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  • Silvertree

    Mod post: No wishlist posts in blogs

    By Silvertree

    Please be aware that we do not permit swap-related content on profiles or in blogs. Please post this content only in the For Sale, Swaps, and Wanted forums, or in the Wishlists topic. ~from Swapping 101  Thanks!
    • 5 comments
    • 6,466 views
...and him, Really Interesting Guy...
 

Mystery box sets or no?

I've run into this little problem where I just have WAY too many imps and WAY too many boxes to hold them all. So, I'm considering trying to sell it all off as "mystery box sets," including the really cute boxes. I have 3 that I currently use for bottle and imp combos and two for just imps, not to mention 3 more that are slightly on the plain side, but would look quite nice with stickers or the like. Yeah, that's 8 boxes I want to get rid of. Minimum. I'd probably do 10 imps and a bottle or so for the big boxes, 10 imps for the small boxes. (Yes, I really do have that many imps to get rid of, shush.)   Question is, would people really be interested?
Tess

Tess

0
ceshka527's Blog
 

first entry, first bpal

My first bpal arrived yesterday. I am starting slow because well frankly I am poor.   I got Dana O'Shee, which I am in love with, milk and honey, very sweet, and bf likes it too, it is good on me wet, dry and it lasts. A larger bottle will be in order of this one.     Twilight is another story. I do not hate it, it goes on very strong, I get a very strong chemically jasmine scent from it, but as it stays on the honeysuckle comes out and goes a little more powdery, I like it after a while.   I am awaiting 7 more imps I have won from ebay. I am most excited about The Raven.     I am pretty intimidated by posting on the message boards here everyone has really great icons, blinky stuff and I am without a clue as to how to get stuff like that on there.
ceshka527

ceshka527

0
Fishnets and Frankincense
 

I nearly pulled a muscle...

I am a sucker for a Scottish accent, so of course Craig Ferguson is way cute to me, but here's a link to a political blog that has two really really funny segments from his show. I thought for a minute that it was real, then realized they're screwing with the tape to make it sound that way, but methinks they didn't have to screw with the tape that much. I nearly pulled a muscle laughing at it.   If you venerate our current president, and not my favorite ol' poonhound and ex-president, William Jefferson Clinton, then don't watch this. (BTW, it's worth it just to hear "Bush" said with a Scottish accent. )   http://www.crooksandliars.com/index.php?s=Craig+Ferguson
valentina

valentina

0
Betty Baker's BPAL Blog
 

My First BPAL Box!

I got my first BPAL order! I got seven little imps:   Jack The Black Tower White Rabbit Zombi Blood Kiss Kumiho (frimp!) Grand Guignol   At first, when I smelled the cluster of imps, I was dismayed. Oh no, I thought. This smells like an incense store! I hate incense! I'm so disappointed. But then, I opened my vial of Jack.   Oh Lord. All you BPALers out there aren't nuts. First, I got a snootful of butter and rum, and then I got... flowers? Flowers from Jack? Color me confused. But that first sniff indicated to me that yes, BPAL scents do morph, and yes, they do smell divine.   So I put on some Jack. Had a little trouble getting the imp closed and leaked oil down the side (aw, man) but I rubbed all that oil all over my other wrist.   Ten minutes in, Jack keeps wafting cinnamon at me, with occasional shouts of butter. I'm amazed. I'm delighted. I'm in love. When I leave my hand down low by my hip, I smell like pumpkin pie. Good sweet Lord in heaven. I was afraid to believe. Now I do.
bettybaker

bettybaker

4
Squash Soup
 

pending orders

I'd really like to place an order right now but I can't....not for a couple weeks at least. I'm a bit broke right now. But because I can't resist plotting future orders, here is what I'm planning.   Next order: Pumpkin Queen (yes I'm caving!), Jacob's Ladder, Knecht Ruprecht, a 5ml of Sloth and maybe an imp pack of the Salon scents.   I want to have some nice warm, spiced scents for Autumn (my favorite season) and then I'll start planning my winter scents.   Winter order: Stardust, Lick It Again (!!!!), The Winter of our Discontent for sure and then something for a good friend who I'm trying to push nudge over into the dark side. Although I don't know what scent I should get her....maybe an imp pack to try??   Okay seriously, back to work.
jessiesquash

jessiesquash

0
Eoywin's Blog
 

Not As Married

Todd and I keep our money separate, and we have never wanted to merge our money, even after we got married.   Well, I mentioned in my lj yesterday that he had lent me some money for my new glasses, and that got one of my lj friends up in arms.   Apparently we are 'less' married, because when you are married you must have your money combined. The lj friend even went to recommend a book to 'help' us with our problem.   This pissed me off, because our way of dealing with money works for us, and how dare someone who doesn't know us judge?   Well, I posted a pissy vent in one of the lj marriage communities, in which someone responded that she also thought we must merge our money, since marriage is about 2 people becoming 1, and therefore married people must never have separate money.   GRRRR!
Eoywin

Eoywin

8
Fishnets and Frankincense
 

My good habits and blind-ass luck

Hey there everyone... Given the somewhat decadent image I tend to craft for myself on the forum, I really do more than check my manicure and pedicure, fuss with my hair and peruse shoe departments and Victoria's Secret catalogs. (Although those are some of my favorite things to do.)   I also go up to the gym and ride cardio machines and I lift weights. I've become fond of doing lunges holding a 12-lb. medicine ball all the way around the indoor track. That would be approximately a block long. It's good for the legs and the bum, and at my age, I need all the help that I can get to keep the bum suspended somewhere above the back of my knees.   And I take vitamins, mainly out of habit, because when I was going into high school, I'd apparently had a bit of a rapid growth spurt that caused me to become really anemic. I had to take slugs of vitamins until that was remedied, and then I just kept up the habit.   I drink, but it seems that I've always tended to either get full (if drinking beer) or fall asleep before I get really drunk. I also had a formative experience on my 20th birthday that perhaps altered any tendency to drink a lot. I was living in a resort town for the summer and some girlfriends took me to a bar for birthday drinks. Various tourists hanging in bar kept sending me drinks. The notion of the lascivious geezers who were sending my innocent 20-year-old self tequila makes my current self shudder and thank the powers of the universe that I had several friends who didn't ditch me. Anyway, my friends deposited me on the front door of where I was staying, I crawled in and made my way to the shower. My roomie and her boyfriend kept waiting for me to scream and I didn't. I happily showered for about 15 minutes, puked and fell into bed. It seems the hot water heater had died and I took an ice-cold shower without knowing it. The hell that I felt the next day is something I still remember.   And I don't smoke, and I never have. I tried, but was hopelessly incompetent at it. I guess that was my good luck. And now I'm going to sound like a harpy old lady, but if you smoke, do think about quitting sooner rather than later. A guy who worked in my office up until a year ago, when he took a different job in the same building, was diagnosed with lung cancer about 2 months after he started his new job. He'd stopped smoking a year earlier. But he smoked entirely too long and didn't quit soon enough. I don't think he's going to make it. This sucks. He used to have a gorgeous head of thick wavy hair and now he's bald from chemo and he's holding onto the walls to keep his balance when he walks down the hall. When he stopped working in my office last year, I took a photo of him, copied it a number of times and "Andy Warhol-ized" it by coloring over it with pastels. I modified his hair, put glasses on him, turned him into all sorts of things. He loved it and took it with him to put away as a keepsake. I really don't want to see it hanging up on one of the memory posterboards that you see at a funeral, but shit, I think that may be what's going to happen.   Weird thing is, this guy was the king of kvetchers when he was well. If his lips were moving, he was probably bitching, albeit in a likable, often funny sort of way. After his diagnosis, he developed a shockingly good attitude. It's amazing. He's tried to work and stay social and even go on his powerwalks when he had the energy. And he never complains about being sick or losing his hair, and he flat adored his hair. It makes me really sad.   And my blog has recently sounded like the old lady in the retirement center with her endless stories of people dying, and seriously guys, this has been an unusual stretch. Lest you think I'm not myself, let me tell you this: I went down to my ailing former coworker's current office to say hi to him one day in late August. I wanted to give him a hard time about something or other, because he loves to be harassed and treated like nothing is the matter. I had on one of my summery wrap dresses that can dip kind of low in the front. Normally I'm pretty careful to keep the foundation garments out of the public eye, so I'd frequently check what the neckline was doing. So I was sitting there talking to him, and I knew my bra was showing a little, and I just let it. I know he noticed because he called a mutual friend and told him all about it. And I didn't care. So there. Vaguely naughty is a good, good thing.
valentina

valentina

6
Squash Soup
 

long time no obsess

Well not really, I'm always fighting the urge to buy buy buy and I'm sure many of you sympathize with me there. I just placed two orders that I'm dying to finally get! The first one consists of; Lucy Westenra, The Carpathian Mountains (because how awesome is it to have Dracula-themed scents), Dia De Los Muertos 2006 (my only Halloweenie scent) and three CD scents; Carnival Diabolique, Midnight on the Midway and The Candy Butcher. These will be my first CD scents so I'm super super excited about it! I feel like I'm the only one not talking about them!   My next order is a bit more conservative and includes; 13 (because I couldn't resist), a 5ml of Loviatar and two Yules (Snow Maiden and Snowflakes) that I hope work on me although I don't have high hopes. It's funny, I have a zillion imps waiting for me to try, I belong to the GC swap circle AND I still haven't made up my mind about the Dark Moons and yet here I am needing more! I guess I'm just crazy.   I've been trying, rather unsuccessfully to get a few local friends equally obsessed but so far, nothing. I even bring out the imps when people come over and have them sniff! What's wrong with these people!? I'm planning a party for this Saturday to break in my brand new apartment and (ultimately) seduce a guy I know and I'm not only planning food and drinks but also scent.......do I want to go sexy or innocent? I'm thinking of using Red Lantern, Underpants, Loviatar or Alice. Red Lantern and Loviatar might be a bit overpowering and Underpants maybe too sweet but I feel like Alice is an everyday scent and not so much party material. I suppose it all depends on what I want to project; decadence, sex, dominance or innocence.....although Loviatar might give me some much needed confidence and maybe I could layer it on top of Follow Me Boy or #20 Love Oil for extra oomph. I just can't believe more people don't understand the importance of the right scent for the right occasion. Hasn't anyone else heard that adage; you wear clothes for other women but you wear scent for a man. I don't know if he's a scent guy at all but it can't hurt to have that in my corner.   And I'm done preaching to the choir.
jessiesquash

jessiesquash

0
Is Anybody Out There?
 

The roommate situation

He called his mother, asked her for money to get his car fixed so he can get home, and she is sending it. She asked to speak to me. She was in tears- worried sick that he might hurt himself instead of going home. I promised her I would keep a lookout and let her know if anything happened. She said they were thrilled to have him back, but she knows how much it hurts him.   She left her home phone number and her cell phone number. I do plan on calling her and speaking with her about him. If she really wants to help him, I can point her in the right direction. I also want to know if she knows the magnitude of his debt up here, both personal debt and public. She didn't come across as the cold hearted bitch he's been portraying her as, but I'm not convinced he was lying about that, simply because my father can put on a good show when he feels like it. Still, it seems fishy. A lot of it does.   This is a bad week to do this. He has a week to get the money from her, and then a week to get his car repaired. Otherwise, we buy him a bus ticket and off he goes. At this point, it's a small price to pay.   But next monday is my big midterm in psychology. I get my math work done at school, and I've been really working hard on it. Difference of trinomials was where I got completely lost last quarter, and I have those suckers down pretty well. However, I've been doing really poorly in psychology. And today I think I guiltily realized that I'm a little bored with this particular instructor. I love him to pieces, but it's a format that's been repeated three times now. I'm still planning on taking archaeology in the spring, but I think I'll give the social sciences a break winter quarter.   Okay. Feeling better. Compartmentalizing stuff is a useful thing sometimes.
smallvoice

smallvoice

0
Is Anybody Out There?
 

I don't know what to say here

I've been putting off writing about this, but it is another thing that is weighing on me and I need to just write it out.   My dad's first wife has advanced cancer- Colon cancer, I believe, though I may be wrong. She might not last the year. I keep hoping that she won't die on Thanksgiving. Or in November at all. Deaths seem to be piling up around November. And... this is awful... but I keep thinking that it's like having a messenger preparing for a trip to see a bunch of people I love and can't communicate with anymore... could you just find Christy and tell her... and Robbie... and Paul... and... most of all, my grandmother. After you die, could you just please find these people for me? Run some errands out and about? Could you tell them that I am happy, finally?   It's awful. And I know it's hurting my brother and sister, and I hurt for them, but I keep obsessing over the fact that she could be seeing all these people I love before the year is out. All these people who hoped that I'd be happy. All these people who loved me.   I don't want her to die, but I'm trying hard to get to acceptance.   I hope she knows her kids love her. I'm going to tell her I love her. I'm not going to ask her to run dead messages around for me. A part of me just wishes I could.
smallvoice

smallvoice

0
Betty Baker's BPAL Blog
 

In the beginning there was BPAL, and it was good.

I was happy being poor. I lived on the ragged edge of "squeaking by", clipping coupons and buying budget coffee. Along came BPAL, and everything changed. I applied for a third job. I created a budget. I haunt the BPAL website in my spare time, and now I'm wasting away on the forums.   There are imps on the way, oh yes. They'll invade my house and settle on my pulse points. They'll drive me to distraction with conflicting emotions, and in November I will place a second order.   I'm doomed.
bettybaker

bettybaker

2
Is Anybody Out There?
 

Too long

There's something up with my inner ear. I've had an earache all weekend, and my balance is messed up.   It's been too long since I wrote in here. So here I am.   Knitting has come to a standstill, as I sort of began feeling hopeless with it. It also got pushed way down on my list of priorities.   I am going to be baking cookies to include for my switchee. Possibly fudge.   So, my husband and I had a long conversation about weight and stress. We need to bite the bullet and just stop. And I can do that if he tells me that's what we're doing. But if he wavers at all, I'll hit a craving and justify it like woah. So, no more snacks. Instead, we will have real meals. And salads. With Newman's Own dressing.   I pointed out that when we need time to ourselves, away from the housemate, we always go out to eat. We could easily go walk around Hastings and pick up a game or a few books for what we spend on eating out. We need to reward ourselves in other ways. For me, that's easy- BPAL, Villainess, and other e-tailers that I've grown fond of.   Noumenon wrote something in (If I recall correctly) a wanted post recently, and it really sort of hit home for me. She said something to the effect of: I've been here a short while now, and I spent the summer nailing what I wanted in the GC. Now I want to seek out some limited editions.   I haven't done that. Even though I tend to enjoy the GC scents more, I am obsessed with LE's. OMGWTFBBQWhatifInevereverseeitagain!!! This could be my One Chance!   I still want Pumpkin Queen and Sol Invictus, but I think I need to focus on the catalog for the time being. There's no reason for me not to have bottles of Alice, Sudha Segara, Dorian, Arkham (!), Port-au-Prince, O, and others. Even though I've loved Arkham since Kmasden was nice enough to send me a decant in February, I believe, I didn't order a bottle when it was brought back. I love Alice! I sing her praises constantly! But no bottle.   So I'm going to lay off the LE's, and I'm going to treat myself, when I can, to GC bottles. First up: Arkham.   I am going to try and participate in NaNoWriMo. I'm worried I'm stretching myself too thin, with school and swaps and knitting and the holidays and everything going on. But I am already writing down the dares I'm pondering adding to my story. It should be entertaining.   Take care, loves. I'm out of steam.
smallvoice

smallvoice

0
Do you have a flag?
 

Nuts! I'm dumpy.

I made the awful mistake of returning to MySpace after an absence of several months. The MySpace group for my little group of college friends apparently had people flocking to it in droves while I was away, and now it's full of people I knew 15 years ago in college.   Clicked on the picture of a girl who didn't like me because she thought I caused her boyfriend to break up with her. She's gorgeous now. Clicked on the picture of a guy I dated on and off for a few years but lost touch with. He's a damn fine-looking man. Clicked on the picture of a guy who was full of himself and was a dick to me. Still looks like he's a dick. Clicked on the picture of a guy I dated for a couple of years. He's been hitting the gym. He never looked that good when he was with me.   And what do you see if you click on my photo? A dumpy-looking middle-aged woman with a stupid hairstyle who has gained 25 pounds since college and looks like a mess. Niiiiice.   I was feeling pretty embarrassed about the whole thing and ranting about it in an exaggerated fashion to my husband -- he pointed out that it is impossible for everyone I knew in college to be better-looking now than they were then. I know that. It's not everyone. Just everyone I dated. And the girls who were catty to me because I went out with the lovely sensitive goth boys that they were all swooning over. I would not be at all surprised if some of them looked at my photos and thought, "HA! She got fat and ugly. Good."   I usually don't think I look that bad. I think for whatever reason people often tend to be close to people who are more or less at the same level of attractiveness, and in my current circle of RL friends I don't feel out of my league with any of them. But when I was in college, I paid a lot more attention to my appearance. (These days I'm lucky if I'm wearing two shoes from the same pair half the time.) If there was such a thing as a beautiful people goth/skater clique at my university, I was probably in it. Those people wouldn't give me the time of day right now. They don't let you back into the beautiful goth people club if you gain 25 pounds and move to the suburbs.   In a couple of days this probably won't bother me any more, but right now I'm unhappy that I thought I was comfortable with my appearance and where I am in my life right now... and apparently I'm not. Apparently I am embarrassed by it. This revelation is unsettling to me.
filigree_shadow

filigree_shadow

3
circe_blue's Blog
 

Feeling Accomplished (for once!)

Ah, Sundays. I always have a love/hate relationship with Sundays. On the one hand they always signal the end of the weekend but on the other I love Sundays because usually I just lie around in my pajama pants reading the newspaper, drinking tea and eating things that are bad for me.   Today, I (kind of) did just that *and* I managed to get some much needed work done. The boy spent the weekend at my place so today we had most of the afternoon together before he drove down back to his place. We finally went to Rita's. All you East Coast-ers know what I'm talkin' about. For everyone else, they sell delicious icees, ice cream, cream-ice and "gelatis". They're only open during the warmer seasons and we were lucky enough to catch them for the very first time today. It also happened to be their last day open until March 1st. The boy got a banana gelati, while I got a cookies and cream gelati. Their gelatis were...interesting....but very good. A Rita's gelati consists of a layer of frozen custard on the bottom of the cup, a layer of flavored ice in the middle, and a topping of more frozen custard on top. Mmmm.   Well, after we went to Rita's we got lunch which allowed the gelatis to melt and mix in the cups in the car. I went to a Halloween party store where we discussed our costumes. He still has no idea what he wants to be, but he's seeming very excited to go as Vincent from Pulp Fiction 'cause I hinted that it would be cool to go as Mia and Vincent. Also a plus, a Mia outfit would be super easy to put together. All I really have to buy is a wig. I already have a white dress shirt, black pants and if I do this costume, I will place some powdered sugar on my nose and have a little droplet of blood coming out of my nose My other costume option would be a devil/schoolgirl thing, or Asami from Takeshi Miike's Audition. May be a little obscure for some people at the party who've never seen it, but man will it be freaky for those who have! ("kiri kiri kiriiii....")   We also watched Dead Like Me on DVD today. It was a great show, I'm sorry I never got a chance to catch it on cable before it was canceled. George's character need to stop with the whining for, like, *one* episode, please.   After he left, I got quite a bit of my take-home midterm exam done. I only have a couple questions left and I should definitely be done by Thursday (due date) *knock on wood*. And can I just say how much I haaaaaaate take-homes? They're always a million times harder than in class exams (because you supposedly have more time to research/prepare it) and it always stresses me out more. I have two separate study groups I'm going to on Tuesday for two different classes...oh man I hope I can get some pre-studying in beforehand. -------------------- Yule Update! Tentative To Buy List: Lick It Again - peppermint + sugar (supposedly more than last year! yay!) Brides of Dracula - almost based on name alone. I'm hoping this one at least smells pleasant on me even though I know florals generally aren't my thing. Sugar Skull '06- mmmm, sugar And imps of: Arkham Miskatonic University Night Gaunt Black Lily Shadow Witch Orchid Zombi
circe_blue

circe_blue

0
Lucretia's Blog
 

more grad school rambling

As much as the prosepect of applying to schools excites me, it also scares the crap out of me   I'm only applying to local schools, although I may apply to some fancy ass school like Harvard and Yale, because I chances of my getting in are slim to none anyway. I hate being on my own. My family is here. My boyfriend is here. Is it so wrong to not want to move?   Rearranging the list somewhat, as UMD doesn't have any faculty in American studies who share my interests. My interests being, the policy and history surrounding childcare, and role of mothers through time. I mean obviously, my interests range like crazy. I'm also fascinated by the student movement in the US in the 1930's and plenty of other topics, which is exactly why I like interdisciplinary subjects like American studies. I'm so worried about placement after graduating through. I googled some alumni from GWU's program, and something like only 1 in 5 actually came up at all, and only in 7 as professors. eep. Granted that could mean a lot of things, but still. I would hate to do all that and not have a job to show for it!   The list (again)   -GWU - American studies, public policy -UMD-College Park - Women's Studies, Government (political economics), maybe history -Georgetown - Government, history   and for fun, let's say Harvard and Yale for American civilization.   Oh, and just to share. This is what I have to work with. GPA: 3.91 Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa GRE: 630v, 730q, 6 analytical
Lucretia

Lucretia

2
Fishnets and Frankincense
 

Noses, rationalizations and songs

I have been reading through the blog and forum comments about how people react to the new update scents. I really enjoy that, it's fun to read. Seriously, we're all so attuned to scents and body chemistry and blends of aromas, it's pretty amazing. Compared to the rest of the world, it's astonishing. A lot of you have really sophisticated noses. I would guess that many of you are the type of person who sniffs their food. I could get a latte with flavoring in it, but not know what the flavor is, and I'm not always able to discern the flavor by only the taste. But if I smell it, I can almost always get the flavor category.   Many of us tend to get on ourselves about our BPAL addiction, and I'm certainly on that bandwagon. I showed a small amount of restraint this last update, although when you read what I did, you may not think so, but one person's restraint is another person's abandon, right? I got into a decant circle (eviltemptressd's!) so I can try out 6 or 7 of the Yule scents before I order. The new 13 sounded intriguing, so I did get a bottle. And as much as I wanted to buy bottles of Love Lies Bleeding, Mania and Horreur Sympathique, I ordered them in an imp package, because I've always wanted to try out Nosferatu, Miskatonic U and La Petite Mort. This will be fun, so much to sample!   I think BPAL is wonderful because it challenges us to use the wiring that's there in our brains to distinguish certain smells. This is something that the human brain can do (obviously, because even my brain can do it!), but it's not frequently needed for survival in the modern world. So rather than letting it sit and molder, we use it for our pleasure. So there's a very Gil Grissom-like rationalization for buying the shit out of BPAL. And as Ani DiFranco said, fuck guilt!   I haven't written a lot in the blog lately because I was rather -- oh, what should I say? -- spent. Last week was one of those weeks when everyone was interested in confessing things to me, wanting me to be their therapist or plugging into my energy. Whatever you want to call it, people were there, almost like zombies. I did have a relatively beneficial and mutual conversation with the guy at the coffee house (Mr. "Wandering Gypsy") about how he writes lyrics to his songs. He said something very similar to interviews that I've read with other singer/songwriters, who say that it's just channeled to them. They can't explain it any other way. They sit and write endless crap and then, standing at the refrigerator, something amazing downloads in their brain and they run over, find a piece of paper and write the lyrics to an entire song. I read an interview with Greg Brown, who said he had an entire album come to him as he was driving home in the dark; it was like he had the radio on, listening to new music, but he didn't -- it was in his head.   The psychology folks say that's just the left brain letting go and the right brain taking over, but my friend (and a lot of other songwriters) don't think it's that simple and/or simply biological. I read a book where a number of neurologists and researchers said that when one riddle of the brain is solved, it also leads them to discover that there's 10 more things that they don't understand. I don't think we'll ever figure it out, and why should we? Maybe the mystery isn't ours to understand.   And I'll get off that kick and close by saying that I tried my imp of Has No Hanna last Wednesday night when I thought a little boost would help. And if what happened afterwards was any indication, I can't explain it, nor do I want to, but it worked...
valentina

valentina

2
This Old Snark
 

Season's Eatings

Ah, Fall! What an evocative name for the season. Snarky thinks of dying trees and the inevitability of gravity, time, entropy, age. Such a beautiful time of the year. The French probably have a perfect word to describe this rather gothic appreciation of the last gasp of life.   Also the Cantonese. Snarky has been learning some rather ribald Chinese sayings from her parents used to describe the universal truths of life. Darned if she can remember any of them right now, though.   The Snarks are Big Fans of this time of year. This month they will be celebrating their sixth (!) anniversary, in fact. They got married in an autumnal blaze of glory. Fall of ought-ought turned out to be one of the best years for color in recent history for the Western North Carolina mountains.   And what else besides the crisp charge in the air heralds the arrival of this most beloved time of year? Why, produce, of course! Honeycrisp apples at the Beaverton Farmer's Market   Brussel Tree! Sometimes the Snarks forget that these don't actually grow in little mesh plastic bags.   The Snarks are surrounded by artichoke farms (well, OK, just the one outside of Tillamook) but this was the first time since moving Out West that they partook. Cha cha cha!   Out with the pesto pizza, in with the roasted portabella pizza!   Perfect fall days start with a trip to Kruger's Farm Market on Sauvie Island.   The Snarks are preparing for an anniversary weekend in a treehouse, in which they will be working dilligently to build up their winter coats. The Mister is already researching recipes for their time in the woods. (A sure sign that the Snarks were meant for eachother if there ever was one.) There will be roasted root vegetables and cobblers and at some point a Butterfinger pie (sixth anniversary = gifts of candy or iron, and Snarky hasn't been near a welding torch in almost a decade). The nose might be directly linked up to the deepest parts of memory in the brain, but Snarky's heart is hard-wired to her stomach.
darkitysnark

darkitysnark

6
Whiskers and Whispers
 

Yay for y00ltide!

Again, my paypal falls victim to the fragrant black hole that is Beth's ingenuity. Here's a little analysis of the scents offered today, what I got, what I want, what I might want in small doses etc:   I bought:   13 (revisited) cocoa and vanilla beans, Mysore sandalwood, star fruit, orange rind, red amber, fig leaf, mimosa, rooibos tea, bourbon geranium, rose otto, nutmeg, and lavender. I hoped that I would avoid 13 if it was the same white choc orange scent (which I love, but I don't need more for now) but then Beth unleashes something that tops it. I love cocoa, vanilla, sandalwood, amber (red amber's a new one-I need to try H&E's version too), rose, nutmeg and bourbon geranium...and I'd love to see what Beth's starfruit and rooibos notes are like. And how all these notes mesh together in this scent!   SOL INVICTUS -- A radiant blend of solar oils: golden amber, saffron, heliotrope, hibiscus, citron, frangipani, frankincense, tangerine, mock orange, and orange blossom. Oh yes! I want to smell like a pagan sun-god on December 25 (that's where the date for Xmas originates, after all). I'm also hoping this would be what I hoped Et Lux Fuit was on me. It shares some components but hopefully the tropical florals and the saffron and frankincense will make it richer, warmer and lovelier than ELF was on me. I'm also reminded of Ra, which I love. This looks ideal for anyone who may get SAD in winter, I don't suffer from it too badly but the long nights-and the cold-sometimes give me winter blues, this is the perfect cure.   YULE -- It is Yule, and the Holly King has slain the Oak: blood red holly berry, mistletoe, wild thyme, verbena, cinquefoil, hemp, winter rose, evergreen, frankincense, juniper, and myrrh. I'm collecting the pagan sabbat oils (well, the ones that are easy to acquire as bottles!) and this sounds gorgeous, wonderful, evocative...I wonder if it will be the scent opposite of Litha? (They do share some notes...) Not sure what holly berry, cinquefoil and mistletoe smell like but the other ingredients are pretty awesome. This sounds like an amazing mix of evergreen forest scents, resins, herbs and rose. This looks even better than Yuletide, which smelt like a Yankee Candle on me.   LILIUM INTER SPINAS --Hibiscus syriacus, white sandalwood, lily of the valley, apple blossom, and green fig. I have no idea what the hibiscus note is like but I'm curious...LotV can go soapy, apple blossom is so-so, green fig can be sharp, but this could go either way-the poem is beautiful as well...so I got an imp.   HORREUR SYMPATHIQUE -- blood musk, golden honey, thick black wine, champagne grapes, tobacco flower, plum blossom, tonka bean, oakmoss, carnation, benzoin, opoponax, and sugar cane. Holy shit, this sounds magnificent! Look at all these wonderful notes-blood musk, honey, wine, champagne, tonka, carnation, resins, sugar...this looks like one of those amazing complex and fantastic BPALs, reminiscent of the Masque or Sed Non Satiata...I just had to get an imp. Should have got a bottle.   LOVE-LIES-BLEEDING -- The velvet flower. A lush, thick, luxuriant bloom, bold and red. Ditto Devil's Claw, but the name is gorgeous. I used to call those plants 'monkey tails' when I was little. The real name is much more evocative. But what will it smell like-blood? Something fuzzy, perhaps? Imp.   THE TEMPTATION -- attar of rose, calla lily, palmarosa, peach blossom, wisteria, rice flower, and black musk. This sounds like a fascinating floral-I'm intrigued by the rice flower. Not sure about wisteria (can go off on me) but the other ingredients are promising-love rose, peach and black musk. Imp.   MANIA -- Screeching white musk collides with a howl of red musk, with sharp white grapefruit and pale strawberry leaf. Musks! I adore red and white musks. I've never smelt strawberry leaf, would be interesting to see if it smells like greenish strawberries...but the musks! I'd love to see how the grapefruit comes into it as well. Imp.   HALÔA -- Wine grapes, myrrh, frankincense and olive leaf, and the warm scent of offertory cakes. CAKE!!! The description reminds me of All Souls with wine, or Cockaigne with resins, which sounds so delightful. mmm. But the olive leaf worries me-does it smell like olives? I think it did in Alecto, but I love Tzadikim Nistarim, which has olive but doesn't smell of it. I've bought a bottle because...CAKE!!   Will get eventually:   BLACK LILY -- Breathtaking darkness, a vision of grace in shadow. I've tried the prototype and I'm torn, because it veers from stunningly beautiful to metallic and weird on my skin. It's a 'locket scent', for me. I might try an imp of this to see if it's changed.   DEVIL'S CLAW -- A yellow-bright and smoky brown-black scent, horned, pronged and strange. I have no idea what this will smell like. Brown and yellow? Smoky? I have no clue, will wait for reveiws. Maybe imp.   SLOBBERING PINE -- Dewy, wet, whiplike and sticky. Hmm, the name's great and a little bit gross, but if it smells like pine resin...I love the smell of pine sap. It's messy, sticky stuff but it smells gooooood, not Xmassy or disinfectant-y at all.   THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS -- A funereal bouquet laid on cemetery grass: longiflorum lilies, white rose, chrysanthemum, and carnation. This reminds me of Santa Muerte and Sepulchre, which I quite like. Very flowery and traditional, maybe a bit mournful, but it could be beautiful. Maybe an imp.   And now for y00ltide goodness!!!   BLACK ICE -- Lovely, dangerous, slick, and bitterly cold: chilly white sleet-like notes with a hint of vetiver, a breath of smoky asphalt, and winter wind Asphalt? I don't really like the idea of smelling of asphalt...and vetiver can be scary at times. The icy and windy notes sound so interesting though...Beth is amazing at conjuring up weather scents, despite me not getting on with storm ozones or seaspray, they are still so evocative. Decant.   THE DARKLING THRUSH -- Snow, darkness, and icy air illuminated by the thrush’s song: warm amber, soft orris, and melancholy violet. This sounds beautiful. Snowy and wintery airy notes? Yum. Amber? Oh yeah. I quite like orris and violet too. Decant for now, but it sounds promising.   HERR DROSSELMEYER 2006 -- Pipe smoke, sweet leather, woods and linen. Tried it last year, think it's ok but don't need more. Too manly and smoky-in a nice way, but not on my skin.   JACOB'S LADDER 2006 --The meeting of Heaven and Earth: golden amber, galbanum, benzoin, ambrette, rockrose, costus and tonka. I adore this scent, maybe I'll get more? I already have two 05 bottles, but I might want to see if this has changed.   JÓLASVEINAR -- 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. I like snow, dirt and moss, have no idea what marsh felwort, moorland spotted orchids or buttercups (well, vaguely) smell like but previews say this smells like a real Xmas tree, with soil. But it's the Christmas pastries that grab me. To me, that means MINCE PIES!!! If this has even a slight mince pies scent to it, I'll need more, but for now, it's a decant.   KNECHT RUPRECHT -- The snow-covered foliage of the Black Forest and the fruit and woods of apple and almond trees. I wonder if this will smell like Black Forest+snowy notes? Or maybe BF sans musk, but with snow in it's place? If so, this sounds really interesting with apples and almonds...decant.   KRAMPUS -- Sinister red musk, black leather, dusty rags, and wooden switches. Oh, this sounds so fun! Like Spanked for 06! I'm not sure about the dusty rags though-but red musk and leather, like Loviatar! Decant, maybe bottle.   LICK IT AGAIN -- Every holiday season should be full of lewd suggestions and filthy double entendres, right? This is a new take on last year’s Lick It – a peppermint candy cane with an extra jolt of sugar. I adore Lick It, have 2 bottles, love it's minty coolness and it's vanilla-musk drydown. But if this is a new formulation with more sugar...I might need to get this too!   MIDNIGHT MASS 2006 -- see Jacob's Ladder 06.   THE SNOW MAIDEN -- Ylang ylang, osmanthus, spring berries, and daffodil cloaked in hoarfrost. Not sure what hoarfrost smells like (cold, obviously) but the floral/berry/daffodil notes look gorgeous. This scent sounds beautiful and ethereal, delicate and icy, and I need to add more to my 'snow' collection, but it's a decant for now.   SNOW-FLAKES -- The radiance and desolation of winter. A vague description huh? I have no idea if this snowy scent will be like the Skadi/Snow Moon/Bunny snow, Snow White snow, Cloister Graveyard/Ice Queen snow, or something completely different...I'm intrigued though, plus it's another one for my snow collection. Decant.   STARDUST 2006 -- This scent reflects the futurism, self-indulgence and excess of the Glitter 70’s: champagne, hyacinth, tuberose, ylang ylang and flashing white musk with jonquil, tobacco flower, white sandalwood and a pale poppy. See Jacob's Ladder 06.   THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT -- Embrace your villainy: balsam, myrrh, mandarin orange, bitter clove, artemesia, rosewood, nutmeg, dark musk, smoke and cypress. This sounds very interesting. I love myrrh, orange, clove, nutmeg and smoke, have no idea about artemisia, the other notes sound good, but this may be a little masculine. Decant.   This was a spectacular update of course-lots more ice and snow than expected, none of the old faves back (well, some of the 05 faves are there) but a very interesting direction for Beth to go in...I don't know if there'll be a Yule part 2, would be cool if that was the case though.
PurringPulsar

PurringPulsar

0
Sourball Ho!
 

13 update!

I've been feeling a bit down and out-of-sorts lately with the job situation, so this big update is a nice distraction. I waffled on 13 -- I bought a bottle of the 2005 original and while it was nice, I ended up swapping it away. I think it was the iris at the end that made it not as enjoyable. Anyway, the reformulation was tempting enough so it's been ordered.   I can't believe there are Yule bottles available! I tried Jacob's Ladder at a Meet-n-Sniff and didn't like it as much as I thought I would -- unfortunately I haven't found an amber blend I love yet. Stardust has a great description, but I tried it and it's not something I would ever wear regularly. I already have bottles of Lick It and Midnight Mass. Here are the new ones I'm interested in:   Haloa -- I'm all over any reference to wine, but the "cakey" note hasn't been working on me lately Jolasveinar -- snow and dirt sound intriguing and different, and with pastries in the background? Weird! Knecht Ruprecht -- more snow, this time with fruit trees, but if "Black Forest" means pine in any fashion it won't be good for me Krampus -- this one sounds like a lot of fun, but the black leather scents come out too processed and "city," if that makes any sense. I like the leather of Dead Man's Hand (and Quincey Morris, from the reviews). We'll see Snow-Flakes -- I'm anxiously awaiting the hopeful return of Snow White, so hopefully this isn't a substitute, but it sounds nice anyway Sol Invictus -- this sounds a lot like Litha (great!) and Et Lux Fuit (OK), so I'll check the reviews Yule -- I had a bottle of Yuletide which was good but not great. Too much Krafty Korner craft store smell. This one might be a bit more complex   Phoo, that's a lot. The new GCs I'm interested in are:   Mania -- the musk blends have really been nice lately. Smut totally changed my perspective Horreur Sympathique -- wow, so many great ingredients, I can't wait to start reading reviews of this one
dawndie

dawndie

2
Filling the Periodic Table
 

I'm going to be a homeowner!

I put in an offer on a townhouse yesterday.   Holy crap, this attaching an album to an entry thing is *cool*. Only it seems to only have 9 out of my 11 pictures, and it doesn't include the captions. See the full gallery for more details.   Anyway, check out the pictures. It's an end unit, so I only have a neighbor on one side, and there's no neighbors to the back, just a stand of trees and way back behind those is the fitness center. I ran out of charge on my camera before I got pictures of the bedrooms, but there's really nothing exciting about those.   It's hot a new heating/ac system (with a digital thermostat! so I'll be able to program it to heat when I'm nome and not when I'm not and stuff) and I'll have a full-on laundry room in the basement, where I can have a normal, not stacked washer and dryer. I'm excited.   And this is the development it's in: Chesterfield Village Townhomes
antimony

antimony

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