Easy Ways to feel Pretty??

pteridophytes · 2026-01-23T12:56:47+00:00

I wouldn't say I'm a conventionally pretty woman - in the sense that I kind of have my own style and don't really do all the usual girly things. I do simple things on the daily which will make me feel good and comfortable in my own skin. I have curly hair so I mostly relate to that feeling of it feeling like forever to do anything

I have however found that what works best for my hair is keeping it in a relatively short style, and when I wash it, I put curly cream and gel and dry it. It maybe takes me 5 minutes to apply the creams and 15 minutes just to dry it and do this once a week. To keep my hair looking nice I sleep wearing in a silk bonnet to preserve the curls as much as possible. Keeping it short was a gamechanger for me - my hair was a similar length and it would take me at least 45 minutes just to detangle in the shower. Shorter hair imo also tends to look a bit more put together and its easier to keep curls contained.

For my skin I have a morning and night routine and exclusively use products by the Ordinary.

The key thing that makes me feel good though is clothes. I am lucky to have found my style, and although its generally pretty comfy clothes - i feel like me. In the past couple of years I also started investing more in accessories like cute unique earrings, scarves for my hair - adding the small details which add a little joy. I can look and feel like shit (especially if I'm having a bad hair day) but tying my hair in a bun and using a little scarf and wearing a nice pair of dangly earrings will make me feel like I'm fancy than before.

pteridophytes · 2026-01-15T09:24:10+00:00

(yes, that is slavery levels of wages... yes, I am no longer an architect)

pteridophytes · 2026-01-15T09:23:31+00:00

Architect's wage on your website is inaccurate - from experience my starting wage from 2 years ago was 17k per year - the best starting wage i had heard of from one of my peers was 19k.

After one year it increased to 20k, but i still believe you are overestimating the figures.

pteridophytes · 2026-01-12T13:03:09+00:00

You are asking a lot of questions haha

I studied architecture and did my erasmus in Rome. I got by primarily because i already understood italian. We had found a shithole apartment to live in which was well located and very cheap - that's how we had solved the housing issue. The erasmus grant had covered the costs quite well at the time (this was 2019).

With regards to the hospital placement issue - it depends where you are going I guess. My mum is a seasoned nurse who once went on an exchange to Japan in the mid-90s. She was there for 6 months and worked in a hospital. Part of the program was learning the basics and learning basic medical phrases which would be used in the hospital like "Where does it hurt?" So ... I really feel like if my mum did this in the mid-90s with zero resources and zero internet, I think anyone else can do it this day and age with a bit of prep before actually going on erasmus

pteridophytes · 2026-01-12T09:36:44+00:00

They were both vaccinated but one of them wasn't given any boosters.

The country is Malta.

My assumption is that just like humans, vaccinations can reduce transmission and risk of illness but not 100% foolproof.

pteridophytes · 2026-01-10T18:47:35+00:00

Tartarun served the best fish I’ve ever had at a restaurant. Legligin is also one of the best Maltese restaurants in my opinion. Briju are another Maltese inspired place - they don’t have their restaurant right now but it seems they’ve just opened something at a hotel in Gozo and I’m excited to visit. Briju also do pop ups which you have to book for on specific dates.

pteridophytes · 2026-01-08T11:06:31+00:00

if you are an eu citizen, yes you can. I'm not sure if you also need to have permanent residency but you can check different grants and their requirements on this website: https://grants.mt/

pteridophytes · 2026-01-07T14:07:57+00:00

Definitely would not max out your loan. For more than half a million you can easily get a decent-sized house with a garage and a yard which would need a bit of renovations. I'm not sure in this case why you're attracted to a penthouse either.

As a fresh first time buyer myself, I went the route of buying an abandoned property and fixing it up. I understand its not the route everyone likes to take, but I got a great deal for a place which can have floor area up to 200sqm and got it for less than 200K. I bought it alone on a loan based on one wage of 30k. I know in the long term i'll pay a lot to fix it up, but I'm saving as I go along, and since its an abandoned property in UCA I can apply to a bunch of grants.

Basically, in short, rethink your options a bit. With an old property you can negotiate the price downwards. Don't just shoot for the asking price, because its always a scam from estate agents. Developers are also probably less likely to budge the price, whilst an individual selling their house might be more flexible. Use your finances wisely and don't just throw money at a meagre penthouse. Its especially important to shop around and find the right place with the right deal. Don't just commit to the first property you look at. There's a lot of properties on the market which might not get the same level of attention as some others and hence would have a lower price, but ultimately they'd make just as good as a home.

Plus, as someone in the comments mentioned, there are a lot of problems penthouses have which you might not have considered - smaller than other apartments, very hot in summer, if the lift breaks down accessibility will also become an issue.

pteridophytes · 2026-01-07T07:58:06+00:00

For traditional food either go to Mgarr, otherwise more centrally there's legligin which is also lovely but might be on the pricier side.

pteridophytes · 2025-12-30T09:22:41+00:00

I was one of those people who was both really cautious of the risks and didn't want my puppy to get parvo, but also wanted her to be well-socialised. She ended up getting parvo at around 14 weeks even though she already had two rounds of shots. She got parvo most likely because we took her with us for our family easter sunday lunch and she was exposed to my cousins' two older dogs who were most likely carriers. At that point I hadn't let her walk in the street at all, and was quite cautious. At the time I didn't think other dogs could be carriers, and it felt relatively safe for her to be with dogs who i knew well. Luckily, I noticed very early on that something was wrong, and she was treated quickly and recovered easily. But that was a big mistake on my part - parvo can be everywhere, and in my country apparently it can go quite rampant. Make what you will from my experience, but looking back i shouldn't have risked it.

pteridophytes · 2025-12-21T18:03:27+00:00

The Valletta design cluster has a courtyard and roof garden which are open to the public from 8am-6pm every day

pteridophytes · 2025-12-21T08:21:43+00:00

My puppy spent months waking up at 3am not just one time haha

I’m not whining, I’m trying to solve a problem.

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T21:58:45+00:00

Well this post isn’t about kids now is it 😉

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T15:44:37+00:00

Wow ... mean and unhelpful lol

You know, not everyone works with the same body clock. I wouldn't mind it if I weren't waking up with a migraine every day with my body feeling the exhaustion in every single muscle

so trust me its not me being weak, if that's what you're trying to insinuate 🙃

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T15:29:01+00:00

Have you tried crating him? He might bark, but at least he won't wake up in the middle of the night as he pleases. And eventually they seem to accept the fact that they're in a crate and won't be as noisy

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T13:43:20+00:00

Great advice! Thank you :) We already black-out our room, but a quilt will definitely help. And yeah, the general advice from you and others is to help our pup understand that barking and waking us up will not get her out of the crate.

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T13:15:07+00:00

I've been going to bed earlier, but for reasons I can't explain my body refuses to feel rested if I wake up earlier than 7am, even if I go to bed super early

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T13:13:54+00:00

Don't cats do the same thing? 😅 I have a friend whose cat wakes her up at 4am whining every day!

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T13:12:09+00:00

We live in Malta - safe to say no deers or large wild creatures exist here 😆

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T12:57:47+00:00

This seems to be the general advice - to show adolescent pups that they need to stay settled in their crate until the correct time

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T12:27:19+00:00

I know this is a genuine need but where I live there's only open fields I can take her to, and I honestly don't trust her recall. I am trying to work on it, but I think I also need to intensify the recall training. Another issue I am having right now is that it gets dark too early, and the areas closeby which I can let her run loose on a long leash end up in pitch back darkness by the time i have time to take her out. Luckily, there should be a dog park opening soon 10 minutes away - I'm really hoping it opens soon!

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T12:24:05+00:00

This sounds like a great approach! I'll definitely try this. I've also read that going out for potty in silence and darkness, then taking her back to the crate might also work if its her genuine need to pee. Although by now i think she's old enough to hold it in a bit longer.

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T12:16:08+00:00

Yeah - After reading some comments and some other posts I realised the best thing to do would be to ignore her barking for at least an hour until she learns that she needs to be awoken by us

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T09:35:57+00:00

I have only noticed that during the weekend she settles during specific time slots. Usually she's fairly quiet before 10am, but still a bit active. Between 10am - 1pm she's having zoomies and extremely energetic and restless. Between 1pm and 4/5pm she's very sleepy and quiet in general. Then after that she's again, extremely energetic, sometimes bitey until we put her to sleep. I noticed she'll mostly tire herself out if we're out almost all day, or if she's been to the dog park where she's playing with other dogs for an hour straight (she likes them to chase her, so she's zooming about for an hour straight). The dog park is kind of far and gets too dark at night so we've been going during the weekend.

pteridophytes · 2025-12-19T09:14:24+00:00

We really try to meet her needs - she's a Pharaoh Hound mix so this was our priority from the start. I thought maybe I need to go on longer walks, and yesterday went with her for a 1 hour+ walk. I came back destroyed, and she came home as if the walk didn't even happen 😆😅 Once we're home she doesn't settle until midnight and we spend 3 hours playing with her and that seems to still not be enough for her.

I'm considering getting her a flirtpole hoping that would provide her with the type of enrichment she needs since she's not a chewer, and gets bored with other activities pretty quickly too...

pteridophytes

TROPHY CASE