Week 1 - June 2021 Musings

Did you know that peonies need the cold of winter to snap back and bloom? Sometimes I am the same - I need the quiet and dark to refocus my energy. I needed a bit less on my to-do list and a bit more time in my schedule for me. I hope you don't mind the break. (Peony picture for tax)

So what has been going on? I've been painting ALL the things in the house - walls, ceilings, book cases, furniture - ALL the things! And building furniture. And a bit of gardening. And reading. Pandemic levels of reading. And resettling myself after a pretty bad bout of depression. I get SAD to a lesser degree most winters. Throw in a pandemic, a break up, a house purchase, and the chaos of a new space = a much a greater degree. So I did a little re-set and gave myself the grace to just BE so I could get through the physical therapy on my hip, the winter, the memories of spring, and just everything. It worked! I'm back, sans limp - but I have an attitude. You have been warned.

Books? I read my entire 2021 planned amount. In escapist novels. (I have favorites, they show up in my Good Reads). I'm 75 books in.

New goal. I read non-fiction business during the week and indulge in other books on the weekend. It's significantly slowed my reading but I'm making some progress on enriching my mind.

Cooking? New stove came Thursday, we will discuss after that. Because I will be cooking ALL THE THINGS.

Gratitude? 35 year old me who thought a personal IRA was a great idea. The friends who visit my new space and do not suggest changes to their taste but understand I have a vision. My adorable kitchen. The new side porch furniture. 

Listening? Apple's lists have me pegged. I pick one and it rifts on things I like. Have discovered I like Fall Out Boy. (Will not be debating this.) 

Also a ton of Patrice Washington's Redefining Wealth podcasts and Don't Keep Your Day Job with Cathy Heller podcasts - they seem to inspire me and even out my keel. Right now, I'm all about that.

Watching? This week I finished Stumptown. Let's discuss how I can finish a TV series but not an online class. (Also a friend came to visit the new space and referred to my TV as a "cute little TV" - then asked where the bigger one is. That...is......it. That's the only one.)

Wearing? 

Yeah, I still look good for my age but who the hell knows about my skin? It currently hates facemasks on the regular, and I'm tired of fighting the wrinkles. Here's a picture of what I have going on this week - day, night, and mask.

Day (Skin)

Night (Skin) 

The Masks (Skin)

As mentioned, I've been fighting the maskne. I've got a whole regime of masks I rotate through. Here they are below. The Blue Magic and Mayala's Neem are my favorites but that Naturallogic hydrating mask is fantastic around the eyes.

Wearing (Perfume)

My perfume interest may have tilted into addiction. Kind of like when I need the full set of a book series. I think I may have an obsessive personality. (Shrugs.) I smell fantastic. Go explore the world of indie perfumes. Support a small business. It's good for your soul. 

Below is my latest indie haul from Death and Floral.

I bought a primer (the tin) to help make scents last longer. 

• Summer Camp Gothic - Scent notes: Dry oakwood absolute, browned marshmallows, cedar, black pepper, toasted vanilla
• The same way I am in love with the moon - Scent notes: Palo santo blended with smoked sandalwood and a lunar accord. Deep and reminiscent of a breezy night under a looming full moon.
• You belong among the wildflowers - Scent notes: Lemongrass and wild red poppies, blended with sunflowers, Spanish moss, and dogwood.
• Nothing rusts in the desert, the air is full of ghosts - Scent notes: Pink cactus flowers and sweet grass, with notes of warm rain and woody dry vanilla

And so far, I'm in love.

Random My Southern Gram passed a few weeks ago. The funeral was over Memorial Day weekend. And I realized as we progressed from illness to death to funeral that the experience of a single human life and how it is seen varies from person to person. People recalled things about her I could never imagine and would never have guessed. (Facebook memories and snippets of stories.) Other people, outside the family, shared memories as well - and it's funny because I was privy to Gram's take on those people and it does not jive with their impression of what she thought of them! In the end, despite what other people think, I suspect we are unknowable to all but the Universe (or God, if you prefer.)

Take-away - Nothing last forever...but while we are here, live with joy as often as possible.

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

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Week 1 - February 2021

February blew in with cold and snow. I know people who love this month. For me - much like November (outside of Thanksgiving) - it's a month I could skip. The last few years it's cold and snowy. Heavy snow and bitter cold. It's a good time for a vacation. Maybe next year.

 Random: 

- All vitamins should come in gummy form. That way it's like a treat!

- Take a day off, you need it.

Books: Quick reads over the weekend is still my speed. And I've started rocking mermaid gloves while reading. Because February came in cold.

- Making Midlife Madness by Heloise Hull which is better than I expect. Because I know the Greek gods well, the way she unveils information keeps catching me off guard in a good way.

- Night Shift Dragons by Rachel Aaron which was fantastically fun. I loved this series. Apparently it's part fo a larger "world" - but I never read those, so it feels fresh for me.

Gratitude: Laundry machines. Breakfasts out. Fancy soaps from friends. Snow that shovels easily and comes down on Saturday (so you have time to deal with it).Calendars. Getting things off the To-Do list. Scented candles. Food boxes filled with healthy food. Mermaid gloves.

Listening: Don't keep your day job podcast, which I find super inspiring. Grind and be grateful podcast. (She rarely talks about gratitude, I've noticed. Not sure this will stay on the playlist.)

Watching: Vikings. (I'm on Season 4.) I'm slowly losing interest in the series. There are now so many characters to pay attention to.  American Housewife. (Current season). Dexter. (Season 2). It's a very non-stressful watch for me, maybe because I've read the books and watched it before.

Wearing - Scent & Skin  

Scent

Imaginary Authors

- Telegrama  - Scent notes: Talc, Lavender Absolute, Black Pepper, Teak, Amyris, Vanilla Powder, Fresh Linens. Heavy on the talc and the vanilla with a strong side of lavender - this goes right to old lady; the teak and black pepper never show up for me. 

Sucreabeille

- R.E.S.P.E.C.T - 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. This has aged well. It's rich and incense laden - the fruit almost smells like smoke. The vanilla is hidden info a sweet richness. The older this sample gets, the better I like it. Sillage also increases with age. This has mellowed into an amazing scent and I could wear it every day

- Frozen Moon - Scent Notes: crisp winter evening air, frost, sweet sugar plums swirl with delicious marshmallow. Don't ask me explain, but this seems like a February scent.This is such a sweet scent. I continue to get a lot of sweetness off it crossed with fruit. It lasts well into the day.

Skin

Still fighting off the maskne. Keeping up the system from last week.

 - Day time - Standard in-shower wash of tea tree cleanser  - plus a buffing scrub (Essentially NOLA's Exfoliating Grains) - Naturallogic Elemental Advanced Hydration Red Wine Essence to restore moisture and fight off lines, Fine Cosmetics Daytime Radiance Eye Serum tapped in around the eye with 3rd finger, then Votary day oil and Votary cream. 

- Night time - 1st cleanse with 100% Pure's Blood Orange Cleansing Balm following with a 2nd cleanse with my DHC Washing Powder for a little extra exfoliation. And I'm continuing to spot treating the rest. Earthwise Beauty's Yasumi Face Balm on the cheeks.  Blüh Alchemy's Multi-C serum on the forehead and around the eyes. Topped by the Live Botanical Sanctuary Barrier Balm around the eyes, on the forehead and neck. Frownie on the forehead because forehead wrinkles are aging. 

Ordered some new eye cream. Needing a bit more moisture due to the February dryness.

Take-away - Someone asked me, what are you doing to take care of you? It's a really good question to think about. What are YOU doing to take care of you? Because you have to put your own oxygen mask on first so you can help others.

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

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Week 2 - January 2021

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? This past week or two just felt insane. And heavy and so very tiring. I know it's not just me. It feels like a collective angst. 

Once, I bought a box of scents and CDs. The box was literally called "Serenity". I bought a BOX OF SERENITY. (It did not help.) But I feel like we all need the calming aromatherapy and visual stillness of white candles with the sound of raindrops in the background that was in that box. I wish that serene feeling for all of us. Here's an image I like of the winter dawn sky near my house that feels like that.

We're going to start mixing it up! (Hey, 2021 - looking at you.)  Books, Gratitude, Watching, and Listening are all still parts; but, we're starting with Random from now on. It's often too true to be buried.

Random: 

1) Pro tip - if your friend is newly single in a pandemic and you know has a difficult family, maybe asking "How were your holidays?" or "Did you enjoy the holidays?" is not the smartest question. It can be very triggering. Try asking "How are you doing?" or "Are you enjoying the New Year?".  

BTW  - everyone who asked me that is married with solid family. No damned clue. I'm delighted to hear about their holidays and family time, but it's not a good question to ask me.

2) Toxic positivity is a real thing. Currently experiencing it from a friend who really has no idea how dismissive that is of people's experience and feelings. Feelings come in all shapes and sizes. Experiencing (not wallowing in) them is actually healthy.

Books: I have this thought about the first book of the year ... I think it sets up the tone of the year. 

In 2019, I started off with Mental Toughness for Women Leaders: 52 Tips to Recognize and Utilize Your Greatest Strengths by LaRae Quey (former FBI agent.) I wanted to be stronger and more emotionally resilient. 

In 2020, the book was The Law of Divine Compensation: On Work, Money, and Miracles by Marianne Williamson. I wanted to draw in more abundance to my life.

This year (2021), being newly single - new job - new house - new car, I wanted to think about how I want my future to be. So I picked....The Woman I Wanted To Be by Diane Von Furstenberg. Because I want to remember who I wanted to be and think about who I want to be going forward. It was interesting. Her life was privileged in ways I'm not sure she even realized.

Making Midlife Magic by Heloise Hull has an Italian flair and is fun. Nice light reading!

Cooking & Garden: We skip those topics this month. Too cold to garden. And I just heat up the Hungryroot that arrives.

Gratitude: Snuggle cats. Groomers for stinky dogs. Perfume sample sets. Fancy soap. Pretty dawns. Light snow that melts off. Good skin care - including the most lusciously scented body oil ever. Cute benches.

Listening: I've been listening to Apple Music - Tiera Country. (It's okay.) Audible - Hellcats podcast. It was more visceral than I expected. Florence and the Machine - because there is never a time that isn't appropriate. 

Watching: Rewatched Firefly to start the year. Because, I love it. Godless is a Netflix show that features women in the west - I finished that up. The Magicians have a new season on Netflix; I'm 2 episodes in.

Wearing

Scent

It was a three house couple of weeks. I've been in a testing kind of mood.

Ellis Brooklyn

- Myth  - Scent Notes - top: bergamot, ambrette seeds, cassis; mid: tiger orchid, pink lotus, jasmine petals; dry: patchouli, liquid musks, white cedarwood. (Billed as "the most alluring musk around"). Last time out, it had zero sillage for me - trying it immediately upon arrival. This time - gosh! It lasted a full day as a light drift of scent. The bergamot and jasmine took center stage with the white cedarwood. I'm wondering it the time (resting) helped - I've had this sample for more than 6 months.  (Killed off the sample.)

Sucreabeille

- Shennanigator- Scent Notes: Opens with the rich, warm aroma of buttered popcorn. Next comes raspberries, lemons, and green figs. Sweet oud lingers as a heart note. Yep to the raspberry and popcorn - possibly there was a hint of fig. No lemon. This was not a scent that worked for me; it was just a weirdo mishmash of scents that didn't go and flowed away into nothing on my skin but a hint of popcorn in about 3 hours. The good news is that it was a teeny tiny sample and I killed it off.

- Ruthless B-Word - Scent Notes: An unbelievably juicy blend of blood oranges and lychees. White amber and ginger lilies blend to give a sophisticated presence. For me, this is a lightly fruity floral that lasts one hot minute on my skin. (Seriously - maybe 2 hours in my hair. Something in it - maybe the citrus - is gone against my skin.) I get none of the amber, which usually lingers on me. No lilies. Maybe a hint of lychee. It's sweet and a fun name but I'd like it to last longer and linger on my skin the way RBG lingers in our consciousness as the classiest judge ever. (Killed off the sample)

- Frozen Moon - Scent Notes: crisp winter evening air, frost, sweet sugar plums swirl with delicious marshmallow. This is such a sweet scent. I get a lot of sweetness off it crossed with fruit. It lasts a good 4-6 hours and makes me feel better about winter.

Wylde Ivy (from the Boho Dreams collection)

- Chasing Dreams. - Scent Notes: white freesia, faded cotton, pure white vanilla, southern magnolia, wild violets, blackberry brambles, and dainty sugar cubes. I loved the part of the sample description about whispering secrets to the stars - and oh that sounded lovely. This was such a generous sample! I got 4 days of trying off this. For me the scent was heavy cotton as I put it on. In a few hours I got a little magnolia and sugar with vanilla. Then the vanilla roared in. (I literally woke up in the middle of the night from the scent of vanilla cotton.) The sillage was amazing - a full day. At the end, this was too cotton and vanilla for my taste. (Not a bit of blackberry!) But I'm excited to try the others from this line.

Skin

These were better skin weeks. Kept it the same over both weeks. Did throw in 2 face masks over the weekends - it's absolutely skin saving right now. Naturallogic Unmask Detox Hydration Mask  and Malaya Advanced Repair Mask (both courtesy of Boxwalla on different moths.) That hydration mask is the BOMB for winter skin. And the repair mask (with neem flower honey) is fantastic on the now ubiquitous mascne. 

 - Day time - Standard in-shower wash of tea tree cleanser followed by a third finger (gentlest finger) tapping into the skin of 100% Pure's Super Fruit Oil Nourishing Eye Cream, then Votary day oil and Votary cream. 

- Night time - 1st cleanse with 100% Pure's Blood Orange Cleansing Balm following with a 2nd cleanse with my DHC Washing Powder for a little extra exfoliation. First moisture layer is the Naturallogic Elemental Advanced Hydration Red Wine Essence (last month's Boxwalla) to restore moisture and fight off lines. Next, Blüh Alchemy's Multi-C serum from the December Boxwalla beauty box. (Without the sample, I would never have tried anything that expensive. But it's glorious.) I close the skincare with Live Botanical Sanctuary Barrier Balm (again, the December Boxwalla box.) And slapping that Frownie on the forehead because forehead wrinkles are aging.

Boxwalla has a every other month beauty box that is the BOMB. Highly recommend. The December box included Blüh Alchemy Active Relief Body Oil which is the most delicious thing I've ever smelled! Totally replaces perfume and makes your skin feel amazing.

Take-away - There is a time for releasing. Sometimes that feels like breaking. (A husk that's too weak to contain the new life.) New growth is painful at first; but, how can you be the flower you are meant to be unless you blossom?

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

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