The no fashion, fashion shoot in Guatemala

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday. 

I didn't get around to doing any fashion shoots while in Guatemala

so I thought I would substitute some pictures of our hotel and the grounds along with a few pics of me.

Have a great day!

Breakfast @ Hotel Atitlan 

Lake Atitlan, Panajachel Guatemala

Shopping in Costa Rica - it's all an adventure!

You might wonder what we have been doing with all of our spare time since arriving in Costa Rica.Well, the short and the long answer to that question would be, mostly "shopping".

I am a gal who loves to shop, however shopping is much different here in Grecia. That goes for food as well as household items. There is no Safeway, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or Home Depot here. Also accommodating food for a vegan diet adds an extra layer. It reminds me of the options available in San Francisco back in the 80's. You can find organic foods but you really have to look for them. I know that it is not quite as difficult on the Caribbean side or even on the Pacific side but here in our little corner of the world it takes a little more time.

We have gone to several stores so far. The closest one was a pulperia.

Our neighbor Vinny drove us to the local pulperia. Vinny is one of our landlord Marcelo's cousins and speaks pretty good English. I think just about everyone on our street is related to Marcelo. (I remember a time in the states when things were the same way)

In Costa Rica small grocery stores like our corner stores are called pulperias.

Our little neighborhood pulperia is called Super Linda Vista

The store is operated by Christian (a very tall Tico)

It's neat and clean and has a variety of products.

but...

Not too many brands that we recognized

Vinny was very helpful recommending what to buy

The store that offered us the most familiar shopping experience was the Auto Mercado Supermarket in Alajuela (the next town over from us - and Costa Rica's 2nd largest city).  Auto Mercado is the most expensive grocery chain in the country! The store was beautiful and full of all the brands I recognized. They had a small selection of organic fruit and produce and even carried Kendall Jackson wine. However since part of our goal was to live more economically, no money would be saved by shopping there so....it was fun while it lasted but we will need to pass on making tis our go-to grocery store in the future. 

The Auto Mercado

We also shopped at Rosvil Market in Grecia. They have a very good selection of food. The store is pretty big. Something that stood out to us was that -- the store will deliver your food to your home for you. You shop and then tell them when you will be home and they deliver - no charge! I don't have any photos but I am pretty sure we will shop there often.

There is a pretty big feria (Farmer's Market) in Grecia on Friday and Saturday. We missed last week but plan to go this week.

Other options for fruits and vegetables include the Mercado Central (Central Market) which is right at the Grecia bus station, where we went today. We took the bus for the 1st time. The bus stop is about 500 meters from our house and is uphill (or I think about 5 city blocks). 

The Central Market has many small shops and offers a variety of products. There was also an organic store, Macrobiotica. 

These are pics of our trek to the bus stop - it is uphill all the way

Yes please wait for me

                            Please check out that blue sky - it is absolutely gorgeous

from the top of the hill

Finally we made it to the bus stop - after stopping about 3 times to catch our breath

This is the bus stop - you can tell by the yellow line - that is the ONLY marker

The adventure continues

a little taste of downtown Grecia (sorry for the shaky video)

The Eyes have it

I am now ticking off boxes on my Costa Rica to-do list.

Last Friday: Eye Exam and new glasses

Just as our physical strength decreases with age, our eyes also exhibit an age-related decline in performance — particularly as we reach our 60s and beyond.

Some age-related eye changes, such as presbyopia, are perfectly normal and don't signify any sort of disease process. While cataracts can be considered an age-related disease, they are extremely common among seniors and can be readily corrected with cataract surgery.

Some of us, however, will experience more serious age-related eye diseases that have greater potential for affecting our quality of life as we grow older. These conditions include glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Source 

The AARP Eye Chart

There a couple of parts of the eye exam that I am not too fond of. One being the eye dilation test. It takes about 15-20 minutes for your eyes to dilate, the test takes about 5 minutes, and it was close to 6 hours before my eyes were back to normal.

The 2nd is the peripheral test - "wow" - what a doozie. The test consists of a series of very faint wiggling gray lines that periodically pop into your field of vision.  You are instructed to stare only at the dot in the middle screen and use the clicker when you see the wiggling lines appear. I wasn't sure what I was seeing half the time. I got a total fail! I had to take the test a couple of times as I was told "the machine caught your eyes looking around!!" After switching me to a different machine,  I did get them all correct but....what the heck happened to the good old days when they used a simple farmhouse to test your peripheral vision?

I have a couple of friends around my age who have macular degeneration and also in my research I learned that glaucoma is the #1 cause of blindness in African Americans, so I was a little concerned. I was really happy to find out after my exam, that I had no signs of color blindness, glaucoma, cataracts, or macular degeneration (which, according to my doctor, is more prevalent in people with blue eyes). However, I am almost 66 - so I do have some slight changes in my vision, but nothing too worry about at this time.

After the exam I tried on the Oliver Peoples frames again, they had originally been my 1st choice, but the 2nd time around they felt just a little bit too tame for me and my new life in retirement.

I really do like the frames but once I put them on, the subtle details disappeared and they looked more like a simple pair of black glasses :( They would have been a sure choice if I were going to continue working in corporate America.

In the final analysis I decided not to go with the Olive Peoples frames and chose instead the Dior frames.

My plan in retirement is to GO BOLD!

The cost of my Dior choice without insurance would have been $1,100!!! Can you believe it? I am always hearing about people who buy their glasses for $99. No, not me. I have never purchased a pair of glasses for less then $500. With my insurance the cost is mere $433. My progressive, transition lens would be $533 alone without the insurance.  There is also a new Hoya Progressive lens that I am getting. It will take 4-5 weeks to get the glasses back. (No "in about an hour" here)

Oh, I also ordered the Prada glasses as my 2nd pair but I will have to pay full price for those - no insurance discount. I think the optometrist office will give me 20% off the frames :)

What is your best bet for healthy eyes after 60?

A healthy diet and wise lifestyle choices, such as not smoking, are your best natural defenses against vision loss as you age. Choose vegetables high in lutein.

Be sure to get your eyes checked yearly after 60 as it is so important!

I'll be sure to post my glasses when I get them!

My 15 X 4 Facial Oil & Anti Aging Serum

My 15 by 4 facial oil/Anti Aging

For about a year I have been using straight coconut oil as a single oil on my face. I have been using it as night cream and a daily moisturizer. Before this I was using a commercial moisturizer. I really wanted to use something that was free of chemicals and coconut oil is very helpful in a multitude of ways. I didn't have issues with it per se, but I did feel that it might be just a bit too oily for everyday use on the face if you are using it as your single source.

So, I have been on the look out for a lighter replacement and the perfect oil for my face. 

Last month I made a face serum with a recipe that used Rose Hip Oil. In addition to being a pretty expensive oil,  I did not care much for the scent. I do realize that the oils are therapeutic, however there are generally alternative oils than can be substituted if you do not have a suggested oil or, as in my case, you do not like the scent.

So I have continued my search

This newest herbal face oil is amazing for skin. It does use 5 different essential oils (and not the least expensive oils) but it smells incredible and should work just as well.

If you follow the recipe you will only need a couple of smalls drop each day and it should last about 6-8 months and it is the only face moisturizer you'll need.

Herbal Face Oil Ingredients

The special blend of oils in this recipe is especially good for skin, including:

• Argan Oil ( I did not have Argan so I substituted jojoba)
• Rose (I used Rose Absolute)
• Lavender Essential Oil
• Frankincense Essential Oil
• Myrrh Essential oil

Another great thing about this recipe is that it takes seconds to make because you are just mixing oils with other oils and no water or emulsification is needed.

Keep  it handy by your sink and use a drop after oil cleansing each night or after washing your face in the morning. It smells incredible and I love smelling the oils as I drift off to sleep or as I work in the morning.

Face Oil Ingredients:

• 2 ounces argan oil
• 15 drops each of Rose, Lavender, Frankincense Myrrh essential oils

How to Make Herbal Face Oil:

1. Mix all ingredients in a small glass dropper bottle or pump bottle that can release only a drop or two at a time.
2. Use 2-3 drops per day as needed on face.

Note: If you have drier skin, another oil like jojoba, olive or sea buckthorn can be used.

Recipe Source 

Step into my kitchen

Can you guess what I'm cooking up?

hint...I don't cook!

No, it's not a Thanksgiving turkey. As a matter of fact it has nothing to do with Thanksgiving.

When last I wrote, I told you that I was making some big changes in my life. The biggest being a complete change in diet and my approach to wellness. In conjunction with participating in the healing of my own body, I have also started using essential oils. The oils can be used therapeutically to support physical and emotional well being and are also useful in so many other ways. My plan is to rid myself and my home of the toxic products I have been using and replace them with clean, natural organic, products. 

Another thing I have always loved is creating scents and fragrances. I did this by mixing different fragrances together. Of course I have known for some time that commercial fragrances contains harmful, toxic ingredients but thinking I had no choice, I used them anyway. 

Scent of Danger: Are There Toxic Ingredients in Perfumes and Colognes?

So now I've decided to make my own perfume using essential oils. 

Over the weekend I also made anti aging night serums for my face and neck. Clean and for a fraction of the cost to buy them @ Nordstrom or Macy's!

 With the night cream under my belt, how hard could it be to create a fragrance? 

I scoured the internet watching video after video 

and learned a lot about how to make my own fragrance. 

And, really it's not that difficult

I gathered up all of my oils and set out to whip up a new scent. 

except.....

I didn't follow the directions closely enough as I discovered 

I needed to use alcohol for the recipes I had chosen.

I had not seen that part. Nor had I paid attention to the fact that I also needed distilled water.

So back to the store I went. 

 You can use perfumer's alcohol 

or 

wait for it....

Vodka! 

At least 80 proof. The alcohol helps the scent to evaporate 

I bought a  bottle @ Trader Joe's for $5.99 (don't think I will try drinking it) 

Once I had all of my ingredients. I set them out on my counter top and 

separated them by base, middle and top notes

Snapping a few pics of myself along the way

All kidding aside, it's really not that hard. All you really need to make your own perfume is a good quality oil to use as your base, some quality essential oils (there are many companies out there to choose from) and a non reactive container to put it in. I think glass is better. 

Now I have so many choices that I haven't decided which one I want to make first.

I'll be sure to share the results with you. It also takes about 30 days after you make the fragrance before you can wear it.

I'm shooting for a Xmas reveal! Be sure to stop back by.

Also if you have questions about essential oils and/or want to make your own creams. perfumes. etc. Email me or Leave me message in comments.