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Portia
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Hey Gang,
This week has been a hodge podge of loads of stuff and very little of anything in particular. It started out calm and cool but has become more frantic each day. I am completely blitzed now.
Portia xx
Scent Diary 7.8 – 13.8.2017
Monday 7:
Monday went by in a daze of organisation.
Jin and I managed to run away to our favourite cafe for lunch but the rest of the day seemed computer bound with breaks for coffee & food. I went and collected the mail from my Post Office Box and my favourite postal GF had popped Home Made Cookies in the box! Seriously, how freaking lucky am I? Thanks Nikki, delicious. They’re Nikki Bickies!
I did order PIZZA dinner because Jin was working night shift and I am too lazy to cook when in Trivia Q&A mode.
It got to 11.57pm and my mind was fried so I decided to go to bed and get up early tomorrow and finish my Q&A. Sometimes I need fresh eyes on the problem. So, quick spritz of Estee Lauder La Rouge Gloss, their answer to Diet Soda scents and off to the land of ZZZzzZZZZZzZZ.
Tuesday 8:
Awoke early, got my Q&A finished and sent out to the girls. They’re seriously tricky this week so I’ve told the girls to give clues. Mine are printed and awaiting organisation.
WOO HOO I received a package this morning. It was a BIG surprise. It was a thoughtful gift from Kate Apted! How freaking generous! Wonderful. LUSH Rose Jam shower gel
CHANEL Boy for work. I bloody love this baby.
Wednesday 9:
Weather is sublime here in Sydney. walked the dogs for over an hour this morning in the warm sunshine. They were pooped by the time we got home.
Wearing Guerlain Tonka Imperiale. It’s sweet nutty warmth was a perfect ramble accompaniment.
Tonight I finished my B&BW Warm Vanilla Sugar in the bath and spritzed Histoires de Parfums Amber 114. Amber 114 is very nice as it goes on, a cool amber buoyed by herbs and woods. It’s the heart and dry down that I really love though, warm amber, nutty, creamy woods and resins. It’s so glamorous. Simple and elegant. Why don’t I wear it more?
Thursday 10:
Went to bed and started feeling achey, woozy and chill. Took two Neurofen and put on a heater, added a jumper and extra socks. Drank a bunch of tea and water and sweated it out.
Awoke this morning feeling slightly fuzzy but infinitely better.
TinaG came over.
We went and started sorting my VISA for India and bought some tropical fish for my aquarium.
Sniff, TinaG and I sniffed perfumes. LOADS of them. Can I remember which ones? NOPE!
Work: Tonight was fun at KPT. We had a great crew of regulars & newbies. They put us into a new room which I think will work perfectly for us. Sound is excellent and the ambience too. Lighting needs a little tweaking but we can work with it. Here’s a few of the gang.
Friday 11:
Jin finished work at 6am. He headed home and grabbed 3 hours sleep then we were off and running for our day.
First stop: We collected the signed poster from Jimmy Barnes for the auction winner at the recent fundraiser I hosted. It is going to make vaughn an extremely happy fan and hopefully he’ll treasure it for a lifetime.
Next we hit the Redfern apartment. The kitchen kick board is falling apart so Jin glued and fixed it into place. We also checked the water connections to the clothes washing machine, the taps and pipes, all clear. While we were in there as Jin was doing his thing I cleaned the grease traps in the exhaust fan above the stove. They are super clean ands lovely now.
Lunch time and we went to a Korean style Chinese restaurant. Every country makes their Chinese food differently so though it’s called Chinese the Korean version is a horse of a different colour.
In the fragrance department it was a red letter day for postal arrivals. OMG! I received today what most regular people would get in a year.
Criminal Elements Sample Set
Not available to buy until September 1 2017 I received the advance press set. UNBELIEVABLE! The boys have created a fully functioning mini brief case to hold their samples. It’s so freaking good and I’m on a design high. BRaVO! Amazing packaging. This will sell like hoy cakes on cool red alone. WAIT till you smell the frags. Ah May Zing.
PANIC SHOPPING ARRIVED:
Elvire at the Palais Royale Serge Lutens store sent some stuff to Val who forwarded a Le Vaporisateur of Fourreau Noir and the new 100ml of La Fille de Berlin. SO EXCITED!
Paris and everywhere else is out of the Le Vaporisateur of de Profundis. I found it at The Perfume Shoppe Canada. They could not have been more helpful, were excellent communicators and got everything sent tout de suite.
We have been home and relaxing this afternoon but tonight we will be cleaning and readying the place for our visitors. Jin’s Niece & nephew arriving in the morning. I’m so nervous. HA! Hopefully they have a wonderful time.
Saturday 12:
Woke up early, spritzed Guerlain Cuir Beluga and went to the airport to collect the kids. They came home, rested, ate breakfast and generally hung out.
Spritzed Etat Libre d’Orange Afternoon of a Faun. Went to Sydney’s best meet-the-native-fauna type zoo, Featherdales. I haven’t been in decades and it has come a long way. We were able to meet and feed wallabies and small kangaroos, pet the quokkas. We also got to see dingoes, Tasmanian Devils and fruit bats being fed and an excellent assortment of birdlife big & small. It’s all set out in a really comfortable area. We met up with the Lee family (Kath’s sister Jane, husband Mark, kids Rachel & Erin) and it was super fun. Excellent day out. I learned so much from the keepers and the shows about our native fauna.
Spritzed Lancome Magie Noire. Then we met Kath & Alice for DUCK DINNER, yep Peking Duck. It was a smashing success.
Now we are all totally worn out. Everyone else is sound asleep and I’m pretty much on my way. A sneaky spritz of Patou 1000 EdT before bed. NIGHT!
Sunday 13:
After reading some of the Saturday Question responses I was inspired to wear vintage CHANEL No 19 EdT today. GREAT CHOICE!
Went and had a wonderful day on the river to Sydney then wandered the markets and stalls. Then had lunch. It was lovely seeing one of my dearest friends Eve and her daughter, Jin and the kids were pleasant AND we were lucky enough to be with Jin’s BFF Matt who we hardly see enough. At the markets we bumped into Eve and my childhood friend Sean Carver at his stall and the kids bought some fab bags and T-Shirts for themselves and friends.
It should have been wonderful but actually I was tense the whole time, felt claustrophobic in the crush of people and snapped at everyone. While I do know I’m not a bad person this was definitely one of my less attractive moments.
Home and bathed. Wore Keiko Mecheri Un Jour d’Ete and it was a beautiful tropical accompaniment to work tonight. I still smell of it.
How was your week? Come on, share something fun or fragrant. Maybe you had a public melt down or did something silly. Purge yourself here and we will all commiserate.
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Things are shit here in US ATM but I enjoyed a cuppa reading your blog this morning. Thank you, dollface!
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Hey KateSpritz,
Things are looking pretty grim from outside the USA looking in. I hope things start looking better for you all soon.
Glad to lighten the load a bit with my Scent Diary. Thanks for being part of the APJ family, hugging you cyberly.
Portia xx
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Portia, I have to say reading your blog is such a welcome diversion for me. Especially after the disastrous week here in the States. Oh my gawd. Love your writing!
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Hi there ClaudiaS,
We are so glad to lift your spirits a little. You guys are being hammered over there. Hoping the news becomes better for the whole world in the very near future. Right now it’s all looking very bleak.
Portia x
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My Dear Portia,
So glad I clicked on this email as I was purging my inbox. I always love your weeky diaries! Wishing I was there having a cup of tea with you and some sweet treats, bantering away and laughing with happy tears in our eyes.
Things are slowly falling into place in Melbourne. Resigned from my part time job as I was offered a full time job starting Tuesday. Yay!
Miss you, say hi there the lovely Jin for me. So good seeing your pictures! His niece and nephew look so cute! Hope they are having the time of their lives. Ask what the latest craze in skincare and makeup in S.Korea is to strike up interesting conversation with the news. I’m sure it will be fascinating!
Big bear hugs and kisses xx
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Hey Latai,
Nice to see you. We miss you.
FULL TIME JOB! Congratulations! May it keep you busy and financially secure with little drama and fun cohorts.
Jin is snoring like a freight train currently, I’ll tell him though.
Korean skincare is so good. I think I know more about it than they do.
Portia xx
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Monday morning, with my first cup of coffee, I read your scent diary. Always a treat!
I had a lousy week, just bad news. But, as I like to say, when things are really bad they can only get worse 🙂
When are you going to India? How exciting!
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Hey Ingrid,
Sorry you had a shit week. I hope you spritzed your way out of the blues.
India in early September, yes very exciting. Up to Assam & Darjeeling hopefully.
Portia xx
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I had a great week, got to go perfume shopping in New York city with a bunch of Basenotes fumies. We hit up Twisted Lily, Osswald, Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys. So great! If I lived there I’d be dead broke.
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Hey TaraC,
I saw that you’d all dropped into OSSWALD but didn’t know it was a Frag Crawl. How sensational. Totally jealous here.
Yeah, I’d be living i a VERY fragrant cardboard box in NYC.
Portia xx
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Quokkas are cute. I bet the kids had great fun and the adults too most certainly. My mum took a trip to your part of the world a few years ago and loved learning about the animals during a visit to Featherdale. Thank you for sharing your adventures.
It was a calm week for me, though there was the excitement of seeing my son complete his college registration. He is ready to begin classes in a few weeks. It was a bit of a nail-biter to get him situated. He has always been a reluctant student, but he sees the importance of this step in his life.
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Hey Tiffanie,
Quokkas are the BEST! So friends and sweet. Your Mum was lucky. Feather dale is wonderful.
Kid starting college, WOW! Will he be studying nearby?
Portia xx
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So kind of you to ask! Yes, my son will be studying close to home. And I’m grateful for that. 😉
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Is Fille de Berlin 100ml formula still same? It is one of my fav. Lutens
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I haven’t opened it yet Fazal so don’t know yet.
Hopefully it’s same or similar. I love it too.
Portia xx
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Hello gorgeous.
You are as gorgeously frangranced as ever… and you have lots lovely newbies to play with.
And yes I am finding my patience for crowds is slowly diminishing. If it makes you feel better I’m always doing it saying silly things.
My week was quiet-ish and I continued my movie run: watched War for The Planet of The Apes and Atomic Blonde. Also caught up with some friends from Perth and Melbourne.
Perfume wise I’ve been wearing lots from AG’s Orientalistes Collection… and really loving Rien when I wore it last night.
I am currently waiting patiently for my bottle of TF London to arrive… a friend of mine got it at a good discount and he’s due to return from Ireland in two weeks time… that’s two weeks too long. 😦
Have a fab week and hoping to see you soon.
XXX… T
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Hey Tim,
I can’t imagine you ever saying something out of line, you’re always perfectly poised and excellent company.
How was Atomic Blonde?
Ads Orientalists are lovely. I wear Musc Nomade a bit and have the shower gel for bubble baths.
Portia xx
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Hi Portia!
Crowds can be hard to take if you’re out if sorts for any reason. But overall looked like you had a good week.
Seemed a long week work-wise but the weather let up here in Adelaide and we started to get a few hints that spring is on the horizon.
This week I sampled Chanel’s gorgeous Cuir de Russie Parfum *sighs*, wore Coromandel EdP, Gentlewoman, Five O’Clock Gingembre, Musc Ravageur and Galop. Saturday I wore Fat Electrician on one arm and Sycomore EdP from a sample on the other for NST’s friday vetiver community project while running the usual weekend errands.
Then yesterday the weather turned glorious and I broke out Diptyque’s Philosykos to go with my sunscreen for a lovely family fish and chip picnic at the beach with my grandma, mum and dad, hubbie and son.
Lil Xx
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Heya Lil,
Oh yes, lovely week. Kids will definitely take a while to get used to.
CdR parfum is 1000 times more glam than the Edt or EdP. I wish they made, and I could afford, a 50ml spray.
Fish & Chip picnic at the beach! In the middle of winter! I love Australia for this.
Portia xx
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I enjoy reading your scent diaries with my Monday coffee very much, I am jealous of all the time spent with friends.
For all the insanity in the US, here in the lower Great Lakes at least the weather is spectacular with cool mornings and warm afternoons. We took my mother to a favorite lunch spot in the heart of Amish country and all enjoyed the drive, the neat simple white houses set on tidy farms. The Amish women express their love of color through their flower gardens and they are at peak beauty right now.
Since receiving my vintage perfumes I have worn Dune almost exclusively with its gorgeous trailing beach rose. I don’t understand Luca Turin’s opinion of Dune in the least.
Enjoy your week, everyone.
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Good morning Rosarita313,
Glad to give you a Monday buzz before you start the day.
The USA is looking bat shit crazy from here, I’m so glad you’re a part of it that is sunshiny and lovely.
Dune is a fave of mine too. Doesn’t Luca give it 5 stars and say it’s beautiful? I can’t remember.
Portia xx
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