It's Friday and the two year anniversary of the day the WHO declared the Covid-19 pandemic. Our community project for today: wear whatever fragrance you think fits the occasion.
What fragrance did you pick? As always, do chime in with your scent of the day even if you’re not participating in the community project.
It's probably not exactly a celebratory day for many of us, I'm sure, but I am happy to have made it this far and to be on what feels like my first real vacation since early 2020. I will be in Guerlain Terracotta Le Parfum tonight and will raise a glass to all the people who helped keep me and my family safe for the past two years.
Reminder: on 3/18 we're doing Green Friday...wear a green perfume (St. Patrick's Day is on Thursday so maybe wear 2 in a row? This is a repeat from 2014)
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2022, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Ethereal (Hibiscus) [cropped] by Allegra Ricci at flickr; some rights reserved.
On January 26th, 2020, we had been back for three weeks from a trip to Germany to visit a bunch of cities and see the Christmas markets, and I wrote in my journal, “There’s a coronavirus roaring through China and gradually popping up in other parts of the world; a few cases in the U.S., one in Toronto, an unknown number in Taiwan….”
I had no idea that COVID-19 would take over the planet and that that was the last trip we’d take for two years and counting. (At least it was a really great trip, possibly the best one we ever took.) So today I’m wearing the scent I bought on that trip: Mugler Angel Philtre Volupté, in its daggerlike bottle, meant to be layered but pretty good on its own, slightly rough-edged sandalwood and vanilla and maybe a hint of tobacco.
Pretty much same here…I made 3 plane journeys in early 2020. The last one, in early March, when I flew home suddenly there were a few people on the plane wearing masks. A few weeks later, I was wearing a mask everywhere I went…
I am wearing Coco Mademoiselle Intense today. In August 2020, covid numbers slacked a little and my husband drove me to the nearest Ulta that carried Chanel perfumes at that time so I could use my birthday bonus and points. It was about an hour away, I called ahead and paid over the phone so all I had to do was walk in and pick it up. And now Ulta has Chanel perfumes available online and in store pickup is routine. I’ll never forget how surreal it felt to be out driving and how we didn’t want to have to stop and use a public restroom because all surfaces were contaminated, remember? It’s been weird to think back on 2020 this week.
I made those trips to Ulta…ours even did curbside pickup for a bit.
And I learned a new word – fomite! I bought only touched stuff in the grocery wearing gloves AND as I wiped down the groceries when I got home.
Good morning and tgif!
It’s been a challenging 2 years and many things had been, still are, difficult. Who would’ve thought COVID-19 would be so devastating?
Today I am wearing Libre Intense to hope that things will be better and we will all again be free to do and live as we like.
Luckily, I never thought so…if I had I think 2020 would have been even harder. At the time I am sure I thought it would be over by the end of the year.
I like Libre Intense, especially now it is autumn. Have a happy weekend.
Back in Feb of 2020 my husband had a conference in Belgium so while he went to talks, I went out exploring. Lattedoro is not just a souvenir but it’s also the last perfume that I bought in person. I wore it a lot in 2020 since I find it to be a lovely comforting scent
That’s a nice memory…the last perfume you bought in person.
That is a good memory springing from a bad time. How nice that you have a fragrance to comfort you!
I remember when you asked for perfume recommendations here, before that trip ☺️
I did about everything I could to protect myself and others from COVID-19 by getting vaccinated, social distancing, masking and staying home when possible. So my choice today had to be ELdO Eau de Protection.
Excellent!
Good one!
Oops wrong place.
Nice.
Love this.♥️
Perfect.❣️❣️
Great post!?
Well played!
Great pick!
I like the way you think and I do love that perfume ?
?
I’m in AdV Oeillet Bengale. This one pretty much sums up COVID; I believe I got the travel bottle from Pixel, and had her send it to my sister’s house across the border, meaning to pick it up the next time we were down. Little did I know it would be almost two years before I’d get it!
Things are going to be strange here, as yesterday they announced the lifting of the mask mandate, as of today. I’m not sure I’m quite ready for this, though it has been pointed out that our vaccination rate for 12+ is 90.8%. As I sit here and sift through responses to my housesitting listing for our trip this summer, it almost feels like the before times…but not.
Oh interesting…I like that choice!
We are mostly NOT masking here on vacation…and everything is outside anyway, including restaurants. It will be interesting to see what happens when we get home. I told my husband I would go back to eating inside a restaurant, but it remains to be seen if I really will be able to do it.
Went grocery shopping today. Thankfully most people (including staff) were still wearing masks. It’s going to be a long time for me before I go maskless.
I’m in Wazamba for the moment, but am thinking about a better choice for the CP after a shower. I remember my last “normal” day in the office, but have no idea which scent I might have spritzed that morning — my company had already started issuing sanitizer to everyone, and the building management had already instituted heavy-duty cleaning every night, so the office pretty much smelled like cleaning products. My strongest memory of the first few months of the lockdown was how very lush all the trees and shrubs were that spring. With the sudden severe drop in car traffic, the air was so clean and the outdoors smelled just heavenly. Perhaps I’ll wear Bel Respiro for the CP, as a tribute to nature.
Oh I like that idea…nature does not realize its “break” is just about over.
I’m choosing to look forward with Chris Rusak Bluer Skies today.
Nice!
amen!
My thought too ?
What a great name for a perfume!
Would you mind describing that one?
We were at a hockey game when this request came in, totally forgot to reply. Bluer Skies is primarily Jasmine Sambac and sandalwood on my skin. There are ozone/mineral/salty elements in the opening but for me the jasmine really persists, but not overwhelming.
I’m in Box of Eels. Smelling fancy for a day of laundry and cleaning.? My college daughter comes home tomorrow, and not that she cares if the house is clean, but I would like to relax and enjoy her visit knowing I am all caught up on housework.
Her brother went to get her and they are going to spend the day together. I love that they love hanging with each other.
The sun is back today and the forecast has us heading to 60 next week! I’m ready.??
All good news, yay!
?
Enjoy the visit. 60s?!?? We will be happy to be in the 40s. Sigh.
Thanks! Yeah, that’s the predicted temp for Wednesday, although I’ll be at work with no windows.☹️ Maybe I’ll sneak out for a walk on my lunch break.
Enjoy your time together.
Thanks Kanuka! Looking forward to it.☺️
So sweet about The MTG Kids helping each other and spending time together. I just got back from a trip with my only sister (and sibling) and we had so fun because of the many things we just “get” that others don’t notice. I won’t mention how many decades ago that connection began.
Yes, they have lots of shared experiences they love to reminisce about when they’re together. It’s fun for me to watch because I’m an only child.
Love this.
The sun and your daughter heading home. A good day indeed!
Love the upbeat tone of this post. ?
My last big hurrah was a Mommy and Me Brownie weekend camp w/ my daughter in Feb 2020 where 12 moms and girls slept together in a cabin…who knew it would seem so dangerous and unfathomable just a few weeks later.?
I remember reading news stories about the virus in Jan and Feb and telling my coworker to get her laptop checked to make sure it was all set up to VPN etc. and that I was going to open a ticket to make sure my permissions were set up correctly, etc. b/c I thought we would be working remotely a few months…little did I know two years later we would still be remote.
I also remember bringing up the virus w/ my boss around that time and she said thought it would just blow over ?…and I thought she’s in denial…and it did blow over…the entire world…a few times.
So very grateful for the vaccines, healthcare and frontline workers and everyone who did their part to keep each other as safe as possible. ? Wearing Shalimar MVP to honor all these MVPs who got through the last two years together.
Do you know how much longer you’ll be remote?
My husband is very lucky he works in such a small office and has his own entrance…he was only home for 2-4 weeks. My town was also really good about masking and vaccinating. There are ways in which we had an easier pandemic than many other people.
Our HR department is preparing a long-term telecommute agreement to the best of my knowledge but there are many logistics to work out w/ legal is my understanding. Then we had the healthcare worker vaccine mandate in CA and that has taken up a lot of time and resources w/ HR too. There are no plans, right now, to have people who can work remotely to go back. It’s really quite wonderful. I know many people who had had to go back 2 or 3 days a week or even full time now. Working from home has added to the surreal feeling of the last two years for me too.
Oh, that is really quite wonderful!
Great link-in to the CP!
I did not jump on the MVP bandwagon and now I’m regretting it a bit. But just a bit, since Shalimar is not at the top of my Guerlain love list. Oh well, money saved. ?
Mr. Jalapeno is still working from home, even as other people I know are going back to offices on a hybrid schedule.
I considered MVP today, too!
In January 2020, we took a trip to Pebble Beach, California. On the way home, in the airport I remember talking to friends about this virus out there. I took wet wipes out of my purse and wiped our table down and gave some out to everyone “just in case”. I, like everyone else, had no idea of the magnitude of what was lurking out there.
Today I am wearing Jo Malone White Moss & Snowdrop because it makes me happy
It is a happy perfume! I will join you later today. I like the bottle too, the subtle colour shifts.
Seriously…I also stocked up on wipes! Did not turn out to be what I should have stocked up on, ha.
*Chortle* now what could you mean, Ms. Robin??!!
Lol
I wore L Air de Rien that day, today i chose Aromatics Elixir, because this maked me feel strong and capable.
Just one more week and we have a weeklong holiday to get some much needed rest.
So glad you have a holiday coming!
Two years ago Tuesday, I went to a $5 showing of First Cow over by Lincoln Center. I brought a little travel spray of alcohol, which I used on the recliner arm rests and made sure my seat was well distanced from the few others in the theater. I used Kleenex to open doors and on the bus and washed my hands before and after the movie. I had bought some disposable gloves, rubbing alcohol and aloe gel to make hand sanitizer, which was already impossible to find. I’d stocked up on tp and various freezer items in the weeks leading up.
We moved almost a year ago to our new home, and that move really marked the end of my pandemic-style living. Once the vaccines became readily available here, stores began dropping mask requirements. By early summer we were pretty much back to 2019 life. Omicron made its run through the county, but I surprisingly escaped (either that or I got it and was asymptomatic).
I don’t have a scent that speaks to the last two years, so I simply chose something that was on my mind the last couple of days. Kelly Calèche EdP, which I think I discovered on a pre-pandemic sniffing venture with Hajusuuri and others at the Hermes boutique down by the Winter Garden. We all had a couple of great sniffing adventures together. Miss that.
That is so interesting. I do live in a small town but don’t feel like the pandemic started to feel over until just the last few weeks. Now it does feel over but of course, I am prepared to be surprised
I miss those days too!
I’m glad that I got some meet-ups with NSTers in before the pandemic blew up.
Yeah. My gym was offering a sale on trainer hours, so in mid Feb 2020 I purchased about $1500 worth of hours for my younger son to use over the following summer. He has a lot of health complications and one on one workouts with a gym rat seemed like a good plan. I found someone who seemed like he’d be a good fit for my ASD son. But the virus in China seemed really serious too and it was hard to imagine that it would somehow stay in China. My magical thinking! The sweet young man taking my money assured me there was no way the virus would be bad for us and I decided to believe him because I wished it were so. Three weeks later my older son and a good friend of his were wearing heavy duty hazard masks on a plane ride back to CA. His friend is Chinese, and had no way to go home—and their college had closed. They were given hostile stares on the plane, but my son’s friend was convinced that masks would make a difference!
Wearing the very very last drop of my Mitsouko parfum. Feels silly to keep the beautiful box and bottle, empty. But I don’t have the heart to toss it just now.
Playing hooky after a disheartening week at work. The world ???. Heading out soon for a hike.
You were so kind to me last year and it made such a difference to my life. Mitsouko twins!
Augh it was tough year. Happy to be a Mitsouko sister as this last bit fades ?.
Oakland, did you lose all that money for the trainer?
No I did not. In fact the gym did all it could to pay me back. Like every other gym it had a liquidity crises. But I have to say that while it took over a year, Fitness SF returned every dime AND me and the manager had lovely long talks on the phone during the worst of the scourge when it seemed like it would never end. Just writing those words makes me think I should send her an email to see how she’s doing now . . .
Oh, that is really nice.
Our local YMCA I know had a very hard time of it. They are open now but offering barely a fraction of what they used to offer (yoga classes, etc).
It’s hard to NOT be bitter and resentful at…I dunno,at the world?At ourselves?
Sending Hugs!??
????
You smell wonderful; a hike in what looks like a beautiful day in Oakland would be perfect! Save that bottle!
It is a beautiful day. I got home a little while ago. Five miles of ups and downs (but isn’t that life?) in the woods. I could see Mt. Diablo, 30 miles east, whenever there was a break in the trees. My tracker says I climbed 53 flights. Best medicine! ?
I hope you had a great hike.
???
I don’t blame you one bit for not wanting to discard the Mitsouko box & bottle just yet.
Hope the hike felt good.
I’m in Guerlain Angelique Noire today. March 9, 2020 was the day our department went home from the office to work remotely “for a few weeks.” (We are finally returning to the office May 2, 2022 in a hybrid structure.) My whole family (Mr. SP, me, our three grown sons + one girlfriend) had just returned from a wonderful week-long trip to Hawaii in February 2020. That carried us for a while during the pandemic as did outdoor camping trips in the summer.
We have a couple of trips planned this spring, one at the beginning of April and one at the beginning of May. Whatever the rules are at those times, I’ll definitely be masked on any public transportation and hoping to primarily eat and do things outside.
I hope your spring trips go ahead and you get to relax .
It’s so good that you’ve gone and are planning trips!
At the end of January 2020 my mother ( and best friend) died and then in January 2021 I was first diagnosed with cancer so, in a way, Covid was a bit abstract for me. The first lockdowns felt like a mourning period for my mum, and the second year I was too sick to go out anyway. I was extremely lucky that my medical treatment wasn’t affected. Then we didn’t have any cases here for 22 months because of the strict lock downs and border closures. In fact Covid has only reached my city in the last month or so and we are just looking at the beginning of the peak of omicron now, with 20 000 nationwide cases a day. The country has had a total of 86 deaths since 2020. I feel enormous gratitude for the people who have kept the country running, from the Prime Minister through to the medical staff, carers, supermarket workers, courier drivers, and work from home adults and kids. We had the most intense pink and gold stormy sunset last night. So incredibly beautiful. Wearing Mitsouko and now waiting for sunrise!
Such a very intense time both personally and world-wide during those years for you. I lost my mom during COVID as well. May we all heal and spread love around the world.
I’m so sorry Springpansy. It’s very tough.
Kanuka, it is true you were so lucky to be where you are, in terms of your cancer treatment. I know there are many places in the US where it would not have been smooth.
I lost my Dad at the beginning of March 2020, and unlike you, I feel like any grief was immediately replaced by fear…I still don’t feel like I ever properly grieved his death. Now I don’t know if I will, one fear gets replaced by another these days…
I hope omicron peaks as quickly there as it did here…
Sometimes I felt a sense of guilty relief that she didn’t have to deal with lockdowns and Covid and everything that followed, especially with me being sick. I am really sorry about your dad.
Oh, completely…except I don’t know why that should be guilty. I always think my dad died at the perfect time…covid was just starting to be a worry but he didn’t even know about it and died in complete peace.
I know what you mean about not being sure you will ever have that space to grieve. I am so sorry about you pa.
Thank you Oakland Fresca.
I think that I am concurrently grieving both my Mom’s death, and the pandemic. Some days really, really suck as a result.
Oh, I bet. Then all the crappy news from everywhere. I’m sure it’s overwhelming.
Kanuka, thank you for sharing here some of your personal story. Gratitude is what everyone who stops by here can have, even if in some small way. You smell wonderful, too.
I had a friend diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer just as we were locking down. Her actual treatment wasn’t so much affected as was her ability to have others care for her during treatment. She delayed even telling family, knowing they couldn’t fly in to visit. Too much risk and too long quarantines. Thankful for the neighbors in her building who did shopping, etc.
Here’s hoping Omicron flies through quickly with little impact.
Oh Kanuka, that’s a lot to have to deal with. Sending you hugs from far away.
Big hugs to you, Kanuka…you have endured so much the past few years. It’s wonderful your treatment was not affected. My sister is doing well and has a follow up scan on 3/17 and she will get the port removed if all clear….understandably she really wants that port out. I just sent her several boxes of Girl Scout cookies my daughter is selling for her Brownie troop.?
Hallelujah and good bye port! Wonderful news!
So great to be rid of the port. I bet it makes a huge difference mentally as well as physically.
Kanuka, glad you’re still here with us. I’m so sorry about your mom, and that the last couple of years have been so hard for you. But you’ve got the spirit! Keep wearing that Mitsouko and waiting for a beautiful sunrise. ❤️
What a two years this has been for you. Counting blessings and glad you are still with us!
What a horrible, stressful time that must have been. I’m glad you’re still here, and I hope you continue to get better.
Well so many were in awe of your PM, for many reasons.
I am so so so happy you are again rambling in your beloved cemetery with the rabbits ?
You’ve definitely had a couple of rough years Kanuka. Glad that you are still here with us.
Thanks everyone. You are all champions!
You have been through so much, Kanuka. Glad you overcame them and back in fighting form!
Just adding my good wishes to all of the others along with a big hug.
Following coumarin’s example, I wrote this to my aunt on 2/26/20. She was (and still is) in New Zealand at the time:
“One thing I would like to mention is your travel plans this year. It’s not my business, but I will voice my opinion and concerns anyway. Please do not travel unless you absolutely have to. I know your plan for returning to the U.K. and Ireland every summer is your usual pattern, but this is a very unusual year. I’m not an alarmist, but I think you should be very careful due to the novel Coronavirus. We don’t know enough about it yet, but from what I’m hearing it appears to be easily transmitted and is causing significant and serious illness. It’s transmitted especially well if it’s aerosolized when public toilets are flushed, and they have yet to determine how long it can last on surfaces. I’m hoping as the weather warms, it will fade away, but the clinical aspect of my brain is telling me we have only seen the tip of the iceberg. So, please make wise decisions so you can be part of those grand kids life for as long as possible.”
In Profvmvm Roma Ambra Aurea again.
Wise words. Maybe she will get to travel this year all going well.
Haunting words,it’s like the 9/11 of this decade….
XO
Indeed.
Prophetic.
Right on the money.
Glad she paid attention to you!
Good to hear that your aunt hunkered down!
I’m wearing Ava Luxe No. 23, for the mix of fortitude and calm it brings me.
Wearing L’Attesa, which makes me feel the same way as 23 does for you…
1)On the Friday before, we were pulled into a meeting and told about COVID 19 threat. Some of us had been monitoring the threat but there had been plagues before- Ebola, H1N1, West Nile- and they were quickly stamped into control. So surely there were be the same controls, and we would not need to worry too much.
We were told that we would work from home for six weeks, and then there would be a re-assessment.
Then everything changed.
2) SOTD: A combo of Fresh Cream and Wonderland Peony. It’s comforting, it’s floral and it’s hopeful.
Then everything changed. ?
We were monitoring as early as January and then all hell broke loose in March!
A dull and damp Saturday morning here, but it’s still Saturday – yay!
I’ll wear Arquiste’s Anima Dulcis today, I bought it in 2020 as we came out of our first lockdown, the justification was to help support local businesses. Not that I really need a justification for perfume purchases.
But I understand and felt the same. I was only furloughed for a few weeks, and since I had most of my usual income, I did try to keep up spending at local businesses, particularly restaurants. In our small town, there was a lot of order on line/pick up curb side effort by everyone. Sadly, several long-time legacy businesses folded anyway – a reminder that small businesses are very much about the owner’s passion.
Our first case was reported around this time,Patient 0 was in Italy on a ski-trip and returned to Durban…the rest is history.
April 2020 was scary and lonely.We were in hard lockdown level 5,even prevented to do most surgeries,and had a total of 16 eye surgeries for April.16…We don’t even “just” do 16 on a normal day,ever!
Somehow we got through it so far,all masked and gloved and sprayed with God knows how many chemicals ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE.
I became more of a recluse at home than ever,and still am.I’ve not really traveled anywhere,and I don’t intend to for a good while still.I’m still covid-negative,vaccinated and boostered.
SOTD!
CHANEL Sycomore.Dreaming of a spice-island vacation some day in the future…
Happy Friday.I am so glad most of you are still here,2 years later.
XO’s.
Hi J B: I am sure you have been an amazing and positive presence in your world of health care worker through all this trouble. (you’re a nurse, right? Sorry I forget.) And if I were your patient, and you wore some of your wonderful fragrances, I’d feel better!
Thank you so much for your kind words!
Perfumes still gives me endless joy.
Yes,Nurse reporting!Haha!
In good company here with Deva and ElisaP and many other nurses!
XO’s
So many wonderful, fragrant NST nurses!
???
Happy to hear that you are still COVID negative! Hang in there.
We’re still around to reminisce! Like you, I am unlikely to fly anywhere for a good long while!
Thank you for all you have done during this difficult time and continue to do. I also continue to live very cautiously despite being vaccinated and boostered and don’t plan on getting on an airplane anytime soon either.
I have become more of recluse too, but here I am on vacation! And hope you will take one eventually.
Two years ago today Mr. Vee and I were in Belgium, on a 40th bday trip for him, seeing the special Jan van Eyck exhibit. We woke up on the 12th to the news that the US was closing it’s borders to visitors and we worried that it might close its borders all together, so we scrambled to find a flight home, and flew back several days early on Friday the 13th.
I am so grateful that we got in to see that JvE exhibit. They closed it the next day because of COVID and, because so many of the pieces were on loan, it is unlikely to happen again. My favorite was the panel of Eve from the Ghent Alterpiece, which shows her holding a citrus fruit and a fig leaf. So in honor of that last day of normalcy and that beautiful painting, I am wearing AdP Fico di Amalfi, which has both citrus and fig leaf notes.
Tea today is a vanilla flavored black loose leaf that I don’t love and am trying to perk up by mixing in some chai. The results are fine, but I won’t be replacing this one once it is gone.
I am envious. I love van Eyck. The faces of his subjects look like people I know. He closes a 500 year gap with the stroke of his brush. A lovely parting memory from the time before.
Life is too short for boring tea, too. ?☕
If you flew back to EWR, we may have passed each other…I flew back from Houston on the 13th as well!
The first weekend of March 2020, my sisters and I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show. That was to be our last sister trip ever. I had worried about going, even though I had already paid for everything, and called my sisters in late February to suggest that they not come, that flying was looking risky… But none of us had ever been to the PFS, and they really wanted to come, so we did it. Thank heavens the PFS did not become a super-spreader event, and none of us contracted COVID there. But a few weeks later my oldest sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and… well… we lost her in September 2021. I haven’t worn perfume much at all over the past two years — I just haven’t felt like I had the capacity to manage it. I’ve been trying recently to get back to it. But I don’t have any on today. Yesterday I put on Memo Lalibela (not really “me” but very pretty) and still smell it faintly on my wrists.
Very sorry to hear about your sister FearsMice. ?
So glad you had that sister trip. My condolences upon her passing. Thank you for sharing your story.
I’m glad you had what sounds like a lovely trip and time with sisters; so sorry for the loss of one.
So sorry, FearsMice — I hope the trip to the flower show is a good, if poignant, memory as the years go by. Condolences to you and your family.
Oh, I’m so glad you were able to safely take that trip with your sisters!
It’s wonderful you had that trip with your sisters. I am so very sorry for your loss. Sending you great big hugs and strength.
I’m so very sorry, FearsMice. Your post brought tears to my eyes, I’m glad you got to take your sister trip.
Ach. Glad that you and your sisters didn’t cancel the Flower Show trip. So sorry to hear about your oldest sister. My sympathies.
I’m so glad you were able to take that trip together, and so sorry for your loss. Ovarian cancer is awful–my aunt died from it too.
So sorry.?
So sorry for your loss, FearsMice ?
I’m so sorry for your loss. My sisters and I try to get together when we can.
So sorry for your loss, FearsMice.
I am so sorry about the loss of your sister. I’m glad you have that last trip together to remember. ?
Oh, what a story … it would be so much harder if you’d cancelled the trip!
And it is so hard to lose a sister.
It’s been so interesting reading everyone’s recollections of ‘how it all began!’ In pre-Covid days, as a healthy individual I rarely let anything get in the way of my activities and community involvement. That particular week, I was out and about a lot, with a book discussion, yoga, a One Earth film fest, and looking forward to a weekend concert featuring my favorite cellist. On March 11th, when the news broke, I had just returned from my annual credit union luncheon meeting, where I always delighted in reuniting with former work colleagues, most of us retired. I heard the news, yet it didn’t stop me from attending yoga the next morning at my local library. But that afternoon, getting ready for the weekly classic film showing at the library that evening, I stopped to check my email and saw that not only was the film cancelled but the library was closed, ditto for the park district, and pretty much everything around here. I was stunned, and that’s when it really struck home. The Saturday concert was almost cancelled but then moved, the last concert we would go to for a very long time. Although it was a small audience, I remember how nervous I was; we sat at the very end away from people, and when I greeted my favorite cellist after the concert was over, I stood far away from him and skipped our customary hugs. Little did I know how many hug-free days were ahead!
What I’ve needed most in my fragrance over the past two years has been comfort and a sense of calm, and my SOTD, Barbara Bui Le Parfum, has given me that. Warm, ambery, woody with just a tiny bit of incense, it’s provided me those missing hugs many a time during this difficult period.
And it probably will do so for awhile to come given the current world situation. And so, I’m sending all NST’ers a big comforting ? and wishing you peace this weekend, however you define it and wherever you can find it. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. . . . https://youtu.be/bgL1v8FZaNM
I remember realizing things were seriously bad when Washington DC canceled its Cherry Blossom Festival. Scary time.
Oooof. The missed hugs.
2020 started out really hard for me even before Covid hit: my wonderful boss died suddenly in early January, and my old and sick dog died in late February. I still miss them both, a lot, but my new dog (not so new anymore!) who I adopted during the lockdown helped me through it.
My last trip before Covid was to Portland, OR to visit my brother, so I’m wearing a souvenir perfume I bought there: Roman Ruby Botanicals Portland. The notes listed are honeysuckle and vanilla blossom. Vanilla blossom? I didn’t know the plant had blossoms that were used in perfumery…
Anyway, I’m at the start of my three-day weekend, and I’m making bread from a mix (King Arthur Scottish toasting bread). The dough is rising. I hope it turns out well!
Glad to hear that you were able to see your brother before things got really bad.
Thanks! We had fun exploring the city, it was my first time there.
socks, what a horrible beginning for lockdown times! I’m so glad you got a new dog. What did you name him?
Aw, thanks! Things are much better now. The new pup is named Didi (I joke that it’s short for Deirdre). That’s her picture in my avatar; she’s a chihuahua-terrier mix, mostly.
The puppy is adorable!
She’s cute as a button, and so is her name! ?
So sorry for all that loss, but I am smiling because I can almost smell the dough rising in your kitchen.
Thanks! I just had two pieces, and it’s yummy. I cut into it when it was still hot, which I know you’re not supposed to do, but I couldn’t resist.
Oooh, was this the dog you took on a plane a few month’s back?
Also, why did I not know that we share a connection with Portland? My brother is there too or I should in a suburb (Lake Oswego).
Yep, that’s my plane-averse pup! Thank goodness she’s fine with riding in cars. My bro has been in Portland for three years, but he’s planning on moving this summer. Where he’ll end up I don’t know, but I hope he won’t be too far away from the rest of the family! The Portland area is so nice though.
I lost both my beloved Mother and Father in 2019, Mother in April and Daddy in September. I did not know much of what was going on as I had been focused on helping them most of that year, and on a leave from work part of the time. My sister and I live far apart and wanted to see each other after all the sadness. Though I vaguely knew about a virus spreading, we took a four day trip to Disneyland for Chinese New Year. We were both fine but in two weeks, I was informed that my office was adapting best (known at that time) practices, and I realized how serious things were and started to learn about COVID. For the CP, I started the day with a dab of vintage Giorgio; then as it washed off my wrists, I switched to a full-body spray of current Angel edt. My COVID perfumes were Insolence and Rihanna Rebelle. In March of 2020, I was all alone answering phones and having foot in the door conversations with walk-ins, in the closed reception area of our office, and I decided I was going to “smell.” That’s all I have to say about that, to coin a phrase…
Darn, my cell phone wouldn’t let me copy and paste. Basically, I am so sorry you lost your parents within 5 months of each other in 2019. Mom passed away in August 2019. It’s awful for me to say it’s a good thing because she would have suffered more if she were to get COVID.
Fragrant hug, hajusuuri, for your kinds words – and I did read comment below. I remember there were several NST regulars who lost a dear parent around the same time. Your comments and those of the others were a comfort. And it was a good thing that I did not have barriers to visits as some of you did only a few months later.
Losing both your parents in such a short time frame must have been horrible. I’m so sorry. Hugs.
Thanks, friend; I know you understand!
Yep.
“Keep Calm, and Waft On!”
I am so sorry for those close, heavy losses. May their memories be a blessing.
Thank you – you said it right; but yes, their memories are a blessing. <3
What a blow to lose both parents so close together. Sending you hugs.
Thank you, socks. I love how many caring people stop by NST!
Both so close together. So sorry.
It helps to mention it in this discussion and I appreciate your kind words. I think it made me more tender-hearted toward others who soon faced so many barriers to visiting their elderly relatives, because I could be by their sides.
Very sorry for your losses, MossyBerry. My dad passed away in Nov 2018 which was fairly expected and then my mom was diagnosed w/ pancreatic cancer just after Xmas, completely unexpected, and passed away in Feb 2019. It was brutal. I remember thinking that 2020 would be better than 2019.? Sending you great big hugs and strength.
Hugs to you, She-ra!
She-ra, I do remember your posts, too. Hugs back and thanks for your kind words.
Adding my hugs to all the others and my deepest sympathy. I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been to lose both in so short a time. ?
This was meant for MossyBerry but certainly holds true for you, too, She-Ra. ?
Thanks, Laila. Knowing how many other people were carrying on with so much loss let me know I would too.
Adding a hug from me?
Hugs back, friend!
That is so much loss in such a short time. Biggest hugs to you.
I wrestled a bit with this. I could have gone with something beachy, because we had just gotten back from Jamaica when the pandemic was made official. But instead I chose Gardener’s Glove, by St. Clair Scents, in honor of my pandemic vegetable garden that I started in 2020. And also in honor of Candide, but that’s a longer blog post!
I love Gardener’s Glove!
Me too, and also First Cut.
Ooh, what kind of vegetables did you grow? I’m always glad to hear about new things people tried during these difficult times.
In 2020, some cool-season vegs like broccoli, kale, and cauliflower. Then mostly summer vegetables like zucchini and other squash, lots of herbs, some tomatoes, beans. In the late winter/early spring 2021, I planted shelling peas after I completely overhauled my raised beds; they were delicious! In summer 2021, I grew zucchinis again, herbs again, some melons, salad greens, LOTS of beans (I overplanted). I’m still planning this summer’s garden! Right now, I have the same cool-season vegs I did before, plus beets. Mulling over whether to plant the peas again, which I have to do soon if I’m going to.
In March 2020 I was booked on a tiger photo safari in India. Despite COVID, I was still planning to go, as India had not reported any cases. The day before my departure, India closed its borders and revoked all tourist visas. The trip was postponed again last year and again this year. Prices have increased 50% but I am hoping that the trip will happen in 2023. I’m wearing Bombay Bling today.
Nice. My trip to Oberamagau was postponed from July 2020 to July this year. I’m not going but my sister and brother-in-law are. When I travel, it will definitely be a U.S. destination and not one where I have to travel by plane.
How disappointing!! You do smell great, though.
I’m wearing Bois Farine because my family gave it to me for Christmas one year. I haven’t seen them in person since December 2019 so this pandemic has had a theme of missing them.
You smell nice. With all the what seems to be a flurry of activity (mine but don’t ask me what they were), I thought you ended up booking something and had gone through with it. Regardless, I hope you get to seen them soon!
I was supposed to go to Canada for Christmas 2021 but omicron cancelled that plan. Hoping for this summer!
I’m sorry you’ve been apart from your family for so long! I hope you’ve been able to do some virtual get-togethers instead, or some nice phone calls or something.
Commando today — I have a concussion, alas — a mild one and my first ever, AFAIK, but not much reading or screen time for me. I don’t have the brain power to articulate where I was two years ago, but at least my visit to the medical Centre this morning allowed me to thank a physician, in person, for all the work she’s done during the pandemic.
I’m so sorry. Concussions can take a lot longer to recover from than you think. The nurses here can offer great advice. You can contact me if you would like a patient’s experience.
I hope you didn’t hurt the rest of you too much.
Keep the updates when you are able, please.
Ouch! Rest up but please no sleeping for an extended duration!
Oh no! I hope you are feeling better soon!
Ugh. Concussions are something I hope I never have to experience again. Sorry to hear that you have one.
Ouch! Sending healing vibes your way and that you feel better soon.
Ouch. Be gentle with yourself. I hope you recover soon!
My last memories were of realizing how big this could get. I cancelled my neurologist appointment that was the day prior to announcement. The receptionist said, “Annie, it’s not like it is going to kill you!”
I wore a bunch of old favorites the first year. I find myself longing for them now, even if the nose isn’t so good.
The nose will come back!
The receptionist thought has to eat her words.
Wanting to wear your old favorites sounds like a step in the right direction.
I went with a perfume by St. Clair called Seeking Balance that was created during the pandemic in 2020 based around the question, “When things shift, how do you keep your balance?” Fits the CP precisely! It’s my first time trying it today as I just received a sample of this and her newest one, Edge Effects, earlier this week. It’s really nice. Smells like a vintage perfume and the lavender is fairly prominent. Closet comparison is Jicky, I think. Looking forward to trying Edge Effects this weekend.
I have both Seeking Balance and Edge Effects in the 15mL size. They are both very well done! I couldn’t tease out the notes!
I have yet to try any of her fragrances?but those are both great names.
Ooh, those both sound lovely! We are house twins today; I chose her Gardener’s Glove.
SOTD = Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille
I was wafting something really nice! The connection to the CP is really I decided to wear whatever I want and not worry about what others thought (there were no others for a good long while)!
In other news, I won one of the 3 Ministry of Scent auctions and the winnings include a painting by Andy Tauer and a bottle of Andy Tauer perfume! I can pick my own Tauer perfume and I kind of already have all the ones I wanted to have although it probably wouldn’t stop me from getting a back-up.
If you had to pick one of Andy’s currently available perfumes, which one would you pick? Which one is on your To Buy list?
This is the painting I won! I now have to figure out the donation part!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca7mRxKp_py/?utm_medium=copy_link
Congrats on your perfume windfalls!
As for Tauer perfumes, the two I have been drooling over since I first tried them are LAdDM, and Le Maroc pour Elle. I keep flip-flopping on which one I want more…
Thanks!
I don’t have Le Maroc pour Elle. What do you like about it?
It’s a gorgeous patchouli & jasmine perfume. Those 2 notes are perfectly balanced, IMO.
Good on you! I’m so happy you won! A BUB of one of your favorites is never a bad idea! ?
Yeah, but which one ?? Not PHI since I already have a BUB of it.
Congratulations on winning the auction! I already have all the Tauers I love, but I’d be happy to have another BUB of LADDM, Le Maroc pour Elle or Sundowner.
You’re the 2nd one who mentioned Le Maroc por Elle! What do you like about it?
It’s a huge jasmine bomb!
Woohoo, congratulations! I might go with one of the Les Années 25 fragrances, or one of his rose fragrances. Carillon Pour Un Ange always sounds so tempting, and I love lily of the valley, which it features.
I got an unsolicited DM from a guy who stated he wants to buy my Les Annees 25. No. no. and. no! PHI is really good!
Congratulations, I’m so glad you won! I’ve only tried a few of his fragrances, but I love all the rose ones I’ve sniffed (PHI, Une Rose Chyprée, Rose Flash).
Thank you. I wonder if he is coming up with another rose.
Yay for being the winner and your wonderful donation!?
Thanks! The donation at work was matched and this one is a win win on so many levels.
Congratulations on your win! That’s wonderful.
Congrats on the win, very cool!
I’m late but congratulations!
It’s so super cool that you won!
I have not tried his perfumes except for Vanilla Flash so I am no help.
That painting is beautiful! Such a good cause, too.
Congratulations! I would choose Incense Rose or Sundowner.
I would pick Incense Rose or LADDM.
Songs of the Day:
https://youtu.be/eeqGuaAl6Ic
https://youtu.be/gJKi8LQgixc
More musical metal madness here! ????
Today is also the 11th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, aka the Great East Japan Earthquake.
I am once again commando. I decided that voluntarily not wearing perfume was an acceptable way to commemorate everyone who has died from COVID, or permanently lost their sense of smell.
Checking back into the NST archive, I saw that I was wearing incense perfumes a lot at this time 2 years ago.
Nice metal vids!
I like your interpretation.
Thanks!
I think I might try to sneak a bit of perfume tomorrow!
Looking forward to what you pick.
Always with the good songs Jalapeno ?
I’ve had the Metallica song stuck in my head for a couple of days now.
Oh boy, sadness all around in 2019. I’m sorry that happened within five months. We lost mom in August 2019 and as awful as it is for me to say this, I think she would have suffered more if she were to get COVID.
Grrr, will copy and paste it back up in response to MossyBerry!
My mother died in 2017, followed several months later by my MIL (whom I loved like my own mother). Given how frail they both were at the end of their lives, both of them in nursing homes, I was grateful they didn’t have to go through COVID. My dad died several years before them. My beloved FIL is doing great in assisted living; the community where he lives took great care of all their residents and only had the first infection, in a staff member, long after all residents were fully vaccinated. The lockdown was hard. We were able to visit him last summer and will do that again this summer.
Us siblings said the same thing about mom not having to live through COVID.
It makes me happy to think your father in law found and is thriving in a good community. Assisted living is such a good thing for many single, elderly people who don’t want to live with immediate family.
It really has been great! It’s part of a wonderful, non-profit continuing care system, so when my MIL was alive, they started out in independent living for several years. Then her physical health deteriorated so much that she had to move into the skilled nursing wing, all covered by their initial fees, but he stayed in their apartment. His own medical needs got worse and harder to manage, so my SIL, who lives nearby, got him into the assisted living wing just months before COVID, which probably saved his life.
I remember my yoga studio asking us to not hug the teachers, then we shut down. I was in San Diego for the winter and we left three weeks early to return to Canada, arriving at the border shortly after it was closed. It was dark and eerie, holed up in our flat for months. I am wearing an incense perfume today, Spell 125, in memory of all the losses of the past two years, and the continuing losses in Ukraine.
That’s a good one.
When the first lockdown was announced by our government, I rushed to my favorite perfume store to buy some discovery set, just to have something nice to occupy my mind in the following weeks I would spend alone in my apartment. Weeks I thought, ha!
Many more sets were bought that spring
The discovery set I got first was by Essential Parfums. My absolute favorite from that line is Mon Vetiver by Bruno Jovanovic (it wasn’t love at first scent, but it really grew on me with time and now I can’t imagine not having it). The other one I like very much is Rose Magnetic.
But the first one I tried – and I remember clearly that quiet sunny March morning, and putting perfume before starting my work – was Nice Bergamote. So today I am remembering that day in Tam Dao layered on Nice Bergamote.
Hope you have a peaceful weekend, everyone.
My thoughts are always with people suffering the consequences of war in Ukraine.
I don’t believe I bought more perfume at the beginning of COVID but I never stopped either.
One day as I was walking toward the elevator to go to my floor, a person in full PP gear rolled a person out of the elevator and called to me, “Stay away, go a different direction.” The day China closed down Wuhan I went to the grocery store and bought 3 months worth of laundry detergent and paper products. I bought extra stuff every week until I had 3 months worth of staples and there was no more room anywhere for more. When my work let us all start working from home, it was such a relief to not go to the hospital and avoid the public hallways. Now is when people need to be careful and not let their guard down. My personal opinion, which you can ignore, but don’t bother to argue about with me, is that the death rate from COVID is still over 1200 people a day in this country. Wearing masks whenever you are around people you don’t know can’t hurt, and might help, you know what I mean?
My scent today is the Frankincense, Nag Champa, and Somali rose oil I got at the little shop in Grand Rapids called Smells Good Cafe. I actually could wear this for weeks at a time.
Your SOTD sounds like it is marvelous.
I hear you on continuing to be careful.
Ditto here.
It’s been a hectic day for me. Car repair ( much more than anticipated!) Grocery shopping and work tonight.
I chose to wear Coco Parfum today. It was sent to me by a kind nster. It makes me think of kindness.
I have so much to say about the last 2 years but I have struggled all week to put my thoughts into text. I pray for peace for us all.
Boo for getting a bigger car repair bill than expected. That bites!
Sorry about the higher car charges. So frustrating!
I also struggled a bit today for a scent. We started wfh in March 2020, so I was free to spray anything since at the office scent was not allowed. I would cheat once in awhile at work with Goutal Heure Exquise. Now I wear “all the scents” since I’m at home as I’ve since retired and now spray away most days.
In January 2020, my sister let me know that our Mom was admitted to the hospital. She had several issues and were trying to narrow down the problem(s) so they could start treatment. They discovered she had lung cancer and alzheimers. I flew to my home province just as covid was revving up and I stayed for 2 weeks.I wasn’t sure how long I’d be gone away since we didn’t know how much time Mom had left. We had daily visits at the hospital to with Mom, but in the afternoons my sister and I spent time cooking together and visiting. I took my bottle of La Pausa with me and wore it a few times when I was there. One day I let her try it and she was so blown away by it; she was stunned by its beauty. That is my sotd since we bonded over that fragrance.
My Mom passed away in May 2020. I wasn’t able to get home for the funeral due to restrictions. She was incredibly lucky to be in hospice for much of that time and was protected from covid. There were incredible nurses working there and she got the best care possible. Thank you to all the medical professionals who show up every day!
Gail, I am very touched by your post. I’m so sorry you lost your mom.
Thank you, lillyjo! It was such a strange time with so much going on. The social worker at the hospital was incredible with us.
I too am very touched by your story, Gail. I am glad you had that time with her and your sister before all the travel restrictions.
Thank you MossyBerry! It was so good to have each other to lean on.
Me three, that’s a lovely memory about La Pausa. My condolences, Gail.
Thank you, Robin. I love how a scent can do such magic!