tartchef

How do you take your coffee (or tea)? Black or with cream and/or sugar? Coffee: 2 scoops of demarara sugar & a slosh of fat-free half & half Tea: skim milk, no sugar. Absolutely no cream, no half & half (that's not why they call it a cream tea, people!), but I'll take 2% in a pinch. Do you believe we control our destiny, or does our destiny control us? A bit of both. I firmly believe that we get back in life what we put out into the world, so in that respect we can shape our experiences. That said, I have no doubt that our paths are at times immovable - there are things that we are meant to do, places we are meant to go, and no amount of thrashing around will change that We might be able to put it off for a few days/weeks/years, but inevitably we will tread the path meant for us. We can fight it & be miserable, or embrace it & be at peace. There are times when both approaches are warranted. What one thing that is missing from your life would you like to have above all else? Ooof. Wow, Bard. This is hard. Really, really hard. I am generally an optimistic & happy soul, but for as long as I can remember, I have held a deep sense of loss. There is a small but howling hole that is wailing for... something. And I will be damned if I know what that something is. Sometimes I think it is tied to having been born outside the UK, where all of my family is from. It's that kind of unmoored, displaced, misunderstood ennui... I have yet to find a place that I really feel I belong. Yow. Who knew SW would double as therapy? What's your favorite dessert treat? Ice cream? Cake? Pie? Fudge brownie cake with pie flavored ice cream on top? Ha. You ask this of a pastry chef? If we're talking *Real Dessert* (as opposed to Sweet Thing I Could Snarf Down with a Cup of Tea, or A Slice of Something to Chase the Diner Dinner), I tend to go with tarts & composite desserts... I like a good balance between sweet & tart/bitter, creamy & crisp, & anything with really dark chocolate, rhubarb, elderflower, blackberries, dried fruit, ginger or cacao nibs catches my eye. One of my favorite desserts that I used to do was a warm pear & frangipane tart with a scoop of nutmeg gelato, a scattering of Sauternes gelee & a gilded pear chip - cakey, fruity, crumbly, creamy, crisp with bursts of boozey gelatine In your perfect world it is chocolate and...? Salt. Dark, milk, white chocolate, it's all thrown into high relief by just a few flakes of good sea salt. Runners-up include Vietnamese cinnamon, black pepper, roses, curry, lavender, and peanut butter for when I'm feeling particularly pre-menstrual How do you scent your home Tarts, reed diffusers, BPAL, candles? We don't do much, due to DH's asthma, but I use an oil burner & BPTP sprays in my office. We do use copal & sage/cedar incense in the rest of the house when the weather's damp, just to chase away the Old House Funk. Secret power? My real one or my fantasy one? My real superpower is remembering faces & minute details about people. I am the one who recognizes all the bit actors in a given movie & what you were wearing last Thursday. Just don't ask me to remember names! My fantasy power would be superhuman strength - I wanna be like Mr Incredible! For the tea and coffee drinkers: Opinion on tea- and/or coffee-related accessories/etc? (Teaware, sugar crystals, infusers, tea chests, etc) I could use a nice over-the-cup strainer - mine is really utilitarian. A cool, retro modern sugar bowl might be nice, something like this, maybe. If I send you whole spices or coffee beans, would you be able to grind them or would you prefer them preground for your convenience? Whole bean coffee always! Most spices I use fast enough that ground is fine, but I am partial to whole nutmeg, cinnamon & cardamon... If you do any kind of craft, could you use supplies? What kind? knitting needles, yarn, amazing fabric, pinking shears, cool thimbles or pincushins, jewelery making supplies, beads, etc.? I am a Crazy Crafter - I do a bit of just about everything. I looooove Japanese fabrics, so fat quarters are always fun. I have a few craft books on my Amazon list that'd be swell.

What was your favouritest job ever, and why? That's an easy one - executive pastry chef for a little fine dining place in Wicker Park, Chicago. I made my own hours, had nearly full control over the dessert menu, had a quiet & wholly supportive executive chef, a band of grossly inappropriate & deeply loyal prep & line guys, and a wait staff who took an active & passionate interest in food. The basement kitchen sucked a bit, and the owners were ultimately a right pair of bastards, but if I wanted something, I ordered it. If I wanted to put something on the menu, I did it. I was constantly changing the menu according to the seasons & my whims, and I got some spectacular feedback from the customers. At the time I was petulant about not being "recognized" by the Chicago food community, but now I have the wisdom to see how that was ultimately a blessing - if we'd blown up in popularity, I couldn't have kept that micro approach, I'd have had to streamline & that would have meant a lot less of the fun parts. My feet burned constantly, I had no health insurance, I worked every New Year's Eve & Valentine's Day, but I was deeply happy. Which three albums would you take to your apocalypse bolt hole and how would you power the generator? Rachel's Systems & Layers, Pixie's Dolittle, and Duke Ellington & John Coltrane's Impulse collaboration. I'd rig a gyroscope to my belt & run a wire to the generator - I am not one of these people who can sit still when good music is playing What GC scent have you been putting off getting since it'll "always be there"? Until recently, Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo - I'd keep getting frimps of it here & there, so I never thought to get a bottle. Times have changed, though, and when I next have BPAL money to spend there'll be bottles of ACJM & TKO first in the cart. Are you interested in things like home remedies for ailments, cleaning solutions, etc.? I'm a wealth of folk knowledge already, but bring them on! We're trying to go green as much as possible.

An anonymous benefactor gives you $500 (or an equivalent amount of money in your currency of choice) with the following stipulations. You must spend all of it within a week: any money left unspent must be returned. You must spend at least half of the money on yourself. You may not use it to pay off debts or bills of any kind. What do you do with the money? Duct tape purses and wallets and things are pretty darned cool. Who else thinks so? I don't carry either, so yeah, they're cool, but not for me Are you an avid reader? What's your favorite book/series? Oh books. Once upon a time when I had a 45-minute train commute each way, I inhaled books. Nowadays, I'm lucky to have 15 minutes a day to read for myself - and it's usually cooking magazines & parenting articles I miss reading desperately, and long for the day when my life slows down enough to allow it again. I try to read Tolkien every year, and am frequently going back over my old Ray Bradbury. Andrea Barrett's Voyage of the Narwhal & Ship Fever, and Sena Naslund's Ahab's Wife have been some books that have blown me away in recent years. Any cooks? Could you use anything cooking related? Aprons? Cookbooks? Measuring Cups? Recipes? Herb/Spice containers? Fancy Spices? Dish Towels? Cocktail napkins? Amazing Beaded Pot Holders? (like from our very own Pottersville! ) Something else? Oh yeah. I'm a trained pastry chef, and worked the food industry for nearly 20 years. I do free-lance baking & catering from my home now, and have a few much-needed tools on my Amazon wish list. My two aprons are unflattering & utilitarian - I'd love something with a bit more style but that's still functional (a big front pocket for herbs snipped in the garden, no frills/ruffles to drag through fresh buttercream, machine-washable). I love proper British tea towels - the flat cotton/linen weave, not the terrycloth kind. ETA: Oo. Tiny C has been demanding a packed lunch nearly every day. He looooves sushi, and I have been eyeing some egg & rice molds to jazz things up, as well as some of the kawaii bento books. Some tiny cookie cutters in car/truck/plane shapes would be superawesome, too... Who likes coloring books? I love Dover Publications, esp anything botanical or historic...

Describe your ideal picnic lunch. Where would you go? Who (if anyone, and yes there can be multiple people) would accompany you? What sort of food would you take? And, of course, if a picnic lunch sounds like a horrible idea, feel free to say so! Oo. Can I have two? The first would be DH & Tiny C & our friends M & J & their little guy & C & E & their three girls - a big kid-friendly picnic. We'd find a grassy area overlooking a nice sandy beach - it'd be a New England summer day, not too hot. The food would be straight out of Donna Hay - pressed loaf sandwiches, bahn mi, grape leaves, pasties, brioche pockets, raspberry coconut slice, a big jar of lemonade, G&Ts for the big people. There would be kites & coloring books & digging in the sand, and shoes would be forbidden. We'd spread out on old cotton quilts & watch the birds sail overhead... The second would be also on the beach, but at dusk, with a pit fire. In attendance: Tom Waits, Georgia O'Keefe, Kate Winslet, & a bunch of goofy indie rock boys. Tom & Georgia would get intensely drunk & sit around the fire thrashing out The Artist's Way. The boys would be off in the distance cavorting & doing stupid boy tricks. And Kate & I would get tipsy & cuddly & lie with our heads together & look at the stars & talk like we were 14... Do you like pinup art/images? Not a rabid fan, but I do appreciate some artful curves Who are your BPAL forum buddies? You know, people I could conspire with to Witch you! Hoo boy. You'd have MORE than willing accomplices in zankoku_zen, Wwindy, Apple & ifinena. They are all deliciously evil & I love them What are your plans for Halloween? Have you made any yet? Do you have any traditions? Once I get John the Baptist's head on its way We'll get Tiny C dressed up, and he & DH will make the neighborhood rounds with the rest of the kids & dads - we moms sit on the porches & dole out candy. I demand a song or dance from the older kids! Some of the offerings are pretty entertaining You're in the kitchen at the end of a pay period and groceries are pretty scarce. Do you take the five ingredients you find first and make something fabulous, or do you order take out? Depends on time, mood & what I've got. We've ordered sushi faaar too often recently. I am the queen of making something out of nothing, though. If you could decorate/redecorate any 1 room in your home, what would it be and how would you decorate it? The bathroom - it needs a complete gutting, down to the studs, so it's a long-term project. When we finally re-do it, I WILL have a decent bath tub. A clawfoot would be lovely, but I'd settle for a nice deep cast iron & enamel inset tub. I'd love to put in original tile, too - something in jade/verdigris green, with gingko or oak leaves. I love those really heavy wood ice-box-style medicine cabinets - big & square with a beveled mirror... A square sink on chrome legs, a corner shelf for wall storage, and a small wood bench with a box for towels under the seat. Not that I've thought this out, or anything Any rabid sports fans out there? What teams do you root for? DH quietly helped me fall in love with baseball, and I am a White Sox fan, do or die. I'll watch rugby, footie, cricket... just don't ask me the rules What's your favorite animal? (You can have more than one.) BIRDS. Especially impossibly tiny songbirds. Wrens are my absolute favorite, but I also love chickadees, English robins, nuthatches, warblers, barn swallows... I am a nerdy birdie DH & Tiny C are both partial to penguins. This is how the world ends... zombie apocalypse, robot uprising, alien invasion, return of the elder gods... which doomsday scenario do you prefer (or make your own!)? In the year 2525... if man is still alive... what sort of future do you imagine? (apologies to anyone who gets that song stuck in their head!) Do you believe in magic (or magick, if you prefer)? What does it mean to you? If you found the puzzle box from Hellraiser, what would you do with it? ( and would you be able to resist playing with it? icon_cool.gif ) Er, whut? What's your favorite candy to stock up on at Halloween? I can eat my weight in candy corn. The classic stuff, not the abomination known as Indian corn. And not the pumpkins - there's something not right in the texture... Anything peanut butter + chocolate isn't safe from me, either. What is your favourite flower (or plant)? Oh man. Not fair. Cut flower? Freesias. Potted plant? My Red Cross & burgundy oxalis. Garden plant? Too many to pick a top favorite - I love bleeding heart, columbine, crocuses, narcissus, peonies, grape hyacinth, lobelia, harebells... if you can imagine it in an English garden, I'm probably a fan. What are your phobias? No real phobias, but I am a little anal retentive when it comes to my hands. I hatehatehate having sticky hands. Hey, good thing I was a pastry chef, huh? It does mean I'm fussy about hand lotions - anything greasy or heavy is right out.

What sort of odd or regional foods do you crave? Oh man, I am SO glad this was asked. A bit of back story: My entire family is English, proper living-in-the-UK English. I was born & raised in Canada & the US, but my parents steeped me in English culture - I have never lived there, but in some ways it is very much home to me. (Can you get nostalgic for a place you've never lived?) There are so many things that I had as a kid that I pine for now - when we lived in Chicago, most of it was easily obtainable, but now we're in PA, my options are shot. Hard-to-find British foodstuffs that make me all wibbly & happy: Branston Pickle Milky Bars Black currant/gooseberry jam (though honestly, I am a jam whore - any kind will do!) Thick honey (Waitrose's Tanzanian Leatherwood & Sunflower honeys, esp) Battenburg Dark chocolate & plain Digestives (I could eat whole sleeves of the plain ones) Shredless marmalade (this is for my Mum, who had to turn her jar over to Customs on the flight home ) Smarties Rose's/Quality Street Taylor's of Harrogate Scottish Breakfast tea (loose or bags) Yorkshire Gold tea (loose or bags) Thank you! Is anyone playing this round of SW into ABJ? (asian ball jointed dolls) No dolls at all, thank you. Whats your favorite childhood toy? Oo. I was a nerdy bird even then, so books top the list. Colored pencils. I did have a doll house that got a lot of attention... Mostly I liked just exploring in the woods & fields, poking around in the mud & picking black raspberries... What is your favorite Halloween icon? Mm, bonfires. Punkies & all manner of lanterns. Bare trees, blowing leaves. Favorite kind of take out kinda burger? Whats your burger preference? veggie, meat or ???? Gotta be veggie... there was a place in Evanston that did fantastically greasy, crispy veg burgers. Cheese, mustard, extra pickles Imagine that you're given a shoebox-sized time capsule, and you are asked to put one item in that box that symbolizes who you are. It may be anything you can imagine, and money is no object, but you are limited to one item, and it must fit within the box. What item do you choose? A picture of a spreading tree, ancient & rooted to the center of the earth. As you tilt the photo, the tree reveals itself in different guises, according to the seasons. Its branches dance in the wind, showering the ground with scarlet leaves & huge ruddy gold apples. Its blossoms catch on the breeze & spiral toward heaven, and the swallows dive & flit between the petals. It stretches its roots to drink in the warm summer downpour. Its boughs shimmer with frost & shelter a myriad of tiny birds, fluffed out against the winter chill. Because it is a magic card, you can feel the breeze & smell the blossoms as you shift the photo, and an occasional swallow darts out of the picture & flutters about your head. Are you involved in any long-term, ambitious project? something like decorating your house or saving for a trip to the other end of the world, for example. Ooooooh, the house. The house, the house, the house. (And raising our 3-year-old. But that's different.) We bought a 1915 Arts & Crafts-style shingle bungalow 2 1/2 years ago, and it is our joy & our despair. So much potential, so much character, so much that needs work. We are trying to do some uplifting, cosmetic/quality of life projects, but the money & time keep getting diverted to basic safety/code compliance/major system issues. I am desperate to get the lighting re-done before winter sets in - it is awful, badly wired & UGLY, and parts of the house look worse than they really are, simply because the lighting is so bad. If you have a pet, what kind of gifts would be good for them? No pets, but I do spoil the local song birds A seed sock or small shelf feeder might be nice (something I can mount on the fence that faces the kitchen window), and I have to replace the suet cake every 3-4 days in the depths of winter... We get wrens, cardinals, mourning doves, juncos, chickadees, and the occasional titmouse, jay, and goldfinch. The wrens are my favorite Twitter? Technically yes, but I rarely use it. It's strictly for work crap. Ravelry? Oh yes. I am tartchef there, as well. Would any witches be interested in home-made sewn type crafts? If so, what type? (e.g. tote bags, pillowcases, laptop covers, etc..) Absolutely - we are trying to ditch plastic grocery bags, so sturdy totes would be awesome. Tiny C is into packing his lunches now, so a neat lunch sack for him would make his day! Bonus points for Pixar Cars print, or sushi fabric What's your favorite color? Green, in nearly all its permutations, but grey is gaining as I get older... Any other steampunk fans/lovers? Yes indeedy!

What are everyone's favorite Halloween-y/Autumn-y/spooky movies? Are there any you don't own but would like to? Not so much on the scary spooky films. I like M. Night Shamalan, and Alfred Hitchcock, that kind of thing, but not the usual Halloween stuff. Mind you, I did enjoy the Kronos-scored Dracula release. Are roasted pumpkin seeds and home made chex mix the best fall snack foods, or what? Clearly you've never had my garam masala roasted almonds Whats your favorite pie, my dear SW's? Mmm. Cold fruit pie, maybe blackberry-apple, or rhubarb. It has to be cold, though - nice & pasty... What kinda socks are you wearing tonight? None right now, but my M Stripes & Super Dreamies came out to play recently... Do you like socks? Blankets? Wrist warmers? Arm warmers? Headband? Shawl? Or what kind of knitted thing would you love the most? I'm a recent convert to socks, the longer the better! I have larger calves & thighs, so fit is important. We keep the house at a balmy 65 all winter long, so blankets, arm/wrist warmers & cute beanies are always welcome. I crochet, and am envious of the smooth glory that is stockinette. I especially covet a Felicity in some kind of slubby grey/green/brown/purple blend... How do you feel about ghost stories? Do you like to tell the old tales around a campfire? Read true accounts on the web way past your bedtime? Do you like to pick up a good anthology of Poe stories on a blustery day? Or is all that too scary for you? The only creepy stories I really enjoy are Ray Bradbury's - just the right mix of creep, nostalgia, & adrenaline I can't wait til Tiny C is old enough for me to read him The October Tree. Who here is LOVING Warehouse 13? Erm. Whut? Nother question! Coffee or Tea? Yes please! I'm partial to a good Ethiopian/Kenyan, no flavored or decaf plz. I'm English, so tea is a life force - Assam, Ceylon, Prince of Wales... if you can find Twining's 1706, I would die of happiness! Not so much on the flavored stuff, but I do like a nice lychee/rose/chai. Herbals mainly go to the kidlet, or for making iced tea, and we are up to our armpits in green tea thanks to overly generous neighbors. Interested in locally produced products? Food, skincare or both? Yes! Buy local! I love regionally-unique stuff - if there's a story behind it, so much the better! Does anyone in here wear a lot of dangly earrings or collect pendants of all kinds?? How about hair clips or pony tail band things? No earrings or ponytails round here, but I could use some sweet barrettes/fancy slides/hairpins to keep my layers out of my face on occasion... What is your favourite historical period? Hmmm. I'm really digging the 30s & 40s lately - nicely cut suits, everyone in hats, the whole thrill of transportation... I also am fascinated by how the population responded to war - there's an economy & fortitude there that I don't think we've seen since. What other hot beverages everyone likes for fall? The usual coffee & tea, hot toddies, hot cider, real hot chocolate... Did you order anything from the most recent update? No, I'm being good & sitting on my hands for the moment. Olive oil? Ooo yeah. Love it in soap, too Lavender? Yes, and yes again! I like to smell it, eat it, wash with it, look at it... Vampires or Werewolves? Or some other monster? Eh. Neither? The Elliots? (Any Bradbury readers out there?) Any Gamers here? What kind? Board games? RPG? Miniature? MMORPG? Back when we were child-free, DH & I used to have LotR RISK marathons & regular chess matches... some day I hope to have both time & brain cells enough to resume that tradition.

Updated 9/1/10: Switch Witch Questionnaire Forum Name: tartchef Full Name: Hayley J. Croom Email Address: tartchef@yahoo.com Mailing Address: 931 Wayne Ave, York, PA 17403 ==================== Basic Info Birthday: May 23, 1973 Pets: Dust bunnies, a stray cat that lives on the front porch & the birds at the feeders Children: One 4.5-year-old boy, aka Tiny C/The Tiny/Captain Goofball Religious orientation: Spiritual agnostic with a side of Buddhism Favorite Holiday: Christmas? Mostly for the food, really… Occupation/Major in school: Desk jockey, soap-maker & pastry chef, but I studied psychology, comparative religions & fine art. And animal husbandry. Living arrangement (by yourself, with roommates, etc): With the DH & aforementioned goofball Livejournal/Blog/Website: http://tinyurl.com/p...worksonfacebook Organizations/Causes/Activities (Things you belong to or causes you believe in): Anything that works towards tolerance, equality, justice & sustainable living gets my vote BPAL Favorite BPAL oils: The original Aries, Tzadikim Nistarim, Daiyu, Ahathoor, The East, Valentine of Rome, Judith & Holofernes, Hod, Hermes Trismegistus Favorite notes: Frankincense, black pepper, carnation, spikenard, chrysanthemum, osmanthus, beeswax, tea, tobacco, olive blossom… Favorite non-BPAL perfumes: I’m pretty BPAL-loyal, but Arcana’s Holy Terror & Haunt’s Batik were worth bottles. Least favorite notes: Rose, lilies, civet, dirt, most vetivers & dragons bloods Least favorite non-BPAL perfumes: Just about anything you’d find at the mall If Beth made a custom blend for you, what would the notes be, and what would you want the label art to look like? Frankincense, black pepper, carnation, spikenard, chrysanthemum, osmanthus, beeswax, tea, tobacco, olive blossom… She’s done combinations of a few of these, but man o day, what I wouldn’t give for a bottle with everything blended together… The label would be sepia-toned with a series of botanical drawings in varying transparencies overlaying each other. There’d be a bit of hand-tinting, and a few fine details in bronze ink. Clothing & Jewelry Hair type: Straight, thick & fine; wash & go, mostly, but I’m looking for a good natural styling putty/paste now my hair’s short Skin Type: Combination, prone to hormonal breakouts Allergies (specifically B&B related): No cocoa butter in my facial products, plz. Other things to avoid: SLSs, -bens, -cones, animal testing Tub, shower or both? Both, but my bathtub sucks Favorite bath & beauty products: Organic jojoba oil, non-foody scrubs, hydrosols Clothing Style/Fave garments: Funky but casual, with an emphasis on natural materials & stuff I can wear/wash to death. My daily uniform is usually a Tshirt/long sweater over a knee-length skirt with pockets. Over-the-knee/knee-high socks & tights as the weather demands. Clogs, high lace-up boots or those funky sport flats. Favorite clothing colors/colors to wear: Bonus points for muddy/antiqued colors – gunmetal, all kinds of grey, olive, oatmeal, chocolate brown, washed out red, deep plum, but shots of chartreuse are allowed Type(s) of jewelry worn: EAR CUFFS.... I have no piercings, and have only 2 decent pairs of cuffs to my name. I do like wide wrist cuffs & bracelets, but don’t wear them often at all. Ring/wrist/collar size: Ring size 7 or so/6.5 inches/15-inch neck Jewelry - gold or silver? Silver, brass, copper, bronze, anything that looks old & worn.… Do you have any allergies to metal? Nope Favorite gemstones: Marcasite, moonstones, peridot, carnelian, amber, dark grey/green/purple freshwater pearls Sock/Shoe Size: 9 ½/10, on the wider side Lifestyle Style/home decoration style: Arts & Crafts/Craftsman meets IKEA, natural colors & materials Favorite decorating colors: Green! Wood tones, deep rust, coffee brown, shots of cream & scarlet red. Things you collect: Dust… DH has an enormous record collection, and we love old travel posters. Bonus points for anything Chicago/train related. There’s an obscure deep olive green series of Lord Nelson pottery that we’re in love with…. Favorite music: Oh crap. Too much to list here. Currently rocking Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros, Bach cello suites, White Rabbits, Nick Cave/Grinderman, Tom Waits… Least favorite music: Over-produced pop/emo/rap. EZ listening. Musicals. Vegetarian/Vegan?: (Please be as specific as possible to reduce confusion!) Vegetarian with serious lapses. I am horrifically allergic to chicken & turkey, and don’t do red meat at all. I do eat a good bit of fish (esp sushi), and bacon & sausage & pate are my undoing. I do wear leather, but no fur, please. Other food restrictions: No artificial sweeteners or MSG, plz. Favorite flavors: Ginger, tea, blackberry, black currant, lavender, rosemary, black pepper Favorite foods/drinks: Sushi, Cornish ice cream, Christmas pudding, organic/fair trade, micro-roasted coffee, Ceylon/Assam tea with milk, homegrown tomatoes on homemade bread with salt & pepper, chaat papri, mezze platters, Panang curry with tofu, a good Ploughman’s with Branston Pickle, good dark chocolate Favorite authors/genres: Tolkien, Hemingway, Ondaatje, Ray Bradbury, Amanda Barrett, Willa Cather, Ayn Rand, Dorothy Sayers, Patrick O’Brien, Philip Pullman, Joan Aiken… I like a ripping good yarn, a good dose of escapism & adventure, but the writing has to be quality. Least favorite authors/genres: Romance, chick lit, most of what passes for mystery/suspense/true crime. Books/authors you'd like to read, but haven't yet: How do you feel about receiving gently used books as gifts? LOVE IT. Favorite stores (including clothing stores): Cost Plus & IKEA, neither of which are convenient anymore. Target & Old Navy (a love/hate relationship, really). Farmers markets, roadside stands, the tiny ethnic shops/markets in Chicago, Mitsuwa. Favorite online stores (including B&B stores): SockDreams. Etsy (I’m under tartchef 7 paintboxsoapworks). MountainRoseHerbs. Bramble Berry. Magazines you subscribe to: Eating Well. Saveur. LadyBug Magazines you like, but don't subscribe to: Donna Hay – I buy it every month, but can’t bear the $125+ for an actual subscription… Favorite movies: Lawrence of Arabia, LotR, anything Miyazaki, Master & Commander, The Princess Bride, There Will Be Blood, Good Night and Good Luck, anything Wes Anderson, Indiana Jones (yes, even the new one), Star Trek (yes, even the new one), Bond (Connery will always be my favorite, but Daniel Craig is welcome anytime), sweeping Merchant-Ivory-esque pieces… yeah. Lots. Favorite TV show(s): Not so much. Carnivale. Mad Men. LOST. DH has me watching Fringe & Arrested Development lately… Hobbies/crafts done: Soapsoapsoap, crocheting, sewing, novice knitting, gardening, and some day I want to get back to cello lessons & drawing/painting… Wishlists BPAL Wish List (including SW/SF Help): in my forum signature Other website Wish lists (amazon.com, etsy.com, etc): under Wishes, Whims & Other Desires in my sig Random Questions: - On a scale of 1-5, how organized are you? Sometimes 4.75, sometimes 2. I either have it nailed shut or have near-total FAIL. - Where, outside of the U.S. would you love to visit? (if you're international, this can be anywhere) Scotland, the rest of England I haven’t seen, New Zealand, Oz, Japan, Tibet, Nepal, Scandinavia, Iceland… anywhere cool & green & mountainous/coastal will do - Do people tell you that you act older, younger, or your age? Both – apparently I look younger than 36, but act much older… Two kids & two marriages will do that, I guess. - Have you ever been skinny dipping? Yep, and I’d happily do it again in a fairly secluded setting. - Do you wear pajamas to places other than at your house? No way – I’ll pop out to the curb in my yoga pants, but that’s it. - Your least favorite feature about yourself: My pot belly – see the 2 kids part. My stomach muscles separated & all my flab rides right there. Reeeal attractive. A-line skirts are my friend. - Do you live in a neighborhood or in the middle of nowhere? In a ridiculously twee neighborhood in an otherwise shabby/shady part of the city. Folks usually don’t even know our street exists, and are blown away by the quaint architecture & porch-sitting, baby dandling, neighborly atmosphere. If we lived anywhere else, I’d probably hate this redneck excuse for a city. - Do you like to shop? Honestly… yes, but not for very long. I’d rather spend an hour or two in one or two good stores than all day shop-hopping. Online, shopping, on the other hand, I adore. - If you were a shoe, what would you be and why? A clog – sturdy, practical, maybe a little clunky, but cute in my own way. - They're making a bio-pic based on your life. Who's portraying you? Enya, but she’d have to spend a year with some English bakers first to get the physique & the attitude down… -Have you ever thought, "oh, I'm going to get myself one of those one of these days" but then never do? List 1 under $10 and 1 over $10. A new potato peeler/ice cream scoop to replace the ones I gacked for the soap business … A new rug for my office. - Sunrise or sunset? Sunrise, but only just. Any time the birds are singing like mad. - Has a stranger ever told you that you did something really well? What was it? Handled the multi-headed hydra that is my life J Baked. Handled my son’s tantrum. Talked someone through using a computer system. Ignored the haters & did my own damn thing. - Do you like garage sales (boot sales)? Sometimes… the ones in Chicago were always worthwhile. - I like to slather my food in …: attention? I am partial to good sea salt & fresh black pepper… - State fairs or carnivals? Oh yes – especially the livestock/agricultural buildings, saltwater taffy, funnel cakes, & fried fish sandwiches on thick white bread. - Do you like to splash in puddles after it rains? Did the thought make you smile? Why wait til after? One of my favorite memories is when Tiny C & I went out in a summer downpour & tore up & down the sidewalk in our bare feet. Notes (Here's where you can add additional information you'd like your Switch Witch to know!): Oh Witchy, my Witchy. I’m a mom. Draw me a stick figure on a piece of newsprint & I’ll love you forever. I rarely spoil myself, and DH & I are both fairly practical, low-key sorts, so my expectations are most forgiving. Please send me a ping once in a while so I know you’re out there, but don’t worry about showering me with packages. I’m just happy to be here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forum Information (Everything written below this line is removed before questionnaires are forwarded, and is only meant to help out the Ringleaders.) Are you willing to ship internationally?: Alas, I have to say no for this round L Date you Joined the Forum: September 1, 2006 If you joined under 2 months ago, do you have a history/feedback under Ebay, MUA, etc (please list): Have you participated in Switch Witch/SwapFaery/BirthdaySprite before?: Yes If yes, who did you send to/receive from: Lilly/chimera87; girasol/VCW Please talk about your past experiences and, if applicable, give us feedback on your most recent SW: LOVED IT. Fraught with a bit of nail-biting at one point, but I like to think I’ve calmed down a bit & can embrace the Zen of SW. Favorite Witches: Not fair J As a Witch (giver), how much contact do you usually keep with a Witchee? Pretty high – e-cards, multiple packages As a Witchee (receiver), do you have any preferences regarding the level of contact from a Witch? I like to feel loved… ninja Witches make me sad. (Note: Mentors are separate from your Switch Witches. New witches will be paired up with more experienced witches to help them learn the ropes) Please choose only one; don't select to be a Mentor and matched with one. Do you want to be a Mentor Witch this round? Sure! Do you want to be matched with a Mentor Witch? No, thanks!

You guys are killing me with the questions! This will be a work in progress... I'll try valiantly to keep up!

A spectacularly generous frimp from Dark Alice Ooo. Mmm. Myrrh & frankincense, with a leafy patchouli/tobacco & maybe the barest trace of vetiver... There's a drop of something else in here, too, faintly powdery & perfumed... maybe dark Indian musk? Tuberose? It's that kind of dirty-sweet perfume, and it's going to drive me batsh*t because I know this smell... Waitwaitwait, is it daemonorops? I see earlier reviews mentioning dragon's blood, but I think it's the stems & leaves of the plant, not the resinous root... there's a hint of decay, like the patchouli & tobacco & daemonorops leaves have decomposed ever so slightly. The inhale is amazing - I can taste the sweetness, like breathing in flavored tobacco smoke... but there's that deep, almost decaying leafy note that keeps this faintly... uncomfortable. And yet I can't stop sniffing it! Now it's dried down, the sliminess is abating, and I'm getting a spicy note, maybe carnation & a dot of opium? The frankincense is smoothing out the edges bit by bit, but the bittersweet patch/tobacco maintains a shadowy presence... The throw! The throw is wild. Up close, there's still the faint perfumey, leafy scent, but the throw from about 12 inches is caramelised pipe tobacco Aaaalmost foodysweet, thick, smoky & absolutely irresistible. Criminey, this is good! I hesitate to say this, as A'arab Zaraq can't be easy to find, but for my money, this trumps Black Lace. On my skin, they are very similar, but AZ delivers a much bigger sweet tobacco & musk punch, without BL's problematic cotton note... The daemonorops & musk also echo Anactoria, but AZ is much, much darker Nyomnyomnyom... Pardon me while I huff my arm for the rest of the day.

Dark Alice was sweet enough to send me a decant of this in a recent ninja package I normally run far far away from anything mentioning leather - it is fairly wretched on my skin - but the idea of a leather-based room spray was too intriguing to pass by... I dabbed a bit on a tissue, to see how it would react once the air hit it. Uhm. Apparently the problem with leather is not my skin, but my nose. Boot Hill smells like pure, unadulterated Deep Woods OFF. I keep sniffing at it, hoping it just needs to burn off a bit... But no If I really concentrate, I can see where folks are getting leather, vetiver, and something bitter green & herbal... but I just can't shake the bug spray association. Ah well. I will pass this along to someone who does love leather, and see if she can give this the love it deserves...

Oof, conflict is right - the gardenia & lavender are battling it out in a thick cloud of soapiness Ho wood & labadnum are egging them on, while pear & frankincense are hiding in a corner with thistle. Yipes. What a cacophonous mess. I'll try this again in a few days, but it's not looking promising...

Hrm. Potentially tasty... not an instant winner, but I am a sucker for black currants & they are delightfully prominent here. At first sniff, there is a scented-candle element to Alice's Evidence that made me grimace - spicy rummy "plum", a bit flat & artificial. I think I am having increasing trouble with ginger - Shub has started to give off this craft-store vibe, as well... Left to dry down, though, the quince & cassis muscle in, adding a lovely tannic juiciness that cuts through the generic spice. There's a cool, fresh element, too, that keeps the scent from getting too cloying & heavy. I'll hang onto this for colder weather & see if a bit of aging tempers the ginger & rum... ETA: I neglected to mention just how strong Alice's Evidence is. Normally I can test 2 scents on my forearm with no trouble, but the throw is so strong, I'm not even going to try. One swipe of the imp wand is scenting my entire office... ETA2: Aaaaand the rum is turning into bay rum. Ick.

This is the smell of the fields & garden on the farm where I grew up - it's late summer, the earth & grasses & herbs are baked hard & dry. The sky has suddenly darkened, the temperature plummets, the wind hits me like a cold wave, nearly knocking me over. It's not raining yet, but a flicker of lightning dances on the horizon & the hair on my arms stands on end. I fling my arms wide & let the wind buffet me, reveling in the surge of power crackling through the air. Oya winiwini! ... Oh good heavens. This was a frimp from silvertree, one that I've passed over more times than I care to count. Now it's in my hands, I realize how utterly perfect this is for me, lover of wind & storms & change. I have the same Oya as squook, Titian & Coldie - burning sage & herbs, maybe a trace of heliotrope & artemisia (there's a bitter powderiness akin to Labores Solis), and a zap of ozone. There's a similarity to The Norn's Farmhouse, too, that same dry stemmy feel, but I get no sweetness, just the glorious scent of cold air & dry fields.

Woot! What a great bunch of Weenies!

Carnation, golden amber, honey myrtle, beeswax absolute, summer peach, cardamom, and vanilla orchid. I've hoarded my wee little decant of this for ages... I knew it was something special when I first sniffed it, but couldn't wrap my head around such a glowing, womanly scent. So I packed it away. Nearly a year later, I broke it out, and good heavens Oh yes. Yes, and yes again. To my nose, L'Estate is all carnation & beeswax & vanilla orchid - lush & elegant, but so, so inviting. There's no discernible peach or cardamon - they've faded to just a faint sweetness - and the amber is deep & not at all powdery... Delicious, and perfect for late summer. Monster is so right. I do smell like a fairytale...

Huge, HUGE thanks to TrailerTrashPrincess for sending me a very generous sniffie I waffled so hard on even wanting to try this, and it turns out I had a reason to be wary On my skin, Sunbird is Smut & Red Phoenix... and neither of those ended up being winners. There's that really unctuous, nearly latex red musk from Smut, overlaid by the plasticky cassia of Red Phoenix. There's sandalwood in here, too, and it's going soapy. Well phooey.

It's been stinking hot for nearly a week, but the clouds have finally given up & the rain is falling in huge, hot splats. Enter Visiting the Temple of Auspicious Fortune...

OH yes. Yes, this will do just fine. I mean really, frankincense & carnation? How could you go wrong with that stunning combination? This is the pale creamy pink carnation of Hod, with the silkiest frankincense. The benzoin adds a vanillic resinous sweetness, and the Balsam of Peru emerges at the end, the grounding force behind the curtain. There is a powdery element to this that I am finding strangely appealing - it is akin to some incredibly expensive dusting powder that our mothers would have had, a treasured cut-glass-&-gold lidded box that was kept tantalizingly out of reach of grubby, inquisitive hands. It is achingly beautiful, elegant & timeless, begging to be smoothed over bare arms like gorgeous silk. I will keep & treasure this, and save it for very, very special occasions when I shed the mantle of mother, accounts manager, reliable go-to-gal & am a Woman.

Oh holy farking WOW. Yes. THIS. I knew I'd love it, being a total sucker for frankincense & beeswax, but this is just... just stunning. Delicious. Amazing. PLOTZ. Specifically, this is rather what I'd hoped for from The Magi - sweet, sparkly resins, but with a touch of bitter, leafy incense smoke & a gloss of warm wax. It's incredibly well-balanced & long-lasting - I misted my shirt yesterday morning (and spent the better part of the day randomly yanking the front hem up over my head for a full-body sniff ), and this morning, it's still going strong. The squirt I did in my office faded after about 6 hours - it's a very small space, but still, that's good bang for the buck. The only heartbreak? Templum Victoriae's limited availability! I'd buy a full size of this in a heartbeat, and would sell my soul if Beth ever formulated this for perfume oil Yeah, this is something pretty damn special. Well done, Puddin'! And endless thanks to zankoku_zen for sharing the love

I was bracing for a cloyingly stickysweet scent, but it seems my chemistry is working in my favor today. On my skin, The Lotus Tree is sweet, yes, but not at all the soporific honey glomp many other reviewers experienced. I'm getting a brush of slightly crystallized honey over crisp lotus petal - none of lotus's usual bubblegum, just a rather indulgent pink note. I'm getting the scent of nectar, and petals, and maybe a bit of pollen, but this isn't exactly a floral scent. Interesting... not an immediate winner, but one I want to keep around to try again.

Oh crap. This is Thank you for sharing, zankoku_zen! Frankincense in all its glory, raw & resinous & crumbly & yum, underscored by lavender, a bit of rosemary, a touch of myrrh, maybe a bit of verbena or lemon balm, and a scattering of benzoin, balsam & mastic. This is what I wanted Arcana to be, and absolutely a must-try for No. 93 lovers. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! I will covet my dribble, and lunge at any more that happens to cross my path

I'll second the Queen Alice rec - she's all cozy & yummy without being too smokey. What came to mind instantly for you is Flowering Chrysanthemums from this year's Lupercalias - mums are such a lovely crisp floral. Don't be put off by the vanilla & cinnamon - they're barely there, just a wisp to warm things up a bit. Other lighter fall scents that come to mind: The Norn's Farmhouse (a gorgeous dried-stems & herbs scent) The Hesperides (oak & apple, but not at all foody) Mag Mell (grass, yes, but with a warm incense...) The Lion (gorgeous dry amber) Maybe some of the lighter resinous scents would work - Cathedral comes to mind, as do my favorites Kathmandu & Sri Lanka... For my money, the best burning-leaves scent Beth's ever done is Death of Autumn, from the 2007 Weenies. I suspect it will be too heavy for what you're looking for, but it might be worth tracking down a bit to try, just in case...

Wow, that took a bit of sleuthing! It's a DC Sephiroth, found here.

Hee! We got Flaming Lips tickets for next month... I am realizing that I don't have anything nearly absurd enough to wear for such an occasion! I may have to hunt down one of the new Mad Tea Party scents...

What, no love for Daiyu? She's so lovely & fresh but with more heft to her than Gennivre...