Scent Diary: 13.11 – 19.11.2017

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Portia

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OMG APJ,

This week has been lived completely on the fly. I seem to have spent most of my time running and the rest sleeping. Usually I sleep only 4-5 hours a night but I’ve been clocking 7-10 this week. Weird. So much has been happening, and tonnes of great frags.

Scent Diary: 13.11 – 19.11.2017

Monday 13:

Was woken by Westpac, my Credit Card had been hacked during the night and someone in Israel had made some significant purchases on it. GRRRRR!

Guerlain Vetiver EdT. Great way to start the week.

Went to a meeting with my mate Thierry from City Perfume. I grabbed a dreaming bottle of Tom Ford Arabian Wood which I then split among the Aussie Fragrance Network crew on FaceBook. 850ml went in about 16 hours, amazing.

Then met my BFF Kath for lunch at our fave Macquarie Centre dumpling store Lok Lok. She’s great company and we talked over developments in her work and crystallised some ideas for my near future, well fleshed out some pending plans anyway.

Dogs had to go to the trainers kennel because Jin & I are off to Tasmania later in the week.

On the way home from the kennels I dropped in on Anna-Maria & Johnny because they live nearby. It was fun to sit around and have cups of tea and chats at their place. I so rarely get to do it and we love them so much.

I really tried to write my Trivia Q&A. It was a very unfocused try and I was making mistakes so I headed in to the TV to watch some The Good Wife to clear my head.

Tuesday 14:

Came back to the computer at around 2am but could not focus. At 3am after wasting half a night and only getting half my Trivia Q&A done I decided to hit the hay and get up a couple of hours early to finish them. So 8am I jumped out of bed, spritzed some vintage Eau de Gucci concentred and got to work.

Scott arrived at 10am and we got to Office Work and general duties.

First order of the day was doing the split and organising the send. Big job, loads of fun and we both ended up smelling fabulously of Tom Ford Arabian Wood.

Dropped into Westpac to check updates on my new replacement Credit Card arrival. I need it. Thank goodness for Aurio who went straight to the source and made sure there would vibe a replacement at the branch by tomorrow.

There was untold amounts of Post this week so we methodically went through that. Jin had to pay bills because my Credit Card was dead. That meant I had to pay hime from my reserves, which depleted them to the low three figures, yep minor crisis.

Got my hair buzzed.

Dyed my beard and became a beautiful lady. Tonight I wore vintage Miss Dior parfum, no one even noticed how utterly spectacular I smelled. Assholes.

Wednesday 15:

JPG Monsieur Eau de Matin, perfect foil to a day filled with trepidation.

On our way out today, at breakfast, I saw a poster for a new Sydney production of Shakespeare’s The Merchant Of Venice. I always love to see it being done because Portia dresses up as a man in the play and saves her partners life. It’s part of the ironic reason that Portia was an acceptable name for me when the choice was being made with my crew how my Drag Persona (which is my only persona now) would be named. It’s funny looking back on that time 29 years later.

Anyway, I start looking at the poster and then realise that the man is my buddy Mitchell Butel. What a freaking superstar. If you’re in Sydney, make the time to see this, Mitchell is genius.

Same Sex Results Rally. It was amazing. Bumped into some wonderful people that I don’t get to spend enough time with. One of my mates from the year above me at school, others who I have known and loved for decades. Loads of peripheral friends and some that have been super close over time. It’s funny, Jin sometimes gets this incredulous look on his face when we wind up in big groups of people that I’ve known forever. It’s like, “Who are you?” as if I’m from another planet. My life sometimes does seem like a million light years away, and that it happened to another person. We got a yes, over 60%. HAPPY DAY! Now the government needs to legislate fairly. Fingers crossed.

Thursday 16:

JPG Monsieur Eau de Matin was a perfect starter for our grand adventure to Tasmania to do up one of our houses for sale.

We met Johnny at the Sydney Domestic Airport as early as you can imagine. Here are three bleary eyed men awaiting boarding.

Flew down and got straight to work. The carpet guys are already there and it was looking so much better. We decided to go for a slightly expensive choice but the difference spoke volumes. Yard dyed nylon in a light greige, it’s got a thick, soft, cut pile and won’t get loads of clouds lifting from it, nor will it pill. Johnny and Jin started fixing the bits and pieces that needed it. A couple of new light fittings, wardrobe doors that needed adjusting to shut, wall oven surround, garage odds & ends, a dodgy walkway fix and a bunch of other stuff.

We made a list of jobs for tomorrow, went back to Launceston, shopped at Bunnings and got some dinner & shut eye.

After my shower I spritzed liberally with my decant Phaedon Tabac Rouge and went to sleep at about 10pm on a pillow of gorgeous wafting me to the land of nod.

Friday 17:

Up around 6am (that’s 8 hours) and down to the hotel breakfast. I’m so nervous about getting everything done today that I barely eat.

Phaedon Tabac Rouge again and lots of it. MMMMMM

Garden day. There are three men here to cut the grass, blitz the weeds and get it looking nice so we can newspaper & mulch with pine bark. BLOODY HELL! It’s so annoying, they didn’t edge the lawns. When I asked why not they said they’d not quoted for it. You quote to do a lawn that INCLUDES edging. GRRRR!

I painted a door, to the garage. YAY! Currently pretty damn chuffed with myself. There are a couple of admissions that need to be made though. Johnny did the sandpapering and Jin did the masking tape. All I had to do was cut in the edges and paint but it looks WONDERFUL!C So happy.

One thing I really love about George Town is that they still use cashiers at their Woolworths. They keep PEOPLE employed. Personal, friendly service. I spent three times as much as I would have, just because the place was properly staffed.

Jin and Johnny worked so hard to make the place look fabulous for sale, we laid countless newspapers as a biodegradable barrier to weeds that should last around 6 months. On top of that we put four cubic meters of pine bark. Looks bloody gorgeous. No, I forgot to take photos. There is one really cute one of Johnny and I running off to get some stuff in the car.

OOOPSIE! Didn’t wear sunscreen and my neck, head, ears and face and burned. Back of head and neck are lobster red. I haven’t been burned this severely since my teenage years and it is SORE! The guys say my skin is hot as a kettle and I’m feeling sick. Damnit! This was so bloody easily taken care of, and I even have sunscreen in my bag. IDIOT!

Saturday 18:

Slept from 10pm -7am. That’s 9 hours!!

I’m such a nitwit. Forgot to give the Real Estate the keys back. Instead of a lazy morning in Launceston we left Johnny to snooze and relax ands Jin & I went up to George Town, met Andrew our agent and showed him around the house. He was so happy. If you are thinking of buying in or around George town then call Andrew Michialetto at George Town Harcourts. He is a decent Real Estate Agent, bet you never thought you’d read that.

Jin and I did some sweeping up, handed over the keys, had a last Cream Bun and headed up to Low Head to say farewell. It’s got a lighthouse, an old whaling station and historic homes. It’s also a last breeding outpost of Fairy Penguins. So thankful that Jin was there and we got to talk about plans and congratulate ourselves on doing this Tasmania thing so right, even if we decided it wasn’t for us.

Back to collect Johnny to fly home and multi spritzed myself with vintage CHANEL No 19 parfum. So crisp and fabulous.

It was a bit squishy in thew plane but the boys slept the whole way.

First thing I did on arriving home was get the Aloe Vera onto my burn. My skin was so thirsty that it drank three applications in seconds. It has taken quite a bit of the heat and sting out.

Tonight after my bath I went Guerlain Shalimar crazy. They can probably smell me from the moon.

Then we went to met the crew for Wagyu House Korean BarBQ. It was so much fun I only got a shot of Jin and I before they arrived. We chattered and laughed and ate ridiculous amounts of food. We are so lucky to have such friends. Everything is better in our lives because we are surrounded by some excellent people.

You can see how exhausted we bath are in the shot.

More Aloe vera applications before bed.

Sunday 19:

Slept from 1am -10am. That’s 9 hours AGAIN. What the hell! I’m groggy as.

Aloe Vera application on waking.

Watched The Good Wife, did some computer stuff, ate lunch, watched some more of The Good Wife.

Couldn’t do drag because my burn would not allow me to wear it but I did bathe in LUSH Rose Jam, moisturised with Aloe Vera and wore indecent amounts of Neela Vermeire Creations Ashoka, just opened a brand new bottle. YAY. Smelling fricken fabulous FYI.

 

So what’s happening in your world? Did you do anything Fun or Fragrant, with Friends and Family or maybe even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

 

So what’s happening in your world? Did you do anything Fragrant, Fun, Friends, Family or even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

18 thoughts on “Scent Diary: 13.11 – 19.11.2017

  1. Cream bun…OMG!!! I want one of those…(actually I could eat that whole tray!) They look delicious!

    sleep is good, P…..listen to your body..

    it was a wash rinse and repeat week for me….can’t complain though 🙂

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    • Hey CM,
      Those cream buns were pretty good.

      Listening to my body, sleeping extra. It’s just freaky to me that I’m needing extra.

      Those wash rinse and repeat weeks are really good. I’m looking forward to having one myself this week.
      Portia xx

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      • Well, for me, “needing extra” I blame on the fact that I am getting quite old…but you, my dear, seem to be aging backwards and looking good 😉

        and what? there is still a Woolworths? It went out of business in the States…it was one of my favorite stores and reminds me of my childhood.

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        • HA HA HA CM! Getting old, you? Nope. Aren’t you the eternal pixie?
          I’ll be 50 next year, don’t care how I look. Living as much as I can for all my buddies who never made it this far. Ageing is a luxury so many in my LGBTQI age group and above never got to enjoy. Any day I do less than my most to squeeze the everything out of feels like I’m letting them down. (Oops, sorry, bit deep there)
          Woolworths is a huge conglomerate here in Oz. Come visit, we can go wander the aisles.
          Portia xxx

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      • Yes I know , P, I have lost quite a few friends and teachers over the years who were part of the LGBTQI community. Living your life is enough so don’t over do it!

        and yes, Australia and New Zealand….on my bucket list!!! All I need to do is win lotto 🙂

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  2. The paragraph starting with “Dyed my beard…” is the best piece of perfume writing on the Internet. ITA.

    Sorry about the sunburn. Mr S wears his hair like you do so I harass him with sunscreen or holler “hat” frequently.

    My week has been fab! Chatted with the her lovely Barbara Herman and tried (and now have in my hot little hands) her new fragrance Mx.

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    • HA! Thanks Kate. Glad you liked it.
      Yes, it’s bloody annoying because I almost always have both right by me and use them. This was just a silly mistake. The heat has left it now but the skin feels like I might be heading for a peel.
      WOW! You met Barbara Herman? What was she like?
      Portia xx

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  3. Sounds like you had a productive yet restful week P.

    Saturday I had the perfume pals over for an afternoon eating, drinking and sniffing perfume of course. A pal thoughtfully brought me a sample of Fiele Fragrances Pogostemon, knowing how much I adore patchouli. I had never tried Fiele before and now I want to try them all.

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    • I completely forgot about Fiele! I had a sample pack and I loved and drained them all but never got around to purchasing full bottles.

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    • Hi SunnyDay,
      Yes, good summation. It was both.
      YAY! I love frag get togethers. How lucky that you were brought something you love.
      Portia xx

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  4. Absolutely thrilled to bits that Aussies voted yes!

    Jin’s expressions…that man!! Cracks me up.

    All that decanting of the Tom Ford. Whoa! That was a mammoth effort.

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  5. Hey there Kate,
    YAY!!! Us too.
    Jin is a freaking crack up. So understated and SO FUNNY.
    We had a ball doing the decants. That’s a super fun part of being a perfumista.
    Portia xx

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  6. Monday morning, my first cup of coffee and your Scent Diary. That’s a good start into the week, always look forward to it.
    I spent most of last week in a horizontal position on the couch, reading books about perfume. So this week I’ll have to catch up with neglected chores.
    Hope your sunburn is better!

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  7. I do so much enjoy reading your scent diary Portia. Yes your comment above is so true! I kind of feel like that of my Bro Frank who is very ill.
    I recently purchased a Mauboussin Fragrance, on Fresh Fragrances for $25, it had very good reviews on Fragrantica. I wanted something to break my current obsession of SJP Stash. I felt like wearing a basic floral, and its nice, but realise I need more excitement in my perfume.

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  8. I got burnt on my neck as well this week, but fortunately not as bad as yours. Just enough to tell me that summer is definitely here, and to clean up my act.

    Some major op shop finds this week. Last Sunday I happened on a pretty full 25ml bottle of vintage Equipage. Friday I went into one of my least lucky op shops and what should I find? Not one, but TWO, 25 ml bottles of Van Cleef and Arpels Pour Homme Concentrated Cologne. Both full and in box. I dated one of the boxes to 1986.

    This is a flanker of the classic Pour Homme, which I have never seen before. Wore it the next day, of course, and it is just what you’d expect, a big woodsy-leathery 80s-style men’s fragrance. A keeper, at least one of them.

    Sunday in the Camberwell Flea Market (where I got burned) was mostly a wash until I found a 100ml bottle of Endymion and a 300ml bottle of Endymion shower gel, both still shrink-wrapped. I saw quite a bit of other stuff, but I was concerned at seeing so much nice perfume in clear bottles set out in the baking sun. That can’t end well, and turned me off quite a few borderline purchases.

    Fragrance-wise I mostly stuck to colognes, including breaking out Eau d’Orange Verte and Monsieur Balmain, a couple of hot weather favourites. Looks like I’ll be doing a lot more of that this week.

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  9. Last week you wore four perfumes that I don’t just like but actually love – No 19, Miss Dior, Ashoka and Arabian Wood. BTW, thank you for inspiring Tara who, in her turn, inspired me to wear today vintage Miss Dior ❤

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