First off, the update last week! I was so surprised to see the Black Moon bottles appear. Nothing like a couple of unexpected LEs to totally throw me off! I went back and forth and decided to get just the Schwarzer Mond with all the smoky resins.
And Halloween! My favorite time of year, and my favorite bunch of BPALs. I already have bottles of Samhain, Dia, Sugar Skull and tried/swapped away Devil's Night. But I'm totally blown away by all the new blends! I'll wait for the next Lunacy to order and am interested in:
--All Souls-- I love the incense blends like Midnight Mass and Pit and the Pendulum, as long as they aren't too woody. Incense + currant sugar cakes sound great
--Creepy-- all the ingredients are favorites: butterscotch, caramel, apples, and coconut rum. This will be the first bottle ordered
--Pumpkin Queen--I liked 3 of the 5 Pumpkin Patch bottles (cider, cocoa and pomegranate) and will want to check out the mandarin/orange peel/ginger version
--Punkie Night--I love cranberries and these don't pop up very often
I fell over and died when I started reading the Order of the Dragon scents. While the original Bram Stoker novel was OK, Coppola's Dracula film is one of my all-time favorites. Swoon! I want to try:
--Brides of Dracula--this sounds like another Smut-O-Rama with the skin musk and honey and Eastern spices
--Dr. John Seward--[tangent] don't even get me started on how great Richard E. Grant was in this role. My favorite scene is when he's dictating the latest diagnosis of Renfield while "self-medicating" and thinking of Lucy *sigh* [end tangent] Ahem. Anyway, another "poppy smoke" blend that sounds dark and brooding and great
--Quincey Morris--hello? Texas guy! This sounds more masculine with the tobacco and leather, but if I end up buying a bottle I can hopefully persuade DH to give it a try
And of course the Arkham bottles becoming GC! How great is that? I want to try:
--Al Azif--another dark incense that many people raved about
--High Priest Not to Be Described--yet another incense, but maybe too masculine with the leather. Great name, though!
--Night Gaunt--lots of fruit with that elusive "snow" quality that's so popular
--Shoggoth--this may be too much floral, but I want to test "green coconut meat"
I have the worst attitude towards others sometimes, and it’s difficult to blame on Aunt Flo when it happens at any time during the month. I guess I’m not a very social person. I could do without interactions most of the time; the whole farcical song-and-dance is a big energy-suck.
--you come into work on Monday, and are asked about your weekend
--every morning you’re asked about the previous evening
--on Friday you’re asked about your weekend plans
I understand that people are just trying to be polite, and the big picture is that we’re all here just killing time until we die. I don’t initialize these exchanges, I just say “fine, how was yours?” I’m a hypocrite. Maybe if I was “brutally honest” like others so proudly call themselves, people wouldn’t ask me anymore.
Spoiler
“My weekend was great! I sat around on my fat butt, drank too much and blew my husband. How was yours?”
There are a few people who as they’re walking by need to say “Hi Dawndie!” every time they walk by, even if they walked by before and it’s later the same day. Can’t you just smile or nod? I don’t like interrupting people when they’re trying to work, but I don’t get the same courtesy. The secretary desks are basically in the walkways in front of the attorney offices, and sometimes people will knock on my desk as they’re walking by -- I guess if I don’t pay enough attention to them. :curses under breath:
Then there’s one person here who will go out of her way to butt into the conversation if she’s nearby. Does she do this with everyone, or am I just lucky? My desk was near Noseyperson previously (not recently, like 4 years ago) and if you were having a phone conversation and then hung up, she would usually have some comment about your phone call. Seriously, what was I supposed to say? It’s impossible not to hear when our desks were so close together, but can’t you try to ignore it? Isn’t it rude to insert yourself into someone else’s work or personal life without invitation?
I do have a friend here at work, and I don’t mind eating lunch with him most of the time because he’s funny and very dry. I guess we’re anti-social together. We were in the lunch area recently talking about suck-in movies -- the ones you flip by and you end up sucked-in watching, even if you’ve seen it 20 times before. I said DH was watching one of his suck-ins last night, Ocean’s 11 (yes, with the ARGH BLARGH!! at the end, although he had flipped it by then). Noseyperson at the next table (not even sitting with us!) pipes up, “Which one?” I mumbled “the newer one” and Noseyperson comments for a few moments on how none of those “hunks” “do anything” for her. (Noseyperson, if any of those “hunks” saw your Jabba the Hutt’s Grandma ass, they’d run in the other direction.) She then blew her nose really loudly and I had to put my head down to keep from busting out laughing. GROSS. But I won’t say anything to her, unless Brutally Honest Dawndie blurted out, “Noseyperson, we weren’t talking to you. We don’t care what you think. Please go far away, especially when it’s time to empty your sinuses.”
OK, I actually feel better after my crab-in. I know a big part of this is I went from semi-working-from-home back to a big office, and I just need to build up my tolerance, or Zen Out like Valentina, or be like Snarky’s meditating turtle. Ommm…
Estate sales dropped off over the holidays and they’ve started back up again, so we’ve gone to a few. It seems we aren’t the only ones jonesing for them to return, as the past few weeks most houses we go to have been packed with people. This weekend I bought a souvenir shot glass from San Francisco ($2) and an unused Las Vegas postcard of the original Aladdin hotel for 10¢. The coolest purchase was at another house: two big bags of matchbooks for $4! Going through them last night was a lot of fun -- they were from the ‘60s and ‘70s mostly, lots of restaurants and some old Vegas ones, and some from Paris, London, Mexico, Singapore, Brazil, Cairo, and most were unused. The funniest was from a Chinese restaurant in Berlin named Hung Wang. Hee hee! Yes, I’m ten years old.
We like going to see the houses, but there’s a constant struggle with buying things. I’m trying to be good and not fill the house with crap (especially with my weakness for old souvenirs). I don’t like shot glasses in general, they’re kind of a give-up souvenir that seem to be for sale everywhere, but I have a soft spot for San Francisco and since it was so cheap I bent the rule a bit. I don’t want to start collecting shot glasses though -- I like the older weirder wackier souvenirs like plates or tablecloths or matchbooks.
Another dilemma is furniture -- we like some of the pieces we see, and by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around they’re usually 50% off the tagged price, but 1) where are we supposed to put all this? and 2) how are we supposed to get it home? The house with the matchbooks had (along with the very cool Wurlitzer organ) a huge beautiful bar, like a pirate bar! Two pieces, front and back with 3 barstools, the guy said they paid around $6000 for it and we could have taken it all home for $600. We have a Camry and an Altima, and we don’t know anyone with a beater truck or van. Maybe this is a good thing, as we’d be filling the house with furniture instead of smaller things. Oh, but I want a bar! In my house! I’d never leave
First off: I got a raise today! Yeehaw! Here’s a quick run-through of the HUGE update:
Red Moon. Our blend for this Moon mixes traditional lunar oils with the warmth of amber, red musk, and heliotrope, the russet haze of dragon's blood resin, sunflower, and crushed orange peel, with a dusting of summertime herbs: chamomile, rue, elder flower and marigold. I sniffed the previous incarnation at a Meet-n-Sniff which was beautiful, and this looks to have red musk and sunflower added which sounds even better. I’m so glad this is back! I had no inkling this would return.
Allison Gross. Witch-herbs, crushed golden flowers, and a man-made-dragon’s surly musk lightened by the scent of the blossoms and unearthly incense that clings to the Faerie Queen’s hair. Dragon’s blood musk, ambergris, sunflower, chrysanthemum, muguet, and rue, with gingered lily, moonflower, bluebell, peony, nightwort, and white rose. I’m not sure about what may end up being “bubblegum musk.” The unusual flowers (sunflower, gingered lily, bluebell) may make it interesting.
Leo. Egyptian amber, walnut bark, chamomile, frankincense, and saffron. this sounds like a sneezing fit between the amber, bark and chamomile.
Sportive Sun. Heliotrope, amber, almond flower, frangipani, cedar, and calamus. Sounds nice except for the cedar.
Gibbous Moon. Moonflower, Madonna lily, orris, white ginger, cucumber, hyacinth, and Irish moss. Too much floral in this one.
Agnes Nutter. Gunpowder, charred wood, smoke, and rusty nails. When we go to estate sales, many times in the “old man garage” there are saved coffee cans of old nails and nuts and bolts, along with hunting rifles and ammo. So all I’m imagining is this smelling like old man garage.
Azriphale. Ethereal musk, blonde woods, and dusty Bible accord. I want to try this to see what “dusty Bible accord” smells like.
Crowley. Infernal musk, red patchouli, lilac cologne, mahogany, lemon rind, oakmoss, leather, and vanilla husk. This sounds a bit too masculine with the lilac cologne, mahogany and leather.
Shadwell. Roll-ups, mildewed raincoat, sweet tea, and condensed milk. What are roll-ups, other than the pressed-fruit snack I ate as a kid? Old pants? Ew.
War. Red ginger, black spices, patchouli, honeysuckle, and three blood-soaked red musks. This sounds like a winner, like my beloved Glasya.
Fairy Market. Otherworldy golden incense, blooming wind-flowers, everlasting lavender, bluebell, a faint whiff of exotic sugared candies, and fae mist upon wet green grass. I don’t do lavender, so “everlasting lavender” sounds even worse. Everything else sounds cool.
Tristran. Dust on your trousers, mud on your boots, and stars in your eyes: redwood, tonka bean, white sandalwood, lemon peel, patchouli, rosewood, coriander, and crushed mint. Redwood would probably be too strong on me; another masculine one.
Victoria. Graceful vanilla musk, tea rose, and stargazer lily. Vanilla musk and tea rose sounds lovely.
Witch Queen. Wild plum, red musk, tuberose, calla lily, heliotrope, pimento, ylang ylang and beeswax beneath a dark haze of sinister purple-hued incense smoke. Dang, wild plum and red musk right off the bat, like a one-two punch of favorites.
Yvaine. The high, crystalline scent of a star-filled night with blue lavender and lush magnolia. Lavender again, nah.
Also, more soaps! I recently tried Snake Oil and Shub soaps (Shub is finishing up in the shower). I knew that quite a bit of oil goes into the batches, but I was disappointed personally that the fragrance didn’t last on my skin without the backup boost of oil applied later. I was really hoping for a nice overpowering blast of scent; bowl me over! I don’t care! Alas, I get dressed and can smell the detergent from my clothes more than my nice soap. However, Bordello and Perversion are two of my absolute favorites and I will probably order those eventually.
In conclusion: since I already ordered the 2 Sephiroth bottles, I’m going for Red Moon only.
It's feast or famine sometimes -- the past couple weeks we've gone to several houses and they've been pretty blah. A couple of weeks ago we got a Lane side table (early '60s maybe) and a tall lamp with a great canvas/linen shade for $50, but that's been it. Yesterday was good though, we went to 4 houses and bought things at 3 of them:
--one house had a bunch of collector plates (Norman Rockwell, Wedgwood, etc.). No souvenir plates unfortunately, but I bought a Presidents of the United States plate, through LBJ, for $4. I guess I'm SOL if I can't remember the presidents after LBJ
--another house had a wrought iron Lone Star we can hang outside ($15) and a green California pottery bowl/large cup, very faux-Fiestaware ($2.50)
--another house had a set of clay coasters from Disney World's Grand Californian hotel ($1.50)
The first house had a giant glass barrel-shaped container, maybe 2' tall, full of matchbooks, but we were peeking through the glass and there weren't any cool ones catching our attention. They wanted $65! That's a crazy high price, considering we got 2 bags of great matchbooks from all over the world for $4 a few weeks ago. Maybe the big glass container was valuable?
She isn't really insane, but sometimes I wonder about how her brain works. She sent e-gift certificates for my birthday (yay Amazon!) but the last time we talked she said she was sending a box too. That came last night, and inside was:
--the new Janet Evanovich book (she's bought me the last several Stephanie Plum books, they're pretty funny)
--a teeny purse with Marilyn pictures on it -- it would probably hold your ID/credit card and a small lipstick, and that's it. I wish it was bigger!
--some L'Oreal tube eyeshadows
--some bath samples (a company called Andrea?) of sugar scrubs, mud masks, etc.
--a hand-crank flashlight (no batteries needed)
--an exfoliating sponge -- am I too flaky?
--a couple of Lustreware salt-pepper sets, one are little birds and the other has a Japanese tree/garden scene painted on each one
I know where I get my pack-rat collecting obsessions from, but she obviously sees random things and thinks, "I need to buy this for ____" and out it goes for a gift. Everything was wrapped individually and it was like this crazy lottery -- what will be next?
She loves doing Christmas stockings too, and it's the same miscellanea; last year one gift was a purse hanger that you take with you to a restaurant, so you can hang your purse off the table instead of setting it on the floor. I didn't even know I needed one of those!
Random linkage: here's someone posting about his mom, who really is insane. Pack Rat Ahead! If I ever get to this point, kill me. This was originally on the forums in Something Awful:
http://www.auctions-registration.com/ebay/?p=1
I got bogged down and couldn’t update my BPAL blog, but have continued to purchase. Since the last entry I’ve purchased bottles of:
Minotaur
Temple Viper (these two were purchased from a forum buddy, both smell amazing)
Black Lace
Prospero (these two were my “normal” purchase one month from Dark Delicacies instead of the Lab. Both are really nice)
Hony Mone
Blood Phoenix
Chanukkiyah (I was underwhelmed by these 3, but hopefully aging will help)
Numb
Peacock Queen 2005 (these two recently purchased from another forumite)
I Married a Vampire from Planet X
Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal (Vampire is a bit too masculine, but Teenage Cannibal is nice)
Anactoria
Lunar Eclipse (recent update)
Regarding Numb: it’s gotten a bad rap and I don’t know why. I bought Numb brand-new from the Lab when it was offered in July 2005. I liked it well enough, it was like frozen sugared violets, but unfortunately I broke out in a rash the few times I wore it. I gave it to my mom, and when we went to visit for Christmas I was looking at her stash (I’ve also given her Harvest Moon 2004 and Taurus 2007) and noticed that Numb was almost empty. She loves it! It’s her favorite and she asked if I could get her another bottle for her birthday.
I finally took recent pictures of my collection. I enjoy reading about other collections and what people love. I’ve been buying directly from the Lab for over 3 years and have over 100 bottles of favorites. Here’s the main box, it’s a tin from a men’s cologne set that DH had received. I was so excited when the shipments started arriving with special BPAL orange shipping tape, *dork alert* I would carefully peel it off to stick on the tin.
Here’s a picture of the inside, it’s totally full and I’ve started a second box. The bottles are in order based on when they were received, which makes less and less sense. If I’m looking for a bottle I can make a good guess where it will be, but it’s hard to browse if I’m trying to decide what to wear out of the blue.
My special imp tin: these are imps or decants that I want to keep. There’s my one tarted imp (Alice); even though I have a bottle I’ll never get rid of the imp just because it’s the way imps aren’t done anymore. I also have some single note decants, Tomato Leaf is peeking out. The labels have the She-Devil forum skin logo, there are a few others floating around in there. These were won in the forum fundraising raffle in April 2006.
My backup box contains Arcana and Possets bottles, new BPAL bottles arriving and tested imps that I don’t care to keep.
I’d love to have a nice display rack of some kind, because the labels are kick-ass and I could see everything. But how is that possible? I’d need a wall at this point.
Lottsa stuffs!
Beaver Moon -- wild cherry with vanilla cream accord, and a hint of strawberry. Boy howdy, this sounds a lot like MB: Bloody Mary. I like Bloody Mary but it seems to disappear quickly.
Swan Maiden -- White gardenia, white iris, sandalwood, calla lily, French magnolia, muguet, jonquil, and orchid. Lots of white florals, not my thing.
Scorpio 2007 -- Dark musk, wormwood, basil, dragon's blood resin, galangal, and opoponax. While I love the musky blends, I don't like wormwood.
Midnight Kiss -- Eternal desire, unquenchable passion: red musk, cocoa absolute, Nepalese amber, red sandalwood, aged patchouli, nicotiana, and blood wine. Mmmm, every single ingredient sounds great.
Vampire Tears -- Regret born from ceaseless longing: wisteria, white grapefruit, neroli, green tea, jasmine, white ginger, honeysuckle, iris, and tonka. This blend definitely has an Asian vibe, but doesn't sound great for me.
Ile de la Tortue -- Damp air trapped in limestone caverns, heady greenery, hothouse orchids, nicotiana blossoms, bois de chandel, elemi, palm wine, garambullo, pega-pega, flame of the forest, and a swirl of Haitian vetiver. These ingredients sound really cool (pega-pega? flame of the forest?), but I'm afraid it will be too green and aquatic.
Windward Passage -- Breezes blowing off of the waters of the Caribbean: marine accord, seaweed, and bladderwrack. Another aquatic, we'll wait and see on this one.
Kill-Devil -- Sugar cane, molasses, oak wood, and honey. Oooh, I have yet to try a blend featuring molasses. Definitely want to read reviews.
Plunder -- The scent of a pirate's bumboat, overflowing with stolen wares: tea leaf, cassia, cinnamon bark, clove, allspice, sandalwood, tobacco, peppercorn, and nutmeg. Cassia and cinnamon really amp on me and aren't a favorite.
And a couple of forum-only blends!
Pirate Moon -- Red musk, ambergris, coconut palm, red sandalwood, balsam, date, warm leather, tobacco, ebony, lingum vitae wood, pandanus grass, an' a touch o' lime. Two red musk blends in an update? I can't resist this one, it sounds bootylicious (yarr!).
The Phoenix -- Sea air, gunpowder, lime, salt-crusted wood, a splash of blood, and a dribble of Snake Oil. Probably too masculine with the assorted manly ingredients. I do like when Snake Oil makes an appearance.
In conclusion: I ordered Midnight Kiss and Pirate Moon!
I have a job! Woo! This has been a long 2 months, and while I've tried not to accelerate into PANIC!! mode, I can't say I haven't been nervous. This was where I worked before my last job, and they even offered me a raise over what I was making before. Scoreboard!
Seriously, I was hoping this would work out, as I liked my job, had a bunch of friends there and it was an easy commute. Now I can shop! I was really trying to keep a lid on my normal splurgey favorites, like candles and incense and shoes, and now I can shop without (much) guilt. Here's what my list is to eventually purchase:
--Possets: Santa Fart, plus Luminaria? Madame X?
--Long-sleeve BPAL t-shirt
--New cute black shoes – babygirlboutique.com had cute ones
--Joann fabrics: apron pattern, tape measure, pin cushion/sharpener, fabric pen, iron? I can't find our old one
--Stuff-o-rama bracelets
--Fred Soll incense
--feMaledictions incense, perfume samples
--My Lady’s Chamber incense
--Reprodepot – Texas tablecloth, Las Vegas buttons, more fabric!
--Love & Rockets back issues, Locas in Love (Penny Century issues), subscription?
--Mr. Beer -- I haven't made beer in a while, this would be fun to get into again
--DVDs: Buffy, Angel, All the President’s Men 30th anniversary edition; Mel Brooks (Young Frankenstein, History of the World)
Yes, I keep a list of stuff I want to buy if I had lots of funds. I rotate them so I'm not buying so much at once (i.e., perfume or incense). Who me, materialistic?
This title was stolen from Anchorman, which like many other movies the first 10-15 minutes are the best -- "I love scotch! Scotchy scotch scotch!"
I put on some Smut before DH and I went out to grab some food and beer. Smut starts out almost agressively strong, but ends up a really nice sweet musky YUM. valentina sounds more sophisticated in that she mixes with O to make Smut-O-Rama, which is very creative and I should try. Bottle orgy! Woo!
I have several bottles that may be "in demand" on the resale market, but I would never sell them just because I like them so much. Smut is one of them -- it ends up so nice, I'm sitting like a dope with a smile on my face, that I would never want to sell them even if it was double what I paid.
If anything, I'll swap something I like but am not in love with. I don't care if it's LE for GC either, if it's something I really want. It's all about spreading the love.
So it’s been a crazy October with traveling (cruise to Mexico last weekend and planning for friend’s wedding next weekend) and I didn’t order right after the Yule update as I wanted to wait for the Lunacy. But what a great Yule update!
Angeronalia -- Strength, passion, and the cleansing fire of joy: olive blossom, white nectarine, vibrant blood orange, honey absolute, lemongrass, elemi, sensual patchouli, and the quiet purity of gardenia. This sounds like a different and interesting floral. Wait for reviews.
Archangel Winter -- Crystalline, glassy ice whipped by a snowstorm. Piercing ozone, winter darkness. Aquatics aren’t my thing, most go too soapy.
Chanukkiyah -- Olive oil, beeswax, glowing amber, sweet sufganiyot, pomegranate, and fig. Hmm, olive oil as the main ingredient? Interesting. Wait for reviews.
Christmas Rose -- Bruise-tinted hellebore blossoms pushing through snowdrifts. I read that hellebore was green and herby, therefore this isn’t a BPAL Rose. I’m not one for the straight-up florals anyway.
Diwali -- Lotus root, mango, tamarind, cardamom, clove, almond milk, cashew, rice flower, coconut, supari, raisins, and incense crafted from aloeswood, red sandalwood, cedar, and spikenard. This sounds interesting with the mélange of ingredients. Wait for reviews.
Egg Nog 2007 -- Sweet brandy, dark rum, heavy cream, sugar, and a dash of nutmeg. This is one of the all-time forum favorite Yule blends, but I’m afraid the heavy cream will go rancid or plastic. I’ll think about this one.
El Dia de Reyes -- Hot cocoa with cinnamon, coffee, and brown sugar. Not so much for cocoa, cinnamon and coffee; I’d rather drink it than smell like it.
Fruit of Paradise -- The Fruit of Paradise, the Nectar of Death: bittersweet pomegranate, nurtured and cultivated in the hollow darkness of the Underworld. -- Pomegranate is one of my favorite notes, so dark and foreboding.
Gingerbread Poppet 2007 -- Warm, cozy gingerbread spiced with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. Another all-time favorite for some, but gingerbread is not one of my favorite scents. I don’t want to flounce around smelling like a giant cookie.
Haloa 2007 -- Wine grapes, myrrh, frankincense and olive leaf, and the warm scent of offertory cakes. I have a bottle of last year’s; it was pretty sweet and cakey at first, but the incense has gotten stronger which I love.
Jolasveinar 2007 -- Their scent is a mishmash of snow, dirt, Icelandic moss, marsh felwort, and the smushed petals of buttercups and moorland spotted orchids, with the barest hint of the scent of pilfered Christmas pastries. Another blend from last Yule, and the reviews gave me the impression that the “pastries” will end up plasticky on me.
Krampus 2007 -- Be good, or Krampus will toss you in a river! Sinister red musk, black leather, dusty rags, and wooden switches. This was a love-it-or-hate-it blend for forumites last year. While I love red musk, black leather and wood comes out pretty harsh on my skin.
La Befana -- Candy charcoal, winter lilies, parma violet, a sprig of cypress, a poof of chimney dust, and holiday sweets. Candy charcoal? I have no idea. Wait for reviews.
Lick It One More Time -- Every holiday season should be full of lewd suggestions and filthy double entendres, right? This is a new take on Lick It and Lick It Again -- a peppermint candy cane with a flash of vanilla and an extra jolt of sugar. I have a bottle of the original Lick It, a sweet-sparkly mint.
Midwinter’s Eve 2007 -- A melancholy, deep scent, poignant and brimming with nostalgia. The perfume of sugared plums over a breeze of winter flowers. I had a bottle of Midwinter’s Eve 2004, and while I loved the sugared plums it ended up a bit waxy from the flowers. I ended up using it all in my oil burner and don’t need more.
Mistletoe 2007 -- The plant of peace in Norse tradition. If enemies met in the forest and came upon a sprig, they laid down their arms and observed a truce until the next sunrise. I don’t like the green planty blends much.
Noche Buena -- A celebration of the Nativity: the light, uplifting incense of the Misa de Noche Buena, purple sage, and a vibrant bouquet of plumeria, chrysanthemum, tuberose, Angel's Trumpet, Mexican tiger lily, dahlia, and azucenas. This sounds beautiful, Chrysanthemum Moon is one of my favorite Lunacies and the ingredient will pop out at me. Plus purple sage is in Corazon which is one of my all-time favorite bottles. Wait anxiously for reviews.
November -- Autumn leaves damp beneath the first snowfall. I’m not sure about damp leaves. Wait for reviews.
Peacock Queen 2007 -- In dramatic contrast to the soft innocence of Snow White and the dew-kissed freshness of her sister, Rose Red, this is a blood red, voluptuous rose, velvet-petaled, at the height of bloom. Haughty and imperious, vain, yet incomparably lovely to the eye, but thick with thorns of jealousy, pride and hatred. I love the description for this, it’s so snotty. This will probably demand to be ordered.
Rose Red 2007 -- The perfected winter rose, dew covered and freshly cut. I have and cherish a bottle from 2005, it really is a perfect rose.
Shivering Boy -- Cold, cold forever more. A winter storm roaring through empty stone halls, bearing echoes of despair, desolation, and death on its winds. The scent of frozen, dormant vineyards, bitter sleet, and piercing ozone, hurled through labdanum, benzoin, and olibanum. Woo, sounds really detergenty. Wait for reviews.
Snow Storm -- Winter aconite, balsam fir, cedar leaf, and white mint. I don’t know what Winter aconite is, but Botanical.com says it’s a deadly herb. This blend is probably too green for me.
Snow White 2007 -- A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers. Finally! I’ve been waiting to reorder Snow White, and while Snow-Flakes appeared last year and is quite lovely, this bottle is definitely being ordered right off.
More Gaiman/Pratchett scents, which by the way I finally read Good Omens and enjoyed the dry British apocalyptic wit.
Famine -- Sleek black tea, tobacco leaf, frankincense, lilac, and white musk. Tea scents aren’t my favorite.
Madame Tracy -- A coquettish blend of tea rose, ume blossom, geranium, lily of the valley, violet, and heliotrope. Tea rose has the risk of going all twee baby-powder on me.
Pollution -- A toxic chypre: radioactive green musk, davana, and oozing white amber. I haven’t tried green musk, let alone if it’s glowing. Wait for reviews.
Hastur -- Smoky-sour labdanum, black patchouli, wet tobacco, and brimstone. This sounds like Schwarzer Mond and Minotaur, dark and eeeeevil. Wait for reviews.
Ligur -- Dry olibanum, black moss, soggy ti, khus, and opoponax. Same as Hastur, except probably more masculine cologne with the black moss. Wait for reviews.
Fairy Wine -- An ethereal vintage, steeped with dandelion, honey, and red currants. I love the boozy wine blends, and the other ingredients sound nice.
Lady Una -- Honey musk, green tea leaf, blackberry leaf, vanilla bean, and fae spices. The BPAL Honey is greatness, but not sure of the green tea (even though I drink it every morning). Wait for reviews.
And finally, the normal Lunacies. I love the cool rippling script for Long Night Moon!
Long Night Moon -- A bouquet of night-blooming flowers, petals dusted with frost. Cereus, moonflower accord, night phlox, honeysuckle, silver thyme, white mint, and blue musk. Lots of white flowers, not for me.
Sagittarius -- Sage, clove, dandelion, balm of gilead, fig, and chamomile. I’m afraid of the clove, which can overpower.
Ivanushka -- Soft, velvety fur and warm musk, brushed by forest woods and dusted by dry leaves. This sounds a lot like Buck Moon, which I liked but didn’t love enough to keep.
In conclusion: I’m ordering Fruit of Paradise and Snow White!
After reading darkity's previous posts about going to see Thomas Dolby, I just had to post about old skool concerts. Granted, it's been awhile since I've gone to a show -- I'm at the point now where seeing someone "live" means paying $50 to go to a crowded, smelly place and hear someone perform the CD that I could be listening to in the comfort of my home. Bleh. So here's my index:
First concert: Rick Nelson at the Palomino in LA, about 8th grade, 1984? This was the ex-50's-teen-idol-turned-country-singer and my friend had an obsession with him. He was pretty good! And looked damn fine!
Most memorable concert: Jane's Addiction, Pixies and Primus at the Hollywood Palladium, December 1990. I remember Primus started, and while I had never heard of them they were amazing live, great musicians. Pixies were next, and they were about to break up and probably couldn't stand each other -- Frank Black screamed a lot, that was the gist of it. Jane's Addiction was great, I love them.
Other concerts: (this is me looking through my ticket stubs)
--Monkees reunion tour in 1986 *hangs head*, but I was a sophomore in high school! What do you expect?
--Duran Duran at the Forum in July 1987 (with Erasure opening) -- I love both of them
--David Bowie at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, August 1987 -- this was the first instance where I got up at 5:00 a.m. to wait in line for tickets, and we had the worst nosebleed seats ever! Never again, I swore. He was OK live, but Siouxsie and the Banshees opened and they were fab
--Sting at the Forum, March 1988 -- he was great
--Hothouse Flowers at the Coach House (teeny restaurant/club in San Juan Capistrano), February 1989 -- they were great, a crazy Irish jam band
--Midge Ure at the Coach House, April 1989 -- lead singer of Ultravox, yum. He didn't have to play a note and I would have sat there dreamy-eyed
--Replacements at the Hollywood Palladium, May 1989 -- just before they broke up and they probably all hated each other at that point. All I remember is LOUD
--Love and Rockets at Irvine Meadows, July 1989 (Godfathers opened) -- they were pretty good. Dang, I went to a lot of concerts in 1989!
--B-52's at Universal Amphitheater, January 1990 -- they were great
--Pearl Jam at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, November 1993 -- they were great live, but it was butt-ass cold standing outside in a field. My cousin and his wife live there and we all went to the concert and stayed overnight at their house so we had a great time, I just remember COLD COLD COLD
--Dave Matthews Band at Riverbend in Cincinnati, June 1997 -- I thought they were incredibly boring live. I'm not a huge fan, but every song I recognized sounded exactly like the songs on CD or the radio. *yawn* We wanted to see Los Lobos open for them, then we left afterwards. Los Lobos is great, always -- we saw them at Jazz Fest in Columbus (2000?) and the place was mobbed.
--Beck at Veterans in Columbus, Ohio, February 2000 -- he's crazy and the show was a heap o'fun. Hank Williams III opened and he brought the house down, everyone went nuts.
--Moby at Newport Music Hall, Columbus, October 2000 -- since DH worked at Virgin Music we were able to meet him before the show. He was very nice and signed our ticket stubs and CD, and drew little pictures. His show was GREAT -- seriously, I thought it would be him noodling on a keyboard but he had a full band and was jumping all over the stage
That's really been it -- since we've moved to Dallas we haven't gone to a concert. I'm old.
I started responding to the Las Vegas thread and realized I have too much to say We go to Vegas usually once a year. We're not big gamblers, but we end up having a blast without spending (or losing ) a lot of money. Our tried-tested-true tips are:
--Go during the week instead of the weekend. Hotel prices on weeknights can be less than 50% of what you'd pay over the weekend.
--Don't just look for the cheapest hotel rates, think about what else you want to do and see. A cheap hotel isn't a bargain if it's way off by itself and you have to take a cab to do anything else.
--Everyone should try a huge Vegas buffet once. Rio has a great one, and like the others, lunch is cheaper than dinner for the same food.
--Don't forget about free drinks! If you're gambling (even at the penny or nickel slots) cocktail waitresses will walk by and bring you whatever you want, even mixed drinks (although notoriously watered-down and in teeny glasses). Bottled beer or water is best to avoid the teeny glasses.
--There's technically an "open container" law, but you'll see people walking around all the time (especially downtown) with their beer or crazy half-yard drinks so it's no big deal.
Fun free stuff to do: Rio (west of the Strip) has a Mardi Gras carnival, with floats that hang from the ceiling where people toss beads. Oh! The last time we were there they had both male & female cocktail people who would intermittently hop up onto stages above the slots and dance, then hop back down. It was SURREAL and HILARIOUS
--Flamingo has a bird sanctuary, nice to walk through
--Mirage has a nice tropical walk-through, lots of waterfalls, and you can see the white tigers
--Treasure Island has big pirate boats in front, and at night they'll put on a show. It used to be an "arr, matey" pirate show but the last time we were there they were switching it around to "Sirens of the Sea" or something like that; we haven't seen it
--Venetian has the canals with singing gondoliers
--Tons of window shopping: Forum Shops at Caesars is the hugest, but Aladdin has a nice-sized mall too, with a Sephora
--Downtown is great, especially at night -- a bunch of older, smaller casinos within 3-4 blocks. Plus light shows at night, and a few huge souvenir shops that are cheaper than the Strip hotel gift shops. We bought a pseudo-neon Welcome to Las Vegas sign that was $30 downtown, then back at the Flamingo it was $40!
OK, now I want to go again
Ugh, it’s only Thursday? I’m dragging this week. We went out with my cousin and his friend last night to watch the Mavs game, and I think I drank too much Guinness. No, I know I drank too much Guinness But it’s so good! It came to the table with a little shamrock on top, like the more talented baristas can put a creamy heart on top of your coffee. Cousin’s Friend had a picture in his cell phone of a coffee he ordered in Santa Barbara with a big smiling cat face on top, which was really impressive.
I’m distracted by online shopping the past couple of days. I placed a Possets order on Tuesday for a few of the new LEs: Kitty Cupidon, Haute Love and Silver Roses. Wednesday was incense and a few perfume samples from feMaledictions, and I finally placed an order to try some Fred Soll incense. I’m also eyeballing the 4 Fat Cats Wax Works update, as I’ve ordered from Holly previously and really liked her tarts -- strongly scented and no dye. Last week I received an order from My Lady’s Chamber for more incense, and I can barely close my incense drawer as it is, so why am I ordering more? Is my house subliminally stinky?
I just love coming home after work and lighting candles and incense, and on Saturdays as I’m doing chores having simmering oil or a tart burning. It must be a nesting thing. I guess I’m making up for lost time too, as the end of 2006 was money-stressy since I didn’t know where/when I would be working. It’s not like any one purchase is terribly expensive, but these buying flurries are obviously something I need to get out of my system. Once I get a few new things in the mail to play with, I should be fine. Yeah
Instead of posting a particularly cranky entry, I'll post what I was working on over the weekend in honor of Halloween coming
DH is a mellow, even-keeled guy. He has had a bunch of weird experiences, though, and he doesn’t like to talk about them much. Most happened before he met me and I must be psychically “blocking” him in some way, because I’ve never had anything otherworldly happen to me (even though I love reading about it) and I would probably panic if something actually happened to me personally.
A few things happened after a family member has died. After we started dating, but before we moved into our own place, he and his parents were living at his grandmother’s house (his dad’s mom). Her brother lived in Wyoming and was dying of cancer. One night, not too late, DH was up watching TV after everyone else had gone to bed. There was a loud bang-bang-bang at the front door, and when DH ran to the door there was no one there. DH’s dad, a notoriously heavy sleeper (slept through tornados, earthquakes, etc.), even woke up and asked, “What the hell was that?” They found out the next morning that the uncle had died that night.
Soon after we got our own place, his parents moved back to Ohio (DH has a brother and sister who still live there). His mom had gone through treatment for breast cancer while in California, and though it went into remission it came back after they returned to Ohio. She got sick very quickly and passed away within a couple of months of it recurring. Obviously everyone was devastated, and DH flew back to Ohio for the funeral. He was staying at his sister’s condo and since she had the biggest home it seemed to be the central gathering place for the family. At one point several people were standing in the kitchen talking when suddenly everyone smelled the strong scent of roses, like someone walked into the room with a huge bouquet. There were no flowers in the house, and it was February in the midst of a snowstorm! DH’s sister’s ex-husband was a strange guy, very cerebral and a prickly personality, but the type of guy no one could fool – the guy you’d want with you when you’re buying a car. Even he, a total skeptic, smelled the roses, and was convinced there had to be flowers somewhere; he went through the whole house, opening cabinets and getting frustrated that he couldn’t find the source of the scent. Eventually the scent disappeared suddenly, just as it had appeared.
The closest thing that happened to DH when I was around was when we were apartment-hunting for our own place. We went to a small apartment building that looked like a 1920s Spanish bungalow. The open apartment was in the back, on the second floor with an outside balcony/walkway. We walked through the place for a few minutes, then as we were getting in the car I asked him what he thought. DH said, very seriously, “I wouldn’t spend one night in that place!” I asked him what was wrong and he said there wasn’t anything specific, other than he felt like we were being watched and it wasn’t a nice presence. I didn’t feel anything strange, but again I don’t think I’m as tuned-in as he is. The next day we talked on the phone and he said he slept awful the night before; he kept having nightmares of that apartment. He dreamt, over and over, that a guy had pushed his girlfriend off the balcony/walkway. I asked how DH knew that was the guy’s girlfriend, and he said he just knew from the dreams.
Coming soon: part 2, where DH lives in a haunted house!
Wowee, another big update. Work has been busy -- don’t they know that there was a huge BPAL update? GO AWAY, I’M BUSY READING ABOUT THESE NEW SMELLIES! This will be a quick run-through for me to remind myself what to watch for in reviews.
Hunter Moon -- Dry leaves, autumn bonfires, blood red wine, feral, animalistic notes and the chill of approaching winter. Ah, the fabled Hunter Moon! I’m so glad this is back, it sounds great.
Aeaea -- A dark ocean breeze, electric with adrenaline, magic, and fear, clashing with the thick scent of poisoned berries and spiny aloe, against a backdrop of snowdrop, cedar, and cypress. While the name is fun to say over and over again (Aeaeaeaeaeaeaeaea) I’m afraid this would be too floral and/or soapy.
Libra 2007 -- Rose, black cherry, carnation, fig, honey, plum, and black currant. Rose and black cherry AND honey AND BLACK CURRANT? I got more and more excited reading the notes. Even with the carnation and fig, this was made just for me!
All Souls 2007 -- An incense blend that invokes the higher qualities of mercy and compassion, mingled with the soft, sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes. I was intrigued by this last year, as I love incense blends, but it sounds a bit too cakey-foody which isn’t my favorite.
Bonfire Night -- Beer, woodsmoke, tar, and treacle. It’s funny, Villainess recently updated with Mosh, a beer soap. Is beer going to be the new hotness for fragrance? I’ve brewed several batches of beer and needless to say it doesn’t smell like a stinky biker bar when it’s fermenting in the vat, it’s sweet and yeasty. Wait for reviews.
The Death of Autumn -- Dark amber, dead leaves, khus, saffron, bitter clove, chrysanthemum, camellia, galangal, and a drop of oud. This sounds very musty-dusty which I’ve enjoyed in Mum Moon. Wait for reviews
Dia de los Muertos 2007 -- dry, crackling leaves, the incense smoke of altars honoring Death and the Dead, funeral bouquets, the candies, chocolates, foods and tobacco of the ofrenda, amaranth, sweet cactus blossom and desert cereus. I have Dia ’05 which is nice, but I don’t need more.
Hexennacht 2007 -- German fir and forest lichen, incense and bonfire smoke, and the wet, glimmering scent of skin warmed by dance. How great that Hexennacht is back! I bought the original way back in March 2005 and I love it, smoky and sweet. Update: it looks like this was included by mistake. Too bad, it's a beautiful blend.
October -- A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air. This sounds really interesting; sometimes a blend with the shortest, vaguest description turns out to be so beautiful. Wait for reviews.
Samhain 2007 -- damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. The classic Halloween blend. I have bottles of ’04 and ’05, a truly unique fall scent.
Samhainophobia 2007 -- Menacing Haitian vetiver, patchouli, and clove with a shock of bourbon geranium, grim oakmoss, and dread-inspiring balsams pierce the innocuous scent of autumn leaves. Another reappearance, but too woodsy for me.
Sugar Skull 2007 -- Vibrant with the joy and sweetness of life in death! A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits. I have a 2005 bottle which I love, I get a strong booze note which keeps it from being too sweet.
The Atrocious Attic -- The air of the room is dusty, laced with the scent of a child’s perfume and the remnants of a dried, crumbling bridal bouquet: tea rose, violet, white sandalwood, French lavender, and Calla lily. Cool description, like Havisham. I’m not much for ethereal florals, though.
The Chilling Cellar -- Wine just turning to vinegar, crumbling mortar, red clay, and the coppery tang of old blood. I love wine, it’s one of my favorite notes, but I don’t want wine that’s “turned.” Wait for reviews.
The Forbidding Foyer -- The faint scent of brimstone, ghostly breath laced with cognac, neglected mahogany panels, and rot. Smoke and rotting wood? Wait for reviews.
The Ghastly Garden -- Overgrown oleander, marshy water hemlock, the sugared nectar of carnivorous blooms, putrefying wet greenery, oozing sap, crushed rosary peas, withered climbing roses, and nightshade berries. Lots of greenery, wait for reviews.
The Lurid Library -- The incense-tinged scent of forbidden tomes and the musk-laden remnants of infernal servants. This one sounds awesome, incense and musk.
The Perilous Parlor -- Faint echoes of laughter and the distorted music of a harp drift by, along with the scent of soft white pear and sweet vanilla. Maybe too soft and sweet? Wait for reviews.
The Twisted Oak Tree -- Blackened, rotted oak wood blanketed in moss and choked by a cloak of grasping ivy. Probably too masculine with the wood and moss, wait for reviews.
Pumpkin I -- Pumpkin with pear, white wine grapes, and jasmine-laced tea. I have to be careful with these pumpkin blends, as they sometimes come out way too foody and heavy, almost like baking bread. For this one with “white” notes, wait for reviews.
Pumpkin II -- Pumpkin with tobacco, champaca flower, carnation, and tonka. This sounds a little better, as I really like the champaca flower blends. Wait for reviews.
Pumpkin III -- Pumpkin with white chocolate, caramel, pomegranate, and cream. Probably too foody, wait for reviews.
Pumpkin IV -- Pumpkin with cactus blossom, sage, and sweetgrass. Interesting florals, wait for reviews.
Pumpkin V -- Pumpkin with benzoin, bourbon vanilla, lemon peel, neroli, blood orange, and red ginger. This sounds like Pumpkin Queen version 2, which I really enjoyed. Wait for reviews.
A Murder of Crows -- Sleek iris and verbena, grey amber, benzoin, davana, and glossy herbs. Iris is one of those overpowering notes on me, so it’s good I won’t have to order the whole Patch to try this.
Event Horizon -- Black opium, labdanum, opoponax, black orchid, and benzoin. Dark sophisticated floral, wait for reviews.
Mary Read -- Salt air, ocean mist, aged patchouli, sarsaparilla, watered-down rum, leather-tinged musk, and a spray of gunpowder. I recently tried Olokun and was impressed that the ocean notes didn’t turn into laundry detergent on me. This sounds a bit more masculine but I’ll anxiously await reviews.
Schrodinger’s Cat -- A paradoxical scent experiment! – tangerine, sugared lime, pink grapefruit, oakmoss, lavender, zdravetz, and chocolate peppermint. Flat-out citrus blends aren’t my favorite, as they don’t hang around long enough.
Kubla Khan -- Through sunlit caves of ice, roses unfurl amidst dancing waves of serpentine opium smoke and amber tobacco, golden sandalwood, champaca, tea leaf, sugared lily, ginger, rich hay absolute, leather, dark vanilla, mandarin, peru balsam, and Moroccan jasmine. What a beautiful-sounding blend with a bunch of favorite notes. Anxiously await reviews.
Epitaph -- Roses and funeral lilies perceived, faintly, through an indistinct, ghostly mist. Roses are Yay!, lilies not so much.
The Phantom Wooer -- A lifeless love song: stargazer lily, bone dust, tomb mosses, buttonweed, moonflower, and honey myrtle. Lots of florals, nah.
A Countenance Forboding Evil -- Patchouli, ylang ylang, blood orange, and vetiver. This may or may not be stinky on me, with the blood orange sweetening up the darkness.
Goblin -- Black coconut, gnarly patchouli, and sweet benzoin. I am a sucker for coconut, even though I haven’t found my one true love yet. Wait for reviews.
Incubus -- Spectral white musk and the heart-stopping chill of sheared mint, fanned by caramel-touched body heat, and the diabolical sensuality of black musk, nicotiana, and sage. Reminds me of Red Lantern, hopefully another smutty musk blend.
Troll -- A lurching, hateful, bitter scent. This is a gruesome blend of ghastly greens and blacks: vetiver, pine pitch, troll musk, black basil, clove smoke, and scorched cumin. Probably too dark and masculine for me.
Hairy Toad Lily -- Spotty, hairy, purple, sweet! I haven’t had much luck with the Rappaccini Florals.
Havana -- Date palm, dried tobacco, snakeroot, and leather. Ooh, date palm! Sweet, but not too sweet. Wait for reviews.
Hi’iaka -- mai’a, hibiscus, white ginger, akala, na'u, Hawaiian moon flower, yellow ilima, pink lokelani, jewel orchid, and fringed orchid. I was just thinking the other day that BPAL doesn’t have many Hawaiian floral blends. This sounds like a nice addition.
Plus a Trading Post exclusive!
Crypt Queen -- As sweet as death, as deep as the grave: pomegranate, raspberry, gardenia, plum, and rose with patchouli, black pepper, rose musk, and a hint of blood accord. Yum, how I love dark fruits like pomegranate and raspberry and plum.
Trick or Treat blends -- Spiked Punch sounds the best, as I love the fruity boozy blends. All the other blends sound good though, except for the piney TP’d Trees which I know wouldn’t work on me. I might sign up for this next month.
In conclusion: I ordered Hunter Moon and Libra 2007 as my normal monthly order, and Crypt Queen for my birthday present to myself.
We went out of town for the last week and a half to see family and friends. It's hard to lounge on the forums with dial-up Here were the pros and cons:
Pros:
--going to Vegas with my parents -- we stayed downtown at the Golden Nugget and didn't set foot on the Strip
--seeing friends
--giving and getting gifts! Lots of gift cards for this trip
Cons:
--my sister is getting divorced. I just tried to be there if she wanted to talk, but otherwise be a distraction (my normal dorky self)
--another favorite aunt and uncle are getting divorced after 40 years of marriage
--I sprained a ligament in my foot while walking through a construction-filled parking lot. Hooray for the emergency room on Christmas Eve and a bonus prescription of Vicodin!
--Getting a cold just before coming home
--Our return flight was delayed 3.5 hours, and we didn't get home until after midnight on New Year's Day
--I remembered to pack the digital camera and battery charger, but not the memory stick so I couldn't take any pictures
This lists a lot more cons than pros, but we did have a lot of fun. I return to my job tomorrow, so less worrying about money. I'm glad to be back!
In our mail on Wednesday was a collection notice addressed to me, for what looked to be a landline phone number in Southern California as I recognized the area code. This collection agency wants almost $900!
I am not worried because:
--although we lived in SoCal previously, we moved to Ohio in July 1995 (and paid all our utilities, AFAIK. We certainly didn't leave no $900 phone bill )
--Regardless, statute of limitations on an old utility bill is 7 years max
--I don't recognize the phone number as one of our old ones
--we were never contacted by the actual phone company, just this collection agency purporting to represent the phone company
--I check our credit reports every few months and there have never been any weird charges or accounts popping up
However, I am worried because:
--my name is fairly unique and have never heard of anyone else with the same name. Is someone using my name?
--the collection agency might start reporting this on my credit (which has no other blemishes) and wreak havoc until I pay
--there's little recourse for a lowly individual against an aggressive collection agency, or without hiring an aggressive attorney
I sent a certified letter denying responsibility for the bill and demanding proof that I owe the money. I found a good form letter online; the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act has all these requirements they have to follow, like they can't contact me by phone, only in writing when I request it.
Now it's time to wait and keep my fingers crossed
inkdarkmoon posted about a shipment she was afraid was lost/stolen, and luckily she found it, but since we all do quite a bit of shopping and online ordering I wanted to toss in one experience I had last year.
I believe the problem started with a local beauty supply store with a member loyalty program, where you sign up and get a membership card, and they'll send you mailers with coupons and sale notices. No problems by itself, but my mistake was after I used my mailer with the coupon, the salesgirl asked if I wanted to keep the mailer. I said no and didn't give it another thought. Unfortunately (and this is total speculation) I believe the salesgirl kept the mailer with my name and address, and since I paid with a credit card she had my credit card number too.
I didn't know of any problem until my credit card statement, when I saw a charge for almost $250 to a clothing store at a local mall. I hadn't been to that mall in a couple of years, and had never shopped at this store. It was a week or so after my trip to the beauty store. I disputed the charge and paid the rest.
About a month later I got "proof" of my purchase from the clothing store: they had a screen shot of my name and address, and UPS "delivery" to my house that of course wasn't my signature (it looked like Cynthia something). I called bullshit and disputed this "proof," as they didn't have my scanned credit card, just the number manually entered (the credit card company can tell), the store didn't have my signature on file, and UPS' delivery proof wasn't my signature. I also tracked the UPS shipment online and sent to the credit card company, because it showed that right after shipment the "customer" called and rerouted the package to Will Call! So UPS showed the package signed for at my house, but if you brought tracking up it clearly showed the package was diverted.
A month later the credit card company said I wasn't responsible for the charge, mainly because of my UPS tracking proof which the store conveniently didn't include. My guess for all of this is that salesgirl at beauty store called the clothing store and used my info, maybe with an accomplice at the clothing store, charged my card and shipped the goods, but then called as the "customer" and picked up the package at UPS later.
The kicker is that when I was going through receipts, the clerk at the beauty store was "Cynthia." Coincidence? Part of me wanted to call both stores and raise hell and get people fired, but I have no real proof it was even the beauty store salesgirl. I've never gone back to the beauty store though.
Antimony and darkitysnark have motivated me to post pictures of my favorite plants around the homestead. I take no credit for these, this is all DH's hard work.
Here's the front of the house with a couple of Silverado Sage bushes. This big picture is from last summer; unfortunately we've had a very hot and dry one this year and our grass in front is brown. These bushes are popular here because they're very drought-tolerant:
They seem to love the heat, in fact! This week has been over 100 every day and they're blooming these cute purple flowers like crazy:
My other favorite plant is in the back next to the driveway: a pomegranate tree! It must like the heat too because it has a bunch of small pomegranates:
Here's another good one, it's huge:
Yes, the title is sarcastic. I do not understand the excitement of cultivating your ulcer around some dudes running around. DH isn't a huge football fan, thank goodness -- his drug of choice is basketball. So 5 guys running up and down the court dictate not only his mood for the evening, but it dictates our evening:
--we have to watch the pregame yakking about what a great game this will be. But I can understand anticipation (Update Speculation thread, anyone? )
--then it's the game, 2-3 hours of tense up-and-down, back-and-forth *yawn* At least DH isn't yelling at the TV during all this.
--don't forget, after the game it's post-game commentary! Oh goody. Lots of yakking about how the game went. If the team won then everyone played great against formidable opponents. If the team didn't win then it's the refs' fault.
I'm just bitter because I want to watch CSI reruns instead.
No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, but almost: we lost our DSL modem in one of the thunderstorms last week. Dial-up is working but obviously slow. Boo.
I'm trying to lurk when I can!
--We've continued to go to estate sales every weekend, but I haven't bought much. Last weekend I bought a couple of vintage bandanas for $1, and when we got in the car and I rolled one up and put it on my head, DH made a face and said he was never a fan of the bandana. Yes, they're pretty frumpy-looking, especially because I'm no expert putting them on, but I like the retro-cowgirl-housewife look so I wore one to work last week anyway. Yeehaw!
--We went to a few sales yesterday and DH got a boss pair of binoculars for $15 -- they were in the original '60s or '70s case and he can use them the next time he gets nosebleed Mavericks tickets. The houses were cool though; another was an updated bungalow which was rehabbed and for sale (not a technical Estate Sale, she was a flipper) but she wanted way too much for it, considering it was next to a couple of skeevy-looking duplexes and apartment buildings.
--I went to a BPAL Meet-n-Sniff on Saturday, which was a blast. I posted already in another thread, but it's so great to be able to talk about notes and scents and just how crazy this hobby/obsession can be. I know DH just rolls his eyes at times when I'm babbling about LEs and evil carnivals and monthly orders, but everyone at a Meet-n-Sniff gets all that.
It was 4 of us: one gal brought a whole box of Villainess soaps so she could slice off samples, I brought a bag of frimps I was saving for everyone to paw through and take new things to try, and everyone had new GCs and LEs to sniff and test. This was the 3rd one I've attended and I hope everyone had a good time.
I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl with this update. This was the first one in almost 2 years where I was actually online and then noticed Beth's announcement. It was exciting! Like a rollercoaster, woo! *bounces in chair*
The Salon scents that sound great are And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt and Death of Sarandapal. Both have honey, which due to my love of O are tempting. Plus Litha sounds nice, but it sounds like something with the specific goal of annoying my allergies with all those plants So I'm on the fence, but I have a couple weeks to decide. I knew Lotus Moon wouldn't work because lotus is bubblegummy on me, and paired with pine it became a no-no
This was a great end to a craptastic week.
As promised, here's part 2 of DH's experiences, where he lived in what he suspected to be a haunted house.
After he and his brother got out of high school, they rented a house with their girlfriends. This was a narrow, tall house near the University of Cincinnati, 3 stories with a basement and a great view of downtown. Weird stuff started to happen, but DH thought it was his imagination at first and didn’t discuss it with anyone until much later.
The “second” floor (third floor if you counted the basement) was a large den area with an open staircase going up to the bedrooms. If you were sitting watching TV, the windows facing downtown would be on your left, and the stairs would be on your right. DH would see over and over, out of the corner of his eye, two figures running up the stairs. It looked like a woman with long dark hair being chased by a large man that looked Samoan. It would happen day or night, whether you were by yourself or with a bunch of people there. In fact, DH knew it wasn’t his imagination when others brand-new to the house would “see” it and snap their heads towards the staircase.
The den had carpeting on the walls (yes, it needed redecorating, but they were college kids!) and DH had some “flats” which he stapled to the wall way up near the ceiling. Flats are 12x12” prints of record albums that stores would use in their displays. Every so often one of the flats would be lying on the sofa or the floor, but it didn’t fall off – it wouldn’t be torn, the staple holes were intact and the staples would still be attached to the wall. It was like someone took out the staples, took the flat down and put the staples back in the wall. DH said this happened to the Talking Heads the most often.
Other physical things would happen too – this was the late-1980s and DH and his brother had a huge collection of cassette tapes on shelves in the living room. DH said on many occasions he would go to the living room to get a specific tape and it would be gone. After a search of the house he’d give up, only to have it appear later (sometimes hours or days later) in really strange places like the empty dryer or his sock drawer. One missing tape later appeared at the top step to the basement, where DH would have certainly stepped on it while searching.
DH had a boombox in the bedroom with a big dial tuner to change radio stations. Sometimes if he had it on and would leave the room, when he got back it would be changed to some weird talk or religious station. This only happened when he was alone in the house.
I asked him after all these experiences, “Weren’t you freaked out?” He said no, it was more annoying rather than scary, except for the last night (below).
The worst night he experienced was after he and his girlfriend broke up, and everyone else had moved out of the house. He was there by himself for one night, and the next morning he was flying to California to visit his parents (he ended up staying, got a job and met me). He was lying upstairs trying to get some sleep, but the moment he lied down and shut his eyes there was a *sigh* next to him. Then all hell broke loose downstairs – stomping in the kitchen, drawers and cupboards opening and being rifled through and slamming shut. He bolted down the stairs, thinking someone was in the house, but the instant he got to the first floor the noise stopped. After making sure no one was in the house he went back upstairs, but the same thing happened again – breathing next to him, then all sorts of commotion downstairs. Finally he gave up and went out to his car to try to sleep.
