Tuesday, March 31, 2020

March Musings - 2020

Hello! Virtual hugs to all. It's been a troublesome month!

 And I did what I do when stressed. I got plants. Broccoli plants. Strawberry plants. Columbine and peony plants to ward off deer. Seeds for beets, carrots and lettuce. All of these do well in early spring and made me feel productive.

 (I also had to bring office plants home - see below - and wow that was a cat-sized challenge!)

 Right now, I'm about making changes that work for me. Doing what works for me and simplifying every damned thing. So, there is a shake up in the topics!

 Reading (Books): Let the trumpets sound! I finally killed off that book of Irish fairytales I've been dragging around forever! (As one friend said, "It did not capture your imagination." No, it did not.) And I gave it away, so you won't be seeing photos of that cover in the book line-up any more! I also binged a new book and read useful things.
- Irish Fairy and Folk Tales by WB Yeats (editor)
- Smoke Bitten (Mercy Thompson #12) by Patricia Briggs
- The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity by Edwene Gaines
- The Checklist Book by Alexandra Franzen

 Cooking: March is a birthday month, so there were pies. Raspberry and chocolate chess. (They seem to have gone over well.) Then a request for berry cobbler.

 And then, the limited contact of coronavirus kicked in and we just kind of ate whatever was in the pantry.

 Gratitude: Good health. Kitten snuggles. Hugs. Friends who get tickets to cool things. Streaming services. Mail. Couch snuggles. Grocery stores trying their damned best. (Seriously. Say thank you.) Early spring gardens.

 Listening: Hello Seven podcast. Classical channel on Apple music. Cocktails and Crooners channel on Apple Music. Dave Ramsey podcast. Secrets of Wealthy Women WSJ podcast. 

 Watching: Good Girls. (All caught up with the current season!) Full first season of Blood & Treasure. (The girls in this have real fight scenes!)  Quantico , Season 1.

 Wearing (Perfume & Skin Care):
Perfume

People. I now speak in scent thanks to Sucreabeille. Go ahead... ask what I'm wearing!

 - Toxic Masculinity Ruins the Party Again - Scent notes: A delightfully feminine blend of lavender, vanilla, honey nectar, and a light floral aldehyde. - This is a very powdery, floral that dries down even more powdery. Nice sillage.
- Here's the thing, F*ck Everyone! - Scent notes: Bourbon, Rich chocolate, Dark amber, touch of dirt - I'm trying to figure out why so many of the scents have dirt in them... This one opens on the bourbon and the chocolate is lighter than some of the others in the line. Sillage is good but not extraordinary. 
- Rictus - Scent notes:  funeral wreath of white lilies and black orchids sprinkled with a dusting of graveyard dirt. A somber wake feast of dark chocolate drenched raspberries and a shot of dark rum. - I get straight up rum and chocolate off this. After about 8 hours, I get a touch of lily. This lasts forever - like 16 hours or more on me.
- Irish Cream - Scent notes: Irish cream, salted caramel, espresso. Decided this is more of a beer perfume than red wine. The sillage is decent, 8-10 hours.
- Xanadu - Scent notes: fragrant white tea, grated ginger, saffron, a field of lavender swaying in a cool breeze, carrot seed oil, damp pine needles.I LOVE this one. The ginger makes it feel warm on the skin and gives it a clean spice sent. The pine needles is the tiniest bit medicinal - as is the lavender. The sad thing is that sillage is low on this - less than 3 hours on the skin for me and then drifts off.
- We Ride at Dawn. Scent notes: Hot black tea with honey and coffee absolute to rise early, cardamom vanilla for comfort, bitter almonds for the lost, a shot of whiskey for strength. I got bitter almond with a whisper of whiskey off this right off the bat. About 5 hours in the cardamon settled in with the whiskey and almond for the ride. 8 hours sillage, easy.

 (So sad that this Firefly scent is discontinued because I think this is my signature scent... I Can Kill You With My Brain: Amber, Tahitian vanilla, smoked patchouli, English rose, wild rose.)
Skin care
Day time - using  Mad Hippie's Vitamin C Serum then 100% Pure's Super Fruit Oil Nourishing Eye Cream and then top it off with FlowerSpice Soothe and Repair Daily Moisturizer from the April 2019 box. 

 Night time - After cleansing with my favorite 100% Pure Blood Orange Cleansing Balm and DHC Face Wash, and then gently daubing on 100% Pure night eye cream, I've been using the African Botanics Le Masque Hydralift Intense (October Boxwalla box) all over plus African Botanics's Fleur d'Afrique Oil. Winter is finishing out and my skin needs the extra moisture. Sometimes if we have to go out for the dog in the early morning, I'll do a rosewater spritz and then Bloom Oil on the corners of the eyes.

 And let's have an update about the FlowerSpice Soothe and Repair. It's nice...but with daily use I have noticed that my skin gets "hot" (red spots at the forehead and splotchy cheeks) if I use it morning and night. It actually does best for me if I only use it once every other day. Then, somehow, my skin finds it comforting.

 Also, no one thought I was 15 years younger. But I did get hit on a lot the week before lockdown. 

Random: I had a minor health scare that require a few in-office doctor procedures. Never underestimate the value of having someone to take you to that kind of thing; and, by all means, get your regular check-ups and catch stuff early! As a result of some of my clarity around that, I also took a new job. I'd been at my prior job for 7 years so that was a big change! This will also shift my stress. I had political and social stress at the prior position due to a misalignment with the culture (I think women should be in leadership, they didn't). Now I just have the stress of learning a new product line and audience!

 I made a scarf for Isy (22) and forgot to document it with a photo. So I guess that didn't happen! 

 Also, Roxanne and I went to a super fun Women's Expo (early March, before we all knew to self-isolate). We did all the things. We got fitted for bras. (I wasn't even close on the size I was wearing!) She got her hair styled. We made candles. We made perfume (mine is Jade, Rain, Fig)! We decided we might join the roller derby. All in the space of just a few hours! (And then we went to Trader Joe's because that place has the foodz.)

 Take-away - Only connect. (EM Forester). Don't forget that in this time of troubles. And be kind because it matters now more than ever.

Original musings posts you may enjoy:



All photos by moi! And you can tell...

*Juice Beauty is a staple in my beauty cabinet. I stray, I try other things - but it's my favorite "foundation" (I used the CC Cream) and great skin care. If you like Juice Beauty too, here is a link. I do get a small commission (at no cost to you) when you use these links which helps support this blog.

- Skin Care by Juice Beauty
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