Update

Hi everyone,
I'm back home from the hospital. Still trying to recover. First I had high fever for a week and was hospitalized, then they sent me home and the same day I developed complications in my eyes (something called optic neuritis among other things). Basically lost sight in my right eye. Got readmitted, had IV steroids. It's not pretty. I'm still half-blind, can't read, can't drive, can't type, can hardly watch TV plus weak as hell from the steroid pills that I continue taking and headaches. I haven't been reading your blogs, will have to catch up later. They say it takes time, but how much? Right now I'm typing this with my right eye closed...

Oh well, I don't want to complain too much. It's going to take as long as it has to. I sure miss blogging and as soon as I can see myself in the mirror again (hopefully without gasping) I'll be back.

Dr. House, help!

A quick post to let you know that I am in the hospital. Since sunday. Fever would not let up. They are still trying to figure out what is wrong with me. No computers here, posting from cellphone. As you can see I have a good book. Bye for now.

I didn't touch the computer for several days (after my Friday's post). My "virus" is back, and I'm going through a bunch of tests to figure out what it is. The doctor said it could be flu or -wait for it - mono!!! WTF!!!

But I have some good news as well. I turned the computer on and what did I see? What a nice surprise. I got an award from Fashion After Forty! If you don't know Sher, go and read her blog. She inspires me to get off my butt and go do something! (OK, I can't really go skiing in Israel but it can translate into so many other things!!!)

Here is my award, in all her glory, sparkling and beautiful:

Now I have to share 7 random facts about me. A bit of self-digging is in order...

1. As a child, I wanted to become an ornitologist. I read books on birds, I learned their names, I watched documentaries on bird-watchers and researchers. Of course, now my job(s) are as far from birds as possible. But I still remember those days with a smile.

2. I've lived in 4 different countries. Russia till the age of 24, then went to Israel. And "run away" from Israel twice - to Canada for 4 years and to Greece for 2 years. We came back to Israel because Jack had to start school. It's been almost 6 years now and I'm getting restless...

3. I don't have any brothers and sisters, only cousins. You know one of them, she lives in Paris and posts here from time to time.

4. I've never been a sports person. A bit of aerobics here and there. But now, at the tender age of 40+ I discovered horseback riding and I love it. Horses are much better than "retail therapy".

5. When I came to Israel in 1990, I spent half a year on a kibbutz. Worked mostly in the laundry. Very interesting experience.

6. I am awfully lazy. There, I said it. I can sit and watch TV for hours. I'm the master of time-waisting. Which is not so good.

7. I had laser eye-surgery 3 years ago. Still happy as a bug :)

And now I'd like to pass this award on to 3 other bloggers.

-To Blogfashion - she has a truly inspiring wardrobe and amazing shoe collection.

-To Ephemera - who just finished a very tough challenge. I applaud!!!

-To I'll Be The One In Heels - I love her writing. And her style.

And now I'm going to collapse and wait for the test results. I do have some outfit shots from Sunday and Monday (I did go to work) but will post them a bit later.

You Call This Winter

I went grocery shopping in the "village" dressed like that. In January. Coming home with the bags I was really hot. It's crazy, at the beginning of the season the forecast was "extremely cold and rainy winter". Liars!

Today I took my pictures in Jack's room, you can probably tell by the toys and "Tom and Jerry" bedding.


But I didn't realise that his mirror had all kinds of prints on it. Fingerprints, palmprints, probably cat-paw prints too.

This is one of those rare times that I wear leggings with a tunic (or a short dress, who knows what it is). I love the neckline and the sleeves detail. I added the necklace just for fun. Actually it's really heavy.

My Nine West grey suede boots matching the dress. And Snooker is helping me of course.

Yesterday I put all my Christmas decorations away. Usually I keep them till the "Old New Year" which is Jan 13th. (It has to do with Julian calendar that was used in Russia up to 1918, when Gregorian calendar was introduced. So we celebrate the New Year by both calendars. Fun old tradition. I kept a bottle of champagne to drink on the evening of Jan 13).

But Snook the Cat took care of that. I'm afraid I'll have to buy a new tree next year. And some new decorations. The cost of having two cats instead of one turned out to be unproportionally higher than I thought. But the little rascal's worth it. I swear by the scratches on my hands.

My Son the Cowboy

I've been meaning to show off my son's riding photos for quite some time. So while I don't have any outfit pictures today (working at home again), I'll post some photos taken by my lovely Paris cousin during her visit in September.

We love going to the ranch. It's totally different from the "other life" here. Good people, animals, trees, fields - good atmosphere. On Wednesdays we go there for Jack's lessons, and my Husband comes straight from work. He says the change is amazing. Brings him peace of mind. (Poor guy works in construction, it's like a war zone most of the time).


Here is Jack and Jojo, his favorite horse. Jojo is a relatively small horse (not a pony), very good-natured and eager to run. No need to wear spurs.





The ranch is next to a road. The horses are used to cars, but loud vehicles like quad-bikes (with crazy teenagers on them) can spook them. Jojo got spooked once but Jack handled it very well.

It's a tiny ranch. One large corral and two small ones. On good days the guys go out into the surrounding fields for trips. It breaks the routine.

Here is a shot of the stables. The horses are under the roof but it's an open stable. The weather in Israel allows it. Horses, cats, dogs, chickens. Classic isn't it?

Jack is part of a small group. Here they are. The last horse in line is Brandy, I used to ride him (and even posted a photo). Brandy is difficult, temperamental and extremely smart. You have to show him who's the boss. When I ride Brandy, he's usually the boss, and we always struggle. After riding Brandy my muscles ache for a week...

And the last photo says it all. Huge smile. As it should be.

We have a class tonight at 5:30. I better go chop up some carrots "for the lads".

Hot Weather Furs

First post in the new year. Second day of work.
I didn't take any pictures yesterday, because it was a sad day. Several days. For our whole town. But if I write about it here, I'll never be able to go back to my outfit posts, so I'll just say that I wore all black and had to go to a funeral.

So, today I wore something other than black. Gray and brown to be exact. And fur (not real). It's so warm outside, the radio keeps warning us that swimming in the Med is dangerous due to waves and stuff, not because it's January. If you suddenly woke up in Israel right now, you'd have thought it's late spring or something. Sweaty!!! But I work in an airconditioned office and I need to dress accordingly. Hence my thicker knit cardigan with a nice fur collar. Usually I wear it all zipped up, but today decided to leave it undone.

Here is the elevator shot.

And the kids room shot. Here you can see my new Chanel lippie purchased 2 weeks ago. It's from a limited collection and is called Maldives (Aqualumiere # 102). Great name. I love it, just as I love the eye-pencil from the previous limited collection, a dark-brown-purple called Demoniac (# 37). I bought two of those.

A close-up of the crinkly skirt and the Guess cowboy boots I got on ebay last year. If you wear this skirt with high-heeled boots, you get a totally different style. I'm thinking of another pair of Nine West boots that I haven't revealed on this blog yet. Give me time.

And the full shot taken in a store on the way to my car. It's a different store today. I don't want to bore you with Zara view of a fire-hose behind me (in every single photo). This is the local department store-chain called Mashbir.

After this I went to Super-Pharm to say hello to the girls at the cosmetics dept. First thing one of them tells me? "Oh, I wore this cardi on the new year's night!" You see, we're both from the same town and shop at the same local shop that belongs to my friend. Once there were three of us wearing the same shirt - that shop owner and two of us that came in to chat and browse. But I don't mind. We're not celebs at the Oscars. We can pull it off.