Saturday is Valentine's Day; Sunday is Singles Awareness Day + World Hippo Day + National Flag of Canada Day; Monday is Presidents Day in the US. We're marking the weekend with a bunch of questions. As always, answer as many or as few as you like, or just talk about something else.
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
2. Name one fragrance to which you'd like to say "be mine".
3. Name a fragrance that says "I'm single and perfectly happy about it, thank you".
4. You get a free (fantasy) trip to anywhere in Canada! Where will you go, and what fragrance will you wear?
5. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything — something delicious you ate, a great sale (or coupon code) this weekend, the best thing you saw on TV recently, any good thing that happened to you this month — really, anything…
Note: top image is Linzer Hearts with Raspberry or Passion Fruit Jelly [cropped] by Kurman Communications LLC at flickr; some rights reserved.
Happy Valentines Day all..
SOTD:
Coco Noir body cream with a spray of Mademoiselle from a sample. Well, these usa athletes have really buckled under pressure. I couldn’t even watch the score for figure skating..I just turned off the TV. Eeeek
Cheering for mens hockey today.
A trip to Canada? Hmmm..
I’m choosing Quebec City. I would hope everything would be under a blanket of snow. Chanel No 22 would be my choice!
if we’re friends on the gram, this may be repeat news — but I just finished The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima.
A quote to share: “He watched her as she moved through the room, the sunlight catching the smooth line of her neck and the gentle sway of her hips. Every motion seemed deliberate, yet effortless, as if the air itself followed her, bending to the rhythm of her presence.”
I am melting…
I wore Cristalle and No. 5 L’Eau while reading Mishima’s books.
— do you have a favorite Japanese author or book?
The figure skating was hard to watch. The pain on Ilia’s face after he finished his program nearly brought me to tears. As a mom I just wanted to hug him. So much pressure.😰
Did you see that his mom can’t even watch him skate, she comes and says hello and then leaves the arena. It’s too much for her. I also cried for Lindsay Vonn and when Mikaela Shiffrin also buckled on the slopes. ⛷️
Miyuke Miyabe’s “All She was Worth” was terrific.
My library doesn’t have it, but I will find a copy somewhere. I read the premise and it seems really good!
So many of the top ranked skaters for the Men’s Figure Skating final had falls. It was astonishing in a bad way.
Hopefully, pushing the limits of what the human body can do won’t leave lasting injuries on those young men.
I know – what is next? – 5 spins 🙁
I think some of these young athletes in all sports are fueling a backlash against the incredible pressure and expectations put on their talented but young shoulders by coaches, the media, & the public, which on social media can be especially cruel and heartless.
Naomi Osaka in tennis and Simone Biles in gymnastics and I’m sure many others have walked away from competitions to safeguard their mental health.
They are brave and honest and realize they don’t owe anybody anything except to themselves and I salute them.
I think in some ways Ilia Malinin’s fall has brought him more notoriety and publicity than if he had executed those jumps perfectly. At least I hope so. He’s proven he can do what nobody else does. We’ve all seen it. The fact that he can’t do it 100% of the time merely shows he’s human.
You are right about Ilia Malinin, I would never have heard the name otherwise.
1. After I wash the sweat from my barre class away, I will be in vintage Samsara.
2. Obsession- vintage, of course
3. Clinique Happy
4. Saskatchewan. My youngest spent 30 days in Saskatchewan in the summer of 2023 canoeing, camping and portaging. I highly doubt I could hack an entire month but in my fantasy, she and I would spend a week together canoeing, camping, talking, laughing, and watching the stars together each night. We wouldn’t wear perfume because: bears, but plenty of sunscreen and bug spray.
5. Well, I shared my wonderful yesterday, but I will share it again. My older daughter is planning to move back to madison this fall.🤩 She finishes grad school in May, has a summer job lined up, but then it’s back here for the fall. I am so looking forward to having her close again.☺️
So glad you’ll have your madtowngirl jr nearby! That’s lovely.
So nice for both of you that she will be close, MTG!
Happy Valentine’s day! 💕
1. Wearing Dame Chocolate+Rose.
2. Vintage Obsession.
3. Masque Milano L’Attesa.
4. The Bonavista Peninsula in Newfoundland. I will wear Hermes Epice Marine.
I am so sadly unfamiliar with Canada, but Bonavista Peninsula looks so lovely!
It really is! I grew up not all that far from there: Newfoundland is so beautiful and almost other-worldly. I tell everyone they should visit at least once — preferably not in the winter, but the summers and falls are wonderful.
I’ve only read The Shipping News 🙂
Some of my friends have traveled to the Bonavista Peninsula during fall time and they highly recommend it. I might plan a trip there for next year.
L’Attesa is so lovely, if spendy,
It is indeed a beautiful scent!
It can be found at fragrancenet for just $80 or a travel spray for $20!
Oooh, I have just been planning our summer trip, which includes the Bonavista Peninsula! Mr. Ockeghem’s paternal side comes from there, a few generations back. His great-grandma’s family emigrated to Boston, though, for work. We’ve never been to Newfoundland ourselves — it cost too much or took too much time when we were poor students / just starting out in Boston. The closest we got was the tippy top of Cape Breton, waving across the sea. So this summer is our time!
I have never been in Newfoundland, but that’s a trip that I hope to make in the near future. I hope you enjoy visiting there during summertime!
Off topic.. but I just found frosted strawberry pop tart peeps! I didn’t buy them yet, but probably will.
Oh! Thanks for letting me know. That is one of the new flavors along with SunnyD and Chili Lime Mango. I hope to see and buy them soon!
LOL! You two and your Peeps! 🐥🐣🐤
1- Back in Devotion again today since I’m wearing the same shirt as yesterday.
2- Minimally interested in new perfumes at the moment.
3- Kenzo Jungle l’Elephant. It doesn’t just say it, it kind of shouts it in a very elegant, gorgeous way. 🐘
4- I LOVE Canada! I’ll go anywhere from the plains of Manitoba, to the wilderness of the Yukon, to the sophistication of Quebec, to the ruggedness of Nova Scotia…Canada, please take me! 🇨🇦🙏🏼
5- Well, on the most basic level of “wonderful” things, I did wake up this morning, alive and mobile. I got a new air fryer that I’m loving. The sun is out. My doggo has a healthy appetite and a waggy tail. I’m hoping my streak of bad luck, bad karma, bad things happen to everyone type of BS has gone into hibernation until I can catch my breath. Yep, all things to be grateful for! 😅
Stay safe, peeps!
Alive + mobile + air fryer, all good! Fingers crossed that the bad juju stays away, Deva.
Honestly, the most basic level of wonderful is the best, I find.
I like your attitude, Deva.
I live in NS-you can stay with me 🙂 Also why do people overlook NB? I lived there for years and loved it!
Wearing a spritz of the quite-single/singular Oudh Infini, and waiting an hour (or two) before even leaving the house;
Still wishing for a bottle of Claus Porto Agua Vetiver;
Would love to re-visit St John’s Nfld, and would pair it with Eau des Merveilles
Have a slice of Red Velvet cake on tap for later today.
Hope you enjoyed that red velvet cake!
Taking a break from last week’s CP, my SOTM is Marissa Zappas Petrichor. Love its dry iris note, and the petrichor of course.
I’ve been very naughty lately, perfumewise—I just ordered a BUB of LVNEA Holy Oak, and blind-ordered their newest, Babylon Rose, after seeing it also has a petrichor note. So my hankerings are (or, at least, should be) sated. For the moment.
For fragrance that says “single and happy”, I think I’ll nominate Petrichor. It’s not romantic or yearning in the least, and probably most men would find it mystifying rather than alluring. Mr. G certainly does. 😆
For Canada, I’d go to Lake Louise and stay at the lovely chateau-hotel there. To scent my stay, I’d take Holy Oak, since LVNEA is a Canadian brand. And the forestiness of the scent would blend with the alpine locale rather nicely.
For something wonderful, I am finally coming out of my years-long reading funk, and have finally come to love Ngaio Marsh. During and after the pandemic I tried and tried to “get” her and just couldn’t. But I’m about to finish A Grave Mistake and am planning to work my way through all of the Roderick Alleyn series.
What fun…I read all of Marsh, a bit ago, maybe time to do it again 🙂
1. Today I’m in another discontinued treasure, Boucheron Trouble, so misnamed — it’s actually a placid, even-tempered amber scent.
2. A half-ounce bottle of vintage, perfectly preserved EL Knowing parfum is the way to my heart. (Or the quarter-ounce parfum spray, I’m not hard to please.) I’ll be running out one of these days and it was a truly great chypre, once upon a time.
3. I’m reading this as something you wouldn’t wear around other people, so SL Miel de Bois.
4. Business-class flight to Vancouver and then a leisurely train trip clean across the country to Halifax, with lots of stops along the way. I already live on the East Coast of Canada so I might as well go as far away as possible and then end up close to home. As for a scent, I’ll visit Wild Coast Perfumery in Vancouver and buy something there to illuminate the trip, possibly Stoker (“vanilla, coffee, Canadian maple syrup, patchouli, bitter orange, neroli, & clove” YES PLEASE) or Cowichan Rose. Or, who am I kidding, the 16-piece discovery set.
5. I don’t know if this is “wonderful” so much as “grimly astonishing,” but I recently noticed that Lay’s potato-chip bags have been redesigned and now say “Made from real potatoes” on the front. I thought, well, what else would they be made with, parsnips? Kale? They’re potato chips! Of course they’re made with real potatoes! Turns out that in a 2021 U.S. survey, FORTY-TWO PER CENT of people polled did not know that chips are made from potatoes. I’d like to see the wording of the question and the context, because these things matter, but if more than about two per cent of the population needs to be told what potato chips are made from, I’d be worried.
I just got the 16-piece discovery set. The packaging is beautiful and I’m enjoying working my way through!
I’m almost certainly going to order it, probably when the weather gets a little warmer — I don’t like the idea of vials of liquid sitting in the unheated back of a delivery truck for hours. I just learned about the company today: I read through all the descriptions and half of them sound like things I’d definitely wear.
My favorite are Lays ketchup potato chips. They sell in Canada-I buy the biggest bag
You should try Ketchup Crunchy Cheetos and Old Dutch Ketchup Ridgies Extra, both of which are incredibly delicious and have a great texture. (I don’t like flat chips, I just don’t.) If Hawkins Cheezies ever made a ketchup flavour — well, I don’t know what I’d do. It wouldn’t be pretty.
When we were kids, I remember traveling by train to the Okanagan from Saskatchewan to visit family (on my Dad’s side). Another trip made after high school, my very good friend and I took Via Rail from Regina all the way to Montreal (with stop in Toronto for a few days) then all the way back west to Vancouver for a week. We did plan on going further east originally, but time got away from us.
The train was a great way to go! Such a memorable time.
Reminds me of the ingredients list of peanut butter (don’t recall which brand) —peanuts
LOL
I think Pringles are made with potato flour or pulverized potato granules or something like that. And they taste it.
This! And the flavored versions taste even worse.
Happy Valentine’s Day! 💞
Sampling Ultra today and notes are below. It’s beautiful…reminds me of Jasmin De Pays though the notes are different.
Neroli, ylang ylang, narcissus, jasmine, floral nectar, leather, hay, tobacco, resins
That notes list sounds mighty good…
1. SOTD is ELDO Remarkable People, one of my souvenirs from Paris.
2. Be mine–I’m not sure. I’m not hankering for anything right now, but of course that can change any day.
3. I’m single and happy–That would be all my cumin-y or civet-heavy fragrances: ApLS, MKK, Salome, BaV, Occur!. I wear them for me and wouldn’t stop if I had a partner.
4. Trip to Canada! I would choose Nova Scotia for the seafood. Lemon goes well with it, so maybe I’d wear Acqua Viva.
5. Something wonderful — Two wonderful things! I got my reading mojo back, and though what I’ve read so far hasn’t been world-shattering, they haven’t been the dreck that I suffered through last quarter. Plus, it is Dumpling Week in Portland! Restaurants create a special dumpling and there is a dumpling “”passport” so that you can keep track of the dumplings you have tried. I love dumplings, but they are a PITA to make at home. I’m looking for some new sources!
Happy Valentine’s Day-
So many exclamation points above. And I’m not an an exclamatory person.
I would like to know what you are reading !!!? (some extra exclamation points )
I’m reading Kingmaker by Sonia Purnell about Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman. The woman knew everyone and wielded enormous influence in Europe and the US for nearly 50 years. I also just started North Woods (read about it here) and The Sea Captain’s Wife, a fictionalized account of the real voyage Mary Ann Patten captained to Drake’s Passage and the Southern Ocean in 1856.
These books sound good! Glad the are helping to give your mojo back
Dumpling Week??!! How have I not heard of this? It makes me want to drive the 3 hours south right now. Dumplings are one of my top favorite foods so the idea of a Dumpling Passport just about sends me over the culinary edge! (exclamation points aplenty!)
https://dumplingweek.com/
Come on down (almost used an exclamation point…)
Now I really want a dumpling passport!
Me too. Los Angeles dumpling shops, take note. They could easily do that here! I would sign up!
I want to put a dumpling passport w my real passport DH! We need to get a local dumpling shop to offer this.
Dumpling Week, what a great idea!
1. Commando so far. Got up late and had to rush to get Ockeghem Teen at a sleepover and take her to orchestra practice.
2. Antonio Alessandria Gattopardo or Mendittorosa Orlo, I think, could be mine any time. 🙂 Also working my way through Wild Coast Perfumery and there are a couple there that would make a more affordable splurge.
3. Feu d’Issey is my singles perfume — basically, I know some might find it strange and I don’t care if you don’t like it, I do! But I wouldn’t be able to spray it very often. (And in fact I can’t spray it at all right now…re-decanting is a good project for today, and then I think that’ll take care of #1 🙂 )
4. Since this is fantasy…one of the national parks in the far north, probably Quttinirpaaq on Ellesmere Island. Those places where you have to get a rare flight into a northern town and then hire a plane to take you out to the park. The far north has always fascinated me.
I’m with you on the Far North Love! When I was a kid, Farley Mowat was my favorite author. I know he’s a bit controversial, but his books really opened my mind to the beauty and austerity of the North Lands of Canada. One of my all time favorite nonfiction books is Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez, who sadly died in 2020. He also wrote a fabulous book (well, he wrote MANY fabulous books!) about the history and lore of wolves, with the arctic wolves of Ellesmere Island having a starring role. Amazing author who explores the remotest, least known places in the world and the creatures, human and otherwise, that inhabit these environments. 🐻❄️
That wolf book is going on my TBR pile, thx Deva. I’m currently writing a mag story about the first gray wolf to visit L.A. County in 100 years (see post far below) so this very much interests me.
That article sounds amazing!
Ooh, wolves and Ellesmere Island — will see if I can get it at the library.
Feu d’Issey is beyond incredible and I was very sad when my bottle went haywire, completely horrific and unwearable. There wasn’t much left — I got a lot of wear out of it — but still, it’s gone forever. I sure enjoyed it while it lasted.
Just answering the first two today.
I started out with Shalimar L’Essence and then added a little Shalimar-Jasmine.
For be mind it would have to be Delina though I don’t really want to pay that price for it.
I have Delina, and a flanker. It’s nice, but I don’t reach for it often. I should remedy that when I think about how much I payed for both bottles!
Well, if you decide to get rid of it let me know😉
I have the OG Delina. I originally bought the more vanilla heavy version and changed my mind the next day so went back and exchanged it (unopened).
You smell gorgeous today Kris!
Thanks.
Not even a Jomashop price for Delina?
No, only 10% off for Delina.
Well that’s a bummer!
Happy Valentines Day NST!
1. Sotd Zara Cocoa Bliss w notes of chocolate, peach and passion fruit.
2. Be mine- original Diorissimo in the black and white houndstooth check bottle!
3. I’m single I’m proud – FM POAL !
Love for Canada 🇨🇦 tomorrow (I’ve been rooting for their hockey team in honor of Shane Hollander of H/R)!
Smelling good there!
🍫🍑❤️🔥🍒
Scent of the day (what I’m wearing today) = Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Intense.
I have a thing going that the smaller size the perfume bottle is = the more I adore it. I always carry a bottle of Chanel in my purse. When I first tried to purchase Coco Mad Intense on the website in 1.2oz it was always sold out. Finally when it appeared back in stock I snagged a bottle right away.
2. I would love to invite Chanel Boy to be part of my collection. Recently I spent way too much $$$ – 2 x 2.5 oz bottles of Chanel #18, one 15ml bottle of Beige extrait or parfum and Chanel jewelry. Can I afford Boy? Thankfully yes at the moment but it wouldn’t feel appropriate. By the way I made those big purchases after years of saving and putting my drama on hold, oh and working hard, physical job full time. I can’t stop thinking about Chanel Boy. I got a 5ml decant for now. But yes I would like to have a 2.5oz bottles of Boy and 1932.
3. My beloved, absolute favorite #18 by Chanel. Individualist? Checks, thank You. I can’t describe in words what masterpiece #18 is.
4. Somewhere in a deep, snowy forest, in a wooden cottage with a fireplace. Cottage must be buried in snow. Preferably on a lake too in the winter landscape. I would unleash #18 to shine in crystalline snow with it’s shimmery glow.
6. Talk about something:
I have a dear friend who is always there for me, She is older than me and retired. She loves perfumes and last time She bought perfumes was 10 years ago when She went on a rampage with another friend of ours and spent $1000 in a mall perfume shop for various designer perfume bottles. She had just ran out of all of them. Since She ran out of perfume I have gifted Her like 5 brand new bottles already (I always love gifting loved ones).
She has stated to me that She loves: oriental, deep, woody, spicy and classic, aldehydic also.
She cried to me that most perfumes don’t last long enough or aren’t powerful enough to Her liking. She said She maybe ask me for help to order something online for Her, something cheaper (She has a tight budget) and She said maybe Rapture by Victoria’s Secret – while not the best, that it lasts on Her. I said to myself: time to unleash the superpower of my very own experience on Her!! I ordered Her a bottle of… Jungle by Kenzo. It hasn’t arrived yet but it is the strongest, woodiest, long lasting ones I ever known. I am 100% She will be in love. I also added a small 30ml bottle of original Arpege by Lanvin to my order for Her just to add another, classic, beautiful bottle to Her surprise gift. I hope that She loves both when they arrive!!
* putting my dreams on hold. Not drama.
I like “drama on hold” too, just sayin’ 😇
Gotta agree with hajusuuri about “drama on hold”. It made perfect sense to me.
Scent twins
Almost-mine is not the intense
And if I can name one perfume PERFECT for Valentine’s Day – it would be any Coco Mad.
I also broke my own rule: not to buy any unChanel perfumes for myself. I found a super cute, travel size spray of Dior New Look. It’s authentic, and I got it for a very reasonable price. It’s the new one from 2024. Judging that I LOVE aldehydes (and frankincense and amber) I wasn’t even thinking, I had to try it. People describe it as a strange fragrance, some say austere some say cold. I really really love perfumes that have an icy edge. I would love a perfume that has aldehydes plus it’s shivering cold. Many people described #18 in a similar way. Now I don’t intend that the New Look and #18 will be anything alike but even if I don’t like the New Look I will at least have tried something that is totally different. I used to literally drench myself in Comme des Garcons 2, that one also contained aldehydes and something metallic. My Midnight Poison (ordered for fun!) has arrived but I am spending the night at a relative’s house so I will be able to get to my package tomorrow.
I’m going to ask this question here: do any of You, fellow perfumistas, know of a perfume that is the most:
a) shimmery (in scent attributes, I’m not asking for gold flakes floating around:)
b) effervescent and bubbly
c) fizzy
I think Chanel No 5 l’Eau checks all the boxes.
Agree and this is why I am on large bottle #2 in less than 4 months hehe
The first two that came to my mind were both YSL: Yvresse and Cinema.
I used to love Yvresse so much that 20 years ago it was in the name of my email every username and what not
YSL Y and Paris are also very fizzy.
Fizziest perfume I can think of is Demeter Gingerale. It even smells like it is carbonated.
I will not have to get a small bottle just to see for myself how carbonated it smells
Demeter also sells travel sprays. Might be a better option for you.
1. I’m in Shalimar L’Essence.
2. I don’t have anything on my must-get now list.
3. Vintage Aromatics Elixir.
4. I’d head to the East Coast to explore all around. I’ve only been as far as Montreal, which was many years ago.
Gail you smell lovely!
Thank you! It’s been a surprising hit with me.
I’m intrigued – why surprising?
Vanilla is a new-ish scent note for me. I like the blend of resins with this and got more of the smoky aspect this time. I appreciate having other notes in the mix.
It’s been cold and humid this winter so it’s been a cozy fragrance for me.
Scent twins!
Hi twin!
Happy Valentine’s Day everybody!
SOTD = Molinard Habanita EDP
… from the RED 100th anniversary edition! I’ve never had the vintage but since I am doing an all red all the theme (because Lunar New Year), it counts.
Here’s a free gift article from The New York Times on sentimental objects:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/style/the-objects-we-keep-for-love.html?unlocked_article_code=1.MFA.4iPe.8q7HlXdKy5W7&smid=nytcore-ios-share
Awwwwwwwww.
That article you linked to made me tear up. ❤️🩹
Me too!
And me three!
gah! I was fine up until the shoe tassels one😭, that one really got me!
I’ve just been out for our regular Sunday walk and coffee, wafting Jolie Madame.
Come walk near me, Gaynor. You smell wonderful. Such a classic.
1. SOTD Trish McEvoy No. 9 Blackberry and Vanilla Musk
2. Want – Enchanted Forest by The Vagabond Prince
3. Scent for a strong single woman: BPAL Nasty Woman, black fig, patchouli, oud, honeyed amber, vanilla bourbon
4. Anywhere in Canada! Especially Nova Scotia, Quebec City, and Vancouver (when cellist Ian Maksin is the guest musician on the Pirate Adventures Sunset Cruise). Not sure what scent I would wear.
5. Something wonderful! Temps still in the mid-50’s, there’s only a small amount of snow in my backyard along the fence line where the sun doesn’t reach. Most of the grass and my entire veggie and herb gardens are completely free of snow. I have hope!🙏
Happy Valentine’s Day Night! Give yourself a hug!🤗🥰
We went into the high 40s yesterday and it still did not melt the snow! I have a couple patches of ground in my yard, that’s it. Boo!
They (weathermen) say it will be 65 degrees today!!! By the end of the week rain and snow.
Scent of the day is Hermes L’Ambre des Merveilles thanks to a wonderful NSTer. I like it!
Time to break out your summer strength sunscreen!
Number 5 today — Chanel No. 5 L’Eau with just a drop of parfum from a mini .
L’Oréal lippy in Sunwash — such a great color!!
I buy lipsticks every so often then don’t wear them…but that does look like a pretty color!
We’re having some wild weather, I admit to often exaggerating when I say it’s like winter, but this really is! I hope the wind and rain slacken off a bit before I walk to work in half an hour. It will be a quiet day in the office, the trains aren’t running.
I’m fortifying myself in SL’s Baptême du Feu.
I am a day late, but hope you didn’t get drenched!
Hello NST!
1 – Today I’m testing Astier de Villate Commun de Paris. Very pretty herbal anisic thing, only slightly sweet. Minimal sillage. Reminds me a lot of Cologne du 68 from Guerlain, which I guess is hard to find these days or maybe d/c and was never one of their more popular iconic offerings, though I am certainly a huge fan. I think the comparison is deliberate and so is the name. Commune de Paris was a revolutionary group that briefly seized power in Paris in 1781. Cologne du 68 is named (I think) for the Paris student uprisings, riots and civic unrest of 1968, also a period of great revolutionary ferment worldwide.
2. “Be Mine” would be a Palais Royale original bottle of Lutens Daim Blond.
3. A fragrance that says “I’m single and perfectly happy about it, thank you” is vintage Narcisse Noir, or anything with strong civet.
4. My free fantasy trip to anywhere in Canada is to the Aleutian Islands, because it sounds so remote and wild. A very different choice is the San Juan Islands, which I’ve heard are magical but I’ve never been. That might be easier to get to. I wouldn’t wear fragrance during the day, I’d want to smell all the nature. At night I’d wear something cozy like Sarah Horowitz Perfect Veil, a slightly vanillic clean musk skin scent.
5.Something wonderful: I’m currently writing a magazine story about the first gray wolf to (briefly) visit Los Angeles Country in more than a century. A collared female, she has traveled more than 500 miles from Northern CA in search of a mate and habitat. She’s moving around and currently in the Tehachapi mountains in southern Kern County. CA Fish & Game has a ‘wolf tracker’ where you can see her approximate and time-delayed location. Not sure if this is a good thing due to bad actor humans. Also, the #1 cause of death for CA wolves (there are 9 known packs) is vehicles and she’s currently near a highway. The livestock industry is not happy about this wolf, and wolves have been known to predate livestock instead of hunting their native meal – deer – but hopefully this wolf will find some wilderness away from livestock. The Los Padres National Forest west of I-5 is a good place for her. but there are no known male wolves there or anywhere for hundreds of miles, a real problem for her. The entire dilemma reminds me a bit of our beloved L.A. mountain lion P-22, who lived quietly in Griffith Park for more than a decade before his death. Wolf tracker here: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf/Location-Map and first you have to agree not abide by Fish & Game rules. Once you get to the map, you have to zoom in to the SoCal area, the wolf was somewhere in the gold octagon in most recent satellite data (the collar transmits its location to a satellite several times a day).
Oh, I’m fascinated by the tale of the wolf! I do hope she can find a mate.
And, I hope this is good news — you won’t need a passport for either the Aleutians or the San Juans, though both are Canada-adjacent. 🙂 I love the San Juans, and they’re well worth a trip (my U.S. family goes every year, though we haven’t been able to join them in the last year or two.) And yeah, much easier than the Aleutians. Many years ago, Mr. Ockeghem almost took the WA-AK ferry and then the Aleutians ferry as his graduation gift from me, but then decided he wanted a road bike instead. The Aleutians would be pretty cool, though, and easier than my Ellesmere Island choice. 🙂
Thank you for sharing the wolf story. Praying for her safety.🙏
Hope you will post a link to the story when it appears!
My Midnight Poison sample has arrived and I am truly… Mesmerized. Wow. From the first spray I would say I would be hooked, but it’s not available for purchase unless I were to spend 100s of dollars on 2nd hand markets. But I have definitely discovered it has a true cult following and even love letters found online.
First spray was just what I like. Right away it smelled unique. Just what I like. Dark, mysterious but not just dark and mysterious but also unique. When smelling the first spritz, I smelled darkness and some red glow in the middle. What image was stock in my head was the word “midnight”. That was what my mind focused on when smelling it. Then I said myself: “it smells like midnight but with something red with a strange glow, hmmm like a fairy tale… Apple?” Not the literal apple note but the impression of a… Poison apple in a midnight scenery? And then it donned on me… Wait a second this perfume is called Midnight POISON. That’s right. Poison. Wow. Dior has nailed it.
Why was this discontinued then? I think Midnight Poison is a very unique and beautiful blend.
That was a good one. I think they should not have released it under the Poison series, it wasn’t a good fit? But don’t know why it didn’t sell.
Boatloads of laundry today, so I’m in a One Stop Shop that even has a dog wash, so everything will be clean and sand free, including doggo. 🧼🫧 🛁In the morning I’ll head back out into the desert and commence my reclusion for a couple more weeks.
I’m back in L’Essence again today pre-shower for its warm, comforting hug. After will be who knows what, but it will have to meld with Vanilla Bean Noel body cream…
Spoke with a good friend of mine last night and was devastated to learn her husband has a brain tumor. They are both physicians, and he JUST retired in December. 30 years I’ve know them and my whole world view has been changed because of their unrelenting kindness to me and others, their constant faith in their beliefs, and warm, caring personalities. Ugh! 💔
I’m so sorry to hear about your friends. So soon after retirement…my MIL keeps warning us that we need to retire early for just that reason, but it’s unlikely as Mr. Ockeghem likes his job too much. I’m glad to hear about what wonderful friends they’ve been, though.
Thanks, hoping it’s benign and able to be fully excised. They are remarkably calm about the whole thing.
So very sorry to hear about your friend’s husband and hoping something can be done to increase his chances at life. Whatever happens, take comfort in your ability to keep their legacy alive by paying their kindness and faith and caring forward. I was fortunate to be able to retire early to enjoy the growing up years of the only 2 grandchildren I knew I would have and help in their care, and I never for one minute regretted my decision.
Thank you, hoping as mentioned above to ockeghem that it’s benign. I’m so happy you were able to have all that time with your grandkids. Grandparents as so important in a child’s life.
Very sorry to hear about your friend’s husband. People like them are a gift to the broader populace.
Thanks. They’re the kind of humans I aspire to be like, but pretty sure I’m missing the mark…🙃
I forgot my “something wonderful” yesterday. It’s more in the vein of Deva’s: I’ve been seeing snowdrops in the last week or so, and then yesterday I saw blooming daffodils in a particularly sunny bed. (Though it’s supposed to snow at elevation tomorrow — that too is wonderful as we’ve needed it.)
Blooming daffodils is certainly Something Wonderful to be grateful for!
Sending you snowy thoughts! ❄️❄️❄️❄️
Daffodils! I am ready!
In the spirit of this weekend celebrating ❤️, my SOTD is the long d/c YR Ode à l’amour, a soft, plummy rose, a bit fruity, a bit ambery. Very enjoyable!
An absolutely incredibly gorgeous Spring day in February today – blue sky, bright 🌞, and temps made it up to 59 degrees! A morning body-and-soul-healing dip in the hot tub revealed the emergence of snowdrops everywhere around our little waterfall. Only 1 inch or so but they are on their way! A wonderful free jazz concert 🎶with one of our favorite local singers and her 6-piece band at yet another nearby library celebrated New Orleans and was in perfect mellow harmony with the day. Returning home, I saw many people in shorts and every dog in the neighborhood enjoying a long walk. Going out for dinner now wherever Mr. Laila decides to take me and then All Creatures Great and Small to cap off the day.
Hoping that Valentine 💘 will follow you through the week ahead!
I loved seeing snowdrops pushing up in NJ. It was a sign that winter wouldn’t last forever, even if it seemed like it was.
I was just thinking that soon I would be seeing them but was really surprised to see them coming up today; it still seemed so early. Today was so warm it felt bizarre! Seems like yesterday we were completely bundled up and today I went out in just a spring jacket unbuttoned. It’ll be like this til Thursday!
I absolutely adore YS Ode A l’amour, when I still had bottle(s) of it it brought me right back to my tweens.
Yes, it’s a very pretty scent. I have all 4 of the Ode’s, one for each season. Too bad they were d/c.
Hiya NST! Poll answers below.
1. SOTD = back to Diane EdP. It fits perfectly with the warm weather. This winter, 45 percent of the days have had a high temperature at 60 degrees F or above. While that might sound wonderful to the snowbound NSTers, it’s presenting the very real possibility of historic drought later on this year here.
2. “Be Mine” fragrance? I’ve been poking around the Bay of Evil for another vintage bottle of Hypnotic Poison.
3. “Single and Happy” fragrance? Three options present themselves: Clinique Wrappings, Chanel No. 19, or a super indolic jasmine.
4. Free trip to Canada? I’d finally get to Vancouver, BC. My family actually drove across the US border once, ages ago, when a passport was not required for the trip. We stopped before we made it to Vancouver. This was part of a trip up the US West Coast which also included Portland, OR and Seattle, WA.
5. Something wonderful? Long time NSTers know I am not exactly a fan of Valentine’s Day for the most part. I typically post a link to “Love Stinks” from the J. Geils Band on February 14. However, my brother sent me a brief “Happy Valentines” text yesterday. Totally unexpected, but so sweet.
Here’s a Happy It’s-Still-Valentine’s-Day-Weekend greeting for you!😻😽😺🥰
I will happily accept Valentine’s purrs and snuggles!
Happy Sunday NST!
Sotd Abel’s Laundry Day for a dose of optimism and longing for spring.
4. Fantasy trip to Canada – Montreal! I could practice my French and see that magnificent historical city.
5. Finding something beautiful inside a tragedy. U.S. Olympian Max Naumov lost both his parents (Olympic medalists & ice skating coaches) in the mid-air collision last year of a military helicopter and a commuter plane. He skated in their honor at this Olympics, each time showing a photo of them with him as a child on the rink. He finished way out of the medals but had this inspirational quote: “The only way out is through, and everyone has the ability to do that, to remain strong in your mind, to have willpower, and to do things out of love instead of fear.” Go Max!
Thanks for mentioning Max Naumov. I watched his beautiful performance and was moved how he took that horrific experience of losing his parents to inspire rather than defeat him.
Beautifully put Laila!
For the afternoon, after I showered I wore Coromandel.
Thinking about: Boy Chanel.
I am starting to save for another bottle of Exclusif: I am almost certain it will be Boy. I do not want to touch my decants and samples of 1932 for now because it instantly makes me want a full bottle. I just ready that Jersey is a lavender scent that is fluffy as a sweet-vanilla pillow. I ordered a sample sigh… when will this ever end.
I’m constantly thinking about Boy throughout the day the same way I have been thinking about 1932 and still haven’t got a full bottle yet. This never ends unless I win the lottery – and in order to win a lottery I would have to start playing it first!!
I wore Coromandel for this evening but I’m sporting a tiny spritz of Boy on left wrist and (without hesitation) spritzed Splendide on my right from a sample. I am tri-wafting Chanel haha. The more I sniff Splendide the more I like that little raspberry and almost just bought the smallest bottle now because it’s “only” $112 but You know what? I better stop and save (but not where I sacrifice bills or anything more important) and one get the real McCoy – Boy or 1932.
Canada? Probably Niagara Falls. No clue what kind of perfume I’d wear. Maybe L’Eau Froide?
Today I’m wearing Tauer Une Rose Chypree for the CP. Generally speaking, Fire Horse sounds like a spicy rose to me – and maybe leather, too. Possibly citruses as well, if you’re leaning into energy and enthusiasm.
Une Rose Chypree has a bright rose, some citruses in the opening, and the warmth of bay and cinnamon. And, of course, chypre and leather perfumes tend to have that aura of independence and self-sufficiency (speaking of “single and perfectly happy about it”).
Oh, Glannys, you smell fabulous.
Such a bummer that Une Rose Chypree was discontinued.
Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.
For the second time, I’m wearing a sample of “Existence,” created by Quentin Bisch for Amouage. (As listed, the top notes are Aldehydes, Lily of the Valley and Rose; middle notes are Frankincense, Mystikal and Labdanum; base notes are White Musk, Benzoin and Ambergris.)
The serenity of the name doesn’t really prepare you for how startling the perfume is. This is huge, powerful stuff – someone on Fragrantica described it as an Epic Woman flanker. Initially, it’s very bright, sweet, sharp, and clean. After a few hours it softens, and warms up in a musky, ambery way.
Very strange, yet still beautiful, somehow. Enormous sillage, and unbelievable tenacity.
If you try it, whatever you do, go easy – overspray and it’ll exhaust you.
Happy Monday Daniel!
Au Coeur du Desert today. A little goes a long way and very appropriate to my surroundings.🏜️
Very blustery today! We’re perched near some snaggletoothed mountains so hoping for some excellent sunset when the skies clear and the wind calms.
As I passed through a small, dusty town this morning I stumbled upon a gem of a bead store. Also, had tons of knitting and crochet stuff. Anyway, I got there when it opened and half an hour later when I left the parking lot was crammed and so was the store. Good to see small businesses doing well! I contributed to their economy and have plans for a new project of matching earrings and necklace that can be everyday wearable.
Glad to hear that you are still beading!
A surprise bead store, yay!
Had my sister here for a long weekend and we had a lovely time. Among other things we binged all eight episodes of How To Get To Heaven From Belfast, highly recommended for any of you that were fans of Derry Girls. It’s a very different show but the writing is just as sharp. It’s funny, creepy, and features many members of the Derry Girls cast. It’s a murder mystery so there will be murder + dead bodies and a bit of violence, and we did both cover our eyes a few times but overall I did not have a hard time with it.
Yay for a sibling hangout! 💕
How utterly marvelous to have such a time with her! Very happy for you!
Thanks both, it was fun and it has been a long time since I did a proper tv binge.
I’m glad you got some good sister time in, Robin. That show is high on my watch list! We loved Derry Girls.
This one is so different, but honestly we just loved it and we’re really sorry Season 2 isn’t already on the way.
Popping by to say that I’m wearing Guerlain’s Vol de Nuit.
Hope it was a good day Gaynor!
This morning I had a day off work. After shower I wasn’t sure what to wear until I knew exactly what to wear. I decided to go for one of my favorites which is Chanel #22. I have numerous options (from vintage colognes and extraits, through vintage and contemporary EdTs and Edps).
I do have a 15ml extrait from the 50s that I can say I bid furiously on and even though it leaked a little during shipping transport I didn’t mind, that’s the beauty of shopping for vintage stopper bottles. It is divine!!
I also enjoy #22 anywhere from the 70s through like the 90s – with it’s incense note backbone.
If someone asks which #5 is my favorite… The answer is: #22!!
But to me #5 and #22 are TWO (not completely but still) different scents.
Today I went for #22 in it’s modern EdP version. This is the one that smells the most… Soapy. Here is the thing though: when someone says a perfume smells “too soapy” – to me it’s a winning quality. I love soapy frags. But modern #22 smells like the most exquisite, French triple or quadruple or whatever it’s called – milled soap. The most luxurious and sophisticated one. When I think of “soapy” – I automatically imagine something what modern #22 conjures up in my mind.
General question: when will there be another swap meet on nowsmellthis?
Swap meet will be soon, probably March, hope to get it scheduled and on the calendar this week.
Yay that would be so great!!
1. Vivienne Westwood Boudoir. Unfortunately, my vintage bottle isn’t as rich as it used to be, and it’s lost some of the raunchiness I remember.
2. Not a single bottle, but a set of minis: Forêt aux Instruments: Une Symphonie d’Odeurs from LVNEA
3. Something real “stinky” like Zoologist T-Rex
4. I’d love to see the natural beauty of Banff
5. My family (Mom and my brother’s family) has been here visiting from Ohio since Thursday! They’re currently doing a ski/snowboarding trip but will swing back into Seattle on Friday before flying home Saturday morning. We had a very nice weekend together.
Yay for nice family time!
Good news of the day! Record warmth today, 65 degrees! Every bit of snow is gone from my entire property and the snowdrop shoots have grown another inch. I spent part of the day relaxing in the glider swing at the back of the yard bird-watching and part of the day reading on the screened porch sans any jacket, enjoying the warm 🌞 along with 😻😽and 😺. This ‘fake’ Spring will last a few more days before normal temps return, and I am grateful for every minute. 🙏.
In keeping with my ❤️ theme, my SOTD is Queen Latifah’s Queen of Hearts, another plummy scent with a touch of cinnamon and some white flowers and, my favorite part, a base of incense, amber, patchouli, olibanum, vanilla and musk. Warm, strong and sensual.👍
Happy Monday!
I bet your kitties are enjoying “fake Spring” even more than you are.
Yep! No worry about frozen paws and Mommy let’s them stay ‘outside’’ as long as they want.
Oh I am jealous, I cannot WAIT for the snow to be gone.
This afternoon after shower I wore Chanel Boy from my sample (I have just half of this sample left). Love it. Love it love it love it. Went quick shopping (an errand not “fun” shopping although I surprised my 6 year old with a cutsey plushy that I seen Her eyeing the other day when Her Dad took us to the toy store) and a small Mom-Babe Calico Critter set – She has been so sweet lately, I love Her smile.
Well I came back home and walked into the bedroom and I said myself: “something smells nice” and just because it smells fresh, or freshly cleaned doesn’t mean I automatically admire the smell. But I walked into the bedroom and something really smelled so really nice. It really just hit me how nice it smelled. It took me a few moments to realize it was just Boy wafting from me. I don’t know but I really can’t stop thinking about Boy. I just want to smell Boy all day every day.
Have You ever had this really really huge urge that You want to have this perfume so badly? Like life will just be better if You have it, because that’s really the one for You. You never tire of it, Your amazed how good it smells. And first and foremost You keep smelling Yourself so much. So in other words if I got a bottle of Boy and I would wear it (and not have to pray that the sample is disappearing so fast) I would actually get a lot more out of it than some other perfumes that I wear and enjoy because I would sniff myself a lot more often, I would spray it on a spot on my skin and just bury my nose in that spot about a thousand of times per day. Washing dishes, one plate… Sniff the spot on skin, another plate, another wiff, three coffee cups, sniffing my skin again. You see what I am saying: I would really really enjoy every precious drop of this perfume. I really want it so much. But these Exclusifs are so expensive for a “normal” person like me. If I don’t get it now I will just wait for a better time and still eventually get it. So what am I waiting for? Because so far I’m happy with my purchases but buying just one more right now, I know would make me feel guilty
Sounds like you have fallen hard for Chanel Boy.
Maybe wait until after Lent to get it?
I love that idea. That will be after I get paid anyways. Thank You!!
Realized over the weekend that I need to renew Teflon kitty’s license. Since it’s President’s Day here in the US, city offices are closed. So that task is on tomorrow’s list.
SOTD = still in Diane EdP. Gotta think on what fits for this weeks CP. I’ve seen a couple of wonderful ideas from other NSTers today.