Vacation Recap

I ought to be reviewing the latest Tauer release but really shouldn't be. It might have arrived on Saturday but today was the first time wearing it and I think I need to spend a little more time with it before I can give an honest review. Since I go back tomorrow, might as well give a recap.

 You know how I said that I was cracking down on expenses? I am not sure about the two sets of bed sheets. When I was going through my bedding, I realized that my winter sheets are pretty much shot and I had only one set of sheets for my bed. I had initially set off to only order one set of bed sheets. In theory, you have one or two sets of bed sheets and be fine. But that flannel sheet set with dogs on it was too cute and the price was good and I don't know what possessed me to get a set of bed sheets in the color black. But I have a set of black bed sheets now. It seemed like I was accumulating quilts and throws since last year and bed sheets never entered the chat to remind me. So when I get a spare minute, I will run those things through the wash and see how it goes. Sooner or later, I will get a set of there's in green but I need pillows a little more. So I am going to have to use up the last of my Amazon gift card to round out the new bedding.

So since I have been looking at more things to be cut and used up, I did manage to accomplish some of that. I did manage to combine two Bath and Body Winter hand soaps. What was the point of having two half full hand soaps of the same smell. I was so close to being able to do that with a Leather and Brandy one but not quite. I think by the end of the week, it will be another hand soap that will be used up. I did manage to finish a half a candle, one full candle and start a new one. So I am proud of myself to do at least that much. Especially since I wasn't able to finish any decants, full bottles or minis while I was on vacation. At the end of the day, trying not to spend money of frivolous things every week is hard. I did make some changes and culled a few things earlier this year but with some freed up money brings a different temptation. That $50-$60 every month from not having so many subscriptions makes a part of me want to spend it on the fun stuff when I really shouldn't. So I want to do is shop my collection a little bit more and see what else I can use up.

What was disappointing was the fact that I wasn't able to do much of anything for my vacation. I wanted to see the new Downtown Abbey movie but plans for that never materialized. I think I should have said to friends and family is that my vacation time is precious and I am not about to waste that on the maybes or bailing at last minute. I think that I should have taken an Uber to the theater and just saw the movie by myself. I am hoping my last vacation of the year will be a bit better bit that is the week after Thanksgiving.

Back from Vacation

 

So Tuesday was my first day back from vacation. It wasn't a great vacation, let alone good. Between my mother repeatedly calling from the hospital either wanting clothes or just angry calling, it was marked by appointments or visiting my mother. So it was not very relaxing. I have a little under 3 weeks to go before my next vacation. I enjoy taking most of my vacations a little later in the year.

I wore a few of my perfumes that I don't exactly get to wear too often. I was wearing more of the bombastic perfumes like Lyric, Number One Intense and Nuda. I figured that if I am going to be on vacation, why not wear my louder ones and it wasn't hot and humid so a louder perfume was and is easier to wear.

Was I able to make progress with my candle collection? The only progress that I was able to make was finishing that Winter candle from Bath and Body Works and start a Sun Drenched Linen from Bath and Body Works in single wick form. I was hoping to make more progress with that but between all the appointments, phone calls and other bigger projects, it wasn't really possible to do.

Even my Kindle was being an ass. I wasn't able to watch Prime Video for some reason and after talking to Amazon, I had to do the option of last resort and that was resetting my Kindle to factory settings. Let's just say that I wasn't to happy with that. I could have used my Fire stick but with my mother always calling or the appointments, the Fire stick was a bigger pain in the ass for pausing movies and shows that I was willing to go through.

So now, things are getting a little more back to normal. The only things that are different is how my mother is still in the hospital and we have a holiday weekend coming up. I am planning to go to the county fair on Sunday and eating a bunch of junk food and seeing the animals. I do not plan to go with one of my friends though. He is more interested in a certain section of the fair with the folks that take pictures of wildlife. I have no problem going over there and looking at the pictures and talking to them for a couple minutes. I do take issue with the fact he wants to rush me through so he can do nothing but deep fried Oreos, eat from the Italian food stand and see if there is a way he can get business for his photography stuff. So he seems to take away the enjoyment from anything because he wants to use certain events to see if he get an opportunity to make money. I asked him once if he can just enjoy fairs and festivals with friends and family without looking for ways to bullshit or bully his way into some kind of minor side hustle. If he wants to keep friends and family in his life , he has to give it a rest. I want to enjoy small things like that. I have enough problems and want to try and enjoy something, even if it is something small.

End of Vacation and Neela Vermeire Pichola Review

I am finishing up the last day of my vacation and I don't want to go back to work. Who really wants to go back to work after vacation? Sydney is doing better but we still need to take her to the vet on Friday to see if we keep her on antibiotics, add a new one or keep her on what she is now. When the appointment was made, I had to call my manager to see if I could switch days with someone. I work retail and finding someone to switch shifts is akin to finding a unicorn. The only person that might have been able to do it, wasn't able to. I was asked if there was any way that I could work, even a short shift. Things were worked out and my folks had said that they didn't really want me to miss work and to just go to work. This is just a vacation that really sucks. I wasn't able to burn a candle and the only thing that I did that was fun was the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame on Tuesday before Sydney got sick.

 Earlier this year, I was poking around Luckyscent and was looking at their sale stuff. The only reason why I was doing that was because they had sent me an e-mail about the sale stuff. It's a rarity that I order from Luckyscent anymore. No funds, things are a little too expensive (I'm looking at you, Diaghilev) and my collection is big enough as it is without adding more. I am still on my travel spray kick. Now imagine my luck to find the travel spray of Pichola. Twenty milliliters for $96 is pretty much a steal in niche perfume. For the price, I wasn't going to complain.

The first time I wore Pichola, I could have sworn that this was Serge Lutens' A la Nuit. That kind of clean jasmine with boatloads of greens that kept the jasmine from going full on skank. Then I got something akin to tangerine. I do have a difficult relationship when it comes to citrus in perfume. I either love it or I get queasy and with Pichola, I am not queasy but not full on loving it. I kind of like the citrus in this. Besides the jasmine, I am getting a pretty hefty dose of tuberose and my love for tuberose is pretty new. There was always something about tuberose that seemed to be a little too much for me for the longest time. So I think with trying and loving Nassomatto Nuda and then Narcotic V, I think that I was able to understand tuberose and fall in love with tuberose. I'm not getting a whole lot else in terms of notes that I can discern but Pichola has a sunny, tropical vibe to it and it's in a good way. Pichola isn't for teen girls or young women, she is for a woman who has grown up. The grown up woman that knows what she wants and knows how to get it.

I applied Pichola at noon and it's a little after 11pm and I am in probably the extreme dry down. I am not sure that I will get a full bottle but I love it enough to keep a travel spray on hand. I just might fall in love with Pichola to get a bottle, eventually.

Vacation is Over

Tuesday was the first day back from my vacation. When my alarm went off, I grudgingly got up and grudgingly went to work. After having 9 days off, I wasn't happy to go back to work. But I knew that the bills were not going to pay themselves, so I had to go back to work. Taking this week as a vacation week wasn't an option due to the fact that we are coming up on Memorial Day weekend. The corporate suits made the decision that no employee could take a vacation during holiday weeks but yet they are probably able to.

I have said in the past that I am not one that shops at Sephora too often, Ulta supplies most of my makeup and body care needs. I am still hoping that Ulta will start to carry either no 5 in extrait form or any of the Chanel extraits. But I'm not so interested in that at the moment. I was just window shopping and I don't know how or when Sephora started carrying Prada's Infusion lineup but they are now. This must be a new thing though. What excited me was Sephora is carrying travel sprays of the Infusion d'Iris and probably carrying more of the Infusions in travel spray form. I do love Infusion d'Iris and the price was right for the travel spray and I snapped one up, even though I really shouldn't have. What would really make me shop at Ulta exclusively would be Ulta carrying the extrait version of no 5 or even carry the edt version of no 19. I have enough points to pay for both. Well, I have enough points to pay for one of them but would be able to pay for the other down the road when I build up enough points.

With it being almost June, there has been talk on Reddit on the upcoming semi annual sale. Usually there is a semi annual sale after Christmas and another one that begins in June. I am a little bit interested but not really. When the after Christmas one happened, I was always a day late and a dollar short when I would try to snag a couple Sweet Whiskey candles. The reason I am not so interested is that I haven't been excited about this year's candle releases and I have so many candles already. If they release some of last year's fall/winter candles, I might get one or two. I am not setting aside a lot of money to partake in the sale since I have bigger things to worry about.

End of Vacation

Today is my last day of my vacation and it will be back to reality. I am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Monday is a day I normally have off but it's a holiday and I need to go in. It was a week that I didn't do a whole lot.

On Monday, my parents and I went to a winery for my mom's birthday and it was nice. I have noticed in Northeast Ohio that wineries and breweries have become a big thing. So I think that my parents have been thinking about hitting those a little more since they are both retired and quite a bit of the COVID restrictions have lifted.

Thursday was the day that we went to the natural history in Cleveland not realizing that it was undergoing renovations. All they had going on was the outdoor wildlife exhibit and a small 3D movie thing. We saw the Lucy reconstruction and a full triceratops skeleton. Yes, we did see the movie and went outside to see the animals but all in all, that trip was a bust. I have been trying to find free or low cost things to do since I was low on funds. Yesterday, my dad and I went to see a Civil War reenactment and it was alright but there are probably better ones that are coming up this summer.

I am finishing up two candles and will be starting 2 more on Tuesday. So this week I was only able to get through 4 candles. Weather wise we had sunshine but a couple of those days were pretty chilly and I was a little paranoid about having candles burning with how my mother is always complaining about it. I am trying to whittle down my collection a little bit more before I start adding to it again.

There is some good news on the financial front. That Afterpay balance was paid off and the account had the freeze removed. But what do I do? I made the plunge and bought that bottle of Gris Charnel. Sure there are things that I want but I don't want to find myself in the same situation that I just got out of. At this point, I am sitting on my hands and not going over to Luckysent or Bath and Body Works to load up on things that I don't need. I probably shouldn't have gotten that bottle of Gris Charnel but it's something that I have been wanting for a while and the extrait was a little to rich for my blood even though it is a 100ml bottle. Now if I could get a show on the road to finishing up decants a bottles of perfume.