It's Finally Warm Out

Well, it's Easter and I am happy to have the day off. Having an actual holiday off in retail is worth it's weight in gold. Especially after the shit show that I have dealt with the past 2 days at work. It was the whole thing of constant interruptions, too much to do and not enough time to do what I really need to be doing. Now I just need to get myself moving on Easter dinner but that really doesn't need to be started right now.

It's finally warm out and you know what that means? I can have my windows open and start to get going on having some candles lit. Currently, I have a Pink Lavender and Espresso candle going. Since it is going to be warm the whole week, I am hoping that I can finish off that Pink Lavender and Espresso candle and start a couple other ones.

Every time I seem to make progress with my candles, there is a really good sale from Bath and Body Works and I seem to pick up more candles. So it's to the point of where I don't have anymore space for candles and now have to start using them. My hope is to get my candle collection to well under 40. And this is part of the reason on why I haven't bought too many decants in a few years.

Let's think about it, when TPC and STC would have sales, I would load up on decants and it's the same way with candles. I just can't resist a good sale. But I have to start resisting sales with the cost of food going up. Even the price of dog food has gone up. So everything has become a big price comparison. With a nephew turning 2 in May, I'm looking at some gifts to get him. I've made the plan to only get him one gift and it's a good thing that he is going to be 2 and toys are fairly cheap. He's not going to be able to tell if I spent $15 or $25. As long as he has a gift that isn't clothes, I think he will be happy.

Even though Sephora is going to have their spring sale coming up, I am probably going to have to give this a miss too and I am not even mad. Even though Afterpay is awesome, I put a freeze on my account since I was starting to really abuse it. Afterpay is good in it's place but when you start to view it almost like a credit card, it's time to take a break from it. Besides, there isn't a whole lot that I really want from Sephora at this point.

Spring Time and Sephora

The Sephora spring sale has started for Rouge members but I do have to wait until Tuesday before I can start shopping the sale. I am excited about it but my excitement of the whole thing isn't what I thought it would be.

I think that it might be due to how many other Sephora sales that I have participated in. In year past, when the Rouge members and VIB members got just about everything that I was looking at getting. This is the first year that I am a VIB member and this is the year that I don't want a whole lot from the sale. How many are going to really buy an economy sized bottle of Coco Mademoiselle? Very few but I'm one of those idiots that will. 

There are a couple other things that I want but have to split what I want into 2 separate orders. I have always hated the fact that Sephora never combines gift cards. I have 4 gift cards and yet I can only use 2 per online order. Ulta will combine gift cards when asked and so will Bath and Body Works. I just never understood Sephora's rationale with that. When I asked about it, I was given the standard answer of they don't combine gift cards for online orders. I can do an order over the phone or I could make a purchase in store. Calling to place an order over the phone is a huge chore when you get disconnected a million times and I am at least an hour away from the closest Sephora. When one thing that you really want is only sold online and a phone order is a no go due to issues on Sephora's end, splitting what you want into 2 orders is what you have to do. But I am still excited that I can get the perfume I want for me and nab my mother's birthday gift.

I think that spring might actually be here and will decide to stick around. There is always that chance of a freak snow storm but I doubt that one will happen at this point. But I can start pulling out my short sleeved shirts and start wearing them. The weather is not warm enough to even start thinking of pulling out shorts.

Is it Spring Yet?

Sunny has taken to letting me sleep a little later. Sleeping in with a puppy is great but it doesn't change the fact that having a puppy that's only 3 months old is still exhausting. Too many late nights with super early mornings.

I think that spring is slowly coming but I really want spring to arrive right now. Cleveland is starting to get some warmer temperatures but it's either full of rain or windy but it's starting to warm up.  

With spring coming and all, that means that I can start pulling out my spring summer offerings. I don't have tons of them but I do have some. But naturally, Sunny's crate in my bedroom is blocking the area to were I keep most of my perfumes. I can move it but I am not so interested in rearranging stuff to even attempt to get them. So right now, I have to make due with just having Courtesan, no 19 and some Deneuve. I am okay with having just three out right now. I want to start really using that leaky bottle of Courtesan and I am still not happy with Worth for discontinuing Courtesan. I used to be able to get Courtesan for a reasonable price but I can rarely find it now. Deneuve is long discontinued and has gotten horribly expensive, even for minis and I'm probably not going to be wearing that tons but when you have a nice stock of it already, so I don't want to go hoarding it either.

Still waiting for my tax refund to arrive in my bank account so I can get ahead of some things. That is what I am really waiting for. Yeah, I am looking forward to the Sephora sale but I want to go and get ahead of some stuff. When I always file my taxes and get a refund, I get impatient with the IRS. The refund is money I actually earned and I am not too thrilled with the whole interest free loan thing. The IRS is pretty quick to demand payment if you owe but takes forever if you are owed some money. Now let's see what happens Monday to see if I can get a date on when I can get ahead of some stuff.

Sephora Spring Sale

Fat Tuesday has come and gone and now we are in the season of Lent. I've never practiced any kind of religion but know about some of this stuff due to working in a bakery. Every holiday has it's own special dessert of some kind of bread. But I am happy that Fat Tuesday is over and I do not have to look at a paczki for another year.

The great thing that came out of Fat Tuesday was a Sephora announcement. I am a VIB member, the spring sale starts on April 5th for me. Honestly, I can't wait for that sale to arrive. I have decided on that massive bottle of CM Intense and I am probably not going to get that bottle no no 5. I am still on the fence about a backup bottle of Shalimar though. But when that windfall comes, I will probably get a backup bottle. I don't want to go hog wild at this sale since I want to get ahead of somethings and I have that vet appointment with Sunny coming up. But we shall see how this goes.

Made it Through

I made it through another snow storm and didn't lose electricity. I am happy about that. Yesterday was not the greatest day. The roads were a mess and I still had to go to work. Many places in my area were closed for the day but not where I worked. Funny thing is that I received a phone call from my manager stating that there were a bunch of call offs for my department and there wasn't enough work for me to do in my department. I had the choice of either taking the day off or going into work and working in another department. It's been many years since I had to work in a different department and I was not willing to deal with another departments drama so I took the day off. In all the years that I have worked for my current company, I don't ever recall getting a phone call like that. So this was just a random day off and I shall take it. I used the day to get on top of a couple things and try and set myself ahead of a couple things. My bank account can take the hit. I didn't realize that I had leftover vacation from last year until I looked at my last paycheck and might have a residual amount left.

Valentine's day is just around the corner and I am really started to be bombarded with emails about when the last day of shipping is or extra points per dollar in rewards. I am not looking for anymore perfume at the moment. Well, I'm always looking for new perfume but I am trying not to buy anymore perfume except for when Sephora has their spring sale in April. I am trying not to add much of anything to my collection but trying to use things up. It's the whole idea of companies trying to make you think that you have to buys gifts or just buy stuff for whatever holiday that has gotten pretty annoying. I am just trying not to buy as much in general this year and it's difficult to change the bad habit of buying things because it was a good deal. Or because I was bored, anxious or just had a little extra money. I am just trying to get myself in a little better financial state.

Slowly but surely, I am whittling down my candle collection. Even though it's slow going, every candle that I finish, it's a little more space that I have. I'm not adding candles or perfume at the moment, I just want less clutter at this point. By using things up or just throwing out what I don't use creates space.

With all of the cold weather and the back to back winter storms and the cold, I want spring to arrive. I really want to bust out the Estee Lauder Pleasures and Clinique Happy. I have worn both recently but they don't quite fit with winter. I had forgotten how much I love both of them. Pleasures is more of a spring perfume and Happy is more of a summer type of perfume. Truth be told, I was over the moon when Ulta had a special going for Estee Lauder products and I nabbed that 5 ounce bottle. I haven't seen the 5 ounce bottle on Ulta since early last year. It's still available on the Estee Lauder website but sells out often. I do wish that the body lotion was available at Ulta or just more available in general. I have been craving the EDP version of no 19 as well but to a lesser extent. I want sunny, warm days again. The days when I I can go outside without a coat on, wear short sleeves, the days were I can start breaking out the spring/summer candles. I have a couple candles that I am sick of looking at and I just want to use them to just get rid of them. There is no reason on why I need 10 lilac candles, no reason why I need that rosewater ivy or strawberry pound cake. I only have 1 of those two and why not just use them when spring comes and just be done with it.
 

Spring Can't Come Fast Enough

 

I think spring might be on it's way to my neck of the woods. I am slowly starting to see some warmer temps and more sunshine. I am still waiting for that freak snow storm or two. Winter never seems to go quietly in Ohio. I can't wait to open the windows, start wearing short sleeved shirts, not having to deal with coats and the whole lot. That means that the transitional perfumes will be getting some love. I don't have a whole lot in the way of going from winter to spring.

Going from winter to spring is when the lighter orientals come out. Even though my pajama sleeves are drenched in Amouage Lyric and have been way too lazy to throw a load of clothes in the wash, I am starting to crave Shalimar and Theorema. Mostly Theorema is what I want. I have no damned reason why Fendi decided to discontinue Theorema but it's been discontinued for a while. It's sweet but not annoyingly so nor is it heavy. I'm happy that I managed to get a healthy supply before Beauty Encounter ran out of stock. When I got Theorema, the price was alright but try to find it now and for a decent price is a bit of work but I am not interested in even trying to find a decent price for something like this at the moment. I have never been able to track down any of the parfum version without going bankrupt. Vintage and discontinued perfumes are notoriously expensive.

I did make a mention of Shalimar, in all of it's oriental, slutty glory. While I do love the current and vintage version of Shalimar, I truly love the Ode a la Vanille flankers and I am kicking myself for discovering the Ode a la Vanille flankers so late into the game and especially not being able to snap up a bottle of the Madagascar one. I keep a small flame of hope alive that Guerlain will brink back the Ode a la Vanille flankers.

The Continuing Saga of Spring

I don't know if spring is coming or going. Yes, the trees and bushes are starting to wake up but flowers on the other hand is another matter. The primroses are blooming just fine and will continue to do so, we are finishing up with the daffodils and not seeing a whole lot of anything else blooming. No irises, no lilac bushes are blooming. It just seems to be a whole lot of nothing. We might get one day that's warm and sunny but so many of the days are cold, gray and rainy. I don't really think spring is here and Covid-19 isn't making things any easier. Still can't go anywhere or do anything.

At this point, I am happy that my Viktora Minya travel set shipped yesterday after me gripping on Now Smell This about things not shipping. It should arrive by Thursday or Friday and I can't wait to check it out. My Harry and David packages should arrive by the end of the week. One of those packages contain a Mother's Day gift. I am still waiting on my Sephora packages to ship*. I had made my Sephora order on the 23rd of last month and I have only gotten an email on how things are delayed due to Covid-19, sanitation at Sephora warehouses and the Sephora sale. I know a lot of this is first world problems but after what, about 2 months, nobody can have a better system in place by now? I'm hoping that the last of my packages are shipping soon, before I know it, my mother's birthday will be here and I don't really want to go the lame ass route of just a gift card and a happy birthday card.

*One of my Sephora packages has shipped at the time of blogging. Just wish both of them shipped today.

Spring is Slowly Coming

Spring is slowly coming to my neck of the woods. The temps are slowly rising but still not short sleeved weather, my daffodils are starting to wake up and soon the hyacinth will start too. I have slowly adding to my spring/summer wardrobe but short sleeved weather can't come fast enough. This is when I am pretty damned impatient for warm weather. It's more than wanting to wear short sleeves, I want to be able to open the windows and have the ability to leave them open.

On top of the weather not changing fast enough, we have the coronavirus. Everything in the state of Ohio is pretty much shut down. Can't go out to eat unless it's delivery or takeout, most shopping venues are shut down unless it's a gas station or a grocery store, schools are shut down along with government agencies. So many day to day things are altered right now.

What I am really waiting for is to bust out the warmer weather offerings. I am ready to bust out Courtesan, no 19, Chamade and a few others. I am over winter right now and the dry skin it brings.

Spring is Coming

Okay, the little "pupsqueak", Sydney is a year old and she is still as crazy as ever. I thought that BarkBox would really be a big help. Even though the BarkBox subscription we have goes back before Sydney, it's still strange to have two dogs with two different needs. Jake likes plush, squeaky toys to whip around or just carry around. Sydney on the other hand, needs Nylabone type toys. Kong toys won't work with Sydney, she chews right through them. So I can't quite find the right combination of Barkbox that fits the both of them. The Deystroyer's toys or regular toys are a fit for Jake but not Sydney. The Super Chewers don't fit Jake and half the time, are too big for Sydney. So the search continues for something that suits. I like the fact that BarkBox makes every effort to help, it's just having two dogs with two different toy requirements that's the problem.

So spring is supposed to be on it's way. I'm waiting for warm weather, wearing short sleeves again, not needing to wear a coat every time I am outside. I am waiting most of all to break out all of my spring/summer scents. I don't have loads of spring/summer scents but I still can't wait to break them out. No 19, no matter what the concentration, En Passant, Courtesan, Deneuve, and Un Coeur en Mai. Thus far, I can't place Noontide Petals except in the late winter, very early spring where it is still cold.

Here is Jake:

Here is Sydney: Sydney on her 1st birthday, look at how big she has grown from puppy hood.

Sydney, when we first brought her home.----->

Spring Like

In Cleveland, we are getting a blast of spring like weather. It's more than warm enough outside and I have the windows open. Hey, I've got to let the stale winter air out of the house somehow and doing some kind of spring cleaning around my wacky work schedule. Some of the crocuses that I have are blooming but I am really waiting for is the hyacinth and lilac bushes to start blooming.

But thongs have changed. Hoodies and sweaters have given way to short sleeved shirts. I wouldn't say that it is tank top weather, it's not even close. Short sleeve t-shirts feel very strange right now after going through months or wearing long sleeves. Even three quarter legnth sleeves feel strange.But looking around and seeing if Gap and a couple other places to see if there might be something that would perk up my wardrobe. But it looks like there is not. It must be because of the fact that we are between seasons.

This time of year is more of a transition period from winter to spring. So perfume choices are goofy and I am looking at my collection to see what exactly would fit. I've been wearing a lot of Theorema, vintage Bal and no 19. Sometimes I would add Jicky into the lineup but not quite often enough. I do wear my Amouages no matter what the weather but I'm careful with them in heat. The tiniest little bit usually does it but I am not in the mood to apply an Amouge today