Monday, August 17, 2020

July Musings - 2020

To start the month, I re-organized. It made me happy. And you know what? That's a great way to kick off the next 6 months of 2020.

 Why? Well, I got to evaluate if I wanted what I have. I got to change the energy in my home by cleaning. I made this super cute sitting area that is perfectly Zoom interesting and work-appropriate! 


Reading (Books):
Let's start with - I got new bookcases! Which was awesome. Because I got to completely re-arrange other bookcases, and move things to different rooms and basically make things look awesome. Also, the bookcases were only $40 each at a garage sale.

 And hey!!! Remember the Little Free Library that I "Book Fairy"d in May? Apparently, none  - as in NOT ONE - of the books I left were to the potential readers' tastes as they were all still there as of July 3rd! I feel very rejected. Flip side? I left one book in the LFL at the beach early in the month and it was gone the next week. The beach LFL is always light on material.

 Here's what I read this month.(And yeah, crazy amount of Kindle Unlimited. They are making nothing on me.)
- The Sundance Series by C.P Rider. (Spiked, Summoned, Earp & Chandra, Sabotaged.) (Kindle Unlimited) Fantastic series. 
- Devilish Game (more Shadow Guild) from Linsey Hall. - Witch Way to Secrets and Sorcery: A Witch Way Paranormal Cozy Mystery by Jane Hinchey - it's part of a series and quite a light read. (Kindle Unlimited)
- Midlife Demon Hunter by Shannon Mayer which remains awesome as part of the series. (Kindle Unlimited) 
- Grimm Cove series by Mandy M. Roth (Cloudy with a Chance of Witchcraft, Hexing with a Chance of Tornadoes) which was very fun (Kindle Unlimited)
- Witching for Grace by Deanna Chase (Kindle Unlimited) - again a wonderful beach read. (My current speed).
- Forty, Fabulous and ...Fae? by Melinda Chase (Kindle Unlimited) Skip it. Not worth the time.
- Heir to the Throne by Katrina Martinez (Kindle Unlimited) because even though I didn't love it - I'm a finisher + with Kindle Unlimited it's not a big deal to finish out. 
- The Raven Cursed series by McKenzie Hunter (Fireborne, Silverfall, Nightsoul) which was pretty good but a touch awkward.(Kindle Unlimited)
- The Last of the Moon Girls by Barbara Davis which was super enjoyable (Kindle)
- Her Final Words by Brianna Labuskes which was breathtakingly good
- The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent which was a great (feel-good ending) mystery. Nice plot curves in this one.
- I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawton - finished that finally! And immediately put it in a Little Free Library


 Cooking: Breakfast sausage pigs-in-blanket. Very delicious and kid approved.

 Gardening: And we have tiny tomatoes and hot peppers! The strawberries seem to be done. I haven't done much but sprinkle a little fresh herbs in various things. It doesn't feel like a big gardening year.
Gratitude: Dawn beachside Pilates.  Good vets. Evening painting. Farmer's market. Perfume. Catalpa trees. Garage sales. Car singing. Tubing. New things.

Listening: Lots of Cocktails and Crooners on Apple Music. Some Pandora (I've created a Tru-Torch channel that's heavy on the torch jazz.) I've nearly sworn off podcasts. It's like brain capacity that I just can't do right now.

Watching: Really enjoyed, The Old Guard on Netflix with Charlize Theron. And I hope there is a follow up! (Minor criticism, the first action scene was a little muddy visually.) I've also been watching Raising Dion and that's surprisingly enjoyable. (At anytime the scene in Episode 3 were mom explains people treat you differently when you are Black would break my heart at any time but seemed to be more meaningful right now.). I hope there is a second season!

Wearing (Perfume and Skincare): 
Perfume
I remain overwhelmed with the sheer VOLUME of perfume I own. It just never seems to go down!

Imaginary Authors
- Memoirs of a Trespasser.
Scent notes: Madagascar Vanilla, Giaiacwood, Myrrh, Benzoin Resin, Ambrette Seeds, Oak Barrels. I get a lot of Vanilla and Ambrette seed with a touch of oak barrels. It almost smells like vanilla root beer. It lasts lightly on my skin a few hours and then drift off. (Nice but I would not buy)
- Every Storm a Serenade. 
Scent notes: Danish Spruce, Eucalyptus, Vetiver, Calone, Ambergris, Baltic Sea Mist. I think it's the vetiver but I loved this! (I had a rough weekend mid-month and decide this was my theme-perfume.)  It's airy and really is reminiscent of the sea. I had no specific open or base notes - it smelled complete, the entire time I wore it, whole. Again, the sillage is less than awesome. (I would buy this one.)
- Falling Into the Sea.  
Scent notes: Lemon, Bergamot, Grapefruit, Lychee, Tropical Flowers, Warm Sand. This felt like summer one weekend. Less citrus than I'd have imagined - more tropical flowers.  I'd describe this as a very approachable fragrance. Standard few hours and then drift off.  (I would by this one - perhaps in a higher scent concentration - for beachy, easy days.) 

Summary - I basically like the scents with "water" names! 

Sucreabeille
- Stay Sexy - Scent notes: Tahitian vanilla, rich honey, fresh grapefruit. The honey on this lingers with the vanilla and a citrus kiss. Quite lovely. I decided this was a good way to start the month and finished off this perfume. Very delightful - would buy again! Which is good because I finished this one off the first week of July. 
- We Are Stardust - Scent notes: Daisy crowns and sandalwood, a bouquet of peace lilies, vanilla cream fresh from Max’s dairy farm, and a drop of patchouli. I hate patchouli with a passion and abhor the scent of daisies (cat pee). If I would've noticed those in the notes before buying it - I would not have purchased. And I would've missed out! This is a lovely scent. For me, it's heavy on the cream and lilies with a backing of deep sandalwood and a sweet dry down to the faint touch of a creamy daisy invoking floral that has only the good parts of the daisy. Sillage is about 4-5 hours. (I bought it for the name. I wore it because I wanted to feel magical. Totally fits the bill.)
- Toxic Masculinity Ruins the Party Again - Scent notes: A delightfully feminine blend of lavender, vanilla, honey nectar, and a light floral aldehyde.  I've now decided this is a weird mix of powder/honey. It's sweet, but dry smelling and goes more powder the longer it is on. (Late in the month I started getting "smoke" off this.) Nice sillage.
- GlitterTrash - Scent Notes: Watermelon Blow-Pops, baby powder, fistfuls of sticky white cake, last night's champagne and coconut cream. Right off, I always get baby powder, coconut cream and the sticky white cake - also it is very possible there is glitter in this as my skin shimmers a bit. Sillage is light, about 3 hours. (I want more watermelon!)
- 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 found this - with a tiny bit left - at the bottom of my work bag the week I was dealing with a particularly difficult person at work. I decided it was an omen. I get strong upfront rum and chocolate with a settle down to a lillied chocolate in about 6-8 hours. This scent basically lingers until I wash it off.
- Mouthy Broad - Scent notes: a cloud of cigar smoke, freshly picked roses, a full glass of whiskey. I don't know. This just felt like T-H-I-S  was my description of who I felt like internally. I got absolutely not rose off it. Cigar and whiskey with a floral hint. And it lasts a good half day for sillage.

 OOH and I got samples! Child. It is interesting to me it smells like one of my aunts. (Howa). I got a musk gardenia off it the first time. And then a tuberose/jasmine the second time. It's a very interesting, complex "white" musk floral with extraordinary sillage.  I quite liked it, except for the memories - but I'd never pay that much!



Skincare


- Day time - Started the month out with my standard a shower wash of tea tree cleanser and swipe of Rosewater Witch Hazel (Dr. Theyer's, obviously), followed by a third finger (gentlest finger) tapping into the skin of 100% Pure's Super Fruit Oil Nourishing Eye Cream.

- Night time - 1st cleanse - 100% Pure's Blood Orange Cleansing Balm followed by a 2nd cleanse with  with Boxwalla's June cleanser, Nini Organics' Detox Foam Cleanser - which does the powder to foam thing that is so cool! I like it a lot - the scent is not awesome but not bad. (My Green Tea Cleanser from Odacite has a nicer smell.) And can we just say I threw the kitchen sink at it! I used the whole arsenal. I don't look young enough yet.

Things 13 Said: 
She wants a snake for a pet now.

Random: I cleaned my closet and found 2 soaps! And they still smelled awesome.

Also the dog is doing great after his terrifying ACL surgery. (The surgery was not terrifying. 3 days of me not knowing why my dog wasn't walking was.) We did physical therapy - I watched vet approved on-line videos to learn how - and follow up visits to the vet and he did great. But he did have to wear the cone of shame for 3 weeks. And he really hated it.

Here is post-surgery pup!




Take-away: Give yourself some damned grace. Things are stressful and weird and it's OKAY to NOT be okay right now. Harm none, but do what makes you happy. It's i-m-p-o-r-t-a-n-t right now.

PS - Guys sorry I'm late with this post. I had some stress.

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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