Summer inspiration

Hat - Forever 21, 13$ 

Sundress - Marc Jacobs, 329$

Necklace - Ela Stone, 105$

Flowery top and shorts - H&M, each 31$

Straw tote - Kate Spade, 170$ (sale price)

I have a confession to make: I am not inspired by summer fashion-wise. But you must have certainly deducted this from my lack of posting this month. I was tempted to make a fall-winter shopping list (this redhead is moving to New York soon and will need a whole new wardrobe!), but it is a little important to avoid being labelled as "crazy": some people might not understand my year-round love for emerald colours, cashmere, leather and soft furs... *gets lost in thoughts*
I must say, living in a place where summers get intensely hot, my main concern is to wear something that won't be too delicate to wash at the end of the day, when I'm sweaty and dehydrated. But I must say that this year we've been blessed by a few nice days, and I've taken advantage of them, walking around instead of driving, and sitting with a bowl of fresh blackberries (we have a constant supply thanks to our blackberry bushes in the garden) with cold tea or lemon water and a delicious novel. 
Clothes-wise, I like to keep things French-Riviera chic, black and white linen with golden jewelry and - gasp - my favourite alliance: straw hats and tote bag with organza bows - simply perfect. I have however fallen in love with this flowery ensemble from H&M: the retro pin-up style is simply to die for although it would be a little difficult to wear away from the beach. Unless you're doing a pin-up photo shoot. Which isn't in my near future... or is it? 

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Garden pasta

Like any self-respecting Mediterranean household, we grow a large variety of aromatic herbs in our garden; among them, mint, which is delicious on top of a whole-wheat crispy flat bread with Greek yogurt and olive oil, and as a tea as well (a personal favourite.) When I am cooking (something that isn't pastry, where I remain very classic, very French), I go outside with my little basket and pick up a bit of whatever's growing. This is how I got "inspired" for this dish of linguine pasta with tomato sauce and roasted eggplants. A little fresh herbs (and preparation) take a simple dish to a truly fragrant delight.

Ingredients (for 4 people):
- Olive oil (...a lot)
- Coarse alt
- 1 pack of linguine (my favourite brand is Barilla, it cooks well without getting all icky and pasty)
- 1 medium eggplant, cut in 1/2 inch slices
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 small can of tomato concentrate
- 1-2 teaspoon of paprika
- Fresh herbs: rosemary, parsley (or thyme, sage, basil... etc), washed, dried and coarsely chopped.

Bring water and a pinch of salt to a boil in a large pan. Add the pasta and cook until al-dente, for about 8 minutes or otherwise according to package directions.

Prepare the eggplants: Preheat the oven at 450 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil. Lay down the eggplant slices on the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, making sure that each slice gets, well, relatively well coated. Sprinkle with the chopped herbs and salt, rub it in lightly. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until the eggplants are well-cooked and tender.

Make the sauce: In a bowl, mix the tomato concentrate with about 2-3 times the same volume of water (To make things simpler, I use the can of concentrate to measure the water). In a medium pan, heat some olive oil on medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until golden. Reduce the heat (burnt onion doesn't taste good!),  and add the tomato mix. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly for about 5-7 minutes, until the sauce thickens or reaches the consistency you like. Add the paprika and the herbs and stir.

Serve the sauce over the pasta with the eggplants on top.

Tips:
- Check the eggplants often to be sure they don't burn. Depending on your oven, you might want to give the slices a flip.
- Don't overdo it with the herbs (especially fresh herbs, of which the flavours are much stronger) : you don't want an overdose of flavours but a few that enhance each other. I like the fresh crispness of parsley with fragrant rosemary (my favourite aromatic herb). But be careful when you use thyme, since it can be quite strong. Basil is also a herb that I think is better appreciated on its own.
- Same, don't use mint in such a dish, or in one that involves heat. Cooked mint makes everything taste like you spilled herbal tea on it.
- If you think the tomato concentrate is too acid, you can add a tablespoon of sugar to the sauce while it's cooking.
- You can add fresh cherry tomatoes to the sauce (just be sure to do it at the very end, so they don't get too mushy).
- And of course, you can top with freshly-shaved Parmesan!

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Sonushka in the making: Skincare routine

Today, I will be showing you my skincare routine and what I use to look as fabulous as I can be. Above is my make-up table, right by a window so I can use the natural light to get ready. And no, it isn't nearly as empty or well-organized usually. Haha. 

Disclaimer: inner beauty is more important than anything else. Cultivate yourselves, ladies, read your classics, learn a new language, read the papers everyday, educate yourself about everything.

But hell, the envelope matters too when it comes to feeling confident and good about oneself. Many of those who know me closely or those who have been reading my blog for a long time know that a year ago I suffered of a skin affliction that affected my confidence, my self-esteem and my whole life very negatively. Thankfully, it is soon going to be nothing more than a bad memory, thanks to this wonderful team. Still, it has lead me to take much better care of my skin (and potentially freak out when I see the slightest blemish, but it’s rather justified).

My main issues are redness and a few acne scars, sensitivity to the sun, because my skin is naturally very fair and a side effect of Accutane is that it makes it more prone to sunburn, and dryness (also as a side effect).

My objectives are to make my skin heal so I can wear a minimal amount of make-up (getting there!), protect it from sun damage and skin cancer, and avoid premature aging.

With no further waiting, here is my routine:

1) Morning and evening, I cleanse my skin with Ponds Cold Cream. I apply a coat all over my face (not too thick, but enough so you can see the white product), let it rest for two minutes, then wipe it out with cotton pads. This classic product is a favourite of my grandmother’s and the very distinctive smell reminds me of the dear lady. I was afraid at first that it would make my skin very oily, but there was none of that. In a few weeks of use, my skin has gotten less red and irritated, which was a problem when I used cleansers for acne-prone skins. It has really helped me with the dryness too. It also removes make-up really well, even waterproof mascara, without irritating my sensitive eyes. I do not need to use anything else with it, but those of you who have oily skin might want to use a toner after. 

2) After cleansing, I wait a few minutes to let my skin breathe and absorb whatever remains from the cold cream. In the meanwhile I apply Rosebud Salve (another classic!) on my lips (which the Accutane makes very dry and chapped, unfortunately), and maintain my eyebrows by plucking out (obsessively) any stray hairs with tweezers.

3) I apply a dime-sized dollop of La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Pro-recovery Skincare all over my face, focusing on the problematic areas (scars, redness, etc). I have discovered this product in Paris, after my eyebrow area got burnt by extra-hot wax. I went to a pharmacy to get something to help heal my skin, and one of the countless good things about France is pharmacists actually help you find the best product for your needs. Sometimes, they try to sell you the most expensive thing they have, but you can kindly ask for a similar product at a lower price. I was given this serum and not only it helped heal my burns in two days (and  all the other "ouchies" I had... Yeah, happens a lot) but it has really helped counteract the scary side-effects of Accutane (such as deep scarring, rosacea, etc), of which I was quite worried since I have fair, sensitive skin. 

4) I moisturize with L'Oréal Youth Code SPF 30 Day Cream. Again, I have light skin and I tend to be paranoid about the negative effects of sun exposure, so SPF is very important for me. This cream also helps heal former acne damage and such, which again is of major importance to me.

Those of you reading this blog for a long time have heard me rave about my "beloved" L'Occitane Ultra Rich Face Cream. Why, might you ask, have I forsaken it for another? First, because it isn't on the L'Occitane website anymore (there's one with a different design... I'll have to investigate.), so I'm afraid it's been discontinued, and whatever is available for sale on other sites will soon be past the expiration date and thus not to be within a hundred miles from human skin *Vade Retro Satanas!*. Although I'm sad I might not be able to find my favourite cream anymore, it is time to move to new horizons. I have been transitioning to a different cream, altering with what is left in this beautiful glass jar with such a chic design *tears*.


5) Using my ring finger, I apply L’Oréal Age Perfect eye cream for mature skins under and around my eyes. I am very happy with this eye cream, especially in the past few weeks where I have been lacking some sleep. It has made me look more awake, getting compliments which included the French word "radieuse". My favourite.

Why, might you ask, do I use products for "mature" skin when I have just turned 20? Well, first, because under-eye circles that easily get dark and puffy run in my family, second, I don't sleep always too well, and third, having lighter skin and thus being more prone to sun damage (despite being Mediterranean... DNA is a bitch female canine, really) makes me look older than my actual age, so the prevention starts now. Products for older women contain more of the ingredients that help reduce and prevent the signs of aging, so here we go.

Disclaimer: aging isn't bad. I personally think us ladies are like wine (or cognac!): the older, the finer. But the focus is on "finer": there's a difference between a bottle of Bordeaux left to age and some of the wine you buy in a brick (or moonshine product, with all the little insects and beasts from the forest crawling in the moonshine bin or whatever it's called... I don't engage in illegal activities so I wouldn't know). Let's make the difference on being the Bordeaux in the start.

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One day in Philly

On Thursday, I drove to Philadelphia for the day. I went alone, almost on a whim. I had been planning for a long time a day-trip to get out of DC, and on Thursday, I felt a real need for a change of scenery. I knew Philadelphia only for stopping there for a few hours on a trip back from New York years ago with family and friends, tasting the cheese steak and visiting Independence Hall (of which as a first-generation immigrant from the "Old World" where history is ancient, present, and alive, I deplore the significance since almost everything has been rebuilt, nothing is authentic... But well, more on the "Identity Crisis of the First-Generation American" later, or should I say the Search for a Historical Identity in a Very Young Country. Again, more on that later).

But two days ago, I experienced Philadelphia by alone, and resorted to the Sophie way of exploring a new or more or less unknown city: walking around, getting lost, asking my way. In other words, the raw experience that has nothing to do with visitor centers or tour guides, but like I have discovered every city where I lived in the very first days.

Pho. <3 

I have enjoyed being away and alone, listening to a total of four operas on the way there and back (La Bohème, Madame Butterfly, La Traviata and Tosca). There, I parked in the first secure lot I found and enjoyed walking around, visiting the Reading Terminal Market, a gastronomic paradise, (unless you've lived in Paris, where you've got one like this every three blocks or so.) where I stocked up on chocolates and such goodies. I also went to Chinatown, where I enjoyed delicious Pho at a Vietnamese restaurant (you'll find the info on my Address Book page) and shopped around for a few Chinese trinkets (I collect small Buddha statues).

I also came to a few observations:
- On the architecture and street art, which are a mix of classic and modern: the older, classic buildings like the Episcopalian Church and the Masonic Temple have this European feel that I love so much. And by modern, I mean particular. Like the crashed plane above.

- Hell, the accent is difficult to understand. I had less trouble with the "accent du Sud" in Toulouse, France. Then  again, I became so in love with Toulouse that I spoke with the accent after a few days there. But when I asked a lady for directions, I had to make her repeat ten times to understand. Well, America sure is diverse.

- Drivers are not nearly as bad as DC. They just go very fast; meaning that on the highway a few miles before getting to the city, where the speed limit was 65mph, I got overtook (or, as we say, passed) by a police car who was doing a good lil' 90.

- I had the wrong shoes. Stubborn as I am, I went in my black leather open-toe high heels, and I died after two hours of walking. Not to mention, my feet became a little sweaty, and the shoes being slightly larger, they kept sliding off à la Cinderella in the middle of the street. That is, when I didn't nearly fall and twist an ankle.

- When driving back to the DC area, it's worth taking the toll road. Take it from a certain little redhead who didn't because she realized only too late that she had ran out of cash and who didn't want to stop in the middle of the night at an unknown rest stop for an ATM, and who took the long road and ended up in the infamous dangerous area of downtown Baltimore; this very redhead who kept praying she wouldn't get murdered by a blood-thirsty psycho-killer or kidnapped by a brothel owner (because yes, there were brothels there all right, and they had the "now hiring" sign).

- Philly is really a great place. I will be going back, preferably after I shop for better shoes, because my stubbornness has taken a blow (of which I will recover by next week, but well...).

 Some goodies: Chocolate, ginger candy and postcards!

Essentials for a road-trip (defined as a trip to a relatively unknown area where this little redhead might get lost): survival food of the tropical variety, retro sunglasses, iPod loaded with operas featuring Callas (of course), and pepper spray. Cf. the whole "getting lost in dangerous ghetto" part.

On a different note, you will have noticed that I have finally invested in my own custom domain. Being somehow a bit of a novice still, I had a little trouble figuring out a Google Checkout bug which really tested my patience. But well, I have decided to celebrate this victory (and also the fact that sonushka.com was available! Not that I wasn't ready to get in a verbal catfight with its hypothetical owner, and go mine! mine! mine! like all the birds in that scene from Finding Nemo) with a giveaway next week. It will be my first ever, and I'm thinking of a few exciting surprises. So stay tuned!

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