Travels

My littlest nephew has a birthday on May 1st and my parents are traveling to California to go celebrate. In spite of a larger tax refund, there were bills that I wanted to pay off and that cash is gone. I'm trying to be more of an adult and hold off on fun stuff and trying to get myself into some better financial shape. Yes, I want to travel but there are other things that take precedence.

Since my folks will be out of town, I am starting to get some of my shit together. I am making a rough draft of any kind of groceries that I might need. But I won't know more until closer to when my folks leave on what I need. I do have some plans to do some projects but nothing major or terribly important. It's mainly things that I want to get done without someone breathing down my neck.

Yes, I do plan to use up some of my candle collection and I am trying to figure out which ones I want to use. I plan on shooting for 8 or 9 candles to be used up. I am trying to make some kind of progress on culling my collection just because I want some kind of space. I am trying to keep with a resolution of using stuff up or just getting rid of it. 

It will be great to have some alone time. Time to burn whichever candles that I want, wear the perfumes I want and not have anyone complain about them. Now I just need to get through the next two weeks.
 

That Was Fast

 The Sephora sale has come and gone for me. First day of the sale, I did nab that bottle of Coco Mademoiselle Intense and the Dolce Gabbanna Light Blue Intense. Yesterday was just the original Chanel Chance.

I've never been a big fan of Light Blue or Dolce Gabbana. There is something about that whole line up that just annoys me. I don't know why I get so damned annoyed with Light Blue. You know what, I do know why I don't like Light Blue or anything done by Dolce Gabbana. Everyone seems to wear Light Blue or something else from Dolce Gabbana. The only reason I had gotten a bottle of the Light Blue Intense is because my mother adores the Dolce Gabbana crap and her birthday is in May, so why not just get a bottle and call it a day. I will probably pick up a couple things to add to her gift.

This seemed to be the first sale I participated in where almost everything was sold out and I was happy to nab what I wanted. In years past, by the time that the sale happened for me, just about everything was sold out or going really fast. I have to remember that we are coming out of a pandemic and people don't have the means to really participate in the sale or they lost their VIB or Rouge status. Don't get me wrong, a 10% off your order at Sephora is still pretty good but not as good as 15% or 20% off. But I do have to remember that people might not quite have the means like they used to. There doesn't seem to be any kind of line that released something that everybody was itching to get their hands on. Just like a few years ago, Urban Decay had released their Game of Thrones stuff and everything was sold out at Sephora. Managed to get one of the Game of Thrones lipsticks at Ulta. I wasn't looking to get a ton of it, just a lipstick.

So all that saving and all those gift cards went pretty quick. But there wasn't a whole lot that I truly wanted though. So it's going to be a long while before I can get anymore perfume that isn't a gift. I'm kind of relieved that it's over for me with this sale but it might be different when their fall sale comes around. I shall see what the finances look like for that sale.

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.

Being an Adult Sucks

I have spent most of my adult life as an irresponsible adult. Spending cash that I didn't have and have tried over the past couple years to become more responsible but time and time again, I failed. But it seems to be the year that I am cracking down on some things.

This is the year when I get serious about getting rid (paying off) these credit cards and buying a whole lot less shit. With that tax refund, I've taken care of 3 credit cards with small balances and half of another. This is the year when my Sephora credit card is going to stay at zero, along with Old Navy, Ulta and Victoria's Secret. I am not so interested in keeping the tiers that I have with those companies and I'm not so interested in points/cashback any more. I just want things paid off.

This is the year that I want to get going on getting a savings account and start saving some money. Cutting back on gifts will help with that along with cutting back on makeup, perfume and candles. I say that when I am going to be dropping some cash at Sephora when the spring sale hits. I've already budgeted the money in December so I think that I am okay right now. But I do worry about going over my budget and I seriously don't want to do that.

Later on in the year, I will be turning 40 and it's an over due thing to get my shit together. Get it together for a better credit score, less driving myself crazy trying to put out small fires month to month and just to have a better budget. Maybe next year, I can actually take a vacation and actually go somewhere instead  of sitting at home wondering on what I can do that it cheap or free.
 

Etat Libre d'Orange Fat Electrician Review

That tax refund came through and I have done most of what I said I would do with it. It is a relief to have a few things taken care of so I set myself a little bit ahead.

After getting that Etat Libre d'Orange set from Luckyscent, I had just let all those samples sit around and do nothing. On days that I am at work, I wear the inoffensive things and when I am off work, I want the loud things or comforting things. Or the things that I just don't get to wear that often. But I just decided to get going, even if I started with just one of them. And I started out with Fat Electrician.

Vetiver is not something that I seek out in the world of perfume. It's just not on my radar. Fat Electrician starts out green and grassy and remains green and grassy for the duration of the wearing. Then I get something else after 15 minutes and it's something akin to a coconut smell. Maybe it's the vanilla with a little bit of a rubbery type of smell. With those two other things, I am not wholly sold on the perfume. What keeps me from being sold it that lasting power on my skin is about 3 hours.

With Fat Electrician, I am reminded of Chanel's Sycomore. I think that Sycomore is a better vetiver and Sycomore is a smoky vetiver in all of it's glory. If you want vetiver, go with Chanel.

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.