CYPRUS COFFEE FACE OFF

What better way to start the morning than traditional Cyprus coffee at the house of a friend? Plus, hard breakfast biscuits from the baker. Yum! 😋 It was a great breakfast, and my dog was there too, taking some cheese and biscuit. There was savory, and sweet (the dark biscuit with raisins and nuts. I wanted to eat 20 but instead I ate just 1).

Cyprus traditional coffee has similarities with the Arabic and Turkish coffee. The dominant idea is that it was originally made in Byzantium, the Greek empire. Though I love everything Italian, I prefer the Cyprus coffee to the espresso! I find it lighter and better for the stomach.

My friend was getting ready to do a banana cake, the recipe for which I photographed and place here. It's in Greek, from the cookery book by Mrs Lysandrou. My friend is a great cook, and gives her seal of approval to the book. So it can be recommended!

Have a good start to the week, always with beauty and a book 💄👠❤️💝💋🌹
#Mondaymorning #Mondaymotivation #cypruscoffee #morningcoffee#coffeetime #coffee #cake #recipes #bananacake #cookerybooks#Greek #bakery #breakfastbiscuits #breakfast #foodblog #foodblogs#foodbloggers #foodblog

XXL

Can you believe that I haven't worn these trousers since 2007????? I couldn't fit into them. Now they suit me perfectly and, though this is not my best photo, I just had to commemorate the event! The trousers are from Miss Selfridge and look good and trendy now, a decade later. There was a period from 2002 to 2007 that Miss Selfridge produced the most amazing trousers. Then came the horrid skinny fashion and I stopped looking at Miss Selfridge altogether. I refused to buy any trousers from any store until the reign of skinny ended. Skinny is still there, but now thankfully you can find wider and even a few bell bottom trousers.

Losing weight is fine, but, like all things, only if done with measure. Diets, fads, and other extreme actions must be avoided. For me, the thing that works is to eat whatever I like in smaller quantities. For others, a nutritionist might be the answer. It depends. I don't panic when I put on weight- I put on weight regularly once or twice a year. But then I lose it 😎

Also, I think it's okay if a person want to keep any so-called extra kilos. As long as there is no health problem, why not? Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and, more recently, Kate Winslet, are among the most beautiful women that ever lived, and cannot be described as thin at all. Monroe was famously size 16 😀

Have a good Sunday morning, always with beauty and a book! 💝💋👠❤️💄
#missselfridge #trousersfashion #weightwatching #nutrition #redherring#sandals #marilynmonroe #brigittebardot #katewinslet #blonde #slim#healthy

WHEN IT COMES TO NAMING NAMES

For Fernand Braudel, the olive tree (and the vineyard) are the borders of the Mediterranean. The world of the Mediterranean starts where olives and grapes grow, and ends where they don't. I loved the first volume of Braudel's The Mediterranean, but volumes 2 and 3 are plainly unreadable. Here I am at the new shopping arcade last night in Larnaca. You can't go wrong with a beauty store called Ομορφιά! Omorfia is Greek for beauty. It comes from the old Greek word ευμορφία, meaning good (beautiful) appearance and form. For the Greeks, both men and women had to be beautiful, and this is probably why they all spent so much time exercising and bathing. Cleanliness was beauty, for the ancients!

I haven't tried Omorfia products, so I can't say much about the store yet. I just love their name. I will keep you posted!

Enjoy the Sunday, always with beauty and a book! 💋💄❤️👠👠💝
P.S. The title comes from a song called Forever Jay. It's a weird song, but I like it 🎶🎵🛍
#beauty #beautyblogger #beautyblog #beautybloggers #omorfia#coffeebreak #weekend #shopping #stradivariusskirt #aldoshoes#mangotshirt #mediterranean #braudel #bookblog #ancientgreeks#foreverjay

THE WELL BELOVED

This post originally appeared in the FB page for The Lipstick Papers on the actual Ferragosto! I only had the ipad with me; for some reason, I can't copy text and upload pictures to Blogger from the ipad. So, here's my little piece on Ferragosto today. I hope you are all well, wherever you are, and many thanks for taking the time to visit and read my blog!  Having readers is an amazing experience, it keeps me going, and of course I can impress my nephew and niece by telling them that I am a blogger ;-) <3 <3 <3 Maria 

THE WELL BELOVED
The Virgin Mary painting is a rare image of Mary wearing a corset, and it is a photo I took from the book The Corset by fashion historian Valerie Steele! The traditional Mary picture was a present from a teacher when I was very small. She brought it from Tinos, the Greek island sacred to Mary, so it's a valuable little memento. Happy 15 August, or buon Ferragosto, as it is in beautiful Italy! For me, 15 of August will always mean going to Paphos to see my grandparents, uncles and aunts when I was a kid; it will mean reading The English Patient and learning how Ferragosto is celebrated in the Italian countryside; and going around Ayia Napa and Liopetri with a dear friend last year. Those of you who have been reading The Lipstick Papers for a while will certainly remember!

The Valerie Steele book is one of those books that I don't allow outside the flat. I bought it from London and I love it coz it reminds me of my PhD studies and my beloved England.

Have a beautiful Ferragosto evening, everyone! 💄💄💄💝💋❤️
#ferragosto #ferragosto2017 #italy #england #theenglishpatient#virginmary #motherofgod #cyprus #paphos #august #greekislands#ayianapa #corset #fashion #art

SUMMER READING LIST

The Lipstick Papers is probably the world's most beautiful book blog, and of course it responds immediately to the Summer Reading Challenge! I do read plenty of books, many at the same time, so my Summer Reading is varied.

For novels, I have The Witchwood Crown, which takes me back to my favorite world of Osten Ard. It's very interesting. I preferred the first trilogy, but I love revisiting my favorite characters. I don't read too many novels, I prefer non fiction, but I make an exception for Tad Williams, Melanie Rawn and outstanding stuff like Fifty Shades of Grey, Twilight, and the Da Vinci Code.

In my non fiction reading list there is, as you can see, a book on the Native Americans, one from Fernand Braudel, a monograph on Victorian jewels and some others.

Always enjoy the beauty of a good book! 🌹👠💋❤️🌷💄
#summerreading #summerreadingchallenge #summerreadinglist#thewitchwoodcrown #bookblog #bookbloggers #bookblogger#fiftyshadesofgrey #twilight #thedavincicode #tadwilliams#melanierawn #victorianjewels #nonfiction #pepejeans #fashion