

 

Travelogue from Dublin:Shopping, Style & Culture

Today I would like to talk about style and shopping – yes, the one that is one of the best female pastimes that is known to man, as in, to humans. I used to be quite a retail-therapist at one time, but no longer.

Tis amazing that any which way one looks to in the nations that one sees these masses of the most sportily dressed but totally unfit populace of both men and women! I personally cannot stand the whole ‘gear’ and do not even own one single pair of sneakers or as they are called here in Ireland, runners or trainers, neither the other parts of the said ensemble. I have done all my life from my childhood varied sports so that I have the fitness without the flaunting gear. Anyway, the said outfit does not feel right on me and it is not in the least comfortable on in ma mind. Others are welcome to wear it as they see fit, pardon the pun.

This nauseous set of outer wear is all that is on the most of the population here as well. There were two or three of the crowds milling on the Grafton Street, the ‘in’ shopping street in Dublin, that did look very smart in their high heels, stylish suits and the handbags to match the other day. There were also a few men that looked so very smart in their ‘real clothes’. These two smartly chic ladies were in a shoe shop where my daughter bought herself a pair of the basketball shoes that are so hip n happening at the moment. The name of the store is good, I think, being called, Office. How handy to tell your significant other that one just goes to the ‘office’ – no need to mention anything about the retail aspect at all! ‘I’m just nipping down to the Office.’ Great. Normally, the ‘office’ is jokingly meant to be the local pub of one in here.

The oh-so-elegant ladies bought shoes, one of them a very, very fabulous pair of stylish black suede shoes for festive wear – I so totally approved of them just my style, too – and the other to my utter surprise got herself, so unlike the style she was wearing, a pair of black leather flats! I was thinking, ‘Darling, Where are you going to wear Those?!’ but held back. Things that one never gets an answer to, but is just left pondering, wondering…Always a killer.

My main former supplier of shoes in this country called, Carl Scarpa, is still going strong on the Grafton Street, in Dublin. The malls off the Grafton Street such as The St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre,The Royal Hibernian Way, and The Powerscourt Town House Centre are excellent to just pop in and to have a lookie or to do some selective shopping and a select cup of coffee, particularly in The Powerscourt Town House on the Suffolk Street. The flagship store in these shores is The Brown Thomas, also located on Grafton Street, where one can shop nigh anything and everything one possibly would desire to have and to hold. There are a couple of great coffee shops in the store as well where many a cup and pastries have been downed by us after a busy spree with friends.

Another great place to chill n sip coffee or any beverage of your choice is The Westbury Hotel off Grafton Street where one can sit in peace and ponder what is and what will be in the most elegant surroundings. It was there that we, as in the daughters and myself, used to wait for the traffic jams to clear before heading down to our home in county Wicklow himself as our chauffeur. It was also in the Westbury that I used to meet my friends who lived in other parts of Dublin, because it was the handiest for them and to me as well to have a lovely lunch or just a glass of wine and something to nibble taking our time as one was not rushed to get off the premises as one is in so many other places these days. There is at times live music as in a pianist and the ambience is tres tres jolie. If you are that way, do go in there and sit down in those most comfy sofas and get the Afternoon Tea or whatever you would fancy, and you will very quickly get the drift in what I’m saying about the place.

Tis for now. Riihele xx.

PS.
The picture is taken by me of the harpist in the concert in the Main House in Powerscourt where the concert was held in the Garden Room; so am all cultured, well-fed and well-shopped!!

My Style of Shopping!

This time the story is this: it was my birthday, so that means the Second of August, and my elder sister came along with me to do some shopping in the town called, the area (Tavastia in English) in question – is that is it is the most straight-laced place in all of Finland, as the Irish would say of a place that is rather uptight and serious. They are not known to be jolly-hearted, joke-cracking people in Finland, if you know what I mean.That reputation of the town did not stop me of ‘chancing me arm’ in trying out to get discounts and the like.

This is what happened:

I was collecting a few rolls of film which had been developed in a particular store which was our first port of call in the town and as we were stepping in, I said to my sister:

‘Do not say anything at all until we are outside the shop, please!’

To the shop assistant I said, who I had seen in our school but did not know as such, that:

‘Do you know that it is my birthday today and I really would like a present from you?’

‘Oh,’ he said laughing, ‘really?’

Then he knocked off a few quid off the cost of the films. I thanked him for the lovely present, of course.

We trotted on to the optician’s where a pair of new specs that had been ordered for me only needing to be collected, so again – the same thing about me birthday and the present

– again a present received in this shop as well.

Then third time lucky, my last store to go to was a shop that sold handbags and I was in need of a new one – stickler for style, may I say

– here again the same spiel with the same result, discount given and gratefully received by yours truly!

All this time my sister had kept silent but as we went out of the very last shop she said:

‘So this is the way to do the shopping?!

Tis for now. Riihele xx.

PS.
If one does not ask, one does not get, right?!!! I recommend the method, though I do not insist if the person says ‘no’ – but normally, I do get a very good discount!

Female Pastime: Shopping

The female of the species in every culture, in every corner of the globe has one hobby, one pastime that is normally very high on the agenda – the shopping. It is not so much of the actual getting of the goods, but to just to be able to look at everything available, to walk about with your friends and have a quality cup of coffee in a cafe with the right ambience. To be at your leisure is the most important factor in the whole equation. Huh? Sounds complicated, this feminine maths and the female logic to the uninitiated, does it? Aahh, tis plain as mud.

I have two daughters who are all grown-up these days, yet still when we get together, we like to go browsing in the stores in whichever country we will meet. It does not necessarily mean that we will buy that much as it is more to get a feel of the locale. It is a culture test of a kind as what is in the stores speaks volumes to the one, that is so inclined.

One year when the girls and I were returning back from an extended visit to Finland, we had started our return flight Numero Uno in a town at 5am, we took the flight Numero Two in Helsinki at 7 am, so that by the time it was about 10am – that is actually 9 o’clock local time in Copenhagen, Denmark – we were so shattered with all this flying that we just wanted to get back home to Ireland ASAP.

What happened was that as the plane for our flight Number Three had been overbooked, I was asked if we would remain behind with ‘payment’. We three would be taking a much later flight that the SAS – the Scandinavian Airlines – would arrange for us. I gave a look at my exhausted girls and said:

“Girls, if we stay on now in Copenhagen,
we will each get US$ 200 in cash.

Also, we will get the same amount in the Danish Krones as a cheque.
The lunch et cetera would be all part of this deal.

What do you think?

We can do
some shopping
here in Copenhagen!!” 

Once the word – shopping – was mentioned, the girls got instantly and visibly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on the spot! Oh, yes, they very much agreed and so twas settled that we would go on later.

The ground hostess took us and a few other passengers to the bar, where the bar attendant asked me as to what kind of beverage I would like to have on the house, but as I just was so tired, I could not think, and only downed a mineral water! Had I been thinking I would have surely had some very classy Champers. Anyway, by the time we had had the complementary drinks and were heading to the huge mall to do some shopping; what do know, but the ground hostess comes to us hurriedly and informs us, that we have got places on a plane leaving in a few minutes to Birmingham, England!! And then we were to take a fourth plane there on to Dublin.

It was a very promising shopping experience lost.

Tis for now. Riihele xx.