Scent Diary: 31.12.2018 – 6.1.2019

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies

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Portia

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Hey there APJ Crew,

The new year is here. Amusingly my week felt less hectic than normal, it wasn’t. Loads of scent, peeps, outings and Jin time made it a perfect storm.

Scent Diary: 31.12.2018 – 6.1.2019

Monday 31:

Jin was up at 4am and woke me as he left. I took a while to fully wake but it was really early for my regular timetable nonetheless. I have answered all the APJ comments, emails, FB and now I’ll lie in front of the TV for a while and veg.

SOTMorning: Tobacco Nuit by Atelier Cologne

Went back to sleep till 3pm. WOW! That was unexpected.

SOTDay: Santal ++++ by Miller et Bertaux.

Jin and I decided against any major revelry because he starts work at 5am tomorrow. Leaving home around 4am.

We went for dinner at Outback Steakhouse at 5pm! It was sensational. We were almost the only customers and they treated us like royalty. Food was delicious and yes we had the onion thing, SO GOOD!

Home and watched the 9pm fireworks on TV.

Jin went to bed and I walked the dogs through the cool evening and drizzling rain. Heavenly.

Watched TV till midnight fireworks. The two pics below were taken of my TV as the fireworks happened. They look like impressionist paintings to me.

Fell asleep on the couch. OK, I’m officially OLD!

Tuesday 1:

Woke up and the dog walk was sweaty. You know it’s hot when you walk three blocks and you’re sweating like a footballer.

I have a bunch of blog organising to do so made myself a cuppa and going at it.

SOTDay: Pichola by Neela Vermeire Creations

At about 2pm I decided that enough lounging was enough and started cleaning the house. I can only do it in 20 minute bursts because I’m sweating so outrageously. In my underpants! It’s like a sauna here in Sydney.

Came home and Jin went to bed. I fed myself, the dogs, walked them and then came in to the computer to get some stuff done. A couple of hours and things seem to be slightly more in order.

Bath time. Fate Woman bubbles by Amouage! So freaking glam.

Read some more Tuesdays With Morrie and hit the hay around 2am.

Wednesday 2:

Up and out by 9am this morning.

SOTMorning: CHANEL No 19 EdT.

Met Evie, Mum Chaloner and Lola at the gallery. We saw the Hermitage! Buying a multi pass was the best idea ever. I think I’ve brought five sets of people to see it so far. We had lunch afterwards in the Members Lounge.

Came home and cleaned the house. The sweat was pouring off me while scrubbing the bathroom and vacuuming. Did a couple of loads of washing and then collapsed in the heat.

SOTAfternoon: Samsara EdT & vintage extrait by Guerlain. ALL the banana tinged tropical flowers and sandalwood. MMMMMMM

Jin, Kath and Tina were at ours for dinner tonight. I made us Chicken Tortillas and soft Tacos. Well, I did the ingredients and everyone made their own. They were yummy and healthy. We all had a chat and it was very low key fun. TBH I think we all might be a little bit tired. I even forgot to take pics, soz.

I’ve misplaced something. It’s VERY important and we turned the house upside down looking for it. Both Jin and I frantic, sweating in the heat and calling on all our sadly shithouse memory to remember where I said I put it. We were still up at 2am looking when we called a halt. It’s in the house, we will find it, it may just take some time.

Thursday 3:

Woke up, even with the A/C on dry mode the apartment is warm and I awoke damp with sweat. Sleep had not brought me the answer to where this lost thing is. More looking today but not so frantic. I keep having flashes of where it might be and running there to look. Due to this a load of places have had a thorough cleaning out. So kind of a win.

We had some trouble with AmEx too. All on speaker phone so I heard it while trotting around trying to find the lost thing.  No biggie now but one of their telephone attendants was giving Jin contradictory information and wouldn’t be told that it was impossible for both sentences to be true. Then he got really condescending and rude to Jin who completely lost his ability to speak English. I had to step in. When we got off the phone from him we called AmEx asking to make a formal complaint about this buffoon, they transferred us back onto him. How weird is that?

Jin is sleeping because he is back at work tonight for Night Shift. 6pm-6am.

On and off all day I’ve been throwing fragrance on myself. There is not a spare inch of real estate left for fragrance. I smell amazing, the dogs aren’t convinced. I smelll so strongly that I was going to IKEA tonight but decided against as my ferocious sillage would scare children.

Walked the dogs a bit late at 10.30pm. Hitting the warm, humid night air and wandering around gave my scent a whole new lease of life and I realised how TRULY FRAGRANT I am. Terrifying.

Now that Jin has gone off to work I’ve turned off the A/C and sweating softly into the night.

Friday 4:

Slept in till nearly 10am. It is hot and muggy today. Came to the computer and did my blog commenting and checked all the other apps.

SOTDay: Granville by DIOR.

Jin woke and we went straight to the gym. It was nice to be back after a weeks absence. Interestingly my strength has increased in my abs since this adventure began.

Then we sort of flopped on the couch and stayed there.

SOTAfternoon: Geranium Pour Monsieur by Malle

Got to IKEA tonight and grabbed a floor anglepoise lamp for only AUD$79. Prettyy damn chuffed about that. It was nice being in there after 7.30pm and it was OBLY adults in there shopping. TOTALLY different experience without kids.

SOTEvening: Thunked a sample of Sa Majeste la Rose by Serge Lutens

This evening was a bit cooler. Walking the dogs was lovely but I kept walking into spiders webs. In Australia none of the web spiders are deadly but their bites can be painful and annoying. I squeal like a girl every time and jump around like I have St Vitus’ Dance.

Came home and couch crashed. Watching Grimm again on Netflix.

SOTBed: Jonquille de Nuit by Tom Ford. Thunked the last 1ml+ of a decant. The opening and early heart lean quite medicinal with an odd strawberry ice cream vibe. Slowly it all flattens out into a scent that’s green and daffodil-esque but which smells like the entrance to a swanky hotel on me.

Saturday 5:

Cruisy morning. Did a little whip round the house to spruce it up.

SOTMorning: 24 Faubourg EdT by Hermès

My girlfriend Georgie came over for lunch. We had a wonderful chat and reminisced. Jin was home and we all spent a lovely few hours talking of everything from careers, bullying, depression, suicide and life. The trials of single parenting in Sydney, honesty, relationships, monogamy, polyamorousness, money, family and friend networks all got a look in too. All done with simple food, some Moet and love. It was an excellent afternoon.

Just by the way, how cute is my boy Paris?

This evening we had a spectacular thunder storm. The temperature dropped from 38C down to 28C in minutes. Then RAIN! Buckets of it. Heavenly.

SOTEvening: Myrrh by Abdes Salaam Attars. Sweetly resinous, boozy and smoky with an animalc honeyed backbone.  Myrrh is utterly beautiful in the post rainy cool of Sydney today. Thunked this 2ml sample. Yep, freaking full on fragrant.

Spent the evening blogging. I love to get into the flow and just write my heart out. That is really satisfying for me.

Had a bubble bath then might have spritzed some Guerlain Shalimar EdP.

Sunday 6:

SOTMorning: Five O’Clock au Gingembre by Serge Lutens

It’s so blissfully cool this morning. Walking the dogs was a real treat. We saw this glorious Pink Flowering Gum in full bloom.

We were supposed to go around to BFF Kath’s Ma & Pa’s house with Chinese Take Away for lunch but they’re both feeling crook. Jin and I bought it last night because the store doesn’t open till 5pm today. So we had stove reheats for lunch and made up packs for Ma & Pa, Alice and Kath. there’s still enough for Jin and I to have another meal. YUMMY!

SOTDay: Russian Tea by Masque Milano

We went and saw The Favourite with Alice & Kath. LOVED the cast, got a few laughs but HATED the movie. What a smoking pile of shit. At the end I involuntarily said, quite loud, “Thank God that’s over.” To a slew of appreciative chuckles from all around.

Home and Jin really wanted Korean BarBQ. Like REALLY wanted it.

SOTEvening: Black Saffron by Byredo

 

 

It’s YOUR turn. 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

63 thoughts on “Scent Diary: 31.12.2018 – 6.1.2019”

  1. I just love reading about your week and all of your adventures….I am also proud of you for enjoying your perfumes and not keeping the last tiny drops….thunk away! I feel like I can’t take any of my fragrances with me to the great beyond so I might as well use them now (and use them lavishly) while I am still alive!

    Back to work for me on Wednesday and it was tough. It’s going to be a rough few months as this is the busiest time of year for me with meetings and report writings and whatnots. Looking forward to when end of April hits.

    Still going strong on my New Years resolutions- no buy, no coffee, no sweets, no alcohol, drink water and started a daily exercise regime….Thanks to you and all my APJer friends for inspiring me and encouraging me. My goal is to gain five pounds of lean muscle…I think I can do this!

    and thunked a few things and tried MANY things (yesterday I tested seven perfumes-LOL!)

    Hope everyone had a great week xxoo

    Liked by 2 people

    • 100% with you on the thunking Brigitte,
      Good luck with work, you don’t need it. You’ll cruise through.
      Also with your weight goals. We think you can do it too.
      SEVEN PERFUMES! I think I could smell you from here.
      Portia xx

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      • Thank you Diana! Your words encourage me to keep going with everything! And I have a huge amount of gratitude towards all of you for inspiring me and encouraging me 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  3. I think dog walking has much to recommend it…cool early mornings especially let me organise my thoughts for the day. And I have made so many friends, even people with no dogs. Met a lurcher today, looked like a hairy greyhound. Oh, dog, not person!
    Tonight I am wearing Noir de Noir, and tough luck if the boudoir is overwhelmed!

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  4. Granville must be a dream in the heat, Portia. Love that pic of you as a bathing beauty.
    I highly resented working this week as most charities were still off. Business as usual tomorrow though.
    Feeling very lazy today.
    I don’t think anywhere in the world as a better NYE celebration than Sydney.

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    • Tara!
      Granville is the perfect foil for the heat.
      HA! Bathing beauty? Walrus show more like.
      How rude of your work to be back early. Bastards!
      Sunday is designed for laziness, we had a fairly chill one here too.
      I really worry about fireworks you know. Anyone woke are all terrified of global warming and climate change, are doing our best to use less electricity, fossil fuels, water and non renewable energies. Then every New Year we let off a shitload of fireworks that pour smoke and soot and carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. It seems so counter intuitive. I love to watch them too but nowadays my joy is tempered by fear.
      Sorry to be Debbie Downer.
      Portia xx

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      • I agree, Portia: while fireworks are beautiful, they bring too much harm. So many animals and birds literally die because of the endless cannonade, it’s so scary. Dogs run away and get lost, too. It’s not worth it.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Re fireworks – i think the stinky part is the cost! i dont watch them on principle. We have people that haven’t had a decent meal, wash or sleep,or shelter and charities at breaking point but we can spend a million dollars to blow stuff up into the sky for one night. Debbie Downer No2.

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  5. Talking about bananas – I met up with Tina and Kerri today at Lore and ended up wearing Mihan Aromatics Guilty Story, which has been nicknamed the “dumb banana”. It smells like those chalky fake banana lollies. Love love love! It was really great to catch up, delicious lunch too.
    Curious about The Favourite but I switched off The Lobster half way through, something I rarely do.
    Need to sniff that Myrrh, sounds divine, does anyone stock AbdesSalaam here?
    Agree 100% with Jin. Korean BBQ is where it’s at, and it’s so good for me too because it’s just meat, meat, MEAT! I have very extreme emotions about the soybean paste we get at our local – I’ve been trying to find a packaged version which is just as good, but failing so far. Honestly I could just eat it by itself.
    Did you find the Important Thing? Good luck!

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    • You lot sound like you had a wonderful time this weekend. WELL JEL!
      No, AbdesSalaam Attars is only sold from his shop. I think he still ships to Australia and he has an excellent sample program.
      Jin uses the Soybean Paste that you buy in a tub in the Asian groceries. I’ve sent you a pic of his fave on FB Messenger.
      Did not find the important thing. Stressing about it badly.
      Portia xx

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  6. I love how much time you make for *people* in your life Portia. This might be my resolution for the new year. Make time to see and really talk to the people I care about. Many of them are scattered, as I’ve moved a lot for work, and I teach, so I see and talk to tons of people, many of whom become friends, but still . . .

    This week did involve dinner with old friends and their 22 year old daughter who I’ve known since before birth. She is beautiful and brilliant and fabulously funny, so it was a really lovely night. Also a long lunch, and now that I think of it a dinner, both with former students who are now good friends. And a juicy long phone call with a good friend. So I guess I am starting the year off well!

    I hope you found the important thing!

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  7. I am a roseaholic and own many many rose scents. What were your thoughts on Sa Majeste. I have a full bottle along with Fille de Berlin.

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  8. Like Amy, I am continually impressed by how much time you make for the people in your life. I am such a hermit, I have to drag myself out to be social, but when I do, I feel better afterwards. It’s a constant struggle.

    This week was pretty quiet here, easing in to the new year. Went on a couple of fun dog walks with our breed club (Papillons). Today I’m going over to a friend’s house so she can help me train my new puppy, then lunch with a friend Wednesday.

    Took a big step Friday by calling the realtor in Victoria and setting up our househunting trip next month. It’s scary and nerve-wracking to think about moving across the country, but I’m trying to calm my nerves by thinking about it as a new adventure rather than a logistical nightmare. Not easy but will try my best to keep the anxiety at bay. Spraying lots of beautiful perfumes. Last night was 10 Corso Como, freaking gorgeous sparkling sandalwood.

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    • Hey TaraC,
      I too struggle with getting out. I know, it’s hard to believe but really it’s true. I would LOVE to stay home 24/7 and never leave our cocoon. Sadly that way madness lies, for me. I need to mental stimulation of people, thoughts, ideas and the visual stimulation of new surrounds to keep my head healthy.
      It doesn’t sound very quiet at all. Dog walks with your crew, lunches and dog training.
      WOW! Why the move? It is scary and nerve wracking but I do love having done it.
      Some of our friends still question our move 45 minutes drive from town (on a good run) but the area is leafy and a really good mix of old and new. We are easy walking distance to supermarkets, restaurants, theatres and cafes. The river is at the end of our street and we have a famous old cemetery across the road where the dogs love to be walked. We also spent on our three bedroom apartment less that a bedsit in town would cost, leaving us spare for adventuring.
      Portia xx

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      • Lots of reasons to move – due to climate change the summers are getting too hot for me to enjoy in Montreal, plus our flat is too small for us, with no garage or yard and only one bathroom. Also my family all live on the west coast and it will be much closer for our snowbird commute to just head up/down the coast rather than 5,000 kilometers across the country. It will be better all around, even though I love the city of Montreal and will miss it.

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    • One of my first cousins lives in Victoria and I have an open invitation to stay at her place anytime. I did not take her up on her offer the last time I was in Vancouver (2017). I’ll go visit when you’re there 😂

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  9. Beautiful week, Portia! And yes, Paris is a delight! Sorry about the AmEx episode, though, some people need to be taught how to be people, I guess. Oh, and I hope you’ve found that thing you were looking for.

    This week has felt like two weeks crammed in one: New Year’s Eve & Day, my cousin came from Moscow with his two kids to see his parents and us. TBH, he is the only relative I can have a really interesting talk with. I watched a few films, – Niagara, the Shape of Water, Yes Man, rewatched Witches of Eastwick, and something else. Strangely enough, I haven’t seen many of Marilyn films so I’m planning to see the Seven Year Itch one of these days. Probably.

    We had two seasons this week: it had been raining heavily for two days but yesterday everything froze and it started snowing. Yep, that’s what winter may look like in the south of Russia.

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      • Yep, it finally happened. I didn’t even get to go for a walk today because of a blizzard! Not that I really wanted to, lol!

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    • Hey Diana,
      Poor Jin is still dealing with AmEx, he;’s very grumpy about it all.
      No luck on the thing. GRR at myself.
      YAY! Catch ups with people whose brains walk similar paths is so refreshing for the soul. I’m so happy you got some cousin time. WITCHES OF EASTWICK!! One of my favourite monies, so fun and silly.
      Marilyn is someone I’m so ambivalent about. She was utterly driven to become more than life offered her yet every turn, every seeming opportunity, offered only tragedy. On screen she is mesmerising but offscreen she was a mess, most of it manipulated. Gak, what a waste.
      SNOW! You are probably only filled with loathing for it but I LOVE it.
      Portia xx

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      • I get why you both pissed at AmEx, I don’t let go easily, neither. Cursing a lot helps but Jin doesn’t seem like someone who’s used to dropping F-bombs.

        Yes, Marilyn was a tragic figure, she was desperate to be loved, and that’s what she never was.

        Snow is alright when it doesn’t stay for too long and doesn’t bring frigging freezing along but alas, it does! Oh, for a bit of Sydney sun! 😉

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    • Brrrr, don’t envy you the snow😬 My workmate has the Shape of Water on DVD for me to watch. He says it’s brill. Does any tease actually watch DVDs anymore, they’ll soon become obsolete I think. Nice to have family catch up every now and then.

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  10. Wearing the Safran Troublant I unexpectedly bought from a local perfume fan. We ended up having a nice perfume talk, as everyone scurried about for Boxing Day – guess we were doing a low-key Boxing Day ourselves…

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  12. Here goes AGAIN. What did I say last time?🤔
    Love your photos of the week, Paris looks like he’s giving you the side-eye. He’s obviously enjoying lazing in the heat too. Samsara Parfum & Pichola. Gawjus😍. You’re still buzzing around on your week off, finding lots to do. Some day I will have to find a Korean restaurant to try out this bbq, unfortunately don’t have one anywhere near me – the joys of living in the sticks. I was busy all last week, travelling and having fun with friends. I enjoyed the bonkers fireworks on NYE, all the more because we’re not allowed to buy fireworks here, they’re illegal outside of organised displays. My perfume week was absolutely awesome, my two orders arrived in the letterbox the day after I got home. Now the proud owner of Casablanca and First Cut. Have worn Casablanca for past two days, it’s beautiful, swoonsome. And also my Tauer Wowilla body oil, which I’m wearing in bed right now. It’s a vanilla, patchouli and I think something green, very soothing and cuddly. Would be lovely as a perfume. (Listening, Andy?) Made two purchases this year so far, Atelier Café Tuberosa and a Miss Dior edt to go crazy with. I will be good for the rest of this year, maybe☺️

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  13. Well now. Your weekly comings and goings just washed right over me. Here’s what I came away with:
    1) You’re sweating. So I’m jealous.
    2) FB of Russian Tea. Jealous again.
    3) You went swimming. Greener still.
    4) Pink Flowering Gum Tree. You guessed it: jealous.
    Marching through the depths of winter here. Actually, this past week has been a blur. The only things I can remember is that we went to a comedy club with friends for NYE and I had fun. The only other things I’ve done are walk, gym and work. I probably slept and ate something somewhere along the way. Low buy frugality is supremely irritating, but I do have a nice sized decant of Anubis on the way. Guess this will have to do for the month. Although, full confession, I have some heavily loaded shopping carts floating about just waiting for me to press the magic button 😬

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