Friday, May 16, 2014

Outfit of the Day #8 - Prófljótan

Let me start this post by explaining what Prófljótan (pronounced: pʰrouːfljouːd̥an) is. Prófljótan is an Icelandic concept of when exams are going on and you look like hell. It is a way of life during exam, a way of explaining without having to go into detail that it is likely that you haven't showered, slept or brushed your hair in a week. The likelihood of you having just been eating crap is high as well.

Bag - Satchel Bag With Zip Flap (in Orange) - ASOS / Jeans - Old Navy - The Sweetheart (Petite) / T-shirt - H&M (numbers painted by me) / Cardigan - Only - Ango Long Cardigan KNT BB / Shoes - Reebook (old)
I really doubt that Prófljótan is only an Icelandic phenomenon, but I just like the word. I as well want to start incorporating more of Icelandic ways of life or phrases into my blog and I though it my outfit posts would be the perfect setting for this.

Last week, was my last exam of the semester! What a relief, I have been working so hard and I am happy with what I have accomplished. I have been a tiny bit anxious during the exams, but I haven't been panicking at all which is great!


The greatest anxiety moment happened 10 days ago. I was handing in a final essay and realized that I might have forgotten to fill out a questionnaire. A very very very important questionnaire that if I did not do it I would fail the class, a class that my grade average was around 90%. My confusion about the issue was that I had filled out part one of this questionnaire but not part two.

I quickly e-mailed my teacher and asked if I was right that I hadn't answered the final questionnaire and if there was something I could do about it, and now 10 days later she still hasn't answered my e-mail. Fantastic...


Bisous

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Wellness and Weight Loss Wednesday

I haven't done one of these in a while and I thought that I hadn't made any process for the past weeks but when I looked at the last one I had 18 stars and this week I have reached 33 stars!!


As you can (if you squint) that by now I have gotten 3 prices! The first one was some flowers which I enjoyed much more than I expected. The second and third prizes were supposed to be a magazine and bath oils but I decided instead to buy a water bottle. A gorgeous pink and purple water bottle! I just was much more excited for a new water bottle, and I have been using it and it will help with my "2 liters of water for 7 days" goal!

I need to start having a general work out routine and start doing sit-ups and push-ups again. I have to as well measure myself again and see if I have lost any centimeters or kilograms! I'll probably get to that this week or maybe the next.

Bisous

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Review: Florena - Hand cream with organic camomile - for sensitive hands

I am one of those people that always has hand cream on me. I frequently have dry hands and I hate being out and about and having dry hands! 

I got the Florena hand cream from a PinkBox, I haven't seen it anywhere being sold in stores (which is one of the reasons I stopped getting the PinkBox)

Back to the hand cream! It is marketed as being natural and without mineral oils and silicones, which is something I prefer my skin products to be without. 


The ingredient list is still a bit on the longer side:
Aqua, isopropyl palmitate, glycerin, glyceryl stearate SE, cetyl alcohol, panthenol, octyldodecanol, sodium cetearyl sulfate, bisabolol, chamomilla recutta flower extract, propylene glycol, sodium acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, propylparaben, citronellol, benzyl alcohol, parfum.

There are couple of things that I don't like and the one that shocked me the most is isopropyl palmitate which is made out of palm oil! Something I would not expect in a natural product. I as well didn't like the fact it has methylparaben and propylparaben. Not at all something that should be in ANY product. 

The hand creams tag line is "mild and soothing care with the power of nature" and on the back it says (translated from German):
The highly effective formula
  • with natural chamomile from controlled organic cultivation soothes sensitive and stressed hands and gives them intensive moisture.
  • with provitamin b5 nourishes the hands gently 
  • absorbs quickly and provides a soft and supple skin feeling
I would say that it does the things that it claims it does. The hand cream is quite thick and a little goes a long way! It doesn't have a strong scent and it actually really reminds me of Nivea products, which isn't far fetched since they are under the same company. 

Florena is a part of the Beiersdorf company. Which owns for example Nivea, Labello, La Prairie, and Beiersdorf isn't cruelty free. 

So with all the bad ingredients, the fact that they aren't cruelty free and not even close to being as natural as they seem to claim I am pretty sure I wouldn't recommend this product. 

Bisous

Monday, May 12, 2014

Book Review: The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

I knew when I had the time to start reading novels again I needed to pick one up from Tess Gerritsen! I decided to start from the beginning of the Rizzoli and Isles series and therefore chose The Surgeon. I was not at all disappointed! I inhaled the book in an afternoon and wanted more (and thus downloaded on my kindle The Apprentice)! Right there and then, I decided that I was going to read all of the Rizzoli and Isles books this summer! A summer of crime novels! At the moment there are ten books in the series, the eleventh book will come out late 2014/early 2015. I have already reviewed Body Double (the fourth novel) and I plan on reviewing the rest of the books as well!


Back to The Surgeon, the back of the book (or well, the front of the kindle book) the plot of the book is described this way:
In Boston, there’s a killer on the loose…
A killer who targets lone women and performs terrifying ritualistic acts of torture on them before finishing them off. His surgical skills lead police to suspect he is a physician who, instead of saving lives, takes them. But as homicide detective Thomas Moore and his partner Jane Rizzoli begin their investigation, they make a startling discovery. Closely linked to these killings is Catherine Cordell, a beautiful doctor with a mysterious past. Two years ago she was subjected to a horrifying rape, and shot her attacker dead.
Now, the man she believes she killed seems to be stalking her once again. And this time he knows exactly where to find her…

The Surgeon introduces some of the main characters that are in the Rizzoli and Isles series, we get introduced to Jane Rizzoli and her family and some of the detectives (Frost, Crow, Moore). Dr. Isles isn't introduced until in the second novel The Apprentice.

The plot is great, if you have watched the Rizzoli and Isles tv-series you might recognize it since the first episode (in season one) is based on The Surgeon and The Apprentice.

The book is a mixture of first person narrative and third person narrative. The first person narrative is only from the killer perspective and the rest is in third person. I do prefer reading a novel when it is in third narrative but the first narrative wasn't bad at all. Firstly, there wasn't too much of it and secondly it wasn't a long worded ramble.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:
"Today they will find her body"
That was the first sentence of the book, it was a part of the first narrative section and set the voice to the rest of the novel.
"Elena Ortiz had lived long enough to see her own blood spurt from her neck and hit the wall in a machine-gun spray of red. She had lived long enough to aspirate blood into her severed trachea, to hear it gurgle in her lungs, to cough it out in explosive bursts of crimson phlegm."
I found that this book had a lot of gore and blood talk, and if I hear/read the word vein couple of times I start to become a little light headed and that is how I felt during some parts of the novel.
"This was now a high-profile case. Two days ago, the headline hit the front page of the local tabloid: ‘The Surgeon Cuts Again.’ Thanks to the Boston Herald, their unsub had his own moniker, and even the cops were using it. The Surgeon."
I just really like when the mention the title of the book in the novel and I notice it!
"She'd been deprived of love so long that she’d lost all sense of hunger. Only now, as every part of her came alive, did she remember what desire felt like, and her lips sought his with the eagerness of a starved woman."
And a cliché quote that I found to be a bit too much and awkward!

All in all I loved this book, and I can't wait to read the rest of the Rizzoli and Isles series that Tess Gerritsen has written.

Bisous

Sunday, May 11, 2014

My Monthly Goals: April Recap and May Goals

You have NO idea how glad I am this months is over! The only thing I have been doing this months is studying, with some more of studying. Not so shockingly I haven't really accomplished many of my goals. 


April Goals:
1. Start following my daily cleaning schedule again!
Did not happen at all, I have started on my the cleaning schedule after my exams which is good.
2. Study hard for finals
YES! And I did good!
3. Take pictures of a new place in Geneva
No, I haven't had the time, but it is something I plan on doing in May.
4. Try out a new recipe. 
I tried out a couple of new recipes that turned out pretty good! 
5. Have 50 stars on Wellness and Weight Loss chart
I am around 30 stars right now! 
6. Do Yoga for 100 minutes 
Not even close!
7. Post 4 OOTD
I have written couple of OOTD posts but I need to take the pictures for it.
8. Finish the Project Pan that I have going on at the moment 
Yes, you can check it out on my YouTube channel (right here)
9. Sew 1 item
No.
10. Set up a photography area
And no again.

May Goals: 
1. Start reading novels again.
2. Start with Weekly Make-Up Basket
3. Start Project 26 Pan
4. Have 50 stars on my Wellness and Weight Loss chart.
5. Start blogging more regularly again.
6. Spring Clean the apartment.
7. Reorganize my personal planner
8. Get a hair cut
9. Start practicing Arabic again.
10. Sew one item


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