Fall is Slowly Coming

In Ohio, we are getting into the tail end of August. My local school system started school on Thursday. It's funny how early kids go back to school now. When I went to school, our school year started a few days before Labor Day. When most of my classmates were in 4H, it would have been wiser to start school after Labor Day. Most of the 4H kids were at school on Monday and Tuesday but were at the local fair the rest of the week. So the first week of school was pretty much a waste of time when I went to school.

With fall on it's way, that means it's time for everything that is either pumpkin or apple. I honestly prefer apple over pumpkin and this whole pumpkin spice craze has gotten out of hand. There is something about the taste and smell of pumpkin spice that makes me gag.

The Honeycrisp Apple candles from Bath and Body Works hasn't come out yet and in some ways I am happy and in other ways I am sad. I am currently on a strict no buy in terms of candles. I am not buying anymore candles until Candle Day in December. So until next fall, I will not be buying any Honeycrisp Apple candles until then or I get a Bath and Body Works gift card for my birthday. At the end of the day, not getting anymore candles until Candle Day will be good for me. It will allow me to use up some of what I have and I have five or six Honeycrisp Apple candles, so my stock is fine.

Since fall is on the way, it's time for me to pull out LADDM and Vanilla Flash. I haven't worn my stash of Andy Tauer's work too much. One, I couldn't get to it and two, out of sight and out of mind. But I found both Vanilla Flash and LADDM and put them front and center. But since fall is on it's way, I do have to pull out more of my transition scents.

Since I have pulled out Vanilla Flash and have worn it, I got to thinking about Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille. Truth be told, I find Tobacco Vanille to be stupid expensive for what it is. For the price of a full bottle of Tobacco Vanille, I can think of many other nicer perfumes for the same price. A travel spray of Tobacco Vanille is around $75 and that is about 10ml of perfume. Vanilla Flash is the same price for 30ml of perfume and I find that Vanilla Flash is a nicer perfume. One could say that it's Andy Tauer does Tobacco Vanille but I find that Vanilla Flash is better made and has that Tauer base that I love so much.
 

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.

This Vacation Sucks

I don't exactly know what happened to this vacation but it sucks.It's been a combination of things that has made it suck.

Didn't do a whole lot Sunday or Monday. That dresser should have been moved into my room by now but it's been a little too hot to really be moving furniture. Tuesday was the day that I went to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. I haven't been there since I was a sophomore in high school and that was over 20 years ago. Truth be told, I remember that the Rock Hall seemed to have more stuff and more interesting stuff when I went over 20 years ago. I personally think that when they made the gift shop a little bigger and added a little food court, they made the thing much smaller. I know that they are in the process of making it bigger but it is such a tiny museum that costs big bucks for admission. So it's going to be quite a while before I visit again.

But yesterday was a freaking adventure though. My eldest Lab (pictured), Sydney, spent most of the night not feeling good and spitting up. So that meant that my dad and I spent a good chunk of Wednesday afternoon at the vet. With a partially wooded lot, she could have eaten anything in the yard. We have bird feeders, chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels and whatever else lives in the back yard. The vet was asking a lot of questions to see what could be ruled out. Diabetes and some kind of obstruction was ruled out. After x-rays and blood work, it turns out Sydney has only 1 kidney and it's a kidney infection. The vet is just waiting for some cultures to see what other antibiotics need to be added but she has been started on one to start to get it under control or just to not make it worse. Sometime Monday we will take her to the vet and I hope that she will be a bit better. I don't want her to be alone in case something happens. We are trying to have her drink as many fluids as we can and have her on a bland diet. With tons of fluid intake means she has to go out ever hour or two so someone has to stay with her to make sure she is drinking and going to the bathroom.

Since it has been so hot and with the house being closed up, I haven't been able to burn any candles so far. With some thunderstorms coming this way, it looks like I will probably be starting a candle and this is the candle I picked out on either last Friday or Saturday. With thunderstorms, who knows if I am going to lose electricity.
 

Gearing Up For Vacation

When I leave work at 8pm on Saturday, I will be on vacation. I spent some time today creating a grocery shopping list, making sure that my medication refills are called in and a couple other annoying things that needed to be handled. I am picking up the medications and groceries tomorrow and when it hits 8pm on Saturday, I can just go home and enjoy my vacation.

I started some preparations last week but some of that stuff fell apart and had to correct that stuff yesterday. I am not a coffee drinker but a tea drinker. My preferred drink is the Tazo chai concentrate. Pour in some milk, some tea and you can drink it hot or cold. I am too lazy to spend an extra two minutes heating it up so I just drink it cold. When Walmart started to offer delivery from store, I was mainly getting it that way instead of getting the 4 packs shipped to me two or three days after I ordered. But when I made a couple orders, I wasn't able to click the link on my phone to not have the substitutions. The Yogi chai tea is horrible, it tastes like sugar water with a little bit of honey mixed in. So yesterday's project was to return all of those things and make a Target order. With the rate that Walmart seems to be goofing up by not saying that they have something out of stock, Target seems to be a lot more consistent with this stuff.

What is getting me excited right now is that some furniture Jenga happened in my room and now I have a spot where I can actually burn some candles. So that is something that is going to happen sometime next week. I would like to get through at least one candle and start on another candle. This can't happen at a better time. Bath and Body Works is rolling out their fall candles. Thus far, Sweet Whiskey and Frozen Lake have been released and I am waiting on Honeycrisp Apple to make a comeback. If Apple Weather comes out, that will be a bonus. I am down to three Honeycrisp Apple candles and this is the candle that I stock up on every year outside of the Winter candle. Honeycrisp Apple is straight up apple with no pumpkin spice or anything pumpkin mixed in.

I do hope that I will be able to try something new in terms of perfume. I do have a couple things laid out and I am hoping that I do wear them and actually review. Once you get out of the habit of reviewing stuff, it's really hard to get back into the habit of doing reviews. While I am at it, why not see if I can start reading some of those books that I have stored on my Kindle. I seriously need to get back into the habit of reading as well.
 

Amazon Prime Day and Chanel no 5

 Well, tomorrow and Wednesday is Amazon Prime day. I am not exactly buying anything for me because there is nothing that I truly need but I am doing some shopping for other people. What was going on with my Kindle was that I had too many background things running and that is what was draining my battery and part of the reason of why the stupid thing wasn't charging. My mother needs a new Kindle because hers is just about dead. As soon as I order her that Kindle, I will be redeeming a $25 gift card and order my dad that one of those Xbox games that he has been thinking about for his birthday. If there is anything left over with that gift card, I will either buy a cheap book or an episode of Daria. Daria is one of those MTV shows that I loved and that was when MTV was still pretty good. But we shall see.

But for the past couple months, I have been wearing a whole lot of Chanel no 5 on days that I have to go to work. The only formulation of no 5 I won't wear is the parfum. The parfum is just too fabulous to wear to work. It's a good thing that I have so much no 5 that I can wear it with abandon. The only other perfume that I have been wearing to work is CdG Kyoto. With all the heat that we have been having, I want something a little more dry and cooling. I could probably go for L'Air du Desert but it doesn't have the cooling effect that Kyoto does.

I still haven't gotten that stupid dresser into my bedroom. It seems like every time I want to do just that, my mother changes her mind. What I had to do is tell her is that I am tired of most of my belongings spread across three rooms. I would love to get that dresser in my room and go through my clothes and figure out what do I want to keep, throw out or donate. What I truly want to do is actually use some of my candles. I have no place high enough to use my candles. My nightstand is too low, the high boy dresser has a TV and I would rather not destroy that. I would love to have a spot to show case some of my perfumes and have a little more selection than what I have now.

Grocery Delivery and Chanel no 19

 I have blogged fairly recently about Door Dash and have made some comments about having food delivered. But somethings have changed in the past couple weeks. I have become one of those psychos that gets most of my groceries delivered now. I have epilepsy and I do not drive. It's a tough thing to go grocery shopping. When I leave work, I try to grab the things I need and head home. I know that for $100 a year, I can join the Target Circle and get free same day delivery. Since I am on Medicaid, I can get Amazon Prime and Walmart Plus for much less. But if I am not shopping on Amazon or Walmart, I would need to spend at least $10 per order and most places have some kind of minimum threshold before I can get same day delivery and this is not including tip.

For quite a while, the Walmart closest to me did not do same day delivery to my house. I live in a goofy spot. Most places either don't deliver or charge a little more. I live in a rural area and not being able to drive, I am more dependent on delivery services more than your average person. But in the past two and a half weeks, I have been able to have groceries delivered to my house at no extra charge from Walmart. I guess all that griping on Twitter might have paid off. I can't be the only disabled person that is a little more reliant on delivery services. My blind friend has the same issues with trying to find rides and someone help her with grocery shopping. I gave her the heads up with Walmart Plus. Why not give someone else a helping hand? So my dry goods are delivered to my door and I pick out my fruits, veggies and meat in person. I can't fully trust someone else to pick out those things yet. Some people like the convenience but it's a lifeline for me.

I am still having some issues with the most current version of no 19 EDP. The bottle that I currently have is at least 10 plus years old. Last week, I had a huge hankering for some no 19 and found my 2 vintage versions of the EDP. While I do have a couple vintage travel EDT versions, I couldn't really get to those. The bottle in the picture might be from sometime in the 80's or 90's. I will admit that I enjoy the vintage version of no 19 much better than the current version. I think that it is the musk that is used in the vintage that I like a little better. The whole set up in the vintage version of no 19 seems to be better. I know reformulations are inevitable but I am not the biggest fan of them. Most of the time, reformulations make a perfume worse off. Mitsouko is one of the few perfumes that in spite of not having actual oakmoss in it anymore, the reformulation has Mitsouko still smelling like Mitsouko. If someone tried to bring back Deneuve, it probably wouldn't smell like it should. But is Deneuve was rereleased, I would still give it a go because why shouldn't I give it a shot?

Amouage Epic

If memory serves me right, Amouage Epic for women was my second Amouage purchase. I had bought it from Luckyscent, this was back in the day where I was wary of purchasing decants from the Perfumed Court. I remembered liking it but not really understanding it. Mind you, I was an inexperienced perfumista and never really explored perfume in depth before. Before I was seriously into perfume, I mainly wore Clinique Happy, Estee Lauder Pleasures, CK Obsession and BBW Cucumber Melon. You know, perfumes that were easy to get and with the exception of Obsession, cheap and fairly easy to wear. What mostly attracted me to Epic was the story of Turnadot because I love the aria, Nessun Dorma and the green bottle and green is my favorite perfume.

I still haven't gotten that dresser into my bedroom and don't have a whole lot of access to most of my collection but managed to get my hands on my bottle of Epic. But a funny thing happened. It was either Monday of last week or Wednesday, I had worn Epic. I remember it being in the 80's and pretty humid. I haven't worn the EDP in quite a while so I decided to put some on. I think that because I haven't really worn Epic a whole lot recently, the perfume in the spray mechanism was probably getting on the stale side. This was the first time that I had really noticed the oud in Epic. There were always hints of something sour to my nose but I never could quite put two and two together. I think when I did review an amber dominant perfume and then another oud dominant perfume, I realized that amber and oud  perfumes were not exactly my thing or something that I would be iffy on.

Epic was always this spicy rose with a hint of resin but never smelled a whopping dose of oud in it before. Even my dabber of Epic 56 doesn't give my a huge dose of oud but with the decant being a dabber, I wouldn't be able to get the full effect of Epic 56. But I am thinking that Epic might be more of a winter perfume. Since I am slowly working my way through my Amouages, the only two that I really seem to be enjoying are Jubilation 25 and Lyric. All the other ones that I have, there is something in them that is starting to bother me. Maybe my tastes have changed or there might be notes in the Amouage bottles that I own that I have never liked. It kind of makes me sad though. I have spent a small fortune on Amouage perfumes already.