Monday, September 7, 2020

August Musings - 2020




I'm in love with painting acrylics. It may be my new hobby! That and the awesome local farmer's market on Sunday mornings. And I think you should buy yourself some flowers. You deserve them! I got several sets from the farmer's market this month. This one is a combination of a couple of weeks. 

So what did you get up to in August?


 Reading (Books):
Here's what I read this month.(And yeah, crazy amount of Kindle Unlimited. They are making nothing on me.) I continue to stress read with light fiction. 

- Orlando People by Alexander C. Kane (very very good) via Audible
-The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith via Audible (2 observations - 1) her fav food (pumpkin and chicken) would make her my dog's BFF and 2) so weird in 2020 to have an old white English (via Africa, but still) write for an African black woman. 
- Leveling Up #1 and #2 by K.F. Breene (Kindle Unlimited) - YESSS. Very good. More mid-life series.
- Psychic Dreams by Elizabeth Hunter (Kindle Unlimited) - this is #3 in her Glimmer Lake series. (Spoiler - what the hell? How did West not be the guy? Plot reasons I'm sure but I feel like West deserves some play.)
- Good to the Last Death #3 by Robyn Peterman - (Kindle Unlimited) this is an easy beach read but I've found better
- Hall of Blood and Mercy #1, #2 #3 by K.M. Shea (Kindle Unlimited) - this is a beach read
- Nora Black Midlife Psychic Mystery books #1, #2, and #2 by Renee George (Kindle Unlimited) Was kind of a fun romp. Don't expect much but it works at exactly that level.
- Witching for Hope by Deanna Chase (Kindle Unlimited) which is #2 in a series. I was not at all interested in this one but since I liked the first and am anticipating the 3rd, it seemed like I should read this one.
- Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs - this might have been a re-read. I feel like I know some of these stories. But I loved them all the same
- The Vine Witch & The Glamourist by Luanne G. Smith (Kindle Unlimited) - I'm in love with this "set in France in early 1900's with magic" series! I can't wait for the final installment.
- The Missing by C.L Taylor - actual BOOK! It kept me guessing but it took a while - like 3 weeks to read because it did not hook me in. (Dropped to the beach LFL)
- Rosemarked by Livia Blackburne - actual BOOK! found at a garage sales and I really enjoyed it. The storyline was fresh! (Dropped to the beach LFL)


Cooking: I made so much salsa! Just quick fresh salsa with farmer's market onions and jalapenos, my tomatoes and hot peppers and a bit of cilantro from the store. Also cobbler. 

Gardening: And we have deer. The war against them has commenced. They have eaten my tiny tomatoes to nubs and are scavenging my bigger tomatoes. I responded with Irish Spring. They responded by eating my Ghost Pepper and Carolina Reaper - someone's venison is going to be spicy.


Gratitude:  Evening painting without a plan. The return of eating out. (Patios). Farmer's market. Diva dog paws. Perfume. Garage sales and fun finds. Babies. (Not mine but related!) New soap day. 


Listening: I'm still not podcast listening very much. In all truth - I'm very busy and I kind of don't want to think in my down time. Lots of Cocktails and Crooners on Apple Music. Some Pandora (I've created a Tru-Torch channel that's heavy on the torch jazz. And I've been rocking that at work.) 
Watching: Alright so I liked it so much I re-watched, The Old Guard on Netflix with Charlize Theron. Also, I caught up on all the Agents of Shield. (Nice ending. I can work with that emotionally.)  The new season of US's Shameless is out (sans Fiona), and I caught up with the Gallaghers.

Wearing (Perfume and Skincare): 


Perfume
The perfume situation is officially crazy. It just never seems to go down - even though I've killed off some samples.

Imaginary Authors
- Yesterday Haze - Scent notes: Fig, Iris, Cream, Tonka, Tree Bark, Walnut Bitters, Orchard Dust. I like this one more the more I wear it - I think it's the fig, cream and tonka. It lingers better than any other IA perfume I've sampled  - morning application lingers into early evening. Would buy! (Killed off the sample)
- Sundrunk - Scent notes: Neroli, Rhubarb, Honeysuckle, Rose Water,Orange Zest, First Kiss. There is something about this like oranges just past the peak. Not one I'd buy again. (Killed off the sample)


Sucreabeille
 - I Come From a Long Line of Terrifying Women - Scent notes: rosewood, whiskey, and amber, gunpowder, guiacwood, and tobacco absolute. I decided I needed to honor La Gram Russe at the begining of the month - her birthday - with wearing this perfume. Because she was awesome and I miss her. It's still very heavy on the tobacco with an overlay of amber on me. I like it. Okay sillage. 3-5 hours. 
- Lady Swears - Scent notes: Bourbon, Tahitian Vanilla, Lemon.  I started the day at 4:15am for petcare and a 5am conference call with Taiwan. I was stood up 2 days in a row. This was the correct perfume for that!
- 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  - but somehow Sucre seems to have come up with a patchouli that I don't mind. I'm not a daisy person (mostly they smell strongly of cat pee with an almost pleasant odor underneath for me) Yet somehow this scent uses only the "good" part of the daisy. This is a lovely scent and a lesson that you should TRY NEW THINGS. 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.
- 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 think this dram might be self-filling. It never runs out!   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 no rose off it. Cigar and whiskey with a floral hint. And it lasts a good half day for sillage.
- RESPECT - Scent notes: your mother’s expensive cold cream that she dutifully applied every night and now you do, too, mixed with fragrant, sumptuous black cherries. Now that this has "rested" and is officially my night perfume (because that is a thing now) I get a lot of cherry and dark vanilla off this. It's still sexy cupcake but richer smelling.


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. I got a sample of Dr. Hauschka's Restorative Day Cream as part of a sample (BeautyHabit.com - excellent beauty curators) and pretty much used it all month. Towards the end of the month, I broke out the 5Yina Lucent Hydrolat and Lucent Beauty Oil as it was hot and that's the perfect pair for that. 

- 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 bought this new eye cream called "Grown Alchemist" which makes me laugh. (Beautyhabit had it on clearance). It's basically vitamin E and sunflower oil with a few other things. But I like how it melts into the skin. I've been topping that with the Boxwalla beauty box's Votary Super Seed cream. Very rich. My skin has been, despite the heat, looking a little parched.

Things 13 Said: Not much. She was gone a lot of the month. And since she will be 14 next month, she's doing the teenage thing where she lives in her room and we never see her.

Random: 22 (Israel) made me go with her garage sale hunting. And I have found a water carafe with cover/cup. $2. It makes me delighted!


Take-away: This time of year can feel like things are winding down. It's the perfect time to dream about how you want to finish your year. I know the pandemic has stressed a lot of us out. But there is still hope, and beauty (and babies!). Take a little time to dream about the rest of the year and to dream about what you want next.

PS - I'm moving to 2x a month posts. So much happens in a month right now that nuances are lost and these posts are starting to feel generic. I hope you like the changes!


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.

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