Shalimar and Books

 I haven't really done a ton of reading this year. With Covid, instead of having more time to read, I somehow have less time to read. I have either 3 or 4 books on my Kindle that I haven't even read. Hopefully I can find some kind of time to read them. A while back, I took a quiz for a $3 gift card for Amazon and now they send me the code to redeem the stupid credit. Funny thing is that even though I have books to read, I want a few more books. You see that my Chase account has these offers where if you spend some money at certain stores/websites, you get some kind of credit to your bank account. The catch is that you must use it before certain dates. I am sorely tempted and most books that I want are more than $5. What was it, my last post I blogged that I really have to watch the spending and no frivolous spending? I do have a couple that I am want to get and with the $3 and some cash back, I will keep it really cheap and limit myself to one book but keep it under $5 or less.

I am still trying to finish decants and bottles as well as candles at this point and I was looking for things that I haven't worn in a while. Yes, I want to try new things but can't afford to fall in love with anything at this point and wore some Shalimar Ode a la Vanille Madagascar last night and this morning. I like the original Shalimar but I adore the Ode a la Vanilles, especially the Madagascar one. For the longest time, all that seemed to be available was the Mexique one and it I did stumble across the Madagascar, it was and still is more cash that I am willing to part with. What sucks about the Ode a la Vanilles is that they were limited edition. Nothing can aggravate me more than limited editions and flankers. Flankers don't always smell good and nothing can sell out faster than a limited edition. I hope that the perfume gods send a message to Guerlain that they should release the Ode a la Vanilles again. I would love a bottle or two of the Madagascar one, especially if the price is right.

Sick and Bookish

Being a perfume fanatic and having a head cold do not mix well. Not being able to smell or taste much of anything since Wednesday is a real drag, so my Guerlain Jicky EDT was done with lots of nose blowing and memory. I was hoping to test one perfume and review that along with Jicky.

Every time that I do get sick, I get pretty bookish. Before I fell down the rabbit hole of perfume, I was an avid book collector. I wasn't collecting these really rare or very old books, but every time I was at Borders, I was easily spending $125 on new books. Now since Borders has closed, I don't have bookstore near me. And I find that sad that there are not that many bookstores around to just hang around in. I've managed to order 4 new books for a really decent price.

What is pretty sad is that there are very few brick and mortor bookstores. Barnes and Noble is probably the only national chain left. I've never been much of a Barnes and Noble fan. Prices at Barnes and Noble have always seemed to be on the steep side. It's paper and glue and they mark the price up $3 or $4 more than the listing price. With Borders, you didn't have the sky high pricing of Barnes and Noble. With Barnes and Noble, I've never had seen the selection like I would at Borders. Yes, 9 times out of 10, Borders not only had better pricing but a better selection of books.