Scent Diary 24.7 – 30.7.2017

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Portia

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Hey there Perfume Junkies,

Here’s a shot of my outfit for the Sydney Stingers on Saturday last week, taken by Daniel Kirkwood at the event. Yes, I am a fur & sequin galion under full sail.

Scent Diary 24.7 – 30.7.2017

Monday 24:

This morning, in the middle of winter, saw the return of spring in Parramatta. The sun is shining, bulbs are pushing through the soil, there’s a hint of greenery on the breeze and it was lovely to be out and about on a mornings ramble with the dogs.

I decided to let the faux spring choose my fragrance and what better reminder of spring than Penhaligon’s Ostara. Sadly this gorgeously green narcissus and bouquet of other fresh flowers scent was not a big hit for them but it is so lovely and has made me smile this morning.

After last weeks creative extravaganza I’m way behind on all things blog and trivia so this morning is dedicated to answering comments, this afternoon and evening will be new posts and my Q&A. Woo Hoo! I think I’m ready for it.

So instead of working all day I went and spent a big happy chunk of it hanging out with TinaG who is back at her parents house recuperating after her hospital stint. We went and lunched at a wonderful Thai restaurant in Windsor. Pressies from Tara at A Bottled rose, beanie crocheted by Vanessa of Bonkers About Perfume. She LOVED them

Then we went on an adventure ride to The Fruit Bowl, a cafe that specialises in home made pies of the sweet and savoury styles. I had Scones, Jam & Cream with a cuppa and Tina had Chamomile tea. We saw them making their pies, bought Apple pies and Honey. MMMMMMM

Home by 5pm. Started working at the computer on Trivia. Having a coffee break now and a spritz of Grandiflora Madagascan Jasmine. BEAUTIFUL!!

Jin came home and wanted to watch Despicable Me 2. What could I do but succumb to his sweetness.

MORE TRIVIA!

Tuesday 25:

Catch up. Catching up. Blog, Trivia, Postage, eMail and FaceBook. Not caught up but definitely making inroads.

Today has been so glorious but I’ve been house bound, BUMMER.

Wore Etat Libre d’Orange Fat Electrician and it’s zingy metallic vetiver was an excellent choice.

Jin had the Telstra man come in. We are changing to Optus and he needed to do some fixing. We are now without internet in the house so I’m tethering the phone to my computer. It’s surprisingly effective.

Bath time today was in B&BW  bubbles, Kiehl’s Original Musk lotion and atwork I wore Diptyque 34 Boulevard Saint Germain EdT. Very nice. A smooth, spicy, fresh fruit & greens, balmy scent that ends a resinous dry wood. It smells like old rooms, recently aired but the wooden furniture and polish and a very slight hint of cold damp linger and blend with fresh sheets.

For bed? I wanted something odd so chose Sarah Jessica Parker Covet. A perfect Frankenstein’s monster of a smell that leads me deeper and deeper till I sleep. Never enough one thing or the other it seems to find harmonious balance in it’s utter lack. Plastic geranium, waxy white flowers, cool amber with thoroughly unnatural musks. Excellent night scent, I could imagine it being the choice for ghouls and vampires.

Wednesday 26:

WOW! An amazing day with my mate David who currently lives in UAE working as a butler/EA. He’s in Sydney visiting the family and friends and we had had today in the book forever. I had COMPLETELY forgotten but he reminded me last night so I sent through three ideas for the day. He chose one and we added a second and it was a terrific catch up.

I got a bus & train to town and we met at the NSW Art Gallery at 10.45am. I knew we could do an 11am free tour of the main gallery BUT when I arrived it was with fabulously happy surprise I noticed their current exhibition had the name O’Keeffe. Could it be? I asked myself. Fortuitously the answer was yes. Georgia O’Keeffe in an exhibition with two Australian women artists of the same era; O’Keeffe, Preston, Cossington Smith – making modernism.

So we had a cuppa, did the 11am Gallery Tour, had another cuppa, did the 12pm O’Keeffe, Preston, Cossington Smith Tour and finished our gallery time with lunch in the Members Lounge.

We wandered across the Domain to Sydney City and had dessert at the David Jones Food Court Cafe. I wanted David to come through David Jones and try some fragrance. He’d been so nice to us in UAE when we were there and I figured EVERYONE needs a new scent. Sadly he wanted none of it. I did get him to spritz DIOR Leather Oud and CHANEL Bois des Iles. Maybe he’ll fall in love with them and ask me to grab them for him one day. As all good things must come to and end then it was time to go

Thursday 27:

Walked the dogs, Bank, Post Office and had an early lunch with Jin at our favourite local cafe. It’s been a beautiful morning, lazy & slow.

Afternoon much the same.

Serge Lutens Daim Blond for work. Got quite a few compliments. Surprising because I think of it as such a subtle beauty, well apparently it was wafting itself into peoples hearts.

Friday 28:

My right knee is playing silly buggers. Not so long ago the patella decided it wanted to drift around, it seems to have decided it needs another vacation from its prescribed spot. A throbbing, uncomfortable feeling that lodges itself in my stomach. Did ALL the exercises my guy prescribed last time it happened.

We took the dogs to the Off-Leash Dog Park nearby today and I was freaking out but the dogs seemed to love it, Jin loved it too. I was a bundle of nerves.

Actually I’m a bit glum. No reason, just a little bit bleach.

We’d organised a Korean BarBQ get together for a bunch of our mates but completely forgot that I have a Christmas In July Fundraiser tonight. Sometimes I surprise myself at how vague I can be. OOOPSIE!

I wore loads of Reem Acra because I wrote about it on Perfume Posse this week and felt it needed an outing. Perfect hefty sheer radiant white floral extravaganza that nods to history but is completely in the now.

Christmas In July Fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital was a grand success. We raised a bunch of money and the participants had a ball. Already talk of doing it again.

Saturday 29:

Jin decided he wanted to try Archery a few months ago. He wanted it to be a big fun day out for the crew but no one was interested. So, because we love him dearly, his BFF Matt and I said we’d go. Anyway the day was perfect and it was really easy to understand the basics, we had fun BUT my fingers are fricken killing now. STILL, nearly 12 hours later they are red and feel like they have pins & needles.

The guys were much better shots than me but I did manage one bullseye.

Home for a Saturday afternoon nap. I grabbed Paris my dog and we cuddled for the nap, Jin slept in front of the TV and his dog on the dog bed in front of the TV. LOADS of snoring from all four of us.

Kath’s dads birthday party tonight. The whole family there. Jin and I grabbed Take Away Chinese. The Lee family did the cake. Kath made sure there were gifts and drinks etc. We had a ball. I think Dad has a photo on his phone that Jin took of us all (Second shot). There was so much fun and laughter, we all had great stories to tell and it was a terrific night. As the birthday cake was being lit Dad (the birthday boy) started saying women didn’t know how to light matches and all hell broke loose. It was apocalyptic, and hilarious, everyone having a go at him for sexism and we were all laughing so much that my tummy hurts.

When I got home my buddy Michael sends me this pic of us in the dressing room of the Fridge in Brixton, London. We were Go-Go dancers there on Saturday nights and as you can see, high as kitten. Great memories.

Sunday 30:

Lazy Sunday with Jin at work, me home with the dogs. Only left the house today to walk them till work time. Heavenly Sunday.

Finished this lovely little shower gel in the bath today. B&BW Pretty As A Peach. Bubbles over my head. It was glorious.

Slathered myself in Guerlain La Cologne du Perfumer today. It’s a beautiful cologne, wears very fragrantly for about an hour and then softens off to almost a functional white musk but stays just interesting enough to jump that hurdle. Funnily, I can’t smell it after 2 hours but I got a compliment tonight at the end of work as I kissed Anna-Maria goodbye. That was five hours later.

 

OK, so you’ve read my life. How was your week? Share a story that’s fun, family, food, friends or fragrance oriented. Anything you’d like to share, we’d love to read it.

Portia xx

25 thoughts on “Scent Diary 24.7 – 30.7.2017”

  1. Wow Portia you made a super gogo dancer! Fun gig?
    Terrible week chez moi, visit to dentist to fix cracked tooth, filthy cold and wet all week, amd back at work after mid year break.
    Sigh.
    Wearing cologne Pour le Soir tonight for comfort and good nights sleep.

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    • Hey JackieB,
      Yeah, we would get in those cages 4m in the air and shake it. Then we’d hit the dance floor and dance till the next day. Super fun gig.
      Poor you. Tooth fixed?
      Cologne Pour le Soir should wipe away any lingering thoughts of the unhappy kind.
      Portia xx

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  2. Ooh a good reminder to wear Ostara which is lovely in spring and the summer weather up here. I think I’m a scent sibling, Portia as Daim Blond is a must-have in my collection. I’m on my second bottle and do not see any difference in the reformulatuon.

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    • Hey KateSpritz,
      YAY! Love reading that I have scent twins!
      Daim Blond is YUM!
      Enjoy your Ostara.
      Portia xx

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    • I love Ostara and recently bought Daim Blond — haven’t tried it yet, but I’m looking forward to it! So glad I grabbed a back-up bottle of Ostara before it disappeared — disappointing that Penhaligon’s discontinued it so quickly.

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  3. I love most of the frags you wore! I just got my full bottle of Ostara. Oh, swoon. And, I am drooling for scones!!!

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  4. Ah, Ostara! I love it very much. So sad it is discontinued, but at least I grabbed a back-up bottle. This weekend I got my order of the Missoni eau de parfum that Luca Turin rated so highly, the older version by Maurice Roucel, in the orange box and tilted short bottle. I found it on Perfumania for under $20, if anyone else is interested! It is really intriguing and I like it so far.

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    • OOOOH! Interesting OH,
      I remember reading about the Missoni fragrance. Lucky you.
      Portia xx

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  5. Your weeks are so full of love and friendship, Portia. Always something fun going on.
    It’s so great Tina has finally escaped from hospital.
    Lisa joined us for a meal out on Weds to celebrate Mum and Dad’s 48th wedding anniversary. It was lovely to hang out together. One more week till we head off to Majorca with Mia too.

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    • Hey Tara,
      Yeah, we are so lucky to have such wonderful friends.
      Yes, Tina is still not 100% but it’s always better to be home that the haunted halls of hospitals.
      You hug Lisa from us please and have the bEST FUN EVER in Majorca.
      SO jealous.
      Portia xx

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  6. I love how you had the electrician come around the day you wore Fat Electrician. Did you offer him some, or might he have taken offence at that?

    It was a bit of a quiet week for me, just pottering around and trying to stay out of the wind and the cold. A few nice op shop finds, including a gorgeous Hugo Boss overcoat and some brand new Tommy Bahama silk shirts. I bought a new cookbook and spent the weekend experimenting on my wife. I cooked lamb meatballs in a silverbeet and yoghurt sauce, and barley risotto with spinach and mushrooms. Both were pronounced acceptable and worth a reprise.

    As always, my grandson continued to be terminally cute.

    My perfume choices for the week were:

    Mon – Philippe Starck Pea d’Ailleurs. I spent most of this week sniffing the Starck range in preparation for an article I’m writing. This one is weird.
    Tue – Philippe Starck Peau de Pierre. Second try of this one.
    Wed – Philippe Starck Peau d’Ailleurs again.
    Thu – Philippe Starck Peau di Soie. Not at all bad, considering it’s supposedly for the ladies.
    Fri – Philippe Starck Peau de Soie again.
    Sat – Prada Amber Pour Homme. Very good, but will never replace TF PL AA in my affections
    Sun – Lubin Galaad. I gave this a spin because I’m trying to decide whether to keep it or not. I’m leaning towards “no”.

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    • Hey Greg,
      You know it never even twigged about the telstra guy being a sparky. BLOODY MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR SPORT!
      Very nice selection of op shop finds. What’s the name of your vintage sale site?
      YUM food, those meatballs sound delicious.

      So glad you mentioned the piece you’re writing. it;’s going up on Tuesday. YAY!!
      Portia xx

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      • Oh great; looking forward to publication. I thought you were so busy you’d never have time.

        I sell perfume on eBay as ausscents. I also sell menswear as millenium_hand. But if anyone wants to buy something without bothering with eBay, they’re welcome to mail me.

        Today wasn’t so good on the food front. I was going to make sweet potato pancakes but the sweet potatoes exploded in the oven when I was roasting them. FAIL!!!

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  8. Hi gorgeous.
    What a fabulous week you have… let’s make it weeks.
    Sorry you were feeling bit glum on Friday… hope you’ve bounced back to your gorgeous self.
    Glad to know TinaG is out of the hospital and looking great.

    My highlight last week was seeing k.d. In concert… her voice is just amazing. Shame about the OTT security measures. I understand things are different post Manchester but better communication and venue set up would have resulted less frustration.
    I also had a lovely dinner with a good friend on Thursday.
    Have a fab week.
    XXX… T

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    • OMG! You saw KD? Too jealous.
      I introduced her at the State Theatre one year. she was awesome.
      Portia xx

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      • It’s my turn to go OMG!!!
        You did… I’ve seen all her last 3? visits…
        I may have just missed the one you introduced her. 😦
        XXX… T

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        • Yeah, It was very early this century Tim. you were still a kid.
          Next time give me a yell and I’ll come with you. Not sure if I still have the right contacts but we may even be able to meet her after.
          Portia xx

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  9. It looks like you saw some really interesting and nice paintings. Also like several of the scents you wore during the week.

    I would totally have joined you for archery, but I do wonder how you could manage without a tab on the fingers, an arm guard and chest guard? Even with a recurve bow the string can hurt badly if it hits your arm or chest! Archery is such a fun and inclusive kind of sport, I enjoyed it a lot for around 6 years as a teen. Back then the Koreans and Japanese totally dominated international competitions if I remember correctly, so my guess is it is not a “foreign” kind of sport to Jin.

    I had a quiet week visiting my elderly father. I made myself useful polishing some silver. Other than that also managed to buy a few things for my flat and found time to read and do crosswords. One highlight was seing a family of four small deer (Capreolus Capreolus) grazing quietly in the garden at dusk, there’s enough bushes and grass, so no harm done to the flowering plants.

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    • Hi there Ingeborg,
      Yeah, Jin was quite good it archery and he had the same thought process as you. When we were kids my Dad was an international competitive archer and we used to go along for kids camps to learn, I’ve lost every shred of my knowledge.
      It must have been gorgeous having deer in your garden, I am well jell.
      Portia xx

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  10. Absolutely love your new hair and outfit Portia! Looks like you had a pretty full on week.

    We’d just got back from our road trip to Canberra and the snow so it was mostly a week of trying to get back into our usual routines and catch up at work. A highlight was treating myself to small birthday bottles of Bel Respiro EdP and Black Perfecto (I had my birthday while we were away).

    Scentwise through the week I wore Bel Respiro EdP, Galop, 5 O’Clock Gingembre, Rubarbe Ecalarte, & Jicky EdP, and also tested out some samples of Chanel Boy EdP & La Pausa EdP. I enjoyed Boy but something about La Pausa didn’t work for me. Might try again when yhe weather warms up.

    Finished up my week by running errands, getting a dental checkup and buying groceries while wearing some Encre Noire for NST’s ‘Two Nathalies’ Friday. And…that’s about it really…

    Lil Xx

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    • Heya Lil,
      Woo Hoo! The snow! I love being in it as it falls. Like a kid.
      You had a sensational smelling week. Happy Birthday, LOVE your gift choices. Isn’t Bel Respire beautiful? It took me a while to really GET it but now I do MMMMMMMM
      Also love grocery shopping in beautiful scents. It changes the whole adventure and makes it a special event.
      Portia xx

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