Scented 13

For my Thursday 13 list this time, I have listed 13 perfumes I have pulled out of storage now that its spring. I have packed away the rich, spicy ones since I want to lighten up and wear my more floral and airy scents now.

1. "Ferre" Gianfranco Ferre (starts off with a pineapple note and dries down to a powdery iris)

2. "Oscar Bamboo" Oscar de la Renta (very different from anything else I wear, and just plain "pretty" but I wish it lasted longer on me)

3. "Skin Musk" (my old drugstore favorite--been wearing this since the 80's when it was made by Bonne Bell)

4. " Duende" Jesus del Pozo (I love this one so much, I even wear it from time to time in winter--such a driftingly soft and soapy scent that always makes me happy)

5. Terranova "Rain"(another oldie-but-goodie-a lily-of-the-valley and musk scent that smells green somehow))

6. Terranova "Sakura & Green Tea" (I am wearing this one today)

7. "Max Mara" (sugared lemon and magnolia)

8. "Noa Perle" Cacharel(I like this one on foggy, rainy days--it has a hazlenut note!!)

9. "Always" Avon (tulips and melon?)

10. "Wish Of Luck" Avon (cheap but cheery!)

11. Marc Jacobs "Essence" (creamy gardenia overload!)

12. Cerruti 1881 Lumieres d`Ete (a fresh breeze)

13. Elizabeth Taylor "Violet Eyes" ~~I can't believe I like this one so much and never would have thought I would be owning and wearing an Elizabeth Taylor scent which I always thought of as "old lady"(even though, yes, yes, that is probably the category I belong to by this time), but this is amazing! It actually makes me think I am smelling the color violet(but there aren't any violet notes in this, interestingly enough. Its like wearing a soft, violet hug, actually.

Five on the 5th

This time it's five of my most unusual perfume bottles. (to read a "Five on the 5th" about my town from exactly a year ago, go here.)

1. KISS for Women

Starting off with this (now discontinued?) fragrance with a modified KISS logo(there was a matching fragrance for men, too) which, being that my husband is a Kiss fan, I simply had to order and buy, unsniffed. It's just too cool and definitely a collector's piece.

And, it's not a bad smell-- surprisingly soft and gentle, but sort of bland. I had expected this would have been some over-the-top, strong scent and in a way, I wish it were. I don't wear this one much, and there is a certain note--something too synthetic maybe?-that really starts to bug me when I have had it on too long. Thankfully, it wears off pretty fast. But, I still like having this in my collection, for the sheer novelty of it.

2. Laguna ~ Salvador Dali.

The bottle is a Dali-inspired surrealistic glass nose(the cap) and lips. The scent is, like the Kiss fragrance, just ....okay to my nose. Which illustrates the point that you can't judge a perfume by the bottle alone. Laguna is airy and aquatic with a salty note to it that I could do without. I have only had this since the fall, so it might smell differently(and hopefully better) on me in the warmer summer months.

3. Just Me - Claude Montana

Now, this one I absolutely love! It's starts off a little sharp when I first spray it, but then it settles down to soft and spicy- like honeyed leather, with notes of pineapple, jasmine and chocolate, too.. Quite unusual and very sexy. I get positive comments when I wear this one(not often enough--I don't know if it's really appropriate for work)

The glass bottle is so cool because of the zipper, and the Claude Montana logo zipper pull that dangles down from the cap.

4. Ginger Lotus- Prince Matchabelli

A drugstore cheapie(now discontinued) that has this strange "lying-on-it's-side" shape. I like how my fingers fit into the curves on the top of the bottle when I hold it to spray it. I like spritzing this on after an evening shower. It is a clean, softly spicy scent(because of the ginger?) that relaxes me when I wear it.

5. Feraud ~ Louis Feraud

Liquid sunshine in a beautiful sunburst design bottle. This is such a "happy" scent and perfect for spring. A not-too-floral, yet feminine mix of citrus, pear, apricot and floral notes with a musk, amber, sandalwood, cedar and vanilla base.

4 Goodly Things

Ahhh...coffee. And quiet.
Even though I have to leave for work in an hour and a half, I am still enjoying a little Saturday morning-ness. Which means just me and my coffee and my thoughts(even the dog goes back to bed). Mr. F and the daughter(and dog) sleep in late on the weekends, so it's usually me being the only one up early.
I have been thinking back on yet another whirlwind week, and some of the things that stood out in a good way.(Oh, I could list all the annoying and irritating things and people I encountered this past week, but won't go there)

Good thing # 1...my sweet and thoughtful husband.
He shoveled off and on for most of the day on Wednesday when we had a winter storm.
Then the next morning, before he left for work, he cleaned all the ice and snow off my car again AND warmed it up for me . So that when it came time for me to get in my car to leave for work an hour later, all I had to do was jump into it, start it up and drive away in a warm and toasty vehicle. I very rarely ever have to clean off my car, come to think of it--he always takes care of that(one day, maybe we'll have a garage and he won't even have to do this)
As I drove to work, I noticed other cars on the road that were still covered with snow. You know--the kind where there is just enough snow hurriedly cleaned off with the driver peeking through a hole on the windshield..? If it weren't for my "knight with gleaming snow shovel and ice scraper", I would BE that person! Yep, I realised how lucky I am and how my husband did not need to get anything for me this Valentine's Day since I felt I had gotten my Valentine already, a few days early.



Off course, when I got to work, I had to do all the shovelling off of the walk and stairs in front and in back of the store. In my 12 years of working there, I have always been the one to do the snow shovelling since I am the one who is there earliest to open the shop. None of the other employees or my boss(who lives closest to the store, actually) has ever come in early to help. Not that big of a deal, really, as I am an able-bodied person and it's never been an insurmountable job for me to do. And, at least I wasn't all tired out(or my back) from shoveling at home since my chivalrous husband at least took care of that. An hour later, when the Thursday morning co-worker showed up, I had everything cleared off but needed to get more ice melt for the walk. So I zipped over to our town's Benny's Store.
Another thing to love and treasure!
As I parked my car in the lot, I had to smile when I saw the big signs near the door announcing that they had "sleds" and "snow shovels" and "ice melt". They always have everything I need, and it isn't one of those faceless, too brightly lit(and chemical smelling) Wal-Marts.
This is an old-school chain of tire and auto supply stores(founded in 1924, it's a 30-store chain with stores in the 3 southern New England states where you can buy tools, sporting goods, automotive, toys, home decor, and lawn and garden) that still has the traditional aisles and that wonderful rubber tire smell and people who actually offer to help you inside.
As I was lifting up the 5 lb. bag of ice melt(conveniently placed right there at the front of the store), I heard one of the store employees say, "Do you want any help with that, Miss?"
Of course, inside my brain, I was thinking--"hey, I just finished shovelling and scraping ice off the sidewalks in front of a store and shovelling out paths through snowbanks--I think picking up
a little 5 lb. bag is a piece of cake after that!".
But it was nice to hear that all the same--but that is just typical of Benny's. And, can I say, "bonus points" for being called "Miss" and not "Ma'am" (which has happened to me all of two times since I turned 40 and it is one of the worst things I have heard said to me!)

Please, please...never go out of business, Benny's Tire and Auto Stores!!!


Okay...good thing # 3...
Back at home, one of the things that all three of us like to do in the evening after homework and supper and kitchen clean-up is out of the way,
is to all flop down on the couch to watch a taped episode of Malcolm In The Middle. I LOVE this show!
Malcolm In The Middle ran from 2000 to 2006 on FOX and I didn't pay much attention to it then, thinking it was yet another typical TV sitcom.
Luckily, it's still shown on TV, and R has the DVR recording system on our TV set so we always have a back load of Malcolm episodes to watch. (note that I said my daughter has the show recorded because I have never figured out how to do it, myself)
This show has me loudly guffawing from the the first minute and all the way through. All the characters (and the actors who play them) are priceless(gotta love that Lois, especially) and the writing so good --it's not the typical family sitcom.
It's become our little family-of-three bonding moment--our sitting down together to watch another *slightly* dysfunctional family.
So..if you get a chance, give MITM a try (if you aren't already a fan)



And # 4...
...I was having a Carlos Santana day yesterday.
I have the perfume(which is kind of strange that I own this one--out of all the celebrity perfumes out there--and there are a lot!) and decided to spray on some of it's unsweetened coco-nutty and slightly spicy goodness on me before I left for work. Then, as I am driving along, "Black Magic Woman" comes on the car radio! Which made me think, why didn't Carlos use that name for his perfume? It might have sold better, with a name like that, instead of boring "Carlos Santana for Women".
Then, at the end of the day, when I was driving my daughter back to the school at 7:30 at night(because she forgot the tickets for the hockey game in her locker!!!!!--but luckily she was able to get into the school because of the boy's basketball game going on), I heard "Oye Como Va" on the car's radio.

Random Tuesday Re-Entry

You know you have been away from blogging for too long when you dream about writing a blog entry!
Last night(or early this morning?), I dreamed I was watching a chickadee in a bush in my front yard. Then I noticed a larger bird perched on a branch next to the smaller bird. First I thought it was an American Bald Eagle and was all excited, but then it morphed into an osprey(which is kind of like an eagle)--then two ospreys--just hanging out in the bush with the tiny chickadee. And in the dream, I was thinking I should blog about my up-close encounter with this magnificent bird.
Then I woke up.
And it took me a few moments to realise that I hadn't yet writen a blog. It was just a dream. Actually, I knew it was a dream in the dream, but the going-to-blog-about-it seemed real.

So...here I am and ready for a Random Tuesday, after being away for two weeks.
It just happened. I had lots to say, if I wanted to, but was feeling both non communicative and slightly depressed over various things beyond my control.
Politics.
Rush Limbaugh (ggrrrr.....)
Earthquakes.
Human misery.
The unfairness of it all.
Add to that my own petty little problems.
And there was no way I was going to publicly moan about my own petty little problems while there were other humans going through far worse at the same time.

But now I am ready to write down some petty little random thoughts for the day:

**I saw Sherlock Holmes in the cinema on Sunday and you know, I thought I was going to like it more from what I read of the reviews and because I generally adore Robert Downey, Jr. in movies(turns out I preferred Jude Law much better in this one). But it was just.... okay. Holmes and Watson were turned into action heroes, Rachel McAdam's red lipstick and artfully applied smokey eyeshadow never smudged nor budged, and the end of the movie has it already set up for a sequel(ala "Pirates of the Caribbean").

* * It only occurred to me last night why a woman was carrying a Danish flag into the the bar up the street(I passed it on my to the cinema) on Sunday. It was a Minnesota Vikings fan going to watch the game and cheer on HER team(Vikings= Danish--get it?!). Duh. Here I thought there was some kind of interesting multi-culti thing going on(like they were going into the bar to watch an international pre-Olympics speed skating event on the bar's TV) and it was just a plain ole' American football game. (can you tell I am not into football at all?).


**I have not eaten any sugar(except one slice of cake my sister brought to me at work one day last week and I could not resist) for over a week. At first it was difficult, but now I know I can easily make it until February 1st, and even after that date, I think I have rounded a corner where I will be more conscious of what I eat and that I'll be eating far less sugar(and processed stuff like tortilla chips and salty snacks)

** Why couldn't my daughter take after her father instead of me in mathematical matters? She is struggling with algebra this year in school and it reminds me so much of how it was for me back when I was in high school(actually...I started to lose my grip on math as far back as the fifth grade when long division was introduced). She has exams this week and today is the math exam...please, please... let her do well.

**What are those Harajuku Lovers perfume bottles that look like dolls? I have seen them on line and in the stores and I just can't get my head around the fact that there is a perfume bottle inside that hard plastic shell. Funny, but they remind me so much of these Avon "It's A Small World After All" kid perfumes and bubble baths I had when I was around seven years old(I had a kimono-wearing Japanese one and a beret wearing French one), but these things are geared towards teenagers and young women, not kids under ten. I am just old , so can't understand, I suppose. And as much as I love perfumes, I am not even tempted to sniff these. I refuse to spritz a giant doll's head(or neck).

** It is just now sinking in that there will be no more Conan! I (and Mr. F) have been watching him for years on late night(last few years we taped and watched the show the following night at a "more-agreeable-to-a-40-something" hour). The last show on Friday had me choked up, but still laughing. The only consolation is that maybe...just maybe, we'll now get a chance to "bump into" him in Westerly(the furthest south-west corner of Rhode Island)where he has been spotted before(at a certain breakfast restaurant, in particular where he ordered the coconut pancakes...and this was well before he got the Coco nickname). Conan's parents and I think, sister, have homes just over the border in Connecticut and when he visited in the summers and weekends(easier when he was based in NYC) he would slip in to Westerly sometimes. And with him having the summer off...he might just be around on this coast again.


*sigh* Don't stay away from our TVs too long, Conando.

** And lastly, I still have five of those yellow ranunculas blooms(arranged in a smaller vase) left after 2 weeks..a little faded and getting ever so slightly crinkly, but still looking pretty jaunty. Just like me? ;-)

Five on the 5th...of August

It's the fifth of August already!


I am pretty sure I missed/skipped doing my "five on the fifth" topic last month on the fifth day, so I want to at least get August's in.


Today's list is five favorite things in a bottle:



1. Vinho Verde wine from Portugal. We go through bottles of this stuff in the summer. Lightly bubbly, light and easy drinking with summer food(like fish on the grill, pasta with white sauces and even corn on the cob) and best drunk perfectly chilled. And, it's so cheap(always under 10.00 a bottle) 2. Eden perfume from Cacharel.

This is a new discovery for me. I had a little sample of this sitting in my bedroom drawer for months, and truth be told, I was actually afraid to try it. Many things I heard and read about this scent were about how strong and strange it was(lots of negatives, as well as positive reviews, though). So...over the weekend, after a shower, I decided to be brave and opened the little vial and dabbed some on both wrists.

It was a scent so not expected at all! I thought it was lovely and enchanting from the minute I smelled it! And, it lasted for hours and hours(which to me is a good thing-since so many perfumes seem not to last on me) and I found the whole experience of wearing it made me feel mysterious, earthy and sexy. It smells SO good to me, that, like with my beloved Ciara, I really don't care if other people don't like the smell of it. Of course, this is the kind of strong scent you only have to put the smallest amount on and NOT overdo it .

Now, I don't yet have an actual bottle of this stuff but am already scheming to get me one. The bottle looks a little strange, too. Sort of looks like it's made out of old Bakelite from the 1920's.

3. Floral Solaire (Filles des Iles)-yes, another bottled parfum. And, also a new discovery for me.

This one had me feeling so pretty and "beachy" at first sniff-the perfect summer scent.

"Floral Solaire contains notes of citron, star fruit, tropical breeze, passion fruit, blended with lily, tiara, & orchid. All of this frolicy sweet fruityness is rested on a bed of amber, benzoin, soft sand, musk and vanilla. Created by famed perfumer Celine Ellena. Floral Solaire is a wonderful dichotomy of clean cool breezes enveloped in a blanket of warm amber."

It actually is somewhat similar to another scent I have, L'Eau De Monteil (blogged about it here already) and am glad there is a "back-up" summer perfume I love as much, since the Monteil perfume appears to have been discontinued and it is getting hard to find.

4. Dr.Ph. Martin's India Ink

I love these inks for sketching and doing watercolory washes on drawings with dip pens and paint brushes. I have a whole array of colors lined up on my window sill above my drawing table. The colors are jewel-like and never fade, and are also waterproof.

5. Sparkling French Lemonade

Lightly sweetened, fizzy drinks(R likes the pink flavor and I like the grapefruit) that come in a tall bottles at the supermarket. Good for making nice summer cocktails and 'mock' tails, too.

;-)

Manic Monday with new computer(sort of)

Hard to believe I am even posting a new blog entry here today, considering that Saturday morning(when I went to turn on the computer to write about my evening with Jonathan Richman)I discovered our ailing home PC had finally bitten the dust. It wouldn't even turn on. Figured I would have to cease writing for some time until later in the summer...and was kind of okay with that. But, late Sunday afternoon, I discovered my action-oriented husband had found a used Dell for sale right up the road and had it installed and up and running. Somewhat. It has a few glitches and I don't feel quite comfortable with it yet. But I think if I get into a habit of not blogging on a regular basis, I'll most likely stop. So...must...keep...writing...blog.

A Manic Monday, therefore.
I haven't done one of these in a while. Usually my Monday is truly manic enough to not have any time to blog. But today was dull and easy-going. This spooky limbo of gloom and low pressure weather is part of the reason I feel so blah. Lack of sun and below 70*F temps for weeks on end has sucked some of the joy of living out of me, I'll tell ya.

Anyway, I am babbling (if fingers on a keypad can babble, that is..)
Here's my Manic Monday:

Do you usually wear perfume/cologne? If so, what's your current favorite?
I usually do try to spritz or splash on something nice smelling in the morning(or after a shower or before bed...)and my current favorite scent is L 'Eau de Monteil--a beautiful, soft floral that smells like carnation mixed with jasmine. Very nice for summer(not that it is remotely like summer here, with it being a third straight week of low pressure grey skies and rain and wind) and surprising to me as I don't usually think I am the type to like floral perfume--it always makes me think it is something that would give me a headache. And this one certainly does not do that. It makes me feel pretty and girlish and want to keep sniffing my wrist.

What's the last book you've read that you thought was really good? If you don't have one, what looks promising on your to-be-read list?
Northern Borders by Harold Frank Mosher. I felt I "knew" the characters in the book as I read it and would even dream about them. So real. So true. Just a great book from start to finish.

Fill in the blank: I wouldn't be caught dead _________wearing tie-dyed anything.

That's it for now. The computer froze up now a second time. I feel agitated by that and the second time, Blogger didn't save the photo and further text I had typed. Maybe tomorrow I'll have more patience and the right thought processes to write about Friday night at the Richman show.
For now, all I want to say is that I was shocked earlier this evening--SHOCKED--that Alex Trebek shaved off his moustache. When did that happen? Obviously, I haven't watched Jeopardy in some time. He seemed older and wearier and just-not-right, without the 'stache.

Scentsational

Pati gave me the idea for a blog entry about favorite colognes and scents. She wrote about this already on her Multiply blog a few weeks ago.



So, here's my scent collection, arranged in front of my dresser mirror in my bedroom. I hope the numbers I typed on or near the bottles are visable. (click on the photo to enlarge if necc.)



1. Ici perfume by Coty
I am using this one sparingly these days. I have a feeling Coty doesn't make this anymore, since I have not seen it in stores(it ought to be with the other Coty drugstore scents)in ages and even online, when I look even for an Ici body lotion, nothing is out there. This one smells sweet at first, but then develops into a incense-like dusky chocolate and magnolia scent, which I just love! A perfect blend of soft (floral) and earthy (the smoky chocolate tones). My husband REALLY likes this one, too. It's delicious.



2. Ombre Rose L'Original by Jean-Charles Brosseau
Soft and mossy--a sophisticated rose with an almost baby powder dry down. I like to snuggle into my clothes to get a whiff of this throughout the day. I used to wear this when I was a young thing back in the 80's, and then forgot all about it. When I saw a teeny bottle of it in a store a few months back, I had to get it.



3. Il Bacio by Borghese
Mamma Mia!! This one is pure femininity and oh so sexy. It makes me feel instantly pretty when I spray it on. It isn't subtle--a sweet fruity floral (heavy on the fruit--very plummy). But this isn't a cloying, sappy, super sweet floral at all. There is a little spice to it (which is probably why I like it so much)



4. IVOIRE perfume by Pierre Balmain
I wear this scent the least out of all my perfumes. I will wear it when I want to feel elegant and mature(not my usual deportment). It has a distinctive soapy and clean smell. And it lingers for hours on me. Not a light floral scent, nor a strong spicy scent. It is hard to describe, actually. I sometimes think this would probably smell better on someone else than it does on me. No one has ever asked what scent I am wearing when I am wearing this--a good indication that it is maybe not right for me. And I don't LOVE it. It's just okay.



5. Tomorrow by Avon
Yay, Avon!! For the price, there are some nice perfumes out there made by Avon. My mother has been an Avon lady for the last few years and when she first started giving me the monthly catalogs to look over, I pooh-poohed the idea of wearing Avon stuff. First of all, without a sample, there was no way to tell what the stuff smells like. And if the colognes are so inexpensive, would I smell cheap wearing them, I thought?
But, I was given a sample set of the Salma Hayek line --Today, Tomorrow and Always. The first and last named were okay, but I really like the second--the soft oriental Tomorrow. A sexy, lighter spicy scent--not too heavy (I even wear this one in summer)but definitely not a wimpy scent. My skin chemistry accepts spicier, stronger scents and that is usually what I am drawn to. But I don't want to smell too overwhelming and assualt unsuspecting bystanders with too much of a scent. So, this one works and with all those Avon promotions (thanks, Mum!), I have a constant supply of purse-sized spray bottle, shimmering scented body powder and the body lotion as well as a bottle of the cologne.



6. Tomorrow Purse Size spray cologne



7. Cabaret by Grès
I think this is my new favorite. Well, second to my all-time favorite, Ciara, which isn't in the picture becasue I have been out since March!! (I will hint around for a birthday gift of it for October, so don't worry about me)
While the design of the bottle has always bothered me (something tacky and showgirl-ish about it), I adore this scent!! There is definitely a peppery smell to it, but a soft peppery smell--a woody combination of soft rose and sandalwood (?)that drys down in a subtle way and lingers on my skin with that intoxicating peppery scent. I just love to smell myself when I wear this and end up probably re-applying too much of this throughout the day.



8. Oxygene by Lanvin
Perfect summer scent, with a cool aquatic color. Clean and fruity and airy. It doesn't last on me, though. Ten minutes after I have applied it, I can't even smell it!! Something about my oily skin and body chemistry, again, that is better off with slightly heavier spicier scents. I may end up giving this away to my daughter. Since it doesn't stay on me long, it might be the perfect scent for her paler, more sensitive skin. And it is a perfectly acceptable scent for a young lady.



And, not pictured above, but......



Ciara

This is my all time favorite scent--the missing Ciara!! When I wear it, I feel like I am wrapped in velvet and spices.. Maybe it is too much but with me loving how this smells, this is one perfume I don't care if no one else can stand it (or stand to be around me). It ain't subtle. I'll admit it is STRONG stuff. But it makes me feel GREAT when I wear it! It is spicy and sweet and unlike any other perfume I have ever smelled. And I never notice anyone else ever wearing it, either, so I feel this is my signature scent.
It's always in the case at the drugstore--Revlon, after all. I hope they never stop making this stuff (I think it was put out in the early 70's) and I will keep asking my husband for it as a birthday gift. Usually a big bottle will get me through the fall and winter. I tend to reign myself in and not buy another bottle when it runs out by early spring and then I wear other scents in the warmer months. There is definitely something about Ciara that makes it a cold weather scent only for me (see? I know where to draw the line), and I love how it lingers on my cold weather clothes ( like wool and velvet and tweedy jackets) in my closet.