smallvoice

In the imp this was heavily floral. Once it gets onto my skin, spices emerge and balance the florals a bit. It's much better with the spices. The vetiver note that I'm enjoying sort of throws a tantrum and scares everything else away. I'm enjoying some of the notes that resurface eventually, but yeesh. Not enough. That vetiver is just obnoxious, and it stays sharp.

This is another cidery scent, and I do see how the apples could smell a little overripe, but they decide to be crisp on my skin. I love the woods behind it, but eventually it turns really sour. It does not love me.

As I am wont to do when anyone so much as hints that citrus is an agreeable scent, I must recommend Whitechapel. It's light and citrus-y and just wonderful. I'd also recommend Moxie, though it isn't incredibly like Swank either, it has that same bubbly feel to it. And I second Aizen-myoo and Embalming Fluid. Another fizzy-fruity scent you might want to try is Thalia. Hmm. I'll have to think.

I think Wanderlust might be my favourite category. I adore Manila for the tropical scent- it's exactly what I've been looking for! Whitechapel is possibly my favourite scent ever- it's light and citrus-y and just all around beautiful on me. The Crossroads are a sweet, herbal incense on me. I need to wear it again before I can offer a better description, but I do like it. I loved Hollywood Babylon until I realized my husband was allergic to heavy musks, and I think the musk may've been making me cough a bit, too. (It has a gorgeous, sweet, musky scent, though.) Kyoto is lovely and light. (I need to test my imp further) Madrid is gorgeous and sweet. (I need to find a new imp to test!) Morocco has 2 danger-notes in it for me- Carnation and warm musks. However, this blend works well on my skin. I love the spicy feel to it, and yet the dry-down is almost powdery. R'Lyeh has my beloved element of citrus and, true to form, I love ze evil grapefruit. Silk Road is AMAZING. It's warm and perfect. And those are the ones I've tried and liked/loved.

I am a firm believer in karma. I have to admit that I have, occasionally, taken pleasure in seeing it in action... and not the good kind. Ultimately, I know that kind of thing doesn't earn me good karma points or whatever, but it was sure worth it. Heh.

Eos and Red Devil were twins on my skin. Arkham Revisited reminds me of Jailbait and Hamadryad, though I don't know if it could be duplicated by layering, as I think there are just notes that are similar from those two. Or I could be crazy. Seduction reminds me of Numb, though I liked Seduction a LOT better. In turn, Hecate reminds me of Seduction, with Seduction winning out again. Hecate was fairly soapy on my skin.

I've never had BPAL in the summer (as I joined in late December), so I'm just guessing here. What all would you classify as springy, per se? The really light blends, like Embalming Fluid and Aizen-myoo? Or really floral like Eos? If you like violets, I'd think they would be great for late summer, as they're not so heavy. (Seduction strikes me as a good possibility) Jasmine might be another great late summer note. Specifics... depends on what you like, I guess. I'm not a huge fan of deep musks, but Hollywood Babylon seems like it might work. To get in the mood for Halloween, 13 seems ideal. Verdandi had a cider note (to my nose), and the same lightness of aizen-myoo. The Hesperides had that same apple turned cider note. Also, Carnal (fruity and floral!) and R'lyeh (evil grapefuit!) are ones to consider. Hope this helped!

In the imp, it's this musty incense with a strong chocolate note. On my skin, I'm not smelling any leather or smoke, and the incense is secondary, but the chocolate comes absolutely alive, and I'm sort of in awe because, to me, chocolate doesn't have any business being a perfumey sort of scent (much like the scents in Midway, which similarly blew me away)- lotion and other stuff, sure, but... somehow Beth makes it work beautifully as a perfume. I love this chocolate. It's warm on my skin, where Bliss eventually went plastic, and it's rich and beautiful and... dusty. Yeah, my perfect chocolate turns into an old box that once held the perfect chocolate. I love the scent, and may have to find an imp just to have on hand, but it's not me.

In the imp this smells tart, crisp and lovely. There's a hint of cider, and it's almost a memory scent, if I could only capture the memory. On my skin the herbs really ground the scent, but the apples are still prominent. It actually has the same feel of Aizen-myoo, but milder in some ways. Eventually a slight medicinal note creeps out. I wouldn't wear this enough to justify a big bottle, but I'm glad I got to try it. The apple note is one I'll be looking out for; it's beautiful. It seems like it would be a stellar room scent.

That's really an impressive amount of time, so don't be hard on yourself. It sounds amazing, really! I've always wanted to be bold enough (and tough enough) to get a tattoo, but I doubt I will. It's an incredible art form, I think. Hope it's feeling better!

So, yesterday, one of the many people snapping zillions of pictures at my wedding brought over a collage style picture frame with the pictures in question in it... and it was sobering to see myself in a picture. Like, embarrassing. To the point where I've had enough. Eating habits must change this summer. Workouts must be performed regularly in the fall. I may be so drastic as to join a gym. I am tired of ze flab. It will be eradicated. I'm just not sure how I'll do this. It's all well and good to look at the pictures and resolve not to do it anymore, but I've got a serious addiction to combat. One day at a time? Should I try a twelve step program? Should I just cut it out of my life, cold turkey? I really felt like I looked great at my wedding, but to see the photographs... appalling.

"For the duration of your mortal lives" That bothers me more than "till death do you part." I'll continue the full account, but I wanted to write about this now. As I mentioned previously, I was raised primarily in the LDS church. One thing the church really hammers home is the importance of eternal families. Eternal families are formed through sacred covenants made in a temple wedding ceremony- the couple is sealed in the temple, as the phrase goes. (Not literally.) Anyone who marries outside the temple, provided they are given ample opportunity in this life to do so, will not be able to remain with their spouse beyond death. Despite my doubts about my devotion to christianity as a whole, this really scares me. I don't know that we will have a lot of time together on this earth, so what if it really is true? This must sound ridiculous or lofty or something, but... I just love him so much. I don't want to spend eternity knowing I could've been with him, but my choices made it so I can't. With "til death do you part," it was easier to reassure myself that a mortal death doesn't kill the soul- thus, there is no death. "For the duration of your mortal lives" is pretty freaking straightforward. There's no room for interpretation there. It's like an expiration date has been stamped on our marriage, and the silly thing is that I don't even know if I believe that. I know I shouldn't. I know that no just God would sentence me to hell for not getting married in the temple- and, while the LDS religion doesn't teach that people who aren't married in the temple will go to hell (just a lower degree of heaven), eternity without him would be hell for me, no matter how nice the accomodations. It makes me afraid of losing him. I shouldn't be obsessing over this; I know. I just can't help it.

Thank you for this. I especially love the Buddhist quote. There is a part of me that strongly believes in reincarnation. Even before I had a grasp of what that really meant, I felt like there were people in my life that were always going to be a part of it; both good and bad. I still feel that way. I feel that way about strangers I've encountered only once or twice, and I feel that way about family members- but not all of them. I don't know that there is a gauge of how many people remain close and how many cycle out. Maybe it's dependent upon the person. Your experience in Salt Lake was interesting to me. I remember learning about eternal families and thinking, "...ugh. I'd just as soon not be sealed to my parents." I also had the reaction of thinking eternity sounded like an awfully long time to spend with someone. Now, it sounds about right. I think you are right. I don't think we will have to spend eternity apart. I just think that I will always worry, just a little bit.

Woah. There is SO much to write about. It was a LONG day. I woke up early- about 7:30. I got ready, and waited for my cousin/maid of honor to be ready. We left the house around 9:30. I'm going to sound like a horrible person here, but my meltdown came when I went to make sure my mother would be up and at the church (because she had the key) and she was sick. She has a chronic illness and is genuinely sick quite often, but she also will tend to rely on it as an attention getter, which pisses me off to no end. I just really needed her to pull it together, and it was one more thing going wrong. Just couldn't deal. So I grabbed my dress and left in a hurry. I went to a coffee shop and had a coffee and tried to calm down. The boy called my mom to see what was up and my aunt and her two oldest boys were going to head over to unlock the building. So my cousin and I thought we'd go make sure there were people there setting up. There weren't. It was just the three of them. So my cousin and I couldn't very well just be like, "Okay, see ya. Have fun with that!" We went in and helped set up and my aunt offered to help with my hair, but she had to run errands. Yeah. We didn't get out of there until after 12. She suggested meeting back up around 2. So my cousin and I ran to the nail salon where she had acryllics put on and that took forever. I never did find pretty underwear, but I found tights. While I was in the store looking for tights and underwear, I remembered that I wouldn't be going home again until after the wedding (no time!) and I didn't have my aquamarine earrings with me. I phoned the boy, asked him to look for the earrings, and he came up with nothing. So I asked him to look for the ones 'snarky got me from the swap, and he also couldn't find those. That was my big meltdown moment. I couldn't very well walk down the aisle without earrings! I needed those earrings! I was going to DIE without those earrings! (They were in plain sight when we got home, much, MUCH later.) So much drama. Anyway. I needed something borrowed, so I asked one of my bridesmaids to bring me earrings, and then found out that another one already had some with her, and they were GORGEOUS. Pearls with diamonds. Really simple and just lovely. We had to rush back, but the church was locked. However, we recognized cars, so we knew somebody was there. We're pounding on the doors and trying to get somebody's attention- It took about 15 minutes, and it was only due to the wonder of cell phones and luck that it was that fast. I'd forgotten any sort of hair-doing supplies, so my aunt and I ran to a store nearby and bought bobby pins and hair spray and a hairbrush and then ran back to the church. We scoot on back to the bride's room (It's makeshift; it's just one of the classrooms, but it was our base of operations, so that's what I'm calling it.) and get started on my hair. I'm not one for putting products in my hair, so it didn't feel that great- my hair is oddly really wavy, but hates holding curl. Continuation: I got sprayed in the eye with hairspray, which sucked. My cousin Donna shows up with 2 of her kids, and we have a little reunion. Her dad died earlier this year, and it was the first time I'd seen her since. She brought me tic tacs from him and came to the rescue when I realized I didn't have "something old" to carry. The second of three bridesmaids shows up with the pretty earrings and lots of hair-doing supplies. It's about 3:00 at this point. Lots of family have arrived and I'm trying to get around to see everybody, but I'm sort of confined to the room, so people are coming around to see me. I'm sorta hungry at this point; haven't had much to eat. And thus, my favourite story from the wedding is born. (To be told much later) Bridesmaid #2 volunteers to get me food, so she runs off to subway around 3:30. I can't remember what else she was doing. (Gah. I should've continued this sooner. I know there's a ton of stuff I'm forgetting.) And that, chickies, is where I must pause for the night, because... I'm so tired it's literally making me sick to my stomach. I'll pick back up soon.

I'm getting MARRIED tomorrow! And it's already tomorrow in some places! I can't believe how excited and calm I am, all at the same time. My piano player did show up at the rehersal, so we talked about what songs I wanted and what parts. I'm walking to Nightfall and Leaves on the Seine by David Lanz. I love him. I'm starting to feel self-conscious about my dress not being white or traditional. Woah. Serious anxiety. That's so weird. ... Ugh. I'm so stressed out now! What happened to being calm? I'm going to be walking in front of who knows how many people in a blue nonwedding dress! Why didn't I get a normal dress, like normal people do?

Thanks- I don't know that I'm a ton calmer, but I am excited about the wedding. I will have a few people there with digital cameras, so I'm sure a couple will end up here. Anyway! Much running around to do. Take good care! -Cor

I'll be married in 48 hours!! I got shoes (they're pretty much hideous, but I don't imagine I'll end up caring a lot about them!) and my nails done- I'm loving them, but not the typing with them on. I hung out with one of my dearest friends from high school for several hours today, and that was fun. She actually learned the first two pages of one of the songs I had wanted to walk to, in case my piano player flakes out, as she is wont to do. That is very nice of her, and quite unexpected. Hopefully we'll be able to get together tomorrow, but tomorrow is going to be very busy. We were able to find a bakery that was SO reasonably priced and extremely sympathetic to my case and just incredibly nice overall who would also be able to get it done by friday, which is so awesome. It's going to be a lovely cake, and there's carrot cake! It's extremely good carrot cake. The other layers are white with different fillings- odd that I won't be having chocolate. I may grab a chocolate sheet cake to make sure we have enough.

Thanks, everyone! I'm sure it will ultimately pull together, I'm just nervous. But it's looking like there's less to be nervous about! I'm so very excited! Thank you again for all the well wishing.

The pans that my mother was borrowing to bake the cakes? Yeah, not available after all. And I've officially been overruled. We're buying sheet cakes from Costco on friday. I can't go to the bakery to find out how much their cakes would be (and I can't find the number anywhere, because I don't know the name, I just know it's on the parkway.) because I'm under house arrest for a day of rest. And cleaning. I'm in major meltdown mode- but I appreciate all the offers of help and ranting in unison and encouragement to become ze bridezilla within. I think I need that right now. And the boy wants to watch House now. So very not in the mood.

Remember my wedding cake decorator? Free cake, as a wedding gift? Yeah, apparently, she's not going to be able to do that anymore. The move that she told me she'd be in the middle of when she offered to do it has caused her to be unable to do it. Her pans are all lost and she can't find anything for her kitchen and... dude. DUDE! My wedding is on freaking friday!! YYRRRAAAAARRRGGHHH!

Thank you for that! You're very right.

Heh! We were at the bakery today, and they had a pirate ship cake for a kid's birthday, and I was like, "Man, we missed out. We totally should've had a pirate theme instead." He was more inclined toward the spiderman cake, however. Thanks for your well wishes- they are much appreciated!

I'm sorry you're feeling sad right now! And, if I have time to breathe in the next couple of days, I will probably take you up on the offer of ze venting.

It sounds gorgeous. The boy is being protective and trying to keep me out of the line of stress as much as possible. Sooo, he thinks it's best to just let my mother bake the round cakes and... it's going to be a disaster. Y'know, I'd rather have a plain cake that was really tasty than a fancy cake that was gross... but I have a feeling I'm going to get a really fugly plain cake (not a lovely, simplistic cake- which I sort of wanted- but a truly fugly cake) that tastes disgusting. At least there'll be cream puffs and fortune cookies. We'll laugh about it afterwards, right? Thanks! I wouldn't hesitate to use the drama, but we don't have the money to cover a last minute cake, which is part of the reason I'm so furious about the way this happened.

Well, I didn't care how fancy it was, and then when I got with her, I got really excited about how it was going to look (edible flowers! black frosting on sattellite cakes!) and now... I don't know. My mom is going to bake cake mixes for it, which is incredibly nice of her (she's borrowing pans from a friend- they're round, not square, but I can't be picky at this point) but it makes me so mad, because she shouldn't have to do it. I suggested cupcakes, which she shot down as being more difficult to decorate. I suggested brownies and ice cream, and she rolled her eyes. I don't know. It's just... WTF?? Also, nobody will do any wedding cake without a week's notice. So... There will be cake, it just won't be... tasty. And that's sad, because it could've been if we'd known sooner that she couldn't do it... I'm so freaking angry. Thank you so much for your support. The boy has been really calm about it all (to try and keep me calm) but it's nice to have my panic and anger validated. Your suggestions were really good ones, I just wish there were more time.