Time got away from me

Oops.

It’s easy to lose track of days when I’m traveling, and somehow I’ve blown my normal Europe habits of getting my clock on their local time quickly, and I’m on some other time that involves lots of sleeping. I’m blaming the hotel. They had a room ready for me to slide into when I got here at 9 a.m. (oh, the traffic in Paris is so awful, it was an hour and a half from the airport!), and I slid into it and slept and slept and slept. Woke up long enough to run to the Apple store and get a charger which somehow I managed to leave on the bookcase at home. Then slept some more.

This is not good. Except every now and then, no matter where you are and what you really want to be doing, you have to surrender to sleepies. Because I know they last for approximately two days for me, and then I’m good as new. The bad news is I just woke up like 30 minutes ago realizing I hadn’t written anything for today.

So I have no exciting perfume stories to tell you or sightseeing yet, though I am planning to be awake enough to go out for a lovely dinner tonight. The last time I did this was 15 years ago in Hawaii, got there and slept for two days straight.

Tell me stories. No, not bedtime stories, something more invigorating. What do you have planned for this year, fragrance-wise or personal-wise? Have you mapped out a couple of treasured perfumes that you’re going to spring for?

  • Sara A. says:

    This is going to be a big year for me. I’m planning on getting my first Serge Lutens! I’m thinking Sa Majeste la Rose and/or Un Lys because they are heart-breakingly beautiful. Ultimately I think it’s going to be the rose, because it is way more wearable for me and it reminds me of my grandmother with out smelling like her. My skin eats rose and it doesn’t eat this one.

    Personally, my husband is applying to grad school and we are hoping and praying that he gets in someplace good with good financing options. I’m hoping someplace in NYC says yes. I want to go home!!!

  • maggiecat says:

    Enjoy your trip Patty – and i bet you’ll enjoy it more with some good sleep behind you!

    I’ve discovered the Made In Italy line through Indiescents, and when I first tried their Sicily, my husband responded with “What are you wearing? i don’t hate it.” I should point out that “I don’t hate it” is the most positive things he’s EVER said about a scent. It’s a wonderful feminine woody/spicy scent, and I just got a larger decant. An FB will follow as soon as my budget recovers from Christmas. I’m also enjoying Murmure today…must be on a freesia kick of some kind.

    Travel safely and happily Patty!

  • hongkongmom says:

    Sleep for two days before enjoying, sound pretty good to me!!! Let all the stress of regular life disappear and then ready to have a blast!

    Mmmmm goals: To cull? To finally buy a cabinet that does not have to be “the perfect one”. To stop buying and start enjoying the gazillions I have already….get over the fact that i need a back up bottle of attrape, a first bottle of vega, ode dela vanille and possibly sous le vent…all at the same time! To get to try ism and la myhrre finally! And i could go on, but that would then become goal ideas and not reality!!!! Well one more, to be more organized!

  • nozknoz says:

    Of the new things I’ve tried recently, the one I find myself wanting to wear a lot is Dior New Look 1947. I’m just loving it! If this keeps up I will need a full bottle.

  • karin says:

    Plan to go to PARIS this year in October, provided the stars align! We wanted to go last year, but the cost of airfare blew it for us (need to rack up some frequent flyer miles on my credit card, but I keep blowing it on perfume, go figure). Want to hang out in the art museums, cafes, and perfume shops. Also think it would be fun to do some serious photo-taking. I dream about living in Paris. It’s so super crowded, though. Might have to live outside of Paris. ;-)

    Perfume plans? Catch up with everything I purchased over the past couple of years, and enjoy what I have. I foresee a few more purchases, but not many. Focusing on decants instead of bottles. We’ll see how that goes!

  • mals86 says:

    BUY more stuff??

    • mals86 says:

      (Man, what is up with my comment fails today? Posted too soon!)

      My goal for the year, fume-wise, is to CULL, baby. And to continue sampling, but to continue to enjoy what I have. I just now got all my miniatures out to pose them for a photo (“say fromage!”), and the number of them is sort of appalling… especially since I just bought a couple more unknown-to-me scents off teh Bay (Omar Sharif pour femme, and Ferre by Ferre in the hand-grenade bottle) that haven’t yet arrived.

      • Tara says:

        I agree with you Mals..I think this is the year to Cull..after a few years of buy, buy, buy…because, well, I just had to have everthing. This year, I want to really make sure my purchases are purposeful and not impulsive. Also, I have so many things I like that I just don’t wear. They should probably move on to homes that will truly enjoy them…

  • Sherri M. says:

    Hi Patty,

    I’m so glad to hear you arrived safely in Paris with no delays from all the snow everywhere! Don’t apologize for sleeping; what a blessing to be able to sleep after such a long trip! So what if it takes two days??…whatever..you need your strength for your Paris-Florence adventure!! So ENJOY it!

    So far my fragrance goals for 2011 are a bottle of Coeur en Mai and a bottle or large decant of New Look 1947. Oh, that 1947…sigh…so Dior, so feminine! I’m also hoping Guerlain comes out with something new and rich and beautiful and Guerlainish for 2011!

    Personally, we have two graduations this year and I hope we can do one last family vacation, just something simple. Don’t know how I’ll handle it when my baby girl goes off to college…my goal is to just enjoy the present and not worry about the future.

    Can’t wait to hear what’s going on in Paris!

    • nozknoz says:

      I’m also loving Dior New Look 1947, Sherri. I can see why Octavian like these so much – they are real perfumes, and NL47 is my favorite so far.

  • Ann says:

    BTW, Patty, don’t worry about the sleep. It’s hard to enjoy a beautiful city like Paris when you’re exhausted and bleary-eyed. Far better to start the next day refreshed and pack a lot into it.
    Enjoy and have a cup of butterscotch tea at Mariage Freres for me!

    • Catherine says:

      Butterscotch tea….? I’m just making my list for Mariage Freres (I ran out of Opera green tea this past weekend), and THIS sounds incredible…

    • Tara says:

      Butterscott tea..WOW..Opera green tea..you guys are killing me!!! Can you order from Mariage Freres? I am sitting here with my hot Winter Chai tea getting all warm and toasty..I love tea!

      • Ann says:

        Hi Tara, great to hear from you, fellow tea lover.
        I think the MF L’Opera green tea (which I have yet to try) can be ordered on the Dean & Deluca Web site, as can the popular Marco Polo. The butterscotch I couldn’t find a U.S. distributor for so I bit the bullet last month and ordered from the mother ship (tres expensive for S/H as you can imagine). I’m happy to share some of my butterscotch and Marco Polo though.
        Maybe all of us tea lovers should have a tea swap one day, eh?

  • Ann says:

    It’s a bit of a pipe dream, I know, but in 2011 I would love to go cold turkey on the “must.sample.everything” habit and spend quality time with my favorites to decide which ones are full-bottle worthy. And while I’m at it, I might as well dream big:
    I find a fabulous job to pay for all the full bottles. :)

    • Musette says:

      I think that’s a great resolution! Often I just put samples and decants aside, unsniffed, for awhile until I have time to give them proper attention.

      I love the idea of a fabulous job, too! Best wishes there!

      xo >-)

  • FragrantWitch says:

    My 2011 goals are as follows:

    1. Give myself a break. My house does not need to perfect, cheese toasties and soup are okay for dinner sometimes and if my daughters don’t handcraft thank you cards etc the world will not stop. Occasionally it seems mummy-ing has gotten competitive and I get stressed. Must remember other people have days where they are just grateful everyone is dressed and fed.
    2. Start being ‘me more as well as mummy and wife.
    Think I might need a whoop-ass fragrance for challenging days!
    :-0

    • Ann says:

      Hi M, I agree with you 100 percent! Some days, having everyone dressed and fed is a major accomplishment. And we all need some quality “me” time, too, as I well know (we’re going on Day 4 of no school and I’m betting we’ll hit Day 5). Let us know when you find that perfect whoop — fragrance :) Also, thanks again for the wonderful recipe.

  • Illdone says:

    How true Musette, often when I see tourists on the pavement ,their most striking feature is how stressed out and unhappy they look.
    I do not go to Paris again (ever) if it isn’t for a couple of days and in a decent hotel ($$$..)I’m always the one who gets the room with the drunken neighbours arriving in the middle of the night slamming their doors..
    Perfume dream? Finding one scent that completly does it for me.
    Sometimes I feel like a raving freak (is that English?) spraying vintage diorissimo once a year on the first of mai (European tradition is that you buy ONE “muguet” flower for yourself or the ones you love on that day)
    Could someone please make me a JolieMadameScandal-La Nuit? Or no, a Diorissimo-guerlinade?
    Here I go again….

  • Catherine says:

    I finally–finally!–ordered some samples of Mona di Orio’s newer fragrances and of FM Portrait of a Lady. They should be here any day. I plan on springing for some of the MdOs certainly. Jabu, sight unsniffed, seems perfect for channeling spring. If it lives up to my expectations–which it will–I’ll break down rather quickly. Well, after I get another skirt and leather jacket…. :)

  • Musette says:

    My goals are these:

    WAY less stress in my life, if at all possible. 2010 was brutal, all across the board.

    And actually, Patty, I love the idea of a Day of Sleep. All too often I find myself running ragged when on vacation – and I end up really not enjoying it. One of my all-time favorite days (2 of them – one in Seattle, one in NY) involved sleeping in, having a VERY leisurely breakfast….watching an old movie on tv….and only then, after my nerves had totally unjangled, did I venture out.

    Sometimes it’s nice to just be.

    Perfume: well….I am totally in love with the new Laurent, Fougeuse. More on that later.

    Diorling. Diorling. Diorling. Does the Paris boutique carry the parfum? Do I even want to know?

    Have a wonderful time – Paris in January: where’s Jack Nicholson, crying into the Seine?

    xo

  • Wendy says:

    hey Madea, this might be stating the obvious, but ever tried Jicky in extrait? I got a bottle last year (just for the bottle. if i am brutally honest, and because i was thinking hey, the edt is actually really nice, so of course the extrait will be that, only that much better), and when i put my wrist to my nose like 10 minutes after applying it was as if a civet cat had actually jumped on my lap without me noticing and turned it’s little tushy towards my nose.. talk about skank! Or maybe i am just too sensitive? :-? Anyway, needless to say i have not been wearing my Jicky a whole lot. let’s make that never.. still, the bottle is gorgeous….

    • Madea says:

      I’ve only ever tried it in EDC. It smelled pretty much like LHB on me, but probably the extrait would be worth it. Thanks for the suggestion.

      • Rappleyea says:

        Madea – it sounds like our skin is just alike! My favorite perfumes for years were Je Reviens extrait, Bal a Versailles and Femme – all considered very skanky. Yet on me, they were sweet, innocent florals! Even Jicky – extrait and 1950’s edt – was a very nice lavender and vanilla scent. No skank, nada, zip! Does your skin also amp up the sweet in scents? Mine does and I think this type of chemistry is related to the squelching of skank.

        • Madea says:

          Yes. I have a taste for Arabian perfumes, and the first one I ever bought was a (cheap, but good for $9) oud that smelled like a really upscale cola on me. Might just be that cheap oud runs sweet, but for what I paid, who’s complaining? I gave it to someone who liked sweet better than I do.

          Do you amp woods? Everything I try with cedar ends up smelling like pencil. I really like pencil, fortunately.

  • mals86 says:

    Old Spice is really lovely, and I’d wear it myself if it weren’t the Smell of My Dad.

    I’m not a big citrus fan, nor a cologne fan, but Dior Eau Sauvage is worth trying, too. It’s one of the very few masculines I actually wear.

  • pam says:

    Madea,
    I have begun a similar search, and it, too, started with Bal a Versailles. Will be checking this post’s comments to see what everyone comes up with.

    Also, I plan to explore some of the masculine scents this year. Last year I just went immediately to the scents marketed to females, and now I would like to expand my experience. Any suggestions for starters on that?

    • Madea says:

      Old Spice. It’s carnation, so it’s sort of ambiguous, not expensive, and smells nice.

      4711 is also ambiguous, though not as cheap as Old Spice. It tends to smell a touch grating to me, but nice enough for a cologne, and about $20 for a bottle the size of a small house.

    • Shelley says:

      Oh, boy. I loves me some of the so-called masculines.

      Eau Sauvage and Terre d’Hermes. Third Man and L’Anarchiste. Sel de Vetiver and Sel Marin. Grey Flannel.

      I can try to describe, if you like…in a nutshell, in order: citrus/dry/hints of skank, earthy/dry, lavender, lavender/apples/tobacco, dry salty vetiver, salty fresh don’t be scared it’s not so marine, and –aw, shoot, what is Grey Flannel?

      Eau Sauvage gives me a Gatorade pucker, if that makes sense. Obviously, I’m not complaining. There’s the pucker from citrus and a salty animal. By which to say, I mean animal. But well mixed with the rest. It’s my latest masculine “discovery”–it has been around for a while, obviously. :)

      • Catherine says:

        Terre d’Hermes parfum is Beautiful!!!!! My boyfriend and I tried it a couple of weeks ago at the mall, and I swooned. I’m scoring some that… some day. Maybe for his birthday.

  • DJ says:

    I was recently in Paris (from England, so not far…) and made my first purchase at Shiseido Palais Royal/Serge Lutens…or rather, was given a bottle of Boxeuses as a gift. I wish it had more lasting power but wow, what an experience. I have lived in Paris on and off for 12 years and often go sniffing on my own. This time, I had a friend with me and he though MKK was ‘as if you was in a forest and all the little creatures call you mama if you wear that.’ Cute.

    THEN I took him to Etat d’libre d’orange. All it took was a few sniffs of Secretions Magnifiques and he suddenly found MKK less animalic! haha. He said he still felt physically ill a few hours later, even though the scent was no where near him.

    I would like to sniff some del rae perfumes.

    I would like to meet people that like to sniff stuff as much as I do :)

    I had the chance to buy Another13 from le Labo and didn’t and I regret it.

    In my dreamlife, I can afford the perfume version of Roja Dove’s Unspoken. It isn’t freaky, but it is gorgeous. I have the less expensive version (edp I think) and the body cream but ooooh it would be nice to have to real juice! AND I would like to give my mom the best Lily of the Valley/Muget perfume I could find. She has worn Diorissimo my whole life and would love to help her to expand on that.

    that is my story. tbc…
    Enjoy Paris!!!!

    • Musette says:

      hon, in my opinion that IS the best muguet! The Next Best Thing (again, my opinion) is vintage Coty Muguet des Bois, perfectly preserved.

      I like your 2011 goals, btw! Excellente!

      xo

    • FragrantWitch says:

      Where in England, if I may ask? I too am looking to meet people who enjoy perfume like I do- I am a relative newbie but keen to learn!

      • DJ says:

        hi there
        I am in South East England, about an hour and a half from London.

        I am a newbie too.

        Just got back from a day out in London and I tried Another13 again, and my husband thinks it smells like cleaning stuff :( but I think it smells great.

        • FragrantWitch says:

          South east here as well, 45 mins from London. My husband doesn’t really get perfume but fortunately doesn’t mind sniffing it on me! As long as you love Another 13 that’s all that matters! :-)

  • Madea says:

    ‘The Maiden* and the Search for Skanky Perfume’

    Once there was a Maiden (coughcough*yeahright*cough) for whom no perfume smelled skanky. Seriously, none. At present, she’s wearing Bal a Verseilles, knowing she’ll have to get a bottle because it’s awesome, but not really skanky.

    So, donning her dress of woven costus root and bathing in a vat of MKK (and smelling floral after), she went to ask the beautiful fairy godmothers of the enchanted Perfume Posse glen for help: Serious skank? Terrifying skank?

    *It’s the thought that counts, right?:d

    • Tommasina says:

      Madea, have you tried Mona di Orio Carnation or Etat Libre d’Orange’s Putain des Palaces? If not, you might want to…

    • Mary says:

      Have you ever tried Galanos, Madea? I have a couple minis– and it really comes across as skanky, in my book. Here is a list of notes I cribbed off Fragrantica–coriander, carnation, cypress, gardenia, tonka bean, bay leaf, musk, vanilla, jasmine, cloves, oakmoss, lily-of-the-valley, cedar, rose and geranium. And, it’s fairly inexpensive, lots of it available on ebay and at the discounters.

      :)>-

    • FragrantWitch says:

      Have you tried Boudoir? It is very very skanky on ‘me- I like it in the bottle, on others but on ‘me it becomes unwashed lady parts force 5.:o Might be worth a try??

      • Madea says:

        I haven’t, but the reviews seem to have a consensus that it’s seriously skanky. I look forward to finding some on ebay.

    • mals86 says:

      Skankfests on me: Houbigant Quelques Fleurs Royale and Patou Joy are complete Ho Panties (jasmine grandiflorum seems to go very… sweaty undies, shall we say… on my skin, though jasmine sambac doesn’t). MFK Lumiere Noire pour femme and JHaG Citizen Queen are naughty but sexy.

    • Sally says:

      Carnal Flower

    • Laura says:

      En Francais, “Skanque.”

    • abysynth says:

      no suggestions, but certainly lots of sympathy! everything on me turns into sugary powdery sweetness, including MKK! nice animalic for about 5 minutes, and then just the powdered sugar smell. if I smelled *really* carefully, I could still detect a bit of the musk in there somewhere, but that part only lasted for ten minutes too.

      I’ll just have to go out civet milking or something! :-?