PERSONAL FAVE: KIEHL'S FACIAL FUEL EYE DE-PUFFER

Love this stuff.  I swipe it under my eyes before I head to my 5:15 am spin class (thank you very much) and when I return home the puffiness is gone. I'm pretty sure it's from Kiehl's men's line, but who cares?  Plus it feels good.  Thought you should know.

P.S. I'm in Istanbul, etc. and scheduled this post along with a few others to pop up while I'm away.  Guessing I will be slathering this stuff on every morning since we'll be in vacation mode, meaning later nights than my usual 9:30 pm...

BAG FREE - for 90 minutes

While on business in DC I had took the opportunity to head over to the Supreme Court to watch a hearing.  My colleagues counseled me to not take anything along--no Blackberry, no iPhone, no purse, nada.  It would slow me down since I would have to rent a locker to tuck my items away and with the lines, etc. it would be easier to just have empty hands.  So I took a deep breath, left the Capitol and walked over to the court.

To be bag free was a little unnerving at first.  What about sunglasses, lipstick, a couple of bucks just in case?  But as I climbed the steps to enter the building it felt great to walk through security without putting anything on the table for inspection.  And as I watched folks file over to rent a locker, I was escorted directly to my seat.

Having 30-plus minutes to kill while waiting for the session to start, I actually started (dare I say it) to ponder a few things.  No phone to scroll through.  No pen and paper to write a to do list.  Just me and my thoughts.  Nothing grand to note other than it was freeing and I intend to repeat the experience.

ISTANBUL AND THE MOTHER COUNTRY

Image source here

Have you been to Istanbul? Well, soon I will be checking that off my bucket list as I will be heading
there later this month with my darling friend, Leslie.  One full week in Istanbul--no touring outside the city, just completely absorbing the sights, sounds, and smells of that fascinating and ancient place.

Following Istanbul, we will be returning to the Mother Country to roam around the English countryside, attend a week-long class at Oxford, and then spend a few days in London.  I shall take loads of pics and report back all the happenings.

Here are a few things we've already booked:
 
A private guide for the day to tour Istanbul

Class at Cooking Alaturka

Tickets for a Whirling Dervishes ceremony

A day on the Bosphorus

Visiting the Potteries in Stoke-on-Trent

Chatsworth House (finally!)

Petersham Nurseries in Richmond, Surrey (thank you, Jeanne!)

Lunch at the Wolseley, London

                                                            Dinner at Rules, London

And, of course, a return to all the faves: Liberty, Fortnum and Mason, Mulberry, Abbott and Holder, etc. My, oh my, I cannot wait.

CAMBRIDGE BLUE - Alison Bruce

My friend, Lisa, recommended so I had a sample sent to my Kindle, finished reading the sample and immediately pressed "buy this book".  The opening chapter grabbed me and pushed me onward.

Cambridge Blue, written by Alison Bruce, is the first in a series depicting the young Gary Goodhew as a detective constable in Cambridge, England.  Fast paced, good plot, although I did figure out the murderer (which always makes me feel super smart) I still enjoyed the book.  More explicit than I usually read so fair warning if you prefer more glossing over of the details, if you know what I mean.

Also, the Kindle version has lots of mistakes which I probably should report to Amazon.

NO MARK UPON HER - DEBORAH CROMBIE

Another murder mystery series that some folks think should be read in order.  I didn't and still loved it.  No Mark Upon Her is a Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James detective mystery written in current time.  Kincaid is a Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent and his wife (finally!) Gemma James is a Detective Inspector from the Notting Hill police station in London.  Love these two.

This time, they are called in to resolve the case of another senior police officer who is found dead in the waters of the Thames while  training as a rower for the Olympics.  Very good stuff.  This series is well-written, not grisly or too graphic, and there is nice thread of personal relations between Kincaid and James that I enjoy.

Thanks to Mary's Library I'm going to read more of the books in this series working backwards.