It's National Apple Day on Saturday and National Nut Day on Sunday. We've got five questions to while away the fall harvest weekend..as always, answer as many or as few as you like, or just talk about something else.
1. What's your fragrance today?
2. What's your favorite variety of apple, and if you have a favorite apple perfume, do share that too?
3. What's your favorite kind of nut, and if you have a favorite nutty perfume, do share that too?
4. What's your absolute favorite home fragrance product lately? It can be anything — a candle, incense, burning paper or spray.
5. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything: something you discovered, or ate, or saw, or bought, or that happened to you recently.
Note: top image is Guten-Morgen-Muffins [cropped] by Katrin Gilger at flickr; some rights reserved.
1. I have been going through my collection, and today my eyes settled on my Avon bottles. Right now, I am wearing Sweet Honesty, out of a turtle-shaped bottle. I am finding it rather fleeting, but then I bought this one from an antique/resale shop so I don’t know how it was stored.
2. Probably Cosmic Crisp. It is everything I want in an apple-crisp, juicy, sweet (but not too sweet), with just enough tartness. No apple perfumes though.
3. Macadamia nuts!
4. Any of my stash of incense cones, sticks, and scented candles that I am trying to (literally) burn my way through. I always would buy them but seldom used them, since there were few opportunities to just sit in one place while one burned, since I won’t leave them unattended. Now that I am retired, I have time.
5. The eclipse viewing last Saturday was a success, AND we are finally enjoying some fall weather. The summer was so hot for so long, that I am thrilled to be able to go outside and not immediately be drenched in sweat.
I forgot that I do have one nutty perfume in my collection–Fum Ariose, with its almond note.
Sweet Honesty! That one always seems to be mentioned when folks are praising Avon perfumes. The name is very Lush-like. Is it still in production?
It’s on their website, so apparently so. I have no idea if it smells the same as it used to. I don’t think my bottle has held up. It seems to have very little scent, but who knows how it was stored or what was done to it before I bought it. I bought it just because I liked the bottle.
***FREEBIES***
I hope it’s OK to post this again, but I think my earlier posts got lost in the shuffle.
I have available for free, to a good home, the following:
Decants:
Vintage Gres Cabochard EdT. I don’t know its exact age, but it was among my grandmother’s things when she passed away in 1983. I just haven’t been able to love this one, but I would like to keep a little of it along with the bottle, so I will offer decants up to about 65 mL total.
Vintage Lanvin My Sin EdT. I bought this new in the early to mid 1980’s. I have had one taker for this, so I can offer additional decants up to about 10 mL total.
I can decant into the following types of vials:
5 ml clear glass spray
10 ml clear glass spray
4 ml clear glass rollerball
8 ml clear, green, or cobalt glass rollerball
15 ml cobalt glass spray
30 ml amber glass splash
60 ml cobalt glass spray
Minis and samples:
SJP Covet, 10 mL EdP spray. Received in swap. Cannot tell the exact amount left, as the container is opaque, but seems fairly full.
l’Occitane Roses et Reines, 7.5 ml EdT splash, NIB. Bought new. This is pretty much a straight-up rose scent.
Phlur Apricot Privee 2 mL EdP spray, few spritzes missing. Bought new. This is a fruity floral.
Phlur Phloria 2 mL EdP spray, few spritzes missing. Bought new. This is a white floral.
I absolutely will send more than one item to each address, in fact I would prefer to do so, as I do not wish to send a whole bunch of packages with one little vial each. Anyone who is interested, please contact me at 50_roses in the land of yahoo to work out details. I need to weed out from my collection those things that I do not and will not wear. I absolutely do NOT need anything in return. These are completely free.
Hello! I tried to contact you but my reponses bounced back. I was interested in my sin. Is it possible the email isn’t correct? I’m ignorant when it comes to technology. I’m carole_macleod@hotmail.com. Hope it’s ok to post this here-maybe moderators can delete, if it’s against the rules.
I’m so sorry, I mistyped my own email address. It is roses_50 at yahoo dot com. And if anyone else has been trying to contact me, my apologies for that. I have emailed you just now.
1. FM Musc Ravageur
2. Braeburn or Fuji. Unless it’s a caramel apple, then I like a nice tart Granny Smith.
3. Pistachio, salted and in the shell.
4. I have a pumpkin candle by Thymes, which smells great but doesn’t burn very evenly.
5. I’ve been ruminating on some things I can’t change, which is a clear indication I need to get busy with my brain. Why is that wonderful? Because I can change my thinking and focus on better things! So, we ran across a coyote yesterday while doing a little walk about. He was very aware of us and completely unimpressed. At first I thought it was a fox, but I didn’t have my glasses on and he was so far away he looked tiny. It made me so happy to see him going about his (or her) coyote business, I watched him until he disappeared into some bushes. Here’s a link if you’re interested in saying “hello!”
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyoNyOdObYx/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Love your fox vid!
Happy weekend! I’m a tad hung over from last night’s wedding supper, but coffee and Tylenol are slowly improving things. SOTM is Profumum Roma Alba over Le Dix dusting powder — my favorite soother lately. And the rest of my poll answers:
2. My favorite apple these days is Cosmic Crisp, although we’ve had some Rainiers lately that run a very close second. It’s not an apple perfume, but I get an apple pie note from Ambre Narguilé that I love.
3. My favorite nut is the almond, hands down. Can’t leave them alone. 🙂 And again, it’s not a nutty perfume at all, but Dior’s Escale a Portofino has an almond note that is very nice.
4. For home fragrance, I love the Brooklyn Candle Company’s Fern + Moss candle, and some Japanese stick incense that I think is called Baika-ju. (That’s based on a label on the box — the only thing with recognizable-to-me letters on it — and for all I know those words just mean “incense” in Japanese.)
5. Something wonderful — well, the wedding supper went really well, and we got to meet several members of the bride’s extended family and see that her people have embraced the groom (aka Mr. G’s son) as fully as we and all of his friends do. That was heart-warming, and not a little tear-inducing. Plus, the cioppino was divine.
May your hangover be brief, but with all that joy it seems well worth it! Congratulations 💍♥️🎈
So glad the wedding supper was joyous!
Ambre Narguilé is definitely apple pie without the annoying apple note 🙂
Happy to hear that the wedding supper was a good one!
I’m a walnut lover. I eat them nearly everyday with yogurt (& honey), in trail mix or in something baked.
But the nut I’m enjoying in perfume the most lately is chestnut in Soie Malaquais by Dries Van Noten. It is delicious! I’ve purchased a couple and f splits so it may be time to pull the trigger on a FB and what a bottle it is! Check it out.
McIntosh is still my favorite apple variety although I enjoy most apples but for Granny Smith which is too tart for me.
I’m also recovering from Covid so no fragrance for me today as I’ve lost a good deal of scent, sadly. ☹️
Hope to read about some much loved apple scents!
Yes…that was the best of the DvN bottles IMHO.
Recovering from covid twins 😉
I lost my smell ENTIRELY last night — got out the Vicks Vapo Rub and yep, nada — but happily it came back within a few hours. Are you just smelling faintly, or ?
I’d say I’m at 50% now whereas yesterday it was 80% gone.
Such an odd experience to not have the ability to smell.
Hope you’re feeling better soon!
Oh good, 50% is better than zero!
Forgot to mention my “something wonderful“ and that is that we just booked Paris for Christmas. I’ve always wanted to see Paris at Christmas and we’re finally making it happen. Yay!
If anyone has any suggestions for unique things to do at Christmas time in Paris do share.
I remember spending the week before Christmas in Paris with my then husband. He flew from Saudi Arabia and I flew from the states and we met in the park by the Eiffel Tour. He had a bottle of champagne and two plastic glasses in his backpack.
It had just started to snow the tiniest bit and we sat in the park and drank champagne.
Oh to be young and in love with love in Paris.
It’s prime oyster eating for Parisians – if you enjoy oysters!
Wonderful story & memory for you! I wouldn’t mind a dusting of snow too.
And YES to oysters!
We spent New Years 1999 in Paris, and it was wonderful. So many good memories of Paris at the holidays, even though my French was dreadful (and only slightly better now, after three years of trying to refresh through Duolingo). I remember all these people kissing me in the street (and I was with Mr. Ockeghem in Paris at the time, it was just the thing to do).
Love this! We’ll be back in NY for New Year’s but did think about staying to celebrate.
Enjoy! Sip some Mariage Freres Tea!
I hope your sense of smell comes back soon. It’s so disconcerting to lose it!
Hope that your sniffer recovers quickly!
I am going to an event tonight and will wear what my kids call “Apple cider pie” scent which is Angels Share.
Sipping chai this morning and enjoying yet another rainy weekend in NYC
Reading The Guest by Emma Cline
I am curious about this book as I have seen mixed reviews. Let me know what you think when you have finished reading it.
will report back
Chai and rainy days, heaven
It is heaven. Tomorrow is my last cuppa and they are off
1. Hermes Ambre Narguile.
2. Golden Delicious.
3. I love pecans. My favorite nutty perfume is Jo Malone Honey & Crocus. I am looking forward to reading about your favorite nutty scents. That’s a category I really love.
4. I don’t have a favorite home fragrance product. But lately, I have been burning some incense sticks that a coworker brought me from her recent trip to Nepal. 7 different scents in a very beautiful box. They are divine!
5. Two days ago, I saw that a woman who comes every day to collect empty cans from the recycling bags of our building was spraying from an empty bottle of perfume that she found in one of the bags. It was very, very sad. Today, I am gathering some of my unloved samples and decants, and I will give them to her. I hope she likes and enjoys them.
Happy weekend! 🌻
How thoughtful to prepare samples and decants for that lady.
YUM for Ambre Narguille, and those Nepalese incenses.
What a fab idea to do for your bin lady. We have two bin people who come and get the cans and plastic bottles for recycling money, man and a woman. You’ve inspired me to do the same PL67. Cool idea.
Happy weekend to you!
1. A mystery. I was looking through some samples and found one with a smudgy label, I can read “noire” at the end. It smells wonderful of course, and vintage-y. Any ideas?
2. I can take apples or leave them. Galas are good. I love the apple in Wazamba and IA Slow Explosions.
3. All the nuts! I love almond in perfumes like Hypnotic Poison.
4. Mrs Meyers Acorn Spice.
5. Hit a new low weight this morning, bringing my 17 month total loss to 65 lbs. We have an event to attend next weekend (business dress) and I found a dress on Poshmark in my new lower size. It’s exciting to me.
No clue but hazarding Magie Noire?
See my note to 50_roses, below. I think Magie Noire is it.
There are quite a few “noire” perfumes out there. If is smells sort of dry and incense-y, it might be Magie Noire. The older bottles of that one definitely do have the vintage vibe.
I think you’re right, and also explains why it smells so familiar but I couldn’t think of any thing.
Congratulations on your weight loss! That is terrific.
Thank you!
2nd that! Go ringthing!
Thanks Robin!
WOW! 65! that’s amazing. Congratulations. Enjoy wearing your new dress size.
Thanks Portia!
Congratulations on the weight-loss. That’s fantastic! Enjoy your event.
Thanks, Gail!
Congratulations on your weight loss! Truly impressive!
Thanks!
Good on you, enjoy wearing your new clothes
Thank you
Congrats on your weight loss. Slow and steady. Enjoy that new dress!
Thanks, apsara, I will.
Congrats on the weight loss!
Thanks hajusuuri!
Good for you on your no.5!
Thanks, lillyjo. https://freebox.it.com/2023/10/21/lazy-weekend-poll-5-questions-october-2023/#comment-1127104%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Another possibility would be Caron Narcisse Noir.
I thought also of Aroma M Geisha Noire.
Congratulations on your health and weight loss journey!
Thanks Jalapeño!
Congratulations, ringthing! I hope it’s a wonderful event.
Thank you lillyjo. This is the first such assembly since precovid so it will be fun to see people.
I’m so sorry allo! Thanks for your good wishes!
1. DSH’s Habibi
2. I have a sweet tooth, so always come back to Fujis
3. I love nuts! But oh the calories 🙄 Eaten most frequently roasted, when I’m on the run are cashews and pistachios. But I love walnuts and pecans in anything chocolate, and then of course hazelnuts are a treat when ground into soups and baking, but almond reigns supreme added to both sweet and savory dishes. Marzipan? Need I say more? And don’t even get me started on seeds!
4. Incense my mum brought back from Japan a few year’s ago.
5. It is a beautiful day outside. It is the weekend. We live in a lovely corner of the world where people are deeply committed to social and economic justice. My neighbors are neighborly. My husband and kids are healthy. My husband and I are employed in pleasant and safe jobs. (Been struggling quite a bit with the never-ending horrible news tbh, and sleeping very little. So, also, 🇵🇱 Poland!!!)
It is worth counting your blessings every so often, isn’t it. I am doing that a lot today.
I’m counting my blessings daily as well. So grateful.
Been reminding myself about the good things in my life lately as well.
I wore Chanel Cuir de Russie yesterday and it was still present on my wrists this morning. Keeping with the leather note, I sprayed Orto Parisi Cuoium to dirty up the Chanel. It’s like a lady who lunches in a leather corset.
I am not picky about apples and don’t have a favorite kind except not the Delicious ones, I think they are mealy.
I’m not picky about nuts, either, I like them all.
I don’t do much in the way of home fragrance, but around the holidays I burn the Thymes Frasier Fir candle. I bought the big one a few years ago and it’s about half gone.
Wonderfulness…well, I got mad at the bakery for raising the price of their bread to $6.50 a loaf, so I dug out the Dutch oven and made my own no-knead bread over the weekend. It came out great and I will make it again. Plus, I smell really good today.
Oh and I have a Ginger Biscuit offering at the Splitmeet!
I love Habibbi! You smell great!
Oops meant for Oakland Fresca! Lol! You must have posted just as I was clicking or something!
i know! Right?
Kudos to you for bread baking! I was just on YouTube last night looking for easy air fryer bread recipes for the same reason. I really would like a sourdough recipe but not sure I can keep the temp stable enough for a successful mother, long term.
I love Frasier Fir scented candles. My husband bought one a number of years ago that we’ve used up that was just perfect. We haven’t been able to find another one like it since.
I made flatbread recently! It’s so satisfying to make it yourself.
SOTD=LADDM, cosy and warming for being out doing errands on a chilly rainy day, helps me look forward to being back home in front of the fire!
Fuji- an apple a day keeps the doctor away!
Almonds, ground into almond flour and made into shortbread, or chocolate chip cookies! Or slivered and sprinkled on breakfast porridge, half oatmeal, half quinoa, simmered for a long time in milk, with dried cherries, and some honey as well, sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg! Yum!
Something wonderful- last January, my husband was diagnosed the cholangiohepatocarcinoma, and we were told that the one year survival rate for this form of cancer was 9%. But, he has had a pretty miraculous response to chemo therapy, the tumor has shrunk by 2/3rds, there is no evidence of lymph node involvement or metastasis, and next Wednesday, he is schedule for surgery to remove the remaining tumor from his liver. He may require another round of chemo later, but this is expected to be a cure. As I say, pretty miraculous. What a year it has been!
Wow, your good news is just amazing. What a roller coaster you’ve been on, I hope you can catch your breath soon.
It’s wonderful news about your husband.
Such wonderful news!!!!!!
Wow, what a tumultuous year! I hope all the news in future is more excellent news, and all this good news keeps getting piled on, over and over with each successive test and scan, that this past year becomes a hazy memory. 😊
Wonderful news about your husband, so happy for you!
Fantastic news about your husband!
That is really wonderful news about your husband!
Fingers crossed for your husbands continued recovery. That is a really good news story.
The news about your husband is truly wonderful! I am so happy for you both.
That’s such fantastic news about your husband!
That’s amazing.
Wonderful news!
That is really great news and all the best for surgery and recovery. I hope it all goes well.
Miraculous indeed! Amazing! So happy for you and your husband, and hope that this surgery removal will be the end of it.
Ditto to what everyone else has said! I hope the surgery goes perfectly and he can be done with this!
That’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time. Wishing your husband a complete recovery and long life!
Wonderful news about your husband!
That is such fantastic news! I’m very happy for you!
Thank you, meredifay, for sharing such wonderful news! I rejoice with you.
You all are all so kind! Thank you !
The most wonderful news!!!
Wonderful news!
Hooray for the great news!
It’s such wonderful news!😊
Wonderful! Holding my thumbs for you both!
I’m so so happy for you and your husband. Hooray!!!
Fabulous news about your husband! Whoo hoo!
I seem to be a day behind myself again, and I’m still smelling of last night’s perfume, Bengale Rouge.
I don’t think I have much in way of apple or nut notes in perfume, but I eat a lot of both. I particularly like Sweet Tango apples and macadamia nuts, but macadamia nuts are very pricey, so I tend to eat lots of everything else, particularly walnuts – very tasty.
For something wonderful, I think I”m with Oakland Fresca, there is a lot wrong with the world right now, but I’ve got lots of things to be happy about.
Agree, we are so lucky and it’s so helpful to appreciate that.
It’s Sunday morning in Sydney.
1. Haven’t decided yet.
2. Red delicious is my favourite apple but Jin doesn’t like them so I usually buy Fuji or Jazz.
3. Peanuts are my favourite. In perfume Aimez Moi Comme Je Suis by Caron has a beautiful hazelnut/nutty accord
4. We are burning some South Korean temple incense at the moment, very calm and tranquil memories relived.
5. Went to an exhibition on Friday with some friends about the Polynesian Fa Fa Fini history of trans living. A whole culture where traditionally the feminine men would become favoured Aunty. Just like everyone else there are some great beauties and the rest are everyday people but living within the bounds of community and an integral part of life. This was an amazing revelation for me.
Was Yuki kihara the artist? Paradise Camp?
Hey Kanuka,
Yeah it was a collab between Yuki Kihara and Natalie King OAM.
That sounds like such a wonderful exhibit, Portia!
Hey there Nozknoz,
It really was.
Your temple incense sounds lovely.
Hiya Jalapeno,
Korea does their incense slightly different to other places. I can’t even explain the different properly. It’s like they build extra tranquility into the smoke.
Apples, pears and yogurt smoothie
I hesitated and sprayed several things on my wrists and hands, as I am organising a shelf for perfumes in one of my two wardrobes, Jean Patou Ma Liberté Edp with its beautiful lavender, Crown Perfumery Crown of Gold, lovely like all the Crown Perfumery I know of, Coty Imprevu parfum de toilette but then I saw PG Louanges Profanes so that’s msotd in the end.
Gala apples from France at the moment.
It’s a tie between walnuts, pecans and almonds, I can make a pretty good almond cake.
Palo Santo Room Spray by Aromafume makes me happy at the moment.
Guerlain l’Instant Magic, Réminiscence Dragée and Héliotrope, Etro Heliotrope, Oriza L. Legrand Héliotrope Blanc, Traversée du Bosphore, all those are for almond, l’AP Méchant Loup for hazelnut and Bvlgari au Thé Rouge for walnut, I enjoy them all.
I had quite a productive day organizing my wardrobe and I now have a bag full of clothes for charity.
Yay for the wardrobe organization! I need to do that with my coat/Linen closet.
Thank you Lillyjo, it’s much more convenient this way and more space for perfumes😉
Attack that closet, you’ll feel good afterwards I promise, maybe your daughter can participate.
It’s really something how a productive day of organizing can make you feel afterwards.
Hi all, back from a month long trip and happy to be home.
1. What’s your fragrance today?
– Byredo Gypsy Water
2. What’s your favorite variety of apple, and if you have a favorite apple perfume, do share that too?
– Spitzenburg or Winesap or Jonathan (I grew up on an apple orchard in WA state and always loved these.) Pink Lady is a fave among the newer varieties.
3. What’s your favorite kind of nut, and if you have a favorite nutty perfume, do share that too?
– I like almost all nuts!
4. What’s your absolute favorite home fragrance product lately? It can be anything — a candle, incense, burning paper or spray.
– I just visited Santa Maria Novella and bought a scented wax strip to hang in the closet in Rosa Novella. Very pretty!
5. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything: something you discovered, or ate, or saw, or bought, or that happened to you recently.
– Had an amazing trip to Europe (along with half the U.S., at least it seemed that way), just back home on Thurs. Difficult part: traveled with 8 people for part of the trip. Best part: one of the couples was one of our sons and his partner.
Yay for Esopus Spitzenburg. They are hard to find here but I bought one yesterday, along with a couple Cox’s Orange Pippin.
Then again, one of the best apples I’ve ever had was a Cox’s Orange Pippin, and the one I ate yesterday was just ok. Same with an Ashmead’s Kernel I had last week, and that is usually another big favorite. So it may just be that it was not a good year for apples in SE PA, which was also true of tomatoes which are usually stellar here.
I’ve never had an Orange Pippin. Need to head to the farmer’s market tomorrow and see what I can find from the local growers.
I used to love them as a kid because when you shake them they rattle ( the pips rattle inside the apple, a good way to identify them)
Welcome back!
Thank you!
https://starofnature.org/review-of-the-lost-orchard-by-raymond-blanc/
I do t really have a favourite apple ( though I like cooking apples) but I do have a favourite book about apples, The Lost Orchard by chef Raymond Blanc, about a heritage orchard with many old varieties.
I’m wearing un Jardin de Cythere, for pitaschio…not my favourite nut but a good spring scent.
Watching the sparrows gather material for their nests and listening to a young male blackbird that sings from the veranda post outside my kitchen window fill me with joy. Smelling the pittosporum, a scent that is sweet and heady, like daphne. Chatting to the guy who sweeps the supermarket car park and hearing the love and pride in his voice whenever he mentions his grandson ( who could be any age from seven to thirty for all I know). The colour of the new leaves opening on the copper beech next door, vivid against the blue sky. Basically everything is pretty good.
Not sure if ours is the same, but pittosporum blooms everywhere in the spring as it’s a shrub of choice, and it’s an absolute bane of those (like me) wish allergies!
However, I do love copper beeches, and envy you those.
This one has tiny black waxy flowers and is native, not the pollen yellow flowers.
https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/pittosporum-tenuifolium/
1. Cuir Ottoman. A very elegant and easy to wear leather.
2. Probably Slava Peremozhtsiam. But I like Red Chief too. The difficulty is to find apples that were properly picked and stored though. The best apples I tasted this year were grown by mom’s friend in her own garden. No idea what variety it was.
I remember liking Lush Love (although I did not buy it). Also, that peach in YSL Yvresse kind of smells like apple too.
3. Almonds! Give them to me raw and unsalted. Although I have had some delicious cashew pastes recently. Yum!
Bois Farine has a nutty note. Hypnotic Poison is maybe a little too much, but that bitter almond note is good.
4. –
5. I always wanted to translate a book or a game, and I am actually doing it now (a video game). Exciting!
Oh, and I tried Pink Lady in Sweden. It is a good variety too.
Cuir Ottoman is wonderful — time to get it out now!
Tackling a project you have always wanted to do sounds amazing.
1. Devil Tender
2. Fuji/Gala/Honeycrisp; tart but not too tart, and very crispy. I can’t think of any perfumes I like with an apple note, although there probably are some. Strangely, I always feel that Amouage Honour Woman has an apple note, although it’s not in the list (rhubarb is).
3. Hazelnuts. Preferably ground, toasted, and served with some very dark chocolate cake or in a dark chocolate candy bar. Merchant Loup!
4. I don’t use any home fragrance sprays or candles, except Frasier Fir at Christmastime.
5. I’ve been invited to go speak at a conference in Riyadh! It’s in early December. The paperwork is under way, but now, who knows if it will still occur, or be safe to travel? At any rate, it’s exciting!
Very exciting, gosh, hope it works out.
Wow, that is exciting! I had some students from Saudi Arabia in my ESL conversation group for a while; they were extremely nice.
How cool!
I lived in Riyadh. It’s more conservative than Jeddah, as the Saudi Royal Family lives there.
Be careful, follow all the rules your organization supplies you with and if you shop, the fragrances are all amazing.
I’m wearing Profumum Vanitas. My favorite pie apples are Northern Spy but they are nearly impossible to find. For eating I like Honeycrisp. Apple perfume is Wazamba. Nut favorites are almond, pistachio and cashew. I love almond notes in perfume best.
I burn a small stick of incense every day, usually from Nippon Kodo or Shoyeido. They have very low smoke and light scent.
As for good news, that’s been in short supply, but I’m grateful for my family, comforts and good health more and more each day.
Wow, I need to look for my Wazamba sample!
OOH! Wazamba has apple.
I’ll follow the questions!
1. Five 0’Clock au Gingembre. Long have I wanted to try it, and thanks to Swapmeet, I am trying it. Love the aspect of the final batch of cookies where some of the butter and crumbs start to burn.
2. Apples are individuals to me. If it is hard and crisp, I will like it. Also, one that I have picked off a tree and wiped on my shirttail.
3. I love nuts so much, I cannot pick a favorite. I mostly eat pecans and walnuts, but love Brazils, macadamias, pistachios and cashews equally. Can’t forget almonds, peanuts and hazelnuts either! 😀
4. I don’t use home fragrances much. Sandalwood incense and the occasional random candle are all I’ve got for this question.
5. Fall in the Midwest is not to be missed. I visited the T. C. Steele Indiana State Historic site recently with a friend. We had a wonderful time! https://www.indianamuseum.org/historic-sites/tc-steele/
Yay for successful swap! 💖
Five 0’Clock au Gingembre is my most worn Lutens by far. So good
Hi everyone! I woke up with a weird, hollow-sounding cough Thursday so stayed home from work that day and Friday. Covid test was negative, but if it’s a cold, it’s a strange one so far. Main symptom is this weird cough.
1. I’m sampling Eau Coeur by Thomas de Monaco. Not sure what to make of it yet.
2. I’ve been liking Tango apples lately.
3. Pecans! I couldn’t think of any nutty perfumes I have, but Fragrantica says there’s almond in La Petite Robe Noire Black Perfecto. Can’t say I’ve noticed it much before; will have to look for it next time I wear it.
4. I love this Tatine candle I have on the table next to me. I’m not burning it and I can smell its campfire woodsiness.
5. I just got my train ticket to go home over Christmas, with my brother and his wife! Return date TBD. I haven’t ridden Amtrak in ages, but I remember it being much more relaxing and comfortable than flying, especially right before the holidays when the airports are crazy and the weather can be treacherous. It’s a long ride (man I wish we had high-speed trains!), but that will give me lots of time to chat with my travel companions. And since I barely know my sister-in-law, that will be really nice.
I hope your cough resolves itself. That sounds worrying. I haven’t ridden Amtrak for many years. I’ve heard reports that the newer services are a lot better than things used to be, and I hope that proves true for your trip. Certainly if there’s an alternative to flying, that’s nice!
Thanks, I hope it will be a nice ride! I’ll report back of course :).
If your Amtrak journey is on the East Coast, I’m sure it will be lovely. I have some fond memories of the trains in various iterations between Boston and Washington back in the day. The stretch between Seattle and Vancouver is also quite lovely.
If it’s a longer trip or outside the Eastern Corridor / Northwest, I’ll cross my fingers for you (says the woman whose engagement was nearly derailed by an Amtrak train in the Midwest on a 3-hour trip that was 4 hours late).
Haha, it is in the Midwest, Chicago to Minneapolis, so yes please keep your fingers crossed for me! At least my train is starting from Chicago so hopefully it won’t be late getting in from somewhere else. I’ve traveled from Boston to NYC and back by train and that’s a nice route; I think the Acela on the East Coast is the fastest train we have here. One day I’d like to go all the way to the West Coast to see the views.
Feel better soon! Your train journey sounds like it will be lovely.
Thank you!
OK, I’m not a doctor, and if you think you need medical treatment, by all means get it, but–it is possible that you already had COVID. I got COVID back in July. I only knew I had it because I was attending a week-long event that required testing before the start of the event and again midweek. The initial test was negative, but the midweek test came up positive. I did not have any symptoms at first, and five days after the positive test I tested negative, still symptomless. Several days after that (so about 8 to 10 days after the positive test and several days after subsequently testing negative), I developed fatigue and a persistent dry cough. I took another COVID test and it was again negative. It took several weeks for me to regain my normal energy levels, and a couple of months for the cough to resolve. So, in other words, the entire time I was positive, I had no symptoms, and after I started testing negative, I developed some symptoms. I cannot prove that the fatigue and cough were COVID-related, but I don’t know what else they could have been. I had no other apparent illnesses or infections–no cold, no allergies, nothing–so I believe they were delayed COVID symptoms.
Wow, that is so strange! It’s certainly possible I already had it and am just now feeling the symptoms. I had Covid for the first time (that I know of) a year ago and it was miserable. I’ve kept up to date with all my shots, but haven’t received the latest booster yet… I’m glad you missed the worst of the Covid symptoms at the time you had it, but that stinks that it took so long to get over the delayed cough and fatigue!
By the way, I sent you an email about your freebies but it bounced back to me, so I sent it again to the email address in your gravatar–let me know if you didn’t get it!
Ew, I hope that cough of yours goes away soon.
Best of luck with your Xmas train travel!
Thanks Jalapeno!
1. Géranium pour Monsieur
2. James Grieve, Wellant, Alkmene, Goudreinet, Delcorf, Elstar. These are all Dutch varieties, that I’m really missing.
I eat a lot of apples, they are and have always been my favourite fruit. I actually started eating whole apples before I was one year old. It would take me ages ( I didn’t have a great number of teeth), but I would get there. There is even a photo of me on my first birthday eating an apple. As I was almost completely bald and had a massive skull and was holding this great big apple in two very chubby hands, it makes for a very funny picture.
No favourite apple perfumes, but love all sorts of apple products like cider, pommeau and Calvados.
3. Probably cashews, but I also love almonds, pecans and peanuts (although they are strictly speaking not nuts).
No nutty perfumes in my collection either.
4. Probably either my Lavande Pays or my Géranium candle. They are both from PdN and are both gorgeous.
5. I’ll have to pass on this one. My life is fine, but no recent highlights.
That picture sounds pretty cute!
SOTD Gypsy Water to get a post safari haircut.
Honeycrisps!
Downloaded Tang Twan Engs new book, The House of Doors.
All caught up on The Morning Show on Apple TV.
Macadamia nuts covered with Kona coffee crunch from Hawaii and pistachios from Iran.
Haircut twins one day apart! The chocolate covered macadamia nuts are deadly.
I know.
1. Ouai Melrose Place
2. I like a tart, crisp apple. I usually get MacIntosh for tartness, but have found Empire apples are both crisp and tart. I also enjoy a Granny Smith. No apple perfumes in my stash that I’m aware of.
3. Almonds are a favorite here for everyday. I also like pistachios and macadamia nuts. All of these nuts are very good in cookies! Favorite almond scents are Guerlain My Insolence and Lancome Iris Dragees.
4. I don’t use any home fragrance products.
5. I’m so grateful that we found a nice house in the area we have been wanting to move to for quite awhile.
How do you like Melrose Place?
It was a nice, soft rose fragrance on me. It didn’t last too long on me so I might need to spray the rest on next time I wear it.
Wait, you’re moving to Melrose Place? LOL just kidding. Congratulations on finding a house.
Haha! I wish! And thank you.
Congratulations on number 5, may you enjoy many happy years in your home.
Thank you! It’s in Summerland.
Your #5 is priceless! I’m so happy for you.
Thank you, tulipani! It’s nice and quiet there.
W00t w00t w00t on finding a place in the area you wanted!
Thank you! We got pretty lucky.
34 Boulevard Saint Germain EdP
Honeycrisps!
General nut lover but can’t think of any nutty perfumes at the moment
I don’t do much in the way of scented candles, etc. because Mr. allo isn’t a fan. But I must say, that SL room spray is tempting.
Grateful for Mr. allo working hard to install new shelving and lighting in the Perfume Fort.
Have you tried Angel Muse? For hazelnut.
I haven’t but I should give it a sniff😋
Nice upgrades, love that you call it the Perfume Fort 😊
😊
Maybe it’s been done here before and I missed it, but would be interesting to know how we all store our perfumes.
I know the fridge or dark place is preferred for storage but the bottles are so beautiful it seems a shame to hide them. Life is too short.
I wanted to remodel my bathroom and have a built in illuminated shelf, like a lot of bars have. I had been keeping my most worn and seasonal perfumes on my bathroom counter and “the herd” was out of control. I had hubby install a small wall shelf that had colored LED lights, most of the time turned off. It has been great to have all those bottles off the counter. They look so pretty. And I do flip the lights on, “perfume disco”, on occasion.
I keep a couple bottles on my bathroom shelf, mostly for decoration. The ones I currently wear are on my dresser, and the rest are in their boxes in a dark closet or under the bed.
Your disco perfume shelf sounds beautiful — yay for your creativity and your helpful hubby!
I hear mixed things about storing perfume in the refrigerator, that it can be dehydrating. What do others think?
I’ve had some spray bottles in the refrigerator, and they’ve been fine so far seem to be fine, but I don’t think it’s necessary.
Sometimes with natural perfumes, some of the molecules that melt at higher temperatures will crystalize out, so be sure to check for any sediment before you spray.
IIRC, the Osmotheque relies on storage at temperatures more comparable to a wine cellar than a fridge.
The really critical thing is to protect against light, which can catalyze chemical changes.
Thank you, nozknoz. That makes sense. I should have remembered the way the Osmotheque keeps perfume. When I had a chance to visit, I was too focused on smelling Miss Dior and Eau Sauvage. Finally, the “Sauvage” made sense with all of that civet😊
Perfume Fort! It sounds glorious.
It’s so fun to see everything displayed. I hope it will help me get to under appreciated fragrances😊
Perfume Fort is several steps up from a Perfume Stash. Wow!
A rabbit hole situation to be sure🐰🐇🐰
SOTD = ELDO Fat Electrician
Nice Vetiver!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cyrv6DhOvQd/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I don’t have a favorite apple 🍎. My go to apple scent is Sonoma Scent Studio Equestrian (I should pull this out!). My favorite nut is a toss up between walnuts and pecans. Something wonderful: my cousin’s daughter is getting married in December and we had her bridal shower today. I white-knuckle drove to the venue with my sister but hey, I need the practice for long distance for nothing other than I shouldn’t have to white knuckle it! Anyway, it was a fabulous event overall, with the usual fun and games and excellent food! I saw my cousins and aunt and family friends and it was nice chatting with them. I had no problems deciding what to wear (dress I wore to my niece’s wedding a year ago) except for the shoes and I just ended up wearing booties 😂.
Ooh, I forgot the home fragrance question! I kept smelling this green smell and I kept wondering if I may have spilt a perfume or something. I just realized that I have a yuge LOEWE tomato candle still in its box in my living room!
The Frankenstein gave me a smile 😀 and glad you had a nice time with family.
Thank you. As long as we don’t bring up politics and / or I respond nicely, we’re OK.
Same with me and my sister.
Hajusuuri, have you been to the Elorea boutique yet? It looks enticing:
https://elorea.com/pages/store?gclid=CjwKCAjwkNOpBhBEEiwAb3MvvQky_nHOP6DJwfWBeqvQQZ8xtGpcijVL8vPtEVF3_4pQ8wOMJTFSnhoC_mQQAvD_BwE
Oooh, I have not! Looks very enticing.
Congrats on surviving the drive! Glad that you enjoyed the bridal shower.
Thanks. It is always good to have someone familiar in the car.
Happy Weekend!
1. Sotd is Dior Tobacolor. This is like Tobacco Honey in reverse, heavy on the tobacco (and it’s lit. I smell a lot of smoke) and a light, sweet, honey. Later, the amber peeks through.
2. My favourite variety has to be Pink Lady. It’s got that cute pink shade that bring me joy just by looking at it. The flesh has a nice sweet-tart balance as well.
I can’t eat apples on an empty stomach. It gives me stomach cramps and sometimes even acid reflux. So I envy everyone that can chow down on an apple when they want a snack. Does anybody have this problem as well?
3. My favourite nut is definitely pistachio. Fabulous by itself but even better in baklava, Turkish delight, gelato…. Nutty perfume is Hermes Vetiver Tonka. I can’t seem to find the big bottle on their website. Could it be *gasp* discontinued…?
4. Absolute top home fragrance choice will have to be the incense sticks I purchased during my trip to Tokyo. It’s made with “Kyara” oud, a rare and precious variety. I only burn them on special days.
5. Great news about my dad’s congestive heart failure. The past few months he had been troubled by cardiac cough (serious coughing due to fluid accumulation in lungs), severe shortness of breath (he can’t walk up a short flight of stairs without taking a break), dependency on oxygen concentrator; but the medication seems to be working miraculously, now the coughing has almost gone, no need for the concentrator and he can walk a lap or two around the park! He still needs to do tests next month to see if his heart’s functioning capacity has improved (it was/is only 30%…) but I am hopeful.
That’s excellent news about your father. It sounds like some sort of miracle medicine! I hope his tests will go well.
Such great news! I’m glad the medication is making it so much easier for him to enjoy himself and get out and about.
Wonderful news about your father. My dad has heart issues too and I worry. He just received a pacemaker.
Glad to hear your dad is doing better! I can’t eat more than half an apple at a time either, I figured it was because of too much fiber. I have trouble with too much fiber at one time. Hermes Vetiver Tonka is not discontinued, just out of stock. Things disappear from the website when they are out of stock.
Wonderful news about your Dad!
I don’t have problems eating apples on an empty stomach. But I can’t do that with citrus fruit, e.g. oranges, grapefruit, etc. I get a sour stomach from those.
Glad your dad is doing much better!
1. Very late today, but my fragrance was “You or Someone Like You” from my travel bag this morning. It seemed like it would work for a day of pumpkin farms.
2. I like tart apples, so I’m a Honeycrisp or Granny Smith fan. However, I’m the only one in my family who likes them tart, so I compromise with Spartans or Winesaps (when I can get them). Trying hard to think of an apple perfume I have, and coming up with nothing.
3. Hazelnuts. I’m a Northwest girl. (In fact, I have a fabulous halibut recipe that uses hazelnuts and apples.)
4. My favourite home fragrance product, probably of all time, is Papiers d’Armenie “Année Armenie” papers. They live in all my washrooms…which, as of last weekend, are finally finished. Otherwise, I’ve been liking my Otherland Kindling candle recently.
5. We were under an atmospheric river in my part of the West Coast all last week. Didn’t apply to anyone south or north of us, just us, and it rained cats and dogs all week. On Friday, we left a rainy city, drove south, and the clouds lifted a bit but it wasn’t sunny. Then we drove up into the mountains to drive east across the state, and it was foggy / rainy. But — the moment we hit the pass, the fog was lifting and dissipating. And at that exact moment, serendipitously, Apple Music shuffle started playing “Here Comes the Sun.” It was perfect.
Yay for finished washrooms!
As a fellow Northwest girl, you’ve reminded me that when I was in 1st grade, my school was surrounded by Hazelnut trees. At recess, we would find fallen nuts and crack them on the pavement with our saddle shoes. Delicious!
Oh, that’s wonderful! I’d love to be surrounded by hazelnut trees!
So thrilling to have finished bathrooms! That was a long haul. I’m sure it looks amazing.
They do look pretty good. It’s nice to have them done.
Hurray for your finally finished washrooms! Now you can breathe.
I love Papier d’Armenie too, i have all the scents, the rose one by Kurkdjian is my favourite.
Isn’t You or Someone Like You beautiful. There’s nothing quite like it. Did you read the Chandler Burr book?
1. I am perfume free atm. I am thinking of Angel’s Share for work tonight.
2. My favorite Apple is Pie.
3. I like Cashews. Every year for Christmas my Aunt gives me a big jar.
4. I don’t use any home fragrance but I spray my fake flowers with random perfume. Lol
5. I had worrisome health test this month and it came back ok! Whew..
If you picked Angels Share then we are twinning!
Hello twin!
Glad your test came back ok, what a relief! Angels Share is fabulous, and apple in pie form has got to be my favorite too, warm with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream! 😋
I like it with whipped cream too.
Yay on all that! I love apples as pie best too. 🙂
I also like apple cake but don’t have it often.
Glad your test came back OK. I completely forgot about cashews as a favorite nut! Nice to get them from your Aunt every year, that’s a great idea.
Kind of related, my father in law loves licorice allsorts so we buy him some for birthdays and Christmas every year, I even wrap them up. It’s nice to give someone something you know they love!
I look forward to the cashews every year!
I’m so glad your test came back okay and that you can bask in the relief!
Thanks allo!
So happy about the test, Lillyjo, it gives one a new appreciation of things we take for granted.
Thanks Aurora. I really am thankful for each day.( even the snowy ones!lol)
Stoked to hear that your test results were good! I know that you’ve had some health concerns lately.
Thanks. I still have some concerns with other issues but nice to be relieved of one.
One less thing to worry about is a lighter mental load.
Woo hoo on the good test results.
I saw what you did there with pie 🤣
Ha! Yeah.. you know I think I am funny 🤣
1. My newest vintage acquisition is Rochas Femme PDT. I’m sure my bottle has gone off a bit, but I see why it’s a classic.
2. I guess I don’t pay attention to apples… I like granny smiths.
3. Pistachios! I should try the Durga scent, but I haven’t yet.
4. I spilled my Bill Blass mini on my desk the other day, so that’s my home fragrance lol
5. I made homemade flatbreads for the first time the other day. I was surprised how simple they are to make. The texture wasn’t quite right, but I’ll keep practicing.
I’m sure they’ll be perfect soon enough…good for you for baking bread!
1. No perfume today but I am wearing a little jacket that is scented with most of what I wore the last week – smells great. Yesterday I wore Gentle Fluidity Gold.
2. I love Macintosh best. They work for eating and cooking. I grew up in New England and Macs were everywhere. Here in Texas, I have to search for them.
3. I love most nuts but I like almonds best. I stash almonds in my desk for those days too busy for lunch.
4. I no favorite home fragrance, I have a few scented candles. I have a fireplace that I have a collection of mostly white unscented pillar candles but a few scented ones mixed in. I love to light them when it is cool, so I am looking forward to that soon.
5. As many have said, I am thankful that I am safe and in good health. Wish I didn’t feel so powerless to change all the negatives in the world.
A jacket with last week’s wearings is always so nice…I like that on my winter scarves too.
1) no perfume as I have the beginnings of a cold ☹️
2) I adore apples. Favorites are SweeTango, Honeycrisp and Harrelson. All crisp tart apples. I’m spoiled as the UofMN has a world renowned apple breeding program so we are awash in yummy choices. I’m not a fan of fruity/apple scented perfume so don’t have one.
3) I love most nuts but pistachios are my favorite.
4) I’m currently burning Overland Pomander Woods, orange, clove and wood. Very nice for fall. The classic Thymes Frasier Fir is up next for the holidays.
5) I just learned my best friend is returning from teaching overseas. She’s been in the UAE for 5 years. Now she’s retiring. We met in college and have stayed besties for 45 years!!
Great news about your bestie coming back!
Hope you lick that cold quickly!
Has anyone tried the Korean perfume brand, Elorea? There was an article in the NYT about their chic new boutique in Manhattan. The Forgotten Words collection sounds especially poetic.
Has anyone seen “I’m Your Man,” a 2021 German film in which a professor of anthropology at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin is enlisted to try out an android partner tailored to her interests, psychological profile, etc. Available to rent on Amazon video. I enjoyed it and found it thought provoking, as well, in this age of AI, automation, and loneliness.
Also, pine nuts (pignolia) are my favorite nuts but more to cook with than to eat by themselves.
My Grandmother cooked with pine nuts. I used to sneak and eat them from the bag.
Ha, that’s better than anything I used to sneak!
It’s amazing how just a spoonful can elevate a pasta, vegetable dish, or salad, and of course there are cookies, too.
I love pine nuts too. They’re super expensive, even pricier than macadamias, so I don’t buy them very often, but once in a while I buy a small container just to eat them as is.
They ARE scrumptious toasted, with just a little salt.
Thanks for the tip about Elorea. We have a day in Seoul next month and I’ll see if we can get to smell them.
Great to hear — I hope you find one worthy of review!
BTW, I checked with a Korean-American friend who asked relatives in Korea about these words. She said they were “pure Korean,” that is, from before there was so much American and Japanese influence on everyday speech. So it’s not complete marketing hype, for once. 😸
I’ve had that movie on my Hulu list for a while so I’ll make a point to actually watch it in the near future. Thanks for the recommendation.
Hello, good smelling people of NST!
I’m scentless because working on my yoga practice today and scents can be distracting-plus no beautiful scent can save me now lol.
Fave apple is probably Honeycrisp, but I also like russets, cause of the interesting and non smooth skin. Fave apple fragrance is Hermes Sur le Toit-has a good apple note, plus vetiver to act as a kind of clan compost note.
Favourite nut is probably Brzil, but sometimes I remember my grandmother used to put a jar of walnuts in a Christmas package to my mom. When I miss either one I eat some walnuts and it helps me feel better (ridiculous, I know, but whatever works, right?)
Thankful for physical and mental health. I can sometimes get stuck in my own thoughts so I try and incorporate some movement everyday and for me that’s a very helpful thing. Rode my bike to yoga the other night-it was a clear, cool night and it was just the right thing to do for me. I have all the lights and incredible clothes from Sugoi-my entire jacket is covered with pin prices of reflective dots, so I light up like a light installation. If I go with lots of lights I find drivers will give me space. I find most drivers to be considerate and as a cyclist I appreciate that so much.
Hope we all get a few moments of mental peace today, and that we can all collective take a breath and get ready for whatever faces us this week coming.
Your jacket sounds beautiful — safe travels, carole!
Happy Sunday all!
1. Commando for now. I’m going to a friend’s book reading later today. I think I might wear Calligraphy Saffron from the Swapmeet.
2. I love all apples except mealy ones. A few years ago, I discovered aztec fuji at the farmers market and love them. I also love homegrown apples of which I don’t know the variety. No favorite apple perfume, I find that I have a hard time detecting the “apple” in some of “apple pie” scents, like Ambre Narguile and Angels Share.
3. Not picky about nuts as well. I like a lot of them.
4. Lately, my home scent is the lovely mix of smells emanating from this shelf where I store various candles and perfumes. I always place swap packages and things I’m testing on the shelf too, so the overall scent evolves.
5. I’ve been full of worry these days, so I like that this question is making me think of positives and I love reading everyone’s responses. My parents recently recovered from Covid, and I’m feeling very grateful for that!
Very interesting to think of the scent of your perfume shelf evolving! That’s true of one of my perfume drawers, as well, but I hadn’t stopped to think about it before.
I understand mealy but are some varieties more likely to be mealy or do apples get mealy depending upon when harvested and where stored? I tend to use mealy for peaches.
Mealy apples are nasty. Yuck!
1. Wearing the far drydown of yesterday’s Samsara EdP on my shirt today and enjoying it very much! I also have scented lotion in the usual spots.
2. Fav apples? Envy, SweeTango, and Sugar Bee. But I don’t care for apples notes in perfume.
3. Fav nut(s)? Hazelnuts and almonds are my top 2. Favorite perfumes with nutty notes are TM Muse EdP, and ELdO’s Fat Electrician.
4. Fav scented home product as of late? I have been purchasing scented candles from someone who is local in southern New Jersey. I don’t even have to light them, and they can scent an entire room.
5. Something wonderful? Yesterday I was at a belated birthday celebration for a friend. We played a board game for a while and had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I had some cheesecake for breakfast today as a result, with a very attentive Teflon kitty hoping for some of it. 😋
I like Cheesecake Factory except that the menu is too extensive. I end up perusing a get the same thing over and over again – no complaints though. I end up going perhaps twice a year which is not often.
Yesterday was my first time at Cheesecake Factory. I asked for some recommendations ahead of time, and went with what sounded really tasty to me. Very happy with my choice (Chicken Marsala).
Cheesecake for breakfast is the ultimate yum!
Glad I had a strong cup of tea to go with it!
OMG! Cheesecake for breakfast. Sounds like the Aunts in Practical Magic. Soo cool.
It was a fun change from the usual, definitely!
Cheesecake for breakfast! That’s so fun. Glad you had a nice time with your friend.
I really enjoyed both the friends get-together and the nosh.