It’s Almost-Friday and National Tater Tot Day. Also, Candlemas / Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil says 6 more weeks of winter but Staten Island Chuck, who has a better accuracy record, says we'll have an early spring.). Birthdays: James Joyce, Stan Getz, Raven Wilkinson, Farrah Fawcett, Ina Garten, Brent Spiner. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm voting for warm weather, sooner rather than later, with Exaltum Mimosa Gold.
Reminder: on 2/3 we're doing Edition 8 of the Picture Challenge, which is detail from Women of Shangri-La, 2002, by Yayoi Kusama. You can see the entire installation if you scroll down here (I cannot post it for copyright reasons). Extra reading: Yayoi Kusama at Wikipedia, Dot on: The rise and rise of Yayoi Kusama at Thames and Hudson, 'Determined to have her story told': Retrospective casts new light on Yayoi Kusama's seven-decade career at CNN, Yayoi Kusama: the world's favourite artist? at The Guardian, The Infinity Experience With Yayoi Kusama at TheViewDeck.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2023, where I'll try (but obviously sometimes fail) to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Ascension of Polka Dots on the Trees [cropped] by Phil Roeder at flickr; some rights reserved. (Note: this was taken at New York Botanical Garden in 2021, but Yayoi Kusama has wrapped trees in many cities since 2002, or possibly earlier.) Bottom image is detail from English: Yayoi Kusama Exhibition via Wikimedia Commons, some rights reserved.
Heure Exquise
Now that I am finished with my sample , I want more.
I picked up mimosa flowers yesterday and my home smells like the south of France 🇫🇷
Taking my youngest for his check up but first we will stop for croissants 🥐 and I will have a coffee where ever we end up..
fresh mimosas sound wonderful! have a good breakfast
I wish I could buy fresh mimosa near me! Enjoy your morning.
The flower shop around the corner from me calls me when they get the mimosa and save one stem for me. They are really nice guys
That is really nice.
Heure Exquise is a great pick for this time of year.
Yes, I would like to find more of this
I’m in Magnolia from Commodity. Another rather generic green floral.
what are your thoughts on the Commodity line? I smelled a few at Sephora but nothing really stood out then.
I bought a Commodity discovery set probably five years ago: I think there were twelve scents, and not one of them was worth owning. A couple were okay, most were meh, and a few were actively terrible. I’ve never had any urge to try anything from the line since then. They’re simple, but not in the good way that Demeter and CSP scents can be. They’re not interesting at all.
that’s good to know, thanks for your honest opinion! what a pity as I rather liked the scent space concept.
I liked a couple of the old Commodity scents, but that was all. No loves in that bunch.
I’m with Pyramus, in that I have gotten through 4 of the 10 scents in my (very old) discovery set, and have yet to find one that I would purchase. Not even a decant.
Good morning!
Chanel 1957 today, my signature. Wondering if any of y’all feel protective of your signature scents? I don’t like telling people what I wear because I don’t want to smell it on other people, especially people in my life.
When shopping in SE Asia, the saleslady at Chanel told me that 1957, Gardenia and Beige are selling well nowadays thanks to Chinese social media trends. I have yet to smell 1957 in the wild, but it seems to be inevitable one day.
The Chanel saleslady also said that I could layer it with my other purchases (CdR and Coromandel), which was an interesting thought. I have yet to try this.
I would drop dead if I smelled 1957 on the streets in my small town
they’d be your new perfume friend!
NYC just smells like Santal 33 to me… even up to this day D:
I love to tell people about my signature scent (Chanel No.19 EDP). I’m of the mind of just like there should be a chicken / turkey in every pot, there should be Chanel No.19 EDP in every home.
Love this!
This is wonderfully generous and I agree with this!
Fully agree! Even though I do not have a signature scent, I love when I can smell any of my favorites in another person.
Oh that’s interesting! I feel that way about big classics (No 5, Shalimar, etc), but not for my personal favorite scents.
It’s a deeply personal experience to wear 1957 that it becomes jarring when I smell it on someone else. Perhaps a selfish sentiment.
Agree! to the extent I have a signature scent, it is Lubin Grisette and I foist samples vials of it on anyone who will let me. My hope is that, if it builds up enough of a following, it will never be discontinued. I supposed I could just buy enough BUBs to ensure they outlive me, but sharing it is more fun.
I don’t mind hearing people say that they are wearing Wrappings, or Agent Provocateur, or Samsara. I’ve never encountered anyone wearing them IRL where I live. Then again, I don’t smell that many people wearing perfume at all in the suburbs.
Wafting CSP Amour de Cacao this morning. Shocking how much of this bottle I’ve used, I’d say 2/3 at least. It’s SO good! 🍫
Another shocker is all the fake nurses that have been discovered! Doing the profession no favors that’s for sure, and apparently there are thousands of them…
And for the third shocker, I have just ordered about 48 things for the truck/camper on Amazon. Yes, the Amazon that not too long ago I decided to ban, and said as much publicly and vociferously. Eating my words now…😬 So much stuff, I stopped by the local post office to give them a heads up while at the same time offering apologies!
We forgive you! Sometimes it just is the sensible thing to get a set of related items from Amazon.
Thank you! I feel so humbled. 😅
Amour de Cacao is preposterously good for something so simple. It gets it exactly right. It’s my go-to comfort scent.
Simple is sometimes just what the soul needs. 🙂
Yes, over 10,000 out of three Florida “colleges” alone. Florida! Again, always in the news with crazy folks. 🙄 But, there are other states involved as well. Everyone is now up in arms about it being the result of the “nursing compact state” licensure, but I’m pretty sure it goes deeper than that .
Thousands of them?! Good lord, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, I’ve heard of people faking their MD credentials.
Yes, it’s sad but people will do as little as possible to get as much as possible. Of course, now these fake nurses are stating they were “victimized.” I hope the powers that be hit them really hard, both the fake nurses and the “schools” that produced them.
Omg, you can’t make this &$#@ up!
Agree. I haven’t followed the story but this is why we need licensing exams to prove that the individual has the degree AND a body of knowledge. I am an MD and I will say the security at my board exams was stricter than anything else I have ever experienced. I had to be fingerprinted or vein-mapped on my arm if I left the room to go to the bathroom.
From what I understand, these fake nurse bought “real” transcripts and were given a “real” diploma. They were able to sit NCLEX boards by producing these two items. As far as I’m concerned, the state boards of nursing are equally responsible because they’re not doing their homework and follow through with the NCLEX applicants. When I took boards, it was quite strict in the physical sense. Nothing allowed in the room with you, no breaks, no jackets, no hand/arm jewelry, etc…but I took boards a million years ago, even before cell phones were a thing so it may have changed. I know I was worried about the bathroom issue because it’s a stress response with me, but lucky for me I’m a good test taker and was able to intensely focus and shut down the rest of my brain, but this is very difficult for some people. I was in school with a young girl from China who was smart as whip, knew her stuff up and down, left to right, but because of language skills she ended up failing. She would mistake things like “drsg dry and attacked” instead of dry and INTACT. I felt so bad for her. 😕
Wow! I had no idea.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/2800-fake-nurses-lurk-in-the-us-states-are-working-to-track-them-down/
The other article further down the page where an ER charge nurse was dealing with such sever understaffing she had to call 911 and the fire department had to step in to help was even more chilling.
People in this country are in for a huge wake up call in the next 5-10 years regarding deteriorating healthcare and staff shortages- not just nurses but also RT’s (ICU’s can’t function without them) and ancillary staff like EVS and dietary. CEO’s continue to make millions while saying they can’t afford staff. I understand being motivated by profit but this is basically a denial of basic hospital care for patients directly due to the pay scales for hospital management. I don’t know how they sleep at night..?
Agree. Nursing shortages affects care severely. And the work is draining. Healthcare is a lot customer service but there is a disturbing trend of patients who seem to think they are in McDonalds or Walmart and want everything instantaneously on their schedule. Lots of rude behavior. No excuse for treating nurses and other medical staff this way.
But like any other industry, the whole system will break down with insufficient staff. And unlike restaurants, lives are at risk.
Deva, awhile back I worked with 2 nursing students. I overheard them talking about where they eventually would like to work. One of them said ” I just don’t want to work with old people, they creep me out. The other one agreed. I am now terrified to ever need medical attention.
Oh wow!
Yup!
Wow! You had your share of shockers today. I hadn’t heard about the “fake” nurses, but it makes me sick. All that hard work and money for my bachelors and masters degree in nursing and then we have people out there paying for fake degrees. SMH.
Exactly. Such an insult, not to mention the fact that John Q Public has been suspicious and disillusioned with healthcare thanks to Covid and the government inept management of the entire pandemic. We are losing public trust and it’s painful.
Agreed.
Resistance is futile. 🤖
Have you ever encountered someone at work who you suspect may have had fake credentials?
Hard to tell really. Nurses come onto hospital property with varying degrees of education and differing years and types of experience. I have met many masters level nurses that can’t manage a patient assignment because they have no experience there. It’s all book knowledge. That being said, there are many AS degree RN’s that can run circles around everyone. It has to do with personal interest and desire to increase knowledge base, practical skills and critical thinking, how invested you are in medicine and patient well-fare, too. Critical thinking is currently being eroded by computers. Some nurses are just like the barista or clerk who can’t make change…
You are exactly right. Plus I have seen some LPNs that can do a much better job than some RNs I know.
I saw that a lot in Florida, where LPN’s are used in acute care more than some other states. Just saw a masters level RN make a 99 y/o actively dying woman get out of bed to use the commode…also have seen a CNA pick up on a patient having a stroke and alert the nurse. The biggest enemy of nursing and medicine is apathy.
I guess I’m thinking that the people who bought their credentials started working cold, with no experience, but reading more about it, it sounds like a lot of them had experience and were buying the credentials in order to qualify to take exams. Still not good, but better than coming in with zero experience.
What you are saying makes a lot of sense — caring about doing a good job is what drives people to think and learn how to do a good job.
I’d heard bits and pieces about the fake nursing creds. I immediately thought of the real people I know in the profession and got P.O.ed on their behalf.
We do a Groundhog Day here in Canada, too, and I never saw the point of it, because after February 2nd there will always be a *minimum* of six more weeks of winter, and probably more like ten. Snow in May would not come as a surprise, ever. Yesterday was cold, today is colder, and by Friday overnight it is going to hit, and this is not a typo, -45°C (with the windchill). We are getting all our groceries this evening and hunkering down until Sunday.
In a futile attempt to pretend it’s not as cold as it is when I head out to work, I’m in Demeter Fireplace: ashes and smoke, but with an underlying resinous sweetness, quite nice if you like this sort of thing.
I’m with you on not really seeing the point of Groundhog Day. Mother Nature is gonna do what it wants, regardless of what the groundhog says.
I recall, as a little girl, thinking that only six more weeks of winter sounded like a pretty good deal compared to deep snow in April, etc.
Ages ago I worked with someone who hated Groundhog Day. He was convinced that the groundhog always brought more snow and cold weather.
In my most-worn winter scent, Coco edp.
I’ve fallen hard for this beauty. Compliments galore, and people cannot believe what it is when they ask about it.
Spicy, ambery, floral goodness!
It really is good, you smell great!
You smell wonderful! It’s still probably my favorite scent.
I’m a Janie-come-lately to the goodness that is Coco. You smell *so* wonderful!
Oh my gosh, tater tot day! I was just thinking I should rewatch Napoleon Dynamite soon. Hehe, I love that movie.
I’m in Fleur de Peau again today. Thursday, ThursYay! Yep, it’s my Friday.
It’s cold but sunny again. My plants and I are loving it.😎
The way they dubbed crunchy sounds for the tots that were jammed into the pocket cracked me up. Those things had to be a soggy mess.
Lol, for sure!😂
It’s been a little while since I’ve had TaterTots. They can make a fantastic breakfast casserole!
Mmm, and dinner casserole! We love tater tot casserole, but my college daughter doesn’t.😏 now that she’s home, it’ll be awhile before we have it.
Wearing Black Orchid today.
And smelling fabulous!
Love it 🥰
So good!
Thunking my small decant of Guerlain Imagine by L’Atelier Truscelli. Very nice and comfy amber scent that makes me feel wrapped in a warm, cozy throw blanket.
Freezing weather is arriving tonight and staying until Saturday. It will feel 25 degrees below zero with the wind chill. The commute to work is going to be brutal tomorrow. I am going to get some groceries tonight after work and then I will stay warm at home during the weekend. I hope Mother Nature is generous and decides to side with Chunk, so spring arrives soon! 🌞
Happy almost Friday! ☕️
I should have commuted in today but instead, I was almost late for my 8am call! As it stands, I will also be out of the house on Saturday late afternoon to evening as well. 🥶
Stay warm and safe! I hope nothing comes up that makes me go outside. Fingers crossed!
Hope that you stay safe and warm tomorrow on your evening commute!
Thank you, Jalapeno! 🌻
Tomorrow is just going to stink weather wise for so many of us.
At least we will smell great!
Stay warm, Lillyjo! I am going to lavishly spray on something heavy tomorrow to scare away the cold. Poison? Opium? Let’s see! 😄
Here in IL, we’ve got the groundhog Woodstock Willie (Woodstock being the town where some of Groundhog Day was filmed), but have yet to hear what his prediction was. Guessing it’s plenty more winter!
Last night’s sampling of Splendiris was unsuccessful–my skin amps up violet leaf waayy too much. Plenty of other iris loves, so money saved.
Now trying Vanille Exquise. So far so good.
According to Willie we will have 6 more weeks of winter!🤷♀️
Spritzed Ummagumma to fend off the chilly wind as I ran errands. It did the trick. I love this chocolate, cinnamon, incense–both warm and dry. Didn’t sleep well–still stressing about Medicare choices. Heading to yoga now!
Enjoy your yoga
Hoping that you have more restful sleep tonight💕
Definitely a day for warming perfumes!
I’m easily and unimaginatively aligning with the CP, the picture is from Women of Shangri-La and I’m wearing Hiram Green’s Shangri-La
Score!
I’m seeing some sun today 🌞
I will be at – 10 or 20 windchill tomorrow. Fortunately it should only last until Saturday afternoon. I’m back in TF Fleur de Chine today. I smell way more fancy than I look that’s for sure.
Smelling fancy while in sweatpants has been my motto for the last couple of years!
Weather twins! We will survive!
Keep warm, lillyjo!
My weather will be joining yours in the Deep Freeze by tomorrow afternoon. Not as bad, but bad enough.
Maybe I should have gotten some of those fleece lined sweats that LL Bean keeps sending me emails about?
You may have to relocate your kittehs.
Nah, they will be camped out on the heat vents, or on their kitty cat heating pad. Just like right now.
Ooh, we’re house twins!
Hi lillyjo, in response to your comment above about old people: please do not take anything some young nitwit said to heart. Most nurses love older people because of their stories, because of their complexity, and because so many of them are such tough nuts that have lived through momentous times in history- their own and the world in general. Even as a young person I loved older folks because I could learn so much from them. I really valued my grandparents and older friends I had throughout my youth, so please don’t ever let a stupid comment like that deter you from medical care or ANYTHING else in life. Some nurses (like every other population) are absolute idiots but most are good folks at heart that want to do a good job for their patients. Some patients are idiots because they’re another distinct population and a certain percentage are 🍑🎩‘s. Had a pt tell me to F@$? OFF! last night, to which I replied, “Will do!” Had a good laugh at that because it’s better than being spit at, punched, threatened, or kicked. 😅 Never forget, as a patient, you are in the position of power. You can refuse anything, you can ask any question, you can ask for a different nurse, you can ask to have things explained to you in detail until your satisfied that you understand completely. You can ask what the plan is and what your options are. Never forget your power. 😊
You’re* 🙄
Thanks for your reply Deva. I know there is good and bad in every walk of life. I am so thankful for the good.
Hello all!
In Gabrielle by Chanel on this sunny, very cold day. In warmer weather this leaves quite a trail and can be kinda sexy. But in this cold weather Gabrielle is closer to the body and feels very uplifting indeed.
Yes, it is very uplifting on a cold day!
Cold by San Diego standards, not Canadian ones. I’m wearing Heretic Coeur Noir.
Cold for California – ah, gotcha
I wore Boucheron yesterday after someone, pyramus? was talking about it. I said something at the time about my newer bottle being a pale shadow of the original. Well, it smelled so good that I’m wearing it again today. It has a beautiful floral and amber base, just like I remember, and the bottle is gorgeous.
Yeah, that was me. Boucheron is the epitome of too-muchness. It’s stunning.
SOTD is FM Iris Poudre. Oh, how I love this!!!
You smell fantastic-I have it in the black tube that holds 30 ml-I love it.
But today I’m wearing Agar Ebene, and totally getting the smokey aspect of this scent. I’ve never smelled that before.
It’s cold here, and cold all weekend-and I’m set to be working outside! but I’ll bundle up and I feel cheerful about it. Was -25 when I started the truck today
The 30 ml black tube is my favourite Malle size – not too small, and not horribly expensive.
They had a fantastic price on the 50 ml at Jomashop a few months ago so I got a BUB as well. Wish I could find that same kind of deal on Portrait of a Lady. Or I could get a smaller size in that one.
CP-compliant in AS Saturday (for the packaging).
In groundhog news from Canada, apparently Fred la marmotte (Quebec’s groundhog) was found dead overnight. Not sure what THAT means for winter or spring.
Uh oh. Although Jour de la Marmotte sounds pretty swanky.
Oh no! Poor Fred!
Poor woodchuck! There must be some wonderful quips going around about this, though.
Oh no! That’s so sad!
I am slapping myself for laughing, I could not help it.
Me too. “Fred” la marmotte. Apparently we have a marmot here in BC, Van Isle Violet. Whatever she said, we will likely be in rain until July 4. (Don’t ask me, but the BC calendar seems to follow the US holiday calendar. Never Canada Day, always the 4th of July for summer.)
And yeah, I don’t know where Fred lived but apparently s/he was hibernating all winter so they didn’t discover s/he was dead until just last night, when they went to wake them up. But it somehow says SO MUCH about our current environment.
Wow, that’s grim.
Wearing Rose Chérie today. It’s such a beauty. I see people on Fragrantica saying it smells like French Kiss but I actually find it quite a bit different and better.
I did not get a chance to comment yesterday but I did rabbit! Goodbye, January. I find February to be a superior month generally. ;)🐇
Love that scent. You smell gorgeous!
It really is a great perfume.
I’m sampling the latest DSH Heirloom Elixir release, Jacinthes Noires. Did someone else mention it last week?
It’s all-natural (except for the aldehydes?), everything from A to Z (Africa stone to violet leaf absolute). If you told me it was vintage I would believe you, and it reminds me of something I have from the 60s but less mumsy. Maybe Blue Grass?
The caveat is that I haven’t really tested how it wears. Probably close to the skin and not as glorious as it is on the sprayer? I just keep it by my computer to sniff.
Has anyone else tried this one?
I mean A to V, I guess.
According to Fragrantica, zinnia is a note, but I don’t know if it’s a real extract or just an accord.
I thought my subscription ended but I somehow got another one. It is still in the package mailer.
I’ll be interested to hear your reaction!
After a January of decant-decluttering, three of them by gum, I am continuing in February with some Montale. My only problem is that wearing one scent for days in a row makes me feel deprived. My nose is being a spoiled brat, perhaps.
At least you did not feel depraved 🤣
I understand those “perfume fidgets” all too well!
Feeling a little sleepy today in vintage Coco and glad it’s my Thursday/Friday.
Scent twins today!
Hi Twin!
Wearing a sample of LAP Cedrat Ceruse, which turns out to be a good choice for Groundhog Day. I get lemon oil with lots of fresh fennel, and some fresh celery, which seems like it would be a good early spring salad. But then ever third whiff or so it smells like soup to me, so winter food. It is interesting but not one I could see wearing full-on, 8 sprays/hajusuuri style.
Tea today is a dark and slightly smokey Pu’er courtesy of the generous AnnE.
Haha with smelling like soup!
Reading NST in new glasses this afternoon! 🤓😎 I decided that since today was nice and sunny, it was as good a time as any to hop on the bus and pick up the new Rx. I definitely appreciated those prescription sunglasses on the way back! And there was some discussion about Phil and Chuck while I was getting the new frames adjusted.
Hopefully the new glasses will cut down on my typos here, LOL.
SOTD = vintage Coco EdT, from the Sample Stash and springpansy. I wanted to wear Coco today but figured that the EdP might be too much for the optician’s office. So the EdT was a nice solution to my perfume conundrum.
Nice with the glasses and Coco EDT! Today was a good day for errands as it is the warmest for the next 2-3 days!
I am hoping that I don’t need anything from the grocery store until Monday!
I’m thinking about getting some prescription sunglasses this year.
Prescription sunglasses are nice to have on bright sunny days. Especially if you are driving into sun glare.
Another option is having Transitions lenses in your regular glasses. But those have some limitations. It does take time for them to change between clear and tinted, for one.
I jumped off the patchouli train and was craving tonka so am wearing Feve Delicieuse today. Between this and the B&BW Gingerbread House hand soap I just started using, it’s very confectionary around here.
Oooh, you smell wonderful. I have the outer packaging of FD but the bottle is somewhere else although methinks it is easy to find. I only have the gingerbread house candle and it throws a great scent!
Mmm I bet it does smell great. And oops, my hand soap is actually Gingerbread Bakery, not Gingerbread House.
Hey, did you see that I can send you my Cardinal sample? It’s a spray sample, just sprayed once. Let me know if there are other Zoologist samples you want. I may have them.
Oh yes. I will email you. Thanks.
SOTD = Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille
Very nice indeed!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CoLZfl7O96v/?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk=
I am going with 3 friends to an Escape Room event this Saturday. It will be colder then [fill in the blanks] and I have to drive a longer distance than I am used to do; this is not hard to exceed because I normally go within a 10 mile radius and this one is at least 30 miles.
I am looking forward to my SOTD tomorrow. I have just the perfect perfume for it!
Your owl family has the right idea!
I had to look up Escape Room.
I hope you have fun!
We have been House twins quite a few times lately.
Wearing a sample of Byredo Rose of No Man’s Land. Nice rose but not sure it is full bottle worthy. I was thinking I wanted a rose scent but so many end up being about the same. Maybe I need something rose-ish rather than full-on rose. Something green with rose maybe?
Winding down my vacation which has been a week of medical appointment for me and husband and a lot of home tasks and errands. Weather has been crummy so maybe just as well. I took a nice walk today, temperature into the 40’s and sun even peaked through.
Diptyque L’Ombre?
I tend to do all my medical stuff in January / February too, might as well get it done when there’s nothing fun to do outside.
Glad you managed a nice walk!
I’m with you on Rose of No Man’s Land. I love a good rose, and I was circling this one when I lived in Germany a few years (more than I want to think…7 years) ago and had easy access to Byredo. But I never pulled the trigger and I don’t regret it.
Jaipur Chai from the endless sample supply which is pretty nice. Tried a local bbq rhat is pretty much only open from 11-2 or until they sell out. Good but not my favorite bbq in Denver. I was a little disappointed that I was too full to try their smoked peach upside down cake.