Welp! As you all have surmised, I am in the weeds with this ‘emergency’ bathroom reno. It’s in italics because it’s been An Emergency for the past 10 years – El O built the back bathroom so we’d have somewhere to Bathroom whilst digging this dawg out – and I now understand why it never happened. This is not a ‘let’s take out the tub and put in a new vanity’ reno. It’s a total gut job – and involves chasing wires (some just rando live wires that go……?) and (my absolute favorite) digging out the floor to change the ‘pitch’ – since neither the tub nor the sink drain … yay.
I’m exhausted, filthy almost all damb day – and I am fortunate beyond imagining – this happened because my galpal’s husband, a Master Electrician, got really nervous about some wiring – and the next thing I know, we’re ripping out the bathroom walls, etc. Wiring (old knob and tube spliced to some almost-as-old Romex, is now gone, replaced with current wiring). He’s doing it for… (wait for it) DINNER! whaaa? My plumber is my nephew in law who just wants me to have my bathroom! I buy gas for them to come down here, take them to dinner and BOOM! he replumbs the bathroom.
So. Fortunate. Beyond Imagining.
But So. Damb. Tired.
Took Father’s Day off to take my Phenomenal Electrician and his wife (that’s Monsieur’s former +1, btw – he would’ve walked over my twitching body to hand her a soda, he loved her that much) to Naperville on the train because in 58 years Tim had never been on a train! It’s a 20 minute drive to Kewanee to get on the damb thing, not hitching up the wagon to go through the Cumberland Gap! Whatever. My gift to her, in repayment of her gift of him to me, was to get him on the damb train so he could shut the hell UP about it. We went to Naperville because it is Busted-Friendly – every shop in that upscale burg has a bench outside and every planter is designed for you to sit on, should your feet start screaming. He napped. A lot. It was 9000F out there and there’s only so much a non-perfumista male can take.
So this trip is how I ended up at LUSH. I didn’t care what we did, as long as I went to LUSH and to Sephora (more on that in a minute – or maybe the next installment – we’ll see)
LUSH was never ‘my’ kinda store – back when it was ensconced in Water Tower I would studiously avoid it because OMG!!! It STANK! I think it was the bath bombs? Dunno but you could smell it across the street! So… I don’t think I ever stepped foot in there.. and when I first smelled Breath of God I realized that I might’ve been in error – but by then it was too late. Both I and they had vanished off Boul Mich, gone with the wind.
Tom’s posts on Rose Jam (et al) brought me to the store, which still … smells. But this time I was open to the possibilities of those smells not taking me out since I wanted to score some Rose Jam. The shop has a small bottle (3.3oz) for $12.50 and I figured it would be enough to let me know if I wanted to spring for a larger bottle. And I probably will (in 2026 because this stuff is STRONG! and I’m now broke, what with the Emergency Bathroom Remodel) – it’s stunning, with that indecipherable (to me) note that suggests rose hips, rather than an actual rose. It makes showering a whole ‘nother experience. Since it’s more hips to me, I paired it with this body lotion from Urban Hydration and it was perfect. No perfume required, though if you want to amp up the rose a little dab of Amouage Tribute or Rose Aqor attar will do the trick. No Lyric, though – She just took over the whole damb thing. But since I was there I also sprang for a jar of ‘See & be Seen’ body wash goo, from the Bridgerton line because Elizabeth mentioned it in Tom’s original ‘Getting Clean’ post. Hmmm. So. I didn’t think I could love it more than Rose Jam but I would’ve been wa-ronnnng! ‘S&bS’ is a completely different experience, both because of its viscosity (it’s jelly-like ) and it has a vaguely … jammier?… note to it – about 1/8th teaspoon on a Salux bath cloth (the woven polyester ones, that are vaguely exfoliating – love them) – well, that’ll wash you, your partner and probably two midsized dogs! And you all will smell glorious!
Okay – I’m whupped (I had to remove about 3000 nails from the studs this morning – thank FLOYD Mrs Monsieur came to help – but it was a lot of work and a lot of dust and dirt and even with the shower and all I just feel… icky)
Maybe I’ll take another shower – with Rose Jam!
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