Scent Diary: 11.12 – 17.12.2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

.

Portia

.

Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,

Highs and lows this week. Some wonderful friends, food, finance and fragrance. Added in were some bass news stories. This time of year is often so tumultuous.

Scent Diary: 11.12 – 17.12.2017

Monday 11:

9.30am. I must have been tired. Slept like a log. I felt the need for an aquatic today and L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme Intense is my favourite. It has the perfect kick of incense to counter the cool blast of salt watery citrus.

Jin ands I went and saw the money guy. There was something off about him today and he couldn’t look me in the eye. I asked Jin if we could walk around the block and ask another bank for a second opinion. They could offer us a .5% less expensive home loan, had a better way of structuring it and were amazing. We have begun talks.

After that we went and saw the owner of the new property and asked him to start drawing up contracts. It was very exciting.

Then we lunched at our favourite nearby cafe. It’s nice to just hang with Jin, he’s good company.

Home for a nap, slept through the worst heat of the day. I do feel a bit groggy now. Better spritz some Guerlain Shalimar EdP and vintage parfum. Quite fragrant. Wafting in the park while giving the dogs their afternoon wee was fun. Extravagant.

Came home and decided to drink the good tea. Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend. Once I have a cup it’s like a fever, need another immediately. Tea is my heaven.

From Fortnum & Mason: In this classic Royal Blend notes of Flowery Pekoe from Ceylon uplift the maltier Assam …. First blended for King Edward in 1902

Jin and I went out late in the evening to do some grocery shopping. It’s nice in the cool evening to go get our fruit and groceries. He also had to go to the chemist. We got home around 9.30pm and this scary bastard ran out of our garage and across the driveway. O M G! The size of my foot. Squealed like a stuck pig. The perimeter of the garage is a toxic no go zone for all creepy crawlies so he was wobbling like a drunken sailor but nevertheless he gave us quite a scare.

Home and back to my computer. It’s Trivia Q&A time again. I’ve grabbed a coffee and multi spritzed some more Shalimar EdP. MMMMMMM

Doing loads of washing in between Q&A and hanging them up. It’s a good break.

Tuesday 12:

SHIT! 4am. Just finished my Q&A. MORE SHALIMAR & bed.

Woke up to Scott on the doorstep. TOO GUMMY TO BE ALIVE moment.

Spritzed oodles of Guerlain Lui and am feeling more human for it. So Scott gets pepper and I’m getting a subtle patchouli. Both if us are probably wrong.

Jin and I were running the bank gauntlet again today. Why are they all fucking liars?

Beards dye, bath and UBER spritzed Penhaligon’s Ostara. Freaky yellow flowers, both fluorescent bright and surrounded by boggy marsh. Love it every time.

When it came time to dress for work I gave myself another 15 spritzes and floated on a sea of fabulous spring florals. HEAVEN!

Couldn’t concentrate on the blog work at all tonight so I made a cuppa. grabbed some bikkies and headed for the second season of The Crown with a few good spritzes of Lolita Lempicka EdP again.

Wednesday 13:

Morning APJ, I slept wrong and this morning I’ve got a nasty twinge in my back. A little bit of a morning stretch, walking the dogs etc and I should be right. Micallef Ylang in Gold today. It’s thick and syrupy lushness so tropical and fruity. Extra glam

Today was a Wendy day. My mate Wendy and I went shopping for the Christmas presents she is giving this year. We also got her hair cut and manicure done. She is 100% Christmas ready now. Then we had a delicious lunch. They were Toasted Turkish Bread Sandwiches; hers Turkey Salad and mine BLAT. We also had some hot chips and cups of tea. A perfect day out, we were bushed by the end of it.

Home for a nap under the fan, blessed relief.

Off to work I went in Diptyque Eau Duelle. It’s my first full wearing from a bottle I bought. Somehow my nose felt this was a resinous white floral. A beautiful, tropical white floral perfect for summer. Oh well, none of the notes are that but that’s what my nose smells, go figure.

Home, faffed around on the computer but got nothing done. Midnight so I’m for an early night. Finished another 10ml of DSH Perfumes Giverny In Bloom. Ice cold A/C, swampy green that clears to cool florals. Perfection.

Thursday 14:

Not in bed yet at 1am and needed some extra oomph so Niki de Saint Phalle. SO good.

Wrapped Christmas presents.

I might have had a delivery or two arrive. mmmmmmmmm

Dinner at Liu Rose Chinese restaurant with the crew. wearing Fort & Manle Charlatan. TinaG was loving it and kept getting g happy wafts through the night. Delectable.

Home to bed, big spritzes of Yves Saint Laurent Opium Posie de Chine.

Friday 15:

Fort & Manle Charlatan again. Freaking LOVING it.

Lunch with Kerri & Tim. Shopping. Met up with Alice for a cuppa. Lovely day in town.

Watched Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire and Paddington Bear.

Jin asked me to put his 6 pack in the fridge. I thought it looked very colourful in there so I took a photo. Pretty huh?

HOT here, melting.

Bed: Oliver & Co Ambergreen. Someone mentioned it on one of the FB boards and I was inspired. Boundary pushing, freaky shit that both burns and cools. Smells amazing but like nothing I know. Full icy green and sweet amber woods. Crazy.

Saturday 16:

I have a whole day to myself. At leisure. Woke up and did some texting and computer work quite early and then while still in a half asleep daze went back to bed till nearly 10am. What a fabulously extravagant way to spend the morning.

BFF Kath’s Mum collapsed this morning so we went to visit her in hospital. She was fairly poorly but still chatty and did her best to be cheered up by us. We could tell it was uphill going though.

Decided I would do the weeks APJ blogging today but it was too hot to think.

Jin brought Korean Fried Chicken home for dinner and we watched some TV. It was a very low key day and evening.

One thing I’m really noticing though is the cicadas, crickets and frogs are all singing well into the evening. Like a chorus of nature going on outside. It’s lovely as I sit back in my office.

Super bummer tonight. I sat down and opened an eMail from my boss at a venue I’ve been hosting trivia in for over 15 years. Thinking it was a Christmas Thank You note I was totally unprepared for it to be a termination notice. What a bummer. Watching families grow and blossom over the last 15 years has been extraordinary and I will miss our regular Thursday nights together. So sad.

Instead of moping we fed the dogs and walked them. Then I ran myself a warm bath with Olympic Orchids Amber/Labdanum Bath Oil. It’s hard to feel sad when the bath smells so good but my mind is going 100 miles an hour to work out my next move. I think a good sleep will help me organise my head a bit better.

Vintage Bal a Versailles parfum dabbed on my wrist before bed. If that can’t take my mind off drama then nothing will.

Sunday 17:

Couldn’t sleep. I find myself back in my office at the computer. MORE Bal a Versailles, so good.

Pedi with Kath then lunch in the Food court. We went and visited her Mum in hospital and she is looking 70% better, a bit of colour and a genuine smile.

It’s so hot I’m sweating like a farm hand. Trying to put make up on is proving a trial. GRRRRR. Oh well, can’t be comfortable every night.

Had the BEST time with the Austral Bowling Club crew tonight. A few of them left before we took this shot but you can tell how beautiful they all are. Wore ridiculous amounts of The Different Company Tokyo Bloom tonight in the heat, perfect.


It’s YOUR turn. 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

37 thoughts on “Scent Diary: 11.12 – 17.12.2017”

  1. You had a week of ups and downs by the sound of it. Glad you are going with your gut reaction with those bank people, they should be crawling to get your business.
    I also wore Shalimar and Lolita this week, and started The Crown series 2…not as absorbing as series 1, but good.
    Magnesium oil in the bath does wonders for creaky bodies and frazzled minds, add some lavender oil!

    Like

    • Hey JackieB,
      Bummer you’re not loving the second series so much. I found it even more engrossing. These were the breakfast conversations of my very early childhood that grew into a full blown love of the Royal Family. These guys were as real as us but with suillions. Heaven!
      Thanks. I’ll try both those io the bath. Thanks.
      Portia xx

      Like

  2. I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire too but on Saturday. I wanted to watch Paddington Bear too but decided to wait until the second one is released in cinemas so I could watch it consecutively. Looking forward to it!

    Like

  3. Wow and what a week you have had, P!!!

    Tea is my drug of choice as well (but you already know that 🙂 )

    Have heard nothing but great things about Charlatan and the line in general…will get my nose on that brand one of these days.

    The eldest is home from college at chez Marzipan so lots of extra good food…we are a family of eaters (although you would never know it looking at us-LOL!)

    heading to yoga this morning with the entire Marzipan gang (sans Mr. Marzipan) so that should be fun and wafting in pure sandalwood oil….

    Hope you have a less taxing week for this upcoming week!

    Like

    • HA HA HA! Funnily I loved Princess Margaret till I started watching The Crown. Now she shits me to infinity. I think our shared sense of childish entitlement may grate.
      Portia xx

      Like

  5. Sounds like a tough week, but sounds like you’re trying to take care of yourself so that’s good. Hang in there. It will get better. And perfume always provides comfort to me as well. BTW loved Wendy’s nail color. So fun!

    Like

    • Hey Kandice,
      Not a tough week, just some nasty surprises. They account for so little of the whole.

      YAY! Wendy shows them off to everyone. it was her first ever manicure. She loves them and feels very dashing.
      Portia xx

      Like

  6. Oh, that spider gives me the heebee jeebees! They scare me so much! Do you have credit unions? I think they’re so much better than a bank. I bought Reem Acra a few weeks ago on your recommendation! You’re right, it’s lovely and I can spray with abandon! Whee!
    The Korean fried chicken looks amazing. My mouth is watering! Take care, Portia 🙂

    Like

    • Hey ClaudiaS,
      Yes we do have credit unions but they are attached to work, like the Police or Teachers. Not for Hoi Poloi.
      REEM ACRA, if you’re going to be persuaded by me then that is an excellent choice. How bloody good is it? And so reasonable.
      Portia x

      Like

  7. Hang in Portia. Sometimes the universe sends us a message to CHANGE it up. Of course sometimes the universe deserves a finger too. You have good instincts with those bank guys! We are in the process of moving but had tickets to Portland. We both had breakdown panic attacks about visiting relatives (and ice storms) when we are supposed to be moving and breaking down our current house, so we ate the air ticket costs, bailed on visiting and decided to spend Xmas/Hanukkah moving: a mix of feelings. My SO’s dad is old so this may have been one of the last holiday visits but we’ve got to get this done. So the holidays will be filled with boxes and boxes….and wrapping tape, but not the fun kind….but ohhhh the relief of not being pulled into two directions. I’ve got a huge order of Solstice Scents coming in, and I just received some Imaginary Authors. I’ll be fragrantly moving. Right now enjoying a cup of Nespresso espresso with hot frothy whipped eggnog draped on top before going to it. Delish. For coffee cappuccino lovers, if you have a frother, put 1/4 c. Eggnog instead of milk.

    Like

    • Hey Shiva-woman,
      Yeah, as much as I like everything stable it’s also nice to have change thrust upon me. It stings that it was all done so coldly but there really isn’t a nice way to do it.
      Good choice not going. You would have been GRRRR anyway.
      EGGNOG!!! Yum
      Portia xx

      Like

  8. Sending positive vibes for a new gig to come up and for the banks to treat you right. It’s been a quiet week here, just yoga and pottering around and such. Received my 10ml of DSH Play the Shaman and wow, it’s an incredible palo santo scent. She also sweetly included a bottle of amber lotion.

    Got the last of my shopping done, time to give the Visa card a prolonged rest now. 😉

    Be well and waft on!

    Like

    • Yep, gone.
      SO SAD Nikki but I’ll land on my feet. No sweat.
      Thanks for my Christmas Card, YOU are a fucking LEGEND.
      Portia xx

      Like

  10. Gosh, you had some tough things in your week (sorry about the unexpected termination letter… that can’t be easy after such a long stint.) Hope Kath’s mum is on the up.

    It’s been a less fun week this week than last. Work has been insanely busy, but also tough: almost half our staff are being laid off. I’m safe for now, but there’s the awful sense of survivors’ guilt going around. Some people won’t know if they are ok or not until the new year. Horrid. They are all good at their jobs, and nice people, which makes it worse. Parent company has decided to slice and dice, though, and, er “re focus” what we do. Great. Thanks.

    The holiday dinner on Friday was bittersweet because of that. A truly stupendous meal, but more than a few tears. I left before the serious long-night of drinking got underway, and ran away home to Edinburgh.

    I took out my frustrations with all of this by rearranging all the furniture and books in my study yesterday. Kick-starting some changes like this felt good. So did getting distracted by finding little caches of sentimental souvenirs and old photographs that made my heart lurch with sadness and joy.

    Better than today, where mostly I have been freezing cold, and working. I hate working on my own time.

    A few bright spots: my decant of Naja arrived (gorgeous!), i had a good long skype chat about nothing much with my sister, the little cat is settling in nicely, and tomorrow I get to go and spend the day with another amazing archive artifact rather than going in to work. Yay!

    Like

    • Hey Crikey,
      Thanks.
      Watching layoffs is terrible. Heartbreaking stuff. Leaves everyone with a nasty taste in their mouths.
      NAJA! Isn’t it outrageous?
      Portia xx

      Like

  11. I’m real sorry about that termination notice, great timing just before Christmas!
    But congratulations to your new house, hope you get the bank business sorted out.
    Talk about hot, we have over 30 degrees every day and I hate it. All I can do is sit on the couch and read. Just finished Marlene Dietrich’s biography of 800 pages.
    I wore Shalimar Cologne all week, it’s so good in hot weather.

    Like

    • Hey Ingrid,
      This is the time we usually get our marching orders, just before the Christmas break. We have 3 weeks off and it’s a seamless transition to their next thing.
      Banks!!! ARGHHH
      I loved Marlene Dietrich’s biographies, I’ve read a couple. Nope, can’t remember which ones. Wasn’t she amazing? We are expecting 44C tomorrow.
      Shalimar Cologne very nice.

      Like

  12. Banks and spiders = yuk! Trust it will all come together for you soon Portia.
    Crazy week for me – couple days off work which were delightful. Had my first lymphatic drainage massage by the lovely Libby, who i think i shall see regularly. So relaxing.
    Treated myself to a manicure which was supposed to be a good thing but it turned a bit weird! Tried a new place and as my own nails are long enough i don’t need acrylic or the such. So just wanted them shaped, tidied up and ‘normal’ nail polish (none of this gel stuff) $50 later – WT?? I had $35 in my head so when they said $50 i went blank and just handed it over! Lovely girl but lots of chatting between staff doing funny voices and obviously in house jokes. A few reminders that gel polish is better then normal nail polish & i kept thinking – am i the customer? When I arrived the boss lady was sitting on chair behind reception eating her lunch (that should have been the signal) .
    Then when i left, boss lady said – thanks for coming Melanie, hope you enjoyed the show!
    i couldn’t answer!! I’m laughing about it now and my nails did look nice for our big lunch on Saturday.
    Nearly 20 people in our little cottage, under the verandah with two fans because it was a bit warm. I hosted my little heart out so didn’t eat much, nor drink much water, but did have some lovely wine so was a bit of a tired and poorly yesterday. Thanks to my very lovely Better Half for cleaning up – whenever that happened i don’t recall! i do remember doing some dishes when everyone had left, with a drink and the music turned up doing a little dancing. I was so happy!

    Like

  13. That spider . . . at first I was like, “Pssssh, no big deal, a spider,” and then it occurred to me, oh YEAH, that’s in Australia where something like 93% of the fauna is absolutely lethal. Yikes.

    I’m hoping you get a good arrangement worked out with the bank guys. And that you can find another trivia gig (though I know it’s disheartening to lose one of long standing) quite soon.

    Shalimar in the heat! I’m woozy from just the description. Currently it is 40F/4C (at 9 pm) and it’s warmer than it had been earlier in the week. Giverny in Bloom is sooo good — that icy, inky galbanum, I love it. xo

    Like

    • Hey Mals86,
      Great to see you!
      TBH this is one of our non toxic spiders. It’s body is the size of my thumb but those legs go on forever, larger than my shoed foot.
      Thanks, both will turn out OK, we are pretty sure. Earlier this year I was turning down gigs because we don’t have enough girls. Fingers crossed we have some more of that this year.
      HA! Shalimar is wonderful in the heat. It makes me really happy that you love Giverny in Bloom too. It is so fabulously OTT and I smile when wearing it.
      Portia xx

      Like

  14. Eeeek, that spider! I think I would have found something to squash it quick–already lost a leg and he looks like a survivor!

    Like

  15. I have heard the insects are enormous in Australia, and I HATE spiders 😦 I hope you find a new trvia gig soon, and congrats on finishing the DSH! Such a good feeling to finish a bottle, that means you can get a new one right? 😀

    Like

Comments are closed.