Can I get a collective “Hallelujah!!”?

Yep, it’s that time of year again: back to school.

Now those of you who don’t have kids may not

care, but for those who do, it’s a pretty big day.

As much as we love them, it will be nice to get a break

from the frequent refrain of “Mom, I’m bored” that the

end of summer often brings. And it will be good to see

them get back into a routine.

My son heads back today, even though it may seem awfully

early to you. (It does to me, too.) But that “first day” will be here

for everyone else before you know it.

Here’s a look at scents that might work for several

back-to-class scenarios:

For the mom or dad for whom summer has gone on justa little too long: By Kilian’s Sweet Redemption (sweet relief,

perhaps?) or even A Taste of Heaven (of course you miss them,but ahh, that peace and quiet is nice, isn’t it?).

For those with little ones heading off for the first time:

Divine’s L’Infante or By Kilian’s Love and Tears (they were

just in diapers yesterday – how can they be in kindergartenalready?).

Oh, no! In all the excitement, they’ve left their lunchbox,

backpack, etc. at home and you’re already late for work:

Sacrebleu!

For dealing with diehard sleepyheads on that first morning,

i.e., “Go away, Mom, I was having the most wonderful …”

thump – head hitting the pillow again: Montale’s Sweet Oriental

Dream

When your daughter finally does get up, who will youencounter at the breakfast table: Miss Charming or

Lady Vengeance?

Let’s think positive and assume it’ll be Miss Charming.

To go with her carefully chosen outfit: Dior’s New Look 1947.

Speaking of teens, what else might they be packing: Encens et

Bubblegum, or, heaven forbid, Jasmin et Cigarettes.

And with that, ahem, more mature crowd, there’s not likely

to be much goodbye affection for the parental

units: Take comfort in Kiss Me Tender or Love Comes From Within.

When they come home that afternoon and you ask, “What did you do

at school today?”:  Jacomo Silences will get you prepped for the

noncommittal shrug and mumbled, “Nothing,” that might beforthcoming.

Helping your college-age son or daughter move into a dorm or

apartment? Heeley’s Menthe Fraiche to keep your cool

during the move-in madness. When tempers flare and things

get ugly: Step back with Vol de Nuit’s Evasion.

And when it’s all over and you’re heading home: Jubilation 25

with a spot of Champagne, Gin Fizz or Elixir of your choice.

OK, enough silliness. What scents remind you of back to school

or have you thinking ahead to fall? 

You’d think I’d know how to handle this by now – I’ve lived in the Midwest for the bulk of my life and we have these absurd blizzard-to-tropics events every Winter.   Two weeks ago it was Apocalypse,  4 feet of snow with -4F.  Yesterday it was 65F with a warm, wet wind.    Now it’s that bitey cold, dirty Spring…the ice is still at the turn of the shallow part of the river (a more poetic take on it here)  but I can smell wet dirt in the fields…nothing’s dumb enough to try to grow just yet ..but you can tell it will happen soon.  Or not.  Maybe it’s that quick-tease of spring to come….there’s nothing like a wet wind to give one hope……but then the weather drops 25 degrees in 12 hrs…the onset of Spring actually creates more anxiety for me than the onset of Winter, a restless uneasiness caused, perhaps, by the fear that the world (my world, at any rate) could slip back into darkness.  That those clouds, skidding in on that warm, wet wind, could be bearing yet another blizzard.  Perfume choices are tough right now.  It seems faithless to cling to the heavier scents when Nature is maybe trying to cut me a break, yet the really light scents just can’t handle the mercurial temps.   The solution seems to be  GREEN - but not the sunny, warm, greenery-yallery greens of later spring.  No, this weather is calling for  the resinous, balsamic,  sharp and intense green of Galbanum, with its aura of wistfulness and melancholy.

There’s something rather romantic about Galbanum.  I always think of rainy, windswept moors and stolen kisses on the heath (never mind that I wouldn’t be caught dead on a rainy moor and I suspect heaths in February require boots  – sooo over that!)..Galbanum scents are the scents of promise, the idea of  a new adventure, with a slight tug of Things Left Undone.  Until I did a bit of research I didn’t even know that the scents I reach for at this time of year were so galbanum-centric (because I don’t pay attention to notes).  What I don’t do, though, is actually wear these scents.  Not yet.  They can be thin and precarious in the treacherous, shifting temps and the few times I’ve tried it I’ve gotten all itchy and chilly, like when you forget that cotton sweater and need just One More Layer between you and your jacket.  I’m in luck with my galbanum collection – most of them are pretty inexpensive which means I can enjoy them in the safety of my home.  I have been  going all Heathcliff and Cathy, scenting my sheets with Balmain de Balmain and playing water sprite with Jacomo Silences and the shower curtain.  I am skirting the edge of profanity here – according to this site, this sheet-spraying spree puts me in danger of being cut off from my father’s kin.  Hmmm….if I spray the dogs. …..nah!   I’m not louche enough to waste vintage Miss Dior or Chamade that way – I’ll be ready to spray those on skin in about 3 weeks.  February is…well it’s FEBRUARY!  That means it’s psychically cold, even if it’s 65F for a day.   I save No. 19 for August.

What’s going on with the  rest of you?  Are you ready to transition from one season to another? We’re now back to frozen sleet.    I’m so ready for Spring  – mud, fog and all!

photo:  Foggy Island – Denise Bratschun

(Okay, peeps — for the next couple of weeks we may be messing with the usual posting order.   Today is Musette.)

I got a visit from the Life Police a little while ago.  They gave me a ticket!!! and told me to shut down my Pity Party, it was going on too long, it was too loud and the neighbors were starting to complain.  I was indignant!  I loved hosting that party!  But a warning ticket from the Life Police ain’t no joke so I decided to comply.  But where to start?

Well, insides are harder than outsides so I started with the outside.   OMG! 2 sizes bigger? when did THAT happen?!?   My haiiiiiir! !!!!  what’s with the nails – are you reroofing the Vatican with your bare hands?  2 SIZES BIGGER?  WTH?   WHY ARE YOU IN SWEATS?  YOU ARE NOT AT THE GYM! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN SWEATS???

Okay You (well, ‘me’) -  First Thing:  get your lard-butt up and get to the gym, every day.  I live in the smallest town in the Universe.  We are blessed with a little gym 2 blocks from my house (everything is two blocks from my house).  Nobody’s there and they have HGTV and What Not to Wear.  No excuses!  Then my existential walk through our hilly cemetery every day (get healthy!/ why bother?)…  2 blocks from my house.  No excuses.

Man.  This is hard.  I’m so used to sitting on my lard-butt, eating a brownie and bemoaning my fate.  But I’m slogging through it.

…and slowwwwly…the poundages are slippering off.  And hey!  Nails?  They’re actually ‘done’.  And the hair – well, I’ve still got to go to a Big City for that (some things just …well, you know - it’s my hair!).

And while I’m in this improvement mode I’m noticing that my perfume choices have changed – are being assigned certain values.  Perhaps I’m every bit as insane as y’all think I am but I swear there are perfumes that make me smell fat! And some that sort of help on the thinnin’ side of things.  This came to me whilst reading Shelley’s blog post on comfort scents, where she broke things down by variations on comfort (snuggly/armored/etc) – so while I was working the elliptical I compiled my Thick/Thin lists.  This is in relation to myself alone – these scents do not conjure up any size imagery when worn by others so don’t get all bitey with me, okay? As they say, YMMV.

The List (for now)

I feel thinner already (at the gym):

Bel Respiro

No 19 edt, screaming at me to WORK IT!

Cemetery daytime

Mitsouko

Cemetery nighttime

I don’t think so.   that’s when the zombies come out!

I feel a cupcake coming on!

Fracas

Lys Mediteranee

Whoa!  my bra size is WHAT?

Femme

C-cup, bay-bee!  C-cup!

vintage Femme

3am. I’m fat! Panic attack.

Going for a walk, just me and the coyotes.  Take a stick and:

Jacomo Silences

L’eau Imperiale (Guerlain)

Y’know, I’m looking pretty good!:

Doblis

vintage Diorling

I give up – I’m a mess

Ines de la Fressange (leaf bottle)

L’eau d’Hiver

Oh, shut up.  I’m doing fine!

TdC Charmes et Feuilles

Size 10 = a trip to Paris

Cartier Brillante

it will be interesting to see where these fall, once I reach my size goal, but for now they are defining my highs and lows as I struggle through this.  Do you all have particular scents that represent certain aspects of your life struggles? (weight is not the criterion here)  Would love to hear about them.  I’ll holla back when I get home from the cemetery – gotta beat the zombies!