.
Portia
.
Hey there APJ Crew,
Getting ready for our honeymoon. So much to dao. Aunty Tracey in town and busy, busy, busy. Got some excellent fragrances on my skin too.
Scent Diary: 29.4 – 5.5.2019
Monday 29:
SOTMorning: Ubar by Amouage. It’s Arabian Week on Facebook Fragrance Friends so I’m doing my bit to wear some Eastern inspired beauties. I’ll try to do at least one a day.
I was SO HAPPY today when I FINALLY finished the TRIVIA Q&A. Then when I went to send them realisation hit. I DIDN”T DO THIS WEEK! Bugger.
Saw Scotty for a lunch break, vacuumed the house, did 4 loads of clothes washing.
SOTAfternoon: Secret Joly by Oriza LeGrand
Writing TRIVIA Q&A. AAAAARRGGGHHHHH
Jin came home. We hung out together for a while. Not really doing much, just watching TV and being around each other. We had some reheats for dinner and slobbed on the lounge. Then we fed and walked the dogs together. A couple of sweet hours. I love it, just two guys hanging out. Heaven.
SOTEvening: Monsieur Li by Hermès
Back at the computer getting everything ready to send off to the trivia crew for the next 7 weeks.
OK, it’s 12.27am and the Trivia Q&A are all done, dusted and sent out to the crew. Also I’ve done the month’s Invoices and sent them out also. Now methinks I’ve earned a cuppa and a bit of TV.
SOTBed: Bal a Versailles
Tuesday 30:
BLOGGING! Getting everything set for while I’m away.
SOTMorning: Mecca Balsam by La Via del Profumo.
Blogged, Bathed, Shaved and Napped.
SOTEvening: Caravelle Epices by Frapin
Work was fun tonight. I got to hang out a bit with this handsome gent, Jay.
Also today I found this. Sent it to my mate Paully but keep thinking about it. A pretty fair summation of my mind really.
SOTBed: Jubilation XXV by Amouage. My cap isn’t magnetic so this must be a bit old yeah? It’s been sitting around here for years and I just opened the cellophane to wear it for Arabian Week.
Watched some ARROW.
Wednesday 1:
Up at sparrows fart. Did Aquarobics . These are my GFs from there.
SOTMorning: Myrrhiad by Huitieme Art
Gave the bathroom a clean. Changed the spare bed and tidied up that room a little.
Jin and I went and had our nether regions waxed, voted, got my hair cut, had some food.
Dropped Jin home and collected Millenia from Parramatta station. We organised all her TRIVIA Q&A for the next few weeks.
As I dropped Millenia back to the station Aunty Tracey was waiting for me to collect her. She has flown down from Cairns for four nights to spend some time with us before we go. YAY! We did some grocery shopping, saw Scotty, got her some bottles of Red Wine and had a good catch up in the car.
SOTAfternoon: Mitzah by DIOR
Home and organised myself for TRIVIA! Had some lunch, a nap and watched a little TV with Aunty Tracey.
Went to Greystanes Inn with Aunty Tracey. The room was jumping and it was so much fun.
Home, watched some Arrow, chatted with Aunty Tracey, had a steaming hot bath.
SOTBed: Indochine by Parfumerie Générale
Thursday 2:
SOTMorning: Accord Oud by Byredo
Ran around this morning like a blue assed fly. Had a list of things that needed to be done. Got about 70% of it done and am thrilled with that.
Aunty Tracey, Jin and I had lunch together. Then they watched (I watched snippets between doing stuff) of the movie About Time with Bill Nighty. BLOODY LOVE IT! I even got a little cry in at the end. Perfect movie. So happy/sad and some excellent performances, writing and story.
Did the final beard dye before lift off. Bathed and generally cleaned myself up.
Did some blogging and now I’m nearly ready to put my face on.
SOTAfternoon: OK, I wanted something thick and sweet.
Guess by Marciano. YUM!
Tonight was a let down. I’d asked a bunch of friends to come farewell Jin and I before we fly off on our honeymoon. I was working in Glebe, so much nearer town where everyone lives, and I thought we could all get together there. Aunty Tracey and Jin came to see everyone. Only two of our friends showed, Kerri Clarke and Simon Corderoy (Thank You guys, it was wonderful to spend some time together before we leave). All day I’d been getting messages of no shows, even during the event more people texted to apologise for their non attendance. The truth, I am hurting. BAD. What have I done to deserve this? Message received loud and clear.
SOTBed: Arabie by Serge Lutens
Friday 3:
SOTMorning: Vintage Opium by YSL, EdT & extrait
Grabbed BFF Kath’s Dad and drove down to Wollongong where Mum has been interred. Jin drove, Aunty Tracey and I sat in the back. There we met Kath & Jane. Suddenly, I couldn’t stand being there and asked to go. It was abrupt and obvious I needed out. I feel bad now. Everyone was slightly gob smacked, and it was utterly insensitive of their grief or feelings or anything. Still, it was definitely time for me to leave so we did.
Aunty Tracey, Jin and I fled back to Sydney. we had Fish & Chips on the way through.
Went to Patrick and Wayne’s place to see the photos of Wayne’s recent Mongolia trip. They weren’t ready to see yet but we had an excellent afternoon tea, chattered about everything from travel to politics. Patrick cooked a Lemon Drizzle Cake. BLOODY delicious. We had fun,.
By the time we got home it was about 6.30pm. BUSHED!
Jin took Aunty Tracey to their favourite restaurant and I did some cleaning around the house. Got bits and bobs ready to travel and did a load of washing.
Spent the night packing our bags.
SOTBed: Lolita Lempicka
Saturday 4:
Up earlyish with the dogs.
SOTMorning: Eau de Gentian Blanche by Hermès
This morning the three of us went and grabbed Matty, Jin’s BFF, for a farewell breakfast. The three of us in the car singing along the road. There was a photo with Matty but he looked like shit so I used this one.
Jin is Super Traveller with his new Xmas backpack, packed and ready to travel. Even with 20+kg in it surprisingly comfy to walk and run in.
Jin and I took the dogs back to their trainer Charlie who looks after them while we are away. The love going back and saying hi to all the doggies out there. They have their own kennels since they lived there and Charlie always makes sure they get them.
SOTAfternoon: Oil from somewhere in the Middle East. A gift brought to me by a dear friend many years ago.
Kath joined us for dinner. It was really simple grilled Haloumi salad and stuff. We all had a few drinks and laughed. Reminisced about Kath’s Mum and generally enjoyed our goodbyes.
Watched Julie and Julia with Aunty Tracey and Jin.
I snapped tonight, at nothing.
Cleaned the house a bit.
Bathed, shaved, moisturised. No fragrance. Going to bed. My heads on wrong. Sleep will help.
Sunday 5:
We are up and away today.
SOTDay: Granville by DIOR. Perfect for travelling.
Most of today will be spent in planes. I’ll drop in when I can to chat and update over the next couple of weeks.
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
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Have a wonderful, safe trip! Looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back. All quiet here, slowly working my way through the redecoration of the lounge. Finally after ages of cold and rain, we have some sun. Yay!
LikeLike
Hi Portia and APJers,
Portia, I am so sorry to read that you have been feeling upset and out of sorts. I hope that your plans to catch up with friends going awry was one of those unfortunate perfect storms where everyone’s lives just don’t come together at the right time. It shows in your post how upsetting it was, so I genuinely hope that it’s the result of that kind of situation. Sending hugs, as when I read that, I felt immediately concerned about you. The hurt was palpable.
On to wonderful things for you and Jin now. Can’t wait to hear what you are up to and I hope that you have a honeymoon that is a source of laughter and warm memories for you both forever.
Pretty ordinary week for me. I took my 11 year old daughter to have her flu vaccination. Oh. My. Goodness. She screamed like you wouldn’t believe. I apologised to the people waiting, and the staff, on the way out. Poor thing, she gets very stressed and has anxiety issues, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. She really needed to have it though, so there was no way out for her!
On the fragrance front, I have fallen into a Le Labo rabbit hole. I was gifted samples of the Patchouli (which is an unexpected love) and the Poivre, and one of the AFN members reminded me he has 10ml of Patchouli and also 10ml of Tonka, so I have purchased those, plus 5ml of Frederic Malle’s Une Rose. Tonka and Rose are blind buys, but I’m feeling good about it!
Hoping you’re feeling much better, and very excited about your travels xx.
LikeLike
Hey Sue, Le Labo Patchouli is one of my favs. So unusual but in a good way. Tonka is good. Vetiver is worth a sniff too. You can buy samples from them on line. Neat little packaging and reasonably price. That’s how I fell down the Le Labo rabbit hole xx
LikeLike
Thanks, Melanie. I will look into getting more samples. I find sometimes that if someone on a perfume group is selling online, I get over-excited and grab something! The Patchouli is one of the very few scents that my other half has noticed and liked. He is very sensitive to perfume (childhood asthma), so that is a big compliment from him. I figured that I should keep some around! I like the Le Labo packaging, too. The Patchouli is in a little recycled, slide out box – so neat!
LikeLike
Wishing you both a wonderful honeymoon. Keep us up to date when you can.
I’m so sorry you were hurt about friends no show. Virtual hugs from me.
Do you remember that you identified my Opium from my description a while ago ? You sent me a pic of your bottle so I could check it was the same as mine. It was, so thanks again for that.
You have had a very very busy week but smelling fab every day XXXXXXX
LikeLike
I am so excited for you and Jin!!!!
I hope you have an extraordinarily wonderful time!!!!! I am living vicariously through you so I expect lots of blog posts and pictures upon your return 😉
Nothing overly exciting this week. Wore my birthday goodies including the ones sent to me by you, TaraC, pl67 and AnnieA. Thanks to my APJ pals I have done a massive amount of testing this week. I am also sorry to hear that your friends in real life did not come through for you. But your APJ family loves ya💛💚💙💜 Safe travels, P, and have a ball 🍾🥂🚂✈️🚋🌎
LikeLike
You’re welcome! Let us know about the winning samples…
LikeLike
Will do 👍
LikeLike
I am so happy to hear you have been enjoying all your birthday goodies! Please, let us know which are full bottle worthy!
LikeLike
Thanks to you!! Loved my chocolate marzipan too!
LikeLike
Have a wonderful trip!! Busy work week here so I didn’t have any perfume fun. Hopefully better this week – and my preschool ends on 17 May so there is light at the end of the tunnel!
LikeLike
I am so sorry that you were hurt but people have complicated lives. I wouldn’t take it personally. I ditched most of my friends over bigger issues such as when I am sick and in the hospital no one is there for me or I lose my job and have no money to go out and everyone abandons me until I get a new job then they are at the door. Those are big hurts. Now, I am like a recluse.
LikeLike
I echo Sue – it was unlikely to have been a slight, just people not planning time-wise, or maybe being struck by mid-life lethargy. You two have a terrific honeymoon trip!
LikeLike
Have a terrific honeymoon Portia. I wish you and Jin the best time ever. You guys deserve it!
Busy week at work for me, as usual. I have been also helping a friend that is going thru a difficult time in his life. Lots of conversations in the past couple of weeks. I hope everything gets solved the best way for him and his family.
Regarding perfumes I thunked some samples last week and I have also worn many of the beautiful and relaxing essential oils blends from Brigitte. She is amazing! I really love every single one of them.
Getting ready for another hectic week at work and hoping the continuous rain stops at some point and we can finally see and enjoy the sun.
Have a great week everyone!
LikeLike
Hope everything resolves for your friend. Happy to hear you’re enjoying the oils 😊😀
Hoping for a good work week for all of us!! And yes to sun!!! Would you believe that I am still wearing my winter turtlenecks?? Unheard of in May!!!
LikeLike
I am also wearing my turtlenecks 😩. I look around and see most people wearing short sleeves already. I guess they already got tired of this non-sense cold weather. The forcast looks a bit cheerful for this coming week. Let’s hope!
LikeLike
🤞🤞🤞☀️
LikeLike
Have an awesome time Portia and Jin. Travel safe please. Look forward to hearing all about your amazing trip. Me thinks it’s going to be bloody amazing xx
LikeLike
First: Good thing you are keeping up the routine with aquarobics, even in a busy and stressful week!
I am sorry your friends didn’t show up to wish you and Jin safe travels, but please don’t read too much into it, sometimes life just gets too hectic.
Wishing safe travels and many happy memories for you and Jin! I’m so looking forward to reading about your adventures, especially Mongolia. It sounds so exotic.
My week has been quiet and a mix of good and bad.
I was allowed to step on my right foot again on Monday, 3 months after surgery. Still with the big Aircast brace on, so having trouble finding a way of walking, really. The appointment with the surgeon on Friday and x-rays taken, seems to confirm I will have a good result after this surgery, but the bones have not yet healed completely, so stern warning not to take the brace off during activity.
The bad thing: Still terrible food at this care institution, it is strange how much it affects my mood. Not getting out much adds to the gloom.
Getting outdoors while the warm weather lasted was splendid! We have since had hailstorms several days this week, there has been a very substantial drop in temperatures indeed. And tomorrow we may get snow ❄️❄️
Perfume related: l’m now the owner of 125 ml Fève Délicieuse, if only my stepmother gets it from Austria to Norway on Monday. Also happy she could mail a small perfume surprise while in Austria. Hopefully Austria’s Post will deliver and make someone happy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope your recovery goes well, and you get back to the food that lifts up your spirit.
LikeLike
Opium is the best. I think it is the best women perfume ever made, not Chanel 5 or Shalimar but Opium. What do you think of Amouage Dia and Jubilation? I have both of them but have not worn them yet. Still somewhere in the boxes.
LikeLike
oh btw, which is this bag (brand/model) that Jin is carrying. 20kg is a lot to carry so the bag must be awesome
LikeLike
Safe travels and best wishes for an incredible honeymoon Jin and Portia! It is incredibly stressful preparing for being away on vacation for so long. I hope you immediately feels relief and relaxation once you are underway to your first destination. xx
LikeLike
Dear Portia,
I wish you both the best trip possible! Enjoy your time together, concentrate on positive things and don’t let anything spoil your fun!
As to your friends not showing up… I’m sure you’ll teach them a lesson… by showing up at events important to them 😉 Don’t be upset, please. Life happens, and I’m sure it was just a perfect storm.
Sending love and hugs. Oh, and you smelled great!
My life is so hectic these days that I won’t even start on describing my week. But I wore nice perfumes – and let’s leave it at that.
LikeLike
By now you’ll have reached your first destination and I hope you and cheeky chops have a fantastic holiday. I bet you’ve cheered up too! Don’t hold onto anger over the no-shows, with the best will in the world people will still let you down. It’s nigh on impossible to get people together sometimes, everyone always seems to have so much on. Look forward to seeing your pics. There will be pics, yes?😉
LikeLike
We all look forward to reading your trip reports and are so hoping that you two have the best time together, leave the bad behind in the rearview! It sounds like you were due for a break. I am back at my work after two weeks off, and I sure didn’t miss it. Try lots of new sniffs, foods, and experiences for us!
LikeLike