Posted By Izzy Muses on August 29, 2010
A long summer of fit flops and flip flops takes its toll on the feet with dryness and hardened heels two of the most noticeable symptoms. For me, a cure in the form of Nivea and cotton socks has proved inexpensive and surprisingly effective. Don’t be tempted to try this without the socks – it’s bound to be messy!
I started the treatment on Friday evening with a quick salt scrub exfoliation, foot file, followed by a thick application of Nivea, then socks on, and a good night’s sleep. I applied more Nivea in the morning and wore the socks all day then applied another treatment with the Nivea on Saturday night. By Sunday morning I had a noticeable improvement in skin texture and softness. It’s enough to make me keep up the treatment – at least at night – on an ongoing basis.
Category: Skincare |
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Tags: callouses, feet, foot care, footcare, hard skin, home pedicure, Nivea, softening hard heels
Posted By Izzy Muses on August 28, 2010
August has been a fun month. Long, sunny days and time off work created an opportunity to visit some fantastic places around Ireland and to catch up with old friends. It also, unexpectedly, provided an opportunity to go shopping with said friends for the first time in more than 30 years. What an exhilarating and expensive experience that turned out to be! Within the space of half an hour and shopping as a pack we each managed to try on and purchase at least one new item of clothing. And, while I’m jealous of my size 8 friend who got two fabulous coats for under 40 euro each, I’m happy with my new dress – d.e.c.k. by Decollage – picked up in an outlet I’d never have considered if I hadn’t been led in forcefully by the girls! So, gentle reader, why not take a leaf from our book, organise lunch with a few school pals, catch up on the gossip and let them inspire you. We were in the outlets at Kildare Village and thoroughly enjoyed our rapid browse.
Category: Fashion, Women |
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Tags: designer outlets in Ireland, Kildare Village, lunch with friends, old friends, school friends, shopping
Posted By Izzy Muses on August 27, 2010
The great thing about going to boarding school is that the friends you make become like family and even though you may not see them too often in later life, running in to them is always a pleasure. The conversation is easy and full of laughter and they have a habit of plying you with gifts of food and drink to take home – just as families often do. Hence, enter the well-travelled cake – a Guyana Black Cake – baked by a former school friend who lives and works in that part of the world and who, inspired by the presence of the Irish contingent at the Cricket World Cup earlier this year, gathered together her ingredients to bake the famous black cake. The cake contains an impressive whack of alcohol and is a little reminiscent of a Christmas pudding. Over the last couple of weeks portions have been shared out with various school friends and has inspired a flurry of emails, meetings, and general bonhomie. It’s over 30 years now since we left school and yet we’re still meeting up from time to time to giggle and share old stories and new gossip. I googled for some recipes and came up with this one which looks like it might produce a fair representation should you wish to try it! For me and my school friends the Guyana Black Cake becomes another memory and here, in late August, as summer draws to a close we have our marker for 2010 which henceforth will be remembered as the summer of the well-travelled cake.
Category: Food |
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Tags: boarding schools, friendship, Guyana Black Cake, school friends
Posted By Izzy Muses on August 17, 2010
Okay. I admit it. I’ve had a couple of weeks away from the office and have probably enjoyed a few more coffees than I would fit into an ordinary working day. You’d think that was a simple, innocent enough indulgence given there are so many alternative vices around to choose from. Well, wrong. Why did nobody warn me that too much coffee in these fabulous perimenopause years can contribute to horribly painful, throbbing breasts? I might have been spared days of misery and think of the fun I could have had trying out alternative beverages. I might work my way through an A-Z of potential substitutes (Absinthe, Baileys, Cointreau, Drambuie, Eggnog, Fizz, Gin, Heineken …) were it not for the fact that these are all alcohol products and bring with them perimenopause challenges of their own, no doubt. So what, I ask, is a girl to do without coffee? Answers on a postcard please – or by way of a comment. All suggestions welcome (but please don’t try to sell me HRT-related products or menopause cream. I’ve already had those emails!)
Category: Perimenopause, breast pain, throbbing breasts |
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Tags: boobs, caffeine, caffine, Cofffee, hormonal, hormone related breast pain, hormone related breast problems, Menopause, pain, throbbing
Posted By Izzy Muses on August 10, 2010
- Sky+ If you’re a Sky subscriber, this app lets you remote record programmes – very handy when someone in the office mentions that a programme is on and you’re not going to make it home in time to see it. You will need a Sky user name and password so make sure you have set up your account online before trying to use this app. You need to select the programme you want to record at least half an hour before the start of the show.
- Starwalk For me, this is the most amazing app on my iPhone. If you’ve ever looked up in awe on a starry night, then Starwalk will appeal to you. It’s a fun educational app that’s really lovely to look at. I like how it names the constellations. On Christmas Eve Starwalk added a whole new element of magic for my nephew who spotted Santa in his sled with reindeer dashing across the night sky. No wonder Santa can cover the entire world in a single day if this is how he travels!
- JotNot A simple idea that uses the iPhone’s camera to turn your phone into a document scanner. I actually used this to scan corrected proofs of a document so that I could email them back to the office. Handy indeed if you don’t have a scanner in the house.
- Words with Friends A user-friendly Scrabble-type game that is potentially addictive. You can choose to play against random opponents, or invite friends. You can also opt to ‘pass and play’. Good fun for Scrabble fans.
- Shazam Everyone knows about Shazam but I have to mention it because it never ceases to amaze me. Point it at the TV when you hear a tune you can’t name, and Shazam will analyse it and give you back the name in seconds. I’ve used this for songs on the TV, in a taxi, in a pub. I’ve even used it to find the name of piece I was playing from memory on the keyboard – mind you, it gave me a different answer twice so perhaps my playing is not as good as I’d like to think!
Category: Uncategorized |
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Tags: iphone applications, jotnot, shazam, sky plus, sky+ record, starwalk, words with friends
A long summer of fit flops and flip flops takes its toll on the feet with dryness and hardened heels two of the most noticeable symptoms. For me, a cure in the form of Nivea and cotton socks has proved inexpensive and surprisingly effective. Don’t be tempted to try this without the socks – it’s bound to be messy!
